Now is my turn to repay those who helped me...just back from Swan and WL

[LISALISA]

Just back from a trip staying at the Swan and WL. Checked in and stayed at the swan on nye. Location is good, easily walk to epcot and boardwalk. Saw the ending fireworks from Fantasmic and the MGM NYE fireworks from our room. Something about the resort left me cold. First, the staff didn't know the park hours. Thought that was strange. When we called the concierge to check out park hours they didn't mention early entry on Jan 1. I did find them less than helpful. We have a 4 y/o and 7 y/o and spend more time in the mk so the location wasn't great for us. Didn't like that I had to go to the Dolphin for milk for the children. This is a good resort for people who would frequent epcot or may have older children or enjoy the boardwalk. This is not to say that the service was terrible. The top lock on our door closed when we left and we couldn't get back in our room. A maid on the floor called the maitenance dept and someone was immeadiately up. He said don't let the door slam when you leave as sometimes it causes those catches to close a little. I was in a rotten mood and noted that he should have asked us for ID prior to letting us into the room, but kept my nastiness to myself.

Our best friends stayed at Yacht Club and they have children the same age and they raved about the location!!

Wilderness lodge. We have stayed here previously and didn't like it very much, so we were a little concerned about staying here again. We found our stay very enjoyable. Had a courtyard view room 6053 with a good view of the silver springs. Kids loved the little windows looking down into artist point. We had a game of "is anyone eating now?". The pool was excellent. I really have a lot of respect for the lifeguards. They ran a tight ship in terms of waterslide use and I really liked that they watched the kids. I don't see this in all of the resorts. The travel to MK was seamless. Very short wait for boats at all times of day. Very enjoyable. Travel to Epcot was long on the bus. Met friends for dinner one night and took a cab back. I really enjoyed wilderness logde this time. Had previously stayed at the poly and would have stayed there again if we could have gotten a reservation. The one fault that I can find with WL (only one fault everything else was flawless) would be that they need a sit down middle of the road restaurant for lunch or a quick dinner with no theming. We couldn't get seating at Whispering Canyon and three times just took the monorail from the magic kingdom to either Kona Cafe , Grand Floridian Cafe, or Concourse Steak house. Really enjoyed that!!!

BTW, Roaring Forks has excellent shellfish biscque. I have also noted many more healthy food choices. No lines at roaring forks even though it was nye week.

Overall an excellent time!!

 

[floridafam]

The idea for a cafe at WL is a great one.

Sounds like you had a great trip.

We stayed at the YC in October with a 4 and 7 yr old and also thought the location and hotel were excellent. Maybe you can try it on your next trip.

 

[CamColt]

Thanks for the reviews. We too just got back from our first stay at the Swan. In my review I mentioned how I didnt like not having the tv channel with the park hours or the maps/time guides at the desk, because I had trouble getting a straight answer from CMS IN the park about hours(this has happened to us more than once). I was told the Swan does in fact have the maps, but theres another counter you need to go to, not the front desk like at the Disney hotels. That may have helped you as I know it would have helped me.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Welcome back! Could you please tell me what the bedding was in WL 6053? And, did it connect to another room? If you look at the building, where would this room be located? Thanks!

 

[LISALISA]

two queen beds, bedspread, blanket, sheets. If you looked at the building it would be just inside of the connection where the north building starts on the center piece. This was not an adjoining room.

 

[Mainebound]

thanks for the helpfuls reviews! you didn't mention the Grotto Pool at the S/D. Did you use it? what did you think? thanks!

 

[CarnotaurDad]

It's interesting to hear about you having the top latch lock you out of your room in the Swan.

That happened to us as well and it took a while for engineering to get up. They mentioned that it seems to happen all the time.

 

[Kimberle]

Glad you had a nice stay!

We've been debating on a March (bonus trip), staying at the Dolphin. We spend most of the time at MK. I'm not so sure that hotel would be the best for us right now. Maybe later, when my dd is bigger & we spend more time elsewhere.

We too, weren't to crazy abt the resturant choices at WL. We're not big PS planners. We ate at WC once. The food was good, but it was hard to get a last minute table. We ate at AP 2x because we could always just walk in. Food was good, but choices & portions not so good. What we did was take the boat over to CR & eat at Concourse Steakhouse & Trails End at FW. I think during our next trip to WL, I'll make PS's at Poly (direct bus to TTC, short walk from there), and maybe GF (boat to CR, then monorail).