villas at the wilderness lodge

[jake0497]

We are staying at the villa at the wilderness lodge on sept 22nd. Has anyone stayed there yet? what should we do and see? any good resturants? we are traveling with our 4 year old son

 

[ohioMickey]

We own at VWL, but have not stayed there yet. Went to OKW in May and returning to OKW August. Our first trip to VWL is this December.

We HAVE stayed at WL before and love it! Here are some ideas for your stay:

Watch the geyser (it goes off at the top of the hour)

Hidden Mickey Hunt (ask for the sheet of clues at the frontdesk)

Flag Family (ask about it when you check in)

Take the trail or a boat to fort wilderness and go to the petting farm

play at the small beach

look for all the animal footprints around the property (there is also a sheet on this at the frontdesk)

pool games ... usually at 3pm daily

bells and whistles for air hockey

eat at whispering canyon (the horse races are fun) (food is so-so IMHO)

eat dinner at Artist Point!!!!! we love the salmon. the kids desert is GREAT. it is a white chocolate puzzle. when put together it is a picture of mickey. then the kids get a paint brush and paint the picture with a pallette of icings. then the parents eat the creation. mmmmmmmmmmmmm

WL may be out of the way compared to BW, but it is beautiful, relaxing, and lots of fun.

enjoy!!!!!

 

[ohiominnie]

Clarification on the geyser....

It goes off on the top of the hour, but only 7 am-10 pm. Guess even geysers need their beauty sleep!!


ohiominnie

 

[slimplaw]

We were in Fl recently and stayed 1 night at the villas. We had a studio. If this is the room you have, there will be a queen bed and a sleeper sofa. As you enter the room, there is a kitchenette with a sink, microwave, coffee maker, and small refrigerator. The 1 bedroom has a full size kitchen and a living area with a sleeper sofa. The bedroom has a king size bed. Just off the bedroom is a bathroom with a jacuzzi tub, a large closet and separate shower. This unit also has a washer and dryer.
There is a small cozy lobby with a fireplace. There are also 2 other sitting areas.
We enjoyed our 1 night there and hope to return within a year for a longer stay.

 

[Caskbill]

We stayed there in February (almost right after it became available for DVC points bookings). It's very nice. It was fun taking the boat direct to MK instead of going through the TTC. That's a big plus.

To Do: Take the tour of the lodge. It's a couple of hours and very interesting.

 

[mom2boys]

We stayed on the lodge side in Dec. If I could change one thing about that trip, it would be to plan an afternoon at the resort. The pool was beautiful but we only spent 20 minutes there. The resort is beautiful, take time to explore it.

 

[TC1026]

I own at BWV (boy am I happy 2), and just got back from 6 nights at VWL...I love the theme of the 1880's Train pioneers ...very cool. The rooms are a little dark, and the resort itself have very few good views. Most of the views are of trees. Just trees, and more trees...we were luck to have a pool view. It is a must to ask for a pool view, close to the elevators also. Transportation is a little difficult also, we has a car for the first time in florida (this was our 6th trip in recent years). I would recommend a car here, unless you are only going to go to the parks...even if you are going to the parks....

Have a great trip, make sure to have dinner at Artist Point...People rave about the salmon, but get the Filet...AWESOME! Don't forget the Electric Water pagent comes buy at 9:35, get a nice spot on the beach and enjoy!!!

 

[ScottOKW2K]

We just got in from a five night stay at the Villas at WL, and enjoyed our stay in a 2-bedroom unit. This was our first DVC stay, and confirmed that our decision on purchasing DVC was one of the best we have ever made !

First item - have a car. This is because the only negative that I experienced at WL was the bus transportation. Even though WL is billed by Disney as a Deluxe Magic Kingdom resort, there is *NO* direct transportation from the Lodge to the MK except by boat !! We decided to do an "e-ride" night (Magic Kingdom 10pm - 1am) and were not able to leave the room until about 10:15. Not being sure that the boat would be available for travel to the MK that late, I elected to use the bus.
Here's how that scenario worked out - bus arrives at 10:35, meanders through 5~6 stops at the Fort Wilderness campgrounds, and finally deposits my daughter and I at the TTC (ticket & transportation center). We then wait for the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and finally walk through the gates at 11:30 . The trip back was not quite as time consuming at about 45 minutes, but that was only in that direction that bus hit the lodge before the campgrounds.
In addition, when we pool-hopped to the Beach Club the CM I spoke with there recommended that I drive, and admitted that traveling there via Disney transportation would be very time-consuming.

I'm sorry to rant on so much about that, but everything else about our stay there was so nice and pleasant that that just stood out like a sore thumb. The rooms were great, the bost to the MK was a pleasure, and the Lodge and Villas are captivating. You will enjoy your stay there.

 

[Pointdisney]

My wife and I stayed at the Villas in February despite the fact that our 'home' is BWV. We loved it! In fact, we liked the VWL so much that we just purchased an add on there!

We found the surroundings to be peaceful and well-themed. As far as transportation is concerned, we thoroughly enjoyed the boat trip from the lodge to the Magic Kingdom. We also found the bus service to be fine; we expected to wait at certain points and, quite frankly, were in no hurry either. The only transportation annoyance was E-Ride night; we took the boat to the MK but had to take the monorail back to the TTC and then a bus to the lodge at the end of the night. We did wait a while for the bus that night. We never rent a car, as part of the magic for us is the knowledge that we don't have to worry about driving anywhere. New Jersey driving the rest of the year can be, shall we say, somewhat hectic!? Of course, we have no children so perhaps this wouldn't work well for families!

Overall, we have found the lodge to be an extremely well-themed, relaxing resort. We look forward to returning there for many years to come!