Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge 2 Bedroom Villa
Looking at staying in a Boulder Ridge one bedroom villa at Disney's Wilderness Lodge? This deluxe resort is divided into three room types – regular resort rooms, the Copper Creek DVC villas, and the Boulder Ridge DVC villas, You can't go wrong with any of the rooms here as the resort is spectacular, but I especially loved Boulder Ridge. Check out this guide to the room and find out what I enjoyed and disliked during our time there.
The Boulder Ridge villas are themed to represent railroad hotels from the 1800s. They have rustic twists, but the rooms do not feel dated. To get to the Boulder Ridge villas, you head out of the main lobby of the Wilderness Lodge toward the gift shop, arcade, and bus stop. This is to the right as you face the entrance from the outside. Don't miss taking a peek at the bubbling "hot" spring toward the back of the lobby which feeds a creek that ends up flowing into the main pool!
The paved path leads to a boardwalk that takes you to the Boulder Ridge lobby. The walk isn't super short, but it's not terrible either – especially if you've stayed way out in the cheap rooms at the value resorts. I went down to Roaring Forks to pick up breakfast and fill our mugs at least twice a day in the morning and evening and it really wasn't bad.
The lobby here isn't nearly as grand as the main building at the Wilderness Lodge, but it was still eye-catching. You enter through a stone arch into a round center area with wooden beams and a cozy fireplace with chairs in front of it. There is also a lounge off to the side with tables and additional chairs. Our room was on the fourth floor, and I enjoyed walking around the circular area on our way to and from our room.
You can cut through the lobby to head out to the Boulder Ridge pool (this is not a DVC-specific amenity and any guests can swim here) or head left to visit the fitness club if walking around in the parks all day hasn't provided enough of a workout.
The Boulder Ridge villas are also some of the closest rooms to the bus stop, so you should have a relatively short walk to and from transportation each morning – unless you're taking the boat to the Magic Kingdom, which is a bit further but takes you past both pools and the geyser along the way.
While staying at Boulder Ridge, you have access to all the same dining, bars, pools, activities, bus and boat transportation, and other amenities as the main Wilderness Lodge or the Copper Creek villas that are also on site. Through the end of 2021, this also includes Magical Express transportation from Orlando's MCO airport, though that is ending at the end of the year.
Different types of DVC villas at Boulder Ridge
Boulder Ridge has Deluxe Studios, One-Bedrooms, and Two-Bedrooms. Studio villas are arranged more like your standard hotel room with a bed and a sofa bed in the same area, though they can sleep five guests. One-bedrooms have a distinct bedroom with a door to separate it from the living area, though that also features a sofa bed. These units can hold four guests. Two-bedroom units have – you guessed it – two separate bedrooms in addition to the main area. These units sleep up to 8 guests. If you're looking at a Boulder Ridge two-bedroom villa, it's a one-bedroom villa combined with a deluxe studio by opening a lockoff door. The studio adds a couple standard beds, a kitchenette, full bathroom, and an extra balcony.
We were lucky enough to get upgraded from a studio to a one bedroom unit and I thought it was thoroughly adorable. Here's my overview/photo tour of our Boulder Ridge One-Bedroom Villa.
Boulder Ridge One Bedroom villa kitchen
DVC units feature full kitchens including a fridge, stove, microwave, toaster, and dishwasher. While the thought of going on vacation to Disney World and cooking meals (and also having to clean up after them) is the opposite of what I would ever want to do, I recognize that that can be a big cost-saving bonus for families or benefit to folks with severe allergies who are more comfortable preparing their own food. The kitchen in the one bedroom villa is kind of tight, but it does manage to have more counter space than the kitchen in the condo I owned for a few years, so that's actually pretty nice.
Our kitchen was stocked with several pots – they're in the drawer under the stove, which I didn't figure out until after I'd opened every single cabinet – plates, cups, silverware, and cooking utensils. I made a surprising amount of use out of the one sharp knife we had because I'd packed a few items with tags that I just couldn't tear on my own and I didn't have scissors with me.
We also had bottles of dish soap and some dishwasher detergent provided. We really only used the silverware for the breakfasts we carried back to the room, so it was an easy cleanup. It was kind of nice to eat off of a real fork instead of disposable plastic to be honest.
There is a small table with two chairs for eating as well as a cute little counter area with a couple more chairs. You'll also find a small recycling bin, which I love.
One bedroom villa bathrooms
Our villa had sort of one and a half bathrooms, but not in the way you'd describe it in real estate. One of them was a full bath, with a pedestal sink, toilet, and walk in shower. The shower was nice and had good water pressure. My only complaint about it was that the water on/off/temp handle was all the way at the end, so you had to fully get in the enclosure, turn the shower head all the way toward the wall, and press your back against the glass in order to turn it on without getting blasted with that first bit of cold water that comes out before it warms up. It was doable, but kind of awkward.
The other bathroom only had a sink and a jacuzzi tub. Bottles of Disney's H2O+ brand soap, shampoo, and conditioner were provided in each of the bathrooms, as were bath and face towels.
The bathrooms also had connecting doors, which was cute, but made the area where the two bathroom doors and the bedroom door converged feel very cluttered. I did like the angles and connections initially, but I found myself getting slightly annoyed with this area where three doors converged and somehow seemed to always be in the way toward the end of our stay.
The jacuzzi tub (as well as the bathroom sinks) had one of those trendy faucets where the water sort of comes out of a trough. It got nice and hot, though it did feel like it took an eternity to fill up. A full set of shampoo, conditioner, and soap was provided for this bathroom too.
It was a great alternative to the hot tub at the pool outside the lobby though, and we ended up using it on a night that dipped into the 40s after we deemed the outdoor tub to be a little too crowded for our covid-era tastes. Obviously this won't work quite as well if you're maxing out the room with four guests, but for just two of us it was fine.
One bedroom villa bedroom
I tend to like Disney World mattresses, and this one did not disappoint. I actually prefer them to mine at home. My only complaint here was that all 4 pillows we had were very, very flat. It was especially noticeable when we switched to the Yacht Club for the last night of our stay and had a bed full of the puffy, comfy Disney pillows I'm used to. I did also enjoy getting to point to them and say, "see – fluffy!" because I'm sure my fiance was convinced I was imagining things until then. He sleeps on his back and likes flatter pillows, but I'm a side sleeper and I just couldn't get comfortable on them. I tried to make it work for two nights, but the third night we were there I called and requested a couple extra pillows.
The Cast Member on the phone (Disney has centralized guest services for hotels so when you pick up your room phone you're most likely not talking to someone at your actual front desk) seemed puzzled too and shared the same fluffy assessment of Disney pillows. She ordered a couple more sent up, but one was just as flat and the other was only marginally better. It's definitely not a deal breaker for me, but if I ever get the chance to stay at the Wilderness Lodge again, I'm going to bring my own pillow.
The bedroom had a cute little feature where shutters opened over the jacuzzi tub so you could see from one room into the other. I'd highly recommend closing them at night because when I tried to quietly slip into the other room at 6:55 to get our Rise of the Resistance boarding group I ran into one that we had left folded open. I did still get a boarding group though, which is all that matters.
There is also a seat, dresser, two nightstands with lamps, and a flatscreen tv.
Living room area
My favorite part of this room is the balcony. Ours faced out into a wooded area, which admittedly wasn't the most scenic, but really meshed well with the theming. It was unfortunately chilly for most of our stay so we didn't spend a lot of time out here, but it was the perfect spot to relax when it did warm up.
Inside, there is a couch with a fold out bed. The couch itself wasn't all that comfy, but we didn't really spend a lot of time sitting around in the room when there were parks to visit and things to do. There is another flatscreen tv in here as well as a coffee table and single cushioned chair. Our room also had a lock off door that could connect to another unit if desired.
Other parts of the Boulder Ridge one-bedroom villa
The most notable feature was the apartment unit sized washer/dryer complete with detergent. The last thing I want to do on vacation is laundry, but I could see myself using it if I got soaked with rain and needed jackets or something like that dried.
There is also a ton of closet space here – way more than my master bedroom at home just in the one walk-in closet in the jacuzzi bathroom. There's also another closet in the main area with loads of hanging space.
Overall, we were so spoiled by our stay here. I'd been wanting to stay at the Wilderness Lodge since I was a kid, so this visit really was a dream come true. It's going to be hard to go back to my usual value resorts after this.
How to book the Boulder Ridge Villas
head over to Disney's official site to book your villa at Boulder Ridge. There are only 114 units, so book early if you have your heart set on one. The main area of the Wilderness Lodge has more than 700 though so you can always try for one of those as well and still enjoy the same pools, transportation, and amenities.
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Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge 2 Bedroom Villa
Source: https://www.nomadbytrade.com/boulder-ridge-villas-at-disneys-wilderness-lodge/
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