My thoughts on WL - Just Returned

[disneyatl]

Just returned from my first stay at WL and here’s my thoughts on the resort.

It is absolutely beautiful!!! We weren’t the least bit disappointed in the look of the resort. Lobby is so peaceful. Love the rocking chairs all over the resort.

Check In – We arrived around 2:15pm and waited in the check in line for about 15 minutes. Two of us in our group approached the counter to check in at the same time so we could try to get two rooms close by. Boy, that was a problem!!! The CM really had no clue what she was doing. She told me that I had two rooms reserved with only me and my husband and my parents had one room with the two children in their room. So she cancelled our reservation, rebooked us and gave us the paperwork to sign. Well, it was right the first time. She had our names mixed up. So she had to put the rooms back the way they were to begin with. Later after we got in our rooms the CM called my mother and was still trying to straighten out her deposit. When my parents checked out a day earlier than us, they were overcharged almost $600. Hopefully it was resolved correctly.

Rooms – My parents were assigned to room 4099 (two double beds) and we were assigned to 4097 (one double and bunks). If we were to walk outside our rooms we were overlooking the lobby. Because of this, it was quite noisy because of Whispering Canyon. If we stay at WL again, we will be sure to upgrade to a woods view or courtyard view room. Of course, the noise level seemed to get better as the week went on and we became more tired. As for the room itself, we liked it and had no complaints. It wasn’t dark like I’ve heard several people mention before. I did think the beds were hard but we got used to that as well. The bunks were great! I think it helped the girls not being in the same bed. I was very impressed with the hot water. I love a hot bath and wow, the water was so hot, even I had to turn it down. As for the view, neither of the rooms had one. Both rooms overlooked the roof! However, both rooms were very close to the elevators (which by the way are very fast) and were close to the ice machine. Balconies weren’t very private but we never saw anyone else out there so it didn’t bother us.

Buses/Ferry – No complaints on the buses or the ferry ride. The longest wait we had was trying to go to Epcot. Three buses for MGM and Downtown Disney came before one bus for Epcot. We probably waited 15 minutes max though so not too terribly bad.

We are definitely planning on staying at the WL again but like I said before will probably upgrade our room to a woods or courtyard view. The lodge is very peaceful with the fireplace and rocking chairs. My daughter and I walked around the lodge a couple of times early in the morning and saw rabbits. If you are planning a stay, you won’t be disappointed!

 

[AspiringCindy]

So glad you liked WL!!Did you have a chance to eat at WCC?

 

[disneyatl]

Yes we did and loved it!!! They really picked on my husband. Made him wear a Big Daddy hat and then later crossed it out and put Big Meanie. Plus all the dads had to get up and do the Buttercup dance. Too funny!!!

 

[cruise-o-matic]

Ate at the WCC for lunch.

Wish we ponied up the $ to stay there.

 

[tinkgrl]

Hi,

Glad you had a good time.

Allison

 

[Kimberle]

Glad you had a nice time! We really loved our stay, too. Make a mental note that if you book a courtyard view, ask for an "inner" courtyard view. Our room overlooked the quite pool & villa's. THought it was a lovely, quiet, view. I don't think it was worth the price we paid for a courtyard view. I think they should add another "class" of rooms....

 

[Magic2000]

We also just returned from a wonderful stay at the Wilderness Lodge. But we had a check in mess up too!

We checked in around 3:00 pm; and the CM said our room should be ready in a few minutes, and that I could call from the phone in the lobby. So I waited about 15 minutes and called, but the room was not ready. Waited about 15-20 minutes more, and the room was still not ready. When I called back, I explained to the lady that we had transferred our luggage from Pop Century and we had gone to Typhoon Lagoon, so we were in the lobby in damp bathing suits and cover ups. The room was not ready and she explained that Housekeeping had to go inspect the room before they could release it. I asked about when it would be ready. She said it shouldn't be much longer. Again, I waited and called; room not ready. (I was ready to cry by this time) She put me on hold to check w/housekeeping and came back to tell me that someone was in our room. I had to go back and re-check in. By this time, the line is rather long for check in, and by the time I got to the desk, I was fighting back tears. I just wanted a room! We got into our room at 5:30 PM. (2.5 hrs to check in!!!)

After the mess up though, we really enjoyed our stay! The lodge is wonderful! And we did have dinner at WCC!!!

 

[CharlesandCamilla]

We returned last night from WL. Only complaint with check in was that WDTC had put 3 people in 1 room and 1 in our second room but we wanted to be 2 and 2. So the room assigners ignored our request for a king and two queens and gave us 2 queens and a queen with a bunk. Checked in at 2 and didn't think it was worth the hassle to try to fix. At least they were connecting. It was ground floor woods view which I would suggest to anyone. We didn't have all the noise from the pool. (Some jerk was out there pounding on a drum until 11 one night. I could hear it in the hall. I guess he thought it was cool because it was a native American drum.) And we didn't have to locate one of those sparse elevators.

And did anyone else see the ducklings? They live near the pool and were swimming in it one morning. I continued to do laps and they just ignored me.

 

[Mickey's Sister]

disneyatl, Magic2000, Charles & Camilla - glad you all had a good time!

Your troubles at check-in make me nervous. I'm planning a family trip to WL Nov/Dec 2005 & we'll need 3 rooms. We haven't booked yet since we aren't sure of the best way - all reserve separately, I book everyone... We want our rooms at least all next to each other (Is there such a thing as 3 adjoining rooms?) My DB & family would like a room with bunkbeds, the rest of us don't care. Does anyone know, since we're going to be a Grand Gathering, would they still arrange for us to be together, even if we reserve separately? My concern is, we're planning to arrive the Saturday after Thanksgiving & I'm afraid there might not be many rooms available.

We had talked about staying the 1st night or so at GF or CR, just for the experience because I thought Sunday there would be greater chance of having our room requests met (if we then moved to WL). Several members of my family are very hesitant about the logistics & after reading your story, Magic2000, I must say that I am too. If I persuaded them and such a fiasco happened to us, I'd never hear the end of it.

I was 99% convinced that I was going to reserve Woodsview & after hearing the noise stories, I'm convinced. My sister, who is normally the most mild-mannered, never-say-anything-about-anyone, sort of person, goes absolutely ballistic over noise. It's her 1 hot-button issue.

Drums till 11:00 - what's up with that????? Was this a guest, Charles & Camilla?

Thanks again everyone!!! Wish I was there now!l

Jessica

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

The WL has double beds? My husband is very tall and cannot sleep in a double. Please say it isn't so.

Lori

 

[SnowWhiteIsDreaming]

pirateofthecarolinas,
"It isn't so" ... Don't worry about your husband... the beds are queen beds.

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

Disneyatl- We had rooms just down the hall from you and we were a "woods" view. I called it "parking lot with trees" view. We too a huge(!!!) hassle with check in. The CM was not very bright. We had 3 rooms with 2 adults in each room. He could not get the keys straight. One of the couples had to get new keys EVERY day. Now that can be a pain. It was a real mess, but we still had a nice time.

 

[susy]

We had the woods view there and it was very nice. Definitely worth the extra $

 

[DonaldDuckFan]

We had a courtyard view during our stay and I really enjoyed the view, the only problem was it was also on the 4th floor (can't remember the number). If you are standing in the lobby with the entrance behind you it would be directly in front of you. So it was also somewhat noisy from the restaurant. I would make sure to request a room further from the lobby since you can still have a courtyard view and have the same noise problem. This was our experience with it.

Amy

 

[ash&abby'smom]

The problems with check in really make me nervouse. We're going in early Dec. I have two rooms booked for my family and my parents. Another couple is also coming and have a room booked. Wonder what kind of trouble we will have. Hopefully there will be some improvement by then. Thanks for the review and info. definately nice to know what happens beforehand. Glad you liked the resort though.

 

[disneyatl]

My parents booked their reservation separately from ours but we tried to check in together so they would put us close by.

Mickey's Sister - the reason we had weren't right next to each other was because we requested a room with bunks and the room next door to my parents was also 2 beds. I would think you wouldn't have a problem getting three rooms in the area with one having bunks. Since you are arriving at a very busy time, you might be out of luck getting rooms right next door but I'm sure they will accomodate you as best they can.

I think we had a CM would was unsure of what she was doing. Her first mistake was not verifying who we were and of course, we were just so happy to be there and in awe of the lodge, we didn't think about it either. My advice if you are checking in with more than one reservation is to make sure the CM knows who is who and doesn't confuse you.

CharlesandCamilla - We must have been there the same time you were because we were out walking around our last night there and heard that guy on the drum! Don't know what was up with that!

 

[barb3779]

We were there last week, and were in the pool when the guy was playing his drum -- we think he was just a guest who felt the urge to drum! ( I wonder if he bought it in AK, I had seen ones there in a shop similar to his). Anyway, we Loved WL - I'd stay there again in a heartbeat. Our room was 5052, standard view, quiet with a great view of the fireworks. We were given the rm # 4048 (I think) on check-in but were told it wasn't ready -- we went upstairs just to check out where that was located and happened to talk to a mousekeeper in the hall who told us it wasn't a bunkbed rm. Since we had requested both a bunk bed and a lobby view on our request, and that rm wasn't either, I didn't feel bad about going back down to the desk and asking if there was another standard rm . The same cm who had checked us in was there, and said "yes there are several more standards that will be ready later", and easily reassigned us 5052. Now why he didn't give us that rm the first time since we had requested bunkbeds is beyond me, but we were very happy with that rm location and in retrospect do not regret that we didn't overlook the lobby. As for the lodge itself - beautiful!

 

[LisaZoe]

Thanks for the reviews from the OP and other posters. My DD and I will be there in Sept. and I've been wondering if I picked the right resort - there are so many that sound great I think it's hard to decide from only pictures and book reviews.

Luckily, we won't have to worry about more than one room and we'll be OK with 2 queens or a bunk bed room. We have woods view booked so hopefully it won't be too noisy since I'm a pretty light sleeper.

For those who did have check in problems - what day of the week did you check in? We arrive on a Tuesday around 7:00 PM and I'm hoping that will mean there won't be a lot of people waiting for check in ahead of me. Also keeping my fingers crossed that we'll luck into an upgrade.

 

[Mickey's Sister]

Thanks for the reassuring words, Disneyatl - I would just like us all to be on the same floor, at least! Though since I'll be in Disney, I probably won't care. I could probably pitch a tent on the beach & still be happy. It's almost like they pipe in some sort of narcotic that makes me instantly euphoric! (It is also very addicting - LOL). Last trip we all used travel points & stayed at various off-site hotels. Happily we were in Disney most of the time, but the logisitics of it all was annoying - plus we spent a good deal of time apart traveling to & fro. Part of the joy of the trip is being with our baby sister who moved to Florida many years ago to work for Disney. This is one of the reasons we all want to be together, so we all can spend as much time as possible with her. She's going to stay with us at Wilderness Lodge, so we'll have her all to ourselves. I'm so confused though about what view to pay for. Every time I think I have my mind made up I read something else. I am usually a very decisive person, so this is driving me crazy. I should just be happy that this is the worst I have to worry about right now!

It's funny that so many of you were at the Lodge at the same time & heard the drummer! He certainly made an impression

Bye

 

[DisneyShack]

We stayed at the WL in May 2003 and it was fantastic!! We had a room on the 4th floor overlooking the lobby. I was nervous because of the noise but it was never a factor!