The Complete Idiot's Guide to Walt Disney World, 2012 Edition
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Special Activities: The Mouseketeer Club child-care center is great for any 4- to 12-year-olds to visit for supervised activities and dinner while their parents enjoy the Disney nightlife. Per-child charge is $12 an hour and includes a buffet dinner. The daytime activities for 4- to 12-year-olds include the Grand Adventures in Cooking program, the Wonderland Tea Party, and Disney’s Pirate Adventure.
Disney’s Polynesian Resort
Overall Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★
Location: Magic Kingdom area
Price Range: $385–$815 for a standard room
Transportation: Monorail to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot; buses to all other theme parks, water parks, and Downtown Disney.
Special Features: The Polynesian has a great array of dining options, with several entertaining choices that are ideal for families. The monorail access to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, as well as the recently renovated rooms, takes this resort from being one that
I used to steer people away from back to being a great choice. The Hawaiian theme is just so much fun for kids, and romantic for adults.
Room Types: Large rooms sleep 4 to 5, with two queen-sized beds and a daybed. Suites for up to 8 guests also are available.
Best Room Locations: The Tuvalu, Fiji, Tokelau, Hawaii, Tahiti, and Samoa buildings all offer great rooms that are not a long walk from the Great House. Choose any of these if you can get a lake view. Just make sure if you have kids who need afternoon naps that you are not facing south toward the parking lot in the Rarotonga, Aotearoa, Tonga, or Rapa Nui buildings; the noise level from the nearby Richard Petty Driving Experience can make napping nearly impossible, possibly creating a major issue for the duration of your vacation!
Dining: ‘Ohana had been a great addition to this resort, with a perfectly themed character breakfast (Lilo and Stitch, as well as Mickey and friends) and an entertaining dinner experience complete with a ukulele player who guides children through dances and limbo competitions like the Pied Piper. There’s a bit more toned-down table-service dining at the underrated Kona Café, the counter-service convenience of a newly renovated Captain Cook’s Snack Company, and the Spirit of Aloha show’s luau atmosphere to bring you a very wide spectrum of dining options. The lounge, located just off the lobby by the entrance to ‘Ohana, may be small, but they create some fruity drinks that have become a mainstay of long-time visitors.
Atmosphere: One of the original resort hotels at Walt Disney World, this Polynesian-themed set of hotel buildings had become so dated that many visitors chose other resorts. A comprehensive room makeover in 2006 has made staying here a good choice again. Flatscreen TVs, comfier beds, and better furnishings have made all the difference. The public spaces in the Great Ceremonial House have also been redone, and the improvements there make this resort almost as appealing as the newer ones, like the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Although the lobby, complete with waterfall and tropical flowers, is a cozy and exotic treat during quieter times, its smaller size (compared to that of newer Deluxe resorts) makes it a bit manic when busy. Still, the hotel is a very appealing option because of the monorail access, the proximity to the Magic Kingdom, the romantic grounds, and the fun, sometimes campy Polynesian decor. If they could only get a Trader Vic’s restaurant in here, the Hawaiian homage would be complete!
Special Activities: The Neverland Club child-care center at the Polynesian consistently rates as the best resort child-care activity center at Walt Disney World. Fun for 4- to 12-year-olds includes lots of supervised activities and dinner in the spacious facility. Per-child charge is $12 an hour and includes a buffet dinner.
Looking for a nice setting for watching the fireworks from nearby Magic Kingdom? Head down to the resort’s beach for a relaxed setting, where music is piped in from the park.
Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Overall Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Location: Magic Kingdom area
Price Range: $250–$540
Transportation: Boat to the Magic Kingdom; buses to all other theme parks, water parks, and Downtown Disney.
Special Features: The decor and great restaurants are both worthy features, as is the pool, with its nearby geysers and the rocky stream feeding it. The lodge also enjoys some of the least expensive Deluxe-class rooms available. But being only a boat ride away from the Magic Kingdom is by far the best feature to this resort.
Room Types: Large rooms sleep 4 with two queen-sized beds or one queen-sized bed and bunk beds. Suites for up to 8 guests also are available. Rooms with one king-sized bed instead of the two queen beds also are available.
Best Room Locations: Be certain that you do not have a room that looks out onto the main lobby. The high noise level generated by the Whispering Canyon Café in the evenings makes it hard to get young children to sleep early. If you can, get to the left side of either wing; as it projects out to the lake, your views will improve.
Dining: The lodge enjoys one of the best fine restaurants (Artist Point) and perhaps the best non–character restaurant experience for kids (Whispering Canyon Café), where the food is good and the fun is better. There’s also a counter-service restaurant (Roaring Forks Snacks) for quick bites or breakfast before a day at the parks.
Atmosphere: Designed in the spirit of the large national park lodges of the western United States, the Wilderness Lodge greets you with a cavernous lobby that is alive with log-cabin warmth. The stories-high lobby has exposed wood beams and stained-wood decor accented with totem poles and an enormous stone fireplace that set the scene. An indoor creek that eventually runs outdoors to the pool (or at least appears to) adds a nice accent to this warm and inviting open space. After the lobby takes your breath away, the man-made geysers, the rocky stream leading to the pool, and the other well-executed small touches will help convince you that you have arrived out West at the likes of Yellowstone or Yosemite.
Special Activities: The Chip ‘n Dale’s Campfire Sing-A-Long at the nearby Fort Wilderness is a popular evening event for families as you gather round the fire and enjoy a Disney movie in the great outdoors.
DID YOU KNOW?
During the holidays, each resort has a special decor that will knock you over. Huge Christmas trees are set in the lobbies of most resorts, a gigantic African-themed holiday display is a delight in the lobby of the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and many others have creative creations dreamed up by their kitchen staff. Perhaps the most fun, though, is the giant gingerbread house built as a store in the lobby of the Grand Floridian. You can actually buy a smaller gingerbread house from this store. The store made out of gingerbread might actually be larger than my first apartment in college.
Summary
Those are the Deluxe resorts. There’s no doubt that they’re expensive. But if you can afford them, they add an element of luxury, convenience, and comfort that will undoubtedly improve your overall vacation experience. Within the group are distinct differences, providing different benefits for different travel groups, so let the resort you select be a major attraction in your overall stay.
Chapter 8
Moderate Resorts
In This Chapter
• Learn about Disney’s Moderate resorts
• Select the theme and location that are right for you
• Find out what room and resort amenities are available
So the Deluxe resorts seem a little too pricey, but you still want more than some cheapo room at the end of your theme park day? Moderate resorts at Disney are a truly great compromise for most guests, offering most of the amenities that they require, but keeping the costs a bit more reasonable along the way.
What Is a Moderate Resort?
Moderate resorts are wonderfully themed, well-appointed hotels that provide more than bare-bones accommodations but don’t make you feel like you need to take out a second mortgage. And you might find that many of the amenities “lost” are ones that you would never have had time to take advantage of on this trip anyway, so why pay for them?
The rooms are a
bit smaller than those in the Deluxe resorts, but only by a bit. They still offer larger spaces and the in-room amenities that you might want. Most rooms have two double beds or one king-sized bed. Some even include mini-refrigerators as standard. The resort amenities, however, do drop off a bit. There are no character meals here, but you can go to other resorts and parks for that. The real drop-off in benefits may be in the transportation, where you have to use bus routes to all parks. The buses aren’t horrible; they just aren’t monorails. For most, it’s an easy concession to save over $100 a night on the room.
Bottom line: The Moderate resorts may not be the least expensive rooms in all of Walt Disney World, but for many (if not most) guests, they’re the perfect deal. Sure, they’re not as inexpensive as the Value hotels. And sure, they’re not as featured as the Deluxe resorts. But the middle ground that they provide is perfect for most guests to the Magic Kingdom.
Moderate Resort Pros
• Large pools and some restaurant selection
• Larger rooms
• $100 less per night than a Deluxe resort
Moderate Resort Cons
• Bus transportation to all parks
• Limited in-room and resort amenities
• No on-site character meals
The Walt Disney World Moderate Resorts
Time to learn about the Moderate resorts. The differences between each are more than in just the decor, so look for what is right for your group.
Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
Overall Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Location: Epcot area
Price Range: $154–$269 for a standard room
Transportation: Buses to all theme parks, water parks, and Downtown Disney.
Special Features: The Caribbean Beach Resort is the most centrally located of the Moderate resorts, translating to shorter bus trip times, on average. You also will enjoy the largest rooms in the Moderate resort class. Finally, a main pool refurbishment makes for a more themed and enjoyable stay.
Room Types: Large rooms sleep 4 with two double beds. New to the resort are themed rooms that are being added during refurbishments. These movie-themed rooms can be a real plus if you have kids in love with the movies from which they take their inspiration. The Nemo-themed rooms in the Martinique section simply added some light decor touches (such as bedspreads with Dory and Nemo), while the Trinidad South section, themed to Pirates of the Caribbean, includes pirate ship–shaped beds and a more intense theming look throughout the room. The pirate rooms usually cost about $25 more per night than a standard room.
There are king-sized beds available, with one king replacing two doubles.
Best Room Locations: Anything with a view of the lakes that run through the center of the resort is preferable, especially the Aruba or the Old Port Royale Centertown areas. The latter is best if you are planning on dining in the resort, as that is where the restaurants are found.
Dining: Shutters at Old Port Royale and the Old Port Royale Food Court offer the sole dining options here. The indoor food court is fun because the decor is intended to make you feel like you’re at a Caribbean outdoor market, but with the benefits of being in a clean, air-conditioned space.
Atmosphere: The atmosphere here is intended to transport you to the Caribbean, and with the hot Florida sun playing its part, it seems to do a fair job. The brightly colored structures seem like some of the nicer white-washed buildings of the tropical isles. The sundrenched ambiance tells you to take it easy.
This well-spread-out resort surrounds a lake, providing some quieter settings, with the buildings gathered in several small groupings. This resort has smaller pools, but more of them than at most other resorts. The Custom House serves as the check-in hall, but the real resort amenities are found by the Old Port Royale area on the other side of the lake, so the closer you are to that area, the better off you’ll be.
Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
Overall Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Location: Animal Kingdom area
Price Range: $159–$284 for a standard room
Transportation: Buses to all theme parks, water parks, and Downtown Disney.
Special Features: The Coronado Springs Resort is home to a rather significant convention space. This can play out in your favor: a morning bus ride may be lighter, with most of the resort guests heading to conference rooms instead of theme parks. The resort also has a beauty salon and health club, and can provide spa treatments, something no other Moderate resort provides.
Room Types: Large rooms sleep 4 with two queen-sized beds. Suites also are available that can room up to 6, and king-sized beds are available with one king replacing the two queen beds.
Coronado Springs Resort. Photos © Disney.
Best Room Locations: The Ranchos are best if you’re looking for a lot of pool time, while the Casitas give you quicker lobby and restaurant access. My favorite location, however, is the Cabanas, where I’m close to both, but in a quieter setting by not being too close to either.
Dining: Maya Grill has an improving menu, with more and more truly Mexican-inspired cuisine. This table-service offering and the counter-service dining at the Pepper Market are well-themed, fun places to eat and should take care of all your faster dining needs.
A wealth of nightclubs makes this a great location for adult-only groups as well, with Rix as the lead locale for fun.
Atmosphere: The Mexican-themed decor is expertly executed in a fashion that really provides a relaxing and historical view of our neighbor to the south. The public spaces, particularly the check-in area, are warm and classic in their appeal, becoming fun and festive when you move to the food courts. The large pool even sits in the shadow of a large Mayan pyramid. The quietly warm atmosphere, paired with the spa services, make this a great place for romantic couples to get away.
As Moderate resorts go, this is a great option, although the convention crowds can be a bit of a negative. But higher ratings at other Moderate resorts come from the value of certain amenities, not from shortcomings here. This is an excellent selection.
Disney’s Port Orleans Resort French Quarter
Overall Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆
Location: Downtown Disney area
Price Range: $154–$274 for a standard room
Transportation: Boat to Downtown Disney, buses to all theme parks and water parks.
Special Features: The resort has boat access to Downtown Disney, which can truly be a great connection to the rest of the Walt Disney World properties because it serves as the bus-transfer location. The Scat Cat’s Lounge also provides a nice addition to the site, as not all resorts have a lounge, which can be a nice retreat for adults.
DID YOU KNOW?
A big plus to the Port Orleans resorts is the boat access to Downtown Disney. This is especially nice if you have a group that plans on enjoying some of the nightlife and shopping and the thought of a long bus ride back to your resort sounds painful.
Room Types: Large rooms sleep 4 with two double beds. Some rooms have a trundle bed as well, sleeping 5 guests. Some king-sized beds are available as well.
Best Room Locations: Rooms facing the waterway from buildings 2, 5, and 6 provide for nice views and fast access to bus and boat transportation.
Dining: The Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory Food Court is a fun counter-service destination decorated with float art and giant masks. The Scat Cat’s Lounge also adds a nice adult-relaxation location that you won’t get at a Value hotel.
Atmosphere: Drop yourself into the world of Mardi Gras festivities as you are immersed in a perfect New Orleans atmosphere. Think of it as Bourbon Street without so many drunks. It comes complete with a lounge, verandas for many rooms, and a relaxed open space that will help you wind down at the day’s end. The boat access to Downtown Disney and its nightspots seem to speak to the entire Bourbon Street way of life.
Of all the Moderate resorts, this is the one I recommend the most. It has all the be
nefits of the other part of Port Orleans, but is smaller and less busy than that part of the resort. All I can say is laissez les bon temps rouler (let the good times roll)!
Disney’s Port Orleans Resort Riverside
Overall Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆
Location: Downtown Disney area
Price Range: $154–$274 for a standard room
Transportation: Boat to Downtown Disney, buses to all theme parks and water parks.
Special Features: The resort has boat access to Downtown Disney, which can truly be a great connection to the rest of the Walt Disney World properties because it serves as the bus-transfer location. Additionally the inviting open spaces are popular with families for general exploration and quiet walks at day’s end.
Room Types: Large rooms sleep 4 to 5, with two queen-sized beds and an optional Pack ‘N Play crib. Some king-sized beds are available as well.
Best Room Locations: The Magnolia Terrace building provides for quick access to the pool, as well as bus and boat transportation.
Atmosphere: The decor is intended to be more like rural Louisiana, with two sections, Alligator Bayou and Magnolia Bend. The former has smaller units that make you feel like you are near the swamplands, while the latter speaks to manors of the Old South. Although the New Orleans part of Port Orleans may seem to offer more touristy ambiance, this land is better for offering more vistas and public spaces worth exploring. You still get the same boat access to Downtown Disney, a lounge, as well as a table-service restaurant, giving you a bit better of an amenities menu than in the French Quarter part of the resort. I prefer the French Quarter side only because it’s a bit quieter, but a room just about anywhere at the Port Orleans resort is a good choice.