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FAMILY SUITES AT ART OF ANIMATION INSTEAD OF A MODERATE?

With Art of Animation Family Suites scheduled to open at the end of May 2012, it’s interesting to speculate about who might reserve them.

Larger families looking for value pricing, and not wanting to bet on connecting rooms, are the natural target. 

But they also will provide a great alternative for some families who would otherwise be aimed at one room at a moderate resort, but are willing to spend a little more for a lot more space and flexibility.

A FAMILY SUITE VERSUS A ROOM AT A MODERATE

Depending on the time of the year, an Art of Animation Family Suite will cost between 50% more and twice as much more than a room at a moderate.

(The chart shows the second half of 2012, when both options will be available.  It graphs several resort options as a percent of moderate costs, so moderates are always 100%.)

During the times it is 50% more, a family suite is an interesting option. 

Compared to a moderate, for the 50% higher price, you get

• 65% more square feet
• Twice as many private sleeping spaces
• Twice as many bathrooms
• 3 beds instead of two, (or two and a trundle in some part of Port Orleans Riverside)
• A microwave
• A dining table
• Capacity for 6, instead of capacity for 4 (or 5 at some parts of Riverside)

What you don’t get is what distinguishes most moderates from values: lovelier grounds, more fun and interesting pools, waterfront play options, and, at most moderates, sit-down restaurants.

On the other hand, the values have more kid-appeal than any moderate, and are much more compact than any moderate but Port Orleans French Quarter.

For me this is pretty clear…were I aimed at moderate, but could afford the 50% price premium, I’d take Art of Animation in a minute.  I can’t think of any circumstance when the extra room, the additional privacy from two sleeping spaces, and the two baths wouldn’t be a winning proposition…

MORE ON WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• For where to stay, see this
  • For your next best choices, in order, see this
  • For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
  • For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
  • For where not to stay, see this

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• For what you get in each resort price category, see this
  • For Walt Disney World resort price seasons, see this
  • For resort reviews, see this
  • For the value resorts, see this
  • For the moderate resorts, see this
  • For the deluxe resorts, see this
  • For suites at the deluxe resorts, see this
  • For the Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) Resorts, see this

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• For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this

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• Large families should look at this, and also at
  • Large Families Looking for Value Pricing at Walt Disney World
  • Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accommodations at Disney World
  • Beds and Sleeping Spaces at the Walt Disney World Resorts
  • Renting Disney Vacation Club Points
  • Suites at Walt Disney World

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• Military/DOD families should look at this

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• Tightwads should look at this

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• Families seeking the most comfortable place to stay should see this

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

MORE ON DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB RESORT

There are currently 8 official Disney owned and operated deluxe resorts at Walt Disney World.

In their recommended order for first time family visitors, they are

1. Polynesian
2. Wilderness Lodge
3. Animal Kingdom Lodge
4. Contemporary
5. Grand Floridian
6. Beach Club
7. Yacht Club
8. BoardWalk Inn

Many of these also offer Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) studios and villas, all for rent to the general public–see this for more on the Disney Vacation Club resorts.

ROOMS AT DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB RESORT

[Read more →]

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

DISNEY’S 2012 INTERNATIONAL FLOWER AND GARDEN FESTIVAL AT EPCOT

Every year from roughly early March through mid-May, Walt Disney World presents the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival.

In 2012, it’s scheduled for March 7-May 20.

The gardens at Epcot are almost always lovely, and they are at their loveliest during this period.

Disney’s own wonderful landscaping is supplemented by additional plantings, topiary, and specially themed gardens.

Also presented are special programs presenting gardening tips, and weekend concerts.

See the official Walt Disney World web page for the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival here.

[Read more →]

WALT DISNEY’S ENCHANTED TIKI ROOM

I review rides only when they are new or after they have changed, on the theory that first time visitors ought to try them all and hence don’t need reviews.

(For those without the time or energy to try them all, there’s a
comprehensive guide to Disney World rides and attractions here and also a list of Disney World rides that might be skipped here.)

The Tiki Room has re-opened after a fire with a number of changes.  These changes improve its presentation and bring it closer to Walt Disney’s original vision.

As an homage to that vision and to nostalgia, the name of the ride has had “Walt Disney” added to it–sharing that honor with Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress. So it’s now “Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room.”

[Read more →]

OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S BEACH CLUB RESORT

Our most recent stay confirms that Disney’s Beach Club Resort, one of the Epcot resorts, is the sixth 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 Beach Club Resort has a lot of positives.

It stands out for sharing with the Yacht Club Resort the best pool on property, sharing with the Yacht Club and the BoardWalk Inn convenient access to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and also sharing 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.

(For Disney’s Beach Club Villas, which share services and location with the Beach Club, see this.)

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

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

CONTINUED: THE 2012 EDITION OF THE UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO WALT DISNEY WORLD: REVIEW

Known errors and things that just change because Disney changes them are tracked here (most of the below have been incorporated into this errata list since I first published this page).

However, there’s still a few more errors and typos in The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2012 than I believe reasonable (and frequent readers of this site understand that I am an expert on creating an unreasonable number of errors and typos).

POSSIBLE TYPOS AND ERRORS IN THE 2012 UNOFFICIAL GUIDE

My issues here include the following:

Typos

• Page 138, discussing the Polynesian, has two slightly different versions of the same paragraph (“Bathrooms are…”). The first was meant to replace the second, as the second’s reference to a moment in time (‘during refurbishment) is no longer needed.
• Page 146, on Bay Lake Tower, skips directly from studios (“Studios sleep…”) to two-bedroom villas. The third sentence of the two-bedroom para refers to one-bedrooms (“As with the one-bedrooms…) which suggests a para on one-bedrooms was inadvertently dropped.
• In the discussion of Coronado Springs Club Rooms on p. 183, the words “more than regular rooms” were dropped between “night” and “depending” in the phrase “These rooms cost around $100-$130 per night depending on the season.”

Minor Errors

• There are several errors on pp. 116-117 in the layouts of the DVC resorts. The Wilderness Lodge does not have Grand Villas (117) and the occupancy limits of the room types noted at the bottom of 116 are out of date given the multiple locations with occupancies of 5 in one-bedrooms and 9 in two bedrooms.
• The Art of Animation Family Suite floor plan on 118 is wrong. The correct floor plan can only be guessed at, but Disney had given enough details well before the publication date to know that Art of Animation would not be a copy of All-Star Music’s Family Suites. For the same reason, the room description of Art of Animation on 193 is wrong.
• On 147, while Grand Villas at Bay Lake Tower do have sleeping spots for 14 (as do many Grand Villas), the maximum occupancy is 12, as it is for other Grand Villas (and as 116 correctly notes.)
• On 169, the occupancy of 9 at the Treehouses is no longer “one more than ….at the other DVC resorts,” since Kidani Village, Jambo House, Bay Lake Tower, and Old Key West two-bedroom villas now sleep nine as well.
• On 170, the beds description of Old Key West one and two-bedroom villas is out of date, as it leaves out the convertible chair.
• Page 180 incorrectly claims that Kidani one and two bedroom units can hold “one more each than corresponding units at Jambo House,” since the Jambo Villas (other than the “value” villas) also have the sleeper chair.
• Re page 392—it’s been a while since buses at Old Key West and Saratoga Springs “often run every 45-50 minutes.” (388-389 get this right.)
• On 518, the “average wait in line per 100 people ahead of you” on It’s a Small World is a good bit less than 11 minutes.
• In the discussion of the Wishes Fireworks Cruise on 534, either the 180 days should be 90 or the 95 days should be 185, or I am very confused.
• In the discussion of Epcot operating hours on 547, Future World no longer “usually closes before World Showcase.”
• Hollywood Studios either takes 10 hours to tour (616) or three quarters of a day (619), but not both.

Perhaps errors, or perhaps just points of different judgment

• The Magic Kingdom hardly ever closes at 6p anymore (31)—this happened maybe 3 or 4 times last year.
• As the TouringPlans.com crowd calendar indicates, mid-August is not as good as it used to be (33) as Florida kids’ school return dates have shifted to later in the month over the past few years, and they thus no longer “go back to school pretty early.” This year, eleven of the state’s largest 14 districts returned during the last full week of August, and the three that didn’t were among the smallest of these districts. This last full week of August was the most common week for kids to go back to school in 2011 throughout the US…and thus not “early.”
• On 103, while you can indeed save “$15 to $50 per night or more …by visiting during the slower times of year,” that “more” is bearing too much of a burden, as the spreads between high and low nightly costs ranges from more than $80 a night at the values and moderates to more than $200 at the deluxes (plus tax!).
• Though an Animal Kingdom Area Resort, Coronado Springs, rather than being “not centrally located,” is actually very centrally located (112).  It’s the most centrally located of all the Walt Disney World resorts. A little work with a map, a calculator, attendance figures, and a ruler will tell you that the attendance-weighted center-point of Walt Disney World is just to the north of Coronado Springs. (Here again I geek.)
• On 198, it seems worth mentioning that the Campsites have a capacity of ten.
• On 368, the material on toll roads seems important enough to me to deserve more emphasis, and perhaps be brought to the beginning of this whole section on “Getting There”–that is, to page 363.

But these are easily fixable nits, and The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2012 remains a masterwork of its genre, and is the single most comprehensive, detailed, and consistently useful guidebook to Walt Disney World available.

Disclosure: As noted here, since summer 2011 I’ve had a business relationship with TouringPlans.com.

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