Ultimate Guide to Wilderness Lodge
Wilderness Lodge is our #1 hotel not just at Walt Disney World, but in the entire world. In this ultimate guide, we share room resources, quick tips, info, and when to visit (obviously Christmas). Since Wilderness Lodge is also one of Disney’s most “complicated” resorts, this should be helpful in better understanding the convoluted hotel.
There’s Wilderness Lodge the hotel, plus the Copper Creek Villas, which are inside the main lodge and used to be hotel rooms. Copper Creek also includes the new Cascade Cabins, which dot the waterfront. About half of those cabins are in front of the Boulder Ridge Villas, which is the Disney Vacation Club building that used to be simply the Villas at Wilderness Lodge.
Confused yet? Then we’ll spare you a recitation of the convoluted and superfluous backstory that attempts to explain how all of this fits together in terms of a narrative and a timeline. Simply put, the backstory is bad and unnecessary at a resort where the theme of a U.S. National Park Lodge set in the Pacific Northwest is fairly self-evident. The best course of action is simply ignoring the contrived backstory.
Anyway, for those who have missed them, here’s a rundown of our posts about Wilderness Lodge, almost all of which are new or newly-updated. We also include a quick summary and a few key takeaways for those who don’t want to read each post…
Restaurants & Dining
Storybook Dining at Artist Point – The new Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (minus 5) character meal at Wilderness Lodge, which was a controversial replacement for Signature Dining. While we strongly disagree with the decision to outright replace the normal dinner at Artist Point (couldn’t they just add character breakfast–as was done in the past here?!), we were pleasantly surprised by the cuisine quality here.
Roaring Fork Review – This counter service restaurant received an extensive refurbishment a couple of years ago (during Wilderness Lodge’s overhaul), and the expanded and more ambitious menu here was one of the best things to come of that. While this is still not “destination” counter service dining for most people, there’s something to be said for a midday boat ride from Magic Kingdom for a relaxed (and delicious) meal here.
Whispering Canyon Cafe Review – A cult favorite among longtime Walt Disney World fans, Whispering Canyon Cafe is a zany restaurant that offers comical interactions with deadpan and humorous servers. The cuisine is mostly good (especially the Canyon Skillet), and is great for those looking for barbecue or comfort food in a high-energy atmosphere. While that energy has been ‘toned down’ a tad, the performance element here is still going strong.
Territory Lounge Review – One of Walt Disney World’s most underrated bars, Territory Lounge is great for its subdued and mellow ambiance, and a solid menu that includes a couple of popular appetizers and desserts from the (former) Artist Point Signature Dining menu.
Geyser Point Bar & Grill – The natural setting is the highlight of this waterfront lounge. We personally prefer Territory Lounge on the bar side, or Roaring Fork on the food side, but Geyser Point is a nice option for drinks at sunset (and for a couple of its entrees).
Hotel Rooms & Villas
Wilderness Lodge Review – This fully-updated review features the hotel rooms at Wilderness Lodge, along with thoughts about the resort’s themed design, amenities, transportation, and more. This is a good starting point for reading about Wilderness Lodge, as it covers info and background about the resort that our DVC reviews gloss over. These are slightly dated, but still my favorite rooms at Wilderness Lodge.
Copper Creek Villas Review – These converted hotel rooms are the newest Disney Vacation Club units at Walt Disney World (for now), and they skew much more towards an airy and modern design sensibility than any other rooms at Wilderness Lodge. If that’s your cup of tea, fine. Personally, these are my least favorite rooms at Wilderness Lodge.
Boulder Ridge Villas Review – The outlying and dedicated Disney Vacation Club building, which is a very short walk from the main building of the lodge. These rooms are ~15 feet larger than standard rooms in the lodge, and their design is more to my tastes than the newer Copper Creek rooms. These were also refurbished in the last few years, so they don’t feel tired, and are more on-theme.
Cascade Cabins Review – These waterfront cabins are priced in “if you have to ask, you probably can’t afford them” territory, and are a poor value for money even when using Disney Vacation Club points. Nevertheless, they are nicely-appointed, and have a more thematically-appropriate style than other DVC additions at Wilderness Lodge.
Further Reading
Wilderness Lodge at Christmas – Via photos and text, we make the case as to why Wilderness Lodge is the best place in all of Walt Disney World at Christmas–not just the best resort during the holidays. The decorations, music, and tree are all gorgeous and rife with detail, but this is truly a matter of the whole being more than the sum of its parts.
Wilderness Lodge v. Animal Kingdom Lodge – A showdown between Walt Disney World’s two lodges, which are also the two most richly-themed resorts at Walt Disney World, as well as the two “cheapest” Deluxes. We love both, and have a tough time choosing between the two. This post breaks them down in a few different ways to help you decide which might appeal to you more.
Grand Californian Review – Designed by the same architect as Wilderness Lodge, this is Disneyland Resort’s flagship hotel. It deviates from Wilderness Lodge in pretty significant ways with an Arts & Crafts sensibility drawn from homes in nearby Pasadena, but nonetheless shares strong bloodlines with Wilderness Lodge.
Sequoia Lodge Review – Conquered both Wilderness Lodge and the Grand Californian, and eager for more? Sequoia Lodge is the Disneyland Paris “version” of this concept. While this property was likewise inspired by U.S. National Park Lodges, it was also evokes Frank Lloyd Wright’s modern Prairie Style. This is one of Disney’s most under-appreciated resorts in the world from a design perspective.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you think of Wilderness Lodge? What’s your favorite room type here? What about dining? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? 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!
As per the post on Facebook about staying here at Christmas, I am afraid that this is only a thing of dreams for us here in Australia. Unfortunately, the exchange rate doesn’t help when it comes to the cost of deluxe resorts so we are value resort stayers. Four people for a Christmas stay …. Pop came in at AU$470 per night and Wilderness came in at AU$1,183 per night. That’s a huge difference for our skinny wallets. Thankfully though, one doesn’t need to stay there to enjoy the lobby, the bars and the restaurants so a visit for a couple of hours allows us to indulge a little in how the ‘other half’ live 😀 Of course, if the Aussie dollar ever gets closer to the US dollar like it did a few years back, we will definitely be giving WL a go and I look forward to that day very much.
Have to say we were less than impressed with our stay here. We had a bunk bed room. It was clear the reason it was a. bunk bed room was because the room was so small there was no room for two full beds. Yes the large bed was not a queen in a deluxe resort. I had to sleep on a twin bed because the bed was too small to share with on of the teens. The room was smaller than Pop or at least felt that way. The extra square footage was all in the walkway, bathroom and closet. THEy were disproportionately large. The quick service restaurant is really hard to use. THE line is huge because there is only one person checking everyone out. After you order and pay you wait for them to deliver the food. NO way to eat a quick breakfast on the way to the parks in the morning. So not worth the money. The lobby is beautiful, but I can visit it while staying somewhere nicer. When compared to the room we stayed in here our Pop room was a huge improvement and so was the food court at Pop.
We had an amazing time here a few weeks ago. After years of dreaming of staying there, we finally found it on Priceline Express for $230 a night. Once we put the pieces together and figured out which hotel the deal was for, we booked immediately. In the 3.5 days we were there, I only went into a park for maybe 3 hours. The Lodge gave enough to do and enough to explore that I never felt the need to leave!
I am planning a trip for next year with 3 adult and to kids 5and under will we like a staay thete
We recently purchased a package of points at WL for Copper Creek, and stayed there in December a week (studios) then at Boardwalk, and we have stayed in the Kidani Villas Studios as a comparison. I love Wilderness Lodge for the holidays, and that didn’t change. But to my surprise whoever designed the Copper Creek studio bed setup has obviously never slept there. The queen regular bed was very good, not excellent, but on a par with other studios. The sofa queen was HORRENDOUS! Brand new bed style, with a 1 1/2′” mattress! A metal bar running through it completes the instrument of sleep created by Marquis de Sade. We had to have a memory “foam” topper brought up, then another one to just make it sleep-able by my adult son who is a Cadet in a military academy and about to be commissioned in the Marines. He said sleeping on the ground on rucks in the rain was preferable. I politely made my opinions made (the trip overall was fabulous and the staff at WL extremely accommodating) and they shook their heads and remarked that they get that comment all the time. Boardwalk and Kidani seem to have older sofa beds with very comfortable mattresses about 5″. No need for toppers. Why would something so obvious go unmentioned at Copper Creek? We are going in May back to Kidani and in September we were going back to Copper Creek but I am going to change it or cancel. It’s a shame our home Villas are so plain (as you remarked) and uncomfortable. Frankly, we feel we made a mistake with Copper Creek, and really didn’t realize that they were re-purposed hotel room on the main building. The Boulder Ridge Villas were so much nicer in my opinion.
One thing we really liked about WL was some rooms have a queen bed and a set of bunk beds. It was a great setup for two younger kids to not have to share a bed.
Hello! Are there still “regular” cabins at Fort Wilderness? I had bookmarked this post of yours for an upcoming trip – https://www.disneytouristblog.com/cabins-fort-wilderness-review/
Thank you!
Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness are two separate resorts.
We just finished a stay in a two-bedroom at Boulder Ridge Villas and then a two-bedroom at Kidani at Animal Kingdom. While I loved the grounds, dining options, boat service options, and compactness of Wilderness Lodge, I did not think the rooms were particularly nice – the Kidani rooms are much, much nicer and better laid-out. The downside to Kidani of course is proximity to parks (and our room is really far from the bus stop) but the room is just so much nicer than Wilderness Lodge I have a hard time imagining I’ll stay at Wilderness again. Too bad because I really did love the rest of the resort.
I love everything about WL: the theme, the lobby, serene nature walk area, Boulder Ridge common area themed to old fashion railroad, WL merchandise with Humphrey the Bear, fun plus delicious food at Whispering Canyon, grabbing a beer at Territory Lounge, or grabbing a beer at Geyser Point and watching the Electrical Water Pageant roll by. I am glad AK Lodge, Grand California, and Sequoia Lodge follow the same richly-themed type resort.
This is a great guide. I think the two lodges (WL and AKL) are Disney’s finest themed resorts anywhere (okay perhaps the MiraCosta tops it, but it’s also more compact, whereas the lodges have more room to immerse you from the moment you pass the security gates, arrive by boat, or enter their sweeping lobbies).
Location aside, I would pick them over any other Disney resort in the world—sometimes the Crescent Lake or monorail resorts might win out for proximity’s sake, but these lodges are something special, especially as creations in the middle of Central Florida.
We have stayed here for the past 3 visits. Absolutely love it we were lucky enough to snag a 2 bedroom in copper creek area last year! (Stunning). The grounds are so relaxing and takes you out of the hustle and bustle feel from MK(even though its just a quick boat ride away).
Finally got to stay recently and loved it! My husband took a power nap in one of the chairs in the first pic.
Thanks for the collected reviews!
Wasn’t there a review recently on the Club level?
When could we expect to find any discounts for a December stay?