We just returned on 10/25 from our first WL stay. We loved the resort. We were in room 5010--north wing with a view of the Contemporary and the castle from our balcony. We were able to see the MK fireworks from our balcony. We had 2 queen beds and thought the room size was fine considering that we were not in the room very much. We had a great mousekeeper--she left towel animals every day for our 2 girls--we had crocodiles, flowers, dogs, cats, mice, angels, eskimo dolls, bear, and a few other. The kids were excited each night to go back and see what Devora had made for them. We returned early one day and were able to meet Devora and the girls thanked her for making the animals--she made them each a dog to take home.
What we especially liked about the WL was that everything is located in one building. We have stayed at POR before and we liked that resort as well, but didn't like walking all the way to the food court in the dark in the early morning to fill coffee mugs. Our room was very convenient--just a short walk down to elevator that took us right down to Roaring Forks, pool, boat dock, and just another short walk to lobby and out to bus depot.
We really liked the boat transportation--found the boats to be very reliable and timely. The bus transportation was fine as well, although I don't think that the buses were as timely as the boats. We waited about 30 min. for an Epcot bus one morning--while watching 3 buses for MGM and AK come and go. That is pretty annoying, but then again, I don't really understand the scheduling for the buses. All in all, transportation at WL was great--not a problem at all despite what I had read.
I know alot of people love the WCC, but we were not particulary impressed. We went at lunch and did not have a very "active" server. We had the girls ask for ketchup as we had been told and our server just brought a bottle over and helped them pour it on their plate. Maybe we should have gone at dinner. The kids did enjoy playing at the Lincoln Log table.
Our kids loved the pool. We were surprised at the number of people at the pool each day. We used the pool twice--once at night and once during the afternoon. I guess since we have always had the UPH we feel the need to go to the parks to get our money worth. We said for our next trip that we would only get a few days park hopper and allow the kids more time to swim.
Our flight out on Sat. was not until 5:30pm, but we decided to not do any park on this day. We checked out and had bell services store our bags. We then took the boat over to Fort Wilderness and went to the petting zoo and let the girls ride the ponies. They loved it! We then got back on the boat to the Contemporary, then monorail to Poly. We had considered staying at the Poly this trip, so wanted a chance to look around. I have to say that my husband and I both liked the WL better. The Poly just seemed a little dated. But we did enjoy looking around the pool and grounds. We then ate lunch at Kona Cafe (great sticky finger wings) and headed back to WL.
To make a long story short---we have never stayed at a deluxe because we did not think it was worth the extra money since we are never in the room, but after our stay at WL--I think that we will just have to save $$ a little longer because now we are hooked.
