Disney World Resort Review: Wilderness Lodge Resort &
Villas
Up until about two years ago I had never even heard of the
Wilderness Lodge Resort. I had been to
Disney many times, but it had gone unnoticed, even passing by on the
monorail. A few summers ago, we were
looking for a Disney Resort to stay and wanted to stay someplace convenient to
the theme parks and somewhere we hadn’t stayed before. We chose Wilderness Lodge. From the moment we drove up to the massive,
mountain-themed resort, we had fallen in love.
Here we were in the middle of Florida in August, but were immediately
transported to Yellowstone National Park.
The main lodge building is huge with an-open atrium lobby including an
80-foot fireplace. Like any large
resort, the walk from the lobby to your room can be a little lengthy, but there
is so much to look at, no one minds! There is a geyser by the pool that is fed
by a stream and waterfall that begins in the lobby itself. Wilderness Lodge has a gift shop with
mountain/lodge themed items along with the usual snacks and drinks. On the opposite side of the lobby from the
gift shop you’ll find the dining options.
There is the rowdy, family-friendly Whispering Canyon Café which
features an interactive dining experience with games (“ketchup” anyone??). Next door is the more upscale (and non as
kid-friendly, at least not 3-year old friendly) Artist Point. We have never eaten at the restaurant itself
(features a Pacific Northwest menu), but we have had a good meal and drinks at
the connected lounge. Further down the
lobby, heading towards the pool is the quick-service Roaring Fork. I haven’t eaten an entire meal here, but
we’ve gotten a few pastries and dessert things from there and it was very quick
and convenient.
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| View from pool looking back towards lobby |
Once you go outside by the pool, it is a spectacular
sight. Like I mentioned before, there is
a waterfall that streams down into the pool itself. There is also a waterslide that leads into a
large pool. For a family with a toddler
who can’t swim on his own yet, there is a kiddie-area of the pool with a large
splash area and water playground with its own shallow pool. All of this gorgeous pool area looks out over
the geyser (based on Old Faithful) that actually “explodes” several times an
hour. Behind the geyser is Bay
Lake. Along the lakeside are docks,
beaches, and a place to rent recreation items (bikes, boats, jetskis,
etc.).
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| View from hotel room looking over pool and resort |
The rooms at Wilderness Lodge are perhaps the only
less-than-stellar aspect of this resort.
There’s nothing wrong with the rooms or decorations necessarily, they
just don’t match up with the beauty and uniqueness of the rest of the
resort. Our family has stayed in a
regular room overlooking the pool that had a king bed, pull out couch, and
fairly basic hotel bathroom. We’ve also
stayed in the Villas (part of the Disney Vacation Club) in a studio room and a
1-bedroom suite. The studio was much
like a traditional hotel room with the addition of a pull-down table that
converts into a twin bed (worked great for our toddler, until he hit his head
on the TV stand above and refused to get back into the bed). The 1-bedroom suite was amazing. That room really was stellar and fit in well
with the overall style and level of the resort.
It had a huge separate bedroom with a king bed, giant Jacuzzi tub,
walk-in shower, washer and dryer, full-sized kitchen with granite countertops,
dining room, living room, and balcony.
It has completely spoiled us! Traveling with a child, it was such a
luxury having a separate bedroom. In a
typical hotel room, we’re almost captive in the room because he will wake up
anytime you put the TV on, go to the restroom, toss and turn, etc.! Plus once
our son sees us lying in the bed next to us, he wants to join. Sharing a queen bed with a three year old,
doesn’t lead to the most relaxing night sleep!
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| View of lobby inside Wilderness Villas (right next door to main resort) |
There is so much to do at this resort you really could just
come here for a vacation and be completely happy. But we all know, the vast majority of people
who stay at Wilderness Lodge also come for the theme parks. Along with the reliable and frequent Disney
busses (that will take you to any theme park, Downtown Disney, water parks,
etc. for free for resort guests), Wilderness Lodge has a boat that takes you
directly to the front gate of Magic Kingdom.
For us, this is a huge perk. Most
of the boats are large enough, so you don’t have to fold up a stroller. The ride is probably about 10-15 minutes and
you get to go past the Contemporary Resort.
The boat ride experience on the way to the park is great, the boat ride
home we’ve had some issues. Inevitably
when we go to leave, we just miss the boat and have to wait for the next
one. We’ve had to wait 30-40 minutes
sometimes for the next one. Normally,
this wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but when it’s 12:30 am and you have a
young child, that extra half hour of waiting can be fairly tortuous!
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| Boat leaving Wilderness Lodge dock to head to Magic Kingdom |
Overall, Wilderness Lodge tops my list for favorite
resort. I think one of the things I
like about it is that it’s not over the top with “Disney” theming. Of course there are the “Hidden Mickey’s” and
a million kids running around everywhere, but the individual beauty of the
place almost makes you forget that you’re a few minutes away from Cinderella’s
Castle. When you’ve been at the parks
for 10 hours, it’s relaxing and calming to come back to this “lodge.” The
absolute best time to stay is when they have the Christmas decorations up. They have a 100-ft Christmas tree in the
center of the lobby and a bunch more smaller trees throughout. It is utterly
magical, and even the grinchiest of grinches couldn’t help get into the holiday
spirit after walking through that lobby.
I’m already getting giddy thinking about our planned stay in December
later this year. Even if you don’t stay
overnight at this resort, it’s definitely worth a visit or meal just to see how
incredible this place is!
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| Christmas tree in the lobby at Wilderness Lodge |
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