I've made seven trips from Southern California to Walt Disney World in the last twenty years. My first two trips were spent at the Grand Floridian with the next two at the Polynesian Resort. Trip number five was spent at the Wilderness Lodge shortly after it opened just to try it out. In my book there was no comparison and I have returned to the Wilderness Lodge twice since my first stay there.
In my opinion the Wilderness Lodge does the best job of making you feel like you are on vacation. When you first enter the lobby your eyes are immediately pulled up, following the columns of totem poles that support the roof. Whether it was intentional or not the scale of the lobby and all of it's detail truly reminds me of my first visits to Yosemite and the Grand Canyon because you need a few moments to take it all in. Every travel book and website will point out that the Wilderness Lodge was fashioned after the great hotels of the national park system like the Awahnee in Yosemite and the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone and Disney did a great job of capturing that magic.
The standard rooms at the Wilderness Lodge are small but well appointed. The size of the room shouldn't be an issue for most people visiting Walt Disney World though because most of your time should be spent outside enjoying the magic that surrounds you. A neat feature that I took advantage of was that some rooms have bunk beds in place of a second queen bed. Even if you are traveling with two people a bunk bed room can get you a little more space and storage if you use it creatively.
The Wilderness Lodge has the three restaurant offerings. Artist Point is the Wilderness Lodge's signature dining experience. The menu is based on food and wines from the Pacific Northwest. Their version of surf and turf -which is not on the menu but something you can request- is cedar plank salmon and buffalo tenderloin. This will be some of the best salmon you will ever eat and if you haven't tried buffalo be prepared for a tender cut of beefy that isn't at all gamey.
The Wispering Canyon Cafe is the hotel coffee shop and is open for breakfast lunch and dinner. The food is marginal but the real treat is the "show" put on by the cast members. The service is loud, obnoxious and hilarious. You need to keep your head on a swivel so you don't miss the fun being had all around you. And beware of the consequences if you ask for ketchup.
Roaring Forks is the food court option at the Wilderness Lodge. It's open as early as 6:00AM and doesn't close until as late as midnight. The food is good and actually not a bad value based on quality and portion size. If you are considering a Disney Dining Plan, several of the items served at Roaring Forks qualify as a snack option which means you can use your two snacks a day to fuel up with real breakfast food and then use your extra meal for a signature dining experience. Roaring Forks is also the place to go for your free resort mug refills.
There is a full range of activities at your disposal at the Wilderness Lodge. There is a great pool with a slide, boating, fishing, bike rentals, etc. The gift shop has everything you could desire from clothing to snacks and sundries to film developing.
The only real downside to the Wilderness Lodge compared to some of the other hotels is the transportaion. Don't get me wrong, the transportation is very good and you can get to the Magic Kingdom by boat or bus. However, if you have stayed at one of the monorail resorts you can't help but miss the convenience of that option.
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