Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Review
Wilderness Lodge is a Deluxe resort-hotel at Walt Disney World that is themed to the Pacific Northwest and National Park lodges. This review features room photos, our thoughts on amenities, and whether it’s worth booking a stay at Wilderness Lodge during your Walt Disney World vacation. (Last updated February 8, 2019.)
We have stayed at Wilderness Lodge several times. We fell in love with it the first time we stayed here during the Christmas season, and have returned during the summer followed by several other Christmas visits. Our most recent update to this review removes a lot of the gushing about Christmas (which you can find along with ~30 photos in our Wilderness Lodge: Walt Disney World’s Best Place at Christmas post) so that the review can focus on rooms, dining, and other year-round features of Wilderness Lodge.
Because Wilderness Lodge is one of the cheaper Deluxe resorts, offers great location, and has quite possibly the best design and best-executed theme of any of the Walt Disney World hotels, it’s an option we almost always consider when booking a trip.
Thematically, Wilderness Lodge is one of the strongest hotels at Walt Disney World. It’s inspiration is an amalgamation of Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone National Park and Ahwahnee Hotel at Yosemite National Park, with amply artist liberties taken so that the end result isn’t merely a mixture of those two famous lodges and, rather, is something new and distinct.
This was a savvy approach, as the grandiosity of Wilderness Lodge’s lobby and its wow-inducing appearance is unique to Disney. The many National Park Lodges at which we’ve stayed feature similar details, but they’re more intimate. None have the same epic scale and polish of Wilderness Lodge.
When it comes to the details of Wilderness Lodge, we could do an entire blog post. The most iconic is the Grand Canyon Fireplace, an 82 feet tall, three-sided fireplace that represents the Grand Canyon’s strata deposits from over 1.6 billion years–represented via over 100 colors and layer tapers. You’ll find rows of cozy rocking chairs around this fireplace, as well as display cases with rocks and fossils from the Grand Canyon.
Another big one we’ll highlight is the towering totem poles in the lobby. Each of these two totem poles, the Raven Pole and the Eagle Pole, is 55 feet tall and tells its own story that can be read from bottom to top. These took over 6 months to carve by the totem artist and their team.
Again, details abound throughout Wilderness Lodge. Not just detail and “stuff” for its own sake, either. Almost everything has meaning. The Native American Carpet floor pattern is comprised of four types of wood, and depicts the unity among four seasons, wildlife, humans, and the cosmos.
Murals and items on display are nods to Lewis & Clark and Teddy Roosevelt. Furniture in the lobby is varied and gorgeous, of the American Craftsman movement.
Our coverage of Wilderness Lodge’s thematic details only scratches the surface. The result of such rich design is that you are transported away from the hustle and bustle of a theme park complex in Florida to a quiet lodge in the snowy mountains of the Pacific Northwest.
For this experience at its most authentic, head to the third floor alcove at around 1 a.m. after a long day in the parks while wearing some flannel pajamas. Just be sure you don’t fall asleep in one of the comfy chairs like a certain author also did not do. Wilderness Lodge is Disney immersion at its finest.
In addition to brilliant U.S. National Park Lodge thematic flourishes, there are also plenty of Disney touches to give a sense of funny and whimsy to the resort.
Let’s take a look inside the guest rooms…
It should come as no shock that the rooms at Wilderness Lodge have the same type of theming found in the rest of the resort. Lots of woods, Native American carpet patterning, carved details, and more.
Despite the theme, the rooms generally look nice. There is a bit of wear and they could arguably use a refresh, but we worry that would take the gorgeous carpet with it, and I’m not sure that’d be for the best.
This style isn’t for everyone, but chances are that you’ll know whether the Wilderness Lodge rooms will appeal to you simply by looking at the lobby of the Lodge.
If you don’t like that, you won’t like the rooms. If you do like that, chances are that you will like the rooms. I would place them a rung below Animal Kingdom Lodge’s rooms, and they could probably use a slight refresh, but I still enjoyed our room.
Bedding is incredibly comfortable, and throw pillows give them a splash of color and texture. Bed runners would be nice, but with so much already ‘going on’ with the pillows and carpet, the lack of runners doesn’t stick out as much at Wilderness Lodge.
Bathrooms are fine. Dual sinks in the outer area is a nice touch. The shower has character tiles with Meeko, Chip, Dale, and Bambi.
Transportation at Wilderness Lodge seemed solid while we were there. Although it’s not on the monorail loop, it is a Magic Kingdom area hotel, and there is boat service to the park. This is, by far, my favorite way of getting from Wilderness Lodge to the Magic Kingdom, and I highly recommend this mode of transportation.
There’s also bus service, and I’ve heard that sometimes Wilderness Lodge shares buses with Fort Wilderness, but we did not experience that when we stayed at Wilderness Lodge, nor have we ever experienced that when we’ve visited Wilderness Lodge. Perhaps during slower seasons this shared transportation scheme goes into effect.
With regard to restaurants, Wilderness Lodge is also similar to Animal Kingdom Lodge. With Artist Point, Whispering Canyon Cafe, Geyser Point Bar & Grill, Territory Lounge, and the underrated Roaring Fork (click to read our dining reviews), Wilderness Lodge has great dining options and great variety of options.
Most notable of these are the new Storybook Dining at Artist Point, a new Snow White character dinner, and Whispering Canyon Cafe, which is a zany table service option that’s fun for all ages. None of these are fine dining options, which is disappointing, but the dining scene at Wilderness Lodge is still strong.
Wilderness Lodge gets high marks for interior design of the common areas and dining, but the most important aspect of this resort that is sometimes overlooked or taken for granted is its beautiful outdoor areas. The pool is nice (but nothing special), but it’s the trails, trees, and little touches out there that really make the resort. Albeit to a lesser degree than Fort Wilderness, Wilderness Lodge feels like its lightyears away from the chaos of the Magic Kingdom…despite being only a short boat ride away.
The highlight of this, for me, is that Wilderness Lodge actually has a (man-made) geyser modeled after Yellowstone National Park’s Old Faithful. Via these trails that meander around the Lodge, you can walk all the way to Fort Wilderness if you want to do some serious exploring. These two resorts feel like some of the last vestiges of undeveloped land (at least that is easily accessible for guests) in what is otherwise a growing and developed vacation complex.
As is the case with all Walt Disney World on-site hotels, Wilderness Lodge is fully integrated in the MyMagic+ system, which means that guests receive MagicBands and can make FastPass+ reservations.
Wilderness Lodge has the standard amenities of other Deluxe resorts, like a salon, health club, babysitting, bike rental, etc. At night, you can also see the Electrical Water Pageant, which is a charming, old school Walt Disney World offering that we recommend watching if you’re at the resort. It’s cute.
Overall, Wilderness Lodge is one of our favorite resorts at Walt Disney World. At over $400/night rack rate starting prices, it can be expensive. Wilderness Lodge is still much less expensive than some other Deluxe Resorts, making it a “value” comparatively speaking. Plus, after discounts, it’s not uncommon to score rooms for around $275/night here, which is a lot more palatable. The theme of Wilderness Lodge is wonderfully executed year-round, but at Christmas, it really shines, when it’s the best resort at Walt Disney World. This theme won’t appeal to everyone, but those to whom it does appeal are sure to love Wilderness Lodge. While other resorts make trips more convenient (Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, Disney’s Contemporary Resort), the only other resort that offers a comparable combination of theme, quality, and value is Animal Kingdom Lodge (or Port Orleans Riverside if you weight value more heavily). It’s an all-around great resort, and one that we highly recommend. Even if Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Wilderness Lodge were priced the same, I’d recommend Wilderness Lodge. That’s high praise.
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Your Thoughts…
What do you think of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge? Do you enjoy the back-woods Pacific Northwest theme, or is it not your style? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
We just stayed at the Wilderness Lodge over our grandson’s spring break, taking two rooms. We were given appalling rooms that faced the smoke house and work area (I have pictures). We were awakened every morning very early by all sorts of trucks and equipment and sitting on our balcony was not an option due to the day long service area noise and smell and fumes from the smokehouse drifting into our room. I cannot believe Disney puts guests there. We have been there before and loved the Lodge.
“Wilderness Lodge has the standard amenities of other Deluxe resorts, like a playground ….”
I don’t think this is correct. Looking at the Disney World web site, WL is not listed as one of the resorts that has a playground. In fact, it seems most Deluxes do not:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/playgrounds/
Thanks, you’re right. The playground that used to be at Wilderness Lodge was removed for construction of the Cascade Cabins. I don’t believe one has been reinstalled anywhere else, and that link you provided seems to confirm as much.
We are Florida residents and stayed for 2 nights Thurs 1.31.19 to 2.2.19. It is a beautiful and grand lobby. I like how it was on the water and we enjoyed taking the boat to magic kingdom. My kids enjoyed the pool and hot tub. I was told the pool was warmed to 83 degrees but my husband assured me that was not the truth and it was colder. We were able to see the Magic Fireworks partially. You can see it above the trees and the electric parade was very cool.
We ate at I think it’s called the Geyser, which is right on the lake. The food was good and the atmosphere was relaxing. We were close to The Roaring Fork, and I was glad they had fruit and cereal, so we could grab a quick breakfast before going to the park.
Cons
The hotel room was pretty average, I thought, for the amount of money you have to spend. It was clean but it wasn’t anything special. There are Disney characters on the shower wall, but that was it.
You have to pay for parking every day. So we got there Thursday night and left Sunday morning and had to pay 3 days. It would be nice if Disney included parking in your fee, but that’s not how they do it.
There are just lots of people. We were already pretty overwhelmed with how many people were at the park. Next time we are definitely staying off site so we get more for our money. But we also are Florida residents and live 2 hours away, so it’s easy for us to do a quick trip. Again I really appreciate this blog because it helped me plan as much as a could control. I know some people are huge Disney fans, but we discovered that it just isn’t our thing. Too many people and too much waiting. The problem is you just never know if you are going to luck out and go on a less crowded day.
Tom, I have to thank you. We just need returned from a stay at Wilderness Lodge. We decided to book it for this vacation after reading this review a year and a half ago. I absolutely fell in love with it from the moment we stepped off the bus! It felt so calm and peaceful after spending a day at a busy Hollywood Studios. The absolute best surprise was walking into our standard view room to find a view of the Magic Kingdom and the monorail. We watched the fireworks every night from our balcony and the kids even fell asleep watching them from their bunk beds! Pure Disney magic! It will be hard to top that experience! Finally getting to see the Electrical water pageant was also cool. And Whispering Canyon was the best dining experience we had the whole trip! Our server was a riot and went out of her way to ensure we had a great time. I can’t wait to go back! Keep doing what you’re doing!
Emily-what was your room number? I’d like to request it.
Although, any rooms 5012-5040 would be great.
We agree with you on your Wilerness Lodge review. We walked into Christmas magic in December 2004 and it’s been our favorite Resort since. That was our honeymoon and we since have 4 kids, 3 being girls. They love Grand Floridian for the princess experience and have stayed there a few times, but all 6 of us prefer Wilderness Lodge above all! Accurate review! Most recently we stayed at Copper Creek villas which was amazing!
Can you update this post with your thoughts about the resort now that there have been so many updates to the property, as well as comparing all the different room options since non DVC members can book DVC rooms. I’m debating is it worth it to stay in Copper Creek 1 Bedroom villa vs Club Level Wilderness Courtyard View. Thanks for your insight!
Wondering if anyone can help – really want to stay here during our trip in February but really want to get a room with a king sized bed but you can’t guarantee one .. has anyone had any experience with this and the chances of getting a king sized bed when requested
I have a 2 year and a newborn, would you say this is good option or did you recommend another? We area headed to Orlando in the next few days.
thanks!
Hi Tom-
Incredible site, thank you for all of the information. I used your guides exclusively for my family vacation last year, and I’m doing the same for a trip I hope to take during your recommended post-Thanksgiving week this year! I didn’t realize you were a fellow Michigander before reading it in this review.
My question is about the pricing you list for Wilderness resort (about $300, and 180-200 with discounts). What time of year is that price point available? I’m seeing about $460/night, before taxes.
Thanks, and keep up the great work!
As of today, there is a significant price difference between the Wilderness Lodge vs the Animal Kingdom Lodge (and really all other Deluxe Resorts). That holds true throughout most of the year (I checked dates in September 2017 to confirm.) However, I just received a price quote for two different weeks in February 2018 from a Disney Vacation Advisor, and that is most certainly no longer the case. One week the difference is approximately $20 in favor of Wilderness of Animal Kingdom and the second week Wilderness is $5 MORE per night than the Animal Kingdom. That’s a sharp change from things as they currently are in which the Wilderness Lodge is $150 less than Animal Kingdom per night.
I’m just curious as to your thoughts on this. Is it due to the renovation and expansion?
Hey Tom,
Have you ever stayed in a DVC studio villa with a view of wishes? Researching for a honeymoon trip.
Thanks!