Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE Information & Questions

[twoolle]

On the topic of coffee I have read the studios in BRB have 4 cup makers. Do these require a different kind of filter other than the normal basket you would use in a 12 cup?

 

[Roxyfire]

Hi! I'm brand new to this resort and loved reading this thread! One thing not clear to me is the boat to magic kingdom. I get that it run 30 minutes prior to park opening or extra park hours, but will it run early when they have the early morning magic event in fantasyland? I know the contemporary boat will but I wanted to avoid walking so early as I have many generations traveling with us thanks for any help!

Definitely take the bus as its a really short ride and hardly anyone will be on that early.

 

[kcpinwdw]

On the topic of coffee I have read the studios in BRB have 4 cup makers. Do these require a different kind of filter other than the normal basket you would use in a 12 cup?

Our boulder ridge studio had a 12-cup maker last month. But they do make smaller filters.

 

[Burgermom]

Is there somewhere that I can grab a coffee and bagel really quickly in the morning on the way to the bus?
We hope to be at the bus stop by 8am most mornings and I don't want to waste a tonne of time grabbing a quick coffee and snack

thanks

 

[Ladyfish77]

I scanned the information at the beginning of the thread, but there's so much to go through. Do they still offer the Wonders of the Wilderness Lodge Tours Wed-Sat at 9am? We're planning a trip and looking for non-park day activities. It sounds like an interesting tour. We've never seen Wilderness Lodge! Thanks.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

On the topic of coffee I have read the studios in BRB have 4 cup makers. Do these require a different kind of filter other than the normal basket you would use in a 12 cup?

They should have the 10-12 cup coffee maker. Every now and then one of those 4 cup machines seems to sneak in per reports but they also take a basket. If that happened you might have a little overhang to fold but the larger filter could still be used.

 

[Sue M]

Hi! I'm brand new to this resort and loved reading this thread! One thing not clear to me is the boat to magic kingdom. I get that it run 30 minutes prior to park opening or extra park hours, but will it run early when they have the early morning magic event in fantasyland? I know the contemporary boat will but I wanted to avoid walking so early as I have many generations traveling with us thanks for any help!

I believe it does run for extra magic mornings, but a quick check at the front desk will let you know. The boat is my preferred way of getting to MK. I have never taken the bus. Taking the boat is such a pleasant way to start the day.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Hi! I'm brand new to this resort and loved reading this thread! One thing not clear to me is the boat to magic kingdom. I get that it run 30 minutes prior to park opening or extra park hours, but will it run early when they have the early morning magic event in fantasyland? I know the contemporary boat will but I wanted to avoid walking so early as I have many generations traveling with us thanks for any help!

I am not a WL boat expert, but in my experience the only boat option at that hour is the CR boat and then walk from CR to MK.

We went to EMM one morning while staying at WL last November (ETA, by last November I meant 2016). I had not really been paying attention to transportation, just ‘assumed’ the MK boat would be running. We went to the boat dock around 7:10ish... the captain of the boat that pulled up said “where you going” and we replied MK. He chuckled (in a snarky way) and said “you’re going to be waiting awhile, the MK boat doesn’t run this early.”

So we took the boat to CR and walked. Well, we speed walked because by that point we were running late. We barely got to the front gate at 7:45 (when they start letting people in).

I am not sure if our experience was ‘normal’ or not, but we decided that morning that if we did that again, we’d take the boat for EMM.

The CR boat is a valid option too, just give yourself enough time.

Hope that helps!

 

[Burgermom]

For rope drop you should plan to get to the park 30-45 min before park opening. 45 min is preferable. Especially if you’re going during crowded times. They will often open a bit earlier and as mentioned you want to be in front of the herd! I think it was Easy Disney web site that did a pictorial of MK courtyard, every 10 min starting with getting there 1 hr before rope drop. By 30 min before rope drop the courtyard was really filling up.

If you haven’t done FOP, it’s amazing.

So if we want to RD a 9am opening at MK we should aim to be at MK around 8:15? So when should i be at the bus stop at WL to get there? 7:50am? 8am? I believe that the bus ride to MK is short from WL, right?

If I decide to Uber to HS and AK how long is the Uber ride at 7:45am? About 20 minutes?

thanks

 

[KrazeeK120]

I believe it does run for extra magic mornings, but a quick check at the front desk will let you know. The boat is my preferred way of getting to MK. I have never taken the bus. Taking the boat is such a pleasant way to start the day.

I don’t think it runs that early. I don’t think there are enough guests heading to MK that early to make having 2 modes of transport worthwhile.

We took the bus to MK on our EMM morning, and there was only 1 other family on the bus with us.

I do prefer the boat, and we took the boat for the rest of the day (to the resort for a break, back to MK, and then back to the resort).

 

[Sue M]

I don’t think it runs that early. I don’t think there are enough guests heading to MK that early to make having 2 modes of transport worthwhile.

We took the bus to MK on our EMM morning, and there was only 1 other family on the bus with us.

I do prefer the boat, and we took the boat for the rest of the day (to the resort for a break, back to MK, and then back to the resort).

It’s been a few years since I’ve stayed at WL. Looks like I’ll have to check transportation schedule when I arrive.

 

[ITALIANNYC]

Is this considered a romantic hotel for two people?

 

[bbmassey]

Is this considered a romantic hotel for two people?

We certainly find it to be so. It is our favorite hotel with our kids are with us but even more so when it is just the two of us. We decided to stay in the club level for our 15th anniversary and loved every minute of it. It is amazing to hang out in the lobby, walk the ground, or enjoy the lake. The new additions have only served to make an even better place.

 

[ITALIANNYC]

We certainly find it to be so. It is our favorite hotel with our kids are with us but even more so when it is just the two of us. We decided to stay in the club level for our 15th anniversary and loved every minute of it. It is amazing to hang out in the lobby, walk the ground, or enjoy the lake. The new additions have only served to make an even better place.

Thats good to know. I was about to splurge on grand Floridian for the first 2 nights and split stay.

Thank you

 

[danikoski]

Is this considered a romantic hotel for two people?

My husband and I did our honeymoon here. Loved it! Downside is it was his first time going to WDW and he doesn't want to stay anywhere else

 

[danikoski]

I believe it does run for extra magic mornings, but a quick check at the front desk will let you know. The boat is my preferred way of getting to MK. I have never taken the bus. Taking the boat is such a pleasant way to start the day.

You might be thinking of extra magic hours, that all resort guests can attend. Extra magic mornings are a paid event, so not as many people, hence probably no boat. But there will be a bus and it's quick.

 

[fiasco32]

Here's my "Just Back" report for our recent stay at Wilderness Lodge. Just got back home last night for our stay in a bunkbed courtyard view from 1/20 to 1/27:

This was our first time at Wilderness Lodge. While it did feel like an upgrade from AoA (where we stayed last year), and the property overall is amazing and very visually appealing, I have to say the room didn't exactly feel like a "deluxe" hotel. The finishes were noticeably dated all over the resort. Old elevators, old wall and ceiling finishes, old everything that had a coat of paint slapped on everything. I will say the bed was much more comfortable than AoA and the towels were much better than the washcloth-sized towels there but other than that, I expected quite a bit more for the price we paid. Other complaints: not enough trash cans in the room (only one), not having a bedside table (with plenty of plugs) for both sides of the bed and no alarm clock in the room (to quickly check what hour it is in the middle of the night) seemed cheapskate.

Also found ourselves a bit disappointed at the mousekeeping. It was fine, but maybe I have too high of expecatations, but no extra finishes like towel animals (in 14 total nights of staying at Disney resort hotels, we've still yet to get an animal towel) or stuffed animals being cutely arranged with the kids' blankets on the beds. And yes, we did tip the mousekeeping each day. Again, the kinds of things I went in sort of expecting out of a deluxe resort.

The pool was great, although I would say that the size of the pool for it being a deluxe resort surprised me, it never felt overcrowded (we went on Saturday afternoon with temps hovering in the low 70s and on Tuesday, with temps in the mid- to high-70s). A bit disappointed that, as at AoA, there was no music playing underwater. That was a huge "wow" moment last year that we not only weren't expecting, but were really excited about. Made the pool experience that much more fun.

Dining options: have to say the food selection at Roaring Fork was a letdown. None of the dinner options sounded appealing, which meant at the end of a couple long nights, we opted to go all the way to Disney Springs for a late dinner instead of eating at our resort. Breakfast options were good, but again for a deluxe resort I would have expected a much bigger QS menu.

Another random in-room complaint. The bunkbed ladder is dangerously close to the ceiling fan. Several times, I had to stop my son from getting his head taken out by it while climbing in and out of the bed. We tried to move the whole bunkbed over a foot or two, as it seems strange that it's so far from the wall, but it seems it is bolted to the floor.

All this being said, I was very pleased at how much less crowded WL felt compared to our stay at AoA last year. Found myself feeling very claustrophobic with how many people were always around in the common areas of AoA. Never felt that way at WL. And the rugged mountain feeling of the resort I just can't get enough of. Always came back to the resort not feeling like we were in Florida.

Going into it, I thought I would leave WL feeling like I'd never be able to stay anywhere else, but next time at WDW I'll be doing some more research on upper-level moderate resorts with more updated rooms.

 

[kcpinwdw]

I have to say the room didn't exactly feel like a "deluxe" hotel. The finishes were noticeably dated all over the resort.

I would recommend considering trying Copper Creek. It feels very new, and the rooms have a more modern feel than the standard WL rooms. But you still get all the loveliness of WL! Unfortunately towel animals are largely a thing of the past, we havent had one of the "take-home" kind in at least two years.

I have never noticed music playing under water at any of the deluxe resorts?? And I have stayed at all of them over the past three years! Maybe I'm not going under enough... ha ha!

 

[cindianne320]

I believe Art Of Animation is the ONLY hotel that has the music underwater...

 

[ArielSRL]

My husband and I did our honeymoon here. Loved it! Downside is it was his first time going to WDW and he doesn't want to stay anywhere else

My husbands first stay in 35 years was this past June at WL. We rented points from a friend. Well, now we are owners...lol.