Wilderness Lodge or Boardwalk for a Christmas trip?

[catfan98]

On Christmas morning this year, my husband surprised us by saying let’s take a trip to Disney next year instead of getting gifts. The kids and I said ok! We’re looking at the week before - December 17-22 or 23. What is everyone’s vote between the two for the best resort at Christmas time? Wilderness Lodge or Boardwalk? Is there another besides these two that you like even better? Also, we’re going either way, but historically, are there normally room discounts for that time period or is just free dining offered? Much rather have a discount.

ETA - we are now looking at AKL!! I’ve always wanted to stay there!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I’m doing BWV in November for F&W. I’m very excited about.

BUT if i were going closer to Christmas i would do WL. WL has never been on my lust of resorts. It actually does nothing for me but it gets so much hype on the board and the pics from the resort this time of year just scream Christmas. I would only ever try WL around Christmas.

 

[amym2]

We did just that this year! Wilderness Lodge is my favorite, but I'll admit we've never stayed at Boardwalk. We visited both just yesterday, and WL is definitely the more festive at Christmas. If you can swing it, the new Copper Creek Villas at WL are amazing!

 

[mindeola]

WL. We stayed in November and it is gorgeous anytime of year, but especially at Christmastime.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We stayed at BWV during Christmas 2015 and just got back from CCV (WL villas) 3 days ago. Loved both, but for Christmas, I would do WL (or one of the vlllas there) again hands-down. It is absolutely GORGEOUS.

 

[catfan98]

Well...new plan of action...we are now deciding between WL, BW, and AKL. I’ve always wanted to stay at AKL.

 

[disneygolfer1985]

If it is between AKL and BW, then I would select BW because you would be able to walk to two resorts. Epcot has a lot to do for the holidays. Personally, it will be crowded, so it would be beneficial to not have wait on transportation for some parks. Note that with AKL you will be far away from MK roughly a 25 minutes bus ride. We are currently staying at BWV and we are DVC owners at the BW and we love the location. The Epcot resorts are the best in terms of location.

 

[catfan98]

If it is between AKL and BW, then I would select BW because you would be able to walk to two resorts. Epcot has a lot to do for the holidays. Personally, it will be crowded, so it would be beneficial to not have wait on transportation for some parks. Note that with AKL you will be far away from MK roughly a 25 minutes bus ride. We are currently staying at BWV and we are DVC owners at the BW and we love the location. The Epcot resorts are the best in terms of location.

Thank you for the insight! We stayed at BCV in April and did love the Epcot area/location. How are the studios at BW? We’re wanting to rent 2. Is it a pain to refill mugs or get a snack? Thanks so much!

 

[disneygolfer1985]

Thank you for the insight! We stayed at BCV in April and did love the Epcot area/location. How are the studios at BW? We’re wanting to rent 2. Is it a pain to refill mugs or get a snack? Thanks so much!

The studios are great. We like them better than the studios at the GFV. The villas at BW were recently updated I think in 2014 or 2015. The studios at BW should be very similar to BCV. We don’t partake in the dining plan but you can get refills at the Bellevue room and the bakery on the boardwalk. It may be a 5 minute walk from your room. If you stay at the BW, then I would recommend you splurge on a boardwalk view. It is a great view. It is much closer to get snacks or refill the mugs at BW than it is at GF. We did a split stay this year.

 

[catfan98]

The studios are great. We like them better than the studios at the GFV. The villas at BW were recently updated I think in 2014 or 2015. The studios at BW should be very similar to BCV. We don’t partake in the dining plan but you can get refills at the Bellevue room and the bakery on the boardwalk. It may be a 5 minute walk from your room. If you stay at the BW, then I would recommend you splurge on a boardwalk view. It is a great view. It is much closer to get snacks or refill the mugs at BW than it is at GF. We did a split stay this year.

Again, thank you for the info! We won’t do the dining plan but my son likes to keep a drink handy in the room, so we will probably get the mugs. We did the DP last time and while it was ok, we feel like we can eat way cheaper than that. But, we did enjoy the mugs. We loved the atmosphere when we walked over to BW from BC - so much to do and see. Plus my husband loved the easy access to 2 parks. His vote is for BW, mine was AKL, but I’m leaning more towards BW now. There are just so many pros it seems!

 

[J and R's mom]

We have stayed at all three (WL, BW, AKV,) during Christmastime. I actually listed them in the order I would choose during Christmastime. BUT, it would still be a hard choice. Each was an amazing experience...even AKV (Jambo House--main building) which we would have never chosen if our DD had not picked that as a place to stay for her 10th birthday. And we are SO GLAD she did. We enjoyed AKV way more than we thought we would. It was a very FUN place to stay.

BW has (or at least it used to, anyway) really fun Gingerbread structures in the lobby, along with great Christmas decorations.

WL is stunning during Christmastime, though. Its rival might be GF, but the two are very different in style, so it's hard to say.

I only have photos from our AKV trip on this computer. Sorry. But here is a picture of the AKL lobby Christmas tree. You can also see the garland along the rails of the upper floors:

 

[NH-to-FL]

DW and I have made many trips to the Boardwalk in early/mid December. In early December we would usually find some sort of room/ticket package but that was many years ago. A number of years we enjoyed bounce back offers. For us it was all about location, being able to wander over to Epcot. But we found the decorations more than sufficient to impart the Christmas spirit. Especially the years they erected a small gingerbread house in the lobby.

We have visited the WL and the AKL and they are both beautiful. Your kids would probably enjoy the WL and the proximity to MK.

Everyone's different but the AKL never tugged at us. Nice to visit but after Boardwalk stays it felt too far away from the parks for us.

 

[Beachmom0317]

WL is my favorite for Christmas time, but I visited AKL once and their decorations are also beautiful. You really can’t go wrong!

 

[HopperFan]

For Christmas Decorations = Wilderness Lodge hands down
For location if you are doing Epcot/DHS enough = Boardwalk
For unique and special = Animal Kingdom Lodge

Not that there aren't pretty decorations at each resort, Wilderness Lodge just has the ability to WOW you and give you all the feels. I love the AKL decor but it's so big that even those get lost a bit.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

I’m not a BWV fan. I’d choose VWL then AKV.

 

[loves to dive]

I'd do a split stay, start at AKL for a couple of days then move over to BW. Best of both worlds and you both get to stay where you want. AKL is beautiful at Christmas and so is BW. We prefer the Epcot resorts just because we love to walk to both Epcot and HS and those are our two favorite parks. AKL last Christmas:

BW last Christmas:

Could have sworn a took a picture of BW last week but can't find it so I must not have.