By the co-author of The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2020, the best-reviewed Disney World guidebook series ever.

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Category — d. Where to Stay at Walt Disney World

The Basics: Where to Stay at Walt Disney World

WHERE TO STAY AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

There are three basic decisions to make about where to stay on your Disney World visit:

  • What level of amenities (and thus relative price) you looking are for,
  • Whether or not you stay in a Disney-owned resort, and, if not in a Disney-owned resort,
  • Whether or not you stay in one of the few third party resorts offering key Disney perks.

The decisions are interrelated because at any amenity level you will pay more—at the higher amenity levels often much, much more—to stay in a Disney-owned resort.

The Basics - Where to Stay at Disney World from yourfirstvisit.net

WHY YOU SHOULD STAY IN A DISNEY-OWNED RESORT

There are some key perks that often make staying at a Disney-owned resort the better choice—especially for first-time visitors. I strongly recommend that first-timers stay in a Disney-owned resort.

The most important of the perks for staying in a Disney-owned resort are these:

  • Being able to pre-book Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass rides earlier than almost anyone else, helping you get low wait access to the most popular rides.
  • Access to free extra time in every park every morning that most other guests can’t use, via Disney World’s Early Theme Park Entry program. (Those staying in the most expensive Disney hotels also get extra evening access.)
  • Reliable park transportation with proper hours.
  • Earlier access to the most popular dining reservations.
  • Access to the Disney Dining Plan which can save some families a bit, and lets others control their budgets.
  • Free parking at the theme parks, free parking at the resort hotels, and no resort fees.
  • Fun theming and good convenience

MORE DETAILS ON THE PERKS THAT COME FROM DISNEY-OWNED HOTELS

Being able to pre-book access to as many as five rides per day seven days before your arrival, earlier than almost everyone else can pre-book them, as part of Disney World’s new Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass programs, helping assure low-wait access to some of Disney World’s most popular rides.

The non-Disney owned Swan, Swan Reserve, and Dolphin also offer access to such early pre-booking, as does Shades of Green. All other lodging options can pre-book only three days before arrival. Thus, those staying in a Disney-owned resort (or another eligible hotel) have earlier access to what may be a limited pool of purchasable access to these rides.

Access to extra time in the parks that most other guests can’t use. Disney World’s Early Theme Park Entry Program allows guests staying at a Disney-owned hotel (and also the same list of other hotels as above, plus a number of others to be discussed later) to enter every park every day 30 minutes earlier than anyone else.  Those who get to their target park early enough and have a good plan will be at least two rides ahead of everyone else. They will have one ride ridden, and be in line for another, before anyone else can even make their way back to the lines, which can give them a jump-start on waits all day.

(Those staying in a deluxe, DVC, the Cabins at Fort Wilderness, or one of few other hotels–Swan, Swan Reserve, Dolphin and Shades of Green– in addition also have access to extra evening hours.)

Value Resort All-Star Sports

Value Resort All-Star Sports

Reliable park transportation with proper hours. The Disney-owned resorts have frequent transportation to the parks that starts before the parks open and extends to well after they close. Non-Disney hotels, if they have transportation, all too commonly offer it too infrequently, begin it too late, and/or end it too soon. (A rental car will fix this, but add costs.)

Moderate Resort Port Orleans Riverside

Moderate Resort Port Orleans Riverside

Slightly earlier access to the most popular dining reservations. Disney World dining reservations open to most people 60 days before the planned dining date, and the most popular venues book up quickly. For those staying at a Disney-owned resort, however, once 60 days from their check in day hits, they can book dining not only for that day but also for the length of their stay, up to ten days, as well. This up-to-ten-day head start on the latter part of your visit helps with getting access to the most popular dining venues.

Access to the Disney Dining Plan which can save some families a bit, and lets others control their budgets. The various Disney Dining Plans, available only to guests staying in a Disney-owned resort, are a way of pre-paying for some of your meals. While they are not as good a deal as they used to be, the regular dining plan may save families with kids aged 3-9 who plan a lot of one credit character meals some money. Other families may take comfort in being able to pre-budget much of their dining costs, even if they lose a little money compared to buying the same meals for cash.

Deluxe Resort Contemporary

Deluxe Resort Contemporary

Free parking at the theme parks, free parking at the hotels, and no resort fees. Disney-owned hotels don’t charge either parking or “resort fees”—a mandatory surcharge that many non-Disney hotels charge that frankly ought to be rolled into room prices. Disney’s parks charge for auto parking–$30/day right now. Guests at Disney-owned hotels don’t pay this charge.

DVC Resort Old Key West

DVC Resort Old Key West

Fun theming and good convenience. Most of the Disney-owned hotels have wonderful theming (although some don’t), and most are more convenient to most of the Disney theme parks than non-Disney owned hotels. My resort rankings for first-time visitors are based first on kid-friendly visual theming, and second on convenience in carrying out this site’s itineraries.

For all these Disney-owned hotel perks you will pay more—in some cases quite a bit more—for the same quality of room at a Disney-owned resort than at alternatives.

Disney-owned resorts can be grouped into five classes (click the various links below to learn more, or for links to detailed extensive reviews of each hotel, see this.)

DISNEY WORLD VALUE RESORTS

Value resorts have the lowest prices, tiniest rooms, fewest amenities, and offer no table service restaurants or character meals.

Value Resort Pop Century

Most (but not all) standard value rooms sleep four on two queen beds. (Value resort “Family Suite” rooms, available at Art of Animation and All-Star Music, sleep six in a space about twice the size of a standard room, but cost more than twice as much.)

Disney's All-Star Sports Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

Value Resort All-Star Sports

The value resorts have great visual kid appeal, but many parents find them garish.

Disney's Art of Animation Resort Floor Plan from yourfirstvisit.net

Value Resort Art of Animation

There’s five value resorts that offer standard rooms:

And two that offer family suites:

Floor Plan All-Star Music Family Suite from yourfirstvisit.net

Value Resort Family Suite All-Star Music

Room rates among the Disney-owned resorts vary tremendously by night of the week, time of the year, and views, and also among hotels within the same price class. That said, prices for the lowest priced four person value resort room types and views range from around $110 to over $300 per night. Family suites are more than twice as expensive.

For first timers who may never return, based on criteria of visual kid appeal and convenience, I particularly recommend Art of Animation and Pop Century among the values. These two are also the only value resorts that are part of Disney’s Skyliner transportation to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

DISNEY WORLD MODERATE RESORTS

Moderate resorts have (for Disney) middle-of-the-road prices, room sizes, and amenities.

Moderate Resort Coronado Springs

Most standard rooms sleep four on two queens. Some rooms at Caribbean Beach and Port Orleans Riverside have fifth sleeping spot large enough for a child. The Cabins at Fort Wilderness sleep 6, two on bunk beds suitable for children.

Moderate Resort Coronado Springs

Moderate Resort Coronado Springs

The bedroom portion of the traditional moderates is comparable in size to the bedroom area at many Disney-owned deluxe resorts. All moderates offer table service restaurants except Port Orleans French Quarter. None offers character meals.

Most of the moderates are sprawling (Port Orleans French Quarter is an important exception) and while kids love them all, none shouts with kid appeal the way the value resorts do.

Moderate Resort Port Orleans French Quarter

There’s four “traditional” moderates with comparable rooms:

Moderate Resort Royal Room

Moderate Resort Royal Room

And among the traditional moderates, there’s also three groups of special room types.

  • Royal Rooms at Port Orleans Riverside have extra and special theming, but are overly expensive and inconvenient compared to other rooms at the same resort
  • While most standard traditional moderate rooms sleep four on two queens, a fifth sleeping spot on a short fold-down bed is available in the Alligator Bayou section of Port Orleans Riverside and in most areas of Caribbean Beach.
  • Room in Gran Destino Tower, one of four accommodation areas in Coronado Springs, are accessed from interior corridors and have a different bath layout. (Uniquely among the moderates, you can also book club rooms and suites at Coronado Springs.) Rooms in the other three areas of Coronado Springs are similar to those in the other moderates.
Moderate Resort The Cabins at Fort Wilderness

Moderate Resort The Cabins at Fort Wilderness

Also classed as a moderate are the quite different Cabins at Fort Wilderness, which sleep six in two rooms and have a full kitchen (with a limited oven). These are also the only moderate spaces that have access to Extended Evening Hours.

Floor Plan Renovated Cabins at Fort Wilderness from yourfirstvisit.net

Moderate Resort The Cabins at Fort Wilderness

I don’t particularly recommend these Cabins for first timers, as they combine bland theming with substantial inconvenience.

The least expensive rooms at the traditional moderates cost from around $220 to $400 a night depending on the resort and the time of year.

I’m not keen on the moderates for first timers who may never return, as they are short on kid appeal and convenience compared to other options you have.

For returning visitors, the mix of pros and cons among the traditional moderates is more muddied than that of any other resort class. Caribbean Beach stands out for its kid appeal and Skyliner transportation to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Coronado Springs for its unmatched overall set of amenities. Riverside is the best-loved, and French Quarter the most compact and convenient.

DISNEY WORLD DELUXE RESORTS

Deluxe resorts. While there is more variety among the deluxes than any other Disney price class, in general they have the highest prices, largest rooms, most amenities, best pools, and plentiful dining, including both “date night” quality dining and also family friendly and/or character meals at or near most of them.

Deluxe Resort Grand Floridian

Deluxe Resort Grand Floridian

Standard rooms sleep at least four on two queens, and all the deluxes except the Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge offer many rooms with a fifth sleeping spot large enough for an adult.

Deluxe Resort Polynesian Village

Deluxe Resort Polynesian Village

Some deluxe resorts—especially the Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Polynesian Village Resort—have terrific visual kid appeal, and some don’t.

Deluxe Resort BoardWalk Inn

Deluxe Resort BoardWalk Inn

There are 8 deluxe resorts:

At the deluxes—where prices among hotels in the same class vary the most—the least expensive rooms run from a little over $400 to almost $1,000 per night depending on hotel and time of the year. See Mousesavers.com for more specifics on room rates by date and by view.

Deluxe resorts in addition have access to a perk that most of the moderates and all of the values don’t: extra evening hours.

For first timers, among the deluxes I particularly recommend the Polynesian Village.

DISNEY WORLD DISNEY VACATION CLUB RESORTS

DVC Resort Saratoga Springs

DVC Resort Saratoga Springs

Disney Vacation Club Resorts. At the Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) offerings (which regular people can book—you don’t have to be a Disney Vacation Club member to book these) there are multiple deluxe level room types: “Studios” are similar to deluxe rooms; “Villas” are larger and have full kitchens, and, at the two-bedroom and larger sizes, sleep eight people plus.

DVC Studio at Polynesian Village

DVC Studio at Polynesian Village

I count thirteen DVC resorts because of some sharply distinguished areas at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and Saratoga Springs that Disney lumps together.

DVC Resort Old Key West

DVC Resort Old Key West

I don’t particularly recommend the DVC Villa options for first timers, as their distinguishing features—extra space and full kitchens—are of little use on a first visit where most time is spent in the parks, not in the rooms.

These features, however, can make them a delight for returning visitors.

DVC resorts, like deluxe resorts, have access to a perk that the moderates and values don’t: extra evening hours

THE CAMPSITES AT DISNEY’S FORT WILDERNESS RESORT

Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground from yourfirstvisit.net

Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort

The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. Campsites for up to ten tent and RV campers (the Cabins at Fort Wilderness are grouped in the moderate class).

Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort

Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort

I don’t recommend the campsites for first time visitors, nor for inexperienced tent campers. The campground is blandly themed and suffers from inconvenient transport arrangements.

For returning visitors in RVs or who are expert tent campers, Fort Wilderness is one of America’s great campgrounds.

MORE ON THE DISNEY-OWNED RESORTS

To all the room occupancy figures you can add one child younger than three sleeping in a crib. Except at the campground and the DVC resorts, prices assume one or two folks 18 or over. More than two people over eighteen will face a surcharge.

Returning visitors, or first-timers who are able to return, can have a great visit at any Disney-owned resort. I have stayed in more than 170 different Disney-owned rooms, suites, studios, villas, cabins and campsites. Detailed reviews of them all based on those stays begin here.

Deals are often available for the Disney-owned resorts. Current Disney World deals are here.

STAYING IN A HOTEL THAT DISNEY DOES NOT OWN

The best reason to stay in a non-Disney hotel is to save money. Details on the key options are here.

 

 

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February 2, 2016   10 Comments

Quick Update on the Fort Wilderness Cabin Refurb

I’ve published a full photo tour of the renovated Cabins at Fort Wilderness beginning here, bit, but here’s a quick update on the Fort Wilderness Cabin refurb:

REFURB SCHEDULE FOR THE CABINS AT FORT WILDERNESS

  • Loops 2200, 2300, 2400, and 2600 are done
  • Loop 2800 is closed for refurb, and expected to re-open in early March
  • Loop 2700 will close for refurb in early February, and re-open at the end of March or early April
  • Loop 2500 will close in mid-March, and re-open in mid-April
  • Loop 2100 seems to still have the uncertainty already noted here

These plans are subject to change, of course!

THE NEW OVENS IN THE CABINS

As noted here, the regular oven in the Cabins has been replaced with a combined microwave/convection oven.

I put it through its paces yesterday and Saturday, and here’s the basics:

  • It won’t go hotter than 425 degrees, so no broiler, and recipes that need 450 will take longer and may brown more slowly than you want
  • There’s only 6 inches of space between the top of the rack and the top of the oven, so no tall food (The inside dimensions are 21 by 14 inches–it’s plenty long and wide, just short.)
  • Everything I baked took 15% to 50% longer than I expected
  • The controls are a little tricky at first–more microwavish than ovenly

There’s more on how the new ovens at Fort Wilderness performed here.

Roast from New Oven-Microwave at the Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

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February 1, 2016   No Comments

Extensive Refurb at Wilderness Lodge Gives Me Pause In Recommending It

EXTENSIVE REFURB AT DISNEY’S WILDERNESS LODGE

Wilderness Lodge Refurb More Extensive Than I Had ThoughtDisney’s Wilderness Lodge will be completing a refurb in the summer of 2017.

Unitl then, for repeat visitors who had been planning the Wilderness Lodge for their next trip, I’d just put off staying there until this refurb is complete. Stay somewhere else on your bucket list, and return to the Wilderness Lodge after the lobby comes back to normal

For first-timers with their heart set on the Wilderness Lodge,

  • If you have any concerns at all, stay someplace else.  The potential to be disappointed isn’t worth it.
  • If you don’t have concerns, stay at the Lodge.  The refurb to the lobby mars it, but it does not ruin it.  I would say that the lobby retains more than 80% of its prior beauty, grandeur, and sublimity.  Since the prior level was really high, 80% of that level is really high too!

THE REFURB AT THE WILDERNESS LODGE

In October 2015, as part of a redo of the Disney Vacation Club offerings at the Wilderness Lodge, several amenities were taken out and extensive construction in the outer verges of the Wilderness Lodge proper began.

There’s much more on this topic here, but essentially the Wilderness Lodge lost for construction the smaller of its two pools, its beach, and some other minor amenities.

Wilderness Lodge Refurb 8 from yourfirstvisit.net

View from the Bay Lake side of the Villas

While views from the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge were quite marred from this work, I thought that those getting Courtyard views in the main Lodge would be largely un-affected.

Not so fast.  Earlier this month, Disney essentially closed off the half of the Wilderness Lodge on the Villas side, took the elevators serving this wing out of service, and put up construction walls out to the edge of the lobby over the check-in area and extending a bit around each corner of that wall.

Here’s a bunch of photos of the lobby (as always on this site, click them to enlarge them):

Wilderness Lodge Refurb 5 from yourfirstvisit.net

The unaffected side

 

Wall at the second floor landing of the stairs

Construction wall at the second floor landing of the stairs

 

Wilderness Lodge Refurb 3 from yourfirstvisit.net

Construction wall from the second floor–near

 

Construction wall from the second floor, far

Construction wall from the second floor, far

 

Wilderness Lodge Refurb 7 from yourfirstvisit.net

Construction wall going around corner, from lobby

 

Wilderness Lodge Refurb 6 from yourfirstvisit.net

Principal construction wall above check-in, from lobby

April 2016 update: the scaffolding is gone.

Moreover, scaffolding now covers much of the south (Villa-facing) side, and goes around the corner to a bit of the Courtyard side of this wing. I’d imagine that over time this scaffolding likely will extend further into the courtyard:

DSC00166 (800x533)

So what does this all mean?

First, on the positive side–

  • With about half the rooms taken out of circulation, crowds will be lower in the Roaring Fork quick service location, the wonderful main pool, and the boats and buses
  • The vast majority of what leads to the lobby’s impact remains–the grandeur and sublimity of the large space, the large decorative features of the carved columns, totem poles, teepee lights and the Grand Canyon fireplace, and most of the subtle detailing
  • For construction walls, the walls themselves aren’t bad.  Had they been on the other side of the railings, the balance of details would be much worse.
  • Many north wing rooms have better Magic Kingdom views, thanks to the scalping of a number of trees in this area preparatory to construction.

So I think the refurb is not only not a disaster, but also that the lobby is on the order of 80% as good as it used to be, or will be in the future.

On the other hand, at the same time the lobby, which is the glory of the Wilderness Lodge, is in fact not as good as it used to be, or will be in the future, other construction mars views and creates noise, and some of the amenities are gone.

Hence my recommendations:

  • For first timers who are not troubled by all this, by all means stay at the Lodge–it will still be a great experience, just not as good as it was or will be.
  • Repeat visitors should hold their visit to the Wilderness Lodge until the refurb is complete
  • First timers who are concerned should stay elsewhere.

Where else to stay depends on why you picked the Wilderness Lodge in the first place.

This refurb should be complete by mid-summer 2017.

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January 31, 2016   46 Comments

Updated Beach Club Review (Plus a Couple of Suite Images)

Yesterday I published an updated version of my review of Disney’s Beach Club Resort, based on my most recent stays there in November and December.

Floor Plan Disney's Beach Club Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

The biggest difference is that the floor plan and photo tour now reflect the newly refurbed rooms.

These rooms were already quite livable, but the fixtures, fittings and coverings were pretty beat up.

Bed Side from Back Disney's Beach Club Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

The refurb has made all fresh, and also made some minor improvements in livability–e.g. centralizing the drawers more, and adding more power points.

Wall Art Disney's Beach Club Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

I do think, as noted in the new review, that these rooms have lost some of their charm–although we did like the new Mickey and Minnie print enough for it to have made its way onto our Christmas Card, along with puppy Belle:

Xmas Card (800x588)

Most of the rest of the changes to the review were structural, although I did add some new photos.

More specifically,

The Beach Club overview page has some added content summarizing other pages in the review that makes it work better as one page introduction to the resort, so that many won’t need to delve any deeper into the review. I’ve been doing this with my updated reviews lately to help save people time.

The overview page has also of course the updated floor plan and a photo or two of the new rooms, plus a bit of a comparison to the old rooms.

The second page, a photo tour of a Beach Club room, now has all new images of a refurbed room.

The third page that summarizes Accommodations and Theming at the Beach Club is mostly the same as the old page, other than the obvious changes from the refurb.

Incidentally, for somewhat comic reasons I was “stuck” with an upgrade to a one-bedroom suite in November, and have not added photos from that trip to the Accommodations page yet, as I was already far enough behind on reporting on the refurb to the standard rooms that I wanted to get this new review out.

Most of those one bedroom suite photos will get added to the Accommodations page later–or perhaps I’ll do a photo tour of the suite…but here’s a couple to whet your appetite until then:

The sitting room in a one bedroom suite:

Sitting Room One Bedroom Suite at Disney's Beach Club Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

The couch side of the king bedroom in a one bedroom suite:

Couch Side of King Bedroom One Bedroom Suite at Disney's Beach Club Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

The bed side of the king bedroom in a one bedroom suite:

Bed Side of King Bedroom One Bedroom Suite at Disney's Beach Club Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

I’ve lately been separating out dining from the “Amenities” page–just as last year I separated out main pools–both for improved findability.

So there’s a new Dining at the Beach Club page, mostly similar to before, but with

–Updated reviews from the 2016 edition of The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit, and

–Some new Cape May Cafe images from my January 2015 dinner there with my dad and sister.  (The blurry but gleeful older guy delighted with the crab legs is my dad!)

Crab Legs Cape May Cafe at Disney's Beach Club Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

The Amenities at the Beach Club page is pretty much the same, except it now excludes dining, and the page on Stormalong Bay, the Beach Club’s main pool is also pretty much unchanged.

The updated review of Disney’s Beach Club Resort begins here! Check it out, and let me know if it is helpful–and what you think of the new look of the rooms!!!

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January 11, 2016   No Comments

Dining at Disney’s Beach Club Resort

(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Beach Club Resort, click here.)

The Beach Club has two table service restaurants.

  • Beaches and Cream is a wonderful burger and ice cream shop, but is far too small for the demand for it.
  • The Cape May Cafe has at breakfast a buffet with Minnie and other characters, but not Mickey, and an above-average seafood buffet at dinner.

More table service dining is within walking distance at the Yacht Club and BoardWalk, but none has great kid or family appeal except breakfast at Trattoria al Forno.

Quick service dining is quite limited, with just small venues at the back of the Beach Club gift shop and at the main pool. Another trivial option quick service  is in the Yacht Club gift shop.

At one end of the Beach Club, on the way to the Yacht Club (part of the same massive interconnected building) is Cape May Cafe, a table service restaurant that does Mickey-less character breakfasts with Minnie, Goofy and Donald, and a seafood-focused buffet at night.

Goofy at Cape May Cafe at Disney's Beach Club Resort from yourfirstvisit.net
Goofy in the distance…

…and the review from our book, The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2019.

Buffet Cape May Cafe at Disney's Beach Club Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

Above is a shot of part of the Cape May dinner buffet…

Crab Legs Cape May Cafe at Disney's Beach Club Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

…the crab legs, not part of the buffet but rather sent straight from the kitchen on request…

Cape May Cafe at Disney's Beach Club Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

…and the overall milieu.

Beaches n Cream at Disney's Beach Club Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

There’s another table-service option, accessible from on the outdoor veranda walkway connecting the Beach Club and Yacht Club, Beaches and Cream.

Above is its review from our book, The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2019. Beaches and Cream will be closed for refurb in much of the second half of 2019, beginning in early August.

There are more table service dining options within walking distance at the Yacht Club and BoardWalk, none of any special appeal to kids except a character breakfast with Ariel, Eric, Rapunzel,and Flynn Rider at Trattoria al Forno.

Counter Service at Disney's Beach Club Resort from yourfirstvisit.net
In this gift shop is also what passes for the only counter-service inside the Beach Club–too small, too slow, too thin a menu.

On my last visit, the lunch/dinner menu had flatbreads, salads and soup both meals.

You can design your own flatbread based on what’s available.

Lunch in addition had a meatball sub, and dinner added to the sub ribs and chicken with sides.

Breakfast offerings are a little better–partly because a limited menu works better at breakfast.

But in general all three of the Epcot resorts have weak counter service options compared to the other DIsney World deluxe resorts.

I don’t know why.  Part is a consequence of design–there’s actually not much room on the ground floors of the Yacht and Beach Clubs, or on the second floor of the BoardWalk Inn, to even put such places.  But I suspect that the real reason is that most offerings on the BoardWalk itself, and almost all in Epcot’s World Showcase, are run by third parties, and Disney does not want to undercut their opportunity to sell meals…

Shop Food Disney's Beach Club Resort from yourfirstvisit.net

At least the cold food section of the gift shop is better stocked than that of most other Disney World gift shops.

At the main pool shared by the Beach and Yacht Clubs, Stormalong Bay, the pool bar and grill, Hurricane Hanna’s, offers a different set of quick service options.

Here’s the menu, but you’ll probably find it more legible on Disney’s site here.

Waits can be long at Hurricane Hanna’s, but you at least there’s a ping-pong table!

Hurricane Hanna’s also has a refillable mug station.

More on all these options is on Disney World’s website here.

OTHER AMENITIES AT DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB RESORT

This review continues here!

PAGES IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB RESORT

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

 

 

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January 10, 2016   No Comments

Updated Wilderness Lodge Review

Yesterday I published an updated version of my review of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge based on my December stay there.

The main difference is that there’s a more consistent emphasis on booking a Courtyard view room while the refurbishment on the woods view sides is going on.

Otherwise it’s largely new photos, an updated floor plan, and a revised organization.

The first page of the review now has some components added to make it serve better as a one page overview of the resort.

This way people can get all the core info on one page, and only have to look at the other pages of the review if they wish for more detail. I’ve been doing this with all my updated reviews lately, and should have thought of it a long time ago.

The second page of the review, a photo tour of a standard room, has almost all new photos–the exception being the bunk bed photo, about a million years old.

Floor Plan Disney's Wilderness Lodge from yourfirstvisit.net

Also here (and on some of the other pages) is an update to the floor plan–cosmetic, capturing the new bed stripe and correcting the table shape and entry/bath flooring.

The third page is the new version of the old amenities page. The new amenities page has a lot of new photos (though I need to get a few more on my next trip).

I also cut from it the whole beach/marina/fishing scene that’s now disappeared under the refurb, and moved the material on dining to its own new page, to be consistent with how I’ve been doing these reviews lately.

I updated the main pool page a little bit, but largely left the accommodations and theming pages alone.

I’m behind again on updating reviews–I still have updates to do for the Beach Club and the Cabins at Fort Wilderness (though see this).  But those will be out soon!

The updated review of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge starts here.

 

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January 6, 2016   No Comments