Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort is a Disney-owned, deluxe (top tier) resort at Walt Disney World near Magic Kingdom. It’s themed after an upscale lodge you might find near a western national park like Yellowstone National Park, with log cabin aesthetics, rustic elements, and many nods to Native American culture like the enormous totem poles in the lobby.

The title picture for a review on Disney World's Wilderness Lodge. The text explains that with a photo of the resort from the back, showing the room balconies and a well-lit waterfall. — *Feel free to pin this to Pinterest if you enjoy the article.*

In our opinion, it’s one of the most beautiful resorts on property, and it’s our favorite during the Christmas season.

Below, I’ll give an overview of Wilderness Lodge’s accommodations, location, and features. Then I’ll give you a review of our recent experience there.

Tip before we get started: Don't confuse the Wilderness Lodge with Fort Wilderness. Fort Wilderness is an RV park and campground for Disney guests. This is especially important for Lyft and bus transportation. It would be annoying to go to the wrong place (or worse, book the wrong place).

Location

Wilderness Lodge is located just across the Seven Seas Lagoon from Disney’s Magic Kingdom theme park. If you’re looking at Magic Kingdom, it’s to the southeast of the park, very close to the Contemporary Resort. In fact, the room we had on our last trip had a view of the fireworks at Magic Kingdom, and we could see both Contemporary towers.

*Our view from our room—Contemporary Resort to the right, the fireworks, and an unfortunate tree blocking the castle.*

Despite Wilderness Lodge’s proximity to Magic Kingdom, it is, unfortunately, not on the monorail. However, it does have quick access to Magic Kingdom by boat or by bus. It also has bus access to all the other theme parks, water parks, and Disney Springs.

If you have access to a car, it might be useful to go to the other parks besides Magic Kingdom by car, now that parking is free both at the hotel and the parks for Disney resort guests. It doesn’t make sense to drive to Magic Kingdom because you have to park at the Transportation and Ticket Center, which is farther away from the park than the Wilderness Lodge itself.

The parking lot is also directly in front of the resort, with easy access to the main building.

Benefits of Deluxe

Wilderness Lodge is considered a deluxe resort at Disney, the highest tier of resort at Disney World. Deluxe benefits typically include larger base room sizes (and queen beds instead of full), balconies, better restaurant choices (often including a character meal and signature dining), better pools and splash pads, fitness centers, and the Disney-theming is more subtle. Deluxe accommodations also offer potential extended hours in the parks that other Disney guests and non-Disney resort guests don’t have access to (depending on the day).

While not exclusive to deluxe resorts, all deluxe resorts will have a form of transportation besides bus, closer proximity to the theme parks (see my article on Beach Club proximity to EPCOT). For instance Wilderness is closer than any moderate or value resort to Magic Kingdom and has its own boat.

A photo of fireworks going off over magic kingdom. The photo is taken from a boat from Wilderness Lodge in the Seven Seas Lagoon outside the park. You can see the water, the entrance, the bus stops, and the castle. — *Tip: If you time it right, you can watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the Wilderness Lodge boat (like we did above).*

Many deluxe resorts also offer Club Level accommodations, with access to a private lounge with included food and drinks and a private concierge. Wilderness has a Club Level option. Coronado Springs is the only non-deluxe resort that has a Club Level.

Click on the link below for a full breakdown of deluxe benefits.

https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/advantages-staying-deluxe-resort-575926/

Rooms at the Wilderness Lodge

Wilderness Lodge offers spacious rooms with varying sizes and quality of views. We stayed in one of the standard rooms with a theme park view, and it was amazing. It was easy to fit a crib in for our 2-year-old, so fitting all five of us was no problem. Wilderness Lodge has different size suites available as well, including one-bedroom and two-bedroom options. Some studios and many suites are part of the Club Level options.

A photo of the two queen beds in a Wilderness Lodge standard room. It has dark wood cabinets with grey granite on top. There's a little girl standing with her back to the camera. — *Our standard room. My daughter was too excited to let me take the picture first.*

The guest rooms continue to fit the hunting or mountain lodge aesthetic, with large bathrooms and comfortable beds. Each room will also have a balcony.

Part of every deluxe resort property belongs to the Disney Vacation Club, Disney’s timeshare program. These accommodations typically come with suite options, full kitchens, and other perks. Wilderness has regular DVC rooms at the Copper Creek Villas, the Boulder Ridge Villas, and the cabins right on the Seven Seas Lagoon that look amazing. These are available primarily to DVC members, but if there’s availability, they open them up to the public for reserving.

*The lakeside cabins at Wilderness Lodge. My daughter and I passed them as we wandered the resort.*

Pools

Wilderness Lodge has a feature pool and another pool. The main pool, or feature pool, called the Copper Creek Springs Pool, is closest to the lobby. It has a beautiful waterfall feature that feeds water into the pool. A realistic rock structure in the middle of the pool houses a small water slide (much smaller than most deluxe resorts). The pool area also has a great splash pad with slides and other features. Finally, it has two hot tubs—well, one is tepid and the other is hot (intending to simulate the kinds of things you might find a mountain spa retreat). Behind the pool is a geyser that goes off at regular intervals.

The main pool at Wilderness Lodge. It has horseshoe shape around a rock structure that houses the small water slide. Kids swim while lifeguards watch. — *We enjoyed hanging out at the main pool. It was a little cold in December, but the pool is heated.*

This pool also features the activities, lifeguards, and quick access to a bar that most deluxe and moderate Disney feature pools have. If you’ve never stayed at a Disney resort with kids, the lifeguards are the absolute best and make sitting by the pool so much more relaxing.

A splash pad at the pool at Wilderness Lodge with a facade that looks like tied timber, like a frontier fort. — *Fun splash pad for the little kids at Wilderness Lodge.*

The other pool is in front of the Boulder Ridge DVC rooms and is called the Boulder Ridge Cove Pool. It lacks the slides, lifeguards, and splash pad that the other pool has, but has interesting theming as well, with a large water tower and mining facades. It also has a zero-entry area and a hot tub. If you like a quieter pool, this is a great one, but it’s much larger and more themed than most of the quiet pools as other resorts.

*The zero-entry area of the Boulder Ridge Cove Pool.*

Dining

Wilderness Lodge has several dining options, from grab and go and quick service, to casual dining, outdoor casual, and fine dining. It also has an upscale bar with great food called Territory Lounge.

Artist Point (Story Book Dining with Snow White)

This is Wilderness Lodge’s upscale option. It’s only a dinner restaurant. (The area is used for crafts earlier in the day). It’s also only a character restaurant. If you eat here, you get to interact with Snow White and several dwarfs (Tolkien invented the spelling dwarves. Disney spells it dwarfs), as well as the Evil Queen. It’s unique to get to meet a villain, and she is hilarious.

A mother and two daughters pose with Snow White at Artist Point at Wilderness Lodge in Disney World. The youngest daughter is wearing a Snow White costume. The restaurant is dark with lantern light and lights in greenery in the rafters. — *All my girls with Snow White—my wife would make a great Snow White.*

However, the real star of this meal is the food. In my wife’s and my opinion, Artist Point has the best food of any character meal. Everything is prix fixe, meaning you pay one price for the whole meal. It comes with bread service, an appetizer, entrée, and dessert, as well as non-alcoholic drinks. The mushroom soup is amazing, as is the prime rib and pork shank. The food is very creative, and luckily, they have boring kids meals for our picky children.

A photo of a pork shank in polenta with steamed greens. It's an entree at Artist Point in Wilderness Lodge in Disney World. — *Here’s my unbelievably delicious pork shank on polenta. It’s making me hungry just editing the picture.*

Tell the kids you’re there for the characters, but really be there for the food.

Whispering Canyon Cafe

This is another restaurant we return to again and again, even when we’re not staying here. Whispering Canyon is a western-themed restaurant with hearty meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We’ve eaten every meal here at some point, but this trip we had breakfast for the first time, and it was amazing.

A country themed restaurant at Disney World. A waiter walks by in suspenders and an extremely large, red cowboy hat. — *Our waiter and his huge cowboy hat.*

The best thing about Whispering Canyon is the staff. Each staff member is a whimsical character that teases you, yells when you order random stuff, and does comedy bits with other cast members. Even if you don’t need it, ask for ketchup. Trust me.

Roaring Fork

Each Disney resort has a relatively boring grab and go restaurant with a few made-to-order items and a bunch of items you can purchase off the shelf or out of the fridge. Roaring Fork is Wilderness Lodge’s version. The food is decent, if overpriced. Disney not having a breakfast included option is one of the best cases for staying offsite at Disney.

My biggest gripe about these quick service restaurant cafeterias is that if you order a fountain drink, you are limited to a certain number of refills based on the computer chip in the bottom of the cup. That’s fine, but they often malfunction, and I’ve had to ask for new cups on many occasions. Luckily, they always trusted me.

You can bypass that issue by buying the reusable cups that are good for the length of your stay, but I’ve had those mess up, too.

Geyser Point Bar and Grill

Geyser Point is a rustic sports bar/pool bar near the Copper Creek Pool. When I arrived at the hotel, the staff informed me that the bison burger was one of the best burgers on property. I didn’t get a chance to try it, but when the staff recommends something away from the main restaurants, it’s probably good.

A photo of the exterior of Geyser Point, an open-air bar and grill near the pool at Wilderness Lodge. It's made up of large rocks and thick wooden beams like a mountain lodge. — *I headed to Geyser Point when we arrived because it was all that was still open.*

I did get a chance to try their drinks, flatbread, and kids meal food. The drinks were great, and the kids meal food was what you’d expect. The flatbread, on the other hand, was amazing—if you like the idea of figs and arugula on flatbread.

Other Amenities

Wilderness Lodge also has several other amenities such as the Sturdy Branches gym, which has one of the only barbells on property (though it’s part of a Smith machine). It also has an arcade, lots of activities, movies on the lake, grilling areas, several fireplaces, and tons of rocking chairs.

Our Review: Wilderness Lodge at Christmas

We stayed at Wilderness Lodge just before Thanksgiving, hoping to enjoy the Christmas holidays. Unfortunately, the decorations weren’t up yet. My wife found out that the decorations were coming that night! We woke up the next morning to a 40’ Christmas tree in the lobby and holly and lights everywhere. It was one of the most magical experiences we’ve had a Disney World.

The Wilderness Lodge lobby, rustic, hunting lodge style. An open, 5 story lobby. The Christmas tree almost reaches the ceiling. — *This appeared overnight for us! The tree stands 60 feet tall.*

We experienced the standard but impeccable Disney service while we were there. We also thought the food, the room, and the view were amazing.

Each resort has a scavenger hunt, usually for hidden Mickeys, and we did the Wilderness Lodge one. Our reward was a special button. It was a great way to explore the resort. We made use of the transportation to Magic Kingdom (a quick boat ride), and we watched the fireworks multiple times from our balcony.

A very realistic rock facade with water running through it near the Wilderness Lodge geyser. There's a hidden Mickey in the rock formation. — *A hidden Mickey we found near the Geyser on our scavenger hunt.*

There’s really nothing bad to say about the Wilderness Lodge at Disney World.

Conclusion and Further Reading

All in all, the Wilderness Lodge is an amazing, luxury Disney experience with great food, rooms, ambience, and service. It’s our favorite lobby in all of Disney World. The only thing it’s missing is an awesome smell like Coronado, Beach Club, or Polynesian. The national parks/Pacific Northwest theming is relaxing and cozy in the midst of all the Disney craziness.

a girl holds up her hands and smiles as an imitation of the joker, on the steps of the wilderness lodge at disney world. — *My daughter, doing the Joker walk as we leave the Wilderness Lodge.*

For more information on Disney Resorts, check out my review on Beach Club and my review of the Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs.

Disney's Wilderness Lodge Review: The Coziest Disney Resort