Shortly after the Disneyland Resort expanded to include Disney's California Adventure and the Grand Californian Hotel, its retail shops began selling a Wilderness Lodge version of Lincoln Logs Building Set. Even though the Wilderness Lodge is found at Walt Disney World, the idea was that this toy could pass for the GCH.

When Kathy and I decided to vacation at Walt Disney World -- and to stay at the Wilderness Lodge -- we thought it might be fun to buy the set. But we couldn't find it anywhere at Disneyland after we made this decision. While at Walt Disney World, we decided to wait until the end of our vacation to pick up the set. Again, we were too late and it was sold out by the time we were ready to buy.

Since the traditional gift for the fifth wedding anniversary is wood, the idea to buy the Lincoln Logs set came to me again the following year. But it wasn't until Christmas that I actually bought the set as a present to Kathy through the Laughing Place Store's theme park shopping service.

The set has been assembled and is displayed on our entertainment center. Its look goes good with our Arts and Crafts-inspired decor and it helps remind us of a fantastic vacation. Below are some pictures and descriptions of my putting together the Wilderness Lodge Lincoln Logs.

Inside the Wilderness Lodge Lincoln Logs container are 275 pieces including six sizes of wooden logs, plastic roofing and Disney figurines. Each kind of piece is grouped together and sealed in plastic bags to make identifying them easier.

I'm not usually an instructions kind of guy but wanting to be sure that the final structure came out the way it was intended, I made sure to follow the directions to a T. Each level's assembly instructions tells exactly how many of each piece is needed and shows how each piece is to be stacked in the proper position.

Because I wanted to display the finished Lodge on our entertainment center, I had to build the Lincoln Logs on something that I could move from the dining room table. We had an extra shelf from the entertainment center that we weren't using, which wound up being a perfect base. This first level serves as the foundation of the pending structure.

I'm still smiling after three levels of building. I had messed up on one level and had to re-do it but for the most part the pictorial instructions were pretty easy to follow.

The Wilderness Lodge is nearing completion. The front part of the structure is lower than the rear to allow for the sloped roof to be added.

The completed superstructure as seen from above. The building is mainly outer walls because the roof will hide the empty inner space. Fewer logs; fewer chances for mistakes.

After completing the log portion of building, I simply had to attach three separate roof sections with some roof pegs and set the entire roof atop the Lincoln Logs. The structure is now ready to be moved to its final location on our entertainment center.

The Wilderness Lodge Lincoln Logs in its final resting place on our entertainment center. After playing around with the placement of the Wilderness Lodge archway, totem pole, and Mickey and Humphrey figures, I settled on their location near the front of the playset.

- Story and Photos by Matthew Walker
Posted February 25, 2005

E-mail Matt at matt@startedbyamouse.com, discuss this article in the StartedByAMouse.com Disney Discussion Forums or use the Talkback feature below.

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