Category — w. Most Recent Stuff

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

A PHOTO TOUR OF A STANDARD ROOM AT THE CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

Update: as part of a refurb that began in late spring 2014, the old full beds are being replaced with queen beds in standard Caribbean Beach rooms. As of 9/14, Jamaica is done, Aruba is almost done, and Barbados has started.  See this for more!

Caribbean Beach rooms are accessed from an outside corridor. You enter into the living area, with the bath at the back.

As you enter the room, on the bed side you’ll find two full beds, brightly decorated with a Nemo theme.

Here’s a close-up of the bed.

On the wall between the bed and bath there’s Disney Cruise Line art.

On the opposite side of the room, you’ll find a dresser with a built-in mini fridge and a flat screen TV.  Next to it is a chest.

Closer view of the table…

…the dresser and its storage capacity…

…and the mini-fridge.

The bench and coat hooks are the last bit before the bath…

…the bench containing another good-sized drawer.

A curtain gives a little privacy between the bath and the sleeping area.

Further back in the room you’ll find a split bath.  One part has double sinks…

…and a clothes hanging area…

…the other has a tub and toilet. Note the colored tiles…

…fun shower curtain…

…and nice detail incised into the shower wall.

Update: as part of a refurb that began in late spring 2014, the old full beds are being replaced with queen beds in standard Caribbean Beach rooms. As of 9/14, Jamaica is done, Aruba is almost done, and Barbados has started.  See this for more!

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Scurrilous rumor mongers–like me–have been claiming that Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue will be closed from October 1 2012 through December.

Never mind.

Word from multiples sources (see this, this and this) is that Hoop Dee Doo bookings for those dates will open later this week–as early, possibly, as June 12.

The times will be different: 4p, 6.15p, and 8.30p.  I’ll update my itineraries and to-do lists this week.

Note that those planning to get to Hoop via the boat from the Magic Kingdom for the 4p show should be at the boat dock by 3p at the latest, to avoid the risk you’ll get trapped in the crowds returning to Fort Wilderness after the 3p parade.

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

FAMILY SUITES AT DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

Note: guests at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort are eligible for Disney World’s Early Entry program, and for early access to its paid individual system for access to certain rides, but NOT for its Extended Evening Hours.

Resorts are ranked on this site based first on kid appeal, and then on convenience in carrying out the site’s recommended itineraries.

Based on that, the 6 person Family Suites at Disney’s Art of Animation resort rocket ahead of their only comparable rooms, the Family Suites at All-Star Music.

That said, the Music suites are much less costly (on average in 2020, $160 less per night), and are currently in a refurb that looks likely to eliminate one of their biggest negatives–uncomfortable beds.

REVIEW: DISNEY WORLD’S FAMILY SUITES AT THE ART OF ANIMATION RESORT FOR FIRST-TIME VISITORS

Art of Animation accommodation buildings are in four different areas, each themed to one beloved Disney movie.

Family suites are found in the Cars, Lion King, and Finding Nemo areas. The Nemo suites are a little more central, and a little more expensive than the Cars and Lion King suites.

(Standard four person rooms are in the fourth area, the Little Mermaid-themed section; there’s no family suites in the Little Mermaid area, and no standard rooms in the Cars, Lion King, or Finding Nemo areas.)

Note that the long-time travel agent partner of this site, Kelly B., can help you book your Disney World vacation at Art of Animation or anywhere else–contact her using the form at the bottom of the page.

THE CARS AREA AT ART OF ANIMATION

On the map, the Cars area is at the far right.

Here’s you’ll find three buildings, each with a major depiction at its entry.

Building 1 has Mater…

…Building 3 Luigi…

…and Building 2 is fronted by stars Lightning McQueen and Sally Carerra.

The Cars Family Suites themselves are also deeply themed to Cars (there’s many more room photos later in this review)…

…as is the general environment in the courtyard created in the middle of the three buildings.

THE FINDING NEMO AREA AT ART OF ANIMATION

On the map, the two Finding Nemo buildings are just above the central services buildings and surround the largest pool at the resort.

Building 4 is fronted by Mr. Ray, and Building 5 by Crush. I love to take pictures of him, day…

…or night.

The stairs are themed to the seagulls…

…also fun at night…

…and the courtyard created between the two buildings, besides holding the main pool (more on the pools later), is themed to make you feel like you are underwater with Nemo and Friends.

The rooms continue the Finding Nemo theme (many more room shots are later in this review).

THE LION KING AREA AT ART OF ANIMATION

The two buildings just to the left of the Finding Nemo area on the map, numbers 6 and 10, are the Lion King Buildings.

The courtyard between has parts themed to a savanna…

…and parts themed to a jungle.

You’ll also find all the key Lion King characters here:

Rooms continue the African theming. Many more Lion King room photos are here.

THE BEST AREAS TO STAY

Although the Nemo rooms are a bit more expensive, choices as to which group of buildings to book will, in many families, simply be guided by which of Cars, the Lion King, and Finding Nemo is their favorite film.

For those open to any of the three, go for Lion King. You can book the Lion King, Cars, or Nemo suites directly on Disney’s site.

More specifically, go for a 2nd floor or higher Hourglass Lake view room on the Finding Nemo side of Building 6 in the Lion King area. This will yield the least noise, best view, and relative closeness to the main services and bus stop.

The long-time travel agent partner of this site, Kelly B., can help you book your Disney World vacation at Art of Animation or anywhere else–contact her using the form below.

ACCOMMODATIONS IN THE FAMILY SUITES

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!!

NEWS ON HOOP DEE DOO, FOOD AND WINE, AND THE CANDLELIGHT PROCESSIONAL

All-star commenter DisneyDiningAgent has recently sprinkled a lot of key information about upcoming dates and renovation schedules (e.g. here, here and here.)

To make this great new info more findable, I thought I’d bring it all to one page. [Read more →]

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: JUNE 9 TO JUNE 17, 2012

The material below details operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

The same stuff is in the table, but organized by park, not by topic.

(For more on June 2012 at Walt Disney World, click here.)

[Read more →]

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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