We have only stayed at Polynesian on monorail loop and want to try WL but are worried we will not like transportation. Any feedback? Our daughter is preschool age currently
1 Like
I love Wilderness Lodge. The boat ride to and from MK is fabulous. We’ve stayed at WL twice and Pop Century five times. I did not find that WL is remote at all.
2 Likes
I’ve been to Wilderness Lodge (and Camp Wilderness) multiple time to visit other guests and for dinner, but have never actual stayed there. However base on those experiences I have to give the edge to the Poly for transportation.
If your going while the Christmas decorations are up then its Wilderness Lodge without question.
3 Likes
We stayed there for 10 days in January. I have to say I think it is the best situated resort in the MK area.
The boat system was fast and actually had the smallest line on a night that we closed MK. The monorail line was enormous (and the 2 little boats they use for GF and Poly were also backed up pretty far). WL uses larger boats to MK.
We had a car so we drove to the other parks but I never once felt out of the loop. The theming is wonderful.
3 Likes
Loved WL! Didnt feel that transportation was an issue when I was there.
1 Like
My Go-To stay is at Fort Wilderness right next door and I love it. It isn’t too remote but you feel a bit more away from the bustle.
when you’re there it FEELS remote, but you’re actually just next to the Contemporary. The boat ride takes… 7-10 minutes if I recall (not including waiting to board/launch). Which is about the same as a walk from the contemporary.
2 Likes
I didn’t realize there was a walking option to the CR. I’m staying for a couple of split stay nights in Sep and enjoy walking. Thanks for the tip!
There is no walking option from WL to CR or WL to MK, I think Randal was just referring to the fact that the boat ride from WL to MK or WL to CR is roughly the same time as walking to MK from CR.
Thanks for the clarification. I wondered how I could have missed that. Last trip the transportation maps were etched in my brain! 
Yeah sorry, that’s what I meant.
Heheh I mean, if you WANNA walk/swim to the CR…you go right ahead. Buuuut I wouldn’t recommend it.
I think WL is my all time favorite…it feels remote, which is good, but in reality its not. and if you like to walk, there is the path over to ft. Wilderness
1 Like
I stayed at WL last year with my 4 year old and 6 year old. I did not care for the transportation there and we will be staying at the Contemporary for our Nov '19 trip. Boat transportation to MK was hit or miss. Sometimes, we only waited a few minutes for the boat. One time we waited over 30 minutes just to leave the resort to get to MK one morning. Otherwise, we really enjoyed the resort.
We stayed at the WLV (now Boulder Ridge) in 2011. We loved it there. The pool at WL is awesome. Food choices not as plentiful as the Contemporary though.
Did you wait after the breakfast boat but before the MK boat? Was the CR boat there? I always take whatever boat is there if I don’t see the other one in sight.
1 Like
I didn’t realize there was a CR boat. We were on the MK boat.
The boats on the right side of the dock go to CR. The ones on the left go to MK.
In June of 2018, we got a hard lesson in waiting for the WL boat to make MK RD. We waited… and waited… and waited. The crowd grew in both size and agitation. We could see boat after boat going to Fort Wilderness, but the WL was a no-show. Finally we had to give up, went to the bus, which is not closely situated on the WL grounds. we should have been wildly early, and instead were 20 minutes late for RD. a complete screw job.
Later that day, I went to the front desk to inquire/complain. The manager hands me a brochure detailing the “typical” hours… boats don’t start until 8:30am. That’s all well and good to cover butts in the fine print, but that was belied by my actual experience at the WL (not my first stay), nor my observation of the boats servicing other resorts on the lake that morning.
Never again will I depend on a boat in the morning.
Were the CR boats running? I never expected to get a MK boat of 7:15 but it was a wonderful surprise.
To the best of my recollection, no boats docked at WL in the time we waited, of any kind.