The NEW WL FAQ (Part 5) Simbas and Tiggers and Humphreys OH MY! Part 2

[Jaymie]

We leave for our first WL stay in 2 months & 6 days. I'm very excited. We'll be there from Jan 23-30/08.

 

[Liz]

we will be on our way to Disney exactly 4 weeks from right now

We'll be there about the same time because we leave 4 weeks from today!

 

[kallardnyc]

Are all the floors renovated? Are there any courtyard bunk bed rooms that are renovated?

Arriving on the 25th and have been upgraded to a courtyard bunk bed room, just wanted to know.

Thanks,
Kent Allard

 

[TheLodgeLady]

Are all the floors renovated? Are there any courtyard bunk bed rooms that are renovated?

Arriving on the 25th and have been upgraded to a courtyard bunk bed room, just wanted to know.

Thanks,
Kent Allard

Yes, all rooms have been renovated!!! Have a great trip.

 

[DJEd]

We returned this past Tuesday from 8 days/7 nights at WL. All I can say is wow!

Amazing hotel! We were in room 5041 - Courtyard View. It was on a corner - inside it was next to the window that looked down over the Artist Point. From the balcony we overlooked the pool with a great view of the lake. Almost perfect view of the parade each night. It was very quiet.

Mousekeeping was great. Room was spotless. We didn't have any shampoo when we arrived - so I dropped down to the concierges to request some (and additional towels and pillows) along with turndown service. About 15 minutes later, a full bag of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, gel, and soap was delivered. Enough for the whole week and then some! We also received extra towels the rest of the trip.

It was also going to be my daughters birthday in a couple of weeks (and my other daughter's birthday just passed). It was noted on my reservation - and they confirmed at check in. Both got birthday buttons, and about 30 minutes after we checked it, a balloon and card signed by Mickey & Minnie arrived. A very nice touch!

No turndown service the first two nights - although I think it was due to us being in the room around 6pm. The rest of the trip we weren't in the room at that time and we had turndown service.

We received towel animals three nights (after I left a little note on the Mousekeeping tip envelope I left each morning). The first was two big towel swans. The next two days were smaller towel cats - with the last one holding one of those Mickey Ears balloons inside a balloon. They gave us that balloon as part of the display, which was very nice. My 5 yr (almost 6) old really liked seeing that.

Note: On the day we left, we took the balloon with us - knowing we couldn't take it on the airplane (at least I assumed we couldn't) - but we saw a family just arriving when we were dropping off the car at the airport and we gave it to them. They were very appreciative.

We were in the pool just about every day (and some nights - hot tub came in handy on those nights). Pool wasn't very crowded - did some pool games, and swam with the ducks most days (they didn't get in the way and my kids loved it).

Ate at Whispering Canyon our first night. We thought the food was really good, and had a great time. Server, I believe, was Dusty Road.

Roaring Forks was also good. Had a few breakfasts and some snacks. Also bought a burger one night. I can see what people mean about it being too small - but the lines moved really well.

Transportation was fine as well. Did the boat a number of times (both morning and in the evening). Only did the bus to Epcot and MK. We drove to MGM and Animal Kingdom. Also did the boat to Fort Wilderness to walk around a bit. Longest wait was 20 minutes for a bus one morning to MK. Other than that, it was 10 minutes or less. Same for the boat.

We did valet for about half of the week (on nights when we were getting back late and the kids were asleep or about to fall asleep). Great service, no billing problems. Also found out that if you park on say a Wed. night, but don't pick up until Friday morning, you only get charged for one night -at least that is how it worked out for us. The self-service lot isn't that far a walk, but at night with tired kids (and parents), valet is great!

We were on DDP and that worked out great. Actually had some credits left, so we stopped at All-Start Movies for lunch on the way home. Nice Food Court there - a lot more selection that at Roaring Forks.

On DDP we did Whispering Canyon, 1900 Park Fare (dinner & breakfast), Corel Reef, Teppen Edo, Mama Melrose (Fantasmic Package) & Hollywood & Vine for breakfast. All were really good - no service problems. Drinks were filled without asking, service was quick without being rushed. Best meal was probably Corel Reef (with Teppen Edo a close second). Least favorite was Mama Melrose. It was a fine restaurant, but someone has to be last

Despite a lot of negative reviews, I found 1900 Park Fare to be fine for both dinner and breakfast. The food at dinner was no where near as bad as recent reviews stated - although the prime rib was VERY rare. Only real disappointment was that they no longer have peel -n- eat shrimp at dinner. Breakfast was great as they had smoked salmon.

This was our second stay onsite. First was two years ago at CBR. While I liked CBR, I enjoyed the WL much more.

I hope to have some pictures up soon. Any questions - just ask!

 

[Poohbear123]

Thanks for the review, I will be arriving for the FIRST time in 78 Days! I can hardly WAIT!

 

[TheLodgeLady]

DJEd,

Thanks for such a detailed review. So glad you had a great time.

 

[sewer]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I've noticed some references to standard WL rooms being over the "smokehouse". What does this mean exactly? Is this really a smokehouse for cooking food or is it just the name for something else? Can fumes be smelled in the rooms? We are currently booked with a standard view for our next trip. We don't care much about the view itself, but my DH has asthma and can't be breathing smoke all night, do I need to make a special request to be away from this area?

Thanks!

It is a smokehouse for cooking, and no you won't have a problem with smoke in your room.

 

[mickeyrickey]

8 days Jan 9. First time at WL . Room is deluxe/club. Any info? Any room or area to requests?
Thanks

 

[Mommymcgee]

It is a smokehouse for cooking, and no you won't have a problem with smoke in your room.

Thanks!

 

[feet1]

getting closer and closer to our first time staying at WL!
Only 22 days, 17 hours, 32 minutes and 4 seconds!

Thanks for the wonderful review DJEd!

 

[GatorEye]

Getting ready for our trip back home next month and I need your help!!! Is there anyone who has just returned who can tell me if they have the Christmas Mickey plushes out yet and if so can you describe them. Basically I want to know if they are the same as the ones from last year. I already have two from last year so if they are the same I don't want to preorder the same ones. I like to have them waiting in the room for my kids when we checkin. Below is the picture of what I have. Can anyone tell me if they have seen the ones for this year and whether or not they are the same AND if you have a picture of the new ones that would be fantastic!

Thanks!

 

[Liz]

DJEd I enjoyed your review very much! Thanks for taking the time to share it with us! I hope we get a room just as great as yours!!

 

[GatorEye]

Does anyone by chance have a picture of the small Christmas trees they sell at the mercantile (the IPO says it is $40 and is 15 inches tall, but I would like to see what it looks like if possible).

I was thinking of getting one for the room. The big one from Disney Florist looks nice, but that is way more than I want to spend.

 

[julie007]

Valet. Also found out that if you park on say a Wed. night, but don't pick up until Friday morning, you only get charged for one night -at least that is how it worked out for us. The self-service lot isn't that far a walk, but at night with tired kids (and parents), valet is great!

Valet is great! I think you got some pixie dust though. We have always gotten charged daily even if we didn't get the car.

 

[julie007]

Oh my gosh tomorrow we will be under the 20 day mark. Then the count down to the single digitis!!!

 

[Clutterbug]

We returned this past Tuesday from 8 days/7 nights at WL. All I can say is wow!

Thanks for the great review! Please do post some pictures!!

 

[scrapnmom]

We just returned from our week at WL. We liked it well enough but won't stay there again. I was very surprised by the crowds this week, and the hotel seemed pretty full.

Our room was 3025, courtyard view with bunkbeds (we didn't request bunkbeds but ds loved it). The outside tables for Roaring Forks were below our balcony so I felt funny sitting on the balcony because people were always looking up at us! It was definitely NOT quiet. The house music at the pool started at 8 am (not sure what time it turned off but it was off by the time we went to bed). My 2 year old still needs a nap and the combination of the music and the din of all the people outside made it too noisy for her to settle down.

It seemed like there were constantly people talking in the hallway which we could hear so clearly in our room. It's a big difference being in a hotel with interior hallways vs. exterior like the POR (there, we never heard anything from outside). The lobby was always busy.

The room was very clean when we checked in and housekeeping did a nice job for the week. We never saw any shower gel which I saw on this thread, just bath and facial soaps and shampoo/conditioner/lotion bottles.

We had a car which we self-parked and it really wasn't that far away at all. We took the boat to the MK which was very enjoyable. If it went directly there it only took 7 minutes. We only took the bus once, to Epcot, and it stopped at Ft. Wilderness and there was a person in a scooter so it took us over 30 mins before we got to Epcot. We decided it was easier to drive ourselves to the rest of the parks.

The kids really enjoyed the pool and also digging in the sand on the beach.

That's all I can think of for now.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

sorry you didn't enjoy the Lodge.

 

[Clutterbug]

We just returned from our week at WL. We liked it well enough but won't stay there again. I was very surprised by the crowds this week, and the hotel seemed pretty full.

The crowds were probably due to the Veteran's Day holiday. Our kids had a couple of extra days off from school for a mini break so I'm thinking that maybe other areas do this as well.

I can understand what you were saying about the noise. I think how much outside noise you hear is quite subjective and certainly depends on how much noise you have around you at home. We live in the country, pretty far back on a quiet road. I'm sure my family will notice a lot more noise at night than someone who comes from a much busier area.