HI Becky!
What a great resort choice! The Wilderness Lodge is our favorite resort, and it is truly spectacular when decorated for the holidays!
As far as discounts go, there really isn't a release schedule that stays consistent. Sometimes there will be discounts released 6 months in advance, sometimes only a month in advance. BUT, the good news is that its nearly always possible to apply a newly released discount to an existing reservation. When I am anxious to get my vacation planning started, I will often book our room early (in Dec I reserved a room at Wilderness Lodge for next Oct!).
If I've booked a reservation without using a discount, I'll keep an eye on both the special offers page of Disneyworld.com and on Mousesavers. Mousesavers is a wonderful resource for money saving tips for a Disney trip, and also has data regarding the historical release dates of discounts.
I recently answered a question similar to yours, on the advantages of booking early. If you'd like to check it out, it can be found
here.