WL transportation....what gives??!!

[cavecricket]

ok here goes......i am staying at AKL, but i was throwing around the idea of WL because my family is staying at FW ( would make meeting up much much easier) however, with all the great things i hear about WL one thing remains.....i have heard only bad things about the transportation. now i know that you should allow yourself close to 45 minutes when using Disney transportation which i entirely understand, however the AKL has remarkable transportation we dont share busses with any other resorts and really the only non-direct routes are those for traveling to the water parks and DTD ....so what im trying to figure out is...... should i just rent a car to meet the family and stay at AKL or rent a car the whole vaca and stay at WL?????
how do the pools differ??

thanks guys!!!!

 

[Kimberle]

We had wonderful transportation during our stay. Never more than a few minutes wait. We felt WL transporation was better than CR's.

Lot's of posts on this subject if you'll do a search.

 

[Destination Disney]

is a bit... how would you say it...um, off? I just returned from the WL at the end of October. First time staying there and the resort is my favorite of the deluxes so far. Anyway, we took the boat to the MK and upon returing to the resort we walked all the way down to the bus depot at the MK only to find out that there are NO buses that run to the WL directly. (Good information to know!) The only way to go would to be by monorail to the ticket center then from the ticket center to the WL. Gladly we made the boat before it left. Now the boats are not the speediest in the world and according to thier signs run ever 20 min or so. Later in the eveneing we wanted to go view WISHES at the MK. So we had dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe (Awesome, order ketchup!), it ran a bit long so then we had minimal time to get to the MK. So since we were at the front of the resort we opted for the buses. Our bus came rather quickly, but then we had to take it to the TC get off, walk to a monorail, then take the Monorail over to the MK. (Needless to say we walked off our delectable dinner!) We made it, but then getting back to the resort could of been a disaster if we hadn't left right after the last firework and rushed to the boat. It was just arriving, and filled up super fast. (The WL shares a boat with the FW campground.)
Now looking at the big picture, why the WL buses do not go directly to the MK is beyond me. The resort is so close, and to drop off the guests at the TC is rediculous to me. You take the resort guests that are paying for the convenience of the WL and you put them with the entire crowd coming into the MK, to only make them wait in line again to ride the monorail, to take them to the MK. Now I know that many people would say that the boats are great, and they are, but have you ever been on that boat dock in the evening. MOSQUITO HEAVEN !!! Holy cow, there are so many that they just fly into you! There were so many mosquitos along with other bugs just looming around and huvering around the lights on the dock.

Love the Lodge...not too fond of the transportation!

 

[patsal]

I have never had great transportaton from WL. Love it there, but hate the transport! We always have a car and use it for everywhere except MK.

 

[Lou-Ann]

Effective November there is now a bus to take you directly to MK. Did you report the mosquitoes to the front desk so that they knew to go spray for them???? Disney is usually great about this but they need to be aware of the problem.

 

[CheezDoodle]

We stayed at WL in September and loved it! I did not really enjoy having to take the boat to MK but it is nice to look at the ruins of Discovery Island and River Country. The pool at WL is much better than the one at AKL.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by Destination Disney
we walked all the way down to the bus depot at the MK only to find out that there are NO buses that run to the WL directly. (Good information to know!) The only way to go would to be by monorail to the ticket center then from the ticket center to the WL.

At that time, you would have two options... The most popular is to take the boat back to Wilderness Lodge. The other option would have been to take the Monorail to the Transportation & Ticket Center and then catch the bus there.

As of Sunday, the 14th, there is now a direct bus (in addition to the boat) that runs from MK to WL.

Originally posted by Destination Disney
Love the Lodge...not too fond of the transportation!

I'm curious as to why you're not fond of it... the only reason you stated was that there was no bus from WL to MK, only a boat. That confuses me, because the impression I get from the majority of the guests on here is that they would rather take the boat than a bus. But at any rate, that concern has been addressed.

 

[dudspizza]

I agree with the majority, Tyler. I stayed at WL in August and never felt the need to take the bus to the MK. We took the boat to the MK and we took the boat to CR. Both were great. The ride was peaceful and I loved the views of the islands in the middle of Bay Lake.

We were there during Hurricane Charley and had no problems with the bus transportation on that day. I had heard many bad things about the transportation at WL, but I was not disappointed at all. Our rental car sat in the lot the entire week. We took buses to Epcot, Disney Studios, and even DD.

We actually had a bus driver ask a group of us who had waited a while for the EPCOT bus if we wanted him to drop us off at the TTC. We loved the fact that he asked and we caught the monorail to Epcot from there.....

Again, no problems with the transportation at WL.

Duds

 

[GEM]

We've had two 10 night stays at the WL in the last few years. We had absolutely no transportation problems at all during either stay. The bus system worked great and we LOVED the boat ride to and from the Magic Kingdom. We drove, so we did have a car, but the only time we used it was one night on each trip to get to Downtown Disney. Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to stay at the WL again. It's my favorite resort, and we've stayed many places. We are staying there again in a few weeks and we will have a baby this time - and we're flying, so no car. I'm not worried in the least about the transportation situation.

 

[j's m]

We just got back from WL and the transportation was no problem. We always rent a car, but this is the first year it stayed parked all week. The only problem we had was coming back from Wishes on a Friday night. MK was mobbed, we didn't rush enough and probably waited about a half an hour or so for the boat. But there were separate boats for WL and FW, and they had extra boats on besides.

When we had to get back from Chef Mickey's, we took the monorail to TTC and then a bus to WL. We were told there is a boat from CR to WL, but we thought at night it would be easier on the monorail.

 

[Destination Disney]

Tyler,
I guess I would have to say that I was not fond of the (non-direct) route from the MK to the WL and visa-versa. I guess I am a bus kind of girl!
We did end up catching the boat to the WL though, and the trip was great.

Great to hear they have a direct route starting up.
Thanks Tyler!

 

[Gary M]

When we stayed at the WL last winter (3 times) the boat went from the WL to the MK directly before 3 pm, after 3 pm it was direct from MK to WL. We have stayed at the WL 18 times and found the transportation at the WL to be as good as the other 5 WDW resorts we have stayed at.