When you arrive at Walt Disney World and approach Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort for the first time it’s difficult to believe that you are in central Florida as opposed to a beautiful woodland setting in the far northern part of the United States. The setting itself is gorgeous and it is matched by the beauty and splendor of the resort. It is one of Walt Disney World’s best themed resorts and a favorite of thousands of regular visitors, in fact, many visitors to this resort simply will not stay anywhere else. I can’t say that I blame them because it is one of the most relaxing of all the Disney resort hotels. Let’s look at the Pros and Cons of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort:

PROS:

• The setting and the resort itself are absolutely beautiful, as good or better than any other at Walt Disney World.
• The theme of the resort is striking, not just in it’s detail and accuracy, but also in it’s scope and splendor. Yes there is a running stream inside the lobby.
• The cast members are truly helpful and friendly but that is the norm for Walt Disney World.
• The quality of the dining venues is excellent from the Roaring Fork Snack Shop self service cafe to the Whispering Canyon Cafe table service to the Artist Point Signature restaurant. (See also CONS). Roaring Fork is pretty typical of Disney quick serve hotel locations. The Whispering Canyon Cafe serves excellent food with plenty of variety in a raucous but fun setting and Artist Point is an outstanding upscale restaurant that serves not only many standard choices but a variety of exotic game dishes. For you salmon fans, the Cedar Plank Salmon at Artist Point is NOT TO BE MISSED!!,

When you arrive at Walt Disney World and approach Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort for the first time it’s difficult to believe that you are in central Florida as opposed to a beautiful woodland setting in the far northern part of the United States. The setting itself is gorgeous and it is matched by the beauty and splendor of the resort. It is one of Walt Disney World’s best themed resorts and a favorite of thousands of regular visitors, in fact, many visitors to this resort simply will not stay anywhere else. I can’t say that I blame them because it is one of the most relaxing of all the Disney resort hotels. Let’s look at the Pros and Cons of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort:

PROS:

• The setting and the resort itself are absolutely beautiful, as good or better than any other at Walt Disney World.
• The theme of the resort is striking, not just in it’s detail and accuracy, but also in it’s scope and splendor. Yes there is a running stream inside the lobby.
• The cast members are truly helpful and friendly but that is the norm for Walt Disney World.
• The quality of the dining venues is excellent from the Roaring Fork Snack Shop self service cafe to the Whispering Canyon Cafe table service to the Artist Point Signature restaurant. (See also CONS). Roaring Fork is pretty typical of Disney quick serve hotel locations. The Whispering Canyon Cafe serves excellent food with plenty of variety in a raucous but fun setting and Artist Point is an outstanding upscale restaurant that serves not only many standard choices but a variety of exotic game dishes. For you salmon fans, the Cedar Plank Salmon at Artist Point is NOT TO BE MISSED!!,
• Transportation is very good but buses are generally shared with at least one other resort (varies). There is excellent boat transportation to the Magic Kingdom, Contemporary Resort (where you can catch the Monorail), and Fort Wilderness (home of the Hoop De Doo Review). The boats are a fun and very relaxing way to get around.
• The rooms are varied and some are particularly family friendly. They run from the standard two queen bed room, to the king bed room to the queen bed and bunk bed combination room(family friendly). The king bed rooms are also the barrier free rooms and there are 37 of them.
• The huge lobby is a nice place to sit and relax after a hard day in the parks. There is a gigantic stone fireplace that is particularly striking.
• The main pool is very scenic with a great view of the resort, grounds, and Fire Rock Geyser which erupts every hour on the hour from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM. There are two spas (Disney for hot tubs) at the main pool. There is a quiet pool with a spa in the Disney Vacation Club Villas area, also very nice.

CONS:

• There are not many Cons here but the one that is most prominent is the number of restaurants. The quality of the restaurants is absolutely not the issue but this resort could use one more casual table service venue. You can only eat at Whispering Canyon or Roaring Fork so many times before they become stale and most folks (especially with kids) can’t afford to eat too often at Artist Point (I could eat there every evening but that’s me – the food is amazing).
• This is the only Magic Kingdom Area Resort without Monorail service. You can, however, take a boat to the Contemporary Resort to catch the Monorail. It’s a very nice ride if the weather cooperates (which it generally does). It simply would not be practical to run a Monorail spur to the Wilderness Lodge.

The Wilderness Lodge Resort is one of Walt Disney World’s best and most popular resorts. Any stay here will be both fun and rewarding in that you will find it easy to relax in a beautiful and calm setting. Although lots of folks stay here there is no sense of frenzy like I have noticed at some of the other popular Deluxe resorts. I use the term frenzy reluctantly because it’s nothing I can really put a finger on but it just does not exist at this resort. It would be worth your while to consider this resort for a future visit to Walt Disney World. As always, enjoy your visit to Walt Disney World!!

Ken