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Walt Disney World Wilderness Lodge Resort – Is It For You?

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Walt Disney World Wilderness Lodge Resort

Are you thinking about staying in Walt Disney World Wilderness Lodge Resort Hotel? If you are looking for a luxury hotel with a wonderful location then you need to consider Disney World Wilderness Lodge Resort .

This deluxe Walt Disney World hotel takes it’s inspiration from the Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone National Park. It is one of the most beautiful and relaxing of all of the Disney World resort hotel.

Even though you are so close to Magic Kingdom you feel as though you are in a quiet oasis away from the hustle and bustle of the Disney theme parks. You truly do seem to step into a different age as soon as you enter the Wilderness Lodge resort.

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Wilderness Lodge Courtyard

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Guests have a choice between the traditional hotel rooms of the Lodge and the Disney Wilderness Resort Villas. These studio, one and two bedroom villas are part of the Disney Vacation Club but can be booked by non DVC members.

The address of the Disney Wilderness Lodge Hotel is 901 Timberline Dr. Lake Buena Vista, FLA 32830. The phone number is 407-824-3200 and the fax is 407-824-3232.

So what does the Walt Disney Wilderness Resort Hotel have to offer? Here is a guide to the best rooms, a tour around the facilities and restaurants. This will help you decide if the Disney Wilderness Resort is the place for you to stay for your magical vacation.

Rooms at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort

Front of Disney's Wilderness Lodge

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The Wilderness Lodge has 728 rooms which are 340 square feet in size. The Lodge has the smallest sized deluxe rooms of all the Disney resorts. Expect a wonderfully themed room which will make you think that you are in a luxury log cabin. The rooms have very detailed Native American themed bedspreads and carved animals on the furniture.

Most rooms at the Wilderness Lodge have 2 Queen sized beds, but some of the rooms have 1 Queen and 1 bunk bed. These bunk bed rooms are great for families with small children. Unfortunately you cannot request a bunk bed room. There are also a small number of rooms with a King bed. Many of the rooms do have balconies but unfortunately not all – so be sure to request a room with a balcony. As with all requests this of course cannot be guaranteed but it doesn’t hurt to ask!

Standard rooms rack rates at Disney Wilderness Resort start at $345 for Value season going up to $565 in Holiday Season. Club Level rooms at Wilderness Lodge start at $579 and rise to $878 in Holiday Season. Click Here to See the Latest Pricing

Standard view rooms at Walt Disney World Wilderness Lodge Resort generally have a view of the parking lot or over the roof of the building. However due to the excellent design of the Wilderness Lodge there really aren’t that many of these rooms and you are much more likely to get a reasonable to great view.

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The bathrooms in the Wilderness Lodge have the popular configuration of the double sink vanity being outside from the bathroom with the toilet, bath and shower.

There are also some Junior Suites available. This is a great option for families and is a good alternative to the Wilderness Lodge Villas. The Junior Suites have 2 rooms with approximately 500 square feet of space. The bedroom has 2 Queen beds. The living/kitchen are has a pull out sleeper sofa. Junior Suite guests also have access to the concierge lounge Old Faithful.

The Villas at Wilderness Lodge offer larger accommodation which can be a great idea for families. Studios, one and two bedroom villas are available. The studios have kitchenettes and the villas have full kitchens.

I am a big fan of villa accommodation as this offers families not only the chance to have much more space, but also to prepare some of their own meals. This can prove to be a big money saver and may be worth booking a villa, particularly if you have a larger family. The Villas are part of Disney Vacation Club, but you can rent them even if you are not a member.

What a place to wake up in (Disney's Wilderness Lodge)

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What are the Disney Wilderness Lodge Room Views?

There are 3 view type classifications at the Wilderness Resort Lodge: Standard View, Wood View and Courtyard View.

Woodland View rooms at Walt Disney World Wilderness Lodge Resort are an excellent option. If you can then try and get a room on the 6th floor. 6604 to 6030 have a great view of the Magic Kingdom fireworks. Strangely, the views from the 7th floor concierge rooms are not the best views. Although some do have a view of the Magic Kingdom some other non concierge rooms offer a better view. Room 7054 has an excellent view of the Magic Kingdom castle. If staying on the 7th floor then ask for a room with a Magic Kingdom view – the even numbered rooms are on this side

Most of the rooms at the Wilderness Villas have woodland views. The odd numbered villas 2351 to 2563 and 3531 to 3563 have some of the best views. The rates for the Wilderness Villas start from $315 right up to over $1300 per villa per night depending on size of villa and season.

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Is Concierge Level at the Disney Wilderness Resort Lodge Worth the Extra Money?

Staying at a concierge level in a Disney World deluxe hotel can be a great option. As well as the services of the concierge to assist you with anything you need during your stay, the concierge level offers a separate lounge serving drinks and snacks throughout the day.

The Old Faithful lounge of Walt Disney World Wilderness Lodge Resort is on the 7th floor. It is actually pretty small but most guests report that it doesn’t seem to get too crowded. Food is served throughout the day. If you want you can use the concierge food to save on meals at the parks – some guests certainly do this. For breakfast there is a selection of cereal,pastries, yogurt and fruit. The daytime snacks are cookies and small snacks like goldfish. In the evening there are 2 hot items, dips, crudites,bread, crackers and cheese. Soft drinks, beer and wine are also available.

One of my favorites is dessert time in the evening! They offer cookies, brownies and a hot dessert.Room rates start at $579 per night so you are paying quite a lot more than just a standard room.

The rooms are the same as the standard non concierge rooms and many have the same views over the courtyard or woods. Guests report varied experiences with concierge staff. I have stayed at Disney hotels both on concierge and non concierge. I tend to look at the price difference between the two at the time of my stay to see if it really is worth the difference. Walt Disney World Wilderness Lodge Resort concierge can be a great choice.

I have a family of 5 so it can be worth it for the concierge lounge food. However, if you are expecting a better room or view from concierge then you may want to think twice about your choice.

Dining at Walt Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Hotel

#38 Dining in the Wilderness

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Artist Point restaurant at the Wilderness Lodge is one of my favorite places to dine at Disney World. The food is consistently good and the atmosphere and decor are so relaxing it it just a very special place to eat. Even if you are not staying at the resort you should consider dining at Artist’s Point.

Artist Point is a Signature Dining Restaurant so will require 2 Dining Credits if you are on the Disney Dining Plan.

The design of the Artist Point restaurant is inspired by the historic national park lodges. Tall windows at the end of the dining room look out to the beautiful landscape of the resort with a view of the lake and waterfall.

Enjoy Artist Point signature dish Cedar Plank Roasted Pacific King Salmon with baby sweet potato, chicory greens, forelle pears, yogurt, lemon vinaigrette for $47. Their entrees are exceptional and include buffalo steak,grilled pork chop and seared scallops. Entrees start at $30 up to $50.

Don’t forget to try one of the signature desserts such as Artist Point Cobbler. Desserts are priced around $10 to $13.

Whispering Canyon Cafe

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Whispering Canyon Cafe is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is located just off the lobby. It is a lot of fun,particularly for families. Each table has a lazy susan in the middle where your food is placed.

You can order a la carte but the family style skillet meals are popular and a good value. Breakfast serves typical favorites like waffles,omelet and the good value Canyon Skillet. Lunch offerings include sandwiches and burgers. Dinner favorites are meatloaf,roast chicken and grilled rib eye.

The Whispering Canyon Cafe is a lively and often noisy place. Some of the guest rooms in the main building get some noise from the restaurant and guests can find this annoying. In particular if you want to sleep past 8am then you need to request a room away from this area.

The Roaring Fork is counter service with a good selection of breakfast favorites, sandwiches,burgers and pizza.

Recreation at Disney’s Wilderness Resort

Wilderness Lodge Pool

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The Disney Wilderness Resort Hotel has 2 swimming pools. The main pool actually begins in the lobby! Right there in the hotel lobby there is a bubbling geyser which runs outside to Sliver Creek Falls and finally into the pool. There is a water slide and a children’s pool. This pool does get pretty busy at times, but there is an alternative quieter pool where you can get away from the noise if you want to.

Wilderness Lodge

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There are plenty of ways to be active at the Wilderness Resort. Work out at the Sturdy Branches health club,enjoy a one mile run on the trail to Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground or rent a bike.

Wilderness Lodge Stream

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Disney’s Wilderness Resort is one of the most relaxing resorts too – you have to experience it to realize just how reminiscent of those great lodges of the National Parks it is. One of my favorite things to do is to escape the excitement of the theme parks and just relax on the beach at Bay Lake.

The Wilderness Lodge is of course situated right there on the shores of Bay Lake so you can enjoy some water pursuits too. You can rent water craft or take a fishing trip

If the children still have some energy left from a day at Disney World there is a playground open 24 hours a day. If parents want a break then they can sign up their kids aged 4 to 12 for the supervised activities at Cub’s Den.

You may also want to sign up for the free tour around the resort – Wonders of the Lodge. The tour gives an insight into the design, architecture, landscaping and art work in the hotel. The tour starts at 9am on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Walt Disney Wilderness Lodge Transportation

Wilderness Lodge

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One of the advantages of staying at a Disney hotel is that if you are just visiting the theme parks then you do not need to rent a car because you can use the free Disney transportation system.

The Walt Disney World Wilderness Lodge Resort location on Bay Lake means that one way to get to Magic Kingdom is to take the boat from the hotel dock. You can also take a bus to Magic Kingdom and all the other Disney parks.Most of the time there is not that long of a wait for a bus. There are buses to take you to Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The bus to Animal Kingdom also stops at Blizzard Beach. Buses to Downtown Disney start running at 4pm. The Wilderness Lodge buses also stop at the Polynesian and the Floridian resort hotels.

Weddings atWalt Disney World Wilderness Lodge Resort

If you are dreaming of a Walt Disney World Wedding you can get married at this lovely location in Walt Disney World Wilderness Lodge Resort. Sunrise Terrace at Wilderness Lodge gives a beautiful view of Disney’s Bay Lake. Escape Weddings at Wilderness Lodge Sunrise Terrace start at $4500 with the amenity package.

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Disney's Boardwalk Inn

Wednesday 8th of January 2014

[...] Walt Disney World Wilderness Lodge Resort [...]

Progressive House

Sunday 9th of June 2013

Hi there, You've done an excellent job.

Cheryl Patrick

Thursday 22nd of March 2012

Does anyone know what is considered a Court Yard View? What exactly is that overlooking?

Alison

Thursday 22nd of March 2012

Yes a court yard view overlooks Bay Lake or one of the Wilderness Resort swimming pools

Top 10 Disney World Hotel Resorts – EverythingMouse

Saturday 7th of January 2012

[...] Walt Disney World Wilderness Lodge Resort [...]

Disney Magic Kingdom Hotels

Friday 4th of November 2011

[...] If you want to know more check out this guide to Walt Disney World Wilderness Lodge Resort [...]