Wilderness Lodge Feb 12

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Joined: 03/02/2012
Posts: 38
Wilderness Lodge Feb 12

Hi, all!

I just found this forum and am glad I did! My first trip to WDW was actually in 1970 when my parents took us to Orlando to "see this new thing" and we went to a trailer outside the MK under construction and saw a huge topographic model. I just got back home from my most recent visit (there have been nearly 50 in between) and wanted to post.

We stayed at Wilderness Lodge Resort for the second time and found the rooms to be quite weathered and worn, a bit of a disappointment. Two years ago we were in the newer building which was much better. Both experiences at WLR were a little sub par in terms of guest exerience. Neither time was I greeted as enthusiastically as other deluxe resorts and no one even offered to take our bags as we unloaded the car... It wasn't busy and my wife had to take a few steps and request assistance. Not what we expect for $350 a night. I enjoy Whispering Canyon and the food has much improved since the last time I was there. We did both lunch and a breakfast this time and would very much recommend it. WLR in general though gets my thumbs down for value and also for cast member attention to guests. No one seemed to care we were there for the duration of our four night stay.

By contrast to WLR we were over at the Boardwalk area where we usually stay and everything at both the Boardwalk Resort and Beach Club Resort was excellent on brief visits and encounters and still highly recommend these for service, quality and location!

Just my 135,000 cents since that is what I paid to stay at WLR.

We'll be back there in April!! waiting

Rich, Naples FL

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~'70 When Magic Kingdom was a trailer visitor center, ~'76 Polynesian Resort, ~'83 Disneyland, ~'85 Dixie Landings, ~'98 Boardwalk Villas, ~'99 Boardwalk Villas, ~'99 Disneyland Hotel, '00~ Disneyland Hotel, ~'03 Port Orleans French Quarter, ~'04 Animal Kingdom Lodge, ~'04 Caribbean Beach Resort, ~'09 Port Orleans Riverside, ~'09 Boardwalk Inn, ~'09 Beach Club Resort, ~'10 Double Tree WDW, ~'10 Wilderness Lodge Villas, ~'10 Hilton Parc Soleil, ~'12 Wilderness Lodge, ~'12 Grand Californian Resort... more to come as I try to remember more visit details...

MrHub's picture
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Joined: 10/29/2009
Posts: 9503

Hi Rich & welcome! We have never stayed at the Wilderness Lodge, but sorry to hear about your less then Magic stay there.

Vettelover's picture
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Joined: 03/28/2009
Posts: 4658

HI Rich and welcome to WDWFG, like mrHub we have never stayed at the WL. I have been told that my jaw, which sustained a large bruise when it hit the floor, when I read what you paid for the room will heal nicely. We are members of DVC and I guess I am out of touch with reality when it comes to prices for WDW rooms. So glad that you found our little corner of the web. Great bunch of very friendly people always willing to help out. What are youre food and rest. choices when in the world, as you will see food is one of the main topics of conversation here.

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Joined: 03/02/2012
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While WLR was less than magical, the rest of our trip was FABULOUS! As a frequent visitor and annual pass holder, we are now trying to seek out new experiences to keep WDW exciting. This past visit we ate at Tokyo Dining and House of Blues which were both very good. So while the resort didn't pan out, Disney still delivered. Having stayed at almost every resort we have reached the conclusion that all future stays will be at Boardwalk/Beach Club/Yacht Club. We love the ambiance and the convenience of walking to two parks without transportation hassles.

Rich

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~'70 When Magic Kingdom was a trailer visitor center, ~'76 Polynesian Resort, ~'83 Disneyland, ~'85 Dixie Landings, ~'98 Boardwalk Villas, ~'99 Boardwalk Villas, ~'99 Disneyland Hotel, '00~ Disneyland Hotel, ~'03 Port Orleans French Quarter, ~'04 Animal Kingdom Lodge, ~'04 Caribbean Beach Resort, ~'09 Port Orleans Riverside, ~'09 Boardwalk Inn, ~'09 Beach Club Resort, ~'10 Double Tree WDW, ~'10 Wilderness Lodge Villas, ~'10 Hilton Parc Soleil, ~'12 Wilderness Lodge, ~'12 Grand Californian Resort... more to come as I try to remember more visit details...

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Joined: 07/02/2011
Posts: 988

So sorry about your stay at WL. My husband and I stayed there in 2009 and had a wonderful time. No problems at all. The CM's were great and very helpful if we had any questions. They took our bags to our room. So odd you had such a bad experience. We had a studio room in the Villas section. It was awesome! One of our fondest memories is staying there.

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Joined: 03/02/2012
Posts: 38

Yes, a little weird that on two occasions WL was not very customer oriented toward me. The rate was high as it was President's Week but we had to meet family there so we couldn't take advantage of a better FL resident rate on a other week. The first time I took my kids on a quick college tour and my wife couldn't go so this time I was excited to have her experience this resort. I know we each have our own preferences that connect to us personally. My wife complained WL is dark and I guess she is right. For me I don't connect to the WL theming the way I do at Boardwalk. Something about the 1940s music, costuming, etc there just makes me that little bit more engaged.

Vettelover asked me about dining. On this recent trip we had the other family with 14 year old twin boys so we did a little less than if we were just there as a couple. Our three kids all live in Orlando and are at college there and our oldest works over at (audible gasp!!!) Universal at Nascar Cafe where the money was just a whole lot better than they offered her when she was invited to be a CM at WDW. So last trip dining list:

DAY1
Snack at Canyon Rapids at WL - typical counter service
Dinner at House of Blues - outstanding. Loved the shrimp and grits!
DAY 2
Lunch at Whispering Canyon - food has been significantly upgraded here with quality ingredients.
Dinner at Tokyo Dining - Fuji Bento Box was great. A little pricey for some folks.
DAY 3
Lunch at Pattiserie in France - one of our secret places for a great, low cost lunch. Heated croissant with ham and cheese!!!
Dinner at Beaches and Cream (BCR) - always fun and good burgers. A whole can??? Yes, of course we got the Kitchen Sink!
DAY 4
Lunch at counter service next to Backlot Tour (HS) - decent but nothing to get excited about. Greek salads looked awesome.
Dinner at Tangerine Cafe in Morocco - expensive for Shwarma platter with lamb which is hardly lamb.
Dessert at Germany's Werther's Caramel. Just delicious.
DAY 5
Breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe. French Toast is amazing and really good sausage.
Lunch at Pizzeria in Italy. Remarkably good but very costly for pizza.

Hope that is helpful to someone! I will post more about dining in the appropriate forum on other experiences we have had. Noteworthy though is every time I call WDW, I ask the person their favorite place to eat in WDW. The largest majority says Nine Dragons in China. We have had some very good meals there.

Rich

__________________

~'70 When Magic Kingdom was a trailer visitor center, ~'76 Polynesian Resort, ~'83 Disneyland, ~'85 Dixie Landings, ~'98 Boardwalk Villas, ~'99 Boardwalk Villas, ~'99 Disneyland Hotel, '00~ Disneyland Hotel, ~'03 Port Orleans French Quarter, ~'04 Animal Kingdom Lodge, ~'04 Caribbean Beach Resort, ~'09 Port Orleans Riverside, ~'09 Boardwalk Inn, ~'09 Beach Club Resort, ~'10 Double Tree WDW, ~'10 Wilderness Lodge Villas, ~'10 Hilton Parc Soleil, ~'12 Wilderness Lodge, ~'12 Grand Californian Resort... more to come as I try to remember more visit details...

Lizzy_B's picture
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Joined: 10/25/2010
Posts: 3246

Flresident wrote:
Yes, a little weird that on two occasions WL was not very customer oriented toward me. The rate was high as it was President's Week but we had to meet family there so we couldn't take advantage of a better FL resident rate on a other week. The first time I took my kids on a quick college tour and my wife couldn't go so this time I was excited to have her experience this resort. I know we each have our own preferences that connect to us personally. My wife complained WL is dark and I guess she is right. For me I don't connect to the WL theming the way I do at Boardwalk. Something about the 1940s music, costuming, etc there just makes me that little bit more engaged.

Vettelover asked me about dining. On this recent trip we had the other family with 14 year old twin boys so we did a little less than if we were just there as a couple. Our three kids all live in Orlando and are at college there and our oldest works over at (audible gasp!!!) Universal at Nascar Cafe where the money was just a whole lot better than they offered her when she was invited to be a CM at WDW. So last trip dining list:

DAY1
Snack at Canyon Rapids at WL - typical counter service
Dinner at House of Blues - outstanding. Loved the shrimp and grits!
DAY 2
Lunch at Whispering Canyon - food has been significantly upgraded here with quality ingredients.
Dinner at Tokyo Dining - Fuji Bento Box was great. A little pricey for some folks.
DAY 3
Lunch at Pattiserie in France - one of our secret places for a great, low cost lunch. Heated croissant with ham and cheese!!!
Dinner at Beaches and Cream (BCR) - always fun and good burgers. A whole can??? Yes, of course we got the Kitchen Sink!
DAY 4
Lunch at counter service next to Backlot Tour (HS) - decent but nothing to get excited about. Greek salads looked awesome.
Dinner at Tangerine Cafe in Morocco - expensive for Shwarma platter with lamb which is hardly lamb.
Dessert at Germany's Werther's Caramel. Just delicious.
DAY 5
Breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe. French Toast is amazing and really good sausage.
Lunch at Pizzeria in Italy. Remarkably good but very costly for pizza.

Hope that is helpful to someone! I will post more about dining in the appropriate forum on other experiences we have had. Noteworthy though is every time I call WDW, I ask the person their favorite place to eat in WDW. The largest majority says Nine Dragons in China. We have had some very good meals there.

Rich

Welcome, Rich! Thanks so much for all of the detail! Sounds like you have really grown up loving Disney.

We are also in FL - in the Central Florida area. How often do you get up for a visit, and do you always stay on property? That's pretty cool that your visits are overnights. Ours tend to be daytrips because of our proximity.

That's also interesting about Nine Dragons. You hardly ever hear it mentioned. But I agree about the French Patisserie! Did you see that they may be undergoing expansion?

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Joined: 03/02/2012
Posts: 38

Lizzy,

We are in Naples so it is rare to make an Orlando day trip. With our kids all at UCF we get a double bang for our trip. We have seasonal annual passes which only black out dates we would never go. I made the July mistake once when the parks were jam packed with Brazilians so when we went with the FL passes the seasonal made sense plus we stay on property which gives us parking (although I have a workaround for that if we do not). We visit about 4 to 5 times a year now. Next WDW will likely be mid or late April.

Did not hear about the patisserie expansion. I hope they don't ruin it. My only gripe is sometimes having difficulty finding a table. I wish they would ditch the outpost and add another country or two!

I do love Disney but it comes into perspective here seeing some folks who are clearly fanatical. I am here to pick up tidbits I may not know and share a few things from my bag of tricks accumulated over the years. I am anxious to see the expanded Fantasyland later this year, heard anything about it?

Best,

Rich

__________________

~'70 When Magic Kingdom was a trailer visitor center, ~'76 Polynesian Resort, ~'83 Disneyland, ~'85 Dixie Landings, ~'98 Boardwalk Villas, ~'99 Boardwalk Villas, ~'99 Disneyland Hotel, '00~ Disneyland Hotel, ~'03 Port Orleans French Quarter, ~'04 Animal Kingdom Lodge, ~'04 Caribbean Beach Resort, ~'09 Port Orleans Riverside, ~'09 Boardwalk Inn, ~'09 Beach Club Resort, ~'10 Double Tree WDW, ~'10 Wilderness Lodge Villas, ~'10 Hilton Parc Soleil, ~'12 Wilderness Lodge, ~'12 Grand Californian Resort... more to come as I try to remember more visit details...

Jess's picture
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Joined: 03/04/2011
Posts: 3280

Flresident wrote:
While WLR was less than magical, the rest of our trip was FABULOUS! As a frequent visitor and annual pass holder, we are now trying to seek out new experiences to keep WDW exciting. This past visit we ate at Tokyo Dining and House of Blues which were both very good. So while the resort didn't pan out, Disney still delivered. Having stayed at almost every resort we have reached the conclusion that all future stays will be at Boardwalk/Beach Club/Yacht Club. We love the ambiance and the convenience of walking to two parks without transportation hassles.

Rich

Welcome to the best disney forum around. I've loved hearing all about your trips. We are DVC members and go once a year and stay at AKL. We are going or our 10 year anniversary for a special trip in 2014 and we are going to stay at the Boardwalk Villas...and i'm so looking forward to it being able to walk to epcot Smile

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