Wilderness Lodge: Woods or Courtyard?

[christianweecare]

To all Wilderness Lodge experts:

I am thinking of making a ressie at the Wilderness Lodge. Having never stayed there, I was wondering which you experts prefer. Woods view or courtyard view? Your opinions will be appreciated!

 

[eeyore0062]

If I were to ever again stay in the WL, it would have to be with a Main Courtyard view. Make sure to stress that you want the MAIN view, as there are 2 courtyards, and the other overlooks the villas and quiet pool, and has no view of Bay Lake. We didn't know this, and got the secondary view. It was very quiet, though!

 

[christianweecare]

eeyore--Thanks for the tip about the Main Courtyard! I'll remember that!

 

[wdwphanatic]

Personally, I would opt for a woods view. I've been in two woods-view rooms and really enjoyed them. In one, I could even see Cinderella's Castle! I just feel that these rooms give you more of the wilderness ambiance, as opposed to looking out over a swimming pool and across at the other guests staying on the opposite side of the courtyard.

Having said that, I really liked our view at WLV, which was of the quiet pool and the electrical light pagent at night!!

Have a great visit to WL -- that is a fabulous resort!

--Sarah

 

[peachgirl]

We had a courtyard view and loved it. It really depends on what you want. If you want a view of the pool and inner or main courtyard along with the lake area as we did, then courtyard view is the best. We also requested a room overlooking the lobby and just loved it! We were on the 5th floor, in the center of the lodge, so we had a straight shot view of the pool, courtyard and lake. If I stayed there again, I'd ask for the same room.

 

[Wilma Flintstone]

I requested (and got) a 6th floor woods-view of the Magic Kingdom and loved it. As another poster wrote, the feeling from that view room is one of "wilderness", NOT people bathing and eating/drinking. But it all depends on what you like to view. I'm sure the main courtyard view is lit up so beautifully at night. Our view at night was serene: boats' lights, EWP lights and (at that time) the pink birthday cake castle lit up above the trees. We also got to see the fireworks as well. I adore this hotel, its theming and its cast members--all top-rate!
Enjoy, Wilma

 

[ead79]

We had a main courtyard view at the WL, and it had pros and cons. We were able to watch the Electrical Water Pageant from our balcony at night, which was wonderful. The pool area is also landscaped very well. However, one of the mornings a group of kids were yelling in the pool area and it woke us up. I think I might choose a woods view the next time just for the extra quiet and woodsy feeling.

 

[papagooch]

We asked for a courtyard view 3 years ago and we also ended up overlooking the VWL quiet pool also. The CM said they couldn't always give the main pool unless you requested room numbers.

 

[DisneyFreaks]

This was a hard one to answer for me. We have stayed in both and loved the views of each. In our courtyard view room we were on the sixth floor and had the enclosed balconies. We liked them so much more because they were larger and had some privacy.

 

[pnelson]

We had a woods view-overlooking the otter pond and Cinderella's castle. However, I think it depends on when you will be in your room. At night, the woods view is PITCH dark, so basically you have a view of nothing except Cinderella's castle which is way, way off in the distance. My husband, who loves to sit on the balcony, loves to people watch, so I think we would have prefered a courtyard. During the day, we did see otters swimming, however, we weren't in the room that much during the day. I would go for courtyard.

 

[SnowWhiteIsDreaming]

I stayed at the WL last May, and we had a woods view with a view of the castle (as pnelson says "way, way off in the distance"). Although I loved seeing the castle change colors at night, it was very far away. I could also see the monorail peak through the trees, and Astro Orbitter. But I think I would have preferred the courtyard view for one reason - my 3 year old son was sick one day, and I got stuck in the room with him ALL DAY! It got pretty boring with nothing moving out the balcony. I watched a few otters, but I like to people watch. So if I had to do it again, I would try and get a main courtyard view. The only night MK had fireworks, we were at MK. That might have been great if they had fireworks every night, and we could watch them from the balcony. But I think that most woods views can't see the castle. I don't know if they all can see the MK fireworks.

Don't get me wrong - I loved the woods view. But next time, I am going to reserve a courtyard room.

No matter what, you can't go wrong if you're staying at the WL!

 

[jdkdorn]

We stayed there and had a jr suite(now the deluxe rooms) and had a great view of the lake. We were able to see the parade every night on the lake. My DD thought that was great. It was considered a woods view. you might want to ask for a room with a view of the lake.