Review: Old Faithful Club Level at Wilderness Lodge
Wondering if Old Faithful Club Level at Wilderness Lodge is worth the money? Our review of this concierge hotel floor at Walt Disney World covers our experience with this lounge, with photos and thoughts on the food, resort amenities, service and our strategy for taking advantage of Club Level at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge.
After being anti-Club Level for years, we’re starting to warm up to it and now hope to review all of the Club Levels eventually. It’s definitely a splurge, but we get as much bang for our buck as possible by doing short Club Level stays and using them as non-park days for relaxing at the resort. For more general thoughts on concierge level at WDW, check out our Is Club Level at Walt Disney World Worth It? post.
Consult our separate Ultimate Guide to Disney’s Wilderness Lodge for everything else you could conceivably want to know about this hotel. Wilderness Lodge is my favorite resort at Walt Disney World, and I’ve written a ton of posts about it, as doing this very necessary and important research gives me exactly the excuse I need to book us stays here. We booked Old Faithful Club after our great experience at the Stone Harbor Club Level at Beach Club, partly because I was eager to explore an area of Wilderness Lodge I had never seen. That was a mistake…
Okay, calling it a mistake is being overly dramatic. Nevertheless, I think this is worth explaining because, judging by the comments, many of you are like me. After loving our stays at both Kilimanjaro Club at Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Stone Harbor Club, we decided to do Wilderness Lodge.
My initial choice for this Old Faithful Club stay would’ve been Christmas-time, as Wilderness Lodge is even better than normal during the holidays. However, discounts were not yet available when we wanted to book, room inventory was already low for Wilderness Lodge during the holidays, and I feared we’d either end up paying full price (not likely) or put it off for another year-plus (more likely).
This line of thinking was vindicated, as there was next to no availability from mid-November through mid-December when room-only discounts were released. Even then, prices were significantly higher than what we paid. My searches haven’t been exhaustive, but on the few Christmas-time dates when Club Level is available, the cheapest (AP discounted) rate is $576 per night.
While our Old Faithful Club Level stay was incredible, my internal dialogue was a near-steady stream of, “I really wish it were Christmas. How many days until Christmas? Can you imagine how great it would be to sit here at Christmas? I’d sit here for the entire day at Christmas and do nothing but eat and stare at the tree. Dang, we should really book a return stay for Christmas.”
So, on the one hand we made a mistake in not waiting until Christmas to do this stay, and now I really want to revisit it then. On the other hand, the rate is too expensive during the holiday season for us to justify–at least, during this holiday season–so we wouldn’t have actually booked it then.
I guess we made the right call after all, and thus the only “mistake” here was not doing this several years ago when early December discounts were more abundant and we would’ve paid “only” $300 or so per night. The main takeaway for those of you Walt Disney World regulars who are trying to choose the perfect time for a Club Level stay at Wilderness Lodge, Christmas is undoubtedly the best choice. It’s arguably worth paying a premium for the holidays if you can justify that.
As for the Old Faithful Club review, I think it’s worth mentioning here that this is the best concierge level service we’ve received at Walt Disney World. Normally, we don’t fixate on service too much because it’s spotty and inconsistent. Walt Disney World Cast Members are generally great, but Disney is pretty far from a hospitality industry leader when it comes to hotel operations.
However, I get the feeling that service at Old Faithful Club is consistently good. We interacted with several great Cast Members, including a few who had been at the resort for a decade or longer. Many of them seemed to consider the lodge a second home, and took great pride in it. I’m guessing here, but I suspect it’s a coveted role and one in which long-tenured Cast Members take great pride. (Who wouldn’t?! Wilderness Lodge is the GOAT.)
Our welcome packet included a business card with a phone number for a direct line to the concierge desk, a letter introducing us to Old Faithful Club and advising of menus and hours the hors d’oeuvres serving, plus a box of Wilderness Lodge chocolate bars from the Ganachery.
These chocolate gold bars are a really nice touch…but we still haven’t eaten them. I’m sure they’re delicious, but I just can’t bring myself to consume such a priceless collectible.
There are 5 different dining offerings throughout the day, which is standard for Club Level at Walt Disney World.
The day begins with coffee hour from 6:30 a.m. to 7 a.m., followed by continental breakfast from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., light snacks from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., tea and drinks from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., hors d’oeuvres from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and desserts & cordials from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Here’s a look at my breakfast. Naturally, I started my day out on a healthy foot with oatmeal and fruit.
Just kidding–that’s Sarah’s. I got a bunch of salami and cheeses, piling it all high into a colossal “breakfast” sandwich.
As is par for the course at these Club Level lounges, lunch was underwhelming.
Making a sandwich at breakfast and stashing it in your fridge for lunch is a good course of action, or dining downstairs at Whispering Canyon Cafe or Roaring Fork.
The hors d’oeuvres service, on the other hand, is exceptional.
The offerings change daily, but you can expect a variety of vegetables, meats, and side dishes.
There are a lot of individual serving dishes like this that, presumably, are to encourage portion control and discourage guests from turning it into a full meal.
However, just out of the frame to the left above is a big dish of chicken. Our second night, this was a glorious brisket (pictured below a bit further).
A variety of options are available for dessert, with the most notable being cobbler.
There was a different flavor of cobbler each night of our stay, and it was the stuff of legends. (It’s safe to say this fruit-heavy dish is healthy, right?!)
Wilderness Lodge has the best desserts of any Club Level lounge we’ve done thus far.
Other options, like this Chocolate Whiskey Cake, were also really good. However, they were all ‘one and done’ for me, as I focused all of my attention on that glorious, healthy cobbler.
Old Faithful Club is the only lounge with beer on tap, offering Elysian IPA and Kona Big Wave.
We wouldn’t be surprised if this changes at some point. Club Level lounges at Walt Disney World are moving away from self-service alcohol and towards it being offered ‘upon request.’
Cordials are also out in the evening.
Unlike the beer on tap, this area is watched over by a Cast Member.
The seating area of Old Faithful Club is open 24/7, while the food serving area is only open during the hours listed above.
The concierge desk is open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The entire food serving area being closed is new to me, and meant it’s not possible to get coffee or drinks between meal services. This isn’t a huge problem, but it was a tad annoying.
The best seating at Old Faithful Club is along a rail that overlooks the lobby, pictured above. Here’s roughly what that looks like from these seats:
There are also two outdoor balconies at Old Faithful Club. These face Magic Kingdom, although you won’t be able to see Cinderella Castle or anything other than the Contemporary due to trees.
It’s possible to watch Happily Ever After from these balconies, and many guests do that, but we’d recommend going down the hall for a perfect view of Cinderella Castle, instead.
During our stay at Old Faithful Club, I spent approximately 90% of my time in the above-mentioned chairs overlooking the lobby. There’s no shortage of wonderful seating nestled throughout Wilderness Lodge, but this might just be the best seat in the house.
The only downside is no fireplace. Of course, the upside is access to unlimited food, alcohol, and coffee.
Can you imagine sitting here with a cold beer and plate piled high with brisket during the holidays while gazing down at the Christmas tree and hearing the soft holiday background music?
Pure bliss.
That seems like the perfect place to wrap up this review of Old Faithful Club Level at Wilderness Lodge.
Overall, we loved Old Faithful Club. It’s my favorite Club Level experience to date, but I also realize I’m biased by my affinity for Wilderness Lodge in general. It’s tough to set aside the normal ambiance of this resort, but if I did, Old Faithful Club would still rate highly for the quality of its dishes at dinner (especially the brisket!), that superlative cobbler, and the excellent service of experienced and attentive Cast Members.
With that said, I really think setting aside the ambiance of Wilderness Lodge is silly. Sure, the resort’s atmosphere is not necessarily “part” of Old Faithful Club since you can experience it outside of the lounge. However, at Old Faithful Club, the lounge’s atmosphere is an extension of the lobby’s atmosphere.
We’re approaching these Club Level stays from the perspective of getting the most bang for your buck by spending more time in the lounge, enjoying the food and atmosphere. Having access to the Club Level lounge provides a reason/excuse to spend more time relaxing at the resort, thus enjoying more of that atmosphere. In this regard, Club Level at resorts like Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge are tough to beat. Suffice to say, Old Faithful Club at Christmas is now on my Walt Disney World bucket list–I’d love yet another excuse to spend more time lounging at Wilderness Lodge during the holidays!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you stayed Club Level at Wilderness Lodge? Did you spend a lot of time overlooking the cavernous lobby, appreciating the laid back atmosphere? Do you agree or disagree that Wilderness Lodge’s normal ambiance is an asset of this lounge? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Tom, not sure if you’ll still see this, but I figured you’d be one to appreciate it. While my wife and I were at Coronado Springs in September, we booked the free dining bounce back for next December for 5 adults at POR. I received a call from Disney Reservations on Sunday to let me know that the 5th sleeper rooms at POR are going away with the remodel going on there and that they’d like to upgrade us to a Deluxe for our stay. They asked if I had a preference, and, seeing as how my tastes seem to be quite similar to yours, I mentioned that I’d always wanted to stay at Wilderness Lodge at Christmas. After a moment, she told me they could put us there and said I’d see the change in My Disney Experience in an hour or so. I was pumped! I checked the Wilderness Lodge site and found that none of their standard rooms sleep 5, so I was bracing myself for another call to change again. However, when I checked MDE, we’d not only been upgraded to Wilderness Lodge, but to a Deluxe Room with Club Level Access! Talk about a win. I’m excited to cross that one off of my bucket list! If you’re down there between 12/12 and 12/19 of 2020, I’ll meet ya for a beer or at Whispering Canyon!
After rotating around the MK resorts for the past several years and meaning to get back to the WL, finally went back New Years week getting a “standard” room overlooking lobby…yes, with Christmas Tree and woods view. Remembered I loved WL so much that we went back April, staying in CL. I don’t think I can stay anywhere else. The cast members and Chef Lauren alone make it worth it. They really took care of us. We loved our stay so much I felt compelled to do something I never do, wrote emails to the WL GM, Old Faithful Club Manager and Disney Guest Services. I’m already booked for 2020!
Unfortunately, when we stayed Club Level at Wilderness Lodge it was during the renovations in the temporary lounge, which I believe was actually the Vice Presidential suite. Even with that, we LOVED staying Club Level.
My best friend and her family stays Club Level at Wilderness Lodge every trip they take and refuse to try anywhere else. Part of that is because they’ve developed a wonderful relationship with the Club Level Cast Member which opens doors. But also, the chef from Artist Point specially prepares food for their son to eat in the Club Level lounge due to his severe food allergies.
We are DVC now (Boulder Ridge) but I miss that extra Club Level shine. I wish we could add Club Level onto our Boulder Ridge stays.
Before hacking the WL into half DVC this club level was beyond believable. During the DVC work and post of which we visited about 10 times I can tell you that we would not take club level if offered for free. The normal Disney 7 years ago was beyond magically now between cutting club hours, food, and staff it just is plan old sad. More than once we received zero greeting from the DME (which is standard for club) to show you around only to go up and find no one even near the club desk. The next to last visit our room was not ready until after 6PM and we got a nice offer of “sorry it sometimes happens”. Pre DVC was peek WL, and like all things Disney this just worst with time. Just sell EPSN already and make Disney Parks Great Again!
As Club Levels go, my absolute favorite is at Animal Kingdom Lodge. While the Wilderness Lodge CL comes a close 2nd, I definitely did not care for the Beach Club’s CL. It seemed run-of-the-mill and nondescript by comparison. In fact, the food offerings were rather lackluster. As a bold seeker of new cuisines to test and try, I think the innovative and exceptional items typically found in the Kilimanjaro Club exceeded my expectations. Of course, the top of my Bucket List is CL at the Gran Destino Tower!
Hi Tom; thank you for your reviews, they are very helpful. We have been to WDW at least 26 times. The best stay we have is at the Grand Floridian Club level. I see in your post the Old Faithful lounge does not offer beverages throughout the day. Is this true for the Grand Floridian now? I hope not 🙁 Thank you!
We stayed at Grand Floridian CL in July and drinks were available all day. We are at Wilderness Lodge right now and my only complaint is the lack of USB ports in the room. (First world problems, I know.)
We stayed Club Level at Wilderness Lodge in April. We enjoyed the lounge a lot – while we didn’t try to make lunch or dinner out of it, being able to grab breakfast on the way out the door in the morning was a huge advantage for us, and the snacks and drinks close to the room saved us a ton of time. The service was also great. However, our family stayed in adjoining club level rooms and they were both pretty dingy, particularly the bathrooms. I probably wouldn’t do Club Level at Wildnerness again unless I knew the room was renovated.
Last spring we booked a 2 night stay at the end of our trip at Grand Floridian, we must have won the lottery, and we upgraded to Club Level. Our room was just across the lobby from the Club it was Fantastic. They went all out with hand made waffles in the morning, and crovisier at night.
As we had not planned for it, we did our best to make it a resort day. But let’s just say we had our hor’devrs at 3, and still made our Fast Pass at 7 Dwarves that ended at 325. Thank gosh, we already knew the walkway didn’t go through!
I would still say the splurge is worth it if you forgo the dinning plan. Club level and 2 meals a day is over kill.
We got upgraded to WL club level last December when we visited for our son’s birthday! It was truly amazing to see all the decorations from the club vantage point. The cast members went above and beyond to make us feel welcome! We enjoyed breakfast on our way out the door each morning and evening desserts and drinks were fantastic to look forward to after a day in the park. The cast members even went out of their way to get us some “plain” pasta for our picky 5 year old! Having stayed at Poly and WL, i think WL wins hands down!
Tom,
I love your style of writing. Your personality really shines through in all of your reviews and you are my go to person for all things Disney. I continue to refer to your Disneyland hotel rankings as we make our biweekly trips to Anaheim. I can’t wait to take our first trip to WDW. You’ve convinced me that we need to stay at Wilderness Lodge whenever we finally make the pilgrimage. Thank you for all that do!
Love the humor in this post. I booked our family’s split stay this December at the Poly and Wilderness Lodge based on your recommendations. I’m really looking forward to it, and I’m scoping out that coveted fireplace upon arrival.
We just returned from a CL stay at WL and thought it was absolutely amazing! I’ve long claimed WL as my favorite resort since our first stay there, but CL sealed the deal. We are already planning another trip and agree that Christmastime would be extra magical! The service was top notch. We never had an issue getting a drink in between service times. The hosts would often offer even if we were just walking by.
By itself, Big Wave on draft has me excited about the Old Faithful Club!
In September of 2016, I had the honor of meeting you and Sarah in front of The Great Movie Ride. During our brief conversation, I learned that you were staying, like us, at the relatively new Poly Villas. I mentioned how impressed I was with them and how the Poly was now making a run at Wilderness Lodge as my favorite WDW Resort. You agreed that the Poly was great, but could never match the Wilderness Lodge at Xmas time.
So I laughed today while reading that the Wilderness Lodge at Christmas is still very special to you. And I can’t argue.
P.S. My Wife still kids me about the picture I made her take of You, Sarah & myself on that day. It sits proudly in our photobook from that trip.
Haha! Well, I still agree with you that the Poly Villas are great (arguably DVC’s best). Glad to hear our photo turned out, too!
My opinions/rankings of Walt Disney World’s hotels change often based upon where we’ve stayed most recently and had good or bad experiences, but the one thing that never changes is my love of Wilderness Lodge at Christmas.
If I could ever only visit Walt Disney World one more time, it’d be a Christmas-time trip staying at Wilderness Lodge. No question.
I have never done club level but the WL one looks great. That cobbler looks amazing. Elysian IPA is all I need for alcohol as I enjoy that beer and happy the only choices for beer are not Bud Light or Budweiser. I also like the minor details like the Totem Pole chocolate.
If one factors in how much is spent on food in a day and subtracts that from (ideally) a discounted room rate, Club Level appears to be not as astronomical as it seems at first glance. It’s certainly a splurge, but is much more palatable if you plan on spending your time at the resort and eating and drinking mainly at the lounge. Got the planning gears in motion again already!
Aside from when we received a free upgrade at the Polynesian, all of our Club Level stays have been timed strategically on days when we would spend very little (if any) time at the parks. I definitely think that’s the best approach for more frugal travelers.
While the value proposition is still debatable, I have zero regrets about booking our recent Club Level stays. They’ve been expensive, but we’ve also had a lot of fun and eaten way too much delicious food while savoring a unique resort experience. Overall, they’ve have been “worth it” in my mind!
Your Beach Club concierge review still has me the most tempted for a split stay, and taking the splurge.
If you don’t go to the parks and view it as two days at a water park + alcohol + food, I can almost justify it. Still hasn’t quite crossed the threshold :-).
In that regard, I think Beach Club is a good place to dip your toe in the water of Club Level stays, so to speak.
Be warned, though. Once you experience and enjoy one of them, you’ll start wanting to make excuses to justify the rest. It’s like Pokemon–gotta stay at ’em all! 😉
I’m in. Love AKL’s club level. This is what I’d hope to try next.
We stayed Club Level at Wilderness Lodge in May. There were 6 of us and we needed a Deluxe Suite and the Club Level access was part of the package we booked (with a Bounce Back room discount-I have a great Travel Planner). It was an amazing experience. The concierge service was top-notch. Since there are no Deluxe Suites on the actual club floor, our room was on the 4th floor and a bit of a walk to the lounge. The staff kept our fridge stocked with water and soft drinks (offered to us before check-in and upon request after that). They also left snacks in our rooms a couple nights, which was great to find upon return from the parks.
We thought the food offerings were great. My youngest got his money’s worth in goldfish and gummies, but those of us with more refined tastes were pleased with the variety- especially in the evenings.
We love the Wilderness Lodge and I’m going to plan to stay here again sometime in late 2020 to experience this beautiful resort in all it’s Christmas Glory.
We have stayed club level at the Polynesian and Animal Kingdom, both were wonderful. We tried club at Wilderness lodge this April and just loved it (we immediately booked again for end of August when the summer discounts came out). We enjoy the sense of ‘privilege’ that comes with it. The concierge staff is exceptional. And compared to the other clubs, the Old Faithfull is quieter and feels less busy. A major part of our Disney experience is to enjoy the resorts, so deluxe and club are important to us. We also like that the cost is much more reasonable at Wilderness. With a good discount, the club level is comparable to the price of a standard no view room at the Polynesian.
Although we are willing to pay extra for club level, we are still ‘frugal’ about our trips. For the two of us, the dining plan doesn’t make sense. We made that mistake by getting the free dining along with club level at the Polynesian. There was just no way to eat that much food and we ended up using much of the dining plan credits on the last day getting a bunch of cookies and snacks that we took home. Now on trips, we book room only, get the best discount available (no full price for us) and offset some of the cost by having one or two meals a day from the club lounge and then split entrees or get kids meals from the restaurants.
“We made that mistake by getting the free dining along with club level at the Polynesian.”
Yeah, that’s definitely something to avoid–thanks for making that point.
Even if you can’t do full meals at (any) of the Club Levels, the Dining Plan on top of Club Level is serious overkill. If you want to do the Dining Plan, the best option is a split stay, with Club Level for a couple nights and the DDP the rest of the time.
So only light breakfast, lunch and dinner are included? No “real” meals? For that price you would think meals would be included much like a suite on a cruise.
Breakfast is a full continental spread, and you could certainly make a meal out of dinner (we did), but that’s not their intent.
This is par for the course with all Club Levels at Walt Disney World.
We love Club Level at Wilderness Lodge. I’d argue that with small kids the “lunch” options are ample – fruit and snacks are perfect for toddlers. But having every breakfast provided is huge. We also like the quiet place to hang out.
Although the nightly cost quoted may seem high, it is actually in line with the cost of a room at a decent motel/hotel in the Wildwood Crest, NJ area; so, although I was initially put off by the price, it’s actually “reasonable” when I compare it to what I’ve paid for a vacation in NJ. So, this Lodge is on my radar!!!