The Wandering Disciple

Towering over the lobby of the Fort Wilderness Resort is the 80 foot fireplace built as a replica to the Grand Canyon. The fireplace replicates the layers of rock as formed of millions of years in the Grand Canyon. And in typical Disney fashion, the fireplace tells a story as well. As you climb through the building and move through the years, the details in the fireplace resemble what was found during that period in the creation of the Grand Canyon.  (Photo: January 29, 2011)

A bridge spans a bubbling spring in the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge at Walt Disney World.  The Pacific Northwest comes to life at the resort featuring bubbling springs, cascading waterfalls and even a shooting geyser.  (Photo: January 29, 2011)

From the moment you pull in the driveway of the Wilderness Lodge at Walt Disney World, you are swept to the feeling of being at a National Park lodge in the Pacific Northwest. Not details are spared in making this an authentic experience as the lodge features canyons, springs and even a geyser to make you feel like you are thousands of miles away and not in Central Florida. (Photo: January 28, 2011)

A baby gator hides in the brush along a creek at the Babcock Ranch in eastern Charlotte County. (Photo: October 25, 2013)

Standing in the middle of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, you are quickly transported from Central Florida to the Pacific Northwest. Pine trees, boulders, springs and even a geyser help set make the resort feel like a national park lodge. (Photo: January 29, 2011)

A rustic lodge simialar to those found in the National Parks of the Northwest can be found along the shores of Bay Lake at the Walt Disney World Resort. Opened in 1994, the Wilderness Lodge is based on the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone National Park. (Photo: January 30, 2011)

The majestic beauty of the Pacific Northwest comes to life in Central Florida at the Wilderness Lodge at Walt Disney World. The resort designed to resemble a rustic lodge spares no details from the rocky waterfall to a gushing geyser. (Photo: January 29, 2011)

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: The Whispering Canyon Café is a table service restaurant located in the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge Resort at Walt Disney World. The café is known for its rowdy atmosphere, obnoxiously funny wait staff and more than you can eat skillets. The café serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is famous for it’s skillets, an all-you-can-eat family style meal served in a cast iron skillet. The breakfast skillet contains scrambled eggs, potatoes, biscuits and gravy, bacon, sausage and waffles. The lunch and dinner skillet contains ribs, pulled pork, chicken, mashed potatoes, baked beans, corn on the cob, coleslaw and mixed greens. In addition to the skillets, the café also has a full menu that includes: Eggs Benedict (breakfast) Belgian Waffle (breakfast) Pancakes (breakfast) Omelets (breakfast) Bacon Cheeseburger (lunch) Pulled Pork Sandwich (lunch) Chicken Sandwich (lunch) Turkey Sandwich (lunch) Rib-eye Steak (dinner) Meatloaf (dinner) Ribs (dinner) Trout (dinner)...

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: As the sun rose over the Wilderness Lodge, my family and I awoke to begin the second day of our Disney World trip. I sat on the balcony of our room in the morning and watched the sun rise over Bay Lake with the sound of the Walt Disney Railroad train in the distance. Today’s plan called for us to visit Epcot. We began the day with breakfast in the hotel at the Whispering Canyon Café. The restaurant had good ratings and was known for their rowdy atmosphere. Our waitress, Hickory, was fantastic. My wife had a Western Omelet and I chose a bagel with cream cheese and bacon. The biggest mistake was ordering a Diet Coke with breakfast. After the playful joking from the waitress, the drink arrived and was in a quart sized canning jar. A laugh was had by all and the meal was great. After breakfast, we boarded the bus and headed to Epcot to meet my parents and begin our day at the park. The Wilderness Lodge shares the Epcot route with Fort Wilderness, bu...

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: On the banks of Bay Lake in the Walt Disney World resort, sits a rustic lodge that seems to be straight from the forests of Yellowstone. While the Wilderness Lodge may look and feel like a true national park icon, it is in fact a deluxe Walt Disney World hotel. Opened in 1994, the Wilderness Lodge is designed to resemble the Old Faithful Inn found in Yellowstone National Park. The focus of the lobby in the main building is an eight story fireplace that towers over the lobby. Everything in the lodge helps tell the story of the Pacific Northwest. A close attention to detail will help enhance the story. From the stones in the fireplace that depict the layers of the Grand Canyon to Silver Creek which begins as a spring in the lobby, flows into a stream and then crashes over a waterfall before reaching the pool. There is even a geyser that spouts water hourly throughout the day. The Wilderness Lodge is a member of the deluxe class of the Disney hotels. It...

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: It has been almost three years since our last trip to Disney and now that our son is old enough to ride most of the attractions, we figured it was time to go again. We began planning the trip a few weeks ago, nothing fancy, just a long weekend trip. We booked a room at the Caribbean Beach Resort and invited my parents to join us. They agreed and booked a room at the All-Star Movies Resort. The more thought we put into the trip, the more things changed and the more complicated the planning got. By one week out, we had dinner reservations and tickets picked out. Then two days before we left, I changed the hotel and really put a spin on things, moving our stay to the Wilderness Lodge, a resort my wife had always wanted to stay at. So with the car packed and everyone ready, we hit the highway and headed north to Walt Disney World. We arrived at the Wilderness Lodge just before seven. The resort sat on top of a hill and with the brisk weather, made you f...