NEW Wilderness Lodge FAQ!!

[freihofer]

999 Ghsts-
Thanks for all your great information! We've read all of your posts and we still can't make a decision on which room at WL would be best for our family to request. Maybe you could offer us some suggestions if we tell you about ourselves. We would definitely appreciate it!
We have standard room reservations for June 27th through July 5th. There are two adults and two children ages 3 and 6. From your earlier posts, we think we want a bunkbed room with an open balcony (so the kids aren't standing on chairs). Also, we're not sure if we want a lobby view or a MK view.
The kids are good sleepers and so are we, so we don't think the truck beeping will bother us. Is the beeping once or twice a night or every hour?
It would also would be nice to see the electric water pageant from the balcony if it's possible.
Basically, I seems that we want everything (LOL) for $129 a night!
It's nice to know Disney has such helpful CM's there and we can't wait until we arrive! Thanks, again.

 

[hmp2z]

Hi! I had a question about WL concierge. Are we supposed to hear from them before our trip, to make any plans? I thought that I'd read about people who had their PS arrangements made by the concierge, but when I called WL concierge to ask for a Deluxe Magic brochure, the woman I spoke with said that they would only make our PS reservations AFTER we had checked in at WL, not in advance. Is this right? Or are we supposed to get some pre-trip planning assistance?
Thank you for any help with this!
Heather P

 

[goofytoo]

I am back after 7 days at the wilderness lodge
Today I go back to work how sad
we were there may 18-25 and styaed in room 4010 overlooking the otter pond.
this is what we asked for.
The room was very nice. It was clean and not as dark as I anticipated after reading all the posts.
This spot over looking the otter Pond was very peaceful. We saw the otter family a few times (Mom and Babies) and all the other wildlife.
I didn't find the transportation all that bad. A few times we waitied for the dt disney bus, this seemed to be the longest ride and they are doing construction over ther.
I didn't see any other Disers . I kept looking for the grren ribbons and I also wondered which one was you 999 Ghosts!
let me know if I can answer any questions.

Thank you all for the information! It made a wonderful trip when you are prepared!

1983 Disneyland
1987 Honeymoon Disney Inn
1992 offsite
2000 Port Orleans
2001 Wonder and HRH
2002 Wilderness Lodge
2003 Magic western carribean 346 days to go!

 

[corvair]

goofytoo,,, thanks for your post. I am going in 20 days. I have a couple ?????s. How was the pool, was it crowded, did you have a hard time finding a chair?? Did you eat at Whispering Canyons? How was the Roaring Forks?? Did you use the boat to go to MK? Any other WL tips would be great , I have never been there... thanks,,corvair

 

[kimmar067]

...I,too, will be staying at WL in July, I am quite concerned about the transportation situation. However, if enough of us voice our opinions, together we can be heard (like 999 says). You can e-mail them using this link:

www.wdw.guest.communications@disney.com

or

www.guestrelations@disney.com

Good luck!!

 

[goofytoo]

The pool was not that crowded though we didn't spend that much time there it was kind of chilly at night, we were in it a couple of times we never had a problem finding a chair.
we ate at Whispering canyon 2 times once for dinner and once for breakfast.
the breakfast was good and pretty mello- dinner was crazy very loud and service was not all that
great it is very expensive for mediocre BBQ I think you have to eat there at least once
to see for yourself.If you have children that don't eat much don't bother with the skillet it really is a waste. 8.99
we used the refillable mugs everyday and ate breakfast in our room on our balcony.
it was good.
we also ate at roaring forks for lunch a few times the philly steak subs were good.
I thought all of the CM's were very nice that we dealt with.
We used the Cubs den one night and DS liked it.
We have used the neverland club berfore and he really liked it. He is 9.
We used the boat to the magic kingdom alot it was really relaxing.
tips and hints.
get the refillable mugs
talk to everyone!
relax...............it is vacation!

 

[SnowWhiteIsDreaming]

I was at the WL from May 7-16, and I thought the boat service was very good. I really enjoyed taking the boat to MK. The stopping at FW wasn't bad with the boats. The MK boats that I took rarely stopped at FW. But the contemporary boats did sometimes - They usually had two CR <-> WL boats going at once. One would go FW -> WL -> CR and the other would go WL-> FW -> CR. Sometimes we would ask the boat captain where he was heading next (if we didn't see where he just came from). Because, if he were going to FW, and we saw the next boat coming in the distance, we would wait and take the next boat.

One time, the boat from WL to MK was full (only happens in morning around 9:00), so we decide to go take the CR boat, and take the monorail. That was a bad decision. As LoveMickey stated, it is a haul to get to the 4th floor of CR and then take 4 stops to MK. The next boat to MK from WL was coming in 5 minutes... the next boat would have been quicker.

My biggest problem with the FW transportation sharing was the bus rides. FW was always a stop (both coming and going) whereever. This added some time (not lots), but mostly frustration since we are paying a deluxe rate, and had to stop there for what was usually 2 people, or no one to board/leave the bus. But, we just used this time to unwind in the afternoon. In the morning, we were so anxious to get to where we were going, it was a little frustrating.

All in all, don't change your mind about the WL because of the transportation. I thought most of the transportation was above average. My husband and I tried to turn our minor frustration into jokes... "Here we go to FW to look at the horse again " We would show the kids a horse behind a fence at FW. One time, someone was taking horse back riding lessons, and he looked REALLY scared. So it was entertaining!

Love the WL!

We had room 4034. We could see the monorail. Most of the castle (from the right side of the balcony). Some of CR. My son was sick one day, so I sat on the balcony all day and held him. I watch many monorails go by. I finally noticed that I could see Astro Orbitter (is that the name of the ride?), and watched lots and lots of otters. Thank goodness for the otters - they really cheered my son up!

Two notes about room 4034... I actually didn't see the castle the first day. I came back at night and saw it lit up. Then I knew which trees to look thru to see it the next day. I didn't realize how far away it was going to be so I didn't know where to look. It is gorgeous at night. We loved watching it change colors. I would have preferred to be one room over and up 5032. It looked like it might have a better view. Other thing to mention about room 4034. It was the last room on the hallway, so when we went on the balcony, we had a great view of the truck loading docks. They had a nice wall between our room and the room next to us, but they didn't have a wall on the other side of the balcony and it was a messy site to see. I would have preferred if they covered it up, for the price I payed for a woods view.

 

[kimmar067]

...can you post your observations re: the "transportation situation" (sounds like "Dalmation Plantation"!! -lol-) while you stayed at WL...

 

[Eeyore1954]

Just got back from our WL vacation celebrating 25 wonderful years of married life! We had a ball (May 14 - 21) -- and yes, I am a little slow at getting around to posting! (Sorry!)

As for transportation: We LOVED it and did not have a single problem. The boat to MK was terrific! A very peaceful way to arrive and especially after a long day at MK, a very nice way to return.

We thought the bus service at WL was great. Busses arrived promptly. We even took the bus to Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue - which we wondered about -- but it was great, too. Getting TO the parks was a piece of cake.

On the other hand, getting back to WL on the bus -- well, sometimes that required a stretch of patience. Our worst experience (as usual) was at AK. We were pooped and had a 30 min. wait for a WL bus.

My DW and I LOVE WL and this time their concierge staff added a TON of magic to our vacation.

 

[goofytoo]

kimmar067
okay here is my take on the transportation.
It wasn't that bad.
I thought it could have been better.
We waited the most for downtown disney busses.
they seemed to take the longest. I think because of the construction
Also getting to the water parks were hard from any theme park.
I think it depends on when you hit them. we seemed to just be getting there when the bus pulled up.It would have been nice if they were scheduled (like before) then you would know if you had 5 or 25 minutes to wait.
Also something that we noticed and I have seen this posted before,
The routing was interesting- I guess that is the word - depending on the driver, I could not make sense of it.
If you didn't know where you were you would think that FW was 10-15 min from WL as some drivers took the long way and made a circle
others used service roads and it was obvious that FW was 5 min away.
this was irritationg especially when there was a crying baby on board-
we just made sure we had enough time to spare for our PS at restraunts
That was the only time we looked at watches
after all it is vacation..........LOL

 

[SnowWhiteIsDreaming]

Yes goofytoo, I remember that one time it took less time to get to FW because the bus driver took some kind of back road (I guess you were more observant that they were service roads. Out of all the bus rides we took (at least 15), only ONE bus driver took this shorter route. Why? Nobody knows :-(

 

[Eeyore1954]

I think the "short route" to FW is used when taking guests from WL to/from Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue. That's the only time I saw it used. Otherwise, we went to the bus stop at the front of the FW campground when we picked up FW guests before going to the parks.

 

[SnowWhiteIsDreaming]

I forget where we were going, but it wasn't the hoop-dee-do review. We didn't see that show. It was in the day time so I don't believe it was a pit stop for others to get off for the HDR either. I believe I was heading to MGM around 3:00 in the afternoon.

 

[LoveMickey]

The short cut or service road is used for the Pick up of FW passengers going to MGM.

The bus goes from WL onto the service road, pick up FW then back out the service road and out the WL entrance to MGM. This was the shortest "out of the way".

 

[PeterPam]

We just returned from 10 magical days at the WL. We booked a standard room. When we checked in, the CM told us we were upgraded to a courtyard room. We were so happy! We had room 4043. The view was beautiful, we overlooked the courtyard and could watch the electric light parade from our balcony. We were the flag family on Sunday, 5/26. We loved the Whispering Canyon. Roaring Forks was ok...typical disney fast food. We spent alot of time at the pool. I thought it was a little small for the size of the resort. The boat transportation was great. The bus transportation was pretty good. We shared busses with FW. We were usually picked up first and dropped off first. We never had to wait very long for a bus. I would be happy to answer any questions. I will post my dining reviews on the restruaunt board.

One more thing....the parks were not very crowded at the beginning of our vacation. We walked on most of the rides. (splash mountain 3 times in a row) then during memorial day weekend it was PACKED!! The lines were unbelievable. I will never go on a holiday weekend again.

 

[hmp2z]

Does anyone happen to know what the e-mail address is for WL concierge? I would like to see if I have better luck getting a response to an e-mail than my last phone call
Cheers!
Heather P

 

[corvair]

Peterpam,,,thanks for your post...I would like to know a little more about your room location. Were you in the south wing??? Were you looking right over the pool ???? I would like to be close to the end near the trout pool bar. Were there steps or an elevator near by???? Thanks...corvair

 

[lucki4]

PeterPam - I have a ? about the flag family. Did you ask for it when you checked in, before that or were you randomly picked?

 

[DisneyHumbug]

Lucki4 - you sign up at check-in to be the Flag Family. If more than one day is available, you will have your choice. You are limited to 6 people I believe. We did this in February - the view is breathtaking - not to be missed!

 

[lucki4]

I read somewhere that flag families were discontinued. Guess I was misinformed, good thing too. My kids would love this.