Question About Complaint- Wilderness Lodge Dock Closure

[foodiddiedoo]

I am normally not a complainer at all, but I recently added on to my DVC with another 170 point contract. I waited until the 7th month mark and used all the banked points from the contract, did a points transfer with someone, and used up all of my 2025 points to swap to Cascade Cabins at Copper Creek for the last 3 nights of our upcoming January trip. As you know the points are astronomical, but this is a one time deal for us. I just found out after all of this that the dock will be under refurbishment for our entire stay. I am not a bus person…we rent a car for every trip down and drive to the parks we can’t take Monorail/boat/Skyliner to. Do I have any leg to stand on to request any of my points back for this? I know it’s not a huge deal but it really is disappointing to me, and the 3 nights at the cabin is almost 2x as expensive as our 5 nights at BLT prior. If I did have a leg to stand on, how do I go about complaining? Do I do it at the front desk when I check in, do I do it with member services now? We’re less than 50 days out till our trip and because I used banked points I don’t think I can actually make any modifications. Plus we were all beyond excited to stay in the cabin…now not as much.

 

[fla4fun]

I am normally not a complainer at all, but I recently added on to my DVC with another 170 point contract. I waited until the 7th month mark and used all the banked points from the contract, did a points transfer with someone, and used up all of my 2025 points to swap to Cascade Cabins at Copper Creek for the last 3 nights of our upcoming January trip. As you know the points are astronomical, but this is a one time deal for us. I just found out after all of this that the dock will be under refurbishment for our entire stay. I am not a bus person…we rent a car for every trip down and drive to the parks we can’t take Monorail/boat/Skyliner to. Do I have any leg to stand on to request any of my points back for this? I know it’s not a huge deal but it really is disappointing to me, and the 3 nights at the cabin is almost 2x as expensive as our 5 nights at BLT prior. If I did have a leg to stand on, how do I go about complaining? Do I do it at the front desk when I check in, do I do it with member services now? We’re less than 50 days out till our trip and because I used banked points I don’t think I can actually make any modifications. Plus we were all beyond excited to stay in the cabin…now not as much.

Was your reservation made before or after they announced the refurbishment? If it was made before, then I think you have a better chance at some sort of compensation than if you made the reservation afterwards. If you made the reservation afterwards it’s basically a confirmation that you accept that the boats would not be running, even if you personally didn’t see the announcement until later. The first I see of this announcement was on November 19th, so fairly recent. I would contact them as soon as possible if you haven’t already.

You mention five nights at BLT. Are they on the same trip? If so, I would plan to go to MK on those days and go to parks you would be driving to anyway on your cabin days.

 

[Brian Noble]

Do I have any leg to stand on to request any of my points back for this?

Well, I know the outcome if you don't ask. But, I also think that's the outcome if you do. "Please give me points back" is something that I have to imagine DVC is very very reluctant to do for a whole host of reasons.

I think if it were me, I'd go with one of two options. Option one: see if there is something else you could book for those three days that you'd enjoy, freeing up some points for some other use--and maybe even just to bank them. Option two: Keep it, and express how disappointed you are when you check in and see if they offer anything. That latter is a bit of a shot in the dark, and I would not expect anything to come of it. If anything does, it will be e.g. a dining credit or something similar to that.

 

[VGCgroupie]

When you say give my points back what do you mean?

Prior to calling MS I would see what there is left GV wise you can trade into.

 

[FreeTime]

I don’t understand the issue. You said you always rent a car to drive to the parks. So why do you care that the dock is closed?

 

[foodiddiedoo]

I don’t understand the issue. You said you always rent a car to drive to the parks. So why do you care that the dock is closed?

I don't drive to Magic Kingdom, if I'm staying at a boat or monorail resort.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

Was your reservation made before or after they announced the refurbishment? If it was made before, then I think you have a better chance at some sort of compensation than if you made the reservation afterwards. If you made the reservation afterwards it’s basically a confirmation that you accept that the boats would not be running, even if you personally didn’t see the announcement until later. The first I see of this announcement was on November 19th, so fairly recent. I would contact them as soon as possible if you haven’t already.

You mention five nights at BLT. Are they on the same trip? If so, I would plan to go to MK on those days and go to parks you would be driving to anyway on your cabin days.

Yes I made the reservation 5 months ago when the 7 month window opened. Usually if there's a closure (like the Skyliner) they announce it months or years in advance so you can choose not to stay there. This is a very last minute closure announcement by Disney standards. We already have all our park days planned out and have dining reservations so I wasn't planning to swap anything this close to our trip.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

When you say give my points back what do you mean?

Prior to calling MS I would see what there is left GV wise you can trade into.

I have seen on the boards that people were refunded a few points back per night for a problem with a room or an inconvenience or closure. I don't want a full refund, I was just wondering if I could get something like 10 points per night refunded out of the 100 plus it is every night? I don't complain and I never ask for refunds but this was a last second closure that's not even showing up on the DVC booking page.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I have seen on the boards that people were refunded a few points back per night for a problem with a room or an inconvenience or closure. I don't want a full refund, I was just wondering if I could get something like 10 points per night refunded out of the 100 plus it is every night? I don't complain and I never ask for refunds but this was a last second closure that's not even showing up on the DVC booking page.

I see. I dont think that is something that would be done up front. Thats more of an unexpected thing happened during your stay type thing. But I could be very wrong about that.

 

[intamin]

I don't see them doing a partial refund of your stay at this point. Like @VGCgroupie said, I've heard of them giving points back as if you had stayed in a lower room category when for some reason the room is not satisfactory upon check in. Like if you paid for a TPV and then had a tree right in the middle of your view which I think happened at a specific room at VGF they would refund you the difference.

I would not expect them to give you a refund at this point. If it really is that big of a deal, I would try to switch rooms. Maybe even just try and bump up to a bungalow or something.

 

[Judique]

If you qualify for a points refund, all rooms should qualify. Doubt that's going to happen.

A bus is a reasonable alternative for most, but I can understand if you aren't a bus person. I'm not a Skyliner person.

Someone suggested you do all your MK while at BLT - good advice!

What meals are impacted/ in MK during your three days at the cabins?

It's a pretty short bus ride to MK from Wilderness Lodge. That said if you don't ride buses, other options might be a minnie van, uber, taxi. I also would not want to have to park in the MK lot using your rental - it's inconvenient. Maybe you could get alternate transport for a special dinner that you can't change easily.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

If you qualify for a points refund, all rooms should qualify. Doubt that's going to happen.

A bus is a reasonable alternative for most, but I can understand if you aren't a bus person. I'm not a Skyliner person.

Someone suggested you do all your MK while at BLT - good advice!

What meals are impacted/ in MK during your three days at the cabins?

It's a pretty short bus ride to MK from Wilderness Lodge. That said if you don't ride buses, other options might be a minnie van, uber, taxi. I also would not want to have to park in the MK lot using your rental - it's inconvenient. Maybe you could get alternate transport for a special dinner that you can't change easily.

Yep, honestly I'm not even sure my thought was reasonable! That's why I came here first. I just really love riding the boat from Wilderness over to the MK and was unreasonably disappointed when my husband told me about the dock closure.
At this point I only have one dinner at MK I don't want to reschedule, but do have Snow White dining on a MK day while we're staying there. I'll just suck it up and take the bus on that day.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

I don't see them doing a partial refund of your stay at this point. Like @VGCgroupie said, I've heard of them giving points back as if you had stayed in a lower room category when for some reason the room is not satisfactory upon check in. Like if you paid for a TPV and then had a tree right in the middle of your view which I think happened at a specific room at VGF they would refund you the difference.

I would not expect them to give you a refund at this point. If it really is that big of a deal, I would try to switch rooms. Maybe even just try and bump up to a bungalow or something.

This is exactly the type of story I wanted to hear. Seems like doing any complaining wouldn't really matter and because I find it difficult to complain, I should just suck it up and deal.
My parents are coming with us and are National Park fans and cabin fans so they wouldn't want to move to Poly Bungalows (plus I don't have an extra 150 points lying around for how much more those are per night ).

 

[airjay75]

I'll just say I do sympathize with you. I'm staying in a CCV 1 BR 1/31-2/7 (which luckily appears to be just after the dock reopens). But, when I booked, there were no warnings about anything happening at the resort - now, there is the dock refurbishment and the exterior refurbishment. I will contrast this with BLT, which I specifically did not book for this trip because of the notice on the booking website that the BLT pool would be closed for refurbishment. It is frustrating that they could not have had these notices up at least 7 months in advance if not more. Other resorts seem to be able to do that (although I'm sure that isn't always the case). I'd be especially frustrated spending the points on a cabin and the dock actually being closed during our stay - I think that would be enough to get me to either (a) complain at check-in and/or write in to MS, or (b) consider staying elsewhere if I could find anything. It doesn't sound like you really want to look at staying elsewhere - if you did, it would probably be worth a call to MS if you couldn't find anywhere on your own.

That said, for our trip, I'm just hoping for the best, and not worrying about it too much otherwise. And, you know, that's never a bad way to go either. Now, if I get a room with scaffolding covering the balcony, yes, I will be complaining . Seems like recent reports show the scaffolding coming down, and I'm not sure they have even been putting people in any of those rooms, so, again, staying optimistic.

 

[Mle8308]

I'll just say I do sympathize with you. I'm staying in a CCV 1 BR 1/31-2/7 (which luckily appears to be just after the dock reopens). But, when I booked, there were no warnings about anything happening at the resort - now, there is the dock refurbishment and the exterior refurbishment. I will contrast this with BLT, which I specifically did not book for this trip because of the notice on the booking website that the BLT pool would be closed for refurbishment. It is frustrating that they could not have had these notices up at least 7 months in advance if not more. Other resorts seem to be able to do that (although I'm sure that isn't always the case). I'd be especially frustrated spending the points on a cabin and the dock actually being closed during our stay - I think that would be enough to get me to either (a) complain at check-in and/or write in to MS, or (b) consider staying elsewhere if I could find anything. It doesn't sound like you really want to look at staying elsewhere - if you did, it would probably be worth a call to MS if you couldn't find anywhere on your own.

That said, for our trip, I'm just hoping for the best, and not worrying about it too much otherwise. And, you know, that's never a bad way to go either. Now, if I get a room with scaffolding covering the balcony, yes, I will be complaining . Seems like recent reports show the scaffolding coming down, and I'm not sure they have even been putting people in any of those rooms, so, again, staying optimistic.

There have been notices about the ongoing construction at the WL posted on the Disney site for well over a year. We stayed late summer (2024) and this summer (2025) and knew about the construction. Now the boat dock refurbishment is a new announcement, it is now posted on the site. It's not ideal (and I will be there for part of the time) however, it's closed for just 2 weeks and it only affects transportation to the MK. Busses are available (as they have always been) and they are very efficient - actually faster than the boats. Not as enjoyable, but if you are booking the WL for only the boat to the MK... FW, GF, PVR all have boats, too. Hopefully all the scaffolding covering the interior courtyard rooms at CCV is gone by your trip. Reports have indicated they are finishing up, but who knows where they are going next?

 

[airjay75]

There have been notices about the ongoing construction at the WL posted on the Disney site for well over a year. We stayed late summer (2024) and this summer (2025) and knew about the construction. Now the boat dock refurbishment is a new announcement, it is now posted on the site. It's not ideal (and I will be there for part of the time) however, it's closed for just 2 weeks and it only affects transportation to the MK. Busses are available (as they have always been) and they are very efficient - actually faster than the boats. Not as enjoyable, but if you are booking the WL for only the boat to the MK... FW, GF, PVR all have boats, too. Hopefully all the scaffolding covering the interior courtyard rooms at CCV is gone by your trip. Reports have indicated they are finishing up, but who knows where they are going next?

https://blogmickey.com/2025/11/wilderness-lodge-exterior-refurbishment-late-2026/

The formal extension into 2026 was recent. I guess I may have dismissed the warning before because there was no mention of 2026. I think it could have more clearly have stated something to make clear it is not known when the external refurbishment will be finished to let people know they're taking a risk it will not yet be done.

Regardless, like I said, I'm not really too worked up about it - still very much looking forward to my stay.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

https://blogmickey.com/2025/11/wilderness-lodge-exterior-refurbishment-late-2026/

The formal extension into 2026 was recent. I guess I may have dismissed the warning before because there was no mention of 2026. I think it could have more clearly have stated something to make clear it is not known when the external refurbishment will be finished to let people know they're taking a risk it will not yet be done.

Regardless, like I said, I'm not really too worked up about it - still very much looking forward to my stay.

So I did reach out to MS to see why they didn't put it on the page and they claimed it probably was an emergency (that needed to be solved 2 months from now?) and offered to move me to OKW as it was the only resort with a 2 bedroom or GV left. I politely declined.

 

[VGCgroupie]

So I did reach out to MS to see why they didn't put it on the page and they claimed it probably was an emergency (that needed to be solved 2 months from now?) and offered to move me to OKW.

Cabins with a bus vs OKW with a bus... I'll see you in hot tub at the cabin any day!

 

[intamin]

So I did reach out to MS to see why they didn't put it on the page and they claimed it probably was an emergency (that needed to be solved 2 months from now?) and offered to move me to OKW as it was the only resort with a 2 bedroom or GV left. I politely declined.

Yikes yeahhhhh just forget the parks the last 3 days and prune up in the hot tub the whole time