WILDERNESS LODGE QUESTioNS

[mickeystoontown]

In 2006, we stayed at the CBR and loved it. When we booked our June, 2007 stay, we didn't consider staying anywhere else. We had another spectacular stay at the CBR and are back home all depressed. So, while driving home, we started planning our 2008 WDW vacation (13th trip in just 11 years). I know, we're a sad bunch but we just love WDW!

If we were to stay at another moderate resort, our cost would be just about what it was this past year which is better on our pocketbook. But, we would really like to stay at the Wilderness Lodge. The problem? The cost is almost $1,000.00 more and that's for a standard view room.

Are the amenities at the Wilderness Lodge worth $1,000.00 more? We usually visit the parks for seven days and have two days where we sleep in and laze around the resort or head over to Downtown Disney.

While I do think we would like the convenience of the boat to and from the Magic Kingdom and we would probably rent a boat one day, I still don't know if it's worth it.

Here are a few other questions:

1) Buses: How efficient are they? How many bus stops are there? Time to the parks? Etc.

2) Does the WL have a food court? We will probably not eat but a few meals there but I sometimes like to pick up a quick breakfast and take it back to the room before heading to the parks. Is this easy to do?

3) If I book a standard view room, will I be very far away from the restaurants/store/main pool, etc.?

4) How many pools does the WL have?

5) Other than the marina, what other activities are there?

If anybody has information or pictures, I would love for you to share them.

Thanks a bunch, Lisa

 

[kandmwedding]

1) Buses: How efficient are they? How many bus stops are there? Time to the parks? Etc. I found the buses to be as efficient as they were at Pop and POR, the other 2 resorts I've stayed at. Ride times averaged to be about the same as well.

2) Does the WL have a food court? We will probably not eat but a few meals there but I sometimes like to pick up a quick breakfast and take it back to the room before heading to the parks. Is this easy to do? The food court is pretty small here, with not many offerings. Values tend to have the most variety and deluxes the least. That said, you won't have a problem grabbing food and returning to your room.

3) If I book a standard view room, will I be very far away from the restaurants/store/main pool, etc.? There are no guarantees of course, but my 'standard' room overlooked the main falls and was very close tot he lobby.

4) How many pools does the WL have? Not sure as we didn't use them.

5) Other than the marina, what other activities are there? You can sign up to be the Flag Family. I think they also do a mini tour.

IMO, and I know this will go against a ton of DISers who love the WL, it's not worth the money. I'm one of those who uses the resort mainly for sleeping and to grab the occasional meal and I regretted spending the extra money to stay there during my Dec 05 trip. I've had much preferred to pocket the money and stay at Pop.

 

[stormi65]

There are 2 pools at the Wilderness Lodge- a big themed pool and a quiet pool at the villas. There are also two hot tubs. There is a walking trail, beach area and water craft rentals.

 

[Gary M]

Below are a couple of links about the WL. I have stayed at GF, Poly, BWI, YC, AKL,POR, and WL. WL is my favorite resort at WDW.

http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/faq_wl.htm

http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/g_wl.htm

 

[fla4fun]

There are also surrey bikes and regular bicycle rentals available and a paved trail between WL and FW for riding. If you go early in the day or just before sunset, watch for the deer in the woods. Of course, you can walk the trail as well. Renting the boats is a lot of fun. Bay Lake is huge, with lots of room to run around, and you can also go over to Seven Seas Lagoon (watch out for the ferry boats!).

I have found the food court to be adequate at WL. They have sandwiches, burgers, pizza, salads, and desserts. It might get old if you ate in there every day, but I've never had a problem with it. Breakfast is breakfast to me, so I think it's fine for that. The food court is located on the first floor, kind of separate from the lobby (which is on the second floor) and other restaurants. If you want the convenience of getting breakfast quickly, I would request a room closer to Roaring Forks than to the lobby. There is an elevator close to RF to access the upper floors.

As far as the pools, there is a feature pool and a quiet pool. The feature pool can get very busy during hot weather (personally, I think it's a little small for the resort size).

As to whether it's worth the money, that depends on what you want out of your resort. I spend about half my time in the parks and half my time at the resort, so the resort itself is very important to me. I really like WL, for the location and the amenities. But if you are a family who hits the park as soon as it opens, and stays there until it closes, then I can see where it might make more sense to stay at a cheaper resort. I've stayed at both deluxe and moderate (depending on the budget at the time) and they both have a lot in their favor. You could try a split stay, with two or three WL days at the end of the trip, to get a taste of the resort without totally blowing the budget.

 

[kapoof]

wl is very nice and a great resort to try out. while i liked it there but the rooms i didn't care for (i'm a girly girl, i like flowers and lace) but if that doesn't matter to you then by all means stay there. it has wonderful lobby, with a stream in the lobby that begins the pool. artist point restaurant is one of the best places to eat, ever. the bus system is o.k. by that i mean you do share on a few rides. going to epcot and to the ak. but the trade off is you are about a 5 minute bus ride to mk! the pool is nice i know it was refurb not too long ago. i say to go for it, you might just fall in love with a new resort!

 

[MonorailNate]

We, too, love WL. It is by far our favorite resort. It is not sprawling like some of the other resorts so that everything is nice and convenient no matter where your room is. The ambience of the lobby and grounds are just unbeatable. Our kids love the pool. There is a great slide and there is a current that runs around the pool. You can get in it and float around. The geiser is also fun. It goes off every hour and the Electrical Water Parade can be seen from many rooms and the pool/beach area each night.

 

[sydprincess]

STAY!!!! You will love it! Just back from 10 days there, and while we booked a standard, we ended up getting a beautiful woods view. We were not there much at all, but when we were, it was worth every penny. I guess it depends if spending money to "get away from it all" is worth it or not to you. It was for us, and the Lodge made us feel like we were truly on vacation. We were just watching our vacation videos last night, and any part that had the room on it made me miss it so much. I have stayed moderate before, but will not in the future. It'll be WL from here on out. I think you will love it just as much- I can't see how anyone cannot!

 

[kapoof]

i forgot to add, there is just one bus stop! unlike the mods that have several, wl has only one.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Anyone else? Maybe somebody that has stayed at the CBR and Wilderness Lodge.

 

[DznyLvr2005]

Staying at WL is worth every penny. You don't have to walk outside to get to the food or lobby, everything is just georgeous, beautiful. Short trip to the MK, you get the Electric light water parade thing come by nightly, a huge fireplace in the lobby. Awesome pool, and btw- we stayed standard room in 2003 and had a perfect view of the castle!!
In 2005 we were also castle side and though we didn't see the castle, we DID see the fireworks every night from our balcony!!
We're staying at AKL this year and I'm kinda nervous about it since I love the WL so much, I don't know if it will compare!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm still trying to justify spending that extra $1,000.00 and so far, I just can't do it. Anybody out there stayed at both the CBR and Wilderness Lodge who can offer their thoughts?

 

[kapoof]

i haven't stayed at cbr, but i can tell you this...wl and akl are very affordable as deluxes go. you get a big bang for your buck at either of this resorts. the themeing at both are incredible. i do know (wl) is the most returned to resort at wdw. if you are still on the fence then maybe check it out on your next trip ...or throw caution to the wind, and try it

 

[meowzer]

I have stayed at both as well as the GF. This is my take on it.
In 1997 we moved on our last day from the GF to CBR. What a difference!

In 2006 I decided I wanted to be near the magic kingdom but did not feel that the GF was themed for small children. So we went for the WL.

1) The buses seemed to take a long time, but then again was was use to catching the monorail at the GF. The boats were neat for about the first 2 days. We went when Florida had a freeze and it was very cold. We would try to get to the Contemporary ASAP to be inside and catch the monorail.

2)WL does have a food court but as mentioned earlier it is very small. Somewhere on the lines of a convenience store. The places to eat in the hotel is Artists Point and Whispering Canyon Cafe, both of which are table service places.

3)We stayed in a courtyard room which overlooked the pool. I would not pay for this again as we always came back and were so tired we could not even enjoy the view.

4) The pools are heated. There is a themed pool with waterslide in the courtyard. There is also a kiddie pool and (2) hot tubs. There is another "bubbling" pool over at the Villas. The way is is lanscaped it would be hard to walk out of your room and be right at the pool with out walking into the shrubs.

5) We were too tired to attempt any of the other activities at the hotel. I know there is a butterfly release and a flag raising, and bikes

In conclusion, I have decided to go ahead and spend the money to stay on the monorail simply for the convenience. It is bad enough that when I return to work I rest from out fantastic trips to Disney.

 

[iteachlit]

Having stayed at CBR, I can understand your dilemma; CBR is a great resort. My wife and I stayed there before we got married. We both loved the resort. We really enjoyed the "quiet" pools and thought that the food court was wonderful. We also liked to walk around the resort and check out the landscaping and wildlife. Of course, you have already stayed at CBR, so I'm sure you enjoyed all it offered.

Now, onto the WL. We stayed there for our honeymoon (in a honeymoon room). It is by far our favorite place to stay. The lodge is very relaxing and amazingly themed.

Lobby: Wow. What can I say? WOW! This place just blows you away when you walk through the doors. Until you have seen it in person, there is no way to comprehend what it's like.

Rooms: OK, they are fairly small. In fact, they are not much bigger than those at the CBR. The amenities are not much different either. The only difference from CBR is that you will have a flat-panel TV. The rooms were just redone last year, so the furnishings are likely in better shape than those at CBR. The hallways are interior, so in theory it should be quieter than CBR. However, we were in a honeymoon room that was off the lobby. We could hear the noise from the lobby most of the day. Nothing major, but if you paid attention you could hear it.

Dining: I already mentioned how much we liked the CBR food court. WL has two TS restaurants: Whispering Canyon Cafe and Artist Point. We dined at WCC twice on our trip, and we went back this past summer. WCC is loud, filled with kids all of the time... BUT WE LOVE IT. It's a fun place to eat, and the food is pretty good as well. We only ate at AP for breakfast. It's rather pricey, but many consider it to be one of the top 5 TS in WDW. I wouldn't even call Roaring Forks a food court. It's very similar to a small counter service spot. They have the normal park fare (burgers, chicken fingers, etc.). It's not bad, but it is small. There's not much seating and it gets busy at peak times (breakfast and lunch, esp.). The one plus to RF is that it is very close to the pool. It's easy to run in and fill your mug with soda while at the pool.

Transportation: We usually take the bus the MK. We took it a few times to CR to catch the monorail. We even took it to FW for HDDR. The buses were just fine. They usually stop at CR, Poly and GF, but those resorts are really close. It's not a big deal. There is one bus stop; it's covered and in a cooler spot near the woods.

Activities: Most of the posts are right on the money with the activities. There is a small beach area, and for some reason I remember a volleyball net down there, but I could be wrong. The activities are very similar to those at CBR, but the resort is much more compact. You can ride bikes or walk to FW.

Now... is all of this worth $1000 more? Only you can answer that question. For our upcoming six night trip, we chose the WL. We like the location (near MK), the transportation is good, and the resort is stunning.

That being said, we would not hesitate to stay at CBR again. It's our favorite moderate resort with lots of good recreation options.

Good luck making your decision.

 

[ktturner]

GIve me a month. . . I stayed at CBR last year, liked it, but am really looking forward to WL this year. It seems to be a much better fit for us!

 

[simonkodousek]

Here are my answers. I hope they help!

1) Buses: How efficient are they? How many bus stops are there? Time to the parks? Etc.

The buses were a great way to get around from the WL to each park. We encountered a few long wait times and rides, but other than that, they were great.

2) Does the WL have a food court? We will probably not eat but a few meals there but I sometimes like to pick up a quick breakfast and take it back to the room before heading to the parks. Is this easy to do?

The WL's food court is very nice, but needs more seating. It can be especially hard to find a table in the morning. It is called "Roaring Forks".

3) If I book a standard view room, will I be very far away from the restaurants/store/main pool, etc.?

You can be far away from the restaurants/stores, etc., anywhere you book because the resort is laid out oddly. We were put at the far end of a wing, which required a 5+ minute walk to the lobby.

4) How many pools does the WL have?

1 for WL guests, and 1 for DVC members who are in the villas.

5) Other than the marina, what other activities are there?

 

[chaoscent]

The decision of where to stay. I think that takes up more of my planning time than most anything else. DH & I love WL. Now he doesn't like Disney (I know, ) so I try & stay in WL as he loves the resort. However, this last trip we paid about $300 a night, which in my world is a nice chunk of change. I decided that I couldn't do that again for my Sept. trip so I bought into the Disney Vacation CLub. Good compromise in my mind.
Anyway, after agonizing between CBR (I hate outside corriders and love balconies) & WL I decided that since it was a short trip we would go for WL. However, I decided that in the future I would probably be staying at a moderate. It is an individual decision. If you have the extra money, go for it. If you have to agonize over the money, don't. Good luck with whatever you choose. Penny

 

[Aurora63]

Something else...

If you happen to be a passholder, you can get a pretty good rate at the WL some times of year. My DSis and I stayed here in January, and I got the AP rate of $135 a night for a standard view room.

It's a gamble, though...there don't seem to be many good AP rates during the summer time.

I haven't stayed at CBR, but I have done POR, and I think the layout or POR is similar to CBR...it was nice to come 'home' to the WL and only have to walk downstairs to get a drink. Everything is under one roof, right there for you. Rather than at POR, which is a lovely resort, but when you've been walking in the parks all day, who wants to take another hike to get a drink??

Try WL, you will love it, and you only live once anyway, so just do it!!

 

[klinlin]

Having stayed at CBR twice, I can honestly say I would not go back there. I just did not care for it. I found the bus rides to be torture. I know this is going back a number of years, but it always seemed to me that I had to get through every island in the Carribean before it got to my stop. I much prefered POFQ and CSR. When I was planning our last trip, I tried for CSR but it was sold out, and I just started looking at the deluxes, never thinking I would spend that kind of money.

The whole theme of WL did not really appeal to me, but I thought it seemed like an affordable, good fit for my boys being so close to the MK. We loved it. The resort is so peaceful, the staff friendly, and the boat rides were great. I know the rooms at CBR are bigger, but WL did not give me that boxed in feeling that CBR did. We had no problems with the transportation, and my boys loved the pool slide. Roaring forks is a bit limited, but fine for what we were looking for. We can't wait to go back!