Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE Information & Questions

[KrazeeK120]

Hi all! I just booked my first stay at Wilderness Lodge! We will be there in May. My family consists of me, my husband, and our son who will be 18 months at the time of the trip. I had originally booked Coronado Springs, but with the room discount that came out today, I couldn't resist switching. My husband and I have visited WL before, and I fell in love instantly. This will be my son's first trip to Disney and I am so excited!!

 

[Roxyfire]

We did go visit to see the decorations...wow! It's the definition of cozy Christmas. So pretty!

Agreed, wonderful photos, thanks for sharing!

 

[PlutoGirl1117]

I am so glad I found this thread. We have just booked our first visit at the Villa's here. So very excited! Have only stayed at Pop and ASM many times before. My husband and I went down last Dec for our anniversary. While at Disney Springs, waiting for the bus, I said, let's just grab the next one that comes along. It was for Wilderness Lodge and we fell in love! Now we are going down with our son and his wife who has NEVER been to Disney at ALL!! (and we let her in the family! Imagine that! LOL) A cast member friend/my son's best friend, was able to get us in here. We are so very excited, but I am so overwhelmed! We are going to be so lost at this resort, so I am so glad to see all this info!

 

[720L]

I have tried to search for the answer to this question but can't find it. Do the buses share with other resorts in the morning? We are so excited to stay here. AKL is my favorite resort so I think I'm really going to like it. Also wondering if there are any "secret" doors like the one near the bus stop at AKL. Any other tips anyone has will be appreciated. We are rope drop people

 

[Wood Nymph]

I have tried to search for the answer to this question but can't find it. Do the buses share with other resorts in the morning? We are so excited to stay here. AKL is my favorite resort so I think I'm really going to like it. Also wondering if there are any "secret" doors like the one near the bus stop at AKL. Any other tips anyone has will be appreciated. We are rope drop people

The bus to MK is direct and doesn't share, except in weird times when it might go to FW.
The buses to DHS, AK and Disney Springs share with the Contemporary, with WL being picked up first.
The bus to Epcot shares with Fort Wilderness.

The bus stop is located near the exit closest to the arcade.

 

[KrazeeK120]

Is there any kind of door to separate the dressing area (with the sinks) from the rest of the room?

 

[cgattis]

Is there any kind of door to separate the dressing area (with the sinks) from the rest of the room?

No,no door or curtain.

 

[cgattis]

Yes, that is what I recall the signs saying. From my memory the boats run 30 mins before park opening until 1.5 hours after park closing.

Every day we were there, the boat was running at least an hour prior to park open (despite what the sign on the dock says). YMMV.

 

[rcraw45425]

My daughter and I check in on Monday, and I was just able to drop my room category down to Standard view from Courtyard view, saving $150 over three nights. I had been hesitant to book standard till I started seeing all of the wonderful SV photos. Plus seeing $199/night + tax on my rate quote is a bit of a blast from the past too!

 

[bluecastle]

I am so glad I found this thread. We have just booked our first visit at the Villa's here. So very excited! Have only stayed at Pop and ASM many times before. My husband and I went down last Dec for our anniversary. While at Disney Springs, waiting for the bus, I said, let's just grab the next one that comes along. It was for Wilderness Lodge and we fell in love! Now we are going down with our son and his wife who has NEVER been to Disney at ALL!! (and we let her in the family! Imagine that! LOL) A cast member friend/my son's best friend, was able to get us in here. We are so very excited, but I am so overwhelmed! We are going to be so lost at this resort, so I am so glad to see all this info!

Congratulations!! We stayed in a 2BR in the summer of 2014 and loved it. We had stayed in the lodge on previous visits, so we knew our way around, but the WL is very compact and easy to navigate. It's one of the things we love about it.
Feel free to ask any questions. There are many friendly and helpful people on this site. Happy Planning!

 

[Cotillard]

It's not completed or close but it's not disruptive at all. In fact, it's awesome. The silver springs pool is open and the resort is at half capacity. Feels empty. We stayed there last week and hardly noticed the ongoing construction at all.

That is great I'm hoping it will be the same for us in just under two weeks!

 

[mystery222184]

Looks like we will be coming back to the lodge next December as we modified our Bounceback reservation from BC/Poly in Sept to BC/WL in Dec . I love the enhanced OFC experience and hopefully everything is about done by the end of 2017. Thanks @GADisneyDad14 & @anomamatt for all the CL info! Now they just need to add back the seats around the lobby

@WDWKOOK if you could please add us to the trip log (Dec. 12-16). Thanks!

 

[roxymama]

Following this thread. Booked our Halloween-time trip. First time staying at WL. We were at BLT and Yacht Club last two times on property. Really excited!

 

[PlutoGirl1117]

Congratulations!! We stayed in a 2BR in the summer of 2014 and loved it. We had stayed in the lodge on previous visits, so we knew our way around, but the WL is very compact and easy to navigate. It's one of the things we love about it.
Feel free to ask any questions. There are many friendly and helpful people on this site. Happy Planning!

Thank you so much! I'm sure I'll have questions. The last 7 times were at the values, so I'm very excited to upgrade!

 

[WDWKOOK]

WISHING EVERYONE A HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS 2017!​

@WDWKOOK Yes, of course, use anything you'd like. I have a ton more if needed. Happy to help.

I'm super late with this, but THANK YOU, @GADisneyDad14! Your posts and timely photos have been so helpful to many considering an OFC stay

We stopped by the Wilderness Lodge on Saturday, December 3rd for a quick visit. I only took a couple pictures of the construction outside of Roaring Forks. This is the wall that is hiding the patio construction:

And they have frosted the windows near Roaring Forks so that you can't see what they are doing to the patio:

Then on Tuesday morning, Dec 6th, we booked a private water taxi from GF to FW for our breakfast at Trail's End. I asked the CM if he could take the boat past the construction at WL and he was happy to do it:

This is the cabin closest to the monorail and the least finished of all the cabins.

This one has some interior walls and you can tell that there will be a chimney.

It looks like a few of the trees are dying. There are a lot of trees in the courtyard area. The Trout Pass bar is to the right, the construction wall which blocks the view of the construction from the pool area is in the middle, and the new grill area is on the left.

This looks like it will be an open air patio.

This is probably the restaurant. The CM's on the boat said that there are job postings already for the new bar and grill. The marina is getting a new roof.

I posted a copy of these pictures to the Boulder Ridge thread.

Great shots and thank you so much for cross-posting these to the WL DVC Conversion thread HERE, @Wood Nymph

Considering a switch to a studio Villa for our June 2017 trip. Have never stayed at WL and haven't followed any of the construction. Is there any chance the pool will be done by June? And how much of an effect will construction have on the Villas?

No one knows the answer, but the construction may be winding down around April, if it's on schedule, so there is a chance it could be open. Disney Parks Blog reported that the new pool would be open "Summer 2017."

We were just at WL for two wonderful nights Dec. 3 & 4 and barely noticed the construction at all. We spent a really nice afternoon at the main pool and never heard any construction. As a matter of fact if we didn't have a standard view room booked that looked out at the new cabins they are building we never would have noticed. We had an awesome view of the castle, BTW, looking past the work being done. I would not hesitate to stay again.

View attachment 210486
Our view from the 6th floor ( standard view) this is zoomed in photo
View attachment 210488
If you looked directly down this is what we saw. But it was actually really cool getting to smell what was going on in the smokehouse!

Thank you for posting your photos, @cinderkelly.

Thrilled to be returning to WL May 18-22nd next year! It will be our 2nd stay; first time was this past Aug. and I surprised myself by falling in love with the resort Can't wait to go back!

Congratulations on returning and I'll log your dates, @ariane37.

Hi everyone,

I am happy to report that I just booked a bounce back for WL earlier this week. I saved 30% off rack rate. This trip will be my boyfriend and I. May 6-13. I just returned from a quick 5 day trip and told myself I am done with the value resorts. Can't wait to try the lodge!

Nicely done! I'll add your dates to the Lodgers' Log.

Just one week away. Celebrating NYE at WL.

How were the festivities, @Gehrig1B?

Hello!! We just got back from a stay at the Boardwalk, our first trip we've stayed anywhere but the Lodge. We almost switched a few times during the trip, because we realized we are Lodge people through and through. We did go visit to see the decorations...wow! It's the definition of cozy Christmas. So pretty! We ended up sitting through the DVC info thing on our last day, and we are strongly considering buying in when Copper Creek becomes available, because even though my next two trips this year are at different resorts, our heart lies with the Wilderness Lodge, and I don't think I'll be truly content anywhere else. View attachment 211918 View attachment 211919 View attachment 211920 View attachment 211921 View attachment 211922

Thank you for posting your photos, @xlsm

Hi all! I just booked my first stay at Wilderness Lodge! We will be there in May. My family consists of me, my husband, and our son who will be 18 months at the time of the trip. I had originally booked Coronado Springs, but with the room discount that came out today, I couldn't resist switching. My husband and I have visited WL before, and I fell in love instantly. This will be my son's first trip to Disney and I am so excited!!

Congratulations! What a memorable trip this will be for your family - take lots of photos

I am so glad I found this thread. We have just booked our first visit at the Villa's here. So very excited! Have only stayed at Pop and ASM many times before. My husband and I went down last Dec for our anniversary. While at Disney Springs, waiting for the bus, I said, let's just grab the next one that comes along. It was for Wilderness Lodge and we fell in love! Now we are going down with our son and his wife who has NEVER been to Disney at ALL!! (and we let her in the family! Imagine that! LOL) A cast member friend/my son's best friend, was able to get us in here. We are so very excited, but I am so overwhelmed! We are going to be so lost at this resort, so I am so glad to see all this info!

Welcome! How exciting for everyone! Happy planning, @PlutoGirl1117.

Looks like we will be coming back to the lodge next December as we modified our Bounceback reservation from BC/Poly in Sept to BC/WL in Dec . I love the enhanced OFC experience and hopefully everything is about done by the end of 2017. Thanks @GADisneyDad14 & @anomamatt for all the CL info! Now they just need to add back the seats around the lobby

@WDWKOOK if you could please add us to the trip log (Dec. 12-16). Thanks!

Of course I'll add you and I'm glad you were able to change your reservation.

Following this thread. Booked our Halloween-time trip. First time staying at WL. We were at BLT and Yacht Club last two times on property. Really excited!

Congratulations and welcome to the thread, @roxymama.

 

[travelgoddess]

Does anyone know when the lobby elevators will be running again? We will be arriving March 2nd.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Does anyone know when the lobby elevators will be running again? We will be arriving March 2nd.

While I have no official answer, I suspect the mid-Lodge/lobby elevators won't open again until the entire South Wing is re-opened which could be spring/summer 2017.

 

[marymac123]

Does anyone know if Loyda is still working on the club level or at the front desk.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Does anyone know if Loyda is still working on the club level or at the front desk.

As of last year, Loyda was moved downstairs. I don't have current information though.

 

[disneynutz]

Does anyone know when the lobby elevators will be running again? We will be arriving March 2nd.

DVD has to declare completed rooms/units into the association and they need to complete their regulatory filings to start selling. When that happens they will have rooms or sections closest to the elevators completed and they will open the elevators. Construction will continue in some sections as sales are happening.

Based on the new restaurant, pool, and cabins not being close to being done, my guess is that mid summer might happen, March is too close IMO.

Bill