Wilderness Lodge Villas - UPDATED with a Refurbed Villa Review

Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The hard goods refurbishment is reportedly well underway, with the fifth floor completed already. (Goodbye to the stencils/wallpaper border, white appliances and laminate countertops, among other things!)

Has anyone else stayed in a refurbed villa at WL yet? If you have, I'd love to see some more pictures, especially of the 1 and 2-bedroom villas. We'll be arriving May 4th for our first-ever stay at Wilderness Lodge and I'm hoping that our 2-bedroom villa will be a refurbished one.

EDIT: After more carefully reading the DVCnews article, it appears that the current timeline has all of the villas being renovated by the end of March, so it looks like getting a renovated unit in May is virtually guaranteed.

http://www.dvcnews.com/index.php/re...s-4168/2508-wilderness-lodge-refurb-under-way

b_0_0_0_10_images_stories_vwl_VWL_Refurb_2014a.JPG


Here's the before-and-after of the kitchen:

Kitchen-The-Villas-at-Disneys-Wilderness-Lodge-from-yourfirstvisit.net_.jpg
b_0_0_0_10_images_stories_vwl_VWL_Refurb_2014c.jpg


And here is the before-and-after comparison of (1) the living room; (2) master bedroom; (2) studio that was evidently shown at the annual DVC meeting (again, from DVCnews.com). Does anyone else think it's weird that they used the "before" pic of an accessible living room (sans breakfast bar), and an "after" pick of a standard one? In this context you'd think they'd have wanted a perfect apples-to-apples comparison!:

b_0_0_0_10_images_stories_events_Condo_Mtg_2013e.jpg
 
Last edited:
216bruce

216bruce

Well-Known Member
Going back in July for a two-bedroom villa. While the place has always been pretty great, I'm thrilled to have it refurbed. Hope someone posts pix!
 
Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I see some additional pictures of a 5th floor studio in the link below. (From these pictures, it looks like the bedrooms/studios have "wood-grain carpet" while the living room/kitchen areas of the villas, as seen in the link posted initially above, have the faux wood floors. Very nice.)

[Disregard - link was apparently removed by mods. See the posts below for the pictures about which I'm talking.]
 
Last edited:
Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Ah! More pictures here, shamelessly reposted with much thanks, from "cosmos" on the Disboards! The fold-down bed is adorable. In contrast, I think that the the attached table, while a convenient use of a small space, has a jarring "laminate office furniture" look to it. The new artwork above the studio sofa looks great and is more proportional than the smaller piece that was there before. I love the freshening-up and the new furniture and am grateful that the old bedspreads are gone, but I do wish the theming had gone a step further. (For example, they appear to have done a beautiful cabinet-painting job in the kitchens/kitchenettes, following the modern 2-tone trend with soft white uppers and sage green lowers, but I think it would have felt more thematically appropriate had they simply refinished the cabinets in a dark stain, or even "pickled" them with the green. The very contemporary straight-out-of-Target throw rug in the living area of the 1 and 2-bedroom units stands out like a sore thumb, and is a lost opportunity to incorporate a richly colored, American Indian-inspired woven piece in keeping with the style of the carpets in the main lobby. Also, why not select counters that are, or look like, a theme-appropriate butcherblock or soapstone instead of the granite or solid surface? What about a decorative scarf or throw at the foot of the bed -- perhaps this room was not fully "dressed" as the before-and-after photos in my initial post show throw pillows and a scarf that aren't present in these studio pictures -- and shouldn't the little chest of drawers in the studio be moved to the other side of the TV, in the corner, so it's not blocking the floor lamp or the flow of traffic? Why put plain beige tile on the bathroom floors (not pictured), instead of faux wood-plank tile or better yet, tile imprinted with the shapes of pine needles and ferns?)

Nitpicking aside, it's a vast improvement and a breath of fresh air compared with the dark, "American Park Service -- Blended with Navajo -- Paint With All the Colors of the 1980's" vibe I tended to get from the old rooms. The color palette is soothing but still woodsy, and I really love the "woodgrain" carpet and the new drapes. "New and a trifle bland" is far better to me than "well-themed and shabby." I absolutely cannot wait to stay here.



p665604935-5.jpg
p936912151-5.jpg





p903443787-5.jpg


p779593412-5.jpg


p1053295919-5.jpg
 
Last edited:
216bruce

216bruce

Well-Known Member
I don't find it generic or 'blah' at all. Looks very nice- colors are great. Love the faux hardwoods and the fold-down "Bambi" bed. Nice job!
 
AmongMadPeople

AmongMadPeople

Active Member
I didn't realize this was supposed to happen! I love Wilderness Lodge, but I've always hated the room design to some degree. Unfortunately, I'm not sure the new design is an improvement. I don't think any designs, whether regular rooms, old or new villas strikes the right balance between woodsy and "this room costs hundreds of dollars." We'll be there early March, so we'll see if we get a refurbed room or not. Not sure if I actually have a preference, so I won't make a request.
 
Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
AmongMadPeople said:
I don't think any designs, whether regular rooms, old or new villas strikes the right balance between woodsy and "this room costs hundreds of dollars."
Click to expand...

I agree with you! The reburbed rooms like nice and refreshed and certainly far better than before, but still not something I'd expect to see in a deluxe resort, and it's certainly possible to do "woodsy and luxurious" if WDW wanted to spend the money to do so. If the villas were all appointed like the pictures I've seen of the Yellowstone Presidential Suite at Wilderness Lodge, with expansive rooms, leather-upholstered furnishings, marble tiled bathrooms, hardwood floors, etc. -- THEN and only then might I think they're worth a few hundred dollars per night! We're paying only about 55% of rack rate for our upcoming stay (rented DVC points from David's at $13 per point, before the recent increase to $14 per point), and I STILL think the price is high for what we're getting. We're doing it as a "once/last in a lifetime" trip for two in our travel party, so in our case it's worth it -- but for reasons beyond the quality of the room.
 
Last edited:
Disneykidder

Disneykidder

Well-Known Member
We are staying there in July. We didn't even know of a refurb so what a nice surprise. Is that pull down small tv bed in the studio or 1~bedroom?
 
Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Disneykidder said:
We are staying there in July. We didn't even know of a refurb so what a nice surprise. Is that pull down small tv bed in the studio or 1~bedroom?
Click to expand...

It's only in the studios. From what I've read and based on the one photo we have from DVCnews, the 1-bedrooms and [dedicated] 2-bedrooms will all have new TV units (a wall-mount flatscreen framed in a box, with a conventional-style media center or dresser immediately below) in the living room areas (not sure if they'll have something new in the bedrooms), but they will not contain the unit with the fold-out table and Murphy bed -- which is like the Swiss Army Knife of hotel furniture!
 
Last edited:
EOD K9

EOD K9

Well-Known Member
Weather_Lady said:
I agree with you! The reburbed rooms like nice and refreshed, but not remotely deluxe, and it's certainly possible to do "woodsy and luxurious" if WDW wanted to spend the money to do so. If the villas were all appointed like the pictures I've seen of the Yellowstone Presidential Suite at Wilderness Lodge, with expansive rooms, leather-upholstered furnishings, marble tiled bathrooms, hardwood floors, etc. -- THEN and only then might I think they're worth a few hundred dollars per night! We're paying only about 55% of rack rate for our upcoming stay (rented DVC points from David's at $13 per point, before the recent increase to $14 per point), and I STILL think the price is high for what we're getting. We're doing it as a "once/last in a lifetime" trip for two in our travel party, so in our case it's worth it -- but for reasons beyond the quality of the room.
Click to expand...
Wow, I usually charge a straight up fee of $11.50 per point. With David's jacking his price up, I could probably ask for a cool $12.00
 
harryk

harryk

Well-Known Member
What-ever ---- I liked the old paint job. The stencils on the walls, to me they made the place rather unique.
Just staying in the rooms overnight with a light breakfast - the theme went along with the 'wilderness'. Upgrading to the new look -- now it is a hotel room in an expensive setting. Not all upgrades in appearance are for the better. Now the walls in the rooms are blaaaahhhhh.
 
Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
dolce20 said:
Are you an interior designer? I love your thoughts! I am one and could happily talk about Disney decor all day! :happy:
Click to expand...
LOL - no, not at all! I'm just an HGTV-loving, Pinterest-surfing Mom/Lawyer/CakeDecorator/SundaySchoolTeacher/CommunityTheaterActress/SometimeWDWTraveler who enjoys decorating my own house. I have no actual training in interior design -- just lots of uneducated opinions! :)

(And one of those is that I just LOVE the Bambi references in the rehabbed Wilderness Lodge Villas. I love it when WDW honors its older, classic films in its decorating. I only wish there were more such touches!)
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom