Reviews of Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge (Disney Vacation Club)
Reviewed by mkymouse4ever Review Date: 10/22/2020
Rating: (9) Recommended
Was our 1 st stay here but stay WL when they first opened. The room is very similar to BWV 1 br. Just woodsy. We prefer this set up. With the open bath etc. room was very clean and neat nice view of lake and pool BR is very near buses which was nice. Pools where very nice. A few housekeeping issues. I know it’s covid but we had to call for towels 3 days. 1 day no tp and housekeeper told us she only doing garbage nothing else. So that was another call
Due to covid changes I asked at front desk if there was a paper or handout about transportation or what is available now or not. They didn’t have anything. We took 2 days to figure out there was a bus to MK. Dining during covid is big issue luckily we had the kitchen
Pros:
Pools Theme WoodsCons:
Parking lot is a hike Some housekeeping staff Restaurant situation Covid rules no bed change for 12 nitesReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 11/12/2019
Rating: (9) Recommended
just retured from 5 nights at Boulder Ridge Villas. Our 4th floor dedicated 2 BR villa had views of the lake and pool. Enjoyed sitting out on the balony in the morning looking at birds, and at night watching the Water Pageant. Walks to the pools, main lodge and restaurants were shorter than i'd expected. staff very kind and helpful. the layout of the villa is a ery thoughtful one if you're there with two families.
Pros:
location, decor, amenitiesCons:
my only complaint is that i think the living room furniture could include more seating and more comfortable seating.Reviewed by Suzy Review Date: 10/02/2018
Rating: (10) Recommended
In 2010 we rented a Studio and loved it!! Loved the theming of the resort and the staff were friendly and helpful. Our room was comfortable and loved the common area to sit for some quiet time. On one rainy day, we ordered food and sat with the extended family to eat together. Fun! Very convenient to have the kitchenette in the room. We ordered water, breakfast items and snacks to have on hand. The pools were clean and a refreshing. Loved having the option of taking the bus or the boat for transportation. Heading back shortly and can’t wait to see the renovations that were completed.
Pros:
Theming, beautiful resort, boat or bus transportation, friendly staffCons:
Only complaint is that for a Deluxe, not on the MonorailReviewed by sandra loveless Review Date: 09/30/2018
Rating: (9) Recommended
I lllooovvvve this resort! The staff can't be beat. It is close to the Magic Kingdom and you can use a boat as your transportation to Magic Kingdom. Since this granny takes grandchildren to celebrate 5th birthdays at Disney World, we use the boat alot and the kids think this is awesome!
Pros:
convenient to Magic Kingdom, the design - reminds me of national park resort, fireplaceCons:
loudReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 09/27/2018
Rating: (10) Recommended
absolutly beautiful resort with an amazing Staff. Disney turned a bad experience into an awesome vacation. Bell boy turned our ice chest onto the cart by accident. Disney repaced all our food that was ruined plus some. than on day 4 had an accident . broke foot fell in showe. staff bent over backwards to made the remainder of our trip magical. gave us fast pases so we would not have to wait in the heat with a broken foot. I cant say enough about the place. Whispering canyon cafe was amazing. we will come back here in future. i rate it a 10
Pros:
good food friendly staff and amazing duty general managers as a hold. beautiful resortCons:
only issue if i have to pick one would be buses due to handicap scooters had to wait over an hour on some daysReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 09/26/2018
Rating: (8) Recommended
beautiful quiet room..enjoyed staying here a lot!!
Pros:
easy walk to buses and had a nice quiet roomCons:
wish had 2 bedsReviewed by MomRN59 Review Date: 09/26/2018
Rating: (9) Recommended
Love the lobby, love the quick service, amazing restaurants, convenient to Magic Kingdom to take ferry, great pools for kids.
Pros:
Great location, great quick service, great restaurants, beautiful decor, great poolsCons:
NoneReviewed by allec999 Review Date: 11/03/2017
Rating: (7) Recommended
My home resort. Always a good place to stay. Two issues this time: 1) Friends stayed in a separate studio, and their bathroom floor would flood a bit, so they used their towels to deal with it. When they called for extra towels, they were told it would be for a fee. I understand that towel service is a pre-set schedule and otherwise costs a fee, but they should have at least asked why towels were requested. Had I known I would have dealt with it, but my friends did not say anything until their last day. Still, a little disappointing. Also - twice the bus for DHS was well over a half-hour wait.
Pros:
themingCons:
towels, bus to DHSReviewed by spunkyfunk Review Date: 11/03/2017
Rating: (10) Recommended
We stayed at Boulder Creek in a dedicated 2 bedroom villa (room 5537) for 6 nights in August 2017 as a prelude to our cruise on the Disney Dream.
We were DVC members staying on points and this was our first time staying at BCV. We have stayed at other DVC resorts and typically make AKL - Kidani Village our choice but we decided to switch it up and give the Wilderness Lodge a try.
Our group consisted of my husband and I our two boys (14 and 12) and 75 yr old Mother.
I'm so glad we did. Here are the things we loved about it.
1. Atmosphere/Layout
Our villa faced the lake and the Boulder Creek pool and it was pretty quiet there. If you wanted to join in on pool activities you could go over to the CC pool which was a very short walk away. I felt like there were plenty of spaces to explore but none were too far away to be inconvenient.
2. Activities
We rented bikes and rode to Fort Wilderness stables and around the camping loops. The ride was so nice and we had a good time exploring. We also rented searays (small boats) and that was highlight of the trip for my 12 yr old who was old enough to drive his own. The pool areas were very nice and well maintained. Several shady cabana type areas available. We also took advantage of roasting marshmallows at the fire pit on a few occasions as well as hung out waiting for the Geyser to erupt on the hour.
3. Geyser Point Grill and Territory Lounge
We made use of both the Geyser Point Grill and the Territory Lounge several times during our trip. Cast members were friendly and the menu was good. GPG had a very relaxing respite from the sun. I loved the décor of the Territory Lounge and they had good local beers to try. We also made our way to the raucously wonderful Whispering Canyon Café and our server did not disappoint.
4. Common area in the Boulder Ridge Section
There were fun little places to gather and play board games or wait for others to meet up.
We did not make a lot of use of the buses since we had a rental car that made travel to parks/Disney Springs or other resorts easy. We did take the bus to the Magic Kingdom and it was a quick short ride. WL is so close to the Magic Kingdom it made sense to use the bus.
My husband and I both agreed that we found a new favorite place to stay. Hope this helps anyone doing future planning. Boulder Creek was a big thumbs up for us.
Pros:
Geyser Point Grill / Quiet Atmosphere / Lots to doCons:
Buses to all theme parksReviewed by amitch91 Review Date: 09/25/2017
Rating: (9) Recommended
I have to preface this that WL is our favorite resort. I love the closeness to MK, as well as multiple modes of transportation. This was our first stay at BR - rented points. We will definitely do it again, and hope to buy into DVC.
We had 5 adults (myself, my husband, and 2 adult children, one future DIL). The plan was for the two girls to share the bedroom, our son to have the pullout couch. Let me just say, the couch was extremely uncomfortable. So, I let my son stay in the bedroom with his sister and fiance' (separate beds - sorry I'm still old school). The couch was even uncomfortable to sit on, in my opinion - so if you plan on using the pull out, I'd only recommend for a small child. I understand that the couch is easier to keep clean, but if you plan on spending any time on it, I'd go to GP or the lobby for more comfortable seating.
We loved having the kitchen - I ordered Garden Grocer delivery, and made breakfast every morning - saved money and calories. 🙂 Also loved having laundry facilities right in the room. It was a walk from the bus stop, or from the boat (Rm 3553), however, we felt it was an easier walk than at Pop from the 80's to the bus stop or food court.
Another plus was having 3 tv's! 🙂 For our afternoon nap/relax time, there were 3 different shows on in 3 different rooms!
This was the worst time we had with buses - we waited 40 minutes on two separate occasions for buses to HS and to EP. At AK departure, we had to wait 45 minutes for a bus to arrive, completely fill up to standing room only, then change out drivers, with an inspection mixed in. If we had had reservations, we would NOT have made the reservation - over an hour wait with all. We love the boats to MK, however, we even had one evening headed back to MK that we had to wait through 2 boats loading because there was no enough room on the boats for all that were standing in line waiting. One night there were people in rented pontoons that were blocking the way for the boats to even get to MK - we had to back up to let another MK boat through, and then coast because 3 pontoons were blocking the path for the boats. I was surprised that they let rented vessels out after dark.
We still love it - would go back today. But thankfully we can return, and do often, so we aren't as worried about getting everything in as others.
