# Wilderness Lodge Booked!!!



## Smokatoke (Feb 4, 2014)

Wooo I put in a last minute OGS for Animal Kingdom or Wilderness Lodge this summer eventhough the main deposit already passed and I just matched this morning!!! I am so excited!

Anything I should know about Wilderness Lodge? I really wanted Animal Kingdom because it looks so awesome with the giraffes, but Im not complaining. How are the rooms? We matched a 1 Bedroom, there are 4 of us. Is the picture with the bunkbeds a 2 bedroom?


SOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED LOL and Im not even that much of a Disney fan, its all for the kids


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## elaine (Feb 4, 2014)

I think the bunkbeds are in the main lodge. We enjoy taking the boat over to Ft W and fishing, biking (there is a trail from VWL-FtW), roasting marshmallows at the nightly sign-a-long with Chip and Dale, and there are outdoor movies 365 days/year at Ft W. You can rent fishing poles, boats, etc. at both Ft W and also at WL, I believe. There are thurs-sat archery lessons @ Ft W.


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## Smokatoke (Feb 4, 2014)

Random logistics question... I have some friends flying in for the 2nd leg of our trip which will be at Summer Bay. I am going to double book the last night in the DVC with the first night at Summer Bay. I want my friends family to stay the final night in our DVC room to have the experience, while my family starts the first night in Summer Bay.

Anyone see an issue with this? Can I just hand him our DVC parking pass to use that final night since we are leaving?


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## presley (Feb 4, 2014)

Smokatoke said:


> Anyone see an issue with this? Can I just hand him our DVC parking pass to use that final night since we are leaving?



You need to keep that on the down low.  Don't let the front desk know you are doing this.  Your room keys will have charging privileges.  You need to make sure  your friends know that they need to pay cash or be willing to pay you for whatever they charge to your room

DVC is not a guest friendly resort.  They won't let you add names after you check in and they won't let you go over the limit if you try to add all the names before you check in.


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## Rob562 (Feb 4, 2014)

This video will give you an idea of a 1-bedroom unit at the Lodge (and most of the other DVC 1-bedroom units actually, since most of the DVC properties follow the same basic design with decorations and furniture being the main difference).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Jw00TzfiGg

Sleeping arrangements are a King bed in the bedroom and a sleep-sofa in the living room.

The previously-mentioned bunk beds are only in some of the regular hotel rooms in the main part of the Lodge.

-Rob


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## dvc_john (Feb 4, 2014)

presley said:


> Your room keys will have charging privileges.  You need to make sure  your friends know that they need to pay cash or be willing to pay you for whatever they charge to your room.



Actually, you won't have room keys. You'll have 'Magic Bands'. It's a wrist band, that acts as a room key, park access (if you have park tickets), charging privileges (you'll assign a PIN to it, and that will be needed to be able to charge - so if you give your guests the magic bands, but not the PIN, they won't be able to use them to charge), fast passes, and pool access (for those resorts that require key access to the pool, like SAB). Every person in you party will have one, including children.


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## JimMIA (Feb 4, 2014)

Don't miss the Whispering Canyon -- way too much fun!

A couple of caveats:  don't drop your fork, and don't be naughty.

The tables are pretty complete, but for some reason don't usually have ketchup.  If you need some, just ask your server...they'll bring you some.


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## JimMIA (Feb 4, 2014)

presley said:


> You need to keep that on the down low.  Don't let the front desk know you are doing this.


Actually, if adding them to your reservation doesn't put you over capacity, it's no big deal to add them to the reservation.  UNLESS...you are on the Disney Dining Plan.  If you are on DDP, all registered guests must have it for every night of the reservation -- so that would be a big problem.





> Your room keys will have charging privileges.


Not necessarily.  First of all, they won't have keys -- they will have Magic Bands.  You don't have to allow charging to your room (we never have in 30+ DVC stays), and I'm pretty sure you could limit charging privileges to one or more MBs without allowing everyone to charge.





> DVC is not a guest friendly resort.  They won't let you add names after you check in and they won't let you go over the limit if you try to add all the names before you check in.


Not sure how that makes DVC "...not a guest friendly resort."  They have occupancy limits like every other hotel/timeshare on the planet (for fire safety reasons, among others) and they don't let you violate those rules. Makes sense to me.

If the occupancy limits are an issue for a particular party, they can stay somewhere else or get a larger DVC villa that will accommodate their party.


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## Smokatoke (Feb 4, 2014)

Can I buy tickets now through Disney since I have a booking? Are they any cheaper? I get a slight discount through 'Corporate Perks' websites, but it would be nice to get something more discounted...


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## JimMIA (Feb 4, 2014)

Smokatoke said:


> ...Im not even that much of a Disney fan, its all for the kids


Yeah right!  Stick with that story.


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## presley (Feb 4, 2014)

JimMIA said:


> Not sure how that makes DVC "...not a guest friendly resort."  They have occupancy limits like every other hotel/timeshare on the planet (for fire safety reasons, among others) and they don't let you violate those rules. Makes sense to me.



If your room sleeps 8 and you have only put 4 names on the RCI exchange 48 hours before arrival, you cannot show up with 8 people and add them to stuff like extended park hours, etc.  They can stay in your room, but you're too late to include them in the perks.


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## JimMIA (Feb 4, 2014)

presley said:


> If your room sleeps 8 and you have only put 4 names on the RCI exchange 48 hours before arrival, you cannot show up with 8 people and add them to stuff like extended park hours, etc.  They can stay in your room, but you're too late to include them in the perks.


All timeshares, and hotels for that matter, have procedures and rules for just about everything involving a reservation.  They have occupancy limits, required deposits and other payments, resort fees, cancellation policies, etc, etc.  

Not establishing procedures and rules would not make the resort "guest friendly."  

It would make the resort's management irresponsible (to the owners) and incompetent.

As guests, it is important for us to understand those procedures and rules from the start.  We all know they are there -- we need to understand them.  Ignorance -- especially willful ignorance -- is no excuse. 

If the rules are too onerous, we should go somewhere else with more lenient rules.


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## Smokatoke (Feb 4, 2014)

So can i call Disney now to add tickets, and dining? I also want magical express... At what point can i get this setup?


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## Rob562 (Feb 5, 2014)

Smokatoke said:


> So can i call Disney now to add tickets, and dining? I also want magical express... At what point can i get this setup?



In a couple days you can call DVC Member Services. (The number should be on the RCI confirmation) Choose the menu option for RCI exchanges, and give them the RCI number. They can then give you the actual Disney reservation number. (This will be important in a bit)

They will also ask you for all of the names to put on the reservation. This is also when you can set up Magical Express and give them your flight info, if you have it.

You can also arrange to add the Dining Plan to your reservation if you want, though be prepared to pay for it up-front. You can also call them back and add it at any time up until 3 or 4 days before the trip. (Ask them for specifics)

I'm sure they can sell you park tickets, but you can't get discounted tickets right from Disney. Your best bet would be outside resellers, or I think you mentioned a corporate purchase. 

Now here's where having the Disney reservation number becomes important. After you've got the reservation number, you can go onto the My Disney Experience website and link the reservation to your profile. (I suggest going in and setting up "managed by you" profiles for everyone in your travel party *before* trying to link the reservation) That'll get you set up to customize Magic Bands. 

When you get your tickets you can also link them to the peoples' profiles. This will open up the FastPass+ reservations to you at the 60-day mark before your trip. It'll also allow the Magic Bands to access the tickets when you go to enter the parks.

Room charging can be set up when you do online checkin a few days before your trip, though if you want to do anything complicated like different credit cards on different Bands, it's best to wait to do that until you arrive at the hotel.

I think that covers the basics.

-Rob


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## Rob562 (Feb 5, 2014)

And out of curiosity... You said you put in a last-minute OGS, how long ago did you open that search?

-Rob


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## JimMIA (Feb 5, 2014)

Smokatoke said:


> Random logistics question... I have some friends flying in for the 2nd leg of our trip which will be at Summer Bay. I am going to double book the last night in the DVC with the first night at Summer Bay. I want my friends family to stay the final night in our DVC room to have the experience, while my family starts the first night in Summer Bay.
> 
> Anyone see an issue with this? Can I just hand him our DVC parking pass to use that final night since we are leaving?


I see two potential glitches, in addition to the obvious DDP requirement.

The big issue is that you will have to give them one or more of your Magic Bands for them to get into the room.  I'm sure you aren't worried about your friends charging stuff to your credit card, but your MB (as dvc_john explained above) will also contain your park tickets and fast passes.  That means the true owners of those MBs won't be able to even enter a park until you get the MBs back.  Also, if they have your parking pass, you will not be able to use it for free parking at a theme park.

If you and the other family are doing everything together and are perfectly coordinated, that could still be workable.  But if not, it could be a real headache.

The other possible issue is that whenever I have gone to WL, I have always been asked for my photo ID and the guard gate.  I have never stayed at WL -- only gone there for dining -- so I don't know whether they compare the ID to the parking pass or a guest roster.  I just told them I was there for lunch, dinner, etc, and was admitted.  But if they check the ID against something, they might be denied entry.  Hopefully others can answer this one for you.

Your idea is a great (and very generous) treat for your friends...but the devil is in the details.


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## Smokatoke (Feb 5, 2014)

Rob562 said:


> And out of curiosity... You said you put in a last-minute OGS, how long ago did you open that search?
> 
> -Rob



I put it in last week. The main deposit had passed maybe five days before that, but random ones were still trickling into inventory, so I hoped an OGS would catch one. Figure most OGS had already been filled with the bulk deposit I missed so I would be near front of the line. Maybe being platinum RCI helped too?

Thank you for the info as well about services!


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## littlestar (Feb 16, 2014)

The theming of the Wilderness Lodge/Villas is wonderful. The theming is taken from the National Park Lodges like Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone.  

Be sure to check out Walt Disney's train car (one of the miniature cars from his backyard railroad) that's in the lobby of the villas.  There are details everywhere.  The Indian cradle boards at the front desk check-in area behind glass are neat, too.

By the way, some of the units in the villas on the top floors have cathedral ceilings - we had one of those rooms once. 

There are hidden Mickey's everywhere.  If you want to hunt for them, ask the front desk for a clue sheet and start hunting for them.  Fun thing for kids to do on a rainy day.


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