Ready for flames -- we hated the WL!

[Pig Pen]

We stayed in the 4th floor room directly above WCC and it didn't bother us, nor did the lobby noise. In fact, we propped our door open and commandeered the two rocking chairs in the walkway overlooking the lobby and kind of made it our own "private" balcony.

We had the same view as the OP, but it was too cold to sit on the balcony anyway. We had fabulous views of Wishes though.

We had towel animals EVERY DAY! We just love the lodge. And I was really expecting not to since we are from Vermont and it is very similar in atmosphere to "home." But we still loved it.

 

[agnes!]

One of the best CMs that I have *EVER* had the pleasure to deal with is at Wilderness Lodge...Sandra at the Wilderness Lodge Pin Cart/Lobby area. She really made our last trip memorable...but *after* we got home!
I wrote an e-mail extolling her praises to WDW Guest Communications. When I filled out my online survey about our WDW resort stay, I said that Sandra was one of the absolutely best things about our entire Wilderness Lodge experience.

agnes!
PS - I might even get some "What Would Walt Do"(WWWD) pins and give her one...she certainly deserves it!

 

[Gary M]

Most people love the Poly, but DW and I had a horrible stay there 5 or 6 years ago and will not go back there if we were given the room free. The good thing is that WDW has so many different resorts that a person has a good selection. We have stayed at WL 19 times and love the place. What few problems we have had at WL we have have talked to management and things have been corrected immediately. We have switched rooms, have had plumbing worked on, light bulbs replaced, extra pillows, drapes repaired, etc. without any problems. All hotels that I stay in I ask them to repair or replace anything that doesn't work properly in the room. If management doesn't know about the problems, they don't know to fix them. It appears that most people that stay in the rooms before us just ignore the problems. This is not a lecture, but just the way I do things at hotels now and it makes our stays much better. Smoking isn't allowed on the balcony of non-smoking rooms at WL, but this was probably minor in the scheme of things.

As I said we disliked the Poly while most people love it and I can see how this could happen to a person at the WL. I truly hope your next WDW stay is at a resort that makes-up for your bad experience at the WL. Good luck.

 

[chyam]

I am a WL devotee but I too have noticed that things have gone somewhat down hill. I stayed there at three different times in 2004, on one visit I was on the 4th floor overlooking the pool but closer to Artists Point and Roaring Forks.........every morning at 6am they cleaned the little eating area outside sliding those metal chairs on the cement, then one fine morning at 12 am they decided to clean the windows of Artists Point with a pressure washer no less and a lift that went beep beep beep! This went on for several hours, I did complain to management but it really did little or no good. On another occasion I was offered an upgrade to conceige, since I have never done that I jumped at the chance, but what I didn't realize is that I gave up a courtyard view room for a room view of the service entrance and the smoke house. Although I LOVE the WL and the surroundings, I am going to try some different resorts this year, I really think it is a management problem and also that the resort itself was built 10 years ago to be a upper moderate not a deluxe. Also since the pool area is small it is hard to accomadate a lot of kids and adults also wanting to enjoy some leisure time at the pool, but I LOVE the decor. Roaring Forks I always thought had pretty good food, but I don't like the fact that now you have to wait for everything to be cooked, during peak hours before they had some of the hot meals already prepared which helped with the crowding in there..........and the coffee is horrible!!! You would think at a deluxe you could get some Starbucks or at least something drinkable!

 

[Gillian]

Thank you for sharing! I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. It's hard to say you didn't like a resort, especially one with as many fans as the Wilderness Lodge!

I can understand not wanting to move after you've settled in a little, and when you're travelling with a larger group. And how could you know how noisy it would be at night? All night?!!

I always travel with ear plugs because I know there are noises you can't control - other people's kids, DH's snoring, DS's snoring, etc. I'm very sensitive to certain noises, which is somehow tied to my hearing loss, I've been told. I've been thinking of getting a white noise machine just for Disney (& travelling with my MIL, who also snores! )

 

[Meezers]

Thank you so much for your post. We have been to WDW 3 times in the last 2 years.

First time...CSR....painting everywhere but otherwise okay...except for the huge distances to walk...would not stay there again

Second time...POFQ....this was so bad I don't even want to talk about it....nasty people....nasty pool....

Third time....Pop....Very pleasant surprise! Great room....great view...great neighbors (we made friends and exchanged pins!) Towel animals for the very first time!

We are lucky that we are a 3 adult family and can go in the value season. I don't think we will ever go from April-October again!

We did make sure when we checked into Pop to ask for the "old fogey quiet rooms"!

 

[eeyore0062]

I am so sorry that you weren't impressed with WL. We have stayed there, as well... and although we love the lobby, restaurants and the pool, we weren't impressed with the room size or the decor of the rooms... too dark. We never had any problems with the castmembers, they were great, even calling the 1st night to see if there was anything that we needed. We had paid for a pool view and were a bit disappointed when the pool we could see in the far distance was the quiet pool, but it was quiet there.


I have read on other threads complaints about the noise in the rooms over Whispering Canyon... whispering it definitely is not. I know it is a pain to move, but I think that they extra hour that it would have taken would have saved you a couple of days of dissatisfaction.

 

[swatts1]

No flames here! My stay in Oct. 2003 was a disappointment as well. The rooms were cramped in comparison to other deluxe resorts and we felt that the hotel was too remote. Thank goodness we had a rental car. It helps people to make a decision when they have a chance to hear the good and the bad.

 

[Ellen aka Snow White]

I also think we learned something about our family style. We don't need to take the theme parks home with us at the end of the day. I can see how people love the many activities and noise and such at the WL, but if you don't want it, there is no escaping it.

This is the reason we love the campgound so much! When you go back to your cabin/site you are away from all the noise and activity.

 

[jacobatt1]

I'm so sorry you had a bad time! It is so disappointing to be on vacation and have to deal with all that!

Just for reference, when we stayed at WL in 2004, we had a room that overlooked the lobby, but was ACROSS the lobby from Whispering Canyon. We did not hear a sound once we closed our door! We went in May. The upside to being in the lobby area is how easy it is to get everywhere--we loved that location. I wonder if most of the noise just comes from the restaurant itself? And so staying on that side would be louder? Just an idea for those travelling to WL.

Sorry again that your stay wasn't great.

Amy

 

[FromVatoDisney]

I think this thread should be forwarded to WL management. I don't know how to do that, but if someone tells me how, I'll do it.

 

[Candy]

i stayed at W L JULY 2003 i payed for a pool view but all we could see was trees.most of the cms were fine but one lady cm on the front desk was so off with us. you would have thought she was paying us to stay at the hotel not the other way round.we went to Whispering canyon and our server was so rude. thought it might just be us being to picky.but he was rude to the peaple on the next table also.it has not put us off WDW hotels. we have since stayed at the beach club. and i can say the beach club is great.

 

[vbarry]

We just returned from the WL last Sunday. We did not have any problem with the noise, but we were on the 5th floor overlooking the pool area...but we moved three times to get this room!!! (even though we paid for a courtyard view)

The transportation was great.

The problem is the room. It is very small and very dark. I could not wait to get out of it every morning. With two children it was just not enough room.

Also, being from Illinois, we are used to this type of accomodation. It just does not have the Florida feel you are looking for when you travel in February.

I am sorry you had a bad time. We are going to try the Poly or BC next time!

 

[Minniemom97]

While it is a nice resort, just not my cup of tea. I prefer WL. Wouldn't we be boring if we all had the same tastes?

 

[Arielle22]

My family stayed at Wl in 8/03. We were there the last week of the month. My dd's loved the bunk beds. Our room was courtyard view. I loved sitting on the balconey and looking out at the lake (which was to the right). The room was dark but I considered that part of decor.

I did notice children running the corridors. In fact my then 9 yrd old asked me "didn't their parents teach them not to disturb the other guests?" Which made me laugh. I guess all those talks about polite behavior sunk in.

We are working our way through the resorts. So while we loved WL, we hope to stay at BWI in Nov.

 

[Dis2times]

We just returned from the WL last Sunday. We did not have any problem with the noise, but we were on the 5th floor overlooking the pool area...but we moved three times to get this room!!! (even though we paid for a courtyard view)

The transportation was great.

The problem is the room. It is very small and very dark. I could not wait to get out of it every morning. With two children it was just not enough room.

Also, being from Illinois, we are used to this type of accomodation. It just does not have the Florida feel you are looking for when you travel in February.

I am sorry you had a bad time. We are going to try the Poly or BC next time!

It's funny how that differs. Where I'm from, I get SO sick of the CS-type theme. We get that EVERYWHERE here. And we're not too far from the coastal areas, so the whole OKW, CB theming just doesn't appeal to us. The furthest thing from what we get year round as far as theming goes is WL. So I think where you live really makes a difference on the appeal of a theme.

 

[ILoveWDW2003]

I think this thread should be forwarded to WL management. I don't know how to do that, but if someone tells me how, I'll do it.

Actually, the best advice is to notify management when you are there and the issues are fresh in your mind - and they can do something about it then.

 

[wilderness01]

I need to further my post.....

I do think it matters what location/view you are in. During our summer stay we were upgraded to a courtyard view and loved it. It was so quiet and peaceful. The view was wonderful. Surprisingly, our transportation during the summer was better than during the "off season", if there truly is one anymore! We had such a long bus wait during our last trip (offseason) that people were getting downright hostile. We were standing there maybe 20 minutes but the people around us said they were standing there for over 60! There was one lady on the telephone by the bus stop that was complaining to someone about the wait and where the bus was. She was told to go inside and complain to the frontdesk. She came back to where we were and said no way was she going to do this as what if the bus came when she was gone. I had a cellphone with the frontdesk keyed in so I called them. They telephoned someone and then instructed me that we were to take the next bus pulling up to TTC and switch to the monorail to Epcot. I repeated this and I thought there was going to be a riot. People were yelling to the lady on the other end of my cellphone! She told me this was the best she could do and if we didn't want to do this then we could wait longer! How is that for trying to resolve a problem from the frontdesk of WL. I know it is not their problem if there is a transportation problem but she could have been more helpful. I told her this was unacceptable and asked to speak to a transportation manager so she transferred me to them. Within 6 minutes an Epcot bus arrived. Why did I have to ask? Why couldn't she have tried to handle this for me? Like I posted before, our trip wasn't ruined but there were many glitches. I also agree that this would be an upper moderate and not truly a deluxe. Just my opinion.

 

[Dis2times]

Just curious...

if WL were priced and labeled an "upper moderate," would the things posted as problems be nearly as upsetting?

Just wondering.

 

[kkozma]

I read your review and it sounds like a review I would have written after my only stay at WL. We were in the same exact location and it was noisy. We looked out at the service area and smelled the smoky smell in our room form the food all day. The pool in November gets very little sun as it goes down behind the building in the early afternoon. Swimming was risky after the pool was in the shade. I live in Maine so the trpoical feel of Florida is what I want to experience when I am there. So our choice is now Poly. Thanks for reaffirming my thoughts from our trip...