WL Advice

[hardingk]

We are staying at WL for a short birthday trip this weekend. I booked a courtyard view room. Is there any specfic type of room I should request? Any cool things I should know about the hotel or do?

 

[gogo]

hardingk:

We were at the WL August 20th until August 26th. We also booked a Courtyard view room. We were given a room on the 6th floor. When we got in the room, I was so disappointed. Apparently all the rooms on the sixth floor have enclosed balconys. If you sit, you cannot see anything but the concrete wall. You will have a view only if you stand. I immediately called the front desk and they moved us to the 4th floor. We had to wait until later in the day to be moved. Not a big deal cause we headed off to MK and when we returned our room was ready.

The 4th floor room was great. Beautiful view. The only reason I might stay in a 6th floor room was if I had small children and wanted the security of an enclosed balcony. If they would not have moved me, I would have insisted on another hotel or reduced cost. Plus these rooms appeared dark because of the enclosed balcony.

We really enjoyed the lodge. Roaring Forks counter service provided huge portions of food. I thought it was good but we found we couldn't possibly eat it all.

Also, we preferred the bus to MK over the boat ride. In my opinion, the bus was much quicker. Boat was pleasant but we found it took longer. Try both and see what you prefer.

Hope this helps.

 

[gailanncreates]

Agree about the bus vs. boat. Line for boat was long and HOT.
Also, if the pool is too crowded, follow the path to the Villas, which will take you to the "quiet" villa pools. No slides, but not as congested, either.
Roaring forks was great; should do at least a Whispering Canyon breakfast while you are there.

 

[snappy]

The bus trip to MK during our trip last week averaged 4-6 minutes. Also there is a COVERED walkway to the bus loading area from the lodge as well as a few benches.

We took the boat back, it stopped at Ft Wilderness first, that added to the travel time as well as having the boat slow considerably around the Contemporary to avoid making a wake.

The boat also was not a/c, the breeze helped but I was still hot.

The bus back from EPCOT to WL also stopped at Ft. Wilderness first. Took quite a while as there was multiple stops within Ft. Wilderness.

 

[hoosll]

We always request a king bed. Generally we get a handicap room with only a shower which is fine for us.

 

[LSUwest]

This was from 2 years ago, but should still be valid. I just pasted the info and edited a few things out:

We (my wife and I) just got back from Wilderness Lodge. We were there from Dec 11 to Dec 19th. It was fantastic. We originally had reservations for a Pool view room at Animal Kingdom Lodge, but I decided to change it to a courtyard view at the Wilderness Lodge (for an extra $200).

It was money well spent. We loved it there. The Christmas decorations were up and the lobby was wonderful. We landed at 4:00 pm Sunday. Using Magical Express, we were in our rooms by 5:30pm. Great service which I highly recommend. When we went to check in, my wife requested an inner courtyard view. They were going to put us in an outer courtward room, but they moved us to an inner without problem.

We had a 5th floor room, on the stream side of the V, about 6 rooms away from the lobby. Quiet, great view of courtyard, pool, lake, gyser, and lodge, plus close the the elevators without being off the lobby. In my opinion, one of the best rooms there. I loved it.

Overall, we loved the lodge. We used the boat to the Contemporary and the MK a lot. It was almost like being on the monorail line without actually being on it. We did tour the AKL during the week. That lobby is also great, but I'm so glad we stayed at WL. I'm just more of a 'woodsy, water" person. Plus, as I said, I loved being able to use the boat. I took a ton of pictures and will try to post a few later.

When we left on Monday the 19th, the parks and resorts seemed to be getting more crowded by the minute. IMO, we were there the perfect time of year.

..........

We had room 5113. It was about half way down the first part of the hallway on that side of the V. Odd numbers were facing the inner courtyard. Lower numbers moved towards the lobby. Higher numbers moved away. From looking at the locations, I would think anything from around that number or a bit higher would have a great view.

We were in the small part of the courtyard (Close to the lobby, over the stream). Higher numbers will be in the larger part of the courtyard (over the pool area) which I'm sure would be great also. You could probably get a better view of the lake, gyser, and waterfall from there too. The only thing I wouldn't be sure of there is at night, those pool lights seem to be pretty bright. I liked being a bit away from them.

I loved the balcony. We watched the boats from there at night. I would also start every day by running down to roaring forks snacks to get something to eat. I would then bring it back to the room and sit on the balcony with the complimentary paper and enjoy the morning.

See all photos here: Link

 

[JLKennedy]

What would you WL experts recommed for someone (me) staying and having a woods view room? Any specifics?

 

[grimley1968]

What would you WL experts recommed for someone (me) staying and having a woods view room? Any specifics?

I have a woods view room booked in 3 weeks. I requested a high floor in the north wing, in hopes that I might be able to see some of the Wishes fireworks at night, and maybe a little bit of Bay Lake. There's only a small chance I'll get that, but it's what I'm shooting for. The only real drawback to this is that there's a chance I might also see a service road, etc. with this view.

You could request to have a view of the villas area, which is very woodsy and quiet. We've had that before and it was great for midday naps, etc. But our girls are a little older now and don't need the naps so much.

 

[Mouse511]

Enjoy your stay at the Wilderness Lodge, it's gorgeous We'll be checking in on Sunday, can't wait!!!!!

 

[threegoofys]

We've stayed there a few times and love it! One neet thing is when you check in as about being a flag family. What this is in the a.m. you meet up with a CM and go on the roof and raise the flags on top of the WL. They say the views are awsome! Every time I check in they are booked. So mabye you can call them and see if you can put your name on the list over the phone? Hope you enjoy your stay!

 

[hardingk]

Thanks for all the tips!

What types of special ammenities do the deluxe hotels have? Are the tolietries any nicer then the mods and values?

 

[snappy]

I can't comment about the toiletries, did not use them. WL looks to have been rehabbed recently, there are new big screen LCD tv's.

Also the bedspreads and perhaps curtains look new. I liked the curtains particularly since they reqlly darkened the room and allowed us to sleep late.

I loved having the balcony.

Also, not sure if all mods have these but there were double sinks and a good bit of storage in the area where the sinks were both above and below the granite countertop.

I also like having the two queen beds rather than two doubles. I also thought the bedding and pillows were heads above the ones we had at PoP.

Ok I just checked the pictures that LSUwest linked above.

The curtains have definitely been changed as well as carpets. Also, instead of the big cabinet for the tv, the new LCD tv is on a different piece of furniture that is less deep so it leaves more space in the room. It does have 3 large drawers below the TV.

Hope this helps.

 

[grimley1968]

What types of special ammenities do the deluxe hotels have?

Generally speaking, here are the benefits of staying in deluxes, vs. mods or values:

- Most deluxe rooms have a balcony or patio. Only a small number of mods have these and no values have them, to my knowledge
- Deluxe resorts, except for AKL, have at least one form of non-bus transportation to at least one park. Some have this to two parks. Non-bus transportation includes monorails, boats or walking
- Generally, the theming in deluxe resorts is a little more complete than in the values, although maybe not much more than the moderates
- Deluxe and moderate resorts generally have nicer pools, with slides, etc. than the values

 

[marylizcat]

They came and changed our mattresses for new ones while we were there in August. The new one was much more comfortable than the old one. (They did the whole corridor not just our room).

 

[LilGMom]

You will love the WL!! We definately love it! Check out the geyser, sit in the lobby near the fire and just take it all in. On all of the floors there are artifacts spread around as well as another fireplace and sitting area directly above the front doors. WCC can be a great place to eat but if you want a quiet meal WCC might not be the best choice. You can rent a Mouseboat and drive around Bay Lake, take a boat to Ft. Wilderness, take a boat to MK, watch the nightly water parade, ask to be the Flag Family, rent a bike and take the trail over to Ft. Wilderness. Wonderful resort!!!

 

[teentoddlermom]

Be aware that if you want any chance of viewing MK fireworks or of the pool or lake to ask for an inner courtyard view. We were there in August and the courtyard view room they gave us was of the Villa side of the resort. It was over the Villa courtyard! They should just term that a Villa view. I think that by calling it courtyard view it is not what most guests would expect for a courtyard view. Have fun!

 

[grimley1968]

Be aware that if you want any chance of viewing MK fireworks or of the pool or lake to ask for an inner courtyard view. We were there in August an the courtyard view room they gave us was of the Villa side of the resort. It was over the villa courtyard! They should just term that a villa view. I think that by calling it courtyard view it is not what most guests would expect for a courtyard view. Have fun!

You won't be able to see fireworks with a courtyard view. Fireworks would be blocked by the north wing of the resort. You'd have to be on the north side of the north wing to see fireworks, and on a high floor. These would be woods view rooms. Inner courtyard view gives you a view of the feature pool, the geyser, the lake, and possibly EWP, if you're high enough.

 

[mrsltg]

You won't be able to see fireworks with a courtyard view. Fireworks would be blocked by the north wing of the resort. You'd have to be on the north side of the north wing to see fireworks, and on a high floor. These would be woods view rooms. Inner courtyard view gives you a view of the feature pool, the geyser, the lake, and possibly EWP, if you're high enough.

Almost, but not exactly! We were in a corner courtyard view room on the 6th floor. We were facing MK with the other wing of the resort in the way! We were able to see the high fireworks of Wishes and could hear them, as well. It definitely wasn't a fireworks view, but we could see some.

 

[stepdisney]

We were in room 5117, inner courtyard. We loved this room and could see the sky light up with fireworks but did not actually see them. We could definately hear them. The other wing was in front of us. What I liked about this resort was that it smaller with an interior lobby. I loved the covered bus stop and walk-way to the lobby. I noticed that the Poly did not have this . (We were thinking of staying there next time).

Another big difference between deluxe and value resorts (besides the pricetag) is the choice of places to eat. There are generally three or more places to eat at a deluxe resort. I like the size of the beds and the options for larger families the most. I think that if I could get a room with a queen bed and separate beds for my two boys, I wouldn't hesitate to stay at a moderate or value when I was trying to save money or on a shorter trip. Comfort beats value in the rock, paper, scissors of resort choosing if we are staying for more than 4 nights . We couldn't do 10 days at pop with the 3 and have a "magical vacation" .

 

[snappy]

They came and changed our mattresses for new ones while we were there in August. The new one was much more comfortable than the old one. (They did the whole corridor not just our room).

I thought those were new beds!!! Glad I did not only imagine it!!