starousse
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2011
My family of four just returned from the Wilderness Lodge,and were there from 12/15-12/22. First impression when we got there was that that the lobby was real nice, cozy, welcoming, and greatly themed. I booked an inner Courtyard view room a year in advance, and put in a request for 4th or 5th floor. When I got there, they had told me that I checked in online (which I hadn't) and had assigned me to a room on the 2nd floor. I asked if they could change that and they quickly found something for me on the 5th.
We had room 5165, in which the view could not be better. Our first night in, we went back to our room early, and were able to see the Water Pageant Parade from our balcony. As soon as I can figure out how to post pics, I will. The only downside to the room, was that it was a little tight, the walk was pretty far from the lobby, and that you could hear the resort to park launch boats blowing their horns into the wee hours of the morning. Mousekeeping was okay, we got our little towel animals one or two days. The room was clean and sufficient, but definitely by no means a "deluxe". It felt identical to what we had at the moderate CBR or POFQ, with only a more rustic theme.
While here, we ate at the Whispering Canyon Cafe for lunch, which was really good. Mimi was a great server and was very fun. We ate at Artist Point for dinner, which was we really enjoyed. Not my favorite signature meal of the trip, but still very very good. On occasion, we'd stop at the Roaring Forks for a cup of coffee or a soda. It was quite small, and some of the food didn't look all that appetizing.
The boat to the MK and the Contemporary was very convenient and really quick. This made travel much more enjoyable than I remember. The bus service was decent as well. We waited no more than 10 minutes for a bus anywhere. The longest trip was to the Animal Kingdom which was about 30 minutes. One annoying thing about that bus ride was that it was a freezing morning, and there were literally two people on my bus, and the driver still stopped at Blizzard Beach first which wasted time.
The one thing that did bother me about the Lodge was the customer service. No way near deluxe in my opinion. Two incidents stick out. On our second to last day, I wanted to do some laundry. It was about 8 at night and I had put $ into the machine to buy a laundry bag. It was empty. So I called the front desk from the phone in the laundry room to ask them if someone can come fill the machine or if I could pick up a laundry bag. The girl told me "no, there's no one here to do that, so I don't know what to tell you, if you want I can send a bag to your room later". So, I told her that I was in the laundry room and needed to get my laundry from there to my room. She said "sorry, don't know what to tell you, let me transfer you to housekeeping", and hung up the phone. I had to go the Roaring Forks where a CM was nice enough to get me a couple of garbage bags.
Second, on our check out day, we had asked the girl at the front desk, if we could just extend our check out a half hour to an hour. We wanted to get a quick bite to eat, get our bags to make our 12:30 Magical Express bus to the airport. She looked at my husband and so Nope sorry. So, I laughed and said, what do you mean, my bags are upstairs. So then she said, well sorry, it's 11 and you can't go back to your room. So I proceeded to talk to the manager ( I only knew this because he was the only one wearing a suit behind the desk). After explaining to him my situation, he said that it's housekeeping's decision on whether or not someone can have a late checkout and he can't control that. Really?????? Since when does the Manager of a "Deluxe" Resort not have the authority to say yes to an extended checkout??? C'mon now, I've stayed at all resorts from Holiday Inn Express to the Four Seasons Maui, and never ever have I ever been told NO, that I can't stay an extra half an hour.
I do understand that Disney Deluxe does not mean I'm going to get the same service and amenities as a Four Seasons or Ritz, but I don't expect to be told that I can't keep my bags in the room for an extra half an hour. Overall, I really enjoyed my stay at the Lodge. I'm not saying that I would definitely not return here due to some customer service issues, but I may consider staying at a Moderate next time or maybe try the Contemporary.
We had room 5165, in which the view could not be better. Our first night in, we went back to our room early, and were able to see the Water Pageant Parade from our balcony. As soon as I can figure out how to post pics, I will. The only downside to the room, was that it was a little tight, the walk was pretty far from the lobby, and that you could hear the resort to park launch boats blowing their horns into the wee hours of the morning. Mousekeeping was okay, we got our little towel animals one or two days. The room was clean and sufficient, but definitely by no means a "deluxe". It felt identical to what we had at the moderate CBR or POFQ, with only a more rustic theme.
While here, we ate at the Whispering Canyon Cafe for lunch, which was really good. Mimi was a great server and was very fun. We ate at Artist Point for dinner, which was we really enjoyed. Not my favorite signature meal of the trip, but still very very good. On occasion, we'd stop at the Roaring Forks for a cup of coffee or a soda. It was quite small, and some of the food didn't look all that appetizing.
The boat to the MK and the Contemporary was very convenient and really quick. This made travel much more enjoyable than I remember. The bus service was decent as well. We waited no more than 10 minutes for a bus anywhere. The longest trip was to the Animal Kingdom which was about 30 minutes. One annoying thing about that bus ride was that it was a freezing morning, and there were literally two people on my bus, and the driver still stopped at Blizzard Beach first which wasted time.
The one thing that did bother me about the Lodge was the customer service. No way near deluxe in my opinion. Two incidents stick out. On our second to last day, I wanted to do some laundry. It was about 8 at night and I had put $ into the machine to buy a laundry bag. It was empty. So I called the front desk from the phone in the laundry room to ask them if someone can come fill the machine or if I could pick up a laundry bag. The girl told me "no, there's no one here to do that, so I don't know what to tell you, if you want I can send a bag to your room later". So, I told her that I was in the laundry room and needed to get my laundry from there to my room. She said "sorry, don't know what to tell you, let me transfer you to housekeeping", and hung up the phone. I had to go the Roaring Forks where a CM was nice enough to get me a couple of garbage bags.
Second, on our check out day, we had asked the girl at the front desk, if we could just extend our check out a half hour to an hour. We wanted to get a quick bite to eat, get our bags to make our 12:30 Magical Express bus to the airport. She looked at my husband and so Nope sorry. So, I laughed and said, what do you mean, my bags are upstairs. So then she said, well sorry, it's 11 and you can't go back to your room. So I proceeded to talk to the manager ( I only knew this because he was the only one wearing a suit behind the desk). After explaining to him my situation, he said that it's housekeeping's decision on whether or not someone can have a late checkout and he can't control that. Really?????? Since when does the Manager of a "Deluxe" Resort not have the authority to say yes to an extended checkout??? C'mon now, I've stayed at all resorts from Holiday Inn Express to the Four Seasons Maui, and never ever have I ever been told NO, that I can't stay an extra half an hour.
I do understand that Disney Deluxe does not mean I'm going to get the same service and amenities as a Four Seasons or Ritz, but I don't expect to be told that I can't keep my bags in the room for an extra half an hour. Overall, I really enjoyed my stay at the Lodge. I'm not saying that I would definitely not return here due to some customer service issues, but I may consider staying at a Moderate next time or maybe try the Contemporary.
Since what I wanted was really just a little extra time to get the kids bathed/dressed for the trip home after swimming, that worked out well.
