Category — d. Where to Stay at Walt Disney World

This is the third page of this review. For the first page, click here

THE THEMING OF DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB RESORT

Disney’s Beach Club Resort opened in November 1990, and in 2009 completed a major renovation.

According to Disney World’s website, the Beach Club Resort is

“a New England-style Disney Deluxe Resort, shaded by broad oak trees and lapped by the gentle waters of 25-acre Crescent Lake.”

The theming is meant to evoke summer beach houses and old-fashioned sea-side vacation resorts.

The Beach Club, its sister resort the Yacht Club, and the nearby BoardWalk Inn were all designed to water-side themes by Robert A. M. Stern, a noted architect who was deeply involved in multiple properties during the Michael Eisner years at Disney.

Stern’s website notes that the Beach Club is “airy in expression. It is modeled on the many Stick Style cottages and resorts that could be found in towns like Cape May, New Jersey.”

STERN, EISNER, AND DISNEY WORLD HOTELS [Read more →]

FAMILY SUITES AT ART OF ANIMATION INSTEAD OF A MODERATE?

With Art of Animation Family Suites scheduled to open at the end of May 2012, it’s interesting to speculate about who might reserve them.

Larger families looking for value pricing, and not wanting to bet on connecting rooms, are the natural target. 

But they also will provide a great alternative for some families who would otherwise be aimed at one room at a moderate resort, but are willing to spend a little more for a lot more space and flexibility.

A FAMILY SUITE VERSUS A ROOM AT A MODERATE

Depending on the time of the year, an Art of Animation Family Suite will cost between 50% more and twice as much more than a room at a moderate.

(The chart shows the second half of 2012, when both options will be available.  It graphs several resort options as a percent of moderate costs, so moderates are always 100%.)

During the times it is 50% more, a family suite is an interesting option. 

Compared to a moderate, for the 50% higher price, you get

• 65% more square feet
• Twice as many private sleeping spaces
• Twice as many bathrooms
• 3 beds instead of two, (or two and a trundle in some part of Port Orleans Riverside)
• A microwave
• A dining table
• Capacity for 6, instead of capacity for 4 (or 5 at some parts of Riverside)

What you don’t get is what distinguishes most moderates from values: lovelier grounds, more fun and interesting pools, waterfront play options, and, at most moderates, sit-down restaurants.

On the other hand, the values have more kid-appeal than any moderate, and are much more compact than any moderate but Port Orleans French Quarter.

For me this is pretty clear…were I aimed at moderate, but could afford the 50% price premium, I’d take Art of Animation in a minute.  I can’t think of any circumstance when the extra room, the additional privacy from two sleeping spaces, and the two baths wouldn’t be a winning proposition…

MORE ON WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• For where to stay, see this
  • For your next best choices, in order, see this
  • For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
  • For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
  • For where not to stay, see this

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• For what you get in each resort price category, see this
  • For Walt Disney World resort price seasons, see this
  • For resort reviews, see this
  • For the value resorts, see this
  • For the moderate resorts, see this
  • For the deluxe resorts, see this
  • For suites at the deluxe resorts, see this
  • For the Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) Resorts, see this

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• For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this

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• Large families should look at this, and also at
  • Large Families Looking for Value Pricing at Walt Disney World
  • Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accommodations at Disney World
  • Beds and Sleeping Spaces at the Walt Disney World Resorts
  • Renting Disney Vacation Club Points
  • Suites at Walt Disney World

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• Military/DOD families should look at this

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• Tightwads should look at this

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• Families seeking the most comfortable place to stay should see this

This is the second page of this review. For the first page of this review, click here.

MORE ON DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB RESORT

There are currently 8 official Disney owned and operated deluxe resorts at Walt Disney World.

In their recommended order for first time family visitors, they are

1. Polynesian
2. Wilderness Lodge
3. Animal Kingdom Lodge
4. Contemporary
5. Grand Floridian
6. Beach Club
7. Yacht Club
8. BoardWalk Inn

Many of these also offer Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) studios and villas, all for rent to the general public–see this for more on the Disney Vacation Club resorts.

ROOMS AT DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB RESORT

[Read more →]

OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB RESORT

Our most recent stay confirms that Disney’s Beach Club Resort, one of the Epcot resorts, is the sixth best deluxe resort at Walt Disney World for first time family visitors.

You can have a wonderful visit at any Walt Disney World resort hotel.

However, this site recommends that first time visitors to Walt Disney World who can afford it should stay at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, a deluxe resort, and that those who can’t should stay at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, a value resort.

(It also suggests that first time visitors should avoid the moderate resorts, while noting that these resorts are wonderful for visits after the first. See this for why.)

Compared to other Walt Disney World owned and operated resorts, the deluxe resorts are distinguished by having (on average) the most amenities, nicest views, best dining options, best transport options, largest rooms, best service, and highest prices.

Among the deluxe resorts, Disney’s Beach Club Resort has a lot of positives.

It stands out for sharing with the Yacht Club Resort the best pool on property, sharing with the Yacht Club and the BoardWalk Inn convenient access to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and also sharing with these resorts a short walk to dozens of interesting table service dining options located in these resorts, at the Swan and Dolphin, on the BoardWalk, and in Epcot.

(For Disney’s Beach Club Villas, which share services and location with the Beach Club, see this.)

(See this for much more on resort distinctions by price class–value, moderate, deluxe, etc.) [Read more →]

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This is the fourth page of this review.  See the links above for prior pages.

MORE ON THE JAMBO HOUSE VILLAS AT DISNEY’S ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge is described on Walt Disney World’s website as an

“African lodge-style resort amidst a 43-acre wildlife preserve. The Resort offers authentic African-inspired architecture and the kraal African-village landscape design—a semi-circle design popular in Africa which offers expansive views of the surrounding savanna and its many animal inhabitants. Thatched ceilings, large beams, hand-carved golden-tone furnishings, real African artifacts and a vast mud fireplace in the main lobby surround you in the inimitable spirit of Africa.”

“Just outside the main lobby, an elevated rock platform—Arusha Rock—offers up-close glimpses of the animals and a panoramic view of the sprawling grounds. In addition to animals, thousands of indigenous African shrubs and grasses—including the most recognized canopy tree of Africa, the copperpod—paint a picture reminiscent of the unspoiled African grasslands.”

[Read more →]

This is the third page of this review. For the first page of this material, click here.

GRAND VILLAS AT JAMBO HOUSE

Grand Villas at Jambo House sleep 12.

They have three bedrooms (one with a king, and two with two queens) plus a sleeper sofa.

They also have a kitchen, dining room, living room, game room (with a pool table, not the card tables indicated in the floor plan), 3 large balconies, and 4 baths.

Note from the floor plan that two baths are private to bedrooms (the king bedroom, and one of the queen bedrooms) while two others are available to all.

Note also the two entry doors–one to the living room, and one to the queen bedroom area.

All Grand Villas are about twice the size of a Two-Bedroom Villa, while having only one more bedroom.

This makes them in effect 6 bays–a bay being about the size of a Studio.

So a way to think about the livability and design problem of a Grand Villa is that it adds one bedroom but three bays to the size of a Two-Bedroom. So what to do with the other two bays?

One part of the answer is consistent across all Grand Villas–at least one of the two extra bays is used to double the size of the shared kitchen/dining/living space compared to that of a Two-Bedroom Villa.

At first blush, this seems enough, as it doubles this space while adding only 50 percent more capacity.

But as noted on the prior page, the shared space in the Two Bedrooms is too small for their capacity. Just doubling it does not leave enough comfortable chairs in the living room space of Grand Villas for 12, nor in many cases enough room at the dining table for that number.

Most DVC Grand Villas are two-story spaces, and they resolve this issue by having the 6th bay, over the living room, combine a lofted space with a two-story ceiling over the living room.

See the Kidani Village Grand Villa floor plan to the right for an example.

In the lofted space you’ll find a second convertible couch and a TV.

This adds some needed living space, and provides the option for people to sleep in this space without disordering the living room by sleeping on its couch.

Moreover, the two-story ceiling in the living room enables two-story windows, and these add drama to the design.

Unlike at most DVC resorts, at Jambo House, Grand Villas are one story spaces. (BoardWalk and Grand Floridian Grand Villas are also one story spaces.)

Jambo House Grand Villas use the sixth bay as a game room.  This neither expands living room-style space nor provides an alternate sleeping spot.

With one exception, the layout of the one-story BoardWalk Grand Villas is much better. (See image above.)

In the BoardWalk Grand Villas the sixth bay is used to expand the living space.

However, BoardWalk Grand Villas have only three baths, and the master bath is the only one accessible to guests sleeping in the convertible sofa.

Grand Floridian Grand Villas use the 6th bay as a media room, and put the last two sleeping spots there–thus making them in effect four bedroom villas while also increasing livability.  They also have four baths.

Despite the fact that I am not keen on the use of the 6th bay as a game room, I still rank Jambo House Grand Villas as the number one option for first time family visitors.

This is partly because the Animal Kingdom Lodge itself is my highest-ranked resort with Grand Villas, and partly because for reasons noted on the first page of this review all things being equal the Jambo House Villas are to be preferred to those at Kidani Village.

And I don’t see the differences between the one and two story options as so material as to overcome Jambo House’s advantages in convenience and kid appeal.

That said, a family with a size or structure that means it will be using the sleeper sofa should carefully compare the Kidani Grand Villa floor plan with that of the Jambo House plan, and make its own call…

(To each of the capacity figures above, you can add one more kid under 3 at time of check in who sleeps in a crib.)

This review continues here

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