We just returned from an eight-night stay! We were in the World from Saturday, August 29th to Sunday, September 6th. I have to say this was our best trip yet. This time it was just myself and DS4.
We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge in a standard room. We were on the 5th Floor, Room 5081, if I remember correctly. It was a corner room that opened to a view of the lobby. It was a great room! We had a balcony and were able to see the top of Wishes every night! It was little noisy from the restaurant, but nothing too bad at all. Last time we stayed at WL we were in one of the wings with a Woods View, which we thought was great, but I actually liked this room better.
Housekeeping was great, CMs were great.
Roaring Forks, the QS restaurant, was a little limited on choices, but we knew that going in. I loved the Beef and Blue Sandwich and the Bananas Foster Waffles! BTW, I got the kids waffles. You get two waffles, bacon, applesauce and a kid's drink choice for 5.99, I think. I think the adult plate was 8.99 and you get three waffles and bacon with it. With the kid's place you get your choice of Strawberry, Chocolate, Bananas Foster or plain waffles, just like the adults. Two waffles were plenty for me and with the extras, it was really a lot of food.
We found that kid's plates or sharing an adult plate at most of the QS restaurants was plenty of food for us most of the time. Sometimes we would each get a plate when we were really hungry, but we did share most of the time or get two kid's plates, like I've said. Even at Sci Fi Dine in we shared a burger. I ordered a salad for an appetizer, and that plus half a burger and fries was plenty of food. We found portion sizes everywhere to be really large.
Magical Express left about 15 minutes after we landed. Our room was ready when we arrived at about noon. It seemed like on this trip every time we stepped outside to go to a park, a bus or boat magically appeared and was ready to go. The bus service was greatly improved since last time we stayed at WL in 2012. Most of the time we went straight to the parks without stopping at another resort. When we went to Downtown Disney, we did share with the Contemporary and the bus went to Typhoon Lagoon, too.
Fast Past Plus worked great for us. In fact, we had a FP for Toy Story in the morning and were able to get two more FPs for it that day, which, from what I've read, is pretty much unheard of. The parks were the least crowded I've ever seen them the first half of our trip. We only noticed the parks a little busier on the Memorial Day weekend. We usually go in November. Crowd Calendars show the same numbers for the week we usually go in November, but it was much less crowded this trip. I don't know if it was because people thought Hurricane Erika was coming in or if that's just the way it usually is at this time of year. Speaking of which, the weather was very nice, too, especially the first half of our trip. After that it got hotter and it rained a couple of afternoons, but for less than an hour, actually. It wasn't bad at all.
We really enjoyed the pool at WL. The pool party and the kids' area were great. The marshmallow roasting and movie night and just the scenery and peacefulness were all very nice.
My son finally reached the 40-inch mark this year, but he just made it. He was checked on pretty much every ride, but passed each time. It was so exciting for him to get to do Star Tours and Soarin this year. We could have done Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain, too, but I mistakenly took him on Dinosaur in AK, and after that he was afraid to do BTMR or SM. He did not like Dinosaur at all.
Surprisingly, he loved the Stitch ride at MK. I don't care for that one at all. Go figure.
Some highlights included Jedi Training Academy, which my son did twice. He was super exicited to do it since this is the first year he was eligible. He had been practicing for it for months! The first time he did JTA, it was the usual with Darth Vader, which he loved. He begged to do it again, so on a morning we were supposed to go to MK, we changed plans and headed to HS again. And this second time Darth Vader and Darth Maul showed up, and my son got to "fight" Darth Maul! He was thrilled! It was so exciting for both of us! Both shows were great!
Another highlight was the Pirates League. My son loved it, and after we finished he was one of the kids that got pulled up on stage by Captain Jack Sparrow during his show in Adventureland! All day long he stayed in Pirate mode!
I had read that HS is not a full-day park, but for us it definitely was. We spent one full day there and half of another day, and we still did not do Indiana Jones or the car stunt Show or line up for any characters other than the Green Army Man.
Anyway, we had a blast, and if anyone has any questions about the Wilderness Lodge or just anything in general, I'd be happy to answer if I can.
We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge in a standard room. We were on the 5th Floor, Room 5081, if I remember correctly. It was a corner room that opened to a view of the lobby. It was a great room! We had a balcony and were able to see the top of Wishes every night! It was little noisy from the restaurant, but nothing too bad at all. Last time we stayed at WL we were in one of the wings with a Woods View, which we thought was great, but I actually liked this room better.
Housekeeping was great, CMs were great.
Roaring Forks, the QS restaurant, was a little limited on choices, but we knew that going in. I loved the Beef and Blue Sandwich and the Bananas Foster Waffles! BTW, I got the kids waffles. You get two waffles, bacon, applesauce and a kid's drink choice for 5.99, I think. I think the adult plate was 8.99 and you get three waffles and bacon with it. With the kid's place you get your choice of Strawberry, Chocolate, Bananas Foster or plain waffles, just like the adults. Two waffles were plenty for me and with the extras, it was really a lot of food.
We found that kid's plates or sharing an adult plate at most of the QS restaurants was plenty of food for us most of the time. Sometimes we would each get a plate when we were really hungry, but we did share most of the time or get two kid's plates, like I've said. Even at Sci Fi Dine in we shared a burger. I ordered a salad for an appetizer, and that plus half a burger and fries was plenty of food. We found portion sizes everywhere to be really large.
Magical Express left about 15 minutes after we landed. Our room was ready when we arrived at about noon. It seemed like on this trip every time we stepped outside to go to a park, a bus or boat magically appeared and was ready to go. The bus service was greatly improved since last time we stayed at WL in 2012. Most of the time we went straight to the parks without stopping at another resort. When we went to Downtown Disney, we did share with the Contemporary and the bus went to Typhoon Lagoon, too.
Fast Past Plus worked great for us. In fact, we had a FP for Toy Story in the morning and were able to get two more FPs for it that day, which, from what I've read, is pretty much unheard of. The parks were the least crowded I've ever seen them the first half of our trip. We only noticed the parks a little busier on the Memorial Day weekend. We usually go in November. Crowd Calendars show the same numbers for the week we usually go in November, but it was much less crowded this trip. I don't know if it was because people thought Hurricane Erika was coming in or if that's just the way it usually is at this time of year. Speaking of which, the weather was very nice, too, especially the first half of our trip. After that it got hotter and it rained a couple of afternoons, but for less than an hour, actually. It wasn't bad at all.
We really enjoyed the pool at WL. The pool party and the kids' area were great. The marshmallow roasting and movie night and just the scenery and peacefulness were all very nice.
My son finally reached the 40-inch mark this year, but he just made it. He was checked on pretty much every ride, but passed each time. It was so exciting for him to get to do Star Tours and Soarin this year. We could have done Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain, too, but I mistakenly took him on Dinosaur in AK, and after that he was afraid to do BTMR or SM. He did not like Dinosaur at all.
Surprisingly, he loved the Stitch ride at MK. I don't care for that one at all. Go figure.
Some highlights included Jedi Training Academy, which my son did twice. He was super exicited to do it since this is the first year he was eligible. He had been practicing for it for months! The first time he did JTA, it was the usual with Darth Vader, which he loved. He begged to do it again, so on a morning we were supposed to go to MK, we changed plans and headed to HS again. And this second time Darth Vader and Darth Maul showed up, and my son got to "fight" Darth Maul! He was thrilled! It was so exciting for both of us! Both shows were great!
Another highlight was the Pirates League. My son loved it, and after we finished he was one of the kids that got pulled up on stage by Captain Jack Sparrow during his show in Adventureland! All day long he stayed in Pirate mode!
I had read that HS is not a full-day park, but for us it definitely was. We spent one full day there and half of another day, and we still did not do Indiana Jones or the car stunt Show or line up for any characters other than the Green Army Man.
Anyway, we had a blast, and if anyone has any questions about the Wilderness Lodge or just anything in general, I'd be happy to answer if I can.
