Category — q. Reviews

For the first page of this review of the Caribbean Beach, see this.

MORE STUFF ON DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is one of 5 moderate resorts at Walt Disney World:

• Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, the first to be designated a moderate, which opened in 1988
• Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter (opened in 1991 as Disney’s Port Orleans Resort)
• Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside (opened in 1992 as Disney’s Dixie Landing Resort)
• Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort (opened 1997) and
• The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort, officially classed as moderate in 2008, but opened (as Wilderness Homes) in 1986. (Fort Wilderness Campground opened much earlier, but precursors to the Cabins did not arrive until 1986.)

The moderates have much more room than the value resorts, more amenities, and (except for Fort Wilderness) much better landscaping. See this for what you get by Disney World price class.

Although the typical moderate rooms, at ~314 square feet (the cabins have 508 square feet), sound much smaller than the rooms available at the deluxe resorts, differences in hall/entry layout make the living space of the typical moderates much more comparable to many Walt Disney World deluxes than raw square footage would imply.

See this for more on square footage and livability.

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is officially “a tropical beachside paradise set on the beautiful 45-acre Barefoot Bay.”

Its 200 acres include an arrival building, where you check in, make dining reservations, buy tickets, etc., called the Custom House; a central area with shops, food, another reservations and ticketing point. and the main pool called Old Port Royale; and 2112 rooms divided among six “villages”– Trinidad North, Trinidad South, Martinique, Barbados, Aruba and Jamaica.

Each village is painted a different vibrant tropical color, and most have both their own beach and their own “quiet pool.” (Barbados shares beaches with Martinique.)

(“Quiet pool” is Disney lingo for a small, unguarded pool that is closer to most guest rooms than the large, guarded, main pool.)

The six villages are scattered about. (See the map.)

Martinique and Trinidad North are closest to the resort’s central facilities at Old Port Royale–where you’ll find the main pool, shops, and dining. Rooms in these villages incur an extra cost because of their location.

Trinidad South–where you’ll find the Pirate rooms–and, to a lesser extent, Barbados, are furthest from these facilities.

Jamaica and Aruba are in between, and the best choice for most first-time visitors.  Not overly distant from Old Port Royale because of a bridge, they best balance convenience and cost.

Each village has three to six buildings and its own bus stop.  When you arrive, note your building carefully on the map–the bus stop, beach, or quiet pool of another village may in fact be closer to you than that of your own village.

The buildings have 64 rooms each, laid out in a variety of ways.

See the image for the layout of Building 51 in Jamaica. (Since starting this site, I’ve also stayed in Jamaica another time, plus Trinidad South and Barbados.)

Just as the best bus stops aren’t always the first that come to mind, same for the stairs to the 2nd floor.  If you are in a second floor room, check out the fire escape map on your door to figure out the best stairs for various purposes.

Some of these buildings have spaces designed with interior courtyards, punctuated with fun multi-colored umbrellas.

Others laid out in different ways have other landscaping approaches, but all the settings are quite lovely…and so are the beaches!

This review continues here.

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OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT [Read more →]

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 [Read more →]

This is the third page of this review of Disney’s Beach Club Villas. For the first page of this material, click here.

PHOTO TOUR OF A ONE BEDROOM VILLA AT DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB VILLAS

When you enter the room, first you’ll find a large foyer.

If the villa is set up to function also as a two-bedroom villa, you’ll find on one side a connecting door. Otherwise, you’ll find a closet in that spot.

As you proceed into the villa, a dining table and kitchen opens on one side.

On the other side, you’ll find a hallway that leads to the door to the washer-dryer closet, a door to the split bath, and a door to the master bedroom.

The kitchen includes all necessary appliances and a good selection of plates, cups, pots and pans, and other kitchenware.

Counter space is adequate, and the attached breakfast bar is small and comes with only two chairs. [Read more →]

This is the second page of this review of Disney’s Beach Club Villas. For the first page of this material, click here.

MORE ON DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB VILLAS

Disney’s Beach Club Villas is one of 8 official Disney Vacation Club resorts at Walt Disney World.

However, I count them as ten, because two of the resorts–Saratoga Springs and the Animal Kingdom Villas–have two very different areas.

In order of their appropriateness for first time family visitors to Walt Disney World, they are:

1. The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
2. Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas–Jambo House
3. Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas–Kidani Village
4. Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
5. The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa
6. Disney’s Beach Club Villas
7. Disney’s Boardwalk Villas
8. Disney’s Old Key West Resort
9. Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa, main resort
10. Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa, Treehouse Villas area.

Disney’s Beach Club Villas comes in 6th on the list. These resorts are available to anyone to reserve through the regular Walt Disney World website or the resort reservations phone number at 407-939-7675.

They also are available to the general public at great discounts through renting points from a Disney Vacation Club member.

All Disney Vacation Club resorts have studio rooms, One-Bedroom Villas, and Two-Bedroom Villas.

Most have Grand Villas as well.

Disney’s Beach Club Villas does not have Grand Villas. The other three room types are covered on this page.

STUDIOS AT DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB VILLAS

At Disney’s Beach Club Villas, Studios sleep four and have a microwave and mini fridge.

The microwave is one of several ways Studios are different from regular rooms at the Beach Club.

• A second distinction is that the second bed is a full fold-out couch, rather than a queen.
• A third is that these rooms sleep one fewer person, and have one less sleeping space, than Beach Club rooms with two queens and a convertible couch (some Beach Club rooms don’t have the couch).
• The studios are about 30 square feet smaller than standard rooms at the Beach Club, and they feel even smaller than this, as the bath area of the studios (because of the choice of where to put the closet) is larger than that at in the standard Beach Club rooms.

These studios go for about the same price as regular standard Beach Club rooms.  I don’t see how the microwave makes up for the smaller living space and smaller second bed, so I can’t recommend these rooms over the Beach Club itself for first time family visitors.

ONE-BEDROOM VILLAS AT DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB VILLAS

One-Bedroom Villas at the Beach Club have a master bedroom with a king bed.

They have as well a full kitchen/dining/ living space, a washer/dryer, and sleep 4 in about twice the space of a studio.

The two additional sleeping spots are on a good-sized but thin fold-out couch in the living room space.

The bath is shared, with access to it from both sleeping spaces. The kids don’t need to enter the master bedroom to get to this bath.

One-Bedroom Villas are among the most comfortable ways to stay at Walt Disney World.

Depending on the price season, these villas are only around 40% more expensive than a standard Beach Club room, for twice the space.

The additional space, full kitchens, and living and dining furniture are hard to beat, even though if you are following one of this site’s itineraries you won’t be in your room much to enjoy them!

They aren’t for everyone…but the value is there if you can afford it and your family fits.

TWO-BEDROOM VILLAS AT DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB VILLAS

Two-Bedroom Villas add a second bedroom with a queen and a large 2 person sleeper sofa, and another balcony, to the amenities of a One-Bedroom, and sleep 8.

Two-Bedroom Villas can be either cramped or comfortable, depending both on how you use them and what you are comparing them to.

Like almost all DVC Two-Bedroom Villas, in Disney’s Beach Club Villas Two-Bedrooms there isn’t enough seating space in either the living room or in the dining spaces for all the people these rooms will fit. (Old Key West Resort and the Treehouse Villas are exceptions.)

The living room chairs will seat four to five people, with two more chairs available at the kitchen’s breakfast bar.

The dining table will seat at most five, taking the two chairs from the breakfast bar and adding them to the three spaces the table comes with.

So if you are filling a two bedroom with 8 people, things can get awkward, especially compared to the ease with which One-Bedroom Villas fit the people they can sleep.

These space and circulation issues are part of the reason why these rooms are only about 50-75% more expensive than One Bedroom Villas, even though they have double the sleeping capacity.

On the other hand, depending on the price season, a Two-Bedroom is around the same price as two standard Beach Club Inn rooms, but provides 50% more space, and, compared to those rooms, all that extra kitchen/dining/living space and furniture.

If your family’s sleeping needs will fit in the bedrooms–that is, if you don’t need to use the fold-out bed in the living space–Two-Bedrooms are a particularly comfortable option.

(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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THE COLOR COMPANION TO WALT DISNEY WORLD AS A STAND-ALONE GUIDEBOOK FOR FIRST TIME VISITORS

Long time readers of this site know that I don’t think guidebooks are necessary for first-time visitors, but for those who want them anyway I recommend a few of the hundreds that are out there.

One I’ve always recommended is Bob Sehlinger and Len Testa’s The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2012 (“TUG”). I’m keen on and influenced by it, and by most of the other efforts of the TouringPlans.com team.

TUG’s influence is both positive and negative: I admire and try to follow the fact-based and objective approach of the work, and the home page of this site was inspired by the difficulty of pulling out of its almost 900 pages a simple and straightforward approach to building a first visit for families who may never return.

Sehlinger and Testa’s recently-released The Color Companion to Walt Disney World, 2nd Edition is positioned both as a “companion” to TUG and also as having “more than enough information…to plan your Disney vacation” (xii).

For returning visitors, I’m OK with that second point, but for first-timers I can’t recommend it. The issue is less the quantity of information, which is adequate, although alternatives are better on some dimensions–rather, it’s that just a little too much of the information is wrong or misleading.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FIRST TIME VISITORS [Read more →]