Wood Nymph
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2012
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(CLOSED) Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE and VILLAS INFORMATION THREAD ~11/13 - 6/14~
- Thread starter WDWKOOK
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WDWKOOK
NOW WITH LESS TAG!
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2009
Great to see so many are at our Lodge now or will be soon, but it sure is easy to get behind here on my multi-quoting
. I'll add everyone to the Lodgers' Log today
. It's great that you have another trip to look forward to.
What did you think of TE? We just love it there and hope you liked it, too.
And here is the link from Post #2 for the December calendar:
http://www.themouseforless.com/tripplanning/resorts/wdw/pdf/WLCalendar.pdf
. Hope you're still having a great vacation!
The villas have kitchens and non-studios have a washer/dryer. The WL rooms do not have those amenities. You can apply discounts to both VWL and WL bookings if you book a "cash reservation." However, you can't apply applicable public discounts to reservations made using points. You also won't receive free daily housekeeping unless you book a cash reservation. You can make changes to a cash reservation without penalty, but not when using points.
Personally, when I'm on vacation, I enjoy having daily housekeeping and I don't want to cook. I also have to be able to make changes and have 100% control over the reservation so I would only book a cash reservation and not using points. If you have any other questions, ask away!
Umm, packing? Well, that is on next weekend's agenda
. I'll add everyone to the Lodgers' Log todayCongratulations! Of course, our spring break starts the day the discounts end
. It's great that you have another trip to look forward to.What a great report - thank you! Just curious if you asked about your room location at check-in. I know your room wasn't ready, but they will know where your room will be located and I was just wondering if you tried to get moved to your requested location, but it was unavailable.We arrived at the WL today.
The room wasn't ready yet so we headed over to MK. It was 1:50pm and we had a 2:10pm fastpass reservation for Be Our Guest for lunch. We made it there by 2:15pm - MagicBands worked perfectly. Since we hadn't had anything to eat except a granola bar since 5:30am, we were hungry. I had the braised pork which was very delicious.I decided to cancel our ADR for Monday night. I really just wanted to see the inside of the castle, which was gorgeous. But lunch is good enough for us.
Then we rode the PeopleMover and went back to the room. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in the room when we got in it. We had booked a woods view room and I had requested an open balcony and the north wing, neither of which we got. We got a closed balcony on the south side and we are right above the Cub's Den. It is nice and wooded here, though. I'll post some pictures later. The luggage hadn't arrived yet either, and we had landed 5 hours earlier. I guess that's what happens when you arrive on a Saturday during the holidays.
So DH and I decided to check out the Territory Lounge. That really helped to relax us a bit. We decided to just hang around the resort tonight, rather than head off to a park. We were walking toward the beach when we smelled the campfire. It was marshmallow roasting time., but that was fun. I haven't roasted marshmallows over a fire in ages. Then we headed off to explore the villas.
The Hidden Springs pool is open and looks the same. They didn't put a fence around it. We found the train room, which really doesn't have too many trains. DH and I played Chinese Checkers on one of the game tables. He beat me but that was okay. We had fun. Then we sat in these big leather rocking chairs in front of the fire. It was like we had our own personal den, since we were the only ones there for awhile. They moved the movie to that room because of the wind. We left once the movie began and headed off to Roaring Forks for a bite to eat. Since we ate such a late lunch, we shared a meal.
We stopped in the Mercantile to see if they had any Christmas merchandise. They have a bunch of "stuff" but it wasn't themed to the Wilderness Lodge. I had a nice chat with the CM who told me that the Mercantile was going to be completely overhauled with a different layout, more merchandise and less clothing. He said that the only thing that was a Wilderness Lodge item with a Christmas theme was a pin. It was pretty cute and the pin slides open.
Then we turned in early. I'm really glad we decided to just hang around the resort and relax. This is the perfect resort to do it at, too.
Tomorrow morning we are walking over to Fort Wilderness for breakfast at Trail's End. I got a lot of things checked off my WL bucket list today. And Trails End will be another one.
ETA: The MagicBands were great. We put them on at the airport and they worked for the Magical Express. They worked at MK, for our room, at the Territory Lounge and Roaring Forks. We haven't tried our KTTW cards yet for anything. But I want to see if they will pull a traditional fastpass, so I'll let you know if they work for that.
And the Bounceback calendar is in the Be Our guest book in the welcome packet that is in the room. It is 35% off deluxe villas and resorts, and 30% off moderate resorts. I will post a picture later.
What did you think of TE? We just love it there and hope you liked it, too.
Congratulations! Just to clarify, adjoining rooms are next to each other and connecting rooms have a connecting door between them. Make sure your request is noted in your reservation and it's always best to ask again at check-in. Your vacation sounds fantastic!
Sounds like you're having a fun time and no one will probably notice the Tonga Toast. Just wondering, did you ever report the smoker?
Yes, we still arrive 12/22 and I will PM you when I'm around the Lodge so we can do a bit of this
Noelle?! You have the perfect Christmas name! Yes, there will be special activities and maybe I will see you in the lobby. Here are the activities from 2010:
And here is the link from Post #2 for the December calendar:
http://www.themouseforless.com/tripplanning/resorts/wdw/pdf/WLCalendar.pdf
It's great to know you were able to stay in the same room. I have 3 room-only reservations for 8 nights
. Hope you're still having a great vacation!Are you still there? The same thing happened to us once at YC - no greeting when we arrived and we were told to check in downstairs. Half-way through the process, a CL runner "discovered" us and took us upstairs. I'm sorry your arrival was confusing and your check-in delayed. They must have been quite busy upstairs or perhaps the guard didn't alert them of your arrivalWe also arrived yesterday!
Check-in was a bit of cluster - Saturday of a holiday weekend. We're staying CL and had done online check-in. No one greeted us out front, so we went inside and got in the online check-in line (which, sidebar, was much longer & for some reason slower than the regular check-in line). After waiting a bit, my husband wandered outside to see if we had just missed the CL check-in person, but when he asked he was told to get in line inside. So after waiting for 10 minutes, they waved us over to the regular check-in line....and then called someone to take us upstairs to check-in. Ironically the things that are supposed to give you a faster check-in (staying CL and doing online check-in) resulted in a much longer wait for us. Bah!
OTOH, our room was ready, it's in great condition and has a fabulous view of the fireworks (I think we're only two rooms down from the room we had last year). Staff has been super-friendly and our mousekeeper is a doll. We spent this morning at MK, but I think we're just going to spend the rest of the day enjoying the beautiful resort.
The DVC villas are attached by a covered walkway to WL. WL contains the suites, Club Level, Deluxe rooms and Standard rooms and also The Mercantile and dining.
The villas have kitchens and non-studios have a washer/dryer. The WL rooms do not have those amenities. You can apply discounts to both VWL and WL bookings if you book a "cash reservation." However, you can't apply applicable public discounts to reservations made using points. You also won't receive free daily housekeeping unless you book a cash reservation. You can make changes to a cash reservation without penalty, but not when using points.
Personally, when I'm on vacation, I enjoy having daily housekeeping and I don't want to cook. I also have to be able to make changes and have 100% control over the reservation so I would only book a cash reservation and not using points. If you have any other questions, ask away!
Yes, that is the Otter Pond. It's just algae which can provide fish/aquatic species with a healthy food and oxygen source. With some ponds, you want to keep some algae in it. I don't know if the algae in the Otter Pond is there for a specific reason or not.
Welcome to the thread and congratulations on booking!
Pretty darn near perfect!!!
How much packing you have complete, Kook????
Umm, packing? Well, that is on next weekend's agenda
Hope your last two days are magical!
Yippee for booking the BB! It's great leaving knowing you have another trip bookedIt's about time. It has been too cold for swimming until today. We'll be at the pool after lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. I can't wait.
Sunday night we got back from Epcot just in time to catch the MVMCP fireworks from the beach. The Electric Water Parade rolled up about five minutes after the fireworks started. It was really nice to see them both at once. It was a pretty good view of the fireworks and they were a little fancier than the normal ones we saw last night.
We have enjoyed our WL stay so much that we booked our bounce back for October. This time we are going to try the courtyard view. But after my initial disappointment that we didn't get a north wing view of the high fireworks from our room, I've come to love this room. It is about as close to the bus stop as you can get and the closed balcony means that no one can see into the room. I am sitting on the bed right now and all I see is woods and a corner of the villas. No one but birds can see me.
Now we are heading to MK to see the opening show. I've never seen the whole thing before, just the last two minutes.
Sent from my iPad using DISBoards
Thanks for posting about the "noise" reduction. I wonder if that will be a permanent change?ETA: It seems like they turned down the volume on the pool party music. When we were at WL in February you could hardly stand the noise, even near the tables by Roaring Forks. Now it is a good level. That was the main reason I decided to book the courtyard view.
Sent from my iPad using DISBoards
You're going to love the Lodge! Congratulations and welcome to the thread!
Brian Noble
Gratefully in Recovery
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2004
Perhaps I spoke (wrote?) too soon. It looks like we might be staying at BLT instead. Will update when I know for sure.
WDWKOOK
NOW WITH LESS TAG!
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2009
The Christmas decorations are removed beginning 1/2 and they are all down within about a couple of days later, so there is a slim chance some might still be up on your arrival day.
It just so happens there's a thread where I can post your BLT dates
. Let me know when you know.
Wood Nymph
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2012
I never thought to ask about the room location when we checked in. Maybe it was because we were checked in by a CM with an iPad, He never offered to show us where our room was, either. When we checked in last February, the CM showed us the section that our room was in. I didn't bother to ask for a different room for several reasons. Ik new the resort was full. The check in desk was a crazy mess with long lines. And I was tired and didn't want to wait for a new room. But the view was fine, a true "woods view" which is what I paid for, so we kept it. And I'm glad we did. This room is much quieter than the room we had in the north wing. It is one of the quietest hotel rooms I have ever been in.
We enjoyed the breakfast buffet very much. In fact, we are going there for dinner Wednesday night. We walked to Fort Wilderness and it was a lovely walk. It took about a half hour to walk there, maybe less. We took the internal bus to the Outpost to catch a bus to AK after breakfast.
We went to HS tonight and the bus stopped at FW instead of GF before heading to the park. Last February the HS bus stopped at GF.
We tried to see if the KTTW cards would pull a traditional fastpass at MK, but it wouldn't. The machine shot out a ticket that said that the KTTW wasn't valid for fp's since it wasn't used for park entry. We had used our MB's to get into the park.
I found out that if you miss a fp+ you can reschedule it later. We were at HS tonight with some time to kill before the Osborne lights were turned on. I had booked a couple of fp+'s for earlier in the day that we never used. Even though the time period had expired I was still able to schedule a new fp+. I literally walked up to a ride, changed the time of the fp+ to the current time, and within a minute was able to get the green go light on the Mickey turnstile of the ride. It had to be for a ride with fp availability, though. It wouldn't let me book a TSMM fp+, but I was able to get on the Muppets, which was right next to New Street and a nice place to wait for the lights.
I just wish they would let us do more than one park a day. 
You can use your fp+ five minutes early. We did it several times.
It has been great to have a fp+ reservation at night. We walked in the fp lane at TSMM and it just tok a few minutes to get on the room. The standby line was 75 minutes at the time. But it isn't very convenient to not be able to pull traditional fp's. I would have loved a fp for Peter Pan, but I had a HS fp+, instead. They really need to broaden the options a little bit. The parks have been crowded.
WDWKOOK
NOW WITH LESS TAG!
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2009
We've had a lot of thorough reports lately which have been great to read. I'll be posting here live beginning 12/22
Great FP+ info. I didn't know you got "credit" for unused FPs. I assume they only work in the same park you missed your FPs? Have you tried using your park tix in the FP machine? At one time, though they may have "fixed" this, you could get paper FPs using your park tix such as your AP. I plan on testing this out, but it looks like I'll be disappointed.I never thought to ask about the room location when we checked in. Maybe it was because we were checked in by a CM with an iPad, He never offered to show us where our room was, either. When we checked in last February, the CM showed us the section that our room was in. I didn't bother to ask for a different room for several reasons. Ik new the resort was full. The check in desk was a crazy mess with long lines. And I was tired and didn't want to wait for a new room. But the view was fine, a true "woods view" which is what I paid for, so we kept it. And I'm glad we did. This room is much quieter than the room we had in the north wing. It is one of the quietest hotel rooms I have ever been in.
We enjoyed the breakfast buffet very much. In fact, we are going there for dinner Wednesday night. We walked to Fort Wilderness and it was a lovely walk. It took about a half hour to walk there, maybe less. We took the internal bus to the Outpost to catch a bus to AK after breakfast.
We went to HS tonight and the bus stopped at FW instead of GF before heading to the park. Last February the HS bus stopped at GF.
We tried to see if the KTTW cards would pull a traditional fastpass at MK, but it wouldn't. The machine shot out a ticket that said that the KTTW wasn't valid for fp's since it wasn't used for park entry. We had used our MB's to get into the park.
I found out that if you miss a fp+ you can reschedule it later. We were at HS tonight with some time to kill before the Osborne lights were turned on. I had booked a couple of fp+'s for earlier in the day that we never used. Even though the time period had expired I was still able to schedule a new fp+. I literally walked up to a ride, changed the time of the fp+ to the current time, and within a minute was able to get the green go light on the Mickey turnstile of the ride. It had to be for a ride with fp availability, though. It wouldn't let me book a TSMM fp+, but I was able to get on the Muppets, which was right next to New Street and a nice place to wait for the lights.
You can use your fp+ five minutes early. We did it several times.
It has been great to have a fp+ reservation at night. We walked in the fp lane at TSMM and it just tok a few minutes to get on the room. The standby line was 75 minutes at the time. But it isn't very convenient to not be able to pull traditional fp's. I would have loved a fp for Peter Pan, but I had a HS fp+, instead. They really need to broaden the options a little bit. The parks have been crowded.
That's very interesting about you preferring the South Wing Wood's View after requesting the North Wing. We also have a Wood's View booked for Christmas and I requested North Wing, but our priority is quiet
which is why I also requested not to have a connecting door. The last time we didn't stay Club Level, we had a 5th floor Courtyard View room with a connecting door. We heard everything, 24/7 through the door so I have flashbacks
of that stay and I'm worried about that happening again. You must be fairly high up so that you don't look directly out at VWL? Do you think your room is very quiet because no one is above or next door to you? I'm thinking of changing my request only to "no connecting door" so as to have a better chance of getting it. We have 3 separate room-only reservations so we would also like to remain in the same (quiet) room. This should be interesting
tydad
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2009
We checked into the lodge this past Saturday into a deluxe room. Could not ask for a better room as were are right on the beach. We have a clear view of the water pageant every night. Club level is just awesome. Magic bands are working great. The only slight draw back is the long walk to the lounge, but by no means a big deal. Parents checked in Monday to a honeymoon suite right next to the cl lounge. Now to have a great last 2 days
mom2_3girls
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2011
Congratulations! Just to clarify, adjoining rooms are next to each other and connecting rooms have a connecting door between them. Make sure your request is noted in your reservation and it's always best to ask again at check-in. Your vacation sounds fantastic!
Thanks for clarifying! Our friends just got back from staying at WL and they loved it!! Can't wait!!
Thanks for clarifying! Our friends just got back from staying at WL and they loved it!! Can't wait!!
My2CrazyGirls
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2010
Had a wonderful Thanksgiving Week at WL! I think I finally figured out how to post pictures....here it goes!
My2CrazyGirls
DIS Veteran
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- Sep 10, 2010
My2CrazyGirls
DIS Veteran
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My2CrazyGirls
DIS Veteran
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My2CrazyGirls
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bama belle
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2010
Hi Tydad ! We have two deluxe rooms booked for June and I am trying to decide between an inner courtyard room or two rooms on the end of the south wing. I was leaning towards inner courtyard because of the lounge being closer, but your view sounds great! How much further of a walk would you say it is than an inner cy room? Also, I was concerned about noise- my mom likes it pretty quiet at night. How noisy is it where you are? Are the boat horns loud? Is that where the movie is shown at night? What floor are you on?
Sorry for so many questions!! It's not quite as easy to find information on the deluxe rooms. Thanks for your time
GrandCalifornian
Can't Wait To Go Back
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2012
But the view was fine, a true "woods view" which is what I paid for, so we kept it. And I'm glad we did. This room is much quieter than the room we had in the north wing. It is one of the quietest hotel rooms I have ever been in.
We enjoyed the breakfast buffet very much. In fact, we are going there for dinner Wednesday night. We walked to Fort Wilderness and it was a lovely walk. It took about a half hour to walk there, maybe less. We took the internal bus to the Outpost to catch a bus to AK after breakfast.
We're so glad to hear that you are having a nice trip and enjoying your room location. We have had that happen, where a new location winds up being our favorite.
Also glad to hear you made it to Trail's End. Dinner should be delightful!
Beautiful pics (well, except maybe for the pond algae). Makes me wish I was there.
Wood Nymph
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2012
The KTTW card would not pull a paper fp. We haven't tried the AP yet. I've been afraid that I would mess up the MB's if I tried to use the AP. But since tomorrow is our last day, I'm going to try the AP and see what happens.We've had a lot of thorough reports lately which have been great to read. I'll be posting here live beginning 12/22
Great FP+ info. I didn't know you got "credit" for unused FPs. I assume they only work in the same park you missed your FPs? Have you tried using your park tix in the FP machine? At one time, though they may have "fixed" this, you could get paper FPs using your park tix such as your AP. I plan on testing this out, but it looks like I'll be disappointed.
That's very interesting about you preferring the South Wing Wood's View after requesting the North Wing. We also have a Wood's View booked for Christmas and I requested North Wing, but our priority is quiet
You must be fairly high up so that you don't look directly out at VWL? Do you think your room is very quiet because no one is above or next door to you? I'm thinking of changing my request only to "no connecting door" so as to have a better chance of getting it. We have 3 separate room-only reservations so we would also like to remain in the same (quiet) room. This should be interesting
No, we are on the third floor. There isn't a resort room below us. It is the Cub's Den and we haven't heard anything from there. There are a lot of trees between our room and the villas, and with the closed balcony, it is hard to see into this room. We don't have a connecting door and I haven't heard anything from next door. It might be empty. I'll post room views later, after we get home.
Here is another new fp+ trick I tried today. Before our trip I scheduled fp+'s for HS. This morning we decided to go to MK, instead. While on the boat dock I cancelled the HS fp+'s. The MDE app wouldn't let me make new fp+'s yet so I just turned off the app until after we were in the park. I connected to the park wifi and then was able to make fp+'s for the day. After we were inside the park I was able to get a Buzz Lightyear fp+ for 11am at 10:58am. The standby wait time was about 20 minutes and within two minutes of scheduling a fp+ we were able to walk onto that ride. There are a few benefits to the fp+ system.
A funny thing happened at Captain Cook's at the Poly today. We had gone over there for lunch and this lady was trying to fill her four non-resort mugs with Coke. It wasn't working for her and she couldn't figure out why. I told her that there was a sensor in the machine and if she didn't have a rapidfill mug, she couldn't get a drink. Her mugs were from an outside resort. Maybe the monorail resorts will have a whole lot less non-resort traffic now. The volcano pool had very few people in it, too.
Tonight is dinner at Trail's End. Then we are coming back to relax at the resort. Tomorrow we have a fastpass for lunch at Be Our Guest, then we are heading back to the cold Midwest.
Just an FWIW: lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern was delicious and the Ooey Gooey Toffee cake exceeded expectations. We have had some great meals on this trip, all of them being first time ADR's for us except for Cape May at the BC.
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