We will be staying here for the first time with our BB offer we got over the summer and I'm super excited!! My only concern is the transportation. We will be going Aug 13-Aug 23. Is the transportation really that bad to other parks or is it managable?
Congratulations on booking your first stay and I'll log your dates.
Some construction happening at the moment;
Also, having this outside your window, makes you VERY VERY HUNGRY
All those delicious smoked meats
Thank you for posting all your photos and video,
@peteykirch. Back in the old days, the free Lodge tour included a tour of the smokehouse, complete with samples! My DH was in heaven when we took the tour during our first WL stay in 1997.
That applies to club level rooms. The booking category is standard club level, but you can make a request for a queen bed with bunk beds when you have a club level room booked. But for the regular resort rooms, the bunk bed rooms are a booking category.
That is probably why you were confused.
It used to be that with a (non-CL) Standard View booking, bunks were by-request only. Has this changed?
I agree with your optimism and would expect a similar end result. Landscaping will need to be of superior quality to complete the Copper Creek Cabin experience. WL has been our home for virtually every WDW trip but CuteAsMinnie and I will be at The Poly next year until the WL dust settles...too emotional for us now.
I know what you mean about all the changes being sort of emotional. When I visited WL on 9/6, it just didn't feel the same to me. Changing the original architecture of WL and VWL makes it mildly feel like a different resort to me. Poly feels a bit the same way to me since the addition of the bungalows which have altered the landscape and views, especially from the Hawaii building. Those cabins and bungalows were never intended to be there in the original plans and to me, they just don't feel right.
Returned from our stay at Wilderness Lodge and loved it! The construction was never a problem and we barely noticed it.
Our room was 6004 and we had a great view of the castle and the Contemporary. We had booked a standard view so this was a nice surprise but I really wanted a king bed and we ended up with 2 queens.
Housekeeping was extremely attentive and I'm not ashamed to admit that I returned home with a bag of mini shampoos!
The low crowds at the hotel were wonderful and we spent time at the pool two days. Staff was friendly and helped with 2 questions that we did have.
Whispering Canyon was delicious for lunch and my husband was happy that we avoided the ketchup games. I also fell in love with the big blueberry muffins at Roaring Fork and wish I'd had just one more before we left.
My only complaint was the transportation back to the hotel. We waited 30+ minutes multiple times for a bus/boat to arrive. Service was always prompt leaving the resort but much spottier on the return trip. These long waits were all at different parks and at various times of the day, so it wasn't just the typical park closing rush.
Wonderful trip to Disney and WL- we can't wait to return!
Thank you for posting about your stay and it's great you got to enjoy WL at less than 50% occupancy.
We just got back from a wonderful stay at the lodge. We loved it so much we booked it again for our return trip in January! I have one question about boat service to the Magic Kingdom. On our first morning going to the Magic Kingdom we arrived at the dock at Magic at 8:37 am with a 9:00 opening which was perfect. On our second morning going to the Magic we didn't arrive until 8:50 and the park had already opened to guest to enter. Which one the more normal. I noticed the boat dock says the boat will arrive at 8:30 but that was a bit late which added on to the time we actually got to Magic Kingdom If we want to be at Magic at rope drop should we skip the boat and take the bus? Thanks!
It's great leaving a vacation knowing exactly when you'll return
We agree. We made rope drop this morning riding a bus. The bus transportation time is quicker than the boat, and now the expected wait time is posted on the monitors. Our 8:30 bus stop arrival got us on an 8:31 bus and to MK at 8:37. We love the boat transportation, we just don't use it when we have a deadline at MK.
Thank you for posting all your great photos and your thoughts and answers to questions while you were on vacation. It was great meeting you and your lovely family at AK.
I took the MK bus from WL probably a couple of days before you and it went to FW first which made for a long trip. I think it's been reported that sometimes it does this and sometimes it still goes directly.
Was wondering if you have or can ask CMs about the new building behind trout pass bar. Will it be a restaurant or ? Hoping for former, a perfect spot to eat and hopeful for a nice deck and plenty of windows!
The building will likely be a quick serve with outdoor seating similar to the Oasis Pool Grill at Poly. However, I don't know whether this will be restricted to DVC Members who have access to the DVC pool, like at Poly. This building seems much further away from the DVC pool area than the Oasis Grill is from the pool so this could end up a replacement for Trout Pass, with a Rapid Fill refill station and a new QS.
Beautiful pictures!
The lobby views show how big the trees are getting. I have mixed feelings about all that foliage. It makes everything more woodsy but it also blocks the view of Bay Lake.
The overgrowth started a couple of years ago. I thought it was odd then that they were letting all the foliage block so many previously amazing views. I thought the intention was to also block some construction views and that eventually everything would be nicely trimmed. But, seeing it in person recently has me wondering if they'll ever trim everything back. It's like a jungle most everywhere and not really appealing knowing what the view was like before the overgrowth.
Have you heard if that new building is def a restaurant?
Answered Mr. CuteAsMinnie above
hello,
on our down day at WDW next month, i'd like to do lunch at Whispering Canyon. I understand bicycles are there for rent. How long is the bike trail? We are good bike riders. Anything else we can see and do there while we are at the lodge to see.
Lots of bike photos and information in the RECREATION chapter 18. The only change is that the bikes are no longer at the marina. The concrete trail is still open and there are other activities in the RECREATION chapter that you might enjoy, mostly at FW. The trail to FW on a bike is short, less than 10 minutes from WL to the ponies. However, you can then ride all around FW. You'll have to cross the street though to continue on the sidewalk around FW. You can spend at least an hour riding roundtrip, longer if you backtrack or stop.
Has anyone heard when construction will end? We want to book WL for December 2017 and the Christmas season
If not BC is our backup!
The construction is slated to be completed around April 2017, however, this was an early stage estimate. More information is in the WL DVC Expansion thread
HERE.
Thank you for posting all your farm fresh photos,
@jade1. Nice pool shot
I will be doing some of my own spying around when we are at WDW in two weeks. 
