WL: How far to the boat dock?

[etedesco]

I *thought* I was trying to decide between GF and Poly for my October trip, but just saw a thread about WL and am intrigued. For the price difference we could stay an extra night!

My main desire for a resort was monorail access to MK, but how convenient is the boat dock to MK? How long is the walk from the lobby to the dock?

Thanks!

 

[firstwdw]

The boat dock was VERY convenient!!!! We were on the north wing near Roaring Forks Cafe and we'd just go down the elevator, our the door by the pool, walk past the pool and a very short path the boat dock-maybe 5minutes from our door to the dock. Nothing at Wilderness Lodge is a long walk in my opinion and I was there with a pretty severe injury. The best part was after Wishes-we booked it to the boat and got the first boat back to WL with NO waiting and were back in our room before 10:30!

 

[Ginny Favers]

Not that far. I had no trouble walking it with 2 kids in tow. And the trip to the MK takes about 10-15 minutes and is really a lovely ride, an experience in itself, especially on the smaller boats.

Let me just tell you this... when I announced that we're staying at GF this next trip, my husband and daughters all cried. They LOVE WL so much.

 

[OKW Lover]

Its not really a long walk from the lobby to the boat dock. You may want to look at the map of WL here on the DIS's sister site WDW Info.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Everything at the WL is very close. It is a very compact resort. I loved the walk out to the boat dock, through the mossy trees.

 

[grimley1968]

It's technically maybe a 3-5 minute walk from the lobby to the dock, but it always takes us about 10 minutes or more because there's so much to see. We might go on the walkway to the right of the dock walkway and see the geyser if it's going off, or sit by the pool a couple minutes, or stop by Roaring Forks, or ... well, there are distractions along the way.

The boat ride itself is wonderful. Very relaxing and is a straight shot to MK. It's certainly not as quick as the monorail from Poly or GF, but we actually prefer the boat ride. At the end of the day, the boat back to WL can often be faster than the resort monorail because of all the crowds and stoppages on the monorail. That's just not as much as issue on the boats. But then GF and Poly also have a boat.

 

[Anna114]

While I am VERY prejudice for the WL I really like that it's only a boat ride away. I do not like the chaos of the monorail resorts but I like being close to MK.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We really enjoy staying at WL and found it to be a great value compared to the more expensive MK resorts.

The boat was our favorite way to MK, and depending on your room location it is anywhere from a one minute walk to maybe 5 minutes, if you don't stop to enjoy the scenery. The North wing is very close to the dock, but like others mentioned the resort is compact enough and all under one roof so getting around within it is really quick, especially compared to the other MK resorts. For even faster (although less fun) access to MK there is also a bus that picks up near the lobby (kind of at the opposite end of the resort from the dock) and that is a very short bus ride.

For monorail access, it is a short (less than 5 min) boat ride to the Contemporary dock where you have a moderate walk across the first level to the lobby and then up to the monorail station. It takes some time but we enjoy doing it and seeing different things along the way.

I'd definitely consider WL, especially if it gets you another day at Disney. Enjoy your trip!

 

[kapoof]

Even better than then the boat ( which can have long lines, plus the wait for it) is the 5 minute bus ride to mk!

 

[OKW Lover]

Even better than then the boat ( which can have long lines, plus the wait for it) is the 5 minute bus ride to mk!

Of course the bus can have long lines, plus the wait for it.

 

[goofy4prez]

I love the WL and would spend the extra night there instead of a shorter stay at one of the mono rail resorts. Personally, I think the mono rail is so over-rated anyhow. The distance from the WL to the boat ramp as others have mentioned is only a couple of minutes. The boats run often and it's not a long ride over. In addition to the boat I have found the buses to be excellent at the WL no matter where you may want to go. Perhaps the only exception would be to DTD.

 

[degansha]

Love WL and love the boat rides. We never waited long and our trips were the two busiest weeks of the year.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

I *thought* I was trying to decide between GF and Poly for my October trip, but just saw a thread about WL and am intrigued. For the price difference we could stay an extra night!

My main desire for a resort was monorail access to MK, but how convenient is the boat dock to MK? How long is the walk from the lobby to the dock?

Thanks!

Staying an extra night is always exciting!!!!!! That's great that you chose WL! It is such a pretty resort.

 

[AshleeH]

If you stay in the DVC building (we had a one bedroom suite there) it's a bit more of a walk - closer to 10 minutes. The boat ride doesn't take a very long time, but if you happen upon a bus to MK, it would be faster.

 

[baler31]

Even better than then the boat ( which can have long lines, plus the wait for it) is the 5 minute bus ride to mk!

This...more often than not we were the ONLY people on the bus. Several times my DH and DD left myself and DS at the boat dock line, did not want to wait so they walked to the bus stop and still beat us to MK.

 

[Anniefrances]

WL is my favorite and my children and I loved starting our days with the boat ride to MK. We usually waited 5-10 min for a boat and the walk between the room and the dock was not bad at all. Plus I really enjoyed having everything under one roof (we ate several meals at Roaring Forks). And the pool at WL, oh my goodness, we enjoyed it so much....and late in the evening, on the way back to the room, if my children were sleeping in the double stroller, I liked sitting outside of the main lobby in the rocking chairs with a glass of wine--so peaceful. Finally, I think the best part was at the end of a long day at MK, we had the shortest walk of anyone--just a hop and skip to the boat dock. The year prior we stayed at CR which is a close second choice, but being able to maneuver the double stroller to WL was a lot less tiring for me even if it took a little longer than the walkway to CR.

 

[etedesco]

Thank you all! I'll be travelling with two small children and I hate, hate, hate those buses and am trying to avoid them at all costs. I want to roll my stroller onto something (monorail, boat) and roll off without having to take my sometimes sleeping kids out.

We stayed at POP last spring and it felt like we spent half of our vacation on a bus! We do the afternoon nap thing, and convenience is my motivating factor when booking a resort.

Thanks for all the opinions!

 

[bdklein]

I want to roll my stroller onto something (monorail, boat) and roll off without having to take my sometimes sleeping kids out.

Well you can't use the boats that go to the GF/Poly since you can't push an open stroller onto them. I cannot speak for any other boats/ferry.

 

[North of Mouse]

Well you can't use the boats that go to the GF/Poly since you can't push an open stroller onto them. I cannot speak for any other boats/ferry.

The large boats accommodate the strollers open, but the smaller boats do not. Sometimes smaller boats *do* go from the WL to MK, so you would just have to wait for a larger boat, or fold your stroller. Only the smaller boats rotate around the lake - WL to CR to FW - they circle around just to the resorts.

 

[Anniefrances]

As the PP indicated, there are large and small boats that transport between WL and MK. Strollers may remain open (even with sleeping children) when riding on the large boat. The few times a small boat arrived and I didn't want to fold the stroller we just waited for the next boat. I have read somewhere on the boards that the boats arrive every 20 min, but the wait felt more like 10 min or so to me.

I will add though, that if you plan to spend time at Epcot and folded strollers are an issue, you may want to consider CR. When my children were even younger I liked hopping over to WS for a leisurely meal or adult beverage whenever they would go down for an extended stroller nap (or later in the evening after a full day of playing at MK). Hands down, using the monorail (and a well stocked stroller) was the smoothest way to pull it off.