Trip Report Wilderness Lodge, Halloween and a pre-Hurricane exit

Hello everyone! We just got back from a trip that went from 8/31 through 9/6 at Wilderness Lodge and I thought I'd offer a trip report for those interested in staying updated on the happenings at Disney World. I'll be talking summer heat, Halloween party, club level at WL, Food & Wine, Pandora and getting out of Florida just in time.

Now, we're a pretty private husband/wife duo, so we won't be posting any face pictures. Hopefully no one minds too much. That being said, I still tried my best to take some fun photos even though I'm still far from being the next @fractal. He did help a ton when it came to some beginning photography, so here's my first crack. In the updates which follow, I'll post some of the very first photos taken with the camera.

So, I do have a lot to do before I can go through photos and get to writing this, but I wanted to post this so that I actually have to commit to doing this.

Stay tuned!
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
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Looking forward to some pics!
 

Notes from Neverland

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Background:
Our goal was to have a completely different trip from our previous trips. This meant seeing new things (both that we've missed and that are new) and trying our best to change things up. Typically we stay at Yacht Club thanks to a great convention rate, but this was a pure vacation so it was time to try something new. A sweet deal popped up at Wilderness Lodge - Club Level so we jumped on it, both because of the deal and because we could celebrate our anniversary on the trip.

Also, I'm afraid I'm still not used to taking a ton of photos. I've never really had a decent camera, so the idea of stopping to take a photo and being "out of the element" is unfamiliar. Apologies that this report will have more words than others.

I've also posted the unedited, raw photos. Who has time to edit when a trip report needs to be posted?

On to the story ...

8/31 - Day 1 - Travel, WL and MK

Traveling in was extremely uneventful. Our flight was full, but that's to be expected. We arrived in Orlando around 12pm and hopped on the Magical Express for WL. Neither of us have ever stayed at WL, so that in itself was an area of great excitement. We've also never stayed Club Level and weren't really sure what to expect.

As apart of Club Level, you have access to WL's concierge service on a much more personal level. They reach out before the trip to see when we were arriving and to ask about food allergies. I thought this was a nice touch and I hoped that despite our before 3pm arrival that our room might be ready.

We arrived to WL at around 1pm and I can now see why it has such a dedicated following. It's amazing. We hit up the front desk and later found out we totally missed a cast member standing outside with our name on a sign who was going to check us in on the 7th floor (club level). You can tell we're not used to stuff like that because we apparently walked right by her!

Here's one of my very first photos from my new camera, which I thankfully received lots of advice on from @fractal. He rocks just as much as his photos.

View from the 7th floor. It's a bit blurry, but I'm learning!
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The lobby is pretty incredible. This is the view from in front of the concierge desk on the 7th floor.

Unfortunately, they said our room wasn't ready. It was just before 2pm so I didn't really mind, but I did think it was odd that they wouldn't have it ready as they specifically asked when we would be arriving. Our plan was to head to MK for a few rides and then the dessert party and Happily Ever After, so we were pretty eager to get rolling.

While we waited for our room, we walked around the resort. The outside is just as impressive as the inside. It was scorching hot, but that made the geyser (which we waited for it to erupt) even more appealing.



It goes quite a bit higher into the air, but I didn't take any other photos.

We walked a bit further down the wooden boardwalk to where the boat launches are for MK and Fort Wilderness / Contemporary. The view is pretty incredible, particularly compared to the views around the Yacht Club.



Next up:
When will our room be ready?
A trip to MK
Yhd5J7
 
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Notes from Neverland

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
8/31 - Day 1 - Continued

A look back at the resort from the boat launch dock.



And one more looking over the water from the same dock.



I was amazed by how "in nature" you actually feel at WL. Busy roads, other resorts and MK aren't too far away, but you'd never know when you're on WL property. As a fan of nature and rich Disney theming, this was a dream.

With our room still not ready and the time approaching 3:30pm (!), we were getting nervous about our MK plans. Our first fast pass was for 4:25pm and we had only a few hours to get a few attractions in the bag before the HEA dessert party. More on that later.

We kept checking back with the club level concierges and if I'm being honest, they seemed a bit annoyed. One offered us three fast passes to any ride in MK to make up for all of the waiting, but to be honest, we would have just been happy with the room. Those passes didn't actually work, but I'll touch on that more later too. At the time, they put us in good spirits as we figured we'd get six attractions in before the dessert party.

We also took this time to check out the food/drink offerings club level provides. It was the middle of the day and I'd say that this is the low-point in food offerings that the club level provides. Pita, veggie chips, dips and a couple of small desserts made up the bulk of the spread. Forgot to take a photo here. :(

Finally, our room was ready a little after 4pm. I've never been so excited to receive a text message. Looking back, it wasn't a horrible wait. Who could complain with the views at WL?



The cool thing to do here is post photos of light fixtures, right?



Not-so-bad wait aside, the concierges saying housekeeping was working in the room for a little over two hours seemed pretty hard to believe and a bit frustrating.

So, what about the room? Was the wait worth it. Um, yes. Yes, it was.

Here's the view from the balcony:



I took maybe a dozen photos from here, but I'll spare all of you from those. This view made the trip. How can you beat seeing the castle outside of your window? WL also has a smoke house just out of sight below, not too far from the cabins, which provides a pretty wonderful smoky smell during the day. Nice perk.

Next up:
Finally arrive at MK
Dessert party worth it?
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
I've done some basic editing in the past, but I always fear I'll do too much and ruin the original. Any advice on a couple areas to tweak without fabricating what was actually seen?
Drop the highlights a bit, bump up the shadows a little. The sensor in your camera has a lot of hidden info in those shadows!

Watch the histogram while increasing blacks and whites - don't want to see them peak.

Don't really have to add too much saturation if any at all. If using LR add a little "vibrance" instead.

Add some clarity for landscape or "detail" shots, lower the clarity for people shots.

Adding sharpness is overrated.

You can add some noise reductions, especially in higher iso photos but personally I prefer a little noise vs. losing detail.

And make sure the photo is straight! Uneven horizons make it look like godzilla has attacked.

Overall - just make sure the photo doesn't look radioactive or too much like a cartoon and you'll be fine.
 

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