Uncategorized - 17/24 - yourfirstvisit.net

There’s been a lot of recent speculation about Vladimir Putin, as he’s not been seen for more than a week.

Turns out he’s a fan of Frozen (and of The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit) and has been visiting incognito at Disney World.

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My friend Jodi is celebrating the fifth birthday of her site Magical Mouse Schoolhouse with a bunch of giveaways this month.

Up right now is a chance to win a free copy of my book The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit!

To enter the contest, click here.

And congratulations Jodi!!

(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, see this.)

THE PIRATE ROOMS IN TRINIDAD

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is this site’s top-rated moderate resort for first-time family visitors to Walt Disney World.

It gets that position because it has a little more kid appeal than the other moderate resorts.

For example, it has

The most widely appealing setting, beaches
The best main pool among the moderates
And light Disney theming in many of its rooms–e.g. Mickey and Pluto in its five person rooms

Moreover, rooms in its Trinidad section have deep nautical and pirate theming.

This pirate theming is pretty cool, and includes ship-shaped structures around its full beds, but, given the inconvenience of Trinidad (known until late 2018 as Trinidad South, by the way), is not worth the extra $60-$80 a night it costs.

Note that the inconvenience of these rooms had been diminished by the 2018 opening of the Spyglass Grill, adding a handy–though limited-alternative to walking to Old Port Royale for dining, and will be reduced even more when later in 2019 the Disney Skyliner opens just across from Trinidad.

Moreover, by so deeply theming these beds, Disney made it too expensive to convert these rooms to the queens that have replaced all the fulls elsewhere at Caribbean Beach. As a result, even after their 2015 refurb, these rooms have kept their full beds. Also, they still sleep only four–unlike the five person rooms available elsewhere at Caribbean Beach

REVIEW: THE PIRATE-THEMED ROOMS AT CARIBBEAN BEACH

Caribbean Beach was the first moderate resort at Walt Disney World, and shows a few first-time mistakes.

Some sections of the resort–particularly Trinidad–are simply too far from the rest of it.
The resort was designed with more bus stops than it could have had, partly related to an isolated check-in building, which was eliminated in late 2018 (check in is now in the central Old Port Royale)
No elevators…

Trinidad in particular has always felt isolated from the rest of Caribbean Beach–over a bridge, out of sight.

In response, a few years ago, Disney World tried to turn lemons into lemonade, and redid the rooms in Trinidad to a pirate theme, at a higher cost–for example, standard view pirate rooms are (including tax) $314 a night on weeknights during the Fall 2019 price season, compared to $240 then for standard rooms elsewhere at Caribbean Beach.

Like Disney’s other moderate resort rooms, these pirate-themed options are spacious and livable.

One side of the room has two full beds. Note the ship theming!

The bed side from the back of the room.

A closer view of the beds. Note the skull and crossbones pillow, and the detailed wheel, mizzen mast, yard, shrouds, ratlines, and lanterns aft, and the bow chasers forward.

A closer shot of the aft superstructure.

The bedside table takes the form of a barrel, and has a storage shelf underneath…

…as well as a drawer that can hold your important books.

Also on top of this barrel is a set of standard and USB power points.

The TV side of the room continues the nautical theming, adding crates to the barrels..

The TV side from the back of the room.

The rug.

The rug is both nautical and somewhat sea-like. It, combined with the blue (a light sky blue) wall colors, makes the “ships at sea” bed concept work.

I did not spend enough time with this rug–once again, I write a phrase that no one else has ever written before–but suspect that if I had, I’d find lots of references to the movies and a hidden Mickey or two.

Back to the TV side, a closer view of the table and chairs. A compass rose tops the table.

The dresser resembles a pile of crates.

This, incidentally, yields four good-sized drawers.

The coffee service is on top of a barrel…

…which encloses the mini-fridge.

On top of this barrel is another set of power points, one of which is occupied by the coffee maker’s cord.

At the end of this side is a treasure chest with hanging hooks above.

The chest has a large storage drawer.

Note that this room is really more nautical than piratical, with a few exceptions. One is the skull and crossbones pillows on the beds, another is the art on the wall between the beds and the bath, featuring Captain you know who…

…and another is the curtain separating the bath area from the main bedroom area. Seeing this is a cheery way to start your morning.

Behind the moveable curtain, the bath has two sinks.

More skulls decorate the sinks.

At the side there’s a closet area. Note the beam above.

Separated into their own room are the tub/shower combo and the toilet.

The shower curtain…

…is covered with ships.

The extent and depth of the nautical theming is remarkable, and the less pervasive pirate theming is fun too. Back when I was a boy, I would have loved this room.

But Trinidad is still a ways away from the center of the resort and its main pool, shops and dining, such as it is. The situation has been improved by the opening of the Spyglass Grill within Trinidad, and will get even better when the Disney Skyliner opens, with its station nearby. But at least until the Skyliner opens, for the price, unless all your kids are really into pirates, I can’t recommend it. The value of the theming itself is not enough to offset the isolation…add the extra cost, and you are paying to be inconvenienced.

AMENITIES AT DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

This review continues here.

PAGES IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

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The October WDW Magazine has hit the stands.

Available on iTunes, for Android, and on the web, the issue focuses on getting around Walt Disney World–boats, buses, cars, Magical Express, and everything!

In my “First Timer’s” column I deal with question of whether or not to rent a car at Walt Disney World. The answer? Well you’ll have to get the magazine to find out!

This issue also marks the completion of the first full year of the magazine. Congratulations to Carl Trent for coming up with the idea for the magazine and pulling it off!

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(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort, click here.)

AMENITIES AT DISNEY’S FORT WILDERNESS RESORT: THE OUTPOST AND MEADOW

Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort has three different ways to stay–in a cabin, a group campsite, or a regular campsite.

All three share the resort’s amenities—such as a beach, marina, dining areas, stores, stables, movie and sing-along theater, bike rental area, pools, boat docks for transport to the Magic Kingdom (and to two other Disney Resorts—the Wilderness Lodge and the Contemporary Resort), bus stops for everything else, etc., on more than 700 acres.

There’s three areas to keep in mind at Fort Wilderness, the Outpost, at the lower right of the map and circled in purply-blue; the Meadow, in the center of the map and circled in yellow; and the Settlement, at the top left of the map and circled in red.

THE OUTPOST AT DISNEY’S FORT WILDERNESS RESORT

The Outpost area is mostly about logistics, but also has one amenity.

This is where you enter Fort Wilderness to check in. Those with rigs can do drive-through check in.

If you are entering via Disney’s Magical Express, check in is inside in an apparently difficult to photograph space. This is also where you can get help with dining reservations, tickets and such.

Check-in time is 1p for the campsites and 3p for the cabins. If you are early, or have extra cars, toy trailers, etc., there’s a small parking lot here. This is also where you would park if you are driving in to see Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue.

Just outside the check in building is an area where you pick up your golf cart if you rented one.

A little north is the Outpost bus stop. You’ll get to know this very well, as this is the only stop for the buses that take you to all the parks except the Magic Kingdom, and also to Downtown Disney. (You get to the Magic Kingdom via boat from the Settlement.)

The internal buses that go into Fort Wilderness itself also depart from here. These internal buses run on several routes. All go to the Settlement and Hoop-Dee-Doo; for your campsite or cabin, check the bus route map posted here to select the one that will drop you off at the closest point.

There’s also parking here for those with golf carts.

The only amenity in the Outpost area is trail rides.

Most of the fun at Fort Wilderness is in the two more northern areas, the Meadow and the Settlement. The rest of this page covers the Meadow; the Settlement is covered here.

THE MEADOW AREA AT DISNEY’S FORT WILDERNESS RESORT

The Meadow area in the center of Fort Wilderness has a shop, bike and boat rentals, an outdoor theater with a fun evening program and the main Fort Wilderness pool and recreation complex.

I’ll come back to the pool area in detail later in this review.

In this Meadow area you’ll also find one of the two stores at Fort Wilderness (the other is in the Settlement).

These two shops have a varied selection of Disney stuff, camping supplies, and a strong assortment of food. (The Settlement shop is thinner on camping gear and food.)

You’ll also find here bulk ice, candy, and a refillable mug station…

…and S’more supplies!

Shopping is made tougher by the lack of parking spots. There’s a few outside the store…

…and a few more across the street.

Behind the store and to the left is a place where you can rent bikes, canoes, kayaks and such.

The menu of offerings (click to enlarge…some of these leave from the marina at the Settlement).

Kayaks and canoes on the bank, dreaming they’ll be rented.

Fishing.

Canoeing.

Beyond the Bike Barn is an open-air theater. In the evenings, there’s an extensive campfire program here:

S’mores–Disney will sell you the supplies or you can bring your own…

…a sing-along–which frankly I found a little lame…

…the chance to meet Chip or Dale (they split the crowd between them)–love the expression on the little boy’s face…

…Me and Chip…

…and then a Disney movie.

The main pool and recreation area is here too, but as noted above I cover that in more detail later in this review.

THE SETTLEMENT AREA AT DISNEY’S FORT WILDERNESS RESORT

This review continues here!

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(For the first page of this review of the Villas at Jambo House, see this.)

THE BATH AND MASTER BEDROOM AT JAMBO HOUSE VILLAS

Two Bedroom Villas at Jambo House combine a One Bedroom Villa and a Studio. The master area of a One Bedroom Villa–on the left in the floor plan–includes a shared bath, laundry, and a king bedroom.