HOW I SPEND MY FREE TIME: IN DISNEY WORLD HOTELS
In the four years or so since this site opened, I’ve managed to stay in, and publish a review of, every Walt Disney World owned and operated resort hotel–and a few others as well. The last review, of the Beach Club Villas, started coming out a few weeks ago.
With just a couple of exceptions, I’ve also stayed in every major room type–for example, at Saratoga Springs, both the main resort and Treehouse Villas; at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, not only Jambo House but also the DVC villas in both Jambo House and Kidani Village; at Fort Wilderness, both in The Cabins and tent-camping in The Campsites.
This has been fun, but of course also expensive and, at times, believe it or not, even a pain. Yet I can’t see how a site like this can rate and rank hotels for first time visitors without it. So I’m glad I did it, and I’m glad it’s done.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR RESORT REVIEWS
Except, of course, it’s not done.
- Art of Animation has two room types opening soon–I’ve got reservations for both, and it’ll be interesting to see if, as I expect, the 4-person standard rooms, which I’ll see in September, top Pop Century and become my most highly recommended value resort rooms
- Queens are now in or going in at all the moderate resorts except Caribbean Beach; I need to re-visit the moderates to see if these change the rankings…I don’t think they will, as the basic driver of the rankings is kid appeal, and that hasn’t changed across the moderates…but we’ll see
- There are still a few room types I haven’t seen:
- I’ve tried a million times but never gotten in to a family suite at All-Star Music (I have stayed in the regular rooms there); that should be easier after Art of Animation opens, and I need to stay in one to draw the exact contrast with the newer family suites at Art of Animation
- Most of my Disney Vacation Club visits have been to one-bedroom villas; I need to see more of the DVC studio offerings…
- There’s a whole set of deluxe rooms, club floors, suites, and Grand Villas I haven’t been in…I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to afford more than a bit of light sampling here…but a guy can dream, right?
- I’ve focused on the Disney owned-and-operated resorts, but also need to do the Swan, the Dolphin, and the two Universal resorts I haven’t stayed in and reviewed…
- The content of the reviews I’ve done has varied over the years, so I need to add more consistent treatment
So I’m done, which means time to start over!
For links to the reviews, see below:
REVIEWS OF DISNEY OWNED AND OPERATED RESORTS
Reviews of Value Resorts at Walt Disney World
Reviews of Moderate Resorts at Walt Disney World (not recommended for first time visitors, see this for why)
Reviews of Deluxe Resorts at Walt Disney World
Reviews of Disney Vacation Club Resorts at Walt Disney World (not recommended for first time visitors, see this for why)
- The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas–Jambo House
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas–Kidani Village
- Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Disney’s Beach Club Villas
- Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
- Disney’s Old Key West Resort
- Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa, main resort
- Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort, Treehouse Villas area
Campground Reviews:
- The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort (Not recommended for first time visitors, see this for why)
(These hotels are grouped by price category. See this for details on the features of the various resort price categories. Within price categories, they are in order of how well they suit typical first time family visitors. See this for more on where to stay.)
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