Wilderness Lodge Pros & Cons

[Dizny Dad]

I agree with twinklebug, VWL is a scarry place! Run for your lives everyone! Don't even consider an add-on here!



(I wondered why it was lonely over at The Thread . . .everyone is over here . . . . . . Now get back to The Thread!)

 

[troysterrx]

To me, VWL is the BEST DVC at WDW. It has everything you could ask for. I would happily trade my BW location for VWL anytime.
Troy

 

[meltink]

there is an amazing lobby, good food and a great pool...i don't believe there are any cons

 

[CarmenPeteron]

I have dined in the restaurant (the one facing the pool) a couple of times and I have never been disappointed. The name of the restaurant has slipped my mind but it it the only fancy one at the resort. I requested one of the tables by the window for the best view. It was very romantic and the food was great!

 

[UConnJack]

I love pretty much everything about VWL, but since this thread has just been a VWL love-fest, I will only mention my cons which are the pools. The main pool is interesting the way it is laid out and I like the DVC pool "hot springs", but the pools don't have zero entry for the little kids (although they do have a kiddie pool) or a real slide (the little thing at the main pool doesn't count.) The pools are fine and all, but I think it ranks last on the DVC resort pool complexes.

 

[Bangerang]

Our biggest con is the views. From the villas, there aren't any. Other than that we love, love, love this resort.

 

[TLPL]

just checked in tonight, I love WL but this time we got the end of the long hallway dumpster view room. Oh well, that's what you get if you check in at 8pm. Other then that I love VWL.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

A pro that I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned is the theme music.

It is the only DVC resort that I am aware of where the theme isn't only visual but is also audible. There is nothing like listening to the theme songs from "How the West Was Won" or "The Magnificent Seven" to just make you feel like you really are immersed in an experience and not just at a place to sleep.

HBC

 

[mickey&minniealways]

OKW has themed music also. Steel drums and the like. My cons are the themeing. When in FL I want it to seem that way. I want to see palm trees not pine. I can see that back home. The rooms are to dark. They are also to small. I don't like sharing a bus with another resort. I will stick with OKW so don't worry about me taking up space at WL. It was my sisters dvc home resort and she would not consider anywhere else until we got her to try OKW. It is so pretty and she also prefers the space there.

 

[Oshawa]

We just got back yesterday from our first stay there and fell in love. No cons from our family. Only a big !!!

 

[wildernessDad]

OKW has themed music also. Steel drums and the like. My cons are the themeing. When in FL I want it to seem that way. I want to see palm trees not pine. I can see that back home. The rooms are to dark. They are also to small. I don't like sharing a bus with another resort. I will stick with OKW so don't worry about me taking up space at WL. It was my sisters dvc home resort and she would not consider anywhere else until we got her to try OKW. It is so pretty and she also prefers the space there.

If one continues with your logic, then Disney should put palm trees on Main Street to give it a Florida look.

Wilderness Lodge is designed to look like a national park lodge and it succeeds, pine trees and all. And I don't find the rooms to be TOO small.

 

[Dizny Dad]

The pines are natural to the area. The Lodge and Fort Wilderness were built in one of the largest pine wood forests still intact in Florida at that time. Small palms were certainly natural to Florida, but the tall palms we think of are not native to the area.

 

[twinklebug]

The pines are natural to the area. The Lodge and Fort Wilderness were built in one of the largest pine wood forests still intact in Florida at that time. Small palms were certainly natural to Florida, but the tall palms we think of are not native to the area.

Most of Disney's pines in and around Wilderness lodge and Fort Wilderness are indeed natural. Another pro for the resorts!

What most visitors aren't aware of is that the palm trees both in Disney as well as in the surrounding areas are not natural to the area. Palms grow much further south in FL where it doesn't get as cold in the winter months. OKW has done a good job of bringing the palms north and maintaining them so that the area has the feel of the keys, but it's all Disney magic.

Time for a tangent:

Many of Florida's Pine forests were decimated by the settlers of not-so-long-ago, but many areas were replanted with orange groves. Oranges are still a major part of the Florida economy, but with California's orange grove boom as well as fair trade the groves don't pay as well as they used to. When closing down or scaling back orange farming, land owners will re-plant the groves with pine trees which grow quickly and are easily cut and harvested for wood. So, when passing by some of the pine woods, look in under the canopy of pine and you may still see some residual orange trees. Kind of cool.

 

[Granny]

I love pretty much everything about VWL, but since this thread has just been a VWL love-fest, I will only mention my cons which are the pools. The main pool is interesting the way it is laid out and I like the DVC pool "hot springs", but the pools don't have zero entry for the little kids (although they do have a kiddie pool) or a real slide (the little thing at the main pool doesn't count.) The pools are fine and all, but I think it ranks last on the DVC resort pool complexes.

I think this is a valid point since OKW put the slide in at their main pool. I think the WL main pool slide is weak but I can see where they didn't want to block the magnificent view from the lobby of the creek, pool and Bay Lake. But the main pool does have the duck family as an added attraction.

Our biggest con is the views. From the villas, there aren't any. Other than that we love, love, love this resort.

I agree that most of the rooms look out at trees which doesn't appeal to some people. On the other hand, this does tend to make it easier to stay there since there isn't a huge discrepancy in most of the various room views. Cuts down on the disappointment/check-in discussions that are seen at many resorts.

just checked in tonight, I love WL but this time we got the end of the long hallway dumpster view room. Oh well, that's what you get if you check in at 8pm. Other then that I love VWL.

Those two or three villas are the reason for the word "most" in my reply directly above. Even ardent VWL fans admit that it would have been nice if Disney could have handled the maintenance area better. Still, I love the positive attitude TLPL!

A pro that I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned is the theme music.

It is the only DVC resort that I am aware of where the theme isn't only visual but is also audible. There is nothing like listening to the theme songs from "How the West Was Won" or "The Magnificent Seven" to just make you feel like you really are immersed in an experience and not just at a place to sleep.

HBC

HBC...great to "see" you again! I agree that the music is a big part of the theming and is very positive. So much so that when we visited during the Christmas season once I was disappointed (just a little) to hear Christmas music instead of the western theme music. But with all the decorations, it was nice to have the carols piped in. OKW does have some music but the difference is that it isn't piped throughout the resort. So sitting on the balcony you can hear the music (at least on the lake side anyway) as well as the other sounds of nature.

 

[UConnJack]

I think this is a valid point since OKW put the slide in at their main pool. I think the WL main pool slide is weak but I can see where they didn't want to block the magnificent view from the lobby of the creek, pool and Bay Lake. But the main pool does have the duck family as an added attraction.

Yeah, I could see how a big slide could be an eyesore, but if done right, I think a lower profile slide amongset Disney "rocks" would fit in well and not interrupt the views. I like the ducks too, although I can't understand how they put up with being chased by kids (including my own) all the time, but when I see them, all I think about is bird poop in the pool.

 

[omalley1118]

We just stayed there in June, and we LOVED it!!! This was our first time there. The only con is the lack of shade at the pool. There were 110 degree heat indexes, and the pool was too hot to be comfortable.