Playground equipment at WL/VWL is terrible! Anyone else agree?

[theww228]

I never paid much attention to playground equipment until we had kids. I am new to the world of jungle gyms and swings, but my untrained eye thinks the equipment at WL/VWL is a joke. Do the other resorts have better equipment?

 

[kikiq]

I haven't seen the WL/VWL equipment, but here is a picture of the play area at SSR Congress Park.

SSR is a "newer" DVC. My DH was never interested in VWL, so we really didn't tour that resort as thoroughly as the others.

Depends on when they installed the play area at WL/VWL? If you are still there at VWL, then ask and express your concern. If not, write a letter to member satisfaction.

 

[Granny]

I never paid much attention to playground equipment until we had kids. I am new to the world of jungle gyms and swings, but my untrained eye thinks the equipment at WL/VWL is a joke. Do the other resorts have better equipment?

Here's a picture a couple years old of the WL "playground".

Basic stuff, but not sure what you want. There's this, the beach, and the kiddie pool. Also the Cub's Den where children are invited to create western arts and crafts, play videogames, enjoy dinner and snacks, watch Disney movies and interact with other kids their age.

Then there are other kids activities at the pool (hula hoop contest, duck races, etc). I'm not sure what else in the area of play areas would be needed.

 

[crisi]

I never paid much attention to playground equipment until we had kids. I am new to the world of jungle gyms and swings, but my untrained eye thinks the equipment at WL/VWL is a joke. Do the other resorts have better equipment?

No, they pretty much all have a little toddler play area like the one at VWL. I don't think Disney thinks many people go to WDW to have their kids play on a playground. Of course, with barely anything to play on, its sort of a self fulfilling prophecy. Toddlers are happy there, but anyone older than that is probably more interested in heading into the parks (where Disney wants you).

On the plus side, most hotels/timeshares do not even have when Disney has.

 

[kikiq]

Unless you live in a newer development or near new parks, the WL play equipment is pretty standard. I'm not sure what you are expecting but most schools in our district have this type of equipment plus a swing set.

 

[bobbiwoz]

What I was more surprised was when we were at VWL and I brought the DGC to the playground, there was a sign saying that the mimium age was 6! The DGC were 3,4 and 5 at the time around 3-4 years ago.

We took a bike/surrey ride over to FW and at least our DGS had a ball playing in the playground over there.

Bobbi

 

[cvjw]

We have been going to Disney since my kids were very young, and I don't think they have ever played on a Disney playground. There is just too much else to do. They can play on a playground at home, Disney is all about doing things that you can't do at home for our family.

 

[hakepb]

To me, playgrounds in the FL sun are too hot to enjoy 8+ months of the year.


I was pleasantly surprised to see VWL at least had white sand in the pic. I've noticed a number of playgrounds in FL with black rubber or dark mulch and wonder why a FL resident would ever make a poor choice like that. (Isn't white the most popular car color in FL)?

 

[LIFERBABE]

OKW has a really great Playground area.

With smaller children, it's nice to have somewhere for them to play for a little downtime. I always took my Ds's out for a swing and a slide before nap time while at WDW. Swim would help them relax too.

We did not like the Playground/BBQ area at WL either. We stay for long stretches of time, so we really enjoy the resort amenities and often chose our resorts based on downtime not park time.

For us, we liked SSR the best as far as playgrounds go, because of the soft play surface, no sand to deal with after, and from the pics you can see that it is gorgeous. That is the Congress Park play area in the pic and the BBQ Pavilion is right next to it. Awesome DTD view from there.

SSR has similar play areas in several sections.

For our family, it was nice to have play areas, where the kids could play that was not crowded like the park areas. The parks can be pretty confining for a little one that likes to run and play. Also as a parent, I enjoy every moment my kids are having fun, no matter what we are doing.

 

[LindaBabe]

Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo house has a great playground - it's soft dark mulch underfoot, and trees overhead. there was quite a bit of stuff to climb on / slide down, and my grandkids loved it.

 

[twinklebug]

I agree VWL/WL's playground is lacking, but it doesn't seem to be in bad condition.

Over the years I have found that when they remove a playground and replace it with another, be it at a park, a school or even at Disney, it's always a step down (usually for safety and insurance reasons). Camped at Ft Wilderness many times as a child and they had fantastic playgrounds with tree forts, slides, swings etc. Without being biased as an adult verses being a child, what I last saw there was hardly a shadow of what they used to have. Not so sure I'd want them to "improve" VWL's playground design... might end up with a couple of planks in the sand.

That said, I think the water play area at Kidani qualifies as a playground - and it's pretty nice

 

[KLEONARD]

Do the other resorts have better equipment?

Barbara Butler designed the playgrounds at SSR. If you go to her sight at barbarabutler.com, you can search on fort saratoga and get a little history on the playground equipment at SSR.
We took our DN(ephew), 6yo, last October and he loved the playground by the Paddocks bus stop. It had a nice, safe climbing wall, slides, bridges and a cargo net. After he started to melt down in the villa I let him play for an hour . That playground brought him right back into his happy zone.

Kevin

 

[theww228]

There is basically a short slide at WL. On one end there is a set of steps and a short slide, the rest of the "equipment" is an elevated walkway and some bars that create another set of stairs. Pretty lame-o.

Now the picture of the SSR is what I would expect from a deluxe Disney resort. We are DVC members because we enjoy spending time at the resort and tend to take trips that are 1.5 to 2 weeks. Physical activity is important to our family and being in the cub's den or the arcade is not where we want our kids to hang out.

I don't think it needs to an amazing set-up, but I have seen more interesting equipment in private backyards.

BTW, I still LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the lodge!

 

[MichaelColey]

It's extremely basic (we have a considerably better play area in our back yard and we've never seen a park with anything as basic), but the kids didn't seem to mind. They asked to play on it one day while we were there.

 

[JaneSparrow]

Do the other resorts have better equipment?

Barbara Butler designed the playgrounds at SSR. If you go to her sight at barbarabutler.com, you can search on fort saratoga and get a little history on the playground equipment at SSR.
Kevin

Kevin, thanks for posting this. I will check it out. Although, it will probably be too hot when we go there in July. We are waitlisted at BLT (home resort but this is a last minute change) and I'm considering giving up on that waitlist. I requested Congress or Paddock area for the playground.

 

[mrsswat]

I don't remember even seeing a playground at BLT when we were there in August with DGS who is 2.