Wilderness Lodge resort & concierge review **PICS ADDED on Page 2!**

SeaSpray

Disney World fan since 1976
Joined
Jan 11, 2001
Messages
15,143
Just got back very early this morning from our stays at the Wilderness Lodge concierge, and the Polynesian concierge, didn't want to come home! lol

I have a lot to say about each resort, so I will post my reviews separately in 2 different threads.

Wilderness Lodge concierge:

First I'll start by saying that the Wilderness Lodge is a beautiful building. You really do have to stop short and just look UP, when you enter it for the first time. No matter how many pictures you may have seen, or how many times you've watched Samantha Brown walk through it, once you see it for yourself, it's quite a moment :)

Our limo pulled up to the front door on the morning of July 5th. There had to be about 20 families checking out at that same time. Our limo driver had to pull way past the front doors in order to find a spot to park. He unloaded our luggage for us, and we had to stand there for a few minutes until a bellman from the lodge finally came over to take our luggage. We walked over to the valet desk and I told them we were staying on the concierge floor. She said that we *may* have to check in at the regular desk in the lobby, but she made a call first and then told us that someone would come down for us. A few minutes later a concierge CM named Jack came down and escorted us up to the 7th floor. He was very nice and did a good job, in my opinion, of welcoming us to the Lodge. He brought us upstairs and checked us in. He said our room wasn't quite ready yet (it was about 12:45pm at this point) but that he would be able to give us our requests (inner courtyard, bunk beds) if we wanted to wait a little while. I told him we would definitely wait, especially since we had a PS for Whispering Canyon at 1pm anyway.

We went to Whispering Canyon and had lunch, and by the time we finished our room was ready. We were in room #7043. Anyway, we were in the north wing, and when you looked straight down it overlooked the stream. Looking to my right was a view of the "bear face" and the pool and lake were just to the left. It was a good view, in my opinion.

We loved the Wilderness Lodge, especially late at night when we'd walk downstairs and relax in some of those leather overstuffed chairs, and lean back and have a view of the entire height of the lobby. The sound of the babbling brook completed the feeling of being at a real lodge. A few nights, we were so relaxed that we wished we had our pillows with us; we could've fallen asleep right in that lobby. It just gives you such a comfortable feeling to be there.

On the first evening of the trip we realized that we left DH's insulin at home. Going a week without insulin was not an option so we went down to the concierge desk in search of some help.

**to be continued.....**
 
You're keeping me hanging - I can't wait to hear the rest of your report. Glad you had such a nice time.
 
SEASPRAY - Thanks for the review! I can't wait to hear more!

I wanted to ask you how the July 4th crowds were?? Would you go at this time of year again?? I know I mentioned to you before, my family all have bdays from July 1 - 8th and it would be fun to plan a trip (I turn 40 next year!) for that week, just concerned about crowds & HEAT on top of that.

Lives4Disney :earsgirl:
 

Please tell me about the concierge lounge, in detail!! We are going the end of August and are looking forward to seeing the new lounge. Cant wait to hear about the rest of your trip :sunny:
 
I too want to hear about the concierge service at the WL. We only stayed CL there back in 2001 when it was new.
 
C'mon Seaspray - You promised to let us know how the new lounge looks!! Don't keep us waiting!!
 
I can't get any pics up at least until tomorrow night, due to my power supply being gone. Sorry :/ DH is having a new one overnighted, though. LOL

Anyway, the new lounge looks nice. Very dark; wood, and dark marble or granite. It definitely looks like it will only be able to hold the food offerings, and not any chairs or sofas. It has a pole in the middle of it. (Trying to remember the pic I took of it. lol).... There are counters of varying heights around the perimeter of the room, with cabinets up along the walls, and below the counters. Almost looks like the Wilderness Lodge version of a small kitchen, actually. :) No windows, as I recall, its in the middle of the lodge, not on an outside wall.

Hope this info helps until I'm able to get the picture up!
 
Is the seating still the same in the lounge? a few tables up each side and the food offerings in the centre?
 
Cass said:
Is the seating still the same in the lounge? a few tables up each side and the food offerings in the centre?

Yes, as of a few days ago :) We really loved that set up. Loved sitting in the morning and evenings and overlooking the lobby. :)
 
Really looking forward to the rest of your opinions about the Lodge... :flower:
 
SeaSpray - Thank you for posting your reviews. I was excited to see them after reading several of your post prior to your trip. It does sound like you had a really nice time.

My family and I will be staying CL @ WL in November.
Looking forward to seeing your pix.....
 
Continuation of my review:

The concierge CMs gave us the name and number of a pharmacy who delivers to the Disney resorts. We then called our doctor back in Massachusetts and gave them the pharmacy info. The next morning, the pharmacy delivered the insulin, and when we returned to our room, someone had already placed it in the fridge in the room for us.

We really enjoyed the boat transportation to and from the Magic Kingdom. We never waited more than 5 minutes for a boat to arrive. The bus stop is a short walk from the side entrance of the Lodge. There are 3 different stops, 2 of them are in the shade under a roof, the third stop is out in the open. In the morning, there is shade at the third stop, from the trees. The buses seemed to be running very regularly. I think the longest we had to wait for a bus was about 10-15 minutes. But most times, the buses were there in less time. Same thing at the parks when waiting for a bus to leave; there never was a long wait at all.

I was VERY happy to see that Disney had the air conditioning running full blast, everywhere. Even just walking past the shops on Main Street, you'd get a burst of cold air as you went by. The room was kept nice and cool too, which is a priority for us with DH's diabetes.

Concierge is only open until 10pm. On our last night at the Wilderness Lodge, we realized at about 11pm that we had forgotten to turn in the Traveler's Checks that we brought with us, to pay off the charges we had on our room. We went to the regular front desk in the lobby and the CMs there were very helpful and friendly, and we were able to turn the Checks in to them, and they applied it to our bill. This was our only interaction with the regular front desk CMs.

We really didn't spend a lot of time on our balcony, we preferred sitting down in the lobby. I can't say enough good things about the late nights we spent just sitting down in the lobby, relaxing. There would be some people here and there, and because the lobby is so cavernous, you never really heard what people were saying. We sat at one of sofa groupings and relaxed and talked each night, and took in the sights and sounds of the Lodge. That bubbling brook was wonderful; I love the sound of running water.


I can't think of anything else to write about the Wilderness Lodge right now. I will be adding pictures tonight, hopefully. If anyone has questions, feel free to ask :)
 
Seaspray,
I think you have helped me make up my mind about something. We have been debating about getting two connecting rooms (I have 6 sons) in January or a 2 bedroom at WLV. I do not want to cook on vacation so the kitchen wouldn't really be used. I just wanted couches for us to sit back, relax and visit at the end of a long day. (Not just beds to sit on since we will be at WDW for a while) I really didn't want to pay for WLV if I'm not going to need the kitchen. After reading your post--I think we would very much just enjoy using the couches in the lobby to visit. It sounds as if you really enjoyed that part of your stay at WL!
 
Belle5, there's nothing more relaxing in the wintertime than sitting in the WL lobby, sipping on some hot cocoa from Roaring Forks.

ENJOY,

Lori
 
SeaSpray said:
Anyway, the new lounge looks nice. Very dark; wood, and dark marble or granite. It definitely looks like it will only be able to hold the food offerings, and not any chairs or sofas. It has a pole in the middle of it. (Trying to remember the pic I took of it. lol).... There are counters of varying heights around the perimeter of the room, with cabinets up along the walls, and below the counters. Almost looks like the Wilderness Lodge version of a small kitchen, actually. :) No windows, as I recall, its in the middle of the lodge, not on an outside wall.

Hope this info helps until I'm able to get the picture up!

Thanks for the review!

I'm a little confused tho -- is the new concierge lounge not completed yet?
 
Tbel Mom said:
Thanks for the review!

I'm a little confused tho -- is the new concierge lounge not completed yet?

That's correct, as of 6 days ago, it was not open, and it didn't look anywhere near ready to be open. I mean, the room itself looked complete, but there was no activity in the room except for the occasional workman, but I don't know what they were still working on. They had the doors locked while we were there, but since they have cut-outs, its easy to see right in.
 
Here are (finally!) some of our pictures of the Wilderness Lodge:


The lobby

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