WL or POR???

[Pembo]

Convince me! We've stayed at POR/POFQ 3/4 trips. I found a AAA rate at the WL. Is it worth the $50 more a night? I really love POR.
I have a couple questions:

1. I have a standard room rate, are the bunk beds available? Do I just have to request them?

2. Are things spread out? We've stayed near the bus stop/food court area at POR. We enjoyed the 2 min walk to everything.

3. What's the pool like? Is there more than one pool?

I know there are a lot of WL lovers on the DIS.........Convince me!

 

[Bbgrizzle]

I have stayed at both and I vote spending more and going with WL. While I like the room decor better at POR (the mansion rooms, not AB), WL wins for the lobby, the theming, the ferry over to MK, the pool, etc. Yes, we got a bunkbed room at the standard room rate. They ask you about that when you book the room. There is only one pool, but it is nice. Restaurants are all in the same building as the hotel. Is that what you meant by "spread out"? It is a little walk down to the lake to get to the ferry dock. The grounds are beautiful though.

We stayed at POR on our first WDW trip and we absolutely loved it. But the conveniences that WL offers easily propeled it to our favorite. (of course, we've only stayed at 3 disney resorts so far!).

 

[joats]

We've stayed at both and our vote is definitely for WL!!!

Ditto to Bbgrizzle's post.

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

Pembo,
I would choose Wilderness lodge, and WL does have more than one pool. You need to go to our thread here on this forum

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=452005

On the first page about half way down Cindy gives all the room descriptions and then I have all the Restaurants, Room Rates for WL and the Villas, with guest room lay-outs, a few post down from Cindy's...on page two FloridaCat describes over-all lay out of the Lodge. Then if you have any questions just ask on that thread with all the knowledge someone will know the RIGHT answer to your question.

The Wilderness Lodge is in fact one of the smaller Resorts and has a very intimate feel about it.

Pools:All pools are outdoor and heated
One Main feature pool with a slide
One quiet pool
Kiddie pool
Two Jacuzzis

If you would like bunk beds request when making your reservation. They are avalibale in Standard, Woods, and Courtyard Views...

Transportation- Boat to MK and FT.Wilderness as well as a small resort launch to CR.
Buses to other Parks and DTD.

 

[jmommy]

Hi1 We just stayed at WL in late Oct for our first time. We have always stayed at POR in the mansions section, but the FTP allowed us to upgrade and stay in a deluxe. We never thought it was worth the extra $$ since we are not in the room or at resort much (we tend to spend alot of time in the parks) BUT....we are converts.... the WL was wonderful and we will definitely pay the extra money from now on. We were in the north wing of the WL (room 5010) and it was the perfect location. We could see the castle and Contemporary from our balcony. What we really liked about WL was the fact that everything is in one building instead of lots of different buildings like POR. It is nice to get up at 6am and walk to get coffee without having to walk outside...across Ole Man Bridge...to the food court. We also had wonderful housekeeping. I would agree that the room decor is not to my taste, but the lobby, etc is fantastic. If you are big food court eaters, the moderate has better food court. We ate 2 times in our 10 days at Roaring Forks, and there is not much selection.

Sorry to ramble, but just wanted to put in my two cents worth. We also loved using the boat transportation to MK--the boats were very timely and predictable--whereas sometimes the buses were not. We also used the boat to the Contemporary and Fort Wilderness--our kids loved going to Fort Wilderness for the campfire, petting zoo, and to ride horses. Also, Trails End Buffeteria is great!!
Good luck with your decision--you'll be happy with whichever you decide.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

WL,WL,WL!!!

Magic gave you the link to our "home" thread.

It is BY FAR! the best themed resort IMHO!!! I think that if you love the POR, you will DIE for the WL!

 

[Pembo]

Magic-I've been reading the WL thread, lots of chatter on there though.

bgrizzle and joats-Thanks

jmommy-Thanks for your recent vote! We do plan to eat at the food court, but I checked the menu and they have the required chicken strips and hotdogs. That's all that matters to my boys.

DH is convinced we need to stay there, now if I could snag an AP rate.........

 

[Simba's Mom]

I'll go against the flow here and say POR. I've stayed at both, and here's my experience-stayed at WL first, loved it, and vowed to never stay anywhere else. Next year, financial problems forced me to POR, it was OK, even rather nice. Next year, got back to WL (Yeay!), but found it really wasn't as great as I remembered. Voluntarily went back to POR for the next 4 trips, and loved it more each time! Guess I'm a POR convert.

 

[Sandi]

I'm with Simba's Mom. We just returned from an 8 night stay at the WL. Prior to that, we've always stayed at POFQ or POR (7 times). We love POR, but with the Fairy Tale Package, I thought we'd give WL a try. I've always thought it was a beautiful resort and we splurged a little this time.

I have to say that I would have rather saved the money and stayed at POR. That's not to say we didn't have a great time at WL, but I just didn't feel it was worth extra money for us. We had a Woods View, a lovely housekeeper, etc., so there wasn't anything really wrong with the resort.

The bus service from WL is awful compared to POR and POFQ. If you depend on that, you won't be happy. (The boat to MK, CR, and FW is fine, but those even got crowded and seemed slow.)

Also, the food court at WL (Roaring Fork) is nothing compared to POR. There are many more choices at POR. My 9 yo DD really missed that. DD also felt the pool at POR is better though we did enjoy the river current running into the WL pool.

It was fun to be able to view the Electrical Water Pageant (but that's overrated, too).

Those are my thoughts. You'll be happy at either resort, I think. But I felt a bigger bang for my buck at POR. I would be happy to answer any questions on direct comparisons, etc.

 

[clutter]

We've done deluxe, moderate and value.

Although the deluxes I've stayed at have been wonderful (AKL, WL, CR), I find they don't work as well for us because of the lack of variety in a food court. It's just my dd and me, and we just tend to eat on the run. If we're there for more than 4 or 5 days, I get tired of the options in the parks (don't want to have to go to TWO places to eat...) and I find I get REALLY tired of the options at the carry-outs at the deluxes.

I think if we did more sit-down meals on our trip, I'd like the deluxes better. But then, I'd need the extra $$ for those meals...