Wilderness Lodge Mess

[Derb]

see below!

 

[Derb]

Try calling Disney to see if you have a PIN. Tell them the many events you are traveling so far to celebrate. It may have an impact. If you have a PIN, have them tell you the PIN# so you can tell it to your TA! It's worth a try.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We are also in a similar situation. We have two rooms & free dining booked for 10 Sept to 25th booked through Disney UK. I found out about the pool closure here on the forum and contacted them to find out what we could do. They knew nothing about the closure. I've sent two emails to Guest Services in the US and I've still not received a reply after 12 days. After speaking to Disney UK again last night, there is nothing they can do until the pool closure has been confirmed with them from the US. The only thing we can do is move to another resort, where the options are very limited and we have to pay extra, which at the moment is looking like another £1000 per room on top of what we have already paid. I am really disappointed with the communication from Disney. I understand refurbs have to be done, but at least we should have been told earlier. The holiday is supposed to be celebrating my 40th birthday, our wedding anniversary and my husband and myself losing 10 stone between us. At the moment I really don't know what to do...

It is odd that Disney UK has not received the official word yet. Disney sent us a letter by mail informing us of the pool closure. And the Disney website lists the pool closure in the WL resort info section.

I hope you get it resolved

 

[goofy4tink]

Sigh. Oh yes, I too had booked WL, learned on this site of the pool closing, and tried to change resorts thru Disney. But used AAA, so they could not help me. So I got AAA to change me to AK, with a small savings. Was happy to be out of WL, but didn't REALLY want AK. So I called Disney again and found out I had a PIN for FD. Then got AAA to change me to POFQ. At a huge savings. Thrilled now! So I would definitely change to POR if I were you, I did basically the same thing. And I guess AAA should have known about the pool closings, lucky for me I found DIS! POFQ was actually the resort I wanted on my next Disney trip, before I knew FD was available. SO happy I called and was told about the PIN! And we're renting a car too, so I am not worried about that aspect...but what is everyone saying about no parking at MK? What?

I'm not sure what that's all about. Who has said there is no parking at MK? The only place, that I know of, that has impacted parking, is DTD. Well, and maybe the Polynesian. To the best of my knowledge, parking at MK isn't an issue. Or...did I miss the memo?

 

[Mommy Poppins]

We will actually have a car on property during our entire stay (we are either driving down or renting from airport). Would you recommend using the car for ADRs only and bus transportation for the parks?

We fly to Disney and ALWAYS rent a car. My husband is not a fan of bus transportation. When we were in the stroller phase then we could always leave our stroller in the car and not take up space in the room. The only time we used buses was if we split up and someone stayed at the parks later while others went back to the room. My DD and I are headed down in a few weeks for a softball tournament. I think she and I will use the buses for Downtown Disney just because of the construction and parking being such a nightmare. However, she and I also have a little more patience with the bus system than my DH!! LOL

In your situation, I would save the $1,100 and stay at POR and just use the car for traveling between resorts and possibly parks!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

The pool is very important to my kids. We take a midday break everyday and do pool time. No naps, just the pool.

I would book a different resort if the pool was closed. I don't want to travel for pool time or carry a bathing suit into the parks. We are a bagless family in the parks.

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

I'm quite disappointed in the mess I will see when I arrive. On the plus side the pool will be up & running during our stay so that's a bonus! I thought the interior lobby will be completed sometime in July. Is this not true? The CM @ WL doesn't know, I'm not willing to spend another $1000 to go to AKL or Saratoga Springs! I've spent enough for our 10 day trip, I could down grade to Moderate but will save $400 - not worth it! I guess I might suck it up & stay! Can someone convince me to stay, I only have 1 week to make any changes! It's coming up too quick and I'm so torn! It's our first Deluxe stay & want it to be memorable!

We're going in Aug too (our 2nd stay at WL, we love it). From what I read, the pool will be open during our stay and the stream should be running. After reading this thread, though, I'm wondering if the pool area itself could have some kind of construction prep set up going on, so I am already preparing myself (and the family) for that. We are paying rack rate for our stay since I booked later than usual, missed all the discounts, never receive pins, and we are going during the 'non-discounted black hole time period' prior to free dining.

If the pool were to be closed during our stay, I would have jumped ship because pools are very important to us, especially after this terrible winter, but by the time I found out about possible pool construction, here on the DIS, it was slim pickins elsewhere (though I was leaning towards POR).

I'm very happy the pool is supposedly open during our stay, so what ever else is going on there, I will have to deal with it since I decided to stick with WL and not book elsewhere. Crossing my fingers we don't have to walk a construction plank to jump into the pool .

I decided to stick with it, because WL is one of our favorite resorts (and because the pool is supposed to be open during our stay). We have so many fond memories of staying at the lodge, even just coming back at night after a long day at the parks and walking into the lodge and through the lobby with all the other families. It was just very special and though I tend to love all the Disney resorts, WL just stood out with my family as being one of the top three and we have been dying to stay there again.

I'm sorry for those of you that won't have the pool during your stay. I know I would not have been happy about that at all. I hope things work out no matter where you choose to stay.

 

[nkereina]

Sorry if this has already been mentioned, but we much prefer the POR food court over the WL food court. Many more options. The TS options are much better at WL, but we are more inclined to repeat the food court than we would be a TS restaurant.

 

[Minnesota!]

I would jump ship, too. We LOVE FW, and visit a lot...but never have stayed close. Usually at Pop or AKL. I have 2 kids, and I know how much they love that mid-day break for swimming. I would not want that part to be a hassle. It's an integral part of our vacation, honestly.

POR - saving a good chunk of $$. The busses are NOT bad....we rely 100% on them, always have, and have never run into issues.

 

[DebbieB]

I'm not sure what that's all about. Who has said there is no parking at MK? The only place, that I know of, that has impacted parking, is DTD. Well, and maybe the Polynesian. To the best of my knowledge, parking at MK isn't an issue. Or...did I miss the memo?

Maybe they mean parking is not directly at MK, it is at the TTC. That is where a taxi will drop you off, not in front of MK. An alternate for a taxi is the Contemporary and walk from there.

 

[sharadoc]

We will actually have a car on property during our entire stay (we are either driving down or renting from airport). Would you recommend using the car for ADRs only and bus transportation for the parks?

Use your car for the parks too. We've found that the MK transportation is hit or miss, too. Everyone says you should take the bus, but in our world, you are never sure to get a seat, or you have to wait a really long time on either end of the ride.

If you drive, you park, walk to a tram, walk from the tram to the ferry (better option than monorail), then walk off the ferry at the front gate, which is a lot closer than the bus depot.

When you're coming back, the ferry is almost always waiting and it holds so many more people so no line like at the monorail, then you ride back to the tram, then to the car. Guaranteed a seat, leave right away, and almost always back in the room way before the bus arrives at your resort.

Always better at every other park to drive rather than bus for the waiting, standing, crowding issue.

I echo the suggestion of FW cabin. Great pool, great activities and places to play for the kids and wonderful peaceful and quiet room, with no one above, below or alongside you. You'll park right at your front door, so easy to unpack your stuff every day. Internal buses make it easy to go to the big pool, or you may be fine with the cabin pool which is almost always empty or close to it.

 

[Scarlett81]

A mention on taxi services while staying at WL, we used taxi's 4-5 times during our stay. Getting to DTD for example, after 1 pm (double check that time) from WL requires 2 bus transfers and we saw we had just missed the DTD bus. So with a double stroller and 2 buses just for DTD, uh no..a taxi from WL to there cost $10.
Most of our cab fares were $7-8 one way. We'd usually take Dis transportation the other way. Depending on the kids tired level, our tired level lol, this was really helpful. Instead of leaving for a Dis restaurant 50 mins ahead, we could take our time getting ready and grab a cab with a 5 min ride.
There was always a cab ready outside the front of lobby. Just ask the CM at the bell desk.

 

[MissouriPrincess]

We just returned from a trip this month. We visited WL to eat at WCC. The resort is beautiful, but the things we thought would be neat about the resort we not so great when we visited leading us to believe we probably wouldn't book a stay there.

We thought we would take a boat after dinner back to MK. We waited forever! The main problem was every time a boat came, not enough people got off to allow more people to get on. The line was down the dock. The boats were taking people on to Fort Wilderness. It was about 6:30 pm. It was pretty warm still. Not magical! We finally gave up and took a bus.

If you have a car, you will be fine going to dinner anywhere. We like to drive our car everywhere except sometimes we take a bus to MK. It's a little bit of a pain to drive to MK with a stroller because you probably will need to board a tram and then the monorail or ferry. If you take a bus, you have less stroller hassle because the bus drops you near the gate.

We never worried about getting to dinner reservations anywhere with the car. Our main place to stay has been AKL--Kidani, and we never let distance from things be a deterrent. On our last trip, we did a split stay with POR, and we really liked the resort. We liked having the quiet pools near our building, and the main pool was fun, too. While at POR, we had dinner reservations at 1900 Park Fare at GF, and it was no big deal to drive there at all.

I just wanted to reassure you that you will have a great trip!

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I would not switch from the WL to POR. First, there will be a pool onsite available (the quiet/leisure pool) and you'll have access to pools at other resorts. For me, the larger, interior rooms at WL are superior to POR. While POR is a nice resort, it's very spread out and walking from your room to the main building, the feature pool, and to dining can be a hike. The WL is so much more compact, and you don't have to worry about being caught in a rain storm if you want some coffee. The rooms at POR seem very cramped to me, especially for a week long stay. Finally, I don't like that the bathroom vanity area is only separated by a curtain, which is literally just inches away from one of the beds. I like more separation between the sleeping and bathroom areas.

 

[ThinkTink09]

Jump ship!

I enjoyed our stay at the WL, but found that I loved POR even more. The royal rooms are close to the food court and not too far from the main pool. There are also quite pools nestled between some of the buildings making swimming really convenient. The grounds are beautiful and a garden view will ensure you're not in the back of the buildings (making you closer to everything). Waiting for a boat to go swimming seems like a huge hassle to me. No way!

I would choose POR even if it was the same price as the WL, everything considered. Check out portorleans . org

My 2 cents on driving are: it was so much faster than waiting for the buses. We rented a car for the first time last trip and couldn't believe how convenient it was, but I'd still take the bus to the MK.

 

[joecavalier]

I can't express how helpful you all have been!

After weighing all the pros and cons of the responses from the board, we have decided to jump ship and embrace POR! We are looking forward to spending our 10 days there and truly excited about saving the money and having FD included (double bonus!!). Guest Services was amazing and our incredibly helpful representative got us a Royal Guest room with a river view. We'll be taking our car to the ADRs and maybe even to the parks.

We will definitely look forward to WL the next time we visit (and enjoy the zero pool that is being installed!) Thanks again for everyone's help!!

 

[Three cats]

I can't express how helpful you all have been!

After weighing all the pros and cons of the responses from the board, we have decided to jump ship and embrace POR! We are looking forward to spending our 10 days there and truly excited about saving the money and having FD included (double bonus!!). Guest Services was amazing and our incredibly helpful representative got us a Royal Guest room with a river view. We'll be taking our car to the ADRs and maybe even to the parks.

We will definitely look forward to WL the next time we visit (and enjoy the zero pool that is being installed!) Thanks again for everyone's help!!

I think you are going to love POR! We had a great time there last year. And once you see how easy it is to have a rental car to get around you'll never go back to being without one! Have a great trip!

ETA: The boat service to Downtown Disney, the big food court with ample seating, and the piano player in the lounge are some of the wonderful perks for this resort!!

 

[goofy4tink]

I can't express how helpful you all have been!

After weighing all the pros and cons of the responses from the board, we have decided to jump ship and embrace POR! We are looking forward to spending our 10 days there and truly excited about saving the money and having FD included (double bonus!!). Guest Services was amazing and our incredibly helpful representative got us a Royal Guest room with a river view. We'll be taking our car to the ADRs and maybe even to the parks.

We will definitely look forward to WL the next time we visit (and enjoy the zero pool that is being installed!) Thanks again for everyone's help!!

You will most likely fall in love with POR!! I just returned from a 3 night stay there...after being at BWVs for a week. I just love the atmosphere at POR. There is always a nearby pool, the food court is pretty decent. Having a car makes it all even better.
I don't find the rooms all that much smaller, at least in usable space, than a studio. Yes, the bathroom is fairly close to the sleeping areas, but it's only a difference of maybe 5' in a studio. Just not a big deal.

 

[catflorida]

My husband and I (no kids) just got back from Port Orleans Riverside. We stayed for the weekend mid-June to attend Car Masters Weekend. We wanted to be able to take to boat to DTD for dining and the car show so we chose this resort for convenience. This resort is gorgeous. I love the landscaping and it has my favorite pool, Old Man Island. Ther is lots of shade and seating around the pool, a pool bar and a neat water slide for the kids. The quiet pools around the resort, especially in Alligator Bayou, are equally nice. If you like a big food court, they have it and the nighttime entertainment with Bob is so fun for adults and children. It rained that evening and it was so fun to sit and have a drink in that cozy bar and listen to music for three hours. Some of the guests even brought food from the food court to have at their table while listening. The kids were having a blast and they were some of the most well behaved children I have seen anywhere. I am a Florida resident with an annual pass and I do many weekends at Disney. I frequently hop from the Grand Floridian, to the Wilderness Lodge to Yacht Club, all club level. I would not hesitate to stay at this resort again and I want to go back especially to do a resort and pool stay because I loved the pool so much. My favorite pool of all the resorts. The only thing I wish they had was more table service restaurants as I am not a fan of buffets or food courts.

 

[jsgrant5]

We are booked at WL Sept. 11-20. This is our first trip WDL. My husband passed away 13 months ago from cancer. We have been planning this trip for years so I promised the kids we would still go. They are 25,22,19,19. Noticed the pool closure yesterday on DIS so I called Disney to ask about it. Was also told they are renovating the rooms so from 9-5 each day they might need to get into our room depending on if it had been completed yet. I am very sad to think this long awaited trip might not be what we are expecting. The kids really don't want to downgrade the resort but can't afford to upgrade either.