TheMouseForLess Resort Reviews

TheMouseForLess members review Walt Disney World resorts.

Wilderness Lodge

Submitted By: The Zastowny Familys

Date Of Stay: August 17, 2008- August 24, 2008

Type Of Resort: Disney Deluxe

Rate Paid During Your Stay: Around $265 per night with AAA package.

Room Sleeps: 4

Please Rate The Following On A Scale From 1-10 (10 being the best):

Theming: 10
Room Size: 9 The room could be larger for the money
Amenities: 10
Quality: 10
Cleanliness: 10
Transportation: 8
Recreation: 10 So much to see and do!
Value:10 Worth every penny!

Over All Rating: 9.6

Don't Miss: The Geyser, sandy beaches, wildlife and the marina.

Room Location Suggestion: We were in room 5110 left wing. It was nice and quiet our balcony let us see some of the fireworks at MK. Also alot of trees.

The Mouse For Less Tip: There is so much here to explore and see. Gotta get out and look for the treasures of the WL. My DS loved the marina as he drove a sea-racer (dad was passenger)he had a blast and wants to do it again.

Comments: If you can afford the Deluxe experience, do so. It is really worth it. We have stayed at 2 moderates and the fact that you can go down to the food court in your PJ's (i've seen it already) and get something to eat. It doesn't take 5-10 minutes to walk there. Very nice, loved all the amenities.

Submitted By: The Coffeys

Date Of Stay: October 5 - 13, 2007

Type Of Resort: Disney Deluxe

Rate Paid During Your Stay: Your Stay: $324 per room (inc. taxes).

Room Sleeps: 4

Please Rate The Following On A Scale From 1-10 (10 being the best):

Theming: 8
Room Size: 7
Amenities: 7
Quality: 7
Cleanliness: 9
Transportation: 7
Recreation: 7
Value:6

Over All Rating: 7

Don't Miss: The geyser and the lobby.

Room Location Suggestion: We stayed at the end of a wing in rooms 3009 and 3007 -- this overlooked the courtyard but was quieter than the lobby. Ask for a wing room rather than overlooking the lobby because of the noise (especially if you are traveling with kids and need to get to bed early or will be taking a nap).

The Mouse For Less Tip: We stayed here before and had the bunk bed room -- definitely a better option if you have kids -- neither of our rooms this time had bunks - we didn't want the kids arguing over the top bunk.

Every time we used the valet parking they acted surprised. We aren't DVC members and they asked us if we were until the 2nd to last day of our stay when they recognized us. If you go to another resort for dinner and have paid for valet parking at your hotel they are supposed to comp the $10 cost. We went to Beach club for gelato one afternoon after Fantasia mini golf and they wanted my husband to pay the $10 valet parking fee in cash since we weren't staying there. It took pointing out, nicely, to the manager, that we had already paid for the day at Wilderness Lodge and that if we gave them cash we'd have paid $20 for valet parking for the day. (Besides we'd not had the $10 cash with us as we were using our room charge for most things).

If you stay for more than 8 days in a year you'll probably get an annual pass. If you do so, check the discounts -- we saved 50% on mini-golf at Fantasia. There were also discounts at several restaurants in Downtown Disney.

Comments: The bugs were absolutely awful on the boats back from Disney at night. It was like walking through a cloud of them. There was resistance in the air because of all the bugs! Every member of our group ran for the showers when we got back. They weren't biting just crawling everywhere! Our prior visit was in January and we did not have this problem. If you are going to the MK and will be returning at night, drive around the loop (past the service center) park at the parking for the MK and take the monorail -- it adds time but, oh, my... I'd add an hour to my trip to avoid the bugs!

The mugs are smaller in size that they used to be but are still worth it if you need your caffeine (cold or hot!). Roaring Forks (the counter service place) has yogurt in the morning and you can add fresh raspberries, strawberries or blueberries! The fruit always looked good and my older son loved the chocolate croissants.

We found that at this resort we liked having a car to get around. This was true of AKL as well. For the resorts on the monorail and at the back entrance to Epcot we typically only used a car one or two days out of the week (usually going to AKL or when we were park hopping).

When we stayed in January it was nice to be able to take the boat directly from WL over to the camp ground for Hoop Dee Doo. It cuts off lots of your time (and the boat also runs to the Contemporary). You are taken right to the hall rather than the parking lot and from there needing to take another bus all the way through the camp ground. As long as it isn't bug season I'd use the boats (hop on the monorail to the Contemporary if you are staying at GF or the Poly).

The pool is nice but our favorite is still Stormalong Bay at Yatch and Beach club.

I'd stay here again in the winter -- the theming is nice for that as well but not again during bug season!

Submitted By: The Kanes

Date Of Stay: 12/6/06 - 12/14/06

Type Of Resort: Disney Deluxe

Rate Paid During Your Stay: $256.47/night.

Room Sleeps: 4

Please Rate The Following On A Scale From 1-10 (10 being the best):

Theming: 10
Room Size: 5
Amenities: 9
Quality: 9
Cleanliness: 9
Transportation: 8
Recreation: not used
Value:8

Over All Rating: 9

Don't Miss: Following the little pool in the lobby all the way down nearly to Bay Lake, a meal at Whispering Canyon, What a Hoot!!

Room Location Suggestion: Have had woods view both times we stayed that were quite peaceful.

The Mouse For Less Tip:

Comments: This was the second stay at this resort and we'll probably never stay anywhere else! While the regular rooms are a bit tight for my daughter's wheelchair, we gladly deal because of the overall feel. This trip we were surprised by being upgraded to Concierge when we checked in. The room was exactly the same as our previous trip, but the amenities were lovely and we didn't even use them to the max. Having a sip of Bailey's at the end of a busy day a huge plus!! I guess my one complaint is that there aren't accessible rooms with a king sized bed and a fold out chair/bed as the Animal Kingdom Lodge has. There are only 3 of us, but the accessible rooms only have a king bed, not room for more than 2. To expensive to go for a Jr. suite. We love using the boats and have had no problem with the wheelchair. The Kane Family says.. Try it, You'll Like It!!!

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