Reviews of Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge (Disney Vacation Club)
Reviewed 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 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 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 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.
Pros:
Atmosphere, location, kitchenCons:
BusesReviewed by lauri Review Date: 06/26/2017
Rating: (9) Recommended
We just returned from a week stay in a two bedroom villa. The villa was roomy, comfortable, and beautiful. We were very close to the bus stops, and not far from the main lobby. Unfortunately Roaring Forks was not open, so our main quick service option was Geyser Point. It was okay, but a fairly limited menu. The main pool was not terribly interesting, and I guess I expected it to be better. The newest pool opened the last night we were there, so we did not get to check it out. We had no problems with transportation, and had great experiences with the cast members there.
Pros:
Beautiful and RoomyCons:
Main pool is a little blahReviewed by tinkiebell Review Date: 11/10/2015
Rating: (9) Recommended
We love the ambiance of the WL and were happy to be able to stay here again. This really is our favorite DVC property at WDW. I can spend hours walking the grounds or hanging out in the lobby. Our 1-bedroom villa was comfortable, clean, and well-stocked. We only ate at Roaring Fork and it was fine. The grounds were always clean and well-maintained. If you drive as we do be prepared to use the bell services or spend several trips hauling your bags a long way as there does not seem to be any close parking here as there are with other DVC properties. Also, be aware that the tub, while luxurious, is part of the master bedroom and not completely private. I was disappointed that one cast member at the concierge desk seem to argue with me, in a courteous manner, about my request (I was pursuing the request based upon another cast member's instructions). I think he just wanted to be "right" but it was very aggravating.
Pros:
Easy trip to MK, quiet and relaxingCons:
It's a long walk to your car; bus service is slowReviewed by MrsH42608 Review Date: 04/28/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
We had a wonderful stay at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge. We stayed in a studio, which was clean and spacious. The balcony overlooked the woods which was nice and peaceful. The lobby is wonderul and welcoming. We enjoyed a good amount of time in the pool and hot tub. We also rented sea raycers and cruised around on Bay Lake for a while which was SO fun. Every cast member we saw or spoke to was helpful and friendly. I really cannot say enough good things about this resort. It is just beautiful, relaxing, fun and welcoming all at the same time.
The only issue we had was the noise level in the rooms. I think we travel enough to be able to tell the difference between just very loud neighbors and when the walls are just too thin- or whatever the reason, but we could hear our neighbors on BOTH sides, VERY well- too well. Luckily they weren't up too late or too early for it to really disturb us but at one point while we were decompessing one afternoon the noise just got to be too much we actually had to leave the room.
That one negative aspect however, will not keep us from coming back. Wilderness lodge is SO SO SO nice and relxing, we'll defintely be back.
Pros:
theming, location, amenities, serviceCons:
noise in the roomsReviewed by toolmanjan Review Date: 11/23/2022
Rating: (8) Recommended
Studio
I knew before we arrived that the resort rooms were undergoing a referb. In general the construction didn't dampen our good time. There are black out curtains As you get off the elevator on all floors. Plastic cover some of the carpet in the hallways. The laundry room we had access to was in Copper Creek.
We had to go up 2 floors to get Ice from the machine. there is usually an ice machine on each floor. BR is still my favorite. We look forward to staying there after the referb is completed.
Pros:
Swimming pool one of DVC's best, Geyser Point,Cons:
construction, well worn rooms, soon to changeReviewed by Lizgistix Review Date: 04/05/2022
Rating: (8) Recommended
Love love love Boulder Ridge! The rooms feel cozy and less like a resort and more like a comfy apartment at Disney. The train room is wonderful and filled with interesting things to look at. It's disconnected from the main resort, so you don't have the hustle and bustle around you. The covered walkway is nice and the piped in music in common areas is a nice atmospheric touch.
Pros:
Great theme, great location, great on-site amenitiesCons:
Rooms need a refurbReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 12/28/2020
Rating: (8) Recommended
My family of 24 split up between 5 rooms here in June 2020. We had a very good time and loved the theme. Getting food from the quick service was a hike and often took a while. We rather eat at Geyser Point which was near the pool and had good food, view, comfortable seating, and good service. All 5 of our party rooms were near each other (which we asked for). Some room views were beautiful and one of our rooms we were actually able to walk out our balcony door right to the pool. Some of the rooms were just tall green plants and you couldn’t see much. It also was a short walk to the bus! The Murphy bed was great! However will only work for children or small adults. I slept on the Murphy bed and I am 4’ 11” and had enough room length wise. Width wise was a little tight. And I also did hit my head a couple of times on the wood frame. We also kept the Murphy bed out the entire trip and did not feel like it was tight, we had enough space
