VWL Refurbishment: Online Travel Site Reviews

[SandyinMonterey]

WL is our home resort and we were last there April, for Easter, 2014. Stayed in a one bedroom. There were many posts after our vacation about the refurb @ WL and I had left one. By seeing this now, it appears to be an ongoing concern and problem. First, just let me say if WL is your home resort and even if it's not, and you find poor workmanship or whatever dislikes about the refurb to please report it. In our room this is what I found: the fridge couldn't be pushed back all the way to the wall, it had to be pushed out ahead of stove or you could not open it. Two large holes, one to the bottom of the sink on the baseboard and the other by the fridge by the baseboard. Mixing fixtures on the sink, small hole (poor workmanship) when re-doing bathroom. Replaced some of the bathroom fixtures with shiny chrome ones but still left some of the old ones. We had two other issues about our luggage never coming to our room and being left unattended in lobby of DVC resort and a plumbing problem (with toilet) that the man said had to wait till next day to fix (he didn't bring tools to the room) but when my husband asked for some tools, he fixed it himself. Let me repeat again, call and voice your concerns to DVC is your experience has been similar. I did. When I called, I was disappointed in the person's response. Just got a lot of "yes and sorry about that." But to my surprise, about a month later, got a call from someone higher up and she seemed to really take note. I told her that's our home resort and I don't feel like I would want to stay there unless I was sure it was all fixed. P.S. The painting on the kitchen cabinets were horrible. Just painted over the green so you can see it wasn't covered up completely and the insides left green except for the white streaks fallen in.

 

[Straughn]

Oh please don't tell me this. VWL is my home resort and I have a small number of points at VGF. I don't need a reason to sell VWL and purchase ( for the same $$$) fewer points at VGF. DH (now deceased) so loved VWL and it has such a nostalgic feel for me.

 

[summabreeze85]

We stayed in a 1 bedroom in august for a week and loved the newly refurbished rooms!
New appliances looked great in the kitchen with the painted cabinets...are there really complaints about the INSIDE of the cabinets not being painted? Come on that's silly. It actually made us chuckle everytime we opened a door because we could see how the new and old came together.
Floor looks great. Cleaner, smoother than before. Still a rustic feel.
I also thought it was funny that they kept the red and green tile in the shower because it doesn't really match the rest of the bathroom, but I can understand how much money they probably saved not re-tiling all the showers.
The only thing we didn't like was the pull out sofa...awfully uncomfortable.
Room was warm and inviting. The old rooms were SO 2000. The new rooms definitely are in the now

 

[jdkdorn]

For a company that is chargung deluxe prices for these rooms they are starting to sound very low class. Not painting the insides of the cabinets is just cheap and lazy. Not changing the bathroom tile is completely stupid. I was alway taught that if you are giing to do something do it right the first time or don't do it at all. Owners pay fees for the refurbs and to do a crap job will cost them more later to do again. When they are charging $300-$2000 a night to stay in a room they better look four star. You can stay at the new Four Season and get all the benefits for cheaper and really get four star. I love being a DVC member but I am tired of the shotty care the resorts get and the horrible upkeep, housekeeping & maintenance. We own at two resorts and BCV is just looking so tired and worn and it did not have to if it was given proper care by Disney and DVC.

 

[keishashadow]

Just like the god awefull light fixture in the Boardwalk studio-which looks like DVC got from a discount store on clearance.
Clearly they didn't consult any of us gays on their selection because it had to be a straight man's choice!!LOL!

I agree, it's awful. For us buying BW was all about the location and lower point cost for the standard rooms. I can live with the décor.

VWL is still our favorite 'home'. It was a bit of a mess when we stayed there early October, will be interesting see the pool rehab when it's completed.

We love both lobbies but glad the rooms have been lightened up a bit. I never got around to figuring how to work the table/bench thing worked. Was mostly distracted by our first studio on the 5th floor and the vaulted ceiling and odd ceiling light fixture there.

 

[DizBub]

I agree, it's awful. For us buying BW was all about the location and lower point cost for the standard rooms. I can live with the décor.

VWL is still our favorite 'home'. It was a bit of a mess when we stayed there early October, will be interesting see the pool rehab when it's completed.

We love both lobbies but glad the rooms have been lightened up a bit. I never got around to figuring how to work the table/bench thing worked. Was mostly distracted by our first studio on the 5th floor and the vaulted ceiling and odd ceiling light fixture there.

That is an odd choice for a light fixture but I would totally take that room.

 

[maryp]

I'm with you Bill, I miss our old Lodge. Doesn't feel so " homey " anymore, the darker decor was more relaxing to me. Guess we'll see what happens next time!!

 

[keishashadow]

That is an odd choice for a light fixture but I would totally take that room.

I'd be happy with it again too, despite the light. Also had a solid balcony that seemed higher than the norm, but very nice with decent woods views even if we could see the bus stop. Noise was not an issue even when sitting on balcony, believe the trees filtered it out.

 

[Donna M]

I haven't stayed there with the rehab, but I thought it was odd with all the mismatched fabric choices in the old days. I loved the red checked/plaid drapes and the leaf motif on the walls, and the carpet on its own was nice, but it felt weird to see the drapes, then the carpet, chair and couch all strong patterns that didn't match anything else.

It does seem too generic now, but I haven't been there in person yet.

 

[pixie08]

If you research those lodges in the Northwest, you'll find that many of them have been upgraded in recent years with more neutral palettes and subtle theming. Among Peter Dominick's inspiration for the Wilderness Lodge are Lake McDonald Lodge and The Ahwahnee. Here's what their guest rooms look like today: Now Disney's Wilderness Lodge post-refurb: Heck, some other NW lodges I've seen look more like Bay Lake Tower than VWL. Loud prints and palettes featuring dark reds greens just aren't in style ANYWHERE these days.

I have to agree. I much prefer the rooms renovated. They were dated and dark to me previously.

 

[pixie08]

If you research those lodges in the Northwest, you'll find that many of them have been upgraded in recent years with more neutral palettes and subtle theming. Among Peter Dominick's inspiration for the Wilderness Lodge are Lake McDonald Lodge and The Ahwahnee. Here's what their guest rooms look like today: Now Disney's Wilderness Lodge post-refurb: Heck, some other NW lodges I've seen look more like Bay Lake Tower than VWL. Loud prints and palettes featuring dark reds greens just aren't in style ANYWHERE these days.

I have to agree. I much prefer the renovated rooms. They were dated and dark to me previously.