Room request at Wilderness Lodge

sparkyjmg · Post by **sparkyjmg** » Apr Mon 21, 2008 9:13 am

We are going to WDW and staying at the WL in September. We have been 8 times before, but never stayed at this hotel, only eaten there. can you give us a suggestion on where to request a room. We want our balcony to overlook the pool and lake, but be on the close side to the transportation.....

Also, can you suggest some fun things to do around the resort??
Thanks

Sleeping Beauty 5 · Post by **Sleeping Beauty 5** » Apr Wed 23, 2008 1:12 pm

I've never stayed in the Wilderness Lodge so I really should even be posting this but I did have the opportunity to go there and eat at Whispering Canyon. Just walking through was awesome. It's the most visually stunning piece of Disney property so I think even if they stick you in a room towards the back, the walk will be special every time. Just my two cents but sorry I couldn't be more help

Post by **js3901** » Apr Wed 23, 2008 7:06 pm

didn't stay at WL, but we did stay at Ft Wilderness in December 2006. I know that guests of WL can go to the campfire/movie that Ft.W put on, and they can also do any of the activities at FtW (bicycles, fishing, boat rentals, etc).

secondstar · Post by **secondstar** » Apr Wed 23, 2008 8:03 pm

Except for parking lot views, all views are good. [From Samantha Brown: "Spend the money on the room and not the view. They're all good."]

When I went (which was a few years back) transportation was tricky. To get to the Magic Kingdom, you either had to take the water transports (which I LOVED in the early mornings!!!), or take the Boone & Crockett shuttle buses to the TTC, then transfer to either the monorail or ferry boats to the Magic Kingdom. There were no direct buses to the Magic Kingdom back then. You will have to check and see if they've changed that.

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Apr Thu 24, 2008 12:03 am

If you've been there a bunch already I imagine you know the layout, but for reference here's a link to the WL map. Link

#1 on the map is where the buses are, so you'd want a room on the right-hand side of the resort (right hand if you're in the lobby, facing Bay Lake). I stayed in a courtyard view room on the right one time (I'd have to look up the room number), and we had a decent view of the pool but were quite a ways back from the lake, and there were trees blocking that view.

On another visit we stayed alllllll the way at the end of the right-hand wing, facing Bay Lake. Awesome view of the lake and the Electrical Water Pageant, but no view of the pool. Also a very long walk from the elevators/lobby. Didn't bother me at all, but might be a hassle if you have kids in tow or don't feel like a hike to your room (it really did feel like the endless hallway sometimes...). Oddly enough, as I recall that view of the water was a 'woods view' room; much less expensive than the courtyard view (and, frankly, I liked it better, but that's just personal preference).

Also keep in mind if you book courtyard view and ask for a 'pool view' you may end up with a view of the Villas pool (#22 on the map), as they don't differentiate which courtyard you're looking at. Make sure to specify you wanna see the main WL pool.

To echo secondstar, the thing I disliked most about the WL was the transportation, though it wasn't so much of an issue to keep me from staying there again. The water transport to the MK is a lot of fun, however as far as I know there is a bus all the time now. They found that due to fluctuating water levels, sometimes people in wheelchairs/scooters couldn't get on the boat, which obviously caused problems. I also loved taking the boats to the Contemporary and Fort Wilderness.

The worst transportation was to Downtown Disney. I don't know what it is about the buses for that place and the WL but the waits were always horrendous. Our standard practice became to take the Fort Wilderness buses that came through to the TTC, and then walk over and catch the Poly's DTD bus.

For fun things to do, as js said, take advantage of the fact you can use all of Fort Wilderness' amenities, and just generally make use of the fact it's right there. I highly recommend eating at the Trail's End Buffet for breakfast at least once. Yum!

AKLRULZ · Post by **AKLRULZ** » Apr Thu 24, 2008 4:57 am

I'd request an upper courtyard view (keeping in mind this is a premium view and unless you've paid for a courtyard view you won't receive it unless your agent has requested an upgrade which is never guaranteed). On our last stay we had an amazing view of the lake, pool and upper courtyard area, which is a bit quieter than the lower pool area.

Enjoy - it's an amazing resort.

MouseMan · Post by **MouseMan** » Apr Thu 24, 2008 2:12 pm

When we stayed at WL we didn't really care about what view we got, but we ended up looking at a forested cortyard that wasn't bad. But what we requested was a room with a set of bunk beds. With two kids this works out great for them.

Post by **Len90** » Apr Sat 26, 2008 12:38 am

I would say a room that overlooks the lobby is a pretty good room to get. The view doesn't matter to me. It is the location in reference to the elevator and how high up is it.

As for fun....
1. They have a bike rental where you can take out 2-6 passenger bikes to take a nice scenic bike ride.
2. Boat rentals. They have the boat rental dock. I highly recommend this since you can head out towards MK or towards some small islands to see wild life.
3. Fishing excursion. You book this in advance to go fishing in I believe Bay lake. (You don't get to keep the fish).

The buses. When I was there in 2006 you had bus transportation to everywhere, including the Magic Kingdom. There was also the boat transportation that will take you to the Contemporary, Magic Kingdom and I believe Fort Wilderness too. I would agree with the bus to Downtown Disney. It is an extremely long wait for the bus and the ride is also not the greatest. The bus takes a back road that has no lighting and almost no traffic. All the other buses I had no complaints about. I never waited more than 10-15 minutes for a bus and that was after just missing the prior bus.

secondstar · Post by **secondstar** » Apr Sat 26, 2008 1:37 pm

Len90 wrote:As for fun....
1. They have a bike rental where you can take out 2-6 passenger bikes to take a nice scenic bike ride.
2. Boat rentals. They have the boat rental dock. I highly recommend this since you can head out towards MK or towards some small islands to see wild life.
3. Fishing excursion. You book this in advance to go fishing in I believe Bay lake. (You don't get to keep the fish).

Don't forget: looking for paw prints in the concrete!. It's a nice diversion on the walk to the bus stops or water taxis. (Hehe.)

Post by **Len90** » Apr Sun 27, 2008 9:59 pm

secondstar wrote:
Len90 wrote:As for fun....
1. They have a bike rental where you can take out 2-6 passenger bikes to take a nice scenic bike ride.
2. Boat rentals. They have the boat rental dock. I highly recommend this since you can head out towards MK or towards some small islands to see wild life.
3. Fishing excursion. You book this in advance to go fishing in I believe Bay lake. (You don't get to keep the fish).
Don't forget: looking for paw prints in the concrete!. It's a nice diversion on the walk to the bus stops or water taxis. (Hehe.)

LOL! Forgot about those. They had me searching for a bear for half of my stay! Also you can spend some time by the geyser.

rknrlrcstr · Post by **rknrlrcstr** » Oct Sun 19, 2008 4:50 pm

Sparkyjmg,

Did you have any luck with getting your request honored?

I visited WL in Aug/Sept earlier this year (taking advantage of the free dining plan). The only rooms available to book under the plan with a courtyeard view were queen w/ bunk bed. It was only my wife and I, so we didn't feel the need to occupy a room w/ a bunk bed, especially if there may be a family that would have gotten better use out of it.

What I was advised was to call the resort about 7-10 days ahead of your arrival date. Inform them that you'd like to make a room request on your reservationa nd would like to know when the room assignments for your arrival date are going to be made. Call back on that date and reaffirm your request. Now, remember, room requests are not guaranteed, but they will do their best.

I feel lucky that this year my request was honored and I got a great room on the second floor, facing the courtyard pool and the room had two queen beds. And even better, though I wasn't expecting it and would not have complained if it didn't happen, a couple of weeks later I received a chack in the mail as a refund for the difference between the Queen/bunk bed room and the two queen room.