Definately stay with the Contemporary! I just returned from a 5 night stay at the WL Nov3-8 and a one night stay at the Dolphin and I was dissapointed with the WL. I stayed at the Contemporary two years ago and thought it was a much better resort in many aspects.
1. Rooms were much larger (max occupancy 5 as opposed to 4 at WL)
2. Transportation is superior: Walk to MK or take Monarail, monarail to Epcot
3. Beach/Pool area (my kids liked the Beach better here)
4. Better dining options
My biggest issue with the WL is the transportation. You share routes with Fort Wilderness and you always have to swing through the campground before going anywhere. Even the boat to MK is shared with Ft. Wilderness.
I'll give you an example: MK opened at 9:00, we were on the dock at 8:25 am and there was a boat loading but we didn't make it on because it was full. We waited 15-20 min. for another boat to come (that one came almost full) and we arrived at the MK at 9:15. This was the normal routine, it takes about
45 min.+ to get anywhere. It takes less time if your lucky and time the boats and buses right. Going to Epcot was our biggest frustration. After a few days we opted to take the bus to the Ticket Transportation system then the monarail to Epcot. Even if you had to wait for the monarail it was still faster!
Dining options at the WL consist of 2 restaurants and one small limited food court. Example: returned from parks around 8:30pm and wanted a sit down meal but didn't have priority reservations there was a 45-60 min wait in the Whispering Canyons and Artists Point we couldn't even get into it. You have to really plan out all your meals here before you leave for your trip. We ended up eating in the food court twice then decided to eat before we returned to the hotel. If we were at the Contemporary we could hop on the monarail and eat at the Polynesian or Grand Floridian if we wanted to but at the WL your stuck there because of the transportation.
WL is a beautiful resort but I felt that the Contemporary was better.
I've stayed at:
Wilderness Lodge & Dolphin (Nov. 2002)
All Star Music (Oct. 2001)
All star Movies & Contemporary (March 2000)
Boardwalk Villas (January 1999)
My kids favorite (Twins 8) is the Dolphin because of the pool, beach and close to Epcot. I prefer the Epcot resorts because that's where we spend most of our evenings.