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TRUNDLE BEING REPLACED WITH FOLD-DOWN BED AT DISNEY’S PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE RESORT

Frequent (and terrific!!) commenter Barberella emailed a link to a page on PortOrleans.org showing the renovation of the Alligator Bayou rooms at Port Orleans Riverside resort.

You can see these under-construction photos by scrolling down this page.

The images answer the question of “what happens to the trundle beds now that queens going in?”

The Alligator Bayou section of Port Orleans Riverside has been a godsend for larger families looking for affordable accommodations, as it is the only part of any moderate resort with standard rooms that can sleep 5.

It’s also the only standard moderate option for smaller families looking for three sleeping spaces to separate the kids.

In the un-renovated rooms, this was handled by a trundle bed that slid out from the side of one of the two full beds in the room, and fit between the door and that bed.

These rooms are very nicely sized (as are all moderate rooms) but not so big that it was easy to tell how a queen and a trundle would fit.

The answer?  As Barberella had noted in a comment last week, a fold-down bed is being incorporated into the furnishings of the long wall that also has the TV, dresser, table and such.

Check out the photos for how this will work, and thanks, Barberella!

(This page is one of a series explicating Walt Disney World lingo, abbreviations, and FAQ for first time family visitors to Walt Disney World.)

THE MONORAIL RESORTS

The so-called “monorail resorts” at Walt Disney World are Disney’s Polynesian Village, Grand Floridian, and Contemporary resorts. (Full reviews begin at the links.)

These deluxe resorts are called monorail resorts because they are the only hotels at Walt Disney World with monorail stops.

They are among the most popular hotels at Walt Disney World…and may face an interesting future! [Read more →]

OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT & SPA

Our most recent stay confirms that Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort is the fifth 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 Grand Floridian Resort, a monorail resort, has a lot of positives.

It is the third most convenient of the Disney World resorts, bested only by the Contemporary and the Polynesian.  The quality of dining at the resort is unparalleled. The overall architecture, and its associated Victorian detailing, is as delightful as is to be found at Walt Disney World.  Standard rooms–at ~440 square feet–are bigger than those at any other Disney-owned resort except for the rooms in the newer part of the Polynesian.

Its Disney Vacation Club offering, The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa (reviewed separately at that link), is also marvelous.

On the other hand, it has perhaps the least kid appeal of any Disney-owned resort at Walt Disney World.

It’s the only Disney World resort with a restaurant (Victoria and Albert’s) that does not allow younger kids, and the only Disney World resort whose largest, most central pool (the Courtyard Pool) is not also the pool designed to most appeal to kids.

The kid-appealing pool, the Beach Pool, with waterfalls and a slide, is smaller and isolated on the south side of the resort.

The architecture and Victorian detailing, delightful to adults, will have no special appeal to most kids.  And the interior decorating scheme–the floors, walls, public furniture, paintings and such–will have little appeal to kids either.

Adults will recognize the decoration as typical of international high-end hotels that do not wish to risk for even a moment appearing stylish.  Those with comfortable elderly aunts will recognize the decor as well.

It’s not that kids aren’t welcome; kids are completely welcome (well, not at Victoria and Albert’s) and will have a ball here.  Rather, it’s that there’s next to nothing about the architecture, detailing, and ground plan of Disney’s Grand Victorian Resort and Spa that reinforces that welcome and makes the resort feel kid-appealing.

The resort is not stuffy or snobby–see Preston’s comment and my reply here–it’s just not that kid-appealing.

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

Disney’s operating calendars now show the 2012 winter ride closure for Big Thunder Mountain extending to April 30, 2012.

AVATAR AT THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

Disney announced in September its intent to develop an Avatar-themed area of Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

There’s a subset of Disney fans who are generally positive and optimistic but who do get quite annoyed by just a couple of things:

1. Things Disney does, and
2. Things Disney doesn’t do

The Avatar announcement left plenty of scope for annoyance on both fronts. 

Objections to Disney World doing Avatar at Animal Kingdom include resistance to the simple-minded politics of the film, frustration with its overlap with Pocahontas, concerns about its absence of compelling characters, and the fact that by the time the land opens–2015 at the earliest, more likely later–Avatar memories may be thin (despite James Cameron’s Avatar sequel plans, as the sequels may be late and/or unsuccessful).

Preferences for what Disney should do instead often focus on the Beastly Kingdom, a planned but never-built part of the Animal Kingdom featuring Disney villains. 

Avatar is resented specifically for perhaps forever closing off the Beastly Kingdom from getting built, and more generally for being a frail reed on which to invest hundreds of millions of dollars.

I don’t buy either set of objections–the objections to what Disney is doing, or the objections to what it isn’t doing.

My guess is that not only will Avatar-land be terrific, but also, as Jim Hill speculated coyly at the end of this article, that Disney World will open a whole new park sometime near its 50th anniversary in 2021, one with plenty of scope for Disney villains.

AVATAR AT THE ANIMAL KINGDOM IS A GOOD IDEA [Read more →]

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

PAGES: Previous | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

MORE ON DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB RESORT

The Beach Club is one of 5 (or 7, if you count the Disney Vacation Club resorts separately) resorts within walking distance of Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

(Boats also go to the both; most take the boat to the Studios–no faster than walking, but easier.)

These resorts–the Beach Club, Yacht Club, BoardWalk Inn, Swan, Dolphin, and the DVC villas at the Boardwalk and Beach Club–share a number of strengths thanks to their location. [Read more →]