WL Lodge Pt. 1 of 4

[FloridaCat]

WILDERNESS LODGE REPORT

Floridacat
July 7th to 10th, 2003


Purpose:
To give you first hand information on Wilderness Lodge. A very magnificent lodging experience.

Lobby; Information I provide here is to give you a heads-up on locations in the lobby. To describe the lobby it self, would be like telling you how a good movie ends and I will not deny you that experience at any cost.

I also want to state at the outset that the service is impeccable throughout the resort.

Upon entering the massive front doors, you will find on your left public rest rooms, Whisper Canyon Café, The fireplace and then to Artist’s Point. You then descend down a wide ramp hallway to the doors to the courtyard. Turning left you will find Roaring Forks Food Court, Public Restrooms, elevators and across from the elevators is Guest Laundry.

Back at the main entrance, turning to your right will be the Bell Service desk, and then along the right wall is the check in counter. At the end of the counter is an information center where you can pick up maps and time sheets for the parks. The CM will give you a packet with Wilderness information and a Lodge activities sheet. Continuing along that wall is the elevators.
Going down the hall at the end of the check in counter is Mercantile Gift Shop, across from them are elevators. Then there is the Arcade room and Cubs Den. Going out the doors takes you to the bus terminal. There are signs informing you where each bus will stop and where it is going.

The courtyard is best enjoyed by your own exploration. I will have some comments later in this report to help you.

BUILDINGS:
For the sake of clarification I am naming the buildings LOBBY, NORTH WING A, NORTH WING B, SOUTH WING A, SOUTH WING B. With the A buildings close to the lobby and the B building connected to the A buildings; towards Bay Lake. The North buildings are on your left facing the lodge and South buildings on your right.

Rooms are numbered “Floor-Building-Room”. An example is 6008 is sixth floor, north wing, room 8. 6108 is sixth floor, south wing, room 8.
Even room numbers are to the outside and odd numbers are rooms towards the courtyard side.

 

[FloridaCat]

Room numbers are somewhat confusing as you would assume 01 would be at the lobby and 99 at the farthest end. At WL it is the opposite. 99 is in the lobby area while 01 is the farthest from the lobby.

All 6th floor rooms are smoking and all others non-smoking.

LOBBY: South side #091 to #099 third floor to 6th floor.
North side #084 to #089

NORTH BUILDING, WING A: Outside is all Standard View overlooking the service area parking lot. This is where all deliveries are being made to the Lodge... This would work if you are only in the room to sleep. During the day there is a lot of activity of trucks making deliveries. The view is not distasteful; it’s the truck traffic during the day.
Inside rooms are Courtyard View in the general vicinity of the Waterfalls.
General Room numbers are #066 to #042 for all floors. There are some exceptions.

NORTH WING BUILDING B: Outside is Woodsview and is very quiet and private. We enjoyed it very much and would request it on future trips. We had a good view of Otter Pond, while we never saw any Otter’s there were plenty of Ducks swimming and Rabbits having dinner. The MK fireworks are very plain to see and my estimation is rooms 5010 to 5032 had the same opportunity as well as the same rooms on 4th and 6th floors. Rooms #008 to the end of the building are blocked by two large trees to view MK and to far from Otter Pond to see except a small end of it.

Courtyards views on the inside offer a fantastic view of the pool area and are somewhat noisy until the pool is closed for the day.
General Room numbers are #004 to #044 for all floors. There are some exceptions.

SOUTH BUILDING A & B: Both sides are considered Courtyard View; however the outside rooms view the Villas and are quiet. Inside view is the courtyard.
General Room numbers are same as the North Buildings and there are some exceptions.

Elevators are located where Wing A & B connect. Rooms to the far end have a long walk to the elevators or use the stairwell on the end to go to the pool or boat dock. It is my opinion that the North side offers more in convenience then the South side. Both sides are equal in access to Courtyard and pool, but the North has a greater convenience to Roaring Fork area of the lobby and to the boat dock. 5028 was a few steps from the elevator, not a noise problem, which opened into the RF hallway, Pubic restrooms and the Courtyard area just outside RF. My mornings were to fill my mug with their good coffee and sit out there and read the free newspaper and have a smoke. When the girls were ready, then I grabbed my shower and we were off.

All end units facing Bay Lake are suites

 

[FloridaCat]

Room numbers will not be given to you under any circumstances until it is ready for occupancy, security is the reason given.
If you arrive early you can check in, but your room key is not activated until Housekeeping clears it as ready, then you will be told what room you are in.

They will accommodate you on a room change. We arrived at 8:30 AM, check in, had Bell Service take our luggage to storage and went to MGM. We returned around 10:30 PM and were given room 6008. While it was a nice room, my DD and DGD wanted a balcony. I called front desk to see if a change could be made and the CM advised us to sleep in that room since it was so late and they would move us to the 5h floor in the morning... We separated our swimming gear from the luggage. I had Bell Service take it to storage and went over to FW for Breakfast, came back and we hung out at the pool. Around 1:00 PM a CM came out to inform me that our room was ready and it was 5028. I ask her if she could have Bell Service take our luggage to the room which she was happy to do. My DGD went up to let them in.

You should note the 6th floor rooms have a “pit” for your balcony. You can identify it in the pictures by where the roof looks like it was cut and raised. This is the 6th floor. They are very private, but you do have to stand to see over them.

The best way to get to the North Wings from the lobby is to take the main elevator to your floor and walk across the hall overlooking the lobby.

Coming from the boat dock or pool, entering by RF is best for the North Wing. The entrance close to where A & B connect is best for the South Wing.

We are convinced we do not know what a small room is as we found both rooms that we were in more then adequate. My DD has done extensive travel with her job throughout Europe and she was satisfied and comfortable. Our only complaint is the bed legs stick out and we were stubbing toes or cracking shins.

 

[>>^..^<<]

LOL.. is there going to be a test on this later???

>>^..^<<

 

[FloridaCat]

POOLS: Two large hoppers by Trout pool bar have abundance of towels. The main pool is very pleasant during morning hours and does become somewhat crowded in the afternoon. Our plan was to stay at the main pool and after lunch move over to the Villas pool. While smaller is very nice and less crowded. A bonus is they have piped the lobby music to Rock Speakers in the surrounding landscape. We had a table in the shade and a speaker nearby and was very relaxing and enjoyable. WL sound track offers a very good selection of Western songs.

DINING:
ROARING FORKS: The 20oz. Refillable mugs are a must. Coffee, tea, hot or cold, soda, lemonade and Hot Chocolate. Our calculation based on regular costs of drinks was it was paid for three times over. A must if you have children. This is a high quality mug good to be used as a travel mug. I filled mine before heading to the parks and no problem carrying and easy to refill at park fountains. We did not buy one drink at the parks.
While you observe a ton of food going out there, it is never a wait of more then ten minuets. The line at the drink station is just a few minuets. Prices are reasonable for the surroundings and comments were favorable.

WILDLIFE: They seem to have adapted very well to guests. One morning an Armadillo came up the walk searching for tidbits. Egrets and many other birds had no problem standing by a table for any fallen morsel. One day at the pool we had a Black bird stand on our table and attempt to open our box of doughnuts while we were sting there. On one walk down to the dock we saw a Raccoon.

CONCLUSION: alas, to long coming, to quickly over. We all agreed we could spend a week here at WL and never feel a need to go to a park and feel we had a very enjoyable vacation. We are hooked and can’t wait to return.
FloridaCat

 

[OhMari]

Wow, thanks for the info.

We actually have a Wilderness Lodge in WI. If you ever want to venture North, it is located in Wisconsin Dells and it has an indoor WaterPark!. Water Park can't be outside, since we only receive about 6 weeks of actual warm weather here.

 

[FloridaCat]

I am originally from Central Illinois and have enjoyed trips to the “Dells” and riding the "Ducks". We also enjoyed many fine fishing vacations in Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. I wish I could get to Black River Falls and get some cheese and ice cream cones from the plaza off I-94.

This lodge is unique in that it is authentic, versus a lot of the neon plastic of some Disney resorts. It was constructed as a real lodge in every detail and would be a major place to stay in the beautiful Northwood’s country.

What impressed us, we did not have to imagine we were back north, but had to convince ourselves we were still in our adopted state of Florida.

 

[ktulu]

Thanks for the report, my wife and I will be there for our first time in August, we're really looking forward to it! I've seen the Travel Channel's Great Hotels on the WL at least 10 times now.

 

[Minniespal]

Thanks for sharing ~ Wonderful, detailed reviews!!!!!!!

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Thanks for the wonderful WL report. So when do we hear about the rest of your trip!

 

[FloridaCat]

Pretty much what we do every year.
We arrived at WL @8:30 AM and checked in. Jumped on a bus to MGM. We were surprised at the low crowds. We rode everything and saw every show with almost no wait. Had a FastPass for Rocker Roller Coaster, but did not need it as when we returned everyone was sent in the Stand by line. Same thing happened at the House of Terror. We then walked to Rosie’s Café and had their good Cheeseburger and at 10:15 we went to the second showing of Fatasmic... We never get in line until the rope is dropped as then you can walk into the stadium. We sat center stage around row 30. Higher is better for this show. We then returned to the Lodge for the evening.

On Tuesday was our Resort Day, no parks. We took the boat over to FW and had breakfast at Trails End, which we enjoy and then went back to the Lodge and spent the day. At dinner time we went down to WC and that was very enjoyable. After dinner we went down to the boat dock and rode the small launch around the lake several times. We stayed on the dock on our return and waited for the Electric Parade to come by.

Wednesday we went down to WC for Breakfast and then off to MK and worked our way around the park. We just snacked most of the day as we like to have dinner at CP before SpectroMagic and Fireworks.
I trained and showed Airedales in Obedience shows during the 70’s.In 1972 I bought a Grandson of Disney’s Hector the Pup, I decided he had to have a Disney Character call name and choose Tigger... So every year we went to CP so my DD could get a picture of me and Tigger, After 12 years how many more do they need?

CP was a disaster for us. Selections were poor, pans almost empty with no apparent attempt on anyone’s part to replenish. This saddest part was at the carving station where the CM was slicing Prime Rib like it was Baloney. We had to beg for a thicker slice and my DD told him he needed to talk to a Chef on how to carve Prime rib. It was cold and tasteless. This is or last visit to CP, Being local and able to go several times a year, we know of better places to dine.

We had PS for 8:00 PM and arrived at 7:30 and was seated immediately as well as two families with no PS, this should have given us a heads up as this is the only place we ever bother with PS’s.

Thursday Morning we check out and had Bell Service load the car. We then took the Bus to AK. The crowds finally caught up with us. It was elbow to elbow everywhere we went. We fought until just past noon and left. We went back to the Lodge, pick up the car and drove up to I-Drive to Wet & Wild.
So, for us, another wonderful trip to WDW and time to plan the Christmas trip.

 

[jaletu2000]

We spent one night at the WL in June 2003 after two nights at CB. We just LOVED it! Didn't you think the pool was awesome? And the food at Roaring Forks was really good. You're right, the wait was very short everytime we went. I couldn't believe how extensive the hallways were. They seemed to go on forever.

My two boys spent a lot of time exploring the lodge. They went up and down every staircase they could get to. We discovered so many private little nooks with fireplaces and outdoor balconies. Did you notice the enclosed walkway that crossed over the lobby entryway? My youngest wouldn't rest until he discovered how to get up there! LOL And he did.

It would be a real treat to spend some time there for the holidays. Good report!

Oh! and the concierge people must have one of the best views from that serving area. We couldn't get up there of course, but we noticed it has this huge picture window. Is the view as awesome as it looks?

 

[FloridaCat]

You are right, there is something to see on every floor. The second floor in the South A building has a Tom Tom display as you get off the elevator. Every floor had a area where you could look down on the Courtyard and in the North A building you could look down into Artist's Point dining room.

It is a work of art and rivals anything we saw or stayed in at the western National Parks.

We all agreed, DD & DGD that we could spend a week there and have no need to go to a park.

 

[I am JEN]

Oh my goodness...these WL reviews are wonderful...we will be there next week! Now I'm looking even more forward to it than I was before!

 

[FloridaCat]

If this is your first time to WL, be ready for some large goosebumps when you enter those massive front doors.