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THE B RESORT & SPA

Guests at the B Resort & Spa are eligible for Disney World’s Early Entry program.

The B Resort & Spa offer multiple room types in two different accommodations buildings, a mid-rise tower where the majority of rooms are found, and a two story option known as the “Lanai” building.

The best features of the B Resort & Spa are its fun and colorful decorating and design choices, especially in the lobby area, and the quality of its staff.

Uniquely among the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels, it offers a spa. Amenities otherwise are more than adequate, but not distinctive.

Weaknesses include the absence of balconies and of divided baths in tower rooms, and poor storage in all rooms. For a Disney Springs Resort Area hotel, the B Resort & Spa offers relatively high prices, and doesn’t quite have the comparative amenity level–especially in its pool complex–to justify them. It shares with all the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels weak park transportation.

I’ve stayed at the B Resort & Spa three times, most recently in September, and my full review has five pages:

• The overview of the B Resort & Spa you are reading now
• A photo tour of a standard two queen tower room at the B Resort & Spa
• A photo tour of a two queen Lanai building room at the B Resort & Spa
• Amenities and dining at the B Resort & Spa
• The pool at the B Resort & Spa

ACCOMMODATIONS AT THE B RESORT & SPA

The B Resort & Spa in the Disney Springs Resort Area has several room types in two buildings–the main tower and the Lanai building. Rooms with a king bed, a king and a set of bunk beds, two queens, and two queens with a fold-out couch are available–as well as suites.

The floor plan is of a typical B Resort & Spa tower room, with two queens and a small couch that folds out into a single bed. There’s small set of drawers in the wardrobe across from the couch–my Lanai room had no drawers at all. Each room has several other storage options–particularly cubby-style storage.

The bed side of B Resort & Spa tower room.

The bath is not divided, has no tub, and includes a glass enclosure to its large shower.  This makes it the opposite of family friendly.

A photo tour of a two queen tower room at the B Resort & Spa is here.

The one hundred or so Lanai building rooms are more usable, offering both divided baths…

…and, in about a quarter of them, pool-side patios. Another quarter have balconies overlooking the pool. The other half of Lanai rooms offer balconies or patios just ten feet from parking–I saw no one using these on my stays, so either my timing was off, the view kept people inside, or the spaces are locked off, as they are in tower rooms.

A photo tour of a two queen Lanai building room at the B Resort & Spa is here.

DINING AT THE B RESORT & SPA

The principal dining venue at the B Resort & Spa is the American Kitchen Bar & Grill.

The American Kitchen serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s a fine option.

It includes a bar, and there’s another bar–not always open on my visits–at the pool. Snacks, drinks, and grab and go items are available in a shop between the lobby and the pool.

The B Resort & Spa also has a Disney gift shop offering souvenirs, park tickets, and such.

There’s more on dining and the other amenities at the B Resort & Spa here.

THE POOL AT THE B RESORT & SPA

The B Resort & Spa’s pool is average among the Disney Springs Resort Area pools–better than those at the Best Western and Doubletree Suites, but not with as many amenities or as much kid appeal as those at the Hilton, Wyndham, or Hilton Buena Vista Palace.

It includes a traditional pool with a zero-entry section and water jets that kids can play in, and a small hot tub.

For more on the pool at the B Resort & Spa, see this.

THEME PARK TRANSPORTATION AT THE B RESORT & SPA

The B Resort & Spa, according to its marketing materials, “allows you to revel in the excitement of the theme parks, found just outside our doors.” In fact, the nearest theme park as the crow flies is two and a half miles away, with no walking paths, so you will need transportation.

The B Resort & Spa participates in a transportation program sponsored by all the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels. One group of buses serves the Hilton, Holiday Inn, B Resort & Spa, and Doubletree Suites, Palace, and another the other three hotels here.

Buses run about every thirty minutes, each serving two parks–so, for example, to get to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you may have travel to the Magic Kingdom first.  Moreover, unlike the buses from Disney-owned resorts, Magic Kingdom buses drop off at the Transportation and Ticket Center, not the park itself, necessitating another transit, via monorail or ferry, to get to that park.

In addition to the theme park buses, buses to and from Disney Springs run through the evening.

On the important dimensions–frequency, and the time it takes to get to and return from the parks–the transportation system at the Disney Springs Resort Area is much worse than that at the Disney-owned resorts, but better than that at most off-site hotels.

Having your own car or a rental is a much better option. Self-parking at the B Resort & Spa is $22/night and valet parking is $28/night. Parking at the theme parks is $25/day.

For more on transportation at the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels, see this.

PRICING AT THE B RESORT & SPA

Pricing at the Disney Springs Resort Hotels is much less visible than that at the Disney-owned resorts, and multiple prices for the same room e.g. for non-refundable stays, stays by folk with AAA, etc. are common.  Discounts and deals are also common, and these hotels commonly show up on the various hotel deal sites.

Pricing for most of them is also obscured by mandatory “resort fees.”  Resort fees are a mandatory extra cost added every night of your stay, whether you like or not. I personally find mandatory resort fees a misleading and unethical practice.  A fee that is mandatory, and charged each night, should simply be rolled into the nightly room price.

The B Resort & Spa resort fee is (after tax) $33.75 per night–among the three highest Disney Springs Resort Area fees.

Prices at the B Resort & Spa (before any discounts you might find, but including resort fees and taxes) are generally among the highest of the seven Disney Springs Resort Area hotels, and are typically comparable to those for a Disney-owned moderate resort.

For those looking for a colorful and playful decor and generally sound amenities, other than perhaps the pool, the B Resort & Spa can be a reasonable option for couples, offering amenities somewhere between those of a Disney moderate and a Disney deluxe at a price commonly closer to that of a Disney moderate. For families, it is not quite as attractive for the price as several other Disney Springs Resort Area hotels.

The long-time travel agent partner of this site, Kelly, can book you into the B Resort & Spa or any other Disney World accommodations. Contact her using the form below!

PHOTO TOUR OF A TOWER ROOM AT THE B RESORT & SPA

This review continues here.

MORE ON THE B RESORT & SPA

• Overview and summary
• Photo tour of a B Resort standard tower room 
• Photo tour of a B Resort Lanai pool-view room
• Dining and amenities at the B Resort & Spa
• The pool at the B Resort & Spa

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 160+ stays in them

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

THE RE-IMAGINED WORLD OF DISNEY STORE IN DISNEY SPRINGS

By Jim Korkis

When the World of Disney store opened October 2, 1996 at Walt Disney World’s Downtown Disney (now Disney Springs), its first guests were given a colorful character map to help orient themselves to the massive 51,000 square feet of retail space referred to as “The Largest Disney Character Shop in the World.”

As Walt Disney World publicity described the World of Disney Store when it first opened: “It’s paradise for everyone, from the newest Mickey fan to the avid Disneyana enthusiast. Disney merchandise is arranged so artfully that this remarkable store is an attraction itself.”

However, time and operational needs change and so the World of Disney Stores both at Disneyland and Walt Disney World were recently transformed after more than a year of design and development. The Walt Disney World version opened October 27, 2018.

(c) Disney

The official Disney press release stated that the “re-imagined World of Disney stores are being transformed into contemporary, distinctly Disney retail environments.”

“We saw World of Disney as an opportunity to re-imagine what Disney retail is today,” said Alysia Kelley, vice president of visual merchandising and location strategy for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “The new store design highlights the best of what is current and new, while also celebrating classic Disney heritage based in storytelling.”

The transformation begins with the store’s exterior, which features new marquees and magical window displays. All of the large-scale character sculptures were removed from both interior and exterior of the store, and the Disney-patterned wallpaper and carpeting was scrapped in favor of a style reminiscent of an Urban Outfitters or Gap store.

Both stores feature an interior “loft-style” atmosphere with greater visibility for all the displays and merchandise.

Of course, there is a back story for the new design.

Imagineering show writer Kevin Lively shared, “This space used to be a bus depot for the Grand California Tours which partnered with the Grand Californian hotel in Northern California to take people on local tours. The bus depot eventually shut down and in the 1940’s Walt was trying to find a new place to inspire his animators.

“He found a space in Disney Springs in Florida and in Northern California. He leased out the space for his animators to get away from the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles and Burbank and start working on what would be some of Disney’s most classic films. The animators worked in these warehouses for about 60 years, when in 1989 they decided to close them because they opened Disney-MGM Studios and had a dedicated animation space there.

“So these warehouses sat empty for years until they re-opened as the World of Disney as part of Downtown Disney. When it came time to fix up the stores this year for their rehab, they started taking down the drywall and these beautiful remnants of the past animation studio were revealed to the construction workers.

“Brick walls were revealed with forgotten signage for the bus depot. A wall of paint jars with some leftover magic had been previously drywalled over. And many sketches were unveiled. They used the Nine Old Men’s animator desks (that feature their sketches on the wood) to create the checkout space and the space is decorated with artwork, animation cels and hand drawn details from Disney’s body of work through 1989 when they were originally shut down.?

The space is still filled with nods to both the bus terminal and the animation studio, with a sign advertising bus tours painted above one archway in California and another indicating an Animation Annex in Florida as well as cash register areas created from reused Animation desks.

Animated displays, digital signs, video screens and special lighting effects are used throughout the store to make it easier to refresh the décor. The World of Disney remains an anchor location at Disney Springs and still reputedly offers the largest collection of Disney-themed merchandise in the world.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim! And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including his latest,  The Vault of Walt Volume 7: Christmas Edition, and his Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, all published by Theme Park Press.

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: FEBRUARY 2 TO FEBRUARY 10, 2019

The material below details next week’s Disney World operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

For more February 2019 at Disney World, see this.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 2/2-2/10/19

The Magic Kingdom will be open from 9a-11p 2/2, 9a-9p 2/3 and 2/4, 9a-8p 2/5 through 2/7, 9a-10p 2/8, 9a-11p 2/29, and 9a-9p 2/10

Epcot will be open from 9a-9p every day

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open from 9a-8p every day

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open from 9a-8p every day

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 2/2-2/10/19

Saturday 2/2 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Sunday 2/3  Morning:  Hollywood Studios Evening: none

Monday 2/4  Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Tuesday 2/5 Morning: none Evening: Epcot

Wednesday 2/6 Morning:  none Evening: Magic Kingdom

Thursday 2/7 Morning: Epcot Evening: none

Friday 2/8 Morning:  Magic Kingdom Evening: none

Saturday 2/9 Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Sunday 2/10 Morning:  Hollywood Studios  Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 2/2-2/10/19

The Magic Kingdom: Afternoon parade: 3p every day

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 2/2-2/10/19

Happily Ever After at Magic Kingdom 8p every night

IllumiNations at Epcot: 9p every night

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 8p every night

Star Wars Show and Fireworks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 8.30p every night

Rivers of Light at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 6.45 and 8p 2/2; 7 and 8.15p 2/3 through 2/10

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 2/2/-2/10/19

See Steve Soares’ site here. Click the park names at its top for show schedules.

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THE HILTON BUENA VISTA PALACE

Guests at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace are eligible for Disney World’s Early Entry program.

(Note that there’s three Hilton-flagged properties among the seven Disney Springs Resort Area hotels– the Hilton Buena Vista Palace, and also the Hilton Orlando, and the Doubletree Suites by Hilton.)

The Hilton Buena Vista Palace offer rooms with a king bed, or with two queen beds, in two different accommodations buildings, a mid-ride set of towers and a low rise known as the “Island” building.

The best features of the Hilton Buena Vista Palace are its family-friendly baths, balconies, nearness to Disney Springs, and the broad range of strong amenities it offers. More specifically, the Hilton Buena Vista Palace is alone among the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels in offering both balconies and divided baths in its standard rooms, has the best pool complex among these hotels, and has dining about as good as any of them.

Weaknesses include noise levels in Island building rooms, and, for Disney Springs Resort Area hotels, relatively high prices. It shares with all the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels weak park transportation.

I’ve stayed at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace twice, most recently in November, and my full review has five pages:

• The overview of the Hilton Buena Vista Palace you are reading now
• A photo tour of a standard two queen tower room at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace
• A photo tour of a two queen Island building room at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace
• Amenities and dining at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace
• The pools at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace

ACCOMMODATIONS AT THE HILTON BUENA VISTA PALACE

The Hilton Buena Vista Palace offers several room types in two principal groups of buildings–one the main tower, with multiple levels, and another a lower and somewhat distant accommodations building called the Island.

Rooms with a king bed and rooms with two queens are available, most with balconies.  When booking, you can select your building (tower or Island), beds, and also choose your view. The Hilton Buena Vista Palace is a significant convention hotel, and as in all such hotels, multiple suite options are also available, especially in the Island building.

Tower rooms offer one king or two queen beds, a divided bath, a balcony, and an easy chair. This combination makes them more livable and better appointed than any other Disney Springs Resort Area hotel.

The bed side of Hilton Buena Vista Palace two queen tower room.

The divided bath includes a sink and closet area off the main entry hall, and then beyond them a full bath with another sink. This makes the room much more family-friendly than many other Disney Springs Resort Area options.  Among standard rooms in the rest, you’ll find divided baths only in the Hilton Orlando and in Wyndham Garden rooms.

Above is the balcony, the image taken on not the loveliest day.  Among the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels, you’ll find balconies in standard rooms elsewhere only at the Holiday Inn and Best Western.

A photo tour of a two queen tower room at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace is here.

Island building rooms with two queens offer the same room amenities in a slightly different room layout. They are more distant from most of the Hilton Buena Vista Palace’s guest amenities other than the pool and walkway to Disney Springs, and are also a bit noisy.

A photo tour of a two queen Island building room at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace is here.

DINING AT THE HILTON BUENA VISTA PALACE

The principal dining venue at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace is the Letterpress, on the lowest hotel level.

Letterpress serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and also hosts character meals Sunday mornings. I’ve found it to be the most consistently good restaurant among the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels, but some will prefer the broader selection of options at the Hilton Orlando.

There’s bars both indoors and by the pool, with the pool serving an extensive dining menu as well, and snacks, drinks, and grab and go items are available in a shop near Letterpress that is open 24 hours some days and until 2a on other days.

There’s also a Disney gift shop offering souvenirs, park tickets, and such on this same level.

There’s more on dining and the other amenities at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace here.

THE POOLS AT THE HILTON BUENA VISTA PALACE

The Hilton Buena Vista Palace pool complex is the best among the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels.

It includes a traditional pool, a lazy river pool, and a in a lobe off of the lazy river pool, a kids wading pool with water play features.  You’ll also find a hot tub, an extensive play area, and as noted above, a pool bar and grill.

For more on the pools at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace, see this.

THEME PARK TRANSPORTATION AT THE HILTON BUENA VISTA PALACE

The Hilton Buena Vista Palace participates in a transportation program sponsored by all the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels. One group of buses serves the Best Western, the Wyndham, and the Hilton Buena Vista Palace, and another the other four hotels here.

Buses run about every thirty minutes, each serving two parks–so, for example, to get to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you may have travel to the Magic Kingdom first.  Moreover, unlike the buses from Disney-owned resorts, Magic Kingdom buses drop off at the Transportation and Ticket Center, not the park itself, necessitating another transit, via monorail or ferry, to get to that park.

In addition to the theme park buses, buses to and from Disney Springs run through the evening.

On the important dimensions–frequency, and the time it takes to get to and return from the parks–the transportation system at the Disney Springs Resort Area is much worse than that at the Disney-owned resorts, but better than that at most off-site hotels.

Having your own car or a rental is a much better option. Self-parking at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace is $20/night and valet parking is $28/night. Parking at the theme parks is $25/day.

For more on transportation at the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels, see this.

PRICING AT THE HILTON BUENA VISTA PALACE

Pricing at the Disney Springs Resort Hotels is much less visible than that at the Disney-owned resorts, and multiple prices for the same room e.g. for non-refundable stays, stays by folk with AAA, etc. are common.  Discounts and deals are also common, and these hotels commonly show up on the various hotel deal sites.

Pricing for most of them is also obscured by mandatory “resort fees.”  Resort fees are a mandatory extra cost added every night of your stay, whether you like or not. I personally find mandatory resort fees a misleading and unethical practice.  A fee that is mandatory, and charged each night, should simply be rolled into the nightly room price.

The Hilton Buena Vista Palace resort fee is (after tax) $39.38 per night–tied with the Hilton Orlando as the highest among the Disney Springs Resort Area fees.

Prices at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace (before any discounts you might find, but including resort fees and taxes) are generally among the highest of the seven Disney Springs Resort Area hotels, and are typically comparable to those for a Disney-owned moderate resort.

For families looking for queen beds, a divided bath, a balcony, good dining, a great pool complex, and other strong amenities, the Hilton Buena Vista Palace can be a reasonable option, offering amenities somewhere between those of a Disney moderate and a Disney deluxe at a price commonly closer to that of a Disney moderate. Overall, it is the best choice among the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels.

Kelly, the long-time travel agent partner of this site, can book your Disney World vacation at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace–or at any other Disney World hotel!  Contact here using the form below.

PHOTO TOUR OF A TOWER ROOM AT THE HILTON BUENA VISTA PALACE

This review continues here.

MORE ON THE HILTON BUENA VISTA PALACE

• Overview and summary
• Photo tour of a standard tower room 
• Photo tour of an Island room
• Dining and amenities
• The pools 

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 160+ stays in them

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

THE HILTON ORLANDO LAKE BUENA VISTA

Guests at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista are eligible for Disney World’s Early Entry program.

(Note that there’s three Hilton-flagged properties among the seven Disney Springs Resort Area hotels– the Hilton Orlando, and also the Hilton Buena Vista Palace and the Doubletree Suites by Hilton.)

The Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista offer rooms with a king bed, or with two queen beds, in a long mid-rise block.

The best features of the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista are its family-friendly baths, nearness to Disney Springs, and the broad range of strong amenities it offers.

Weaknesses include the absence of balconies–a few rooms by the pool have patios–and, for Disney Springs Resort Area hotels, relatively high prices. It shares with all the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels weak park transportation.

I’ve stayed at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista four times, most recently in July, and my full review has four pages:

• The overview of the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista you are reading now
• A photo tour of a standard two queen room at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Amenities and dining at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• The pools at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista

ACCOMMODATIONS AT THE HILTON ORLANDO LAKE BUENA VISTA

Rooms with a king bed and rooms with two queens are available in the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista.

There are also some bookable views–e.g. a Disney Springs view (about a third of rooms here face the freeway, half the Wyndham, and a sixth Disney Springs).

The Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista is a major convention hotel, and as in all such hotels, multiple suite options are also available.

The bed side of Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista two queen room.

The divided bath includes a sink and closet area off the main entry hall, and then beyond them a full bath with another sink. This makes the room much more family-friendly than many other Disney Springs Resort Area options.  Among standard rooms in the rest, you’ll find divided baths only in the Hilton Place Lake Buena Vista and in Wyndham Garden rooms.

A photo tour of a two queen room at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista is here.

DINING AT THE HILTON ORLANDO LAKE BUENA VISTA

The Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista is distinct among the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels in having three table service venues.

Covington Mill is the most family friendly, and serves breakfast and lunch–including a character breakfast on Sundays.

Available for dinner are two other restaurants, Andiamo and Benihana.

There’s bars both indoors and by the pool, and snacks, drinks, and grab and go items are available in a shop near Covington Mill that is open 24 hours a day.

There’s also a Disney gift shop offering souvenirs, park tickets and such off the lobby, and a resort-wear shop near it.

There’s more on dining and the other amenities at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista here.

THE POOLS AT THE HILTON ORLANDO LAKE BUENA VISTA

The Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista pool complex is in the top rank among the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels.

It has two principal pools, a kids wading pool, a couple of hot tubs, and a pool bar. It perhaps is not quite as fun or interesting for kids as the pools at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace and the Wyndham, but is more comparable to those than any of the other Disney Springs Resort Area pool hotel pool offerings.

For more on the pools at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista, see this.

THEME PARK TRANSPORTATION AT THE HILTON ORLANDO LAKE BUENA VISTA

The Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista participates in a transportation program sponsored by all the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels. One group of buses serves the Hilton, Holiday Inn, B Resort, and Doubletree Suites, and another the other three hotels here.

Buses run about every thirty minutes, each serving two parks–so, for example, to get to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you may have travel to the Magic Kingdom first.  Moreover, unlike the buses from Disney-owned resorts, Magic Kingdom buses drop off at the Transportation and Ticket Center, not the park itself, necessitating another transit, via monorail or ferry, to get to that park.

In addition to the theme park buses, buses to and from Disney Springs run through the evening.

On the important dimensions–frequency, and the time it takes to get to and return from the parks–the transportation system at the Disney Springs Resort Area is much worse than that at the Disney-owned resorts, but better than that at most off-site hotels.

Having your own car or a rental is a much better option. Self-parking at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista is $18/night and valet parking is $24/night. Parking at the theme parks is $25/day.

For more on transportation at the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels, see this.

PRICING AT THE HILTON ORLANDO LAKE BUENA VISTA

Pricing at the Disney Springs Resort Hotels is much less visible than that at the Disney-owned resorts, and multiple prices for the same room e.g. for non-refundable stays, stays by folk with AAA, etc. are common.  Discounts and deals are also common, and these hotels commonly show up on the various hotel deal sites.

Pricing for most of them is also obscured by mandatory “resort fees.”  Resort fees are a mandatory extra cost added every night of your stay, whether you like or not. I personally find mandatory resort fees a misleading and unethical practice.  A fee that is mandatory, and charged each night, should simply be rolled into the nightly room price.

The Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista resort fee is (after tax) $39.38 per night–tied with the Hilton Buena Vista Palace as the highest among the Disney Springs Resort Area fees.

Prices at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista (before any discounts you might find, but including resort fees and taxes) are generally higher than the average among the seven Disney Springs Resort Area hotels, and are typically comparable to those for a Disney-owned moderate resort.

For families looking for queen beds, lots of dining options, a nice pool complex, and other strong amenities, the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista can be a reasonable option, offering amenities somewhere between those of a Disney moderate and a Disney deluxe at a price commonly closer to that of a Disney moderate.

Kelly, the long-time travel agent partner of this site, can book your Disney World vacation at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista–or at any other Disney World hotel!  Contact here using the form below.

PHOTO TOUR OF A ROOM AT THE HILTON ORLANDO LAKE BUENA VISTA 

This review continues here.

MORE ON THE HILTON ORLANDO LAKE BUENA VISTA

• Overview and summary
• Photo tour of a standard room
• Dining and amenities
• The pool 

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 160+ stays in them

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

Epcot’s International Festival of the Arts arrived in 2017 and has expanded the days of the week it is available in the two years it has returned since then, with the 2019 Festival of the Arts now featuring a full seven day program–including the Broadway singers.

The Festival combines

• Great, albeit pricey, dining
• Dozens of kiosks with art to view and buy
• Interactive opportunities to paint, be photographed into great art, and play with silly living statues
• Seminars and other sessions
• Music–some casual, some distinctive presentations from the Disney on Broadway team

Disney calls it a mix of “visual, culinary and performing arts inspired by cultures from all around the world…a global masterpiece.”

That’s a stretch, but with better food than past Food and Wine festivals, and better visual appeal than past Flower and Garden festivals, it is, by far, my favorite among all the Epcot festivals, and I highly recommend it for returning visitors.

First-timers will enjoy it as well, but will find that it adds crowds to Epcot’s World Showcase, especially on weekends and evenings.

EPCOT INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS DINING

Dining opportunities are particularly concentrated at the entrance to the World Showcase, but are also found in the Odyssey Festival Showplace (between Test Track and Mexico—the Showplace is the centerpiece of the Festival) and scattered through the rest of World Showcase. In 2019 you’ll even find them in Future World–for example, “Taste Track” near Test Track.

The Festival of the Arts offers the best dining of any Epcot Festival. Waits can be longer than at other festivals as much food is prepared while you wait, and prices are also high. The value for money is also commonly high (by Disney World standards…), and with many $7+ items available for a snack credit, the festival provides the single best argument in years for you to buy the Disney Dining Plan.

In prior years among other delights I had a chance to try the Charcuterie Palette from the Masterpiece Kitchen…

…and the deconstructed Reuben from Deconstructed Dish.

This year I focused more on food, and joined some of my imaginary internet friends on a walk around half of World Showcase, where collectively we bought, photographed, and tasted everything that was new this year (they continued, but I was too sunburned to go on…).

Offerings we sampled included the Creme de Brie and Dariole de Saumon from L’art de la Cuisine in France…

…Lobster chips and a Glazed Pork Belly Bloody Mary from the Refreshment Port on the Showcase entrance Canada side…

…(a less arty shot of the lobster chips)…

…a Lemon Blood Orange Tart and Chocolate Peanut Butter and Pretzel Crunch from Decadent Delights, in the same area as the Refreshment Port…

…a Vanilla, Rose Water, and Pistachio Panna Cotta from Masterpiece Kitchen in Canada…

…a Sushi Donut from Takumi Table in Japan…

…a Salted Caramel Funnel Cake, a special offering for the Festival from the funnel cake stand by the American Adventure–as far as I am concerned, the hit of the festival…

…and more items from the by American Adventure, from the Artist’s Table–Beef Wellington, the Symphony in Chocolate flight, and the Chocolate and Beer pairing flight

All were terrific on one dimension or another, with differences more about your individual tastes (I am more of a beer and funnel cake guy than a sushi guy).

Detailed reviews and more specific recommendations of the best dining of the Festival of the Arts are on co-author Josh’s site easyWDW.com.

EPCOT INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS SHOWS AND GALLERIES

Art, fittingly, is everywhere at the Festival of the Arts. Seminars–some at an extra price–are in the lead building of the Festival, the Odyssey Festival Showplace.

All over World Showcase are tented kiosks offering mostly Disney-related art to browse through and buy:

EPCOT INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS INTERACTIVE OPPORTUNITIES

There’s lots of opportunities for simple play.

In front of the Future World stage you can find living statues that will mess with you and your kids (check the Times Guide for showings)…

There’s an opportunity to play with a paint-by numbers canvas on the way to Canada…

…and scattered through World Showcase are opportunities for you to join famous works.

More of these.

There’s also some Figment thingy that I paid no attention to, but is a bit of a variant on the Kidcot concept—buy a map and stickers, find Figment-themed picture frames and Figment within them, add the appropriate sticker to the map, and turn the map in for a prize.

EPCOT INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS SEMINARS AND SESSIONS

Also in the Odyssey Festival Center is The Animation Academy, an animation drawing class, where you learn to draw a Disney character under the tutelage of a real animator.

Some have reported that all will end up with a great drawing, but irl your results will vary.

My Winnie the Pooh from 2017 is above…

EPCOT INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS MUSIC

Music at the Festival includes both performances at the Future World stage (see your Times Guide for show times)…

…and a more interesting set of brief Broadway concerts in the evenings at the American Gardens Theater, at 5.30, 6.45 and 8p–as of 2019, these concerts happen every night.

Presented by the Disney on Broadway team, the concerts showcase songs from Disney Broadway productions sung by Broadway stars.

I saw in 2017 Kerry Butler (who was Belle in Beauty and the Beast) and Kevin Massey (Tarzan) singing songs from Tarzan, Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, and The Little Mermaid.

As you can probably tell, I love this Festival!

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