It may seem weird to just go to stay at any hotel for one night, much less a Disney hotel for one night. But it is actually really fun as a Disney local! Two weeks ago we landed a room at the Wilderness Lodge for one night at a great rate so we jumped on it. You may think there isn’t much to do just staying for one night but we had the best time and did a lot considering. So this week I am sharing all the things you can take advantage of even if you are only staying for one night at your resort!
Mobile Check In
The nice thing about Disney resorts is that you can do mobile check in before you arrive and skip the front desk completely! You will get a notification from My Disney Experience when your room is ready and what your room number is. The only issue we had here was that the mobile room key wouldn’t load so we had to go get an actual key.
Enjoy the view
Disney resorts are known for how beautiful they are and the attention to detail so of course you should walk around and enjoy the surroundings! From the lobby to the rooms to the grounds outside, everything is beautiful and transports you into the story of where you are staying! There are comfy couches and rocking chairs by the fireplaces where you can just sit and enjoy and even a hidden Mickey scavenger hunt if you want to do that! We walked all around when we first got there even though we have been to this resort before. We had to go see the geyser and the springs that come right out of the hotel lobby.
Enjoy your room
When you get into your room there are so many fun details to find. We found Bambi and Chip and Dale all over the place. Your name is on the TV welcoming you to your room, you have a Hey Disney Alexa you can play with, a dreamy bathroom and comfy beds! The boys had to open and close every door and drawer see it all. If you get lucky like we did, your standard view room will come with a great view as well but we are going to talk about that later!
Dining options
All Disney resorts have dining options. The Wilderness Lodge has three great table service restaurants and a quick service location to enjoy. After we checked in and checked everything out we had a dinner reservation at Whispering Canyon right in the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge. This is such a fun restaurant, especially with kids. The wait staff are very funny and kind of tease you and whatever you do, don’t ask for ketchup…..you will get more than you can handle! This was a really fun experience and we didn’t have to leave the resort to do it.
Saturday morning we took advantage of the quick service option, Roaring Forks for breakfast. They have everything from vegetarian quiches to Mickey waffles and even just simple muffins and pastries. There is a dining area or you could take it up to your room to eat. The Wilderness Lodge even has character dining at Artists Point where you can have your meal with Snow White, the Evil Queen and some of the 7 Dwarfs!
Extra Activities
Friday night we went out to the fire pit and roasted marshmallows too! This is free to do, they give you a stick and as many marshmallows as you want to roast on the fire. You can purchase a smore’s kit with chocolate and graham crackers too if you like. There are other activities like different craft classes available at the resort and there was even a caricature artist by the gift shop, Thatcher had been asking for one of these for a while so this was the perfect opportunity for him to get one finally. Most Disney resorts show movies outside on select nights too!
Watch the fireworks
Believe it or not, a lot of the resorts can see either the Magic Kingdom or Epcot fireworks from somewhere on the grounds. We got so lucky because we could watch Happily Ever After in Magic Kingdom from our balcony!! It wasn’t as good as our friends Pam and David up in Club Level that could even see the castle projections but it was a pretty decent view and we could hear the music! This totally took us bay surprise because we were just in a standard, resort view room.
Transportation
When you stay at a Disney resort you get the benefit of transportation to all the parks without having to drive. Wilderness Lodge has a great boat launch that goes to Magic Kingdom. It’s a great walk through the resort to get there and a really nice ride. we took the boat to Magic Kingdom after breakfast on Saturday and the boys had a new experience since they had never done that before. We had put our stuff in the car before heading to MK but if you didn’t have your car, you can leave your bags with bell services until you are leaving the resort. This is a great perk too!
Conclusion
We had the best time on our little one night staycation. We had not stayed at the Wilderness Lodge since our honeymoon 21 years ago! We really just booked the room so getting to the Wine & Dine race Saturday morning was easier but it really turned into a great little getaway. One night might not sound like much, but if you are just passing through or coming for a short weekend you can really get a lot out of staying at a Disney resort. There are so many things to explore and take advantage of whether it’s dining, exploring, crafts, shopping or just hanging out there is something to do for everyone at Disney resorts! The only thing we didn’t do while we were there is go swimming and that was just because it was a little chilly while we were there. The pools are heated but the outside was not! Hahaha!
Thank you for reading along on our little staycation journey, we had so much fun and I love sharing things like this with all of you! You are all the best and I hope you have the most magical day!