Hi Leslie,
Thank you for visiting the Disney Parks Moms Panel with your question. You are choosing between two peaceful, lovely locations. Both
Disney's Wilderness Lodge and
Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge have an amazing and peaceful Pacific Northwest feel.
There are a couple of issues to consider when choosing between these two locations. You mention a concern about the distance between Boulder Ridge Villas and the main Disney's Wilderness Lodge. I have stayed here before, and I felt that the resort was fairly compact and did not think that staying at the villas substantially added to my travel time to any of the locations at Disney's Wilderness Lodge. The Copper Creek Springs pool, the main pool at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, is located near this main building, but I do not think that the walk even from the furthest villa at Boulder Ridge Villas would be more than 5 to 10 minutes to this pool. The same is true for the boat dock to catch the boat to the Magic Kingdom. Finally, there is a bus stop located right outside of the Boulder Ridge Villas, so that is also not a concern.
A consideration that you should make is the size of your party. Most of the rooms at Disney's Wilderness Lodge sleep up to 4 guests. You could have a fifth guest in the room if that guest is under the age of 3 years old. There are some deluxe, club-level rooms at Disney's Wilderness Lodge that will sleep up to six guests. At Boulder Ridge Villas, you can sleep up to 5 guests in a deluxe studio, no matter how old the guests are. So do take that into consideration when making your plans.
I hope that these thoughts are helpful for you, Leslie! Have a great time planning your magical vacation, and please do let us know if you have any further questions.