Who Does It Better? Disney’s Fort Wilderness vs. Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

If you’re a newbie to Disney you may not realize that Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campgrounds and Disney’s Wilderness Lodge are actually two different resorts.

Sure, these two resorts are close to each other in proximity and share similar offerings and names (and, in some cases, the very same offerings), but there are also major differences between the two. So let’s kick off this hotel throw-down!

First Challenger: Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

Rooms

Disney’s Wilderness Lodge is going to be a strong contender in this throw-down! Especially when you consider those recently-renovated deluxe guest rooms of theirs.

The colors are vibrant and woodsy, the furniture is classy, and the decor is influenced by some of our favorite Disney woodland characters — such as Bambi, Chip ‘n’ Dale, Pooh, and the Country Bears.

There are three different rooms available for you to choose from: a standard room, a room with a view of the woods, or a room with a view of the courtyard. Some rooms even come with a private balcony!

The Copper Creek Villas and the Boulder Ridge Villas are also available for guests to book — featuring more spacious arrangements at the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) level.

Talk about glamping in STYLE! Those waterfront cabins have a stone-hearth fireplace AND wraparound porch with a built-in hot tub. You can also choose to stay at a studio villa or a 1-3 bedroom villa.

For those looking for both a rustic yet luxurious stay, Disney’s Wilderness Lodge has that stylish balance you might be searching for. 

Dining

Ready to grab some grub? Disney’s Wilderness Lodge has a TON of options to choose from!

You’ll find character dining at Artist Point — a signature restaurant that features Snow White meet-and-greets.

Whispering Canyon Cafe offers western-themed, family-style dining,  Geyser Point Bar and Grill overlooks Bay Lake and has a full-service lunch and dinner bar (with comfy seating), Roaring Fork is a quick-service location next to the pool — just in case you need an after-swim pick-me-up, and Territory Lounge will provide you with your coffee and tea fix. 

The restaurants at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge get points for their lounge-y atmosphere and wide array of nosh-able cuisines.

Transportation

Though both resorts utilize the complimentary Disney bus services, Disney’s Wilderness Lodge has easily accessible boats that take guests directly to the Magic Kingdom.

The transportation at both Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Fort Wilderness is nothing to write home about. They’ll get you where you need to go, but some days they’ll take their time doing so.

Sometimes, Disney’s Wilderness Lodge shares a transportation route with Disney’s Polynesian Resort, so you might have to stop and pick up a few more guests on your way to wherever you’re going.

However, Disney’s Wilderness Lodge is still less complicated and quicker than the transportation over at Fort Wilderness — which earns it another point in our books!

Recreation

We gotta be honest with you here — Disney’s Fort Wilderness is going to secure the point for this one.

You can rent boats and bikes at Wilderness Lodge. You can play at the arcades, watch a movie under the stars, and sit around the campfires. You can even go on a specialty fireworks cruise.

But Fort Wilderness also shares these recreational options, plus so much more. In fact, many guests who stay at Wilderness Lodge will travel over to Fort Wilderness to utilize their different resort activities and offerings.

We wouldn’t say this is necessarily a breaking point for this resort. Wilderness Lodge just offers a much more leisurely setting. And if you want to experience the great outdoors while also relaxing on your Disney vacation, you may still want to consider Wilderness Lodge over Fort Wilderness.

One thing that gets both Wilderness Lodge AND Fort Wilderness a point? Both of these resorts will provide you with several different water recreation activities — such as pools with water slides, whirlpool spas, splash pads, and leisure pools.

Cost

Ah. Here’s the big one. How much is this all going to cost ya in the end?

The average cost of a regular deluxe resort hotel room per night are as follows: 

• Standard views range from $369 – $709
• Woods View Room range from $430 – $725
• Courtyard views range from $463 – $733

For a more detailed list of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge prices, click HERE!

If you’d rather stay at one of the villas, here are what the Copper Creek average costs look like:

• Deluxe Studio range from $475 – $731
• 2 Bedroom Villa Room range from $1074 – $1973
• Cabins range from $2,098 – $3851

For a more detailed list of Copper Creek Villa prices, click HERE!

And here are the average costs for the Boulder Ridge villas:

• Deluxe Studio range from $459 – $716
• 1 Bedroom Villa range from $642 – $958
• 2 Bedroom Villa Room range from $1034 – $1902

Guess we won’t know who wins the point here until we look at Disney’s Fort Wilderness prices! So, without further ado, let’s see Disney’s Fort Wilderness’ rebuttal.

Rebuttal: Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Cabins

Rooms

At Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Cabins, you’ve got two choices: You can stay in one of the cabins or on the campsite.

The private cabins sleep up to 6 guests and feature “enhanced wilderness theming” — meaning you’ll not only be located in a very forest-y section of the Disney property, but you’ll have high-quality log cabin furniture. These cabins come with a fully-stocked kitchen and a little porch with a rocking chair.

They’re not as *glamorous* as the villas over in Copper Creek and Boulder Ridge at Wilderness Lodge, but they’re still comfortable, spacious, and provide many of the same amenities as the villas do.

If you decide to stay on the campsite, you can bring your own camper and tent to set up your home-sweet-home. You can even personalize your area with your own decor — as long as it follows Disney’s guidelines, of course.  If you’re looking for more of a “roughing-it” vibe — or you just want to be more immersed in the surrounding wilderness and less of a hotel atmosphere — then this resort may be more up-your-alley than Disney’s Wilderness Lodge.

Oh, and did we mention this area is dog-friendly, too? They even have a dog park close by! If you’re wanting to bring your furry best friend along on your Disney vacation, then tack on an extra point for Fort Wilderness Resort.

Dining

The dining at Fort Wilderness isn’t quite as lounge-y as the options at Wilderness Lodge. Fort Wilderness is more focused on quick-service locations so you can get back to all your outdoor activities planned for the day.

That being said, Fort Wilderness has a few noteworthy restaurants, such as Trail’s End — a family-style, table-service restaurant with comfort foods galore!

Similar to what we said about Wilderness Lodge and its character dining, we would *usually* give a point to Fort Wilderness for its high-energy dinner theater show — Hoop-Dee-Doo Review — but the experience is currently unavailable.

You can also order groceries for your cabin stay since the cabins come with a full-size refrigerator! The regular rooms at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge only come with a half-sized fridge and no stove, so you can’t really plan to cook your own meals here. However, the Copper Creek and Boulder Ridge villas *do* have a fridge, if you’re willing to upgrade your stay.

Transportation

We already talked about how Disney’s Wilderness Lodge has faster transportation methods to-and-from the Disney parks, but there are a few *different* types of transportation factors that help make up for the point Fort Wilderness lost.

First off, Disney’s Fort Wilderness is the ONLY resort that currently has free parking (for one car per travel party). Over at Wilderness Lodge, you’ll have to pay around $25 per night to park your car onto the property.

Secondly, you can rent a golf cart to drive around the site! Because Fort Wilderness is so spread out, it takes a bit to walk from place-to-place. To save time, you can rent a golf cart for around $62.84 a day.

It may sound a bit pricey, but the experience is unique to this particular resort. Each cart can carry up to 4 passengers — fun for the whole family!

Recreation

Alright, Fort Wilderness. Now’s your time to REALLY shine!

Not only does Fort Wilderness have WAY more recreational offerings than Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, but it also has the most recreational offerings across all the Disney resorts.

Recreational activities include: Tennis, archery, specialty fireworks cruises, horseback rides, pony rides, playgrounds, wagon rides, private carriage rides, bike rentals, fishing, volleyball, horseshoes, tetherball, shuffleboard, basketball, arcades, boat rentals, water skiing, wakeboarding, and parasailing. *Gasps for breath*

Many of these recreational offerings come at a price, and some are temporarily unavailable, so make sure to research each offering you’re interested in ahead of time. Otherwise, this recreation point definitely goes to Fort Wilderness for being able to fill an entire day with fun activities without ever having to leave the resort.

Cost

Ah, yes. The moment you’ve been waiting for — which resort is going to be worth your hard-earned moolah?

If you’re wanting to stay at one of the Fort Wilderness Cabins, you’re looking at a price range of $324 – $474 per night. Again, these cabins are at the peak of luxury like the ones over at Wilderness Lodge, but — like we stated earlier — they’re cute, cozy, and have many of the same amenities as the Copper Creek and Boulder Ridge villas. And at a cheaper price, too!

But you’re cheapest option of them all is going to be staying at the Fort Wilderness campsite, which will run you around $53 – $164 per night. If you bring all your own camping material, you won’t have to worry about any extra costs. However, Fort Wilderness does rent out cots ($6 per night), tents ($45 per night), firewood ($25 per half bin, $50 per full bin), and pet loops ($5 per night). So those little charges can add up quickly if you’re not careful!

So who gets the point for this one? In retrospect, probably Fort Wilderness. But Wilderness Lodge has steeper prices for a reason — you’re paying for the luxury of the experience.

Truce?

There’s a reason why Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness are often confused for one another. They often act like one unit. Fort Wilderness guests like to travel over to Wilderness Lodge to relax and unwind for a bit while Wilderness Lodge guests like to travel over to Fort Wilderness for a bit of outdoor fun. So, we’d say it’s a win-win.

But, obviously, you can’t choose both to stay at. You’ll have to decide what type of outdoorsy vibe you’re wanting to experience on your Disney World vacation. If you want more of a glamping vibe, Wilderness Lodge is ready to take home the gold. But if you’re wanting more of that authentic-rustic feel, then crown Fort Wilderness as your winner!

Check out the best and worst Disney resorts (and their prices) HERE!

Which wilderness hotel is the winner in your book? Let us know in the comments below!

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