Travelling to Disney 10/2 to 10/9 w/ son who is 4 for a father son week/vacation. We have stayed as a family at G-Floridian, Boardwalk, Yacht Club, Swan, Dolphin. Pretty well versed in transportation pros/cons w/all these resorts and areas, as well as dining options. We will split our time pretty evenly amoung all the parks, so no real "clear" differentiator there. If one had to choose which resort (Boardwald or Wilderness) to stay at which would it be? Thanks for your help and comments

MW

For a 4 year old boy, you definitely want to stay at the Wilderness Lodge. It is the most "boy" themed of all the WDW resorts. Think of a set of giant Lincoln Logs. You can get a room with bunk beds. The casual restaurant in the lobby has stick ponies for the kids to ride to their tables and lincoln logs to play with in the waiting area. To get to the Magic Kingdom from WL, you take a small boat.

We've been to WDW 6 times, staying in several different WDW hotels over the years. My boys are 12 and 14. Their first trip was when they were 1.5 and 3.5. They still remember our 2 stays at the Wilderness Lodge (only hotel we've repeated) and they were each about 4 when we stayed there. The other good boy choice is the Contemporary because the monorail runs through it and it has that retro space age look.

While the Boardwalk is a good location to Epcot and MGM Studios and has proximity to quite a few dining options, most 4 year olds won't care about that and the theming is boring if you are 4 (or 44 ).

Thanks for the post and good insight. FYI did try the contemporary, but no avail.(son like the monorail thing you mentioned - still talks about staying at GF when he was 2!!) Any insight on the busses to the other parks/ I've heard that to go to Epcot, take the boat to the Contemporary and then get the monorail to Epcot vice the bus from Wilderness Lodge. Thoughts?

Thanks again!

I second the previous. Wilderness Lodge is an adventure for a four year old. Boardwalk is just another hotel. Artist's Point restaurant is the adult concession. The food and beverage is always good.

I stayed at Wilderness Lodge, and I thought it was GREAT! I loved the theme, and oh that fantastic lobby!! It's better than the "real" National Parks lodge lobbies!! Artists Point has great salmon!! Since you never stayed at this property before in DISNEY, I would definitely do it. The only gripe I have about the Wilderness Lodge is the limited transporation options. Not sure why they didn't this hotel on a monorail. If you have a car, you can eliminate all the transporation problems, but if not, then I think boat/bus is best and only way to get to and from this resort.