Disney's Wilderness Lodge and Villas Resort (Disney Deluxe/Deluxe Villas Resort) - Page 3 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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We stayed at WL in December of 2011 and were extremely satisfied! The hotel is superbly themed and was decorated very nicely for the holidays! The staff at WL were professional and some of the best resort CM's we have encountered!
Our room (6096) was located on the sixth floor overlooking the balcony. With two queen beds, double sinks, and all of the other "typical" room amenities (TV, Table, Chairs, Iron, Hairdryer, etc.). The cool thing about this room is it has an "extended" balcony - it is about 1 1/2 times the size of the average balcony - it extends past the room and then some ! This was really nice - especially for eating breakfast on in the morning!
The food at WL is also great - we ate at Whispering Canyon and it is now one of our favorite restaurants - the servings are big and the prices reasonable - and you can't beat the atmosphere! Roaring Forks, the counter service, had fresh and inexpensive food served up by friendly CM's
The hotel amenities were also awesome (see a trend here ) - the pool and slide were lots of fun and the hot tub was much enjoyed after a long day in the parks! It was also nice to be able to take a walk along the beach and watch the Electrical Water Pageant. The walking trails and grounds themselves were also great.
The bus transportation was our only complaint. While the boat to MK was really fast and cool (we got to ride it alone), the bus service was lacking. We often waited 15+ minutes for the bus and then the bus would often stop at the Grand Floridian.
Overall, the stay was excellent! The staff were nice, the rooms in good condition, the amenities useful, and the experience magical!
We got a great room on our arrival and we were tired and went to bed early, and we got a birds eye view of the magic kingdom fireworks from our balcony
There were 4 of us, with using 2 rooms. They were not connecting but that was okay. I LOVED the Wilderness Lodge and I would definitely stay there again.
I picked this resort when we were planning to go to Disney- because it had everything me and my family would enjoy. Plus I loved that it was on a lake, which opened other opportunities. The rooms themselves were spacious and very comfortable. The beds were too plus the pillows. Our view was not the greatest, overlooking the work parking lot. But we did have a great view of the Magic Kingdom fireworks EVERY night! Plus we could see a part of the Contemporary and the monorail. This made up for the yucky view. Loved the flat screen, watched some TV at night after having a fun-filled day somewhere in Disney World. There was a table with 2 chairs, which was my drop off of packages and receipts. The bathroom had 2 sinks, which was great for me and my 15 year old son. The shower head was like a rain shower. I used the safe too. We had happy mouse keepers too. I only tipped if the room got made up, otherwise I thought the room was fine.
The resort itself was great to get around. I thought the bus service was quick enough. We rarely sat longer than 5 minutes for a bus. But I preferred the boat transportation instead. It was nice to change it up a bit. We used the boats to get to Magic Kingdom and to the Contemporary. Our rooms were 5044 and 5042- and by the 2nd day we found a short cut to the pool and Roaring Fork. The longer way was for when we had to go to the Gift shop or to the bus.
I also picked this resort because it had a small food court. I knew my kids would have breakfast every morning, so I wanted them to have choices other than a muffin. I thought what Roaring Fork offered was just exactly what we needed. The location was close to the pool and to our rooms. Perfect! Did alot of shopping in the Mercantile Gift Shop. The concierge was very helpful too.
On our arrival day, we ate lunch at the Whispering Canyon Cafe. This was a nice change because normally we usually go to a park and eat there. This way we could enjoy the resort, since we got to take a walk after our BIG lunch! My sons rented the sea racers and enjoyed them!
The pool was big enough. I loved that the water flowed from the lobby into the pool. I spent some time in the hot tubs, and this was very relaxing. We also spent some time in the Lobby. On our last day, as we were waiting for the Magical Express Bus to come and pick us up- the boys got to see the European Soccer game that they wanted to watch in the Territory Lounge. It didn't open til 4:30pm, but we got to sit in there and watch the game. We also ate lunch too. We would have been bored otherwise.
The only down side was when the pool closed, because I think someone had gotten sick in the pool. This wasn't an inconvenience, because I was going back to my room to get dressed for dinner. Then the day before we left the soda lines had come apart. So, no cold drinks to use in our refillable cups. But these 2 times didn't really make us upset. Things happen.
The reason why I put a 5 for Affordability was because it is expensive to stay without any discounts. The standard view is what we had, but you had to pay extra for a better view. I have a hard time paying for a hotel room over $200.00 a night. Fortunately we did have a discount otherwise we would have stayed in one of the moderate resorts. (I still like the moderates).
Overall we thoroughly enjoyed staying at the Wilderness Lodge! I would definitely recommend it!
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! This was really nice - especially for eating breakfast on in the morning! 
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