Category — q. Reviews

For the first page of this review of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, see this.

THE LION KING FAMILY SUITES AT DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

(Note: this photo-tour of a Lion King Family Suite at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is a supplement to the full photo tour of a Finding Nemo Family Suites that’s here. At that link you’ll find a floor plan, and also much more detail on such items as bed dimensions, actual storage space, etc.)

The three types of Family Suites at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort–Lion King, viewed here, Finding Nemo, and Cars–have almost identical floor plans, varying only here and there in minor furnishings.

A refurb currently in process is shifting the floors to wood laminate, and the queen bed in the separate bedroom to a platform bed–which adds storage underneath. I’ll have updated images later in 2020.

When you enter the Lion King suite, as in the other Art of Animation Family Suites, you’ll be in the dining room, with a bath on either side. Further in the room on one side behind a door is the master bedroom and bath, and on the other side you’ll find the living room and mini kitchen.

The table and chairs are a distinctive feature in themselves…

…and even more so because a bed folds down from the wall, “disappearing” the table.

Note the darling sleepy lion at the head of the bed–a larger image is at the top of the page..

Beyond the dining area through a door you’ll find the master bedroom, with a queen bed on one side…

…and a TV, dresser, iron and ironing board, safe, and one of the two hanging spaces in the suite on the other.

One of the two baths in the suite is accessible only from the master bedroom. This bath has a large shower, but no tub (there is a tub/shower combo in the second bath).

The shower has lovely sun detailing on the shower wall. When I stayed in this room, it was 97 degrees outside, and I still liked this artwork!

On the other side of the suite there’s another bath–this one divided, with a sink in one space…

…and a toilet and tub/shower in the other, with a reprise of the lovely sun art.

The shower curtain is very cute.

Deeper into the space you’ll find the living room, with a mini-kitchen, small couch, and two little tables that can also serve as seats (including at the dining table) on one side…

…and on the other, a charming wart-hoggy seat, and a TV/dresser/hanging space similar to what you find in the master bedroom, but with one more drawer.

The couch pulls out into a bed.

The mini-kitchen includes a coffee maker and supplies, a microwave, sink, and some basic utensils.

Here’s a close-up of the fridge with a scaling object.

And the mini-kitchen also illustrates the only complaint one could have about these rooms–the clash of colors and textures.

Note the multi-colored rug on the right, the multi-colored brown wood on the left of the lower cabinet, and the multicolored green trim around the microwave.

To my eyes–and to some others–this is at least one too many different color/texture schemes.  But others–like my younger son–just love the “jungle” feel and reminiscences of the movie itself that these colors and textures inspire!

PHOTO TOUR OF A CARS FAMILY SUITE AT DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

This review continues here.

MATERIAL IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

• Overview of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• The Little Mermaid Area and Rooms
• Photo Tour of a Little Mermaid Room
• Overview of the Family Suites Areas
• Accommodations in the Family Suites
• Photo Tour of a Finding Nemo Family Suite (plus bed dimensions, storage, etc)
• Photo Tour of a Lion King Family Suite
• Photo Tour of a Cars Family Suite
• Amenities at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• The Pools at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

For the first page of this review of Disney’s All-Star Music Resort, click here.

ACCOMMODATIONS AT DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT

Disney’s All-Star Music Resort is one of 5 value resorts at Walt Disney World:

• Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort, opened in April 1994
• Disney’s All-Star Music Resort, opened in November 1994
• Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort, opened in January 1999
• Disney’s Pop Century Resort, opened in December 2003
• Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, opened in May 2012

Among the five, for most first-time visitors who may never return, Art of Animation is the best choice, followed by Pop Century. All-Star Music comes in last among the values.

Two value resorts also have six-person family suites–

• The Family Suites at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• The Family Suites at Disney’s All-Star Music Resort

–and for family suites, too, for most families, Art of Animation is the best choice, although in some circumstances those at Music are the better choice.

Among the five value resorts, for standard four person rooms Art of Animation rooms are the most expensive, and next Pop Century.  Standard rooms at all the All-Stars have the same, lowest pricing, on average $45 less per night than Pop Century, and $90 less per night than Art of Animation. Family suites at All-Star Music are much less expensive than Family Suites at Art of Animation, on average $185 per night less.

All-Star Music completed a room refurb project in 2021, replacing in its standard rooms the old full beds with queen beds, and adding coffeemakers to the rooms.

All-Star Music Family Suites were also renovated, switching to much more comfortable fold-down queen beds in the living room area, and re-shaping the second bath and kitchenette area so that the second bath now works as a private master bath.

Standard Four Person Room

Four person room sizes are similar across all five value resorts.  Art of Animation has the best theming, and All-Stars Sports and Music the weakest (unless your family particularly resonates with the depicted themes at these two).

Until recently, all four person value resort standard rooms offered two full beds (the beds at Music are shown above), but you will now find queen beds in Pop Century, All-Star Movies, All-Star Music, and in refurbed rooms in All-Star Sports.

Above is the floor plan of a refurbed standard four person room at All-Star Music. There’s a full photo tour of a standard room at All-Star Music here.

There’s two price classes of four person rooms here–preferred rooms and standard rooms. Preferred rooms are closer to the main pool and the central services in and bus stop outside Melody Hall.

Family Suite, Living Room Side

Family Suites at All-Star Music accommodate six in a space twice the size of a standard four person room.  Half the space is a living area and bath that includes two fold-down queen beds–one behind the couch, and a second behind the table.

The other half of the All-Star Music Family Suite space includes a kitchenette and a master bedroom with a queen bed with a private bath. The floor plan above is out of date, but gives a sense of the proportions of the spaces.

Family Suites are available in the Calypso and Jazz areas of All-Star Music. A detailed review of an All-Star Music Family Suite begins here.

THE THEMED AREAS AT DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT

Disney’s All-Star Music Resort officially pays homage to “classic music genres—including Broadway show tunes, calypso, country, jazz and rock n’ roll…Guest rooms are divided into 5 pairs of 3-story buildings—each bright, whimsical pair is themed after one of the featured music genres and decorated with massive musical instruments.”

Disney’s All-Star Music Resort has 1604 rooms in ten identical three-story buildings, all with elevators.

These buildings are in five areas, each themed with external decorations and structures about a different musical genre:

• Buildings 1 and 10, Calypso
• Buildings 2 and 9, the Jazz Inn
• Buildings 3 and 4, the Rock Inn
• Buildings 5 and 6, Country Fair
• Buildings 7 and 8, Broadway Hotel

The buildings don’t distinctly draw fans of their genres.  Line dancing does not spontaneously break out at Country Fair, nor is there the equivalent of the Notting Hill Carnival at Calypso.

Rather, the distinction among these areas is the tradeoff of distance from the main services at Melody Hall versus peace and serenity.

Calypso is closest to the main services, and is thus sold as “preferred” rooms.

It offers both standard rooms and family suites. I don’t recommend Calypso for two reasons:

1. Unless your family has mobility issues, the nearness to Melody Hall isn’t worth the extra money
2. About a third of the rooms in each building face the main pool, and hence suffer from noise issues

All-Star Music (and the other values) is often dinged for being “too large and spread-out.” This is an inaccurate criticism, as each of the values fits into a much smaller footprint than any of the three larger moderates, leading to much less walking than at the moderates.

Moreover, All-Star Music has a particularly compact and charming layout.

The Country Fair area is the most distant from Melody Hall–see the map. It and the rest of the building areas other than Calypso are symmetrically built around the lovely walkway from Melody Hall to Country Fair, and equally surround the smaller Piano Pool.

This design leads to a more understandable layout, and also yields a strong central axis to the resort that makes it feel more coherent than the other All-Stars.

The Jazz Inn is the first set of buildings along this axis after Calypso.

It combines the loveliness of its courtyard, nearness to Melody Hall, and distance from pool noise into the better choice among the two preferred areas here. Like Calypso, you’ll find both standard rooms and family suites here.

After the Jazz Inn, you’ll see the Rock Inn on your right.

Rock Inn guitars.

On your left is the Broadway Hotel.

It has a charming little garden right at the edge of the parking lot.

Country Fair is ahead…

…with a large cactus-garden area separating its two buildings…

…and banjos.

The symmetry of these three sets of buildings around the Piano Pool makes them about equally preferable. Country Inn feels more remote–particularly its woods-facing rooms in the back–but the rooms in Rock Inn and Broadway Hotel nearest to the parking lots are only a little bit closer to Melody Hall. The Rock Inn parking lot can be subject to noise from youth groups that stage here, making Broadway Hotel a better choice than it.

Because of the family suites, All-Star Music can hold a slightly smaller number of people than the other two All-Stars.  This can make it a tad less crowded.

Moreover, its lower kid-appeal, and higher adult-appeal, can make it a tiny bit less noisy and boisterous than the other All-Stars.

Among the All-Stars, Music’s strength for first time family visitors is the availability of family suites.

Its negatives compared to the other values include less broadly interesting theming and sometimes inconvenient transportation.

PHOTO TOUR OF A STANDARD ROOM AT DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT

This review continues here.

MATERIAL IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT

• Overview of All-Star Music
• Accommodations and Theming at All-Star Music
• Photo Tour of a Standard Room at All-Star Music
• The Family Suites at All-Star Music
• Amenities at All-Star Music
• The Pools at All-Star Music

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

For the first page of this review of Disney’s All-Star Music Resort, click here.

AMENITIES AT ALL-STAR MUSIC

Disney’s All-Star Music Resort includes an arrival building called Melody Hall, where you will find most of its amenities.

You are greeted at Melody Hall by a charming red carpet–you’re an All-Star, after all!

You’ll find inside Melody Hall all the key resort services–the check-in lobby…

…gift shop…

…and food court, renovated in 2014 but still too small at peak times.

The addition of alcoholic drinks to the dining plan has led to a change in morning moods.

Between buildings 9 and 10 you’ll find this playground.  More play opportunities (including the bar) are round the main Calypso pool.

Outside on the street side you’ll find the bus stops.

Between the two pools, framed by the two Jazz buildings, is a lovely courtyard that sets much of the tone of All-Star Music–since everyone except those staying in the two Calypso buildings will walk through it on their way to the main pool and the services at Melody Hall.

None of my images really do this area justice…

…so I’ve posted four, trying to capture the overall feel!

And then there’s the pools…

THE POOLS AREAS AT DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT

This review continues here.

MATERIAL IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT

• Overview of All-Star Music
• Accommodations and Theming at All-Star Music
• Photo Tour of a Standard Room at All-Star Music
• The Family Suites at All-Star Music
• Amenities at All-Star Music
• The Pools at All-Star Music

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

For the first page of this review of Disney’s All-Star Music Resort, click here.

Disney’s All-Star Music Resort completed a room refurb project before reopening from its pandemic closure in 2021.

The key positive features of the refurb are the change from full beds to queen beds and addition of coffee makers, which, until the latest round of value resort refurbs began at Pop Century, were unheard of in value resort standard rooms.

Less universally praised is the bright white color scheme–exacerbated by the loss of the colorful bed stripes, which has happened generally across Disney World resorts–and the fact that one of the queens is a fold down bed that disappears the table and chairs while it is down.

Here’s a photo tour and my observations–based on an identical refurbed room at All-Star Movies, as my resort material has gotten a little behind since the pandemic…

One side of the room has a thingy with the coffee maker above and the mini-fridge below, the dresser and TV, and a connecting door, if present.

This side of the room from the back.

The coffee thingy has multiple cubbies, a general feature of the value resort refurb program.

The drawer in the thingy contains the coffee and tea supplies, and also drinking and coffee cups.

The mini-fridge, as is common in new Disney World rooms, has a glass front so you can see what’s inside without opening it. I popped a shelf out of its supports with my book, but I fixed it later!

The dresser has drawers on one side and shelving and a safe on the other, is flanked with two sets of power points each of which can charge four devices, and is topped with a 54-inch TV.

The three drawers are 31 inches by 13 inches but only 4.5 inches tall.

There is still much more storage in these new rooms than in the pre-refurb rooms at the All-Stars–their pre-refurb dresser/ mini-fridge combo is shown above.

Back to the refurbed room, next to the drawers are shelves and a safe.

I measured the safe as 19 inches by 15 inches by 6.5 inches tall.

By the connecting door you’ll find this coat rack.

In the back of the room are the sinks, closet, and, in a separate space, the toilet and shower.

Following the details of the Pop Century here as in most other matters, the overall bath and dressing area are now closed off from the rest of the room with a sliding solid door, rather than the fabric curtain you’ll find in un-refurbed value resort rooms.

Here’s the sliding door closed.

Note all the crannies and cubbies around the sink.

The cubbies to the left of the sink have the hair dryer and iron.

On the right side of the sink you’ll find this new make-up mirror.

On the side of this space is a solid hanging closet. There’s 19 inches of hanging space inside.

The toilet and tub are enclosed by this two-part sliding door.

The tub is enclosed with sliding doors–a more straightforward arrangement for most than a billowing shower curtain, but an awkwardness for bathing children.

The shower has a rain fall head, but not the hand-held shower head that also comes with the Pop refurb. Other minor differences from the Pop refurb: no luggage rack and no extension to the clothes rod on the ironing board side of the closet.

The toiletries are in the bottles that we’ve been seeing in recent refurbs across the resort.

Back into the main area, the other side of the room has a table and chairs and a fixed queen bed.

The bed side from the back. Note the seven visible pillows–there’s one more in the closet.

A closer view of the fixed queen…

…and of the art above it.  Just with this, these refurbed All-Star Music rooms have more Disney theming than any previous version of Music…and there’s more to come.

Another feature of this refurbed All-Star Music room is space under the bed for storing your suitcases.  There’s 14.5 inches of clearance, which will fit most rolly bags. I stuck mine in sideways to show how much clearance there is.

There’s a table with a cubby below and power points above between the bed and bath wall…

…and another between the bed and table.

The distinctive feature of this room renovation concept is the fold down bed, found behind this table and chairs.

Stack the chairs in the corner…

…pull the two handles, and the table disappears and this bed replaces it.

Nephews also appear.

I measured the fold-down bed as 59 inches by 79 inches–just an inch short on both dimensions of being a queen, but it’s so much larger than a full (which would be 54″ by 74″) that none can quibble at calling it a queen.

The mattress is a full 12 inches deep–as deep as that of the fixed queen. This bed is entirely appropriate for adults, and in fact adults might prefer it, as they can put the kids in the fixed queen and use the table until they themselves are ready for sleep.

There is yet another table and cubby and power point between the fold-down bed and outer wall.

The addition of the queen-sized beds and coffeemaker is a clear win, as is the safe, the shower head, the sliding solid door to the bath area, and the make-up mirror. The loss of the table when both beds are down is a bit of a pain, but as noted there are a couple of work-arounds–e.g. putting the table users in that bed.

And I know I repeat myself, but queen beds and a coffee maker wildly improve the livability of these rooms.

THE FAMILY SUITES AT DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT

This review continues here.

MATERIAL IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT

• Overview of All-Star Music
• Accommodations and Theming at All-Star Music
• Photo Tour of a Standard Room at All-Star Music
• The Family Suites at All-Star Music
• Amenities at All-Star Music
• The Pools at All-Star Music

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

The Value Resorts   Art of Animation    Pop Century    Movies    Sports    Music

DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT FOR FIRST-TIME VISITORS

I’ve stayed at Disney’s All-Star Music Resort six times among my 30+ stays at Disney World’s value resorts (so far), most recently in January 2018.

These stays confirm that All-Star Music, although it’s my own personal favorite among the value resorts, is the lowest-ranked value resort for first time family visitors to Walt Disney World.

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 value resorts are distinguished by having the lowest prices and smallest standard rooms.

You likely will never stay in a hotel with smaller 2-bed rooms.

Like most other standard rooms at the value resorts, standard rooms in All-Star Music sleep four in two full-size beds, plus one more, younger than three, in a crib; the crib fits best between the dresser and the closet wall. (Refurbed rooms at Pop Century have queen beds, not full beds.)

However, if your family will fit, Disney’s All-Star Music resort, like the other value resorts, has much more kid appeal than the moderate resorts, the next higher price class (about twice as expensive, but with much bigger rooms and nicer landscaping).

Moreover, All-Star Music is one of two value resorts (Art of Animation is the other) that also offers family suites–spaces twice as big as standard rooms, that sleep 6.

For a detailed review of the All-Star Music family suites, and a comparison to other large family options including at Art of Animation, see The Family Suites at All-Star Music.

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

Compared to staying off-site, the value resorts are distinguished by their higher kid appeal, convenience, and access to certain key perks that off-site hotels can’t provide.

Note that the long-time travel agent partner of this site, Kelly B., can help you book your Disney World vacation at All-Star Music or anywhere else–contact her at at KellyB@DestinationsInFlorida.com or 980-429-4499.

DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT

Resorts are ranked on this site for first time visitors based first on their kid appeal, and then on their convenience.

On this basis, Disney’s All-Star Music Resort is the fifth best value resort for first time family visitors.

Kid Appeal. Several of the deluxe resorts–notably, the Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Polynesian Resort–have spectacular kid appeal. None of the moderates do.

All of the value resorts–Disney’s Art of Animation resort, Disney’s All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, and All-Star Movies, and its Pop Century resort–have terrific kid appeal.

This appeal comes from the approach to theming they all share: bright and vibrant exteriors, framing much larger than life objects of interest to kids–like the cowboy boots in the image above from the Country Inn area of All-Star Music

These objects reinforce that these resorts were designed for the sake of kids…and not necessarily for adults!

Of these, Disney’s All-Star Music is the least kid-appealing. (Art of Animation has the most kid appeal.)

All-Star Music’s theme is…music.

Its ten three-story buildings (all with elevators) are grouped into five areas, each area themed after a musical genre (two buildings each): rock, jazz, calypso, Broadway, and country.

This musical theme is less about Disney than the movies theme at All-Star Movies, and less broadly interesting to kids than the sports theme at All-Star Sports.

(I do have to note that All-Star Music overall has the simplest layout among the values. Moreover, the area between the two pools, flanked by the Jazz buildings, is the loveliest space in the values. The photo at right hints at this, but does not do it justice.)

Convenience. Disney’s All-Star Music Resort is the least convenient of the Value resorts.

During some slower periods, the three All-Star Resorts share buses, except for the Magic Kingdom, to which each has its own bus.

When operating, shared buses stop first at Sports, second at Music, and last at Movies.

What this means for Music is that other than to the Magic Kingdom, all your buses in both directions have at least one more stop besides Music itself.

For shared buses, at Sports, you are the first stop back; at Movies, the last stop out.  At Music, neither.  This is why I rank it least convenient.

Best places to stay at All Star Music. This site suggests that first time visitors stay in standard rooms, and not specially seek preferred rooms (because they won’t be spending much time in their rooms, or going to the main resort food area often).

The single exception is visitors to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, who should always pay for savanna views.

Disney’s All-Star Music Resort is divided into five areas.

See the map for the general layout (as always on this site, click it to enlarge it).

Of these areas, a third floor room in buildings 7 or 8, the Broadway Hotel, is the best place to stay.

Music has the same problem the other values do: it can be packed with teenagers who are at Walt Disney World as part of a tournament or other sports event.

As a result, the resort can be very loud and boisterous. Buildings around the pools are particularly so.

At All-Star Music, buildings 1 and 10 (the Calypso area) frame the main pool, and should be avoided.  These are also two of the four “preferred” buildings–the other two are the two Jazz Inn buildings, 2 and 9, which I used to recommend before they were designated as “preferred.” (Note that Disney changes these designations from time to time–if Jazz is available to you, take it.)

Because of the layout of All-Star Music, no other buildings frame a pool, but many rooms are close to pools.

Of the six non-preferred buildings, all are about an equal walk from the shops, dining, transportation and main pool. The Broadway Hotel and Rock Inn have more convenient parking, but the parking lot near the Rock Inn is commonly used as a staging area for noisy youth groups (see above, taken from outside my room at the Rock Inn.  So pick the Broadway Hotel if you have a car, and either it or the Country Fair if  you don’t.

Ask for the third floor because it is also the top floor, which makes it quieter.

BEST FOR:

Families than cannot afford a deluxe resort, or who are otherwise on a tight budget, who can fit into its small rooms, and find the Music noted an attractive theme.  Larger families looking for value prices.

WORST FOR:

Families who are tall or otherwise won’t fit into full-size beds, or who have more than two adult-sized people, or who will be using a crib.

The long-time travel agent partner of this site, Kelly B., can help you book your Disney World vacation at All-Star Music or anywhere else–contact her at at KellyB@DestinationsInFlorida.com or 980-429-4499, or use the form on this page.

PHOTO TOUR OF A STANDARD ROOM AT ALL-STAR MUSIC

This review continues here. 

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT

• Overview of All-Star Music
• Photo Tour of a Standard Room at All-Star Music
• The Family Suites at All-Star Music
• Photo Tour of a Family Suite at All-Star Music
• The Themed Areas of All-Star Music
• Amenities at All-Star Music
• The Pools at All-Star Music

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Polynesian Resort, see this)

THE DISNEY VACATION CLUB AT DISNEY’S POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT

Note: Guests in the Disney Vacation Club spaces at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort are eligible for Disney World’s Early Entry program, and have the ability to pre-book as early as  seven days before check-in Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass rides. They are also eligible for its Extended Evening Hours.

Disney Vacation Club Studios and Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort opened to the general public in April 2015.

There’s two types of spaces here, Studios and Bungalows. These spaces can be booked by anyone like any other DIsney World offering–you don’t have to be a DVC member to book them.

Studios at the Polynesian are a little different than other DVC studios.  The Bungalows are unlike anything else except the Cabins at Copper Creek.

There’s no traditional one or two bedroom villas present at the Polynesian or in any announced plans.

I have photo tours of both Polynesian Village offerings on this site, so you could just skip to those:

• Photo tour of a Studio at The Polynesian
• Photo tour of a Bungalow at the Polynesian 

Otherwise, here’s some thoughts on them.

STUDIOS AT DISNEY’S POLYNESIAN VILLAS & BUNGALOWS

Studios at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows (“PVB”) sleep five in a queen bed, fold-out couch, and fold-down bed.

Besides normal deluxe room accoutrements, they—like other DVC studios—also include a mini-kitchen, with the same coffee-maker and mini-fridge as in other deluxe rooms, but also with a small sink, toaster, microwave, and a few eating utensils.

There’s a couple of distinctive features of these studios compared to other DVC studios.

First, you can book them as connecting rooms—most other DVC Studios only connect to (more expensive) One Bedroom Villas.

Second, their capacity for five is currently rare among studios—but becoming more common. Right now, only Studios at Disney’s Riviera Resort, the Villas at the Grand Floridian, BoardWalk Villas, Beach Club Villas, and Boulder Ridge Villas at the Wilderness Lodge also sleep five.

Third, the baths are distinct. Like the Studios at the Grand Floridian and Riviera, there’s both a sink and shower space and also a separate tub and toilet space. However, the baths at PVB add a sink to the tub and toilet space, yielding one full bath and a second bath with shower and sink. Add the third sink just outside in the mini-kitchen area, and your family will have every chance to be very clean.

Fourth, at 465 square feet (the size of the rooms they were converted from), these Studios are the largest among the DVC Studio offerings.

This is a mostly a function of extra width—about 14’ 3” compared to, for example, the Studios at Grand Floridian at 12’ 9” wide. About 50 square feet comes from that difference.

Much of the rest of the extra space is dedicated to the bath and hallway, rather than to the living space, which is wide but short.

As a result of these and other design choices, there’s no room for a dresser. Work at it and you can find probably enough storage in various points across a Studio…but less bath and more dresser would have been a good choice.

So who should stay in these rooms? Well, those renting points should definitely consider them.

Families paying cash instead will find prices most nights of the year in standard view Studios between 102% and 110% of what a standard view room at the Poly those nights would cost.

The Studios are in what used to be my most highly recommended longhouses at the Polynesian—Pago Pago (which most recently was Rapa Nui), Moorea (recently Tahiti) and Tokelau (whose name has not changed).

I used to recommend these longhouses for three reasons: balconies or patios in every room (standard second floor rooms at the rest of the Poly are missing balconies), nice positioning between the Magic Kingdom resort monorail and the walkway to the Epcot monorail, and an extra 50 square feet compared to rooms in the rest of the Poly longhouses, which extra space used to be all dedicated to the living area.

The first two reasons still hold. However, since now most of the extra square footage is now dedicated to the bath and mini-kitchen area, the third reason morphs a bit—at the Studios, for nearly the same amount of money you get a divided bath and the microwave/toaster, and a smaller overall living space.

I  go with Tokelau as the best standard view choice among the Studios at the Polynesian.

A full photo tour of a Studio at The Polynesian is here.

BUNGALOWS AT DISNEY’S POLYNESIAN VILLAS & BUNGALOWS

Bungalows in the Polynesian DVC offering are unlike any other accommodations at Disney World except the Cabins at Copper Creek. They hold eight people in two bedrooms—like many DVC Two Bedroom Villas. But the differences are so profound that they should be thought of as their own thing, not as an option among the standard two bedroom choices.

I’m tempted to start with prices, but let’s first focus on the positive.

Each bungalow is its own little building built on pilings in the Seven Seas Lagoon, just away from the Polynesian beaches, and reached from over-water walkways. There’s twenty in all—collectively, the “Bora Bora” area.

You enter into the bedroom wing (on the right of the floor plan) and at the far end (on the left) is a deck with views of the Magic Kingdom and its fireworks, sunbathing spots, and a little “cold water” pool in which to refresh yourself on hot sunbathing days.

Note on this deck lounge chairs, table and chairs (shown above), and the smaller set of chairs  accessed from the master bedroom (shown on the floor plan). There’s nothing like this outdoor space anywhere else at Disney World.

Just inside, accessed from two sets of sliding glass doors, is a great room with a full kitchen and dining area on one side, and a living room on the other. The dining area seats all eight this room will sleep—something you won’t find at other two bedroom villas—but the living area, as is common, seats fewer. There’s room here to drag some dining room chairs over.

The living room sleeps three—two on a fold-out couch, and one on a fold-down bed.

Back down the entry hall on the right you’ll find the master suite, with a king bed and private bath. It’s similar to what you’ll find in other DVC master rooms.

Across the hall from the master bedroom is the bath for everyone else, which, after the washer/dryer and closet, is divided into two areas.

Beyond it is the second bedroom, sleeping three on a queen and a fold-down bed. Other second bedrooms at DVC villas are much bigger than this, and typically sleep four on two queens.

So what have we got?

• An astonishing deck, likely pretty darn uncomfortable in the sun and humidity even with the little pool from later May through September, but charming the rest of the year, and in early mornings and evenings all year
• A kitchen/dining/living space that in sum is clearly better than the eight person equivalents elsewhere except in Copper Creek and perhaps in Old Key West
• A fine master bedroom and bath
• A very small second bedroom

For this you will pay (including tax) between $3,000 and $5,200 a night.

That number is so big it makes my head hurt. This is around twice what a Two Bedroom Villa at the Villas at the Grand Floridian would cost, and comparable to what a Grand Villa at the Villas at the Grand Floridian—which sleeps four more in almost twice the space…

So Disney is clearly attributing a lot of value to that deck and little pool…or seeing the Bungalows as an alternative not to Two Bedroom Villas elsewhere, but rather to suites at the Polynesian or the Four Seasons.

Most of the highlights of a Bungalow have been covered, but for a full photo tour of a Bungalow at the Polynesian, see this.

PHOTO TOUR OF A STUDIO AT DISNEY’S POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT

This review continues here.

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT

• Summary and overview of Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Theming and Accommodations at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Photo Tour of a Standard Room at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Amenities at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Dining at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• The Pools at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• The Disney Vacation Club at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Photo Tour of a Studio at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Photo Tour of a Bungalow at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

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