On our recent trip to Walt Disney World, my family stayed at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and we were surprised by just how very much we loved the resort that is modeled on the historic Old Faithful Lodge circa 1904 in Yellowstone National Park.\u00a0 I’ve been an avowed fan of the Beach Club<\/a>, but the Wilderness Lodge was very different and equally fabulous.<\/p>\n

We aren’t the only ones who love the Wilderness Lodge. It was named one of Trip Advisor’s Top 25 Hotels for Families<\/a>. See which specific features of the resort were our favorites.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

– Silver Spring Falls and Waterfall<\/strong><\/p>\n

Silver Springs starts from a small bubbling geyser in the lobby, flows outside into a roaring waterfall and then empties into the pool. Even though it was cool, we often left the sliding door to our balcony open just so we could hear the waterfall. We loved having breakfast at the tables near it – it is a truly stunning feature.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

– The Lobby<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking of the lobby, it’s gorgeous. It is seven stories tall and very spacious and airy, with so very much to see. There is enough to see in the lobby to keep a family busy for quite a while, from\u00a0the totem pole to the teepee lights to the fireplace to the bridge over bubbling geyser that flows outside to Seven Springs Falls. If there was a rainy day, exploring the lobby would be a great indoor activity.<\/p>\n

– Taking the Boat to the Magic Kingdom (and the Contemporary Lodge and Fort Wilderness)<\/strong><\/p>\n

A friend who stayed here said that we would love the boat. I didn’t think a whole lot about that, but taking the boat to the Magic Kingdom and home again was pretty fabulous. It made it feel like a vacation, as boat transportation is not part of\u00a0our ordinary life. In the frigid Midwest, there isn’t much boating in the winter (okay, fine, there is none because everything is frozen), and frankly, my family doesn’t get out on the water very often even when the weather is great. It\u00a0was a convenient, beautiful way to start and end the day.<\/p>\n

– Hidden Mickeys<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know that Hidden Mickeys are everywhere, but there’s a special hunt for them at the Wilderness Lodge. Ask at the Concierge Desk for the Hidden Mickey hunt. It uses fun rhymes to direct you to 8 Hidden Mickeys around the resort (inside and out). Kids can turn in their completed sheet and receive a certificate as well as a pin.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

My 12-year-old loves to hunt Hidden Mickeys and we found lots of them not included on the list, including in the carpet and in the shower.<\/p>\n

– The Huge, Geologically Significant Fireplace<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s hard to miss the fireplace in the lobby, as it is 82 feet tall. We noticed that it looked like it was made of\u00a0layers of sedimentary rock and it turns out that it is a to scale replica of the Grand Canyon. Imagineering “added appropriate fossilized plants and animals to the layers. More than 95 colors of paint were used to achieve the magnificent effect on this 3-sided mammoth,” explains the website WildernessLodgeSite.com<\/a>. (I really should’ve found this website before we left instead of right after we got home.)<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

On the cool evenings, a rocking chair in front of the fireplace with this gorgeous screen was a great place to rest tired feet.<\/p>\n

– Whispering Canyon Restaurant
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whispering Canyon, a\u00a0Western-themed restaurant that opens to the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge, is a ton of fun. Before we left, a friend said it is on her family’s “Disney Must Do list” and now I understand why. From the Lincoln Log play space that keeps little ones busy if there a wait to the alert that your table is ready announcing “It’s chow time!” to the fun that ensues when you ask for ketchup,\u00a0Whispering Canyon is fun and full of good food.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

I love that families have the option of participating, or just watching. I have to say that we don’t regret doing the Hokey Pokey. Also, the all-you-can-eat skillet pictured above is delicious. And huge. We were really glad that we could roll ourselves upstairs to deal with our food coma. Instead, though,\u00a0we took a walk to check out this:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

– The Geyser<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wilderness Lodge’s Fire Rock Geyser is designed to be like Yellowstone National Park’s famous Old Faithful geyser and it does erupt every hour on the hour during the daytime hours. We were lucky enough to be able to see the geyser from our room that faced the courtyard. Our favorite time to see it erupt was at night, and it was just lucky that we got to see Venus at the same time.<\/p>\n

– Incredible Theming<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I found a hidden Mickey!” is not something you expect to hear your child gleefully holler from the shower, but it made us laugh. The theming is literally everywhere, even in the shower. And I loved the tiles that look just like wood. And here’s the thing – we aren’t big outdoorsy people, necessarily, and I didn’t expect any of the three of us to be as taken with it as we were. It’s honestly that charming.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The\u00a0resort\u00a0is beautiful and the theming is fantastic. When I asked my husband about his favorite part of staying there, he mentioned the waterfall and the Thumper on the pillow. Who knew the man noticed pillows? Or Thumper? And there, my friends, is the magic of the Wilderness Lodge. The rooms were\u00a0refurbished in 2012, and we found them very comfortable.<\/p>\n

– Totem Poles<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are two\u00a0authentic totem poles that stretch to the top of the seven-story lobby, and there is a smaller, adorable Disney totem pole. Really, how can you not smile when you see this? And where else can you see it?<\/p>\n

<\/a>– Tours<\/strong><\/p>\n

The “Wonders of the Lodge” tour is offered at 9 am on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. This tour is about the architecture and how the Lodge was built, takes you outside, talks about landscaping, and then goes back inside and talks about the artwork like the metal work and the Totem Poles and the paintings. I’ll be honest that our schedule did not work with the tour schedule, but the fact that there is a tour tells you just how much there is to discover and learn from at the Wilderness Lodge.<\/p>\n

You may also like:\u00a0<\/strong>5 reasons Disney\u2019s Beach Club is the best Walt Disney World resort<\/a><\/p>\n

Prior post: <\/strong>13 fun facts and trivia about Mardi Gras<\/a><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss a post! Please subscribe to Mom Factually\u2019s completely safe, spam-free email list in the box in the top right corner of the page!<\/p>\n

Please like Mom Factually on Facebook<\/a>.<\/strong> You can also find Mom Factually on Pinterest<\/a>, Twitter, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On our recent trip to Walt Disney World, my family stayed at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and we were surprised by just how very much we loved the resort that is modeled on the historic Old Faithful Lodge circa 1904 in Yellowstone National Park.\u00a0 I’ve been an avowed fan of the Beach Club, but the Wilderness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1261"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1261"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6142,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1261\/revisions\/6142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}