The WL: Finally figure it out

[maya44]

I think I finally figured out what has bugged me so much about our stay at the WL.

It's a Deluxe and most of them have some great transporation advantage (e.g. CR...walk to MK, Poly...walk to TTC....BC...walk to Epcot)

THe AKL does not, but its fairly easy to see that it is away from stuff and that transportation is not going to be its strong suit.

But the WL "appears" to be in the middle of it all. Sooooo close to the MK and the TTC...but those darn boats are annoying, non-dependable and often take you out of your way.

So that's it...I guess for us great transport is our number ONE priority. I am sure for others they don't care. But for us...we have to have that to be happy.

 

[Nolcrest]

At least you were able to figure it out. Now it should be easier for you when you book future stays because you'll know what is important to you.

 

[ADisneygirl]

I think I read on here somewhere once that WL and AKL were originally going to be mods. I know the rooms have queen beds, but they seemed a little smaller than any standard room we get at BWI. I guess that and the fact that they are not within walking distance of a park or on the monorail makes them the cheapest deluxes. Still, we love the WL and AKL for their special ambience and uniqueness.

For us, BWI is the nicest resort. But the transportation to MK is by bus, and it's shared. Not the greatest, but to get to Epcot and MGM the location can't be beat.

I would say that the original monorail resorts have the best transportation.

 

[bicker]

Wilderness Lodge actually was the first in a new class of resort, that Disney called "First Class" -- inserted between Deluxe and Moderate. What happened was that they created a hotel that had a location that wasn't quite as good as the rest of the Deluxes, but had what guests considered a far better theming than anything they had ever seen before. The combination of mildly lower location value and substantially higher theming value resulted in a situation where, on average, guests preferred Wilderness Lodge over a good portion of the Contemporary Resort, which had always been considered a Deluxe. The distinction between First Class and Deluxe was blurred, because guests made it clear that the Wilderness Lodge was well-placed in the same category with the rest of the Deluxes. However, if you look closely at the pricing, you'll see that there is still a clear distinction -- the only difference was that the Garden Wings of the Contemporary, as long as they were offered, were placed in the same First Class category. When Animal Kingdom was designed, they actually designed a hybrid resort, part First Class, part Deluxe.


Edited to add -- Case-in-point regarding the placement of Wilderness Lodge along with the Deluxes in the minds of guests: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=931489

 

[maya44]

When Animal Kingdom was designed, they actually designed a hybrid resort, part First Class, part Deluxe.

Very Interesting!


Which part of the AK is FC vs Deluxe. Is the only diff the pricing?

 

[bicker]

There are actually two different sizes for the rooms at AKL.

 

[Sammie]

I would agree the monorail resorts are great for transportation to MK, and OK to Epcot but how are they great to MGM and AK over any other resort relying on buses including values.

I think that there is a transportation misconception about all Disney resorts. Bascially if one times their travel time from the moment they arrive at the station be it monorail, bus, or boat there is very little difference overall between any of the resorts whether they are deluxe or value.

I think that because one can see a park from one's resort there is a perception of the transportation being better kinda an oasis affect.

This summer we were caught in a horrible thunder/lightening storm at the International Gateway to the YC and I would have been very glad to be on a bus to any value resort.

If one is evaluating distances to all 4 parks OKW and All Stars are the most centrally located. Yet both at times are critized for being close to nothing.

 

[bicker]

There is no question that OKW, and CBR (but not All Stars) are the most centrally-located, and have the lowest average overall transportation time. However, the MK resorts and the Epcot resort do distinguish themselves with remarkably low transportation times for some specific park(s), and that's definitely worth quite a lot. I tend to plan my stays around which park I plan to spend the most time at.

 

[Sammie]

There is no question that OKW, and CBR (but not All Stars) are the most centrally-located, and have the lowest average overall transportation time. However, the MK resorts and the Epcot resort do distinguish themselves with remarkably low transportation times for some specific park(s), and that's definitely worth quite a lot. I tend to plan my stays around which park I plan to spend the most time at.

Based on the distance from the resorts to the parks I would say All Stars is comparable.

CARIBBEAN BEACH:
Magic Kingdom: 6 miles
Epcot: 1 mile
Disney MGM Studios: 2 miles
Animal Kingdom: 6 miles

OLD KEY WEST:
Magic Kingdom: 5 miles
Epcot: 1 mile
Disney MGM Studios: 3 miles
Animal Kingdom: 7 miles

ALL STARS
Magic Kingdom: 7 miles
Epcot: 4 miles
Disney MGM Studios: 2 miles
Animal Kingdom: 3 miles

 

[bicker]

Your distances are inaccurate.

 

[DisneyWisher]

What I hate is All-Stars is criticize because they share a bus. Well some of the more expensive deluxes do too. The MK bus from BW also stops at Swan and Dolphin. At least with All-Stars they are right in a line and take less time than the others. Even CR, Poly, and GF share buses.

BTW WL has a bus that takes you to MK. It takes less than 5 mins. We had just missed the bus but another was there within 5 mins. Loved it. Shorter times than the boats. But we definitely take the boat back to the resort because of the scenery.

 

[puffkin]

I can't stand when people complain about how remote the AKL is and that you should only stay there if you have a car. I think the AKL had the best overall transportation of any resort we stayed at because it had its own dedicated busses (no sharing) and it only made one stop at the resort.

In the above example, although OKW is more centrally located than some of the other resorts, the bus service there is SLOW due to the way the parking lots are set up. It takes a good 15 minutes for the bus to get through the parking lot and multiple stops and back on the road (plus the actual time to get to the park). We generally had good bus service there during our June stay, but it definitely took a long time to loop through the resort. I would agree that even the All Stars (when sharing busses) was definitely faster to get to the parks due to the better system of making the stops (even though distance wise they are further away).

 

[Bugsmom73]

We have stayed at WL and CR. I love both of them for different reasons. I love the proximity of CR, and the fact that the monorail is right there and there is of course Chef Mickey's. The pool leaves something to be desired.

I love WL theming and the place is gorgeous. We found the bus transportation reasonable to what it was when we stayed at CBR. The only problem we had was DD, and the next time we drove.

WE are trying AKL next. We are going with a friend and she really wants to stay at AKL. I would prefer to be closer to MK but for many reasons, we can not split a stay so we agreed that AKL is our best choice.

 

[afcgirl]

It's a Deluxe and most of them have some great transporation advantage (e.g. CR...walk to MK, Poly...walk to TTC....BC...walk to Epcot)

But the WL "appears" to be in the middle of it all. Sooooo close to the MK and the TTC...but those darn boats are annoying, non-dependable and often take you out of your way.

WL is a deluxe but keep in mind that it is $50 a night cheaper than CR and at least $100 a night cheaper than Poly, BC, YC, BWI and GF. That is a big savings. If it had the same transportation advantages as the other resorts, it would be more expensive.

When we stayed at WL, we never waited more than 5 minutes for the boat and always went straight to MK (or back). We never made any stops in between that I can remember. Maybe we were lucky (or you were unlucky). We did enjoy the ride.

It is great there are so many choices at Disney.

 

[HillPete]

This is why I have recently come to accept that I am a bit of a control freak and have decided to budget in a rental car for all Disney trips. If that means we never stay at a true deluxe hotel, so be it. I hated waiting for the boat to WL and I hated that the boat dock and the bus stop were so far apart (not really a big surprise, but still...). If a bus/boat had just left, there was no point in checking out other forms of transport. It was just too far. It's cars for us from now on.

 

[Cinderella]

WL on the monorail system would be great in principle but in theory, we'd never be able to get a room - everyone would want to stay there and the prices would skyrocket.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each resort hotel. I love the theming and the relaxing atmosphere at WL - and the restaurants and lobby, and the boat ride. But, I don't like Roaring Forks, the slower transportation and the smaller rooms, which is why I am staying at the Poly for three nights this time. On a longer trip, I would stay at WL.