This July our small family got to experience the Copper Creek Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge. We stayed just a couple nights over the 4th of July holiday, soaking up the experience and only doing one park half day. Here I will give you our impression of Wilderness Lodge, some notes from our experience as toddler parents, and the pros and cons of this experience.
First, Wilderness Lodge is a deluxe Disney hotel with DVC villas and cabins. Overall that puts this at the top of Disney's cost tiers, at an average cost of over $500/night for rack rates. There are many ways to save, however, from discounts Disney may offer throughout the year (30% off for Disney Visa cardmembers was happening at the time of our trip, for instance), or renting points from a DVC member. This is safest if you use a broker company such as DVCRentalStore, which protects you as the renter and the owner as well from chargebacks. They often rent at a very reasonable $20/point, and can even offer payment plans.
Okay, now that the $$$$ is out of the way, what is unique about this resort? Is it just a fancy log cabin? Why should you consider this resort? Well, because it's incredible, and it strikes a very fun balance of Disney, peaceful vibes, and unique offerings! This resort is a Magic Kingdom area resort. You'll need to take a bus to most of the parks, but Magic Kingdom is just a ferry ride away. This also means the Magic Kingdom fireworks? Oh, they're visible from the waterfront! Also, as a Magic Kingdom resort on the lake, Wilderness Lodge gets the privilege of the Electrical Water Pageant each night. This is a delightful show on the water, often right after the Magic Kingdom fireworks. It features floating lighted images and a retro midi-file-style soundtrack, that cheerfully plays out each night.
The physical features of this lodge are breathtaking, though we did find that there were notable features that were not toddler friendly.
The lobby has a beautiful water feature... which our 23 month old could not believe we didn't allow her to climb into. (How dare we?)
This water feature leads outside, then cascades over a waterfall, and appears to end in the main pool. However, we noticed here that one side of the bridge doesn't have any railings. I mention this because once again, our water loving toddler couldn't believe we didn't let her hop over into the river.
The lobby of this hotel also has another breathtaking feature: The Grand Canyon inspired fireplace. This epic fireplace features layers of brick and rock laid to emulate the layers within the Grand Canyon itself. The fireplace is a sight to behold and a great place to sit, relax, and dry your feet after a surprise Florida rainstorm soaks your shoes. (Ask me how I know!) However, as this is a real gas fireplace please keep toddlers in mind around this gorgeous feature.
Wilderness Lodge has a main feature pool, and also a quieter pool by Boulder Ridge Villas.
The main feature pool, Copper Creek Springs, has a slide, lots of loungers and tables with umbrellas, and also has two hot tubs and a decent sized splash playground for kids. This splash playground has multiple slides, a dumping bucket, sprayers and sprinklers. Notably for toddler parents: This feature can be intense for littles with the dumping water bucket going off every few minutes. Additionally, while it is gated from the main pool and does have loungers, it's not fully enclosed. The hot tubs are accessible from this same area on a raised platform, and that area is not fenced off.
(By now, you may be thinking, who is letting their toddler loose on their own? Well, hopefully no one, and certainly nobody who stumbled on our blog. But they're quick, and sometimes we give them a little leeway to expend energy. That's great, and our point here is just that... Wilderness Lodge is not geared to the littlest travelers. They'll still love it, but you'll have to be ever cognizant even while wandering through the hotel public areas.)
Onto the second pool! The Boulder Ridge Cove pool is smaller, quieter, and more secluded. This pool has a zero entry which can be great for toddlers, although you won't run into many at this pool area thanks to the adult vibes here. This area also has one hot tub, a bar attendant from Geyser Point to deliver drinks to you poolside, and a small selection of free to use cabanas! Yes, free to use cabanas, at Disney! These are of course first come, first serve, but they include enough seating for about 8 people and a table. If you're planning a peaceful pool day, this is honestly where I would post up as soon as the pools opened for the day. Drinks delivered to our cabana, constant shade, and a place to let your kid nap if you happen to have a child who can nap in a strange place. (We do not. We are jealous if you do.)
We have one final negative about Wilderness Lodge. We decided to attend the July 4th fireworks at Epcot, and we took the bus there. We found out that Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge share a bus. This is the largest issue I have with resorts that have internal bus loops: When you don't have a dedicated bus for your resort you have bigger crowds all vying for the same seats. We waited over an hour for a bus to pick us up.
We watched multiple buses from Animal Kingdom Lodge, Saratoga Springs, and Port Orleans, stop by with nary a passenger waiting, while we waited in a massive line that couldn't fit on one bus. If I stayed here again then I would drive to the park if I planned to stay for fireworks.
Let's get down to the summarized list!
Pros | Cons |
Magic Kingdom Proximity | Price $$$$ |
Unique views: Electrical Water Pageant, Fireworks | Less Disney theming than other resorts |
Excellent dining options: Roaring Fork (QS), Geyser Point, Whispering Canyon, & Storybook Dining with Snow White at Artist's Point | Only bus transportation to Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom |
All rooms feature a balcony or walk out porch | Not as toddler friendly |
Take a ferry directly to Magic Kingdom! | Shares a bus route with Fort Wilderness! |
Beautiful hotel with meticulous theming |
Comentários