Tell me about the Wilderness Lodge

[Bethanymouse]

We just booked the Wilderness Lodge for our trip this summer. We are usually Pop or Poly people but decided to try something new.

For those of you who have stayed at the WL, what did you love/hate, what are some tips, what should we not miss, what should we look for? How would you rate your experience there? Where should we request a room?

Thank yoU!

[faline]

Did you book a standard level room? Or another view type?

Do the Hidden Mickey challenge. Hint cards are available at the front desk. Ask to be a flag family. The flag family goes to the roof in the morning and helps to raise the flags. When we stayed concierge, we realized the flag family is usually invited to stay on the concierge level for breakfast as they return from the roof. There are tours of Wilderness Lodge available. These are fun and free.

Territory Lounge is a great place to enjoy a cocktail. If you'd rather sit in the lobby, you can get a drink to go. Enjoy the rocking chairs in front of the lobby fireplace. Look for the fireplace on the floor overlooking the lobby.

Take a book and sit on the beach. It's usually pretty quiet. Choose a table along the left hand side of the pool bar. It's often isolated and you are seated along the far end of the babbling brook.

Look for geyser eruptions. Take in the Electrical Water Parade on the beach.

Enjoy the boat ride to the Magic Kingdom. Take the boat to the campground.

It's a terrific resort! Enjoy!

[cinderella crazy]

It's been awhile since we stayed there. I know the rooms have been redone and Roaring Fork has been redone as well. But I can honestly say we didn't dislike anything about the resort.

We love going to Whispering Canyon Cafe. It's always good for some laughs.

I agree that Territory Lounge is a great place to relax with a drink.

We have a favorite spot that is tucked away from other areas. If you're looking at the front doors, you'll see an area above them that has a small sitting area. There are chairs in front of a fireplace there. It's a really cozy spot to sit at, read a book, or people watch.

You can rent bikes and go bike riding through Fort Wilderness. Really pretty.

The pool is neat too. There's a water slide. There's also an area where a waterfall flows into the pool.

I also just like to sit in the lobby, whether it be in front of the fireplace or just in the center and enjoy the sounds, smells, and sights of the lodge.

[faline]

We have a favorite spot that is tucked away from other areas. If you're looking at the front doors, you'll see an area above them that has a small sitting area. There are chairs in front of a fireplace there. It's a really cozy spot to sit at, read a book, or people watch.


That's exactly the spot I was talking about!

[retiredfigment]

We've stayed at WL three times and wouldn't stay anywhere else. Agree with all the above. Convenient location - fun to take the ferry. When it is crowded, we have even taken ferry to Contem. and walked to MK. They offer movies on the beach at night. Great activities for kids. Great for walking. Only minor draw back is that I miss the food courts they have at some other resorts we have stayed at.

[KylesMom]

This July will be our 5th return trip to Wilderness Lodge. It truly is a resort with wonderful ambiance. Everyone has captured our favorites above, such as the boat to MK, the geiser eruption, Territory Lounge, being Flag Family, etcetera - but I just wanted to reiterate how great it is for us!

As far as where to request a room, it depends on if you want to pay extra. If so, Courtyard View is for you. Woods View is a few $$$ more than Standard View, but if I had to pick, I'd pay for the Courtyard versus Woods view.

Have a great time!:mickey:

[kakn7294]

We stayed there last July. It was the best resort stay ever! The rooms are very nice and the resort is beautiful. Our housekeeper was fantastic - very friendly and left us tons of towel animals. The bus stop is convenient and the boat ride is nice. We love it there and I think it's become my new home away from home.

[ibrowse17]

WL was the one resort that we really wanted to try, and it did not let us down. Growing up staying at Fort Wilderness, we enjoy being close to the MK and the lake. WL offers both, and feels as right to us as FW. Everyone should try this place at least once, and I hope you do:thumbsup:

[Disneyfun]

:ditto::ditto::ditto::ditto::ditto:
Can't agree more with what everyone has said above!

I can't think of a better place to stay if it is in the budget! DW and I had been dreaming of staying there as it is our favorite resort of all time! The ambiance, the level of detail, the restaurant, the comfy chairs in the lobby - it is all just perfect for us!

To add to the list of items above that really make it great -

Artist's Point - spectacular restaurant with excellent food and a wonderful view of the brook flowing from the lobby to the pool (sounds cheesy if you haven't seen it, but trust me it is beautiful). In our book, this restaurant is second only to California Grill, but we haven't tried Victoria & Albert's yet.
Walt's train car from the Carrolwood Pacific - for me, this was a moving display to see. They have one of the cars from Walt's personal train set that he had at his home. It is on display inside the DVC portion of the hotel, but is available for all to see.


Once you stay there, you will be hooked! We were!

[Dragongirlx]

We have stayed there twice and its a beautiful resort. I love that its all in the one building and my favourite part is getting the boat to the Magic kingdom. The rroms are lovely and the double sink in the bathroom is very useful too.

[kakn7294]

Bethany, I didn't realize who posted this when I first saw the thread. How are you? I hope married life is treating you and Anthony well!

Our room was located in the main lobby above Whispering Canyon - a Woods View category. I read review that people complained about this location, saying it was too noisy. We did hear Whispering Canyon a bit but I wouldn't say it was noisy at all. Mostly, it was a slightly noticible increase in the "buzz" around us. We overlooked the service area with woods beyond - I could see the top of the CR and BLT straight out as well as the Poly to the right from my balcony. Very relaxing to sit out there with a cup of coffee! I would have been a bit upset that I paid for a Woods View and overlooked the service parking lot had it not been for the lobby location. There's nothing like opening your door in the morning onto that spectacular lobby! We ate dinner at Whispering Canyon - good food but busy and noisy. We ate breakfast at Roaring Forks - limited selection but good. The pool is beautiful - usually busy but spread out enough to enjoy. The geyser is fun to watch and the grounds are beautiful to walk. We liked that everything (outside of the DVC section) is all located in the same building. They will give you an activity list upon check-in. There's a nightly movie on the beach and various activities all around the resort. We wanted to do the Wonders of the Lodge tour but the guy and his backup were both off. We also wanted to be a Flag Family but that was booked through our whole stay. It was nice to walk around and explore all the hidden niches of the resort - there are some very relaxing little hideaways. Even sitting in the middle of the main lobby with people coming and going all around you can be relaxing! I think it's someplace you and Anthony would enjoy.

[Patricia]

We just got back. We had started off in POR but by the second week decided we had to move on. I have always wanted to try the Lodge..

I called the Wilderness Lodge front desk and they had room for us the following day.

It was great! I don't even know where to start. The pool is beautiful, there are activities throughout the day.. always something going on. The boat was fast to MK. We walked over to Fort Wilderness early one morning and were able to find the draft horses sleeping. Ever hear a horse snore? Be sure to walk up all the stairs, there are balconies and cozy nooks all over where you can enjoy the views or a newspaper with your morning coffee. We used the fireplace seating area that the above posters have mentioned. Although we asked for a woods view with a King, we ended up on the main floor, courtyard side with an accessible room. Which we loved as it had the large walk in shower. From our particular room, we were able to walk off our patio to the pool or a skip over to Roaring Forks to refill a mug.

The service was excellent and we decided we will have to stay here from now on.

Note: I do know that the tables to the left of the Pool bar, along the creek, are the designated smoking area.. not sure if that is new or not. That said, it was never very busy with smokers.

The beach was lovely and usually very quiet, because we were without children we spent a lot of time lying around here. The Electric Water Pageant was by at 9:35 nightly.

We used the DVC area as well. The fitness center is over there and we used the big chairs to read over there as it was so quiet. You have to stop in there to see Walt's train car.. very cool, they also have games set up on the tables by the fire. We played checkers while waiting for our room to be ready.

The only con we noticed was that on the front side of the building you can hear the cars from Richard Petty. We found that it really took away from the atmosphere on the days the cars were running.

[kakn7294]

The only con we noticed was that on the front side of the building you can hear the cars from Richard Petty. We found that it really took away from the atmosphere on the days the cars were running.I hadn't noticed that myself but we weren't at the resort much during the day, especially not out front. Something to remember for the future.

[c&d]

One of the things we really enjoy doing is walking along the exercise path between FW and WL. If you do it around dusk you will see tons of deer feeding and a bunch of other animals. The deer are used to seeing people they don't run away they just continue eating.

Sitting in the rocking chairs in the lobby is a comfortable and fun way to people watch.

Late at night when all is quiet it's a beautiful lobby to just sit and relax in.

[LudwigVonDrake]

I'm staying at WL for the first time in July and this thread has me all excited about staying there. Thanks :wave:

[BigThunderFan]

We just got back from a week at WL and the only thing I can say is I am SO Disappointed that I had to leave! I don't think we will ever be able to go back to Pop or any other resort for that matter!

We loved everything about the resort, the pool and waterfall, the lobby, the beach. But the thing I loved more than anything else was just walking out into the courtyard in the morning, the lake still had mist on it and the sun was just hitting the tops of the cypress trees. It was the most peaceful time of day and I just stood there and took it in every morning!

My son & I loved sitting in the hot tub one night while it was raining and just looking around (and remembering there was snow on the ground back home). One other great memory for me was sharing a Mickey rice crispy treat on the beach while watching the electric water pageant go by on my birthday. Something I will never forget! I can't wait to go back!:thumbsup:

[TikiLounger]

We just got back from a stay at the Wilderness Lodge a couple of weeks ago. I have to say that is was fantastic. We had so much fun and resort was beautiful. The Christmas decor was still up for the first part of our stay and it made the atmosphere so cozy and homey. We can't say enough good things about this resort. Actually, we've been pretty adamant that our favorite resort is the Poly, but I think WL may be taking over our second place spot from the Beach Club. We plan on staying again for our next (yet to be planned) trip and who knows? maybe it will take over the first place spot!:cap:

[Bethanymouse]

Thank you all so much for your input and sharing your experiences! I cant wait to share this thread with Anthony, you have managed to make me even more excited!:cloud9: I love intercot!:thumbsup:

[michellerose1579]

Thank you!!!! I am staying at WL with my mother (for her first trip to WDW) at the end of September! This was very useful to me as well!! :)

[kathiep]

In his never ending trek to try every Disney hotel, my DH just made me switch our August reservations to WL. I was Ok with our current reservations at CSR. We have stayed there before and have always been very pleased. I was having a hard time getting excited about it ...that is until I read this thread. Thanks for posting!

[disneycutie165]

Oh my goodness, i don't think you can hate ANYTHING about the WL because in my opinion it is the best resort in WDW! We've stayed there for all of our trips and it is practically "home". The last time we stayed we were on the floor right above the lobby so every morning we went to Roaring Fork, got our breakfast and came back to the balcony in front of our room which overlooked the lobby. Such good times. The only negative thing I think that has occured with us is that the last time they kept switching maids on us and the last time, about halfway through our trip, we got this young guy as our maid. And he wasn't very on top of things. But oh my gosh, the WL is everything you'll need and more! :cloud9:

[wmdaddy]

I love everything about WL. Stayed there 4 times, and if we could all fit into 1 room, I'd always stay there. Unfortunately, with a family of 5, we can't fit in a standard room.

It's peaceful, yet fun. The music, the aromas from the restaurants. There are several little areas with a fireplace and cozy chair to just sit and relax. The pool is great, and the hot tubs even better. To me, WL feels the most deluxe but in the most everyday person type of feel.

[PirateLover]

We have never stayed at WL before, but 2 trips ago when we drove down to WDW, my fiancee and I decided to take advantage of our access to the car and did some resort hopping. We strolled around the lobby and out back to the pool and we just fell in love with the decor and atmosphere. We decided that we would stay there on our honeymoon- and we ARE! This june we have 4 nights booked in the honeymoon room and we cannot wait :cloud9:

[KylesMom]

We decided that we would stay there on our honeymoon- and we ARE! This june we have 4 nights booked in the honeymoon room and we cannot wait Congratulations, Maryanne. I think you're going to have a wonderful time. There's many a romantic hideaway spots at WL! :mickey: