Railing at the Wilderness Lodge

[Disneylvr]

I promised DH I would ask this....but he is concerned about railing on the upper floors at the Wilderness Lodge and our daughter's safety. She has autism and elopes frequently and also likes to climb. For our next vacation we were considering CL at the WL to have a quiet place on the 7th floor for her to relax, grab a snack and some milk throughout the day... DH has been looking at the photos and thinks DD might be tempted to climb the railing if she sees something going on in the lobby. She is 7 years old (but very fast and has no fear) but we will be with her at all times. Any thoughts?

 

[christymarie]

You can take my advice for what it's worth but I have a 7yo who is an escaper and loves to climb and I would stay far away from the CL at WL. The planks are wide and inviting and I know my 7yo would love to climb them. We are currently in Orlando for the summer and he has already climbed up and over the balcony/loft area in the house we are renting. We now do not allow him upstairs unless he is going to bed.

I suppose if you put a good oven lock or sound device on your room door so you would know if she was getting out or to make sure she doesn't get out that would help but to be honest any benefit she would get from having a quiet place you would lose with the constant awareness of what she could be getting into.

Only you know your daughter and what she is able to handle but if your husband has voiced concerns I say listen to him and find someplace with a bit less enticement.

If you are wanting a place where she can feel at home have you considered renting from DVC? You can keep her favorite snacks in your own refrigerator and she can have her own room/space to go to when she needs to be alone. We usually do that when we are staying in Orlando for shorter periods of time then we are this summer and it works well for us. Just an option.

Feel free to pm me if you have more specific questions. Or ask them here, I'm open to sharing what has worked for us.

 

[Disneylvr]

Thanks, you have pretty much talked me out of the WL. My DD has stayed at Port Orleans Riverside (age 1), Contemporary garden wing (age 3), Polynesian w/complimentary upgrade to concierge building (age 4), CBR x2 (age 5 and 6). She also stayed one night at All Star Music this past trip. All have their pluses but for the resorts without boat or monorail access we drive to all the parks. The buses at standing room only capacity would not be a good thing for her. So for the is next trip we were considering a monorail resort or the WL with boat access to a monorail resort. Yes we have considered renting DVC points and staying in a villa but would that be less than say a garden wing room at the Contemporary?

 

[bookwormde]

I was concerned about WL and to be quite honest I was nto moer than 10' from my DS for the first day but he could see well without climbing so it was not an issue and we were on the 7th floor. Of course all of our kids are different so you know best.

bookwormde

 

[BillSears]

I'd be very worried. The balcony in my room looked like this:

 

[dclfun]

At least where our room was located on the 7th floor CL, the balconies were a solid wall. It made the room dark and as it is a small room to start with, it wasn't really very inviting. There is railing though out by the inner walkway close to where the CL food is served- I think that would make me even more nervous- that area is over the lobby.---Kathy

 

[BillSears]

Oops, just realized you were talking about the indoor railing.

Well the balcony pics might help too.

 

[poohnpigletCA]

I know you were asking about interior and not balconies but I had to share. We were on a higher floor and I was happy we had a solid balcony.

You can see the chairs are pushed up under the railing. I was changing our youngest when our oldest dd was on the balcony. In the 2 minutes I was in the room she had stepped on the seat and was sitting on the railing.

We immediately put the chairs up against the wall.

 

[Schmeck]

I would think the solid wall would be more inviting to climb up over, because the child would want to see what was on the other side.

 

[Disneylvr]

I think we have pretty much decided against the Wilderness Lodge. Now we are back to considering the moderates and renting a car like we usually do. Thanks for the advice everyone!