Hello all,

My family and I will be staying there in a couple a weeks. Will anyone want to share their experience with us. Thanks.

We stayed there a few months ago in January 2008. It's a beautiful hotel with great service, food, and amenities. A true luxury hotel. The rooms are standard size, but filled with many great details -- like wood carvings on the bed posts, etc. It really felt like a true representation of a national park hotel, except 1,000 times better!

Our only problem with the hotel was its actual location. It was difficult to reach parks easily from the Wilderness Lodge. On the other hand, I think that's why it's more reasonably priced than some of the other, more centrally located, hotels. The WDW web site has a few maps and explanations about the transportation routes within the park from the various hotels -- I wish I'd paid more attention to this before we made our reservation. I'd recommend looking at those maps, and also their travel tips.

From the Wilderness Lodge to Magic Kingdom, we had to take a boat or a Disney transport bus. Some of the boats are "open" -- they kind of resemble the Jungle Cruise boats -- while others are larger and enclosed in glass. More often than not, we ended up on one of the open boats. This was January -- the weather was windy and cold -- you can see the problem! Especially at night -- we were basically freezing. The boats did not come that frequently -- ie., maybe every 30 minutes. So we often had to wait at the Magic Kingdom dock or the Wilderness Dock for a while if we missed one. It was a lot harder to "time" our trips to/fro than we'd thought -- especially with the crowds and our little boy, carrying shopping bags, balloons, etc. We would try to get to the dock early -- but sometimes their schedule was off, too. Or else the boats would fill up and we'd have to wait for another one.

One night, we took the Disney transport bus from Downtown Disney back to the Wilderness Lodge. The front desk at the hotel had said the ride would only be about 20 minutes, but it was more like 30. I don't know why it took so long -- it seemed like we could have driven the distance ourselves in our own car, a lot faster! Luckily, the Wilderness Lodge was the first stop.

To reach EPCOT from the Wilderness Lodge, we took a boat to the Contemporary hotel, caught the monorail to the transportation hub (near the Polynesian hotel) and transferred to the EPCOT monorail. There were long lines at the transportation hub for both the Magic Kingdom and Epcot monorails; we were surprised by that.

To be honest, it seemed like we wasted a lot of time waiting to GET places from the Wilderness Lodge -- it was frustrating at times, or simply uncomfortable. Because of that, we've actually decided to stay at the Polynesian next time (December 2008) because it seems centrally located.

If I were you, I'd take a look at all of the maps and travel tips that the WDW web site offers. They were helpful -- and in retrospect, I wish I'd thought about them harder before choosing the Wilderness Lodge.

On the other hand, it is a beautiful hotel and well worth the expense. Also, we were only there for 2.5 days -- so our time was limited, hence, we probably obsessed about how much time we spent with the transportation hang-ups. We actually took a taxi on a few occasions because we became so frustrated.

If you have plenty of time in WDW, then you probably won't be frustrated by the transportation from the Wilderness Lodge. There is an electrical boat parade that passes by the hotel in the evenings -- in the lagoon. And there is a geyser that goes off (like Old Faithful!), a lovely swimming pool, a beach. So you see, the hotel itself was fantastic.

We've stayed there twice, and had excellent experiences both time. My kids loved taking the boat transportation, and our bus transportation did not take longer than it has to/from any other hotel. My kids loved the pool. I loved the quiet atmosphere; the lobby is very relaxing. Once, while doing laundry, I sat in a rocking chair just absorbing the atmosphere. There are two terrific, and very different restaurants, one for families, and one more upscale. I would stay there again, in a heartbeat.

Here's a link (http://www.mouseplanet.com/cgi/reviews/do/display.cgi?product-sku=wdwwildernesslodge) to the review system page for Wilderness Lodge.

Sansarc, I didn't notice yours in there (hint hint!)

Oh, sorry, I didn't know I was supposed to do that! I haven't posted anything in over a year, and now suddenly, I'm reading the boards every hour like a fiend. (Maybe because we're going to Disneyland in 2 days?!) I forgot the protocol and all that.

We stayed at the WL late january and the first week of February; we LOVED it and pretty much everything about it. we were upgraded from a standard view to a water view looking towards the MK - great views of the fireworks every night from our balcony. The CMs were all simply lovely, very helpful and friendly. The rooms are nothing special - ie they aren't five star hotel rooms - more 3 star but it hardly matters. the bed and linens were all very comfortable, the cleaning of a high standard. lots of towel animals and so whenever a particular CM cleaned our room (she alternated with another CM who insisted on taking the bedspread out of the cupboard where we carefully folded and placed it because we didn't want it, who took away our towel animals (!) and left our tip envelopes behind!! the second CM would then replace the towel animals he took away and left us new ones in addition - it was like a little war of attrition and added to the anticipation of coming home each day - which of them had it been?). the lodge is big and the distances are loooong but you soon work out shortcuts - one tip is that if you are going to the lobby, walk there on your floor instead of catching the first lift down to ground floor - there is a long slow hill/ramp that you can avoid this way.

transport was excellent; from our room we could hear the boat horn in the morning and that gave us enough time to get down to the dock to catch it; we went via boat to MK always (although we almost always came back by bus because the queues to the boats at MK were almost always very long and there was never any queue at the bus stop - which is the closest to the gates coincidentally). we also went by boat to the contemporary or the MK to transfer to Epcot via monorail. buses to AK and HS were fine - about 15 minutes each way.

food - whispering canyon was fun, great service, decent food, lovely wines. the cafe downstairs served good salads although the rest was just fries and pizza and burgers, not so great. I had a lovely room service breakfast on my last morning but all the other mornings we ate in the room from our gardengrocer-ordered stash. there is a wee fridge and a couple of drawers and shelf just inside the door where you can store all that stuff. however, the table is really just a desk so that would not be big enough for more than two people. there is a small table and two chairs out on the balcony.

there are plenty of foodstuffs in the commissionary off the lobby and to be honest, it didn't seem that much more expensive than the things we bought from gardengrocer.

pool was lovely - not very big but gorgeous to come home to; there are also a couple of spas and a handy bar down there also. one tip - consider taking your own pool towels; they only provide small narrow white ones.

have fun!!!

We were there in 05 for a few days before a cruise on the WONDER. The property is very attractive and the theme is carried out with the attention to detail that Disney is known for.I have stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Grand Californian and felt that there were architectural elements reminiscent of both in this property. The lobby is large and impressive. You have to love the Mickey totem pole! We were in a poolside room. The rooms are on the small side for a Disney deluxe property, but comfortable enough.Also, I think this and the AKL are the most reasonably priced deluxe properties, so who cares if the room is a little smaller? Service was pleasant, but not memorable.The design of the pool is stunning; there were always sufficient lounge chairs, and on some mornings, the pool had ducks in it. At night, the pool and its surrounding landscaping and lighting are something to behold. In fact, this property has some of the best landscaping at WDW IMHO. The geyser is a great addition to the hotel's atmosphere as well. Views from the hotel and pool area are just lovely. There are also walking trails around the property.

We did not eat at the Wilderness Lodge because the Whispering Canyon has very little to do with "Whispering." It sounds loud, just from outside. Our son has a condition called hyperreactivity which makes loud noises very hard on him, so we just skipped eating there. However, I understand from people whose kids do not suffer from this that it is a really fun place to eat, especially with younger ones. As for Artist Point, it looked lovely, but we were only there a few days and had other favorite restaurants at WDW that we wanted to patronize.

Transportation was the only aspect of the Wilderness Lodge that I would criticize. It's strictly boats and buses and the boats can be noisy. Again, this is something our son is sensitive to and most people probably wouldn't care. Sometimes the only way to get somewhere was by a fairly circuitous route and one night, we were dining at the GF and missed the last boat, so the GF's concierge drove us back to the WL in an SUV. Overall though, I would not say that transportation is a serious inconvenience. But, it is slower than if one were staying on the monorail.

I'm sure you will have a totally "magical" trip. Enjoy the Wilderness Lodge.
Jane

Our family of 4 (2A and 2K) visited Wilderness Lodge for the first time 11/25/07-12/2/07. Since we like to visit the mountains, we thought we'd enjoy the mountain lodge feel of this resort, and we were right! Plus, the Christmas decorations made it especially beautiful.


We had a first floor courtyard view room (#1149) with a queen bed and bunk beds. At first, I thought having a first floor room so close to the pool would be a problem, but it actually was a blessing. Since our daughters are 12 and 13, we felt comfortable letting them go down to the pool by themselves and periodically waving to them from our patio, which was really only steps away from the pool. Noise coming from the pool area was muffled and was not an irritation at all, neither was noise coming from people walking (or running!) in the hallway.


The girls enjoyed the bunk beds and discovered that they were almost too tall to fit comfortably (bunk beds are probably best for those under 5' or so). I was quite relieved to find that our queen size bed was very comfortable. We were all able to get a good night's rest each night.


The hotel nicely met my request to have an adjoining room with my sister and her husband. Since we don't get to see each other often, it was a treat to be next door to each other and to leave the door between our rooms open most of the time. And when we had the door closed, we could still pass notes to each other under it!


Having two good restaurants, Whispering Canyon Cafe and Roaring Fork, so close was also appreciated. Whispering Canyon Cafe was a hoot, and was delicious to boot. Be sure to ask for a bigger straw! Roaring Fork was surprisingly tasty, although its poor configuration made things crazy when more than a handful of people were in there. Try the breakfast parfait if you go to Roaring Fork-- it was very, very good.


We loved taking the boat to MK! It was a relaxing ride to and from, and might even be better now that (I think) Ft. Wilderness isn't on the same boat loop as WL anymore. As for the bus system---- we hated it. Tons of grumpy people, many without manners, all crammed into a swaying and loud beast. Just an aside, but aren't parents teaching their sons anymore to offer a seat to a lady who is standing? Or raising their children to offer their seat to an older passenger? Next time, if we cannot walk, take a boat or the monorail, or drive ourselves to a park, we will take a taxi. Life's too short to use Disney's bus system.


Two things I did not like about the hotel were the laundry room and the configuration of our bathroom/sink area. The laundry room was on the other side of the hotel, which made it a chore to lug all of our clothes to and from. It would be nice to have a laundry room in each wing of the hotel. There were also only 5 or 6 washing machines and about 10 dryers--- for the entire hotel! Plus, it was $2 to wash a medium-to-large size load and another $2 (I think) to dry a load for a very short period of time. Overall, it cost me about $6 to wash and dry a single load. It added up quickly.


Our bathroom/sink area was a nuisance and should've been thought out better. The shower and toilet were separate from the double sink, which we liked. The problem was that the door between the two was monstrous and way too big for the space. Anyone standing anywhere near the sink area had to move out of the way if someone else had to get into the shower or use the toilet. Quite inconvenient when four people are trying to get ready in the morning.


Overall, we were pleased with Wilderness Lodge and would stay there again.


That being said, I would love to try the Beach Club next time we visit WDW.

We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge June 2-9, 2007. This was an unexpected trip and we "settled" on the Wilderness Lodge because they had the availability for the time we desired. We are a family of 2 adults and 3 small children. Everyone loved it!

We are going back to Disney World November 2008 and when we started planning for this trip we assumed we would try someplace new (just to try a new spot). Our children begged us to go back to Wilderness Lodge. We loved it as well, so we figure, "why change when we have something we know and love"!!:)

Due to the ages of our children, we spent the most time at Magic Kingdom. The boat to and from was great. The kids thought this was another ride and they still talk about it. One thing about Wilderness Lodge that sticks out in my mind is how friendly - and happy- the staff was. Our Mousekeeper was so wonderful. She made towel animals for the kids everyday and said a personal good-bye to us on our last day. It was so relaxing after a day at the parks to return to the Wilderness Lodge!!!

Our stay at the WL was in 2005. We had a room in the main building and it was convenient. Our view was of the pool and "'ol Faithful". It was a very pretty view!

However, the noise from the lobby was very noisy at times and we could hear people screaming "PASS THE KETCHUPPPPPPP" from the Whispering Cafe'. When we were very tired and wanted to go to bed...that was getting old.

The resort itself was sooooo beautiful! and the rooms were very clean! Mouse Keeping was great! Beds were pretty comfy...the balcony was nice to sit out on.

The ferry ride to the MK from WL was one of our favorite times. Lovely!