swan or wilderness lodge with toddler?

[SwanVT2]

Stayed at swan pre baby. I would love to hear a comparison.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Wilderness Lodge. Its a small resort and the boat ride to the MK is short and really fun. Sometimes you don't even have to fold the stroller. It's also a short boat ride to Fort Wilderness, a super fun place to let a toddler run off a little bit of steam.

 

[capeseal]

I haven't stayed there, but I would vote Swan as long as it works out to a savings even factoring in airport transportation. However, I am highly biased towards staying in the Epcot area. We were honestly not super impressed by Wilderness Lodge. The boat was nice but we couldn't use it if we were traveling at a busy time of day because it would fill up fast and the buses moved more quickly. Frankly, when traveling with a stroller, I think it is best to either stay on the monorail line or stay in the Epcot area where you can walk to two parks.

 

[SwanVT2]

That seems to be a good point. Really wish we could afford the yacht club. I get the teacher rate at swan though!

 

[chrismb22]

We love the lodge and it's fabulous with toddler. We go at off peak times and never waited more than 10 min for a boat. Odds aRe most of your time with toddler is at MK anyway so it's nice to be close.

Also, although it's small there is a lot to look at at the lodge.

 

[Lisa71]

We did the lodge when our kids were 3 and 4 and loved it. Boat to MK..fun pool...food was good.

 

[Mcterry]

I've never stayed at either but we are staying at WL for our trip in May with our 3 and 1 year olds. We couldn't justify the price of the monorail hotels and we went back and forth about Epcot hotels. In the end we figured that the kids are going to want to go to MK the most so we picked WL. We figured if they are sleeping it will be nice to use the boat bc I read sometimes you can keep the stroller open. Hopefully it will work out!

 

[mslhb]

I love the WL for small children. Close to MK which is where we spend majority of our time now. Bus/boat make it very easy to travel back to the resort for mid-day breaks. The pool is a nice manageable size for young kids. Resort is compact and all under one roof. I think young kids appreciate the Lincoln log-ish theming. As my DD gets older we will probably give an Epcot resort a try but for now I think the WL is one of the best lower cost deluxe options with young kids.

 

[DisneyJen0504]

Have not stayed at the Lodge but have stayed at Dolphin before having children and then tried it last time with our toddler. Wouldn't do S/D again with little ones. It just isn't as child friendly, lacks theming and magic. Can't get more magical than a boat ride to MK imho.
Have fun!

 

[capeseal]

I will say that my other issue with Wilderness Lodge was that the dining options are so much more limited than the Epcot resorts. Whispering Canyon was okay but very loud and overwhelming for my sensitive kiddos so we only ate there once. Artist Point was too fancy for our toddlers, and the quick service was just okay. We really appreciate the enormous range of options at the Epcot resorts. And, while my DD loved the pool at Wilderness Lodge, the toddler pool was pretty lame for my 2-year-old. I know the Boardwalk kiddie pool isn't a huge thrill either but I think it is much cuter than Wilderness Lodge. And the little playground at BWI has a slide. I understand that these don't need to be deciding factors but we spend a lot of time at our resort so we love having more options to explore and Epcot-area offers that.

 

[brandigregory]

We did WL last summer for 3 nights with my 2.5 DD and it was awesome! Best quote from the trip from her "I was laying in bed, watching a show and getting ready for bed and all of a sudden a Parade come by Mama!" We could see the Electrical Water Parade from our balcony and they pipe in the music so it was wonderful. She still tells the story! We never ate there besides QS breakfast and it was fine. We did 1 night for dinner at Mickey's Backyard BBQ at Ft Wilderness and that was probably the best money spent from a character experience. Reasonably priced, good food, beer/wine included and she got to dance for 2 hours with the characters. Holding hands with Goofy to dance and in the Conga Line she stood on our bench at the table and Mickey stopped and gave her an Eskimo kiss as he passed by. Priceless.