By the co-author of The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2020, the best-reviewed Disney World guidebook series ever.

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Category — d. Where to Stay at Walt Disney World

Review: Deluxe Rooms at the Wilderness Lodge, p3

by Dave

This is the third page of this review. For the first page, click here. For the second page, click here.

TO WHOM ARE THE DELUXE ROOMS AT THE WILDERNESS LODGE MOST SUITED?

These expensive, spacious, but somewhat awkwardly laid-out rooms are best suited to three types of families:

  • Larger families of 6 committed to Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and who would have stayed in club rooms anyway will find the Deluxe Rooms a bargain.
  • Families of 6 looking for deluxe lodging will find these rooms their most cost effective option. Almost all other deluxe options that hold 6 (and don’t rely on getting connecting rooms, which Disney will not guarantee) are designed—and priced—to a capacity of 8 or 9.
  • Families of 4 who are simply looking for a more comfortable Wilderness Lodge option than a standard club room will find these rooms OK if concierge level service is what they really want, though personally I think such families would have even more comfort in a one-bedroom villa, or even a two-bedroom, at the Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge.

DELUXE ROOMS AT THE WILDERNESS LODGE FOR LARGER FAMILIES

This site ranks the Wilderness Lodge as the second-best of the deluxe resorts for first time family visitors, bested only by the Polynesian.

The Wilderness Lodge comes in so high because of its spectacular kid appeal. Among its negatives are small, low-capacity (four person) rooms.

Club rooms at the Wilderness Lodge are also hold 4 in small rooms.

Families of 5 to 6 who are committed to both the Wilderness Lodge and club level rooms will find Deluxe Rooms a bargain.

They hold 6 in 50% more square feet, but at only about 33% more expense.

Taking two club rooms instead would increase your square footage, sleeping flexibility, and number of baths–though at a higher price. However, Disney won’t guarantee that two such rooms will be nearby, adjacent, or connecting.

Families of 5 who are not committed to the Wilderness Lodge, and don’t care about club service, should rent a standard room in Disney’s Polynesian Resort.

Standard rooms at the Polynesian, this site’s highest ranked deluxe resort, hold five in two queens and a daybed, and are between 75 and 150 square feet larger than Wilderness Lodge standard rooms.

The larger of the two Polynesian resort standard room floor plans is only 25 square feet smaller than a Wilderness Lodge Deluxe Room, but costs $180 a night less.

Families of six who are looking for a reasonably priced option at a high-ranking deluxe resort should pick Wilderness Lodge Deluxe Rooms.

Almost all of the other deluxe options that sleep 6 are designed and priced for families of 8 or 9.

For more on large families at Walt Disney World, see this.

DELUXE ROOMS AT THE WILDERNESS LODGE FOR FAMILIES SEEKING MORE COMFORTABLE ROOMS

The Deluxe Rooms also present a more spacious and comfortable option for families of four than standard Wilderness Lodge rooms.

This makes them a good choice for such families who are also committed to club-level service.

Personally, I find one bedroom villas at the Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge more comfortable–and two bedroom villas are positively luxurious for a family of 4, or even 6.

One bedroom villas have almost 50% more floor space than Deluxe Rooms, a full kitchen, but cost $100 a night less.

Their layout–with a king in one room, and a fold-out couch in the second–works better for most families as well.

Moreover, their baths and master bedroom are equipped and decorated to a higher standard than that of the Deluxe Rooms.

Two bedroom villas are distinctly luxurious for small families.

They add a second sleeping bedroom with two queens or a queen and a fold-out couch, and another bathroom.

They contain more than twice the square footage of a deluxe room, but cost only 30% more.

You can’t get concierge service in either of these villa types, but to me the increase in space more than makes up for this lack.

For more on the trade-offs between club rooms and villas, see The Most Comfortable Place to Stay at Walt Disney World.

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MORE ON WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

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April 12, 2011   2 Comments

More on Where to Stay at Walt Disney World

by Dave

When to Go      Future Crowds      Home       How to Use this Site      FAQ

MORE ON WHERE TO STAY AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

This page brings together to one place key links to help decide what resort hotel to stay at on your Disney World trip on this site.

It includes links to material for typical families, but also for large families, military families, families on tight budgets, and families looking for a particularly comfortable trip.

It’s part of a series on navigating this site.

LINKS FOR WHERE TO STAY AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

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April 10, 2011   7 Comments

Review: Deluxe Rooms at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, Continued

by Dave

For the first page of this review of deluxe rooms at the Wilderness Lodge, click here.

WHAT YOU GET IN A DELUXE ROOM AT DISNEY’S WILDERNESS LODGE

Deluxe rooms at the Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, sometimes referred to as “Junior Suites,” have two sleeping spaces and a divided bath.

  • One space includes the hallway; a closet; a door that connects to a yet another room not part of the deluxe room, but rather an added standard room should you need it; a door to the split bath; a small refrigerator and sink; a table with two chairs; two upholstered chairs; a long sofa that folds out into a queen bed; a door to the second space; and a balcony that overlooks Bay Lake, with two chairs and a table.
  • The second space contains two queens, a TV, and a wardrobe; a door to the bath; another set of doors to the other space, and its own standing balcony.
  • The split bath has two sinks in one space, and a standard tub and toilet in a separate room.

See the floor plan.

You enter from the hall, at the right of the floor plan, and face a long, too-narrow hallway.

On the left is a door to the bath that also serves as an alternate path to the bedroom.

On the right is a closet (not the fridge and sink, even though they are shown in the floor plan) and a door to a connecting room.

(By the way, if you choose to add a connecting room, it could have a king or two queens; a king connecting room would make this set-up more comfortable for parents, though at an even higher cost.)

Ahead of the hall you’ll find a small table and chairs on your right, and on your left a small sink and small fridge–what had been wrongly shown in the floor plan as in the hall.

Note that the small sink brings the total of sinks in the room to 3–see photo to right, taken from the balcony end of the room. Three sinks are handy if you have a lot of hair or faces to prepare.

Ahead is the couch, two upholstered chairs, and a TV.  The couch is long enough for a six-footer to nap–or sleep overnight–on it without unfolding it

The couch, when unfolded, also makes for a comfortable queen bed.

(The first page of this review has another photo of this space, as well as one of the view from the balcony.)

This area overall is quite small–it’s a little more than 10 feet wide and 8 feet long, barely fitting its furniture, and much tighter than the floor plan implies.

Beyond this space is the first of the two balconies in the room, with two chairs and a table on the balcony.

The second room is accessed both from a door near the sink/fridge and through the divided bath.

It includes two queens, a TV, a wardrobe, and its own balcony–this balcony is too small for chairs, unlike the balcony in the other space.

The space here is about 17 feet by 11.5′.  It’s about a foot short in both dimensions, which shows up most clearly in trying to get from the wardrobe to the wardrobe side of the queen bed on that side–this area is cramped.

Both this room and the other main room have windows on two sides–a nice touch.

The bath is accessible from both spaces.

The sink area is spacious, well laid out, and nicely decorated.

The bath, connected to the sink area by a door, is sparse and utilitarian.

CLUB LEVEL SERVICE AT THE WILDERNESS LODGE

As noted on the first page of this review, Deluxe Rooms are part of the Wilderness Lodge’s Club Service.

(“Club” is what Disney World calls “Concierge.”)

The club floor at the Wilderness Lodge is the seventh floor, but all Deluxe Rooms, regardless of what floor they are on, have the rights to use club services.

Club services include a lounge–the Old Faithful Club Lounge–with drinks and snacks, and an associated concierge staff that can assist with issues such as tickets, dining reservations, etc.

Perks also include robes and cool gold-colored room keys–not blue like we have had on our other trips, in standard rooms.

The staff also reprinted my annual pass, so it’s now the cool gold color as well.

(By the way, you can now get annual passes at the resorts–up until a few months ago, you could only get annual passes at the parks.)

We used the lounge for breakfast, pre and post dinner snacks, and for drinks.

The staff, besides reprinting my annual pass, also put tickets onto some of our room keys.

The access and service was delightful, and my gold annual pass still cracks me up. Next year, a black one!

I don’t recommend club rooms for first time visitors–they won’t be in their rooms enough for it to matter–but it certainly makes visits for a repeat visitor a little more comfortable.

Steve at TikimanPages.com has a great discussion of the value of Disney club service rooms here.

TO WHOM ARE THE DELUXE ROOMS AT THE WILDERNESS LODGE MOST SUITED?

This review continues here.

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April 6, 2011   No Comments

Review: Deluxe Rooms at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

by Dave

DELUXE ROOMS AT DISNEY’S WILDERNESS LODGE

I’ve already published reviews of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge here and of its sister resort the Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge here.

This review is of a particular room type at the Wilderness Lodge: Deluxe Rooms.

(These rooms are sometimes called “Junior Suites.”)

Standard rooms at the Wilderness Lodge hold 4 people in 340 square feet, for about $285 a night (pre-tax, during the Fall price season—which is when this site recommends that first time family visitors go).

In contrast, Wilderness Lodge Deluxe Rooms hold 6 people in 500 square feet, for around $600 a night during that same season.

That’s 50% more people, and about 50% more square feet, for a little more than twice the cost.

Part of the cost difference comes from the fact that all the Deluxe Rooms are also “club rooms.”

(“Club room” is what Disney calls what the rest of the world calls concierge rooms.)

Regular club rooms at the Wilderness Lodge—which offer no more space and no more capacity than standard rooms—are about 60% more expensive than standard rooms. 

Deluxe rooms offer 50% more capacity and about 50% more space than standard club rooms, but only cost about a third more than standard club rooms.

The upshot?

Larger families of 6 committed to Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and who would have stayed in club rooms anyway will find the Deluxe Rooms a bargain.

Families of 6 looking for deluxe lodging will find these rooms their most cost effective option.  Almost all other deluxe options that hold 6 (and don’t rely on getting connecting rooms, which Disney will not guarantee) are designed—and priced—to a capacity of 8 or 9.

(For more on large families at Walt Disney World, see this.)

Families of 4 who are simply looking for a more comfortable Wilderness Lodge option than a standard club room will find these rooms OK if concierge level service is what they really want.

Personally, I think such families would have even more comfort in a one-bedroom villa at the Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. 

While concierge service is not available in these villas, the one-bedroom villas are almost 50% larger, better laid out for a two parent, two kid family, have much more luxurious baths and master bedroom spaces, and have a full kitchen. 

The one bedroom villa is also about $100 a night less expensive during the fall season.

For more on the trade-offs between club rooms and villas, see The Most Comfortable Place to Stay at Walt Disney World.

WHAT YOU GET IN A DELUXE ROOM AT DISNEY’S WILDERNESS LODGE [Read more →]

March 29, 2011   8 Comments

Review: The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, Continued

by Dave

MORE ON THE VILLAS AT DISNEY’S WILDERNESS LODGE

(For the first page of this review, click here.)

Main Living Area Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge from yourfirstvisit.netThere are currently 8 official Disney Vacation Club resorts at Walt Disney World.

However, I have come to count them as ten.

Ten because two of the resorts–Saratoga Springs and the Animal Kingdom Villas–have two very different areas.

In order of their appropriateness for first time family visitors to Walt Disney World, they are:

  1. The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
  2. Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas–Jambo House
  3. Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas–Kidani Village
  4. Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
  5. The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa
  6. Disney’s Beach Club Villas
  7. Disney’s Boardwalk Villas
  8. Disney’s Old Key West Resort
  9. Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa, main resort
  10. Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort, Treehouse Villas area.

These resorts are available to anyone to reserve through the regular Walt Disney World website or the resort reservations phone number at 407-939-7675.

They also are available to the general public at great discounts through renting points from a Disney Vacation Club member.

ROOMS AT THE VILLAS AT DISNEY’S WILDERNESS LODGE [Read more →]

February 15, 2011   10 Comments

Review: The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

by Dave

OVERVIEW: THE VILLAS AT DISNEY’S WILDERNESS LODGE FOR FIRST TIME VISITORS

The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge from yourfirstvisit.net

Update June 2014: after a refurb that ended in May, Villas at the Wilderness Lodge studios now sleep 5–the fifth on a “fold down twin.”

The fold-down was not added to One Bedroom Villas, so these still sleep 4.  I’ll have my own measurements and photos after my visit in August 2014.

Most room options at the Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge (a Disney Vacation Club resort) are wonderful places for returning visitors to Walt Disney World to stay.

For typical first-time visitors, I don’t recommend the Disney Vacation Club resorts.

That said, these “DVC” resorts can be a great choice for first time visitors with large families, needing extra sleeping spaces, or looking for a more comfortable place to stay.

Among the Disney Vacation Club resorts, the Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge ranks first overall for first-time visitors, but specifics vary a little for larger families.

THE DISNEY VACATION CLUB RESORTS

[Read more →]

February 7, 2011   19 Comments

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