Implications of Construction at the Wilderness Lodge and Villas

Construction is expected to kick off at the Wilderness Lodge and Villas in late October of this year and extend (at least) through next year.

The largest impact will be on the Villas, but around 20% of rooms at the Wilderness Lodge itself may see diminished views, and noise from construction might affect all rooms at both.

Wilderness Lodge guests who book courtyard-view rooms should largely be isolated from view issues. Villa guests who avoid Bay Lake views will be better off than those who don’t–but since these rooms are not directly bookable as such, Villas guests will be facing more of a challenge.

CONSTRUCTION AT THE WILDERNESS LODGE

Most construction is between the southeast edge of the Wilderness Lodge and the northwest side of the Villas, with another smaller area affected at the northwest side of the Lodge.

See the map (click it to enlarge it), where using my sophisticated image skills I’ve put blue boxes in the affected areas.

On the map, the Lodge has the green roof, and the Villas the red roof.

Major construction will include (it seems) removing and re-doing the smaller pool outside of the Villas (the main pool in the middle of the Lodge wings was updated in 2014 and will remain open), adding a restaurant between the Villas and the beach, and adding bungalows along the shores.

As a result, the small pool, beach, boat rentals and playground on this side will be closed.

Main Lodge guests who book courtyard views will largely escape the construction.  It will be a lot harder for Villas guests to avoid, as while one can request a “woods” view at the Villas that might avoid the construction, this is not a separately bookable category.

So despite the panic out there on the internet, any first-time visitors who can afford the upcharges of the Courtyard views (about $100/night, depending on the year and season) should not much worry about this construction.

Villas guest will have a harder time.

About half of rooms will have views dominated by construction, so it will be much harder to avoid.

I’d advise avoiding the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge at least until we all have a better sense of how these rooms feel.

Many Villas guests are already re-booking, some with some pretty nice arrangements–see this thread on co-author Josh‘s site.

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