A Total Disney Experience: Disney’s Wilderness Lodge - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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We really enjoyed our stay at the WL. The rooms are very nice -plenty of room for us, great balcony, roomy bathroom and sink area, enclosed closet. The lobby is WOW, check out the "secret" fireplace area on the 4th floor above the lobby. The pool is fun, the theming is gorgeous! We found the transportation to be very good -the boat to MK (or other resorts) was fantastic, we never waited long for a bus and there was never a "crush" of people to get on a bus. I could go on and on... It is a great resort. You will never once feel like you're camping or "roughing it".
I would never describe the Wilderness Lodge as "rustic" - I don't do rustic! We are just back from 4 nights at the WL and as always, loved every minute. The lobby is stunning, the pool is just gorgeous, the boat transportation is a relaxing alternative to bus transportation to the Magic Kingdom, Whispering Canyon Cafe and Artist Point are great dining options, etc, etc. The rooms are comfortable but they are my one complaint, if you will, albeit a minor one - the rooms are a little dark for my taste but they are so warm and comfortable that this is nothing but a minor taste issue.
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Ok, you'll probably want to slap me, but I just don't love the WL at all, sorry! It reminds me way too much of Great Wolf Lodge! I know that WL at WDW came first, but we go to GWL up here every year, so to spend the dime to stay at WL makes no sense, and to get the bang for your buck, I'd rather spend that money to stay some place nicer, better decorated, more centrally located, and with better theming and a MUCH nicer pool - like Beach Club, or even better yet, save some major dime and stay at CBR . The one thing we really loved about WL was Whispering Canyon when we visited. Now, we havent stayed there, but we don't plan to either. It's just not the calibre of hotel I would expect for Deluxe accomodations.
We stayed there in 07 for the first time. It was our first time upgrading from Mod. to Deluxe and we loved it!!!! We loved to boat ride to MK or to Contemp. to catch the monorail to go to Epcot. We loved the rooms - having a balcony, bigger beds, nicer closet, etc. We loved having it enclosed so we could get all around the resort without getting wet in the rain. Loved the food court, WCC and the lobby. We watched the elec. water pagent from the beach and could see some of the MK fireworks too. The pool was great also and we love the waterfall and geyser! Enjoy!
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Some Day My Prince Will Come!
Katie - WDW - August 2011
I love the lobby, it's nice and compact (for ANY of the resorts!), the transportation to MK is great...for the others...eh...
the geyser is fun for the little ones, the pool is just the right size, the hot tub, ah...
I enjoy Artist's Point and DD still enjoys telling others about the waitress humiliating mom by having the entire restaraunt at Whispering Canyon make airplane noises as she fed me the remaider of my broccoli. Isn't that what family vacations are about?
We stayed there in 2004 and loved everything about it!!! The theming was fabulous. When we first stepped into the lobby, we were just amazed...those tall log totem poles were amazing. This resort was modeled after many famous luxurious log resorts out west. The cast members here were tops...so friendly, prompt and helpful. This year, we're trying AKL, and I hope it measures up to WL.