WDW Wilderness Lodge

[Scotybo]

Hey All,
So I have not stayed at the wilderness lodge since like 1993/1994ish. Planning a trip in Nov. We love the Poly and the Yacht Club as well. I know the resort uses boats and busses. Are the busses and boats convenient to the monorail and the transportation and ticket center? Any tips and recommendations anyone would like to share, especially when it comes to dining at other resorts ? Any recommendations? We love the dining at WDW. We did the Yachtsman and Ohana in April and they were awesome!!!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Hey All, So I have not stayed at the wilderness lodge since like 1993/1994ish. Planning a trip in Nov. We love the Poly and the Yacht Club as well. I know the resort uses boats and busses. Are the busses and boats convenient to the monorail and the transportation and ticket center? Any tips and recommendations anyone would like to share, especially when it comes to dining at other resorts ? Any recommendations? We love the dining at WDW. We did the Yachtsman and Ohana in April and they were awesome!!!

We love Wilderness Lodge and just got back from our third stay there.
For transportation, there are buses to every park and boats to MK or to the Contemporary and Fort Wilderness. To get to the TTC you would have to use two modes of transportation. We liked boating to CR and then taking the monorail.
For food we like Trail's End at Fort Wilderness, but also did Ohana for dinner and breakfast, and we loved the dinner. We have also done Chef Mickey's at the CR for breakfast, but preferred Crystal Palace at the MK. We also tried Boma at AKL this time and enjoyed it too.
For anything WL related there is all kinds of info and a lot of helpful people on the FAQ thread here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3111366

Enjoy!

 

[CaptainKat]

Hey All,
So I have not stayed at the wilderness lodge since like 1993/1994ish. Planning a trip in Nov. We love the Poly and the Yacht Club as well. I know the resort uses boats and busses. Are the busses and boats convenient to the monorail and the transportation and ticket center? Any tips and recommendations anyone would like to share, especially when it comes to dining at other resorts ? Any recommendations? We love the dining at WDW. We did the Yachtsman and Ohana in April and they were awesome!!!

Love, love love WL; we own DVC there so we stay there most trips. The boat to the Contemporary and Fort Wilderness was convenient, as of course was the Magic Kingdom boat. Buses go to all of the parks, but the boat was much faster for MK, and depending on the time of day and timing of the buses, taking the boat to the CR and monorail to TTC then EPCOT was only a bit longer (and much more fun!). The dining at all of the monorail loop resorts is great, and easy to get to from WL by boating to CR and hopping on the monorail. We love California Grill at the Contemporary, and the Yachtsman Steakhouse at the Yacht Club. If you like tea and treats, the Grand Floridian has a place called the Garden View Tea Room that does an English tea time that is to die for, so many yummy treats! I've also heard wonderful things about Artist Point, at WL itself, but we've yet to try it (maybe next time!).

We'll be at WDW in November too, but at Saratoga. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[mickeynut1]

Hey All,
So I have not stayed at the wilderness lodge since like 1993/1994ish. Planning a trip in Nov. We love the Poly and the Yacht Club as well. I know the resort uses boats and busses. Are the busses and boats convenient to the monorail and the transportation and ticket center? Any tips and recommendations anyone would like to share, especially when it comes to dining at other resorts ? Any recommendations? We love the dining at WDW. We did the Yachtsman and Ohana in April and they were awesome!!!

As the pp's have said, the transportation from WL is great. We love taking the boat to MK as well as to the CR where we can easily hop on the monorail and go to the Poly and GF for shopping, dining, etc. We've also found the buses to great as well. We've had two stays at the WL and visit every trip and we have always found the buses to be quick and efficient. Have a great trip.

 

[KonaKaiTom]

I waited to long as I got stuck on a stupid work thing and ended up not being able to get a discounted room at WL for next month so I'm going to try CBR as I have never been there and it is just me. But, if I had actually booked WL, it would have been only $100 more a night -- and the ease of transportation, the much better amenities and Artist Point would have made that $100 easily justified to me. Oh, by the way, the boat to the CR and the monorail to the TTC is easy way to get to EPCOT -- from the TTC it is literally an 8 minute ride and nothing is cooler than "flying" into EPCOT.

Tom

 

[gwany1999]

I have wanted to stay at the Wilderness Lodge...we currently have POR booked for our trip in Feb. Do you think if the discount is about 25-30% it would be worth it to go there for our stay and pay OOP for meals?

Jenn

 

[wdwrich]

I have wanted to stay at the Wilderness Lodge...we currently have POR booked for our trip in Feb. Do you think if the discount is about 25-30% it would be worth it to go there for our stay and pay OOP for meals?

Jenn

The decision to switch to WL depends on the discount at WL vs the price/discount at POR and whether it makes budgetary sense to you. I think the meals (dining plan or OOP) is a completely separate issue.

 

[Headed4Fun]

I have wanted to stay at the Wilderness Lodge...we currently have POR booked for our trip in Feb. Do you think if the discount is about 25-30% it would be worth it to go there for our stay and pay OOP for meals?

Jenn

We were booked at POFQ for our upcoming trip. We ended up switching to WL - the discount was 30% and we weren't going to get any discount at POFQ. So, even though we are spending a little more, we switched to take advantage of a special. We've always wanted to stay at WL, but couldn't justify the extra expense. We'll see how this goes - I think my only regret of the upgrade will be not doing it on previous trips.

On a side note...Our 5-night stay at POFQ would have been about $500 cheaper than WL. That included the dining plan and 5 days of non-hopper tickets. We are still doing the dining plan. We priced out what we'd pay OOP and the dining plan will actually work out about the same, maybe a little better for us. My husband knows I'm the type that if I am paying OOP, I will nickel and dime everything and it takes the enjoyment out of it all for everybody else. I have a tendency to use my mean mommy voice and tell the kids no for all the little extras like popsicles, ice cream, popcorn...etc. Having a snack available on the dining plans for everybody gives them a way to just go get something and not have me count up the expenses the whole time. It may come out a little more expensive in the long run, but for us, it really adds to the enjoyment of our trip when everything's been paid for.

 

[Headed4Fun]

I waited to long as I got stuck on a stupid work thing and ended up not being able to get a discounted room at WL for next month so I'm going to try CBR as I have never been there and it is just me. But, if I had actually booked WL, it would have been only $100 more a night -- and the ease of transportation, the much better amenities and Artist Point would have made that $100 easily justified to me. Oh, by the way, the boat to the CR and the monorail to the TTC is easy way to get to EPCOT -- from the TTC it is literally an 8 minute ride and nothing is cooler than "flying" into EPCOT.

Tom

Glad to hear a fan of WL and have a tip about the TTC to EPCOT - thanks for that! We're staying at WL in just a couple of weeks and I'm excited....will have to remember your input on our EPCOT day. Also, glad to hear you find $100 more per night worth it. That's what we've ended up paying as a difference from our previously booked POFQ. It was hard to think about at first but now it's a done deal and we'll be on our way shortly!

Hope you enjoy your stay at CBR!

 

[terri33inne]

I'm here now... Love the boat transportation but the buses are the worst I've experienced at any disney resort... I've stayed moderate & value before. Waited 40 mins last night for a bus to dtd. Also the buses make additional stops at either grand or fort... So I've planned about an hour & 15 mins to any place we need to use the bus to get to.

 

[MinnieMe129]

I'm here now... Love the boat transportation but the buses are the worst I've experienced at any disney resort... I've stayed moderate & value before. Waited 40 mins last night for a bus to dtd. Also the buses make additional stops at either grand or fort... So I've planned about an hour & 15 mins to any place we need to use the bus to get to.

Agree with this! We were there last week and were surprised WL and GF share a bus. We waited 40 minutes for an AK bus, and then it stopped at GF and didn't pick anyone up! We also had looooonnnggg waits for return busses from the parks.

The boats are great though! And, overall, we loved the WL.