Wilderness Lodge - useful information and photos - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Contained in this post is some useful information about the Villas at Wilderness Lodge. Now it's over to you - can you add any other helpful hints or do you have some photos you can share with us of the resort? If so, please post away with your thoughts and experiences!
Villas at Wilderness Lodge
801 Timberline Drive, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
Phone: 407 938-4300
Fax: 407 824-3232
The third addition to the DVC portfolio at Disney World were the Villas at Wilderness Lodge, opened in November 2000 and part of the Wilderness Lodge complex, which are inspired by the national parks of the West. They enjoy a direct boat service to the Magic Kingdom, Fort Wilderness and the Contemporary Resort. Bus services are offered to all other Disney parks and Downtown Disney.
Silver Creeks Falls flows from the lobby of the resort into the main pool, called Silver Creek Springs, which also includes a slide, children’s pool and hot and cold spas, but the Villas have their own pool as well – Hidden Springs, which has its own spa. The complex also includes the Sturdy Branches Health Club, the Iron Spike Room, a reading room and the Buttons and Bells Arcade. Boat and bikes are available for rent and you can take the 90 minute Wonders of the Lodge tour or enjoy a fishing excursion. Fire Rock Geyser also regularly erupts throughout the day, wind and weather permitting, sending water up to 120 feet high in the air.
Groceries and merchandise are available at the Wilderness Lodge Mercantile.
Once again, there are plenty of eating choices here:
- Artist Point celebrates the Pacific Northwest and it offers not only superb food, but also superb views. It is a favourite restaurant of many visitors to Disney and famed for its Berry Cobbler dessert and Cedar Plank Salmon.
- Whispering Canyon Café is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and offers either an a la carte menu or family-style servings. Just beware if you ask for ketchup here..!
- Roaring Fork Snack Bar – as the name suggests, this is a counter-service snack area with a number of choices, including burgers, sandwiches and snacks.
- Territory Lounge a lobby lounge offering wines, speciality coffees and light appetisers.
- Trout Pass Pool Bar offers beverages and light snacks.
Here, you can choose to stay in a studio or one or two bedroom vacation homes.
Re: Wilderness Lodge - useful information and photos
I think VWL is my favorite of all the DVC resorts! Okay okay, so I've yet to stay at the VWL, but I do love the WL and I love exploring the whole resort!!!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Re: Wilderness Lodge - useful information and photos
First of all, Cheryl - these DVC resort info threads are wonderful - great job (where the heck have been that I just saw them today???
And Laura, the pics are beautiful - I just enjoyed your lovely tour of VWL, reliving our vacation from last May!
We absolutely loved the VWL - we stayed in a 1 br on the 5th floor. It was a short walk to the elevator and the soda/ice machines - very convenient. I wasn't as crazy about our view, though - it wasn't anything spectactular and our balconies were a bit on the small side but it was too hot to hang out on them anyway LOL
The WL is a beautiful resort and we enjoyed walking around the lobby and the grounds, looking for animal tracks. The girls especially loved the little bridge inside the lobby and I loved souvenir shopping at the Mercantile (I went downstairs for a half gallon of milk and 63 bucks later!!! No, that wasn't the price of the milk, either!!! ROFL)
We ate at Roaring Forks for both lunch and an impromptu dinner - decent offerings here and the decor is cute. We had a fun dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe; however, it was very busy - even with our 8pm PS we had to wait 40 minutes! DH wasn't happy but the girls didn't mind b/c they got to play with the WL Lincoln logs they have there in the waiting area!
We got to see the Geyser erupt too which was fun! We swam at the Hidden Springs pool since my kids aren't the adventurous types (yet!) and loved how relaxing it was - didn't feel like we were in Florida at all with all the lovely trees around. We also walked the Nature Trail (about a mile as the crow flies! LOL) to Ft Wilderness. I'm not a hiker at all, so this was totally do-able.
We found the CMs to be friendly and efficient and bus transportation was great. We really enjoyed taking the launch to/fro the MK - that was like an attraction in itself! It really was a relaxing way to cool down on our way back to the WL.
Our home resort is BCV so we're going to check that out this Nov but we're pretty sure we want to return to VWL for our June 05 trip. In fact, we fell in love with VWL so much, DH decided we should join the DVC!
Re: Wilderness Lodge - useful information and photos
<font color="red"> </font> We will be staying at the Villas at WL in just 8 days, so all this information was quite helpful. My DD really enjoyed the pictures. Her excitement is building and the pics were a bonus!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Re: Wilderness Lodge - useful information and photos
Laura, your photos of the villas at Wilderness Lodge are absolutely amazing. I could literally spend forever on your site just looking and drooling. And Cheryl, I really appreciate all the work you've put into all the FAQ entries for all of the DVC properties. The information in them is invaluable to new DVC members such as myself.
I would love nothing more than to stay at the VWL but since my last two WDW stays included 1 week and ten days respectively at WL, my family is anxious to try out some of the other resorts first before I finally get to head back to my "happy place."
Re: Wilderness Lodge - useful information and photos
I've finally got round to adding in the photos we took of the Villas at Wilderness Lodge on our most recent visit to WDW - apologies for the delay, but better late than never!
Re: Wilderness Lodge - useful information and photos
Chez, thanks so much for this little taste of what to expect when I eventually get to stay at VWL. Your photos are great and they've helped to overcome a bit of my homesickness for WL. Ahhhhhh.....I can almost smell the lobby now and hear that stirring music. Now where did I leave my horse?
Re: Wilderness Lodge - useful information and photos
Cheryl,
I love the pics and info is very useful, My DH and I are taking our 6 yr old DGS in Nov. for our first visit to VWL. We were down in Dec. at BCV and took bus over to see WL and just fell in love with the Lobby so had to book a week this year there!!! Can't wait to see the Villas.
Re: Wilderness Lodge - useful information and photos
Thanks for the great info and pictures of the VWL. I am getting excited about staying here!! Hopefully we'll be able to make reservations for the time that we want to go. Thanks again Cheryl and Laura!!
Re: Wilderness Lodge - useful information and photos
Glad to see a thread dedicated to VWL. As it is our home resort I tend to be a little prejudice in favor . Still, maybe it is the best of the best. I can definitely say that Artist's Point is one of the best restaurants on WDW property. I don't mind telling all of you this as you all probably know already. If you haven't eaten there, do so !
You're in for a real treat.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
About This Page: 
PassPorter Guide Author
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
(where the heck have been that I just saw them today??? 
No, that wasn't the price of the milk, either!!! ROFL) 
<font color="red"> </font> We will be staying at the Villas at WL in just 8 days, so all this information was quite helpful. My DD really enjoyed the pictures. Her excitement is building and the pics were a bonus! 
so had to book a week this year there!!! Can't wait to see the Villas. 
Linear Mode
