Pros/Cons of ground floor rooms at Wilderness Lodge?

[fla4fun]

You don't have to have a ground floor room. My personal preference when traveling with a non-elevator person is a second floor room in the south wing. The lobby is elevated, so the second floor hallway is actually on the same level as the lobby and comes out right across from the gift shop. It's super convenient for the buses too.

 

[Elleshoodat]

I feel like having a ground floor room was one of the things that made us hate WL. We requested a king bed, and the only room they had left was a handicap room on the ground floor. It was a trek from the lobby, which was no big deal, but it was this horrible little corner room on the ground floor that felt so cramped to get to.

I'm sure they updated the decor since then (this was 2010), but it was terrible! The bathroom looked like something from a dorm. Anyway, back to being on the ground floor, there were ants coming in from the patio, we overlooked a smelly swamp (it STUNK), and heard a boat horn every two seconds, which was SO LOUD. It constantly made us jump. I'm assuming it was the ferry to MK (we didn't see it, or the lake, just the swamp).

Hopefully the ground floor experience has gotten better since then. We ended up switching to Beach Club (we couldn't take it), and we LOVED it. Neither of us can muster up the courage to give WL another shot. And I have to say, recently, we stayed at Boardwalk with a Boardwalk view and LOVED the sounds from our balcony, but didn't hear a thing inside the room. I don't know what it was about WL. I guess it's just not for us but I would definitely try to stick with a second floor room!

I could've written most of this post! We stayed on the ground floor at Wilderness Lodge a couple of years ago and hated it. I want to give the resort another chance because so many people love it, but I can't shake the memories of the dark room next to the mosquito-producing pond. It felt like we were cut off from civilization.

 

[reddog]

Thanks for the on-going opinions -

So...I looked closer at some photos and I see what some are saying about the second floor being attached to the lobby - that's why I wondered if ground level was similar to basement level (I realize it's not an actual basement though). So, besides elevator access to the lobby from the ground floor do you walk up a ramp to the lobby (like over by Roaring Forks) or stairs?

Just curious...