My Disney Birthday Wish Came True! – June 2025 Trip Report (Updated 6/26! x2!)

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I so appreciate that they haven't changed or retired the water pageant. Exactly the same as when I was a kid and I couldn't love it more.

Me too! It's such a classic!

 

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Ooo this is making me want to give CL another try! We’ve done CL at AKL and Yacht Club. At AKL, the food looked much more like your pictures from WL - heavy apps, could almost replace a meal. At Yacht Club, it was much more “snacky” - lots of cheese and crackers, veggies and dip, etc. I thought AKL was the outlier, but maybe Yacht Club is actually the outlier! (Either way, this was like 8 years ago, so probably due to give it another shot!)

Looking forward to reading more!

Well I definitely recommend the WL CL. We haven't stayed at the YC CL yet, but most CLs we've stayed at have had pretty decent options for hors d'oeuvres and breakfasts. Lunches aren't great across the board, just chips, crudité, and small snacky stuff. So far our favorite for food has been the Contemporary, but WL was pretty close!

 

[VAtink]

Oh dear Mom. Maybe we have to stop letting her bring drinks back to the room?? Get her a sippy cup?? LOL. My brother once waxed poetic on the greatness of the sippy cup. He had hurt his back and had to lie flat for awhile. BUT, he also wanted to drink. So he put his drink into one of my niece's sippy cups and kept telling me "Look, I didn't spill a drop!" Only problem, my young (at the time) niece sees a sippy cup and assumes it's hers. Cue aunty running through the house chasing her to get it back before she drinks the "spicy juice." LOL.

HAAA, oh my goodness, spicy juice! That is too funny! I actually did tease my mom that I would bring her a sippy cup on our next trip....she was not thrilled.

 

[VAtink]

Day 3, Part 1: Arts and Architecture Tour at Wilderness Lodge – Part 1!​

We woke up around 6:45 this morning and quickly got dressed then made our way to the lounge just before 7 to grab coffee and then wait for breakfast.

This morning they had cheesy eggs, turkey bacon, and crepes, along with the standard breakfast pastries and oatmeal etc.









Oddly enough, these plates of pastries were taken away shortly after I got these pictures. Not sure why, maybe due to the cross contamination sign with the bananas?

This was once again really good! I’ve probably said this before, but breakfasts are usually my favorite part about club level, good food and just a great way to start the day!

After we finished eating, we went back to the room to slowly get ready for the day. We didn’t have anywhere to be until 9, so we had a lot of time.

Mom spent some time just relaxing on the balcony while I opted to stay inside in the glorious AC.

Around 8:40 we decided to make our way downstairs to check out the lobby a bit, then wait for the tour to start.

This morning we were doing the Arts and Architecture tour of the lodge! This tour happens every day at 9, and bonus, it’s completely free!

The tour meets in front of the big fireplace, so we grabbed seats in front of it and settled in to wait for the guide to arrive.





He showed up right at 9, and we got lucky this morning since no one else showed up! The previous morning, I had seen the tour set off and there were like 10 people, so I was surprised we ended up being the only ones this morning!

This tour was so good, I 100% recommend it! We started off heading over to Boulder Ridge. On the walk over the guide spoke about the theming of Boulder Ridge and went over a bit of US history with the gold rush. One thing he spoke about is how Boulder Ridge is modeled after late 1800 railroad hotels, while Wilderness Lodge is modeled after early 1900s National Park lodges. That’s why there are more industrial looking touches over at Boulder Ridge, like at the pool that is supposed to be an old quarry which is why it has the random equipment! Also, Geyser Point is supposed to be a rail depot!

Anyways, I’m getting ahead of myself here!

Our guide brought us into the atrium at Boulder Ridge and told us about why the furniture is the way it is, showed us the Native American symbolism in the room, and went over small design details and why they were that way which was so cool!





Our next stop was the train room (Carolwood Pacific Room). Our guide led us over to a wall with a bunch of art and went over some of the pieces. My favorite is the piece that is three versions of Walt, as a kid, a teen, and then as an adult.



In this room the guide spent a lot of time talking about Walt, what inspired him, and life events that led him to create Disneyland. They even have two of the cars from his backyard train in this room!

Next up: Arts and Architecture Tour at Wilderness Lodge – Part 2!​

 

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Day 3, Part 2: Arts and Architecture Tour at Wilderness Lodge – Part 2!​

We last left off in the “train room” on our tour.

Our guide brought us over to the actual train cars that were in Walt’s yard to show us some fun details!

One of my favorite tidbits of info is the number on this car is supposed to read “hello” upside down, so the kids riding on top of the car would see hello instead of the number.





Once we wrapped up in that room, the guide led us back outside and over to the pool area to tell us how the Boulder Ridge pool is supposed to be an old abandoned quarry. We then walked towards Geyser Point where he explained that it was supposed to be a train depot.

​

After that, the tour returned to the Wilderness Lodge, where we made our way into the lobby where we spent a lot of time talking about the structure and what was real wood vs fake wood. I told the guide that I’m a structural engineer, and he ended up poking SO much fun at me because of that. There was a point he was talking about the totem poles in the lobby, and the original plan was to have them directly across from each other, however that is considered bad luck to Native Americans so they had to shift one over a bit so they weren’t directly across from each other. Now because the guide knew I was a structural engineer, he went on and on about how it’s SUCH a big deal for columns to be moved (seriously not that big of a deal, we’re usually just happy the architects even let us have columns! ).

He also talked about how during the planning of the Lodge, Eisner wanted to have a show that ran through the lobby with actual bison, but that obviously never came to fruition.



The guide went over a lot of the Native American symbolism in the lobby, then went over the fireplace design, before bringing us over to Territory Lounge where he showed us the surveying tools hidden in plain sight! He also went over the artwork and the flags on the wall.

The next stop was Artist Point where he told us about the design of the furniture and light fixtures, then we went over the artwork there as well.

We wrapped up the tour on the balcony off of Artist Point where he pointed out the design of the waterfall and pool.

This tour was so good, we learned a lot, and it really made us appreciate all the little details that Disney put into the design. It is scheduled to be 1 hour, but ours lasted a bit over 1.5 hours, I’m guessing since we were alone and were able to ask a ton of questions, which our guide seemed to love to answer!

At the end the guide gave us a packet with a lot of the information he had gone over with us. I definitely recommend trying this tour out sometime, it’s offered every day and is free! Oh, and the tour guide on the weekend actually met Walt!

If anyone is interested I can scan in the packet he gave us and post it so you can see all the info as well, just let me know!

Next up: Another Geyser Point Lunch!​

 

[13littledogs]

Day 3, Part 2: Arts and Architecture Tour at Wilderness Lodge – Part 2!​

We last left off in the “train room” on our tour.

Our guide brought us over to the actual train cars that were in Walt’s yard to show us some fun details!

One of my favorite tidbits of info is the number on this car is supposed to read “hello” upside down, so the kids riding on top of the car would see hello instead of the number.

View attachment 977977

View attachment 977978

Once we wrapped up in that room, the guide led us back outside and over to the pool area to tell us how the Boulder Ridge pool is supposed to be an old abandoned quarry. We then walked towards Geyser Point where he explained that it was supposed to be a train depot.

View attachment 977979​

View attachment 977980

After that, the tour returned to the Wilderness Lodge, where we made our way into the lobby where we spent a lot of time talking about the structure and what was real wood vs fake wood. I told the guide that I’m a structural engineer, and he ended up poking SO much fun at me because of that. There was a point he was talking about the totem poles in the lobby, and the original plan was to have them directly across from each other, however that is considered bad luck to Native Americans so they had to shift one over a bit so they weren’t directly across from each other. Now because the guide knew I was a structural engineer, he went on and on about how it’s SUCH a big deal for columns to be moved (seriously not that big of a deal, we’re usually just happy the architects even let us have columns! ).

He also talked about how during the planning of the Lodge, Eisner wanted to have a show that ran through the lobby with actual bison, but that obviously never came to fruition.

View attachment 977981

The guide went over a lot of the Native American symbolism in the lobby, then went over the fireplace design, before bringing us over to Territory Lounge where he showed us the surveying tools hidden in plain sight! He also went over the artwork and the flags on the wall.

The next stop was Artist Point where he told us about the design of the furniture and light fixtures, then we went over the artwork there as well.

We wrapped up the tour on the balcony off of Artist Point where he pointed out the design of the waterfall and pool.

This tour was so good, we learned a lot, and it really made us appreciate all the little details that Disney put into the design. It is scheduled to be 1 hour, but ours lasted a bit over 1.5 hours, I’m guessing since we were alone and were able to ask a ton of questions, which our guide seemed to love to answer!

At the end the guide gave us a packet with a lot of the information he had gone over with us. I definitely recommend trying this tour out sometime, it’s offered every day and is free! Oh, and the tour guide on the weekend actually met Walt!

If anyone is interested I can scan in the packet he gave us and post it so you can see all the info as well, just let me know!

Next up: Another Geyser Point Lunch!​

What a fun tour, lots of info

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Wow! And you just show up in the morning or is there a sign-up somewhere? I'd love to see bison running through the lobby daily. I think I've heard that there's something similar at AKL? I know they used to do one at Boardwalk but sadly I think that ended quite some time ago. Thanks for sharing so many of the details. It sounds well worth the time and how cool it wound up being a private tour!

 

[VAtink]

What a fun tour, lots of info

It was such a great tour, I'm impressed how much info they gave us. The guide knew so much!

 

[VAtink]

Wow! And you just show up in the morning or is there a sign-up somewhere? I'd love to see bison running through the lobby daily. I think I've heard that there's something similar at AKL? I know they used to do one at Boardwalk but sadly I think that ended quite some time ago. Thanks for sharing so many of the details. It sounds well worth the time and how cool it wound up being a private tour!

You just show up! No sign-up or anything. The guide acts as a greeter the rest of the day, so I guess if no one shows up he starts greeting earlier.

Wouldn't that be awesome to have bison running through the lobby? Eisner was certainly a dreamer!

I didn't know about the one at the AKL, we'll be back there next June before moving over to the Four Seasons so I'll have to remember to check it out!

It was so nice having a private tour, we definitely got lucky with that. I definitely recommend it, I was so impressed with all the details and history that was presented to us.

 

[HappyGal]

I’ve been wanting to do that tour for years! Do you think I could uber from French Quarter to do it?

 

[Stacybaeasm]

That tour sounds great! And VIP experience with just you and Mom doing it. Great morning already!

 

[Wood Nymph]

This tour was so good, I 100% recommend it!

We took this tour many years ago. It was fascinating to learn all that stuff.

He also talked about how during the planning of the Lodge, Eisner wanted to have a show that ran through the lobby with actual bison, but that obviously never came to fruition.

We didn't hear that bit.

It is scheduled to be 1 hour, but ours lasted a bit over 1.5 hours, I’m guessing since we were alone and were able to ask a ton of questions, which our guide seemed to love to answer!

Our tour had about ten people and it lasted about 1.5 hours, too. I think the tour guide could have gone on for another hour or more.

 

[dizneedoll]

Thar tour is one of those magical gems of WDW and I'm so glad this still exsists when so much has been taken away. But yeah, Eisner had some whack-a-doodle ideas in his day but bison running through the lobby would have been awesome! Probably not for bison though.