Category — q. Reviews

OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S BOARDWALK INN

Our most recent stay confirms that Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, one of the Epcot resorts, is the eighth 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.

Many are also paired with Disney Vacation Club (DVC) resorts.  For a review of the BoardWalk Inn’s sister DVC resort, Disney’s Boardwalk Villas, click here.

Among the deluxe resorts, Disney’s BoardWalk Inn has a lot of positives.

• It has a fun pool, though not as good as the one its Epcot neighbors the Yacht Club Club and Beach Club share
• It shares with the Yacht Club and the Beach Club Inn convenient access to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and
• It shares 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.

It also has a couple of negatives, also largely shared with the Yacht and Beach Clubs.

It’s thin on kid appeal compared to other options, is not as convenient for this site’s itineraries as some alternative resorts, and has limited counter service in general and especially limited breakfast options.

The breakfast issue is better than it has been in the past…see the image…but it’s still not as good as many guests would expect.

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

“THE ULTIMATE AMERICANA CHRISTMAS DISPLAY”

Hey–this show had its last run in 2015!

The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights is the main Christmas season special feature at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Showing at various places in the Studios backlot since the mid-90s, it is now found in Streets of America.

This part of the backlot was once used for actual filming, and was then much more generic than today, so it could stand in for many different communities.

The Osborne lights first were in the residential section of the backlot–demolished to make way for Lights, Motors, Action.

They were then moved to the current Streets of America location, and the Streets were re-staged to convey specific cities. See The Imagineering Field Guide to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for more.

The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights is made up of more than 5 million lights that drape the buildings in Streets of America and are synchronized to holiday music, flashing and changing colors with the beat.

It’s difficult to describe, and my photos don’t really do it justice.  You just need to see it.

REVIEW: THE OSBORNE FAMILY SPECTACLE OF DANCING LIGHTS [Read more →]

THE HOLIDAY STORYTELLERS AT EPCOT’S HOLIDAYS AROUND THE WORLD

The Holiday Storytellers are one of the major components of Epcot’s holiday season celebrations–the others are the Holiday Kitchens, the Candlelight Processional and a holiday adaptation of Illuminations.

The overall celebration is called The Epcot International Festival of the Holidays and runs from the Friday after Thanksgiving (Thanksgiving itself in 2018, for the first time) until December 30.

During the season, characters depicting a traditional figure from each of the nations of the World Showcase relates how a holiday (Christmas mostly, but also Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, or New Years) is traditionally celebrated in their country.

These characters are the Holiday Storytellers.

REVIEW: THE HOLIDAY STORYTELLERS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD [Read more →]

MVMCP: A REVIEW

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (“MVMCP”) is a special event that takes place during the Christmas season at Walt Disney World.

It requires its own ticket, which is entirely separate from regular Disney World tickets, and is only shown on certain nights from early November through mid-December. (For more on MVMCP tickets and show nights, see this.)

Even though it is expensive (tickets for a family of four will cost over $200) it’s been part of this site’s Basic December Itinerary since the site opened, for a couple of reasons:

• Going to it lets people sleep in an extra morning.  Disney limits the amount of tickets it sells to each show of MVMCP.  As a result, the rides aren’t very crowded.  Going to it and getting some popular rides in saves a morning in the Basic Itinerary for sleeping in that would otherwise have to be used getting up and going to the Magic Kingdom
• Going to it guarantees seeing an evening parade and fireworks.  At the time of year the Basic Itinerary covers, the evening parade and fireworks at the Magic Kingdom may happen just a couple of times a week on non-MVMCP nights.  Sending people to MVMCP guarantees your family will have the opportunity to see an evening parade and fireworks.
• I recommend people go to Walt Disney World in the early part of the Christmas season…so how can I not send them to this show?
• It’s silly and fun!

In December 2011 I had a chance to see it again, and as a result have updated the Basic Itinerary.  The rest of this entry is the review of that visit. [Read more →]

THE LITTLE MERMAID: ARIEL’S UNDERSEA ADVENTURE

Business took me to Southern California in earlier November, so I had the chance to ride Ariel’s Undersea Adventure at the Disneyland Resort.

This ride is basically identical to what will be opening in late 2012 as Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid, part of the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland expansion.

I was curious if the ride was enough of a powerhouse to be a good reason for people to frame their trips around its opening, or for me to have to change my itineraries.

The short answer: nope.

ARIEL’S UNDERSEA ADVENTURE: COLORFUL, CHARMING, NOT A BIG DEAL

Without giving away the details, Ariel’s Undersea Adventure is a short re-showing of key scenes from The Little Mermaid.

Younger fans of the movie will love it. 

Everyone else will likely find it colorful and fun, but not particularly special. This is definitely not an “E” Ticket ride–it’s more like a “C” or a “D.”

It’s charming and loaded with Ariel, including some nice allusions to the effects of traditional Disney “dark rides” like Snow White’s Scary Adventures.

But in all honesty there’s not a lot to it, and it’s not worth framing your travel dates around its opening.

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

THE THEMING OF DISNEY’S GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa opened in July 1988, and recently completed a major renovation.

When it opened, it replaced the Contemporary Resort as Disney’s flagship resort, and remains Walt Disney World’s most expensive and loveliest resort.

(Some cast members at the Contemporary call the Grand Floridian the “red roof inn”; in turn, some Grand Floridian staff refer to the Contemporary as “the toaster.”)

It is also the Disney World resort hotel with the most remarkable on-site dining.

Any one of Victoria and Albert’s, Citricos, or Narcoossees would mark it with distinctive dining; to have all three is astonishing.

According to Disney World’s website, the Grand Floridian is

“a Victorian-style Disney Deluxe Resort distinguished as the flagship hotel of Walt Disney World Resort and offering world-class dining, entertainment and luxurious accommodations in its 6 striking red-gabled buildings. This magnificent hotel sits along the white-sand shores of Seven Seas Lagoon …With its gleaming white exterior, intricate gingerbread trim and gorgeous stained-glass domes, the Resort is an architectural marvel.”

The theming is sometimes claimed to reflect the design and grandeur of Flagler’s Florida hotels, which were meant to attract well-off Ohioans and northeasterners to his Florida East Coast railroad.

Anyone who has seen, for example, the remaining Flagler hotel buildings in St Augustine, will understand that this is nonsense.  [Read more →]