Thanks for the great feedback everyone!
I would day that, at least in terms of going to MK, the boats are quite convenient and we didn't have any issues travelling back and forth between WL and MK. The restaurants in the resort were great, as were the gym and game room.
That said, I wasn't thrilled about the transport between WL and the other parks. I know it wasn't the norm (or at least I don't think it was), but we had a 35-minute trip from WL to DHS. And a ride a tad bit longer between there and EP. I'm not complaining, but we're usually at WDW with a car, so it was a new experience for us.
But the WL is nice, and if you plan on spending a good deal of time at MK, it's not a bad consideration. :wave:
Very helpful.
I'm thinking we're going to spread our time among the parks pretty evenly. Last trip, we skipped AK entirely. So we plan to hit it this trip. Epcot's a must. And my wife loved DHS. We may spend a little more time at MK than the other parks. But we'll spend more time outside MK than in it.
There are also buses that go directly to the MK, and those take about 5 minutes.
I've had spotty transportation from there in the past, but last week it was fantastic. You can have bad transportation from any resort. WL is no worse than any of the other Magic Kingdom Area resorts.
Too true about transportation. I have heard nightmare storied from everywhere.
Basically, we're trying to minimize bus time here. And my wife (who is... particular about these things) doesn't want to rent a car either. Makes things a bit tricky.
Well this year is our third stay at PORS, and before booking we did fancy pushing the boat out and book WL. Until we worked out how much our two week vacation would be,hmm,let's just say the pounds beat the dollars.$2000 extra for WL just wasn't worth it.We don't spend much time at our resort,usually out at the parks for most of the day,a quick swim at our resort,then back to the parks.Anyway,iam sure you'll enjoy where ever you stay.:wave:
I really envy the deal you guys get! I suspect the extra for WL probably won't work out in dollars either.
We definitely enjoyed our stay at WL this past September. The boat to/from the MK turned out to be more of a happy thing than I thought it'd be for me considering how I dislike the boat to/from DtD from POFQ.
We actually enjoyed the DTD boat at POR for the most part. I think my wife got irritated with it the first time. But she was angry from the flight and because Magical Express hadn't brought the bags by yet. So, basically nothing was going to make her happy at that point.
She actually likes things slow. The slower, the better. She just hates the buses. It didn't help that last time the baby refused to sit on the buses. She wanted to get down and play. I had a huge double stroller to manage, the buses were packed and the not-quite-one-year-old threw fits every single time. It was a real headache. Definitely should have rented a car last time!
I'm not real patient with boat rides at WDW as a mode of transportation because they seem sooooo slooooow. Yes, I'm an impatient person by nature but the hubby has a boat that does over 70 mph on the water which is what I'm accustomed to. Poking along generally grinds on my nerve as I sit there thinking, "Geeeeeez, we coulda been there & back 4 times already...." :lol:
I echo your lol.
The additional ammenities and activities at WL are really fabulous. Lots to do. Good eating. It's a nice resort unto itself without ever going thru a turnstile. Same with AKL.
We honeymooned at AKL and enjoyed it quite a bit. Not sure it was worth the extra over the mods though.
Now, if you want to blow the missus away with stuff to enjoy and you can swing it, go for an Epcot resort...YC or BC in particular. **sigh** These are my new loves well above the monorail resorts in my book! :wave:
Sadly, WL is on the outer reaches of the budget. Probably just out of grasp, really. The wifey wants to spend money on lots of other expensive extras like character meals (castle) and the Bippity Boppity Boutique. The youngest is princess-crazy right now. And the oldest would bankrupt Trump at the gift shops. So, YC and BC will have to wait till the kids are older.
Of course, by then I'm hoping we'll be at Uni instead... :drevil:
One of my favorite things about the Wilderness Lodge is its seclusion from the rest of the MK resorts. Don't get me wrong, I love staying at all the MK resorts, but the WL never feels as busy. It's a much more relaxing atmosphere and it still feels like a MK resort.
We've never had a problem with transportation from the WL. Boats came and went pretty frequently and the buses were on time for the most part. We found the boats to be less crowded and enjoyed our trips on them.
Sounds good.
We love the WL but think the Unofficial Guide to WDW shows that it's one of the worse onsite resorts for convenience. It's remoteness means that it's a long bus ride to most theme parks. We enjoy the boat ride to MK but this is really slow. On the plus side, the WL lobby and pool are great!
Over the years, we've stayed at nearly every resort (still haven't done a Wilderness Cabin). We don't think the WL is any more covenient than any of the Moderate Resorts and, based on the Unofficial Guide, it's possibly worse. I really don't think the WL is any better than POR. If this didn't work for you last time, I don't think the WL is going to be any better.
If you want to save some money and still have convenience, you should consider the Swan or Dolphin. These are always less expesive than the WDW Deluxe Resorts. From these, you can walk to both DHS and Epcot. This is especially convenient at the end of the night. It's nice not having to wait for a bus when everyone's leaving the park.
That's pretty much exactly what I'm looking for. After posting this, I kicked myself for not just looking at the charts in the Unofficial Guide. But I also wanted some context behind the numbers and you guys are giving me that!
The Swan and Dolphin have been on the outer fringes of my radar. You have just put them dead center. I'm going to have to give them more serious consideration. Being able to walk to DHS and Epcot would be HUGE! The worst bus ride we had last time were coming home from DHS.
