Special Activities: The seasonally available Campfire on the Bayou is a fun and free night out for families, complete with sing-a-longs, stories, and even s’mores (for a small charge). You can also go fishing, rent a surrey bike, or go on a horse-drawn carriage ride (all at a charge).
HIDDEN MAGIC!
So what is my favorite Moderate resort? Each has something just a bit unique to offer, so these might be some reasons to choose one over the others.
• Best resort for little kids: Caribbean Beach
• Best resort for tweens and teens: Port Orleans Riverside
• Best resort for adults: Port Orleans Resort French Quarter
• Best value : The Cabins at Fort Wilderness
• Most exotic: Coronado Springs
The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
Overall Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Location: Magic Kingdom area
Price Range: $270–$450 for a standard cabin
Transportation: Boat to Magic Kingdom; buses to all other theme parks, water parks, and Downtown Disney. Note that you will need to take an initial internal shuttle ride to get from your cabin to either the boat dock or the bus station.
Special Features: The Cabins provide a unique set of accommodations previously overlooked by a majority of Walt Disney World guests. These cabins sleep up to 6, have a full kitchen and maid service, furnish a grill and deck, and bring you far closer to nature than any other Moderate resort. At the same time, they have all the items you would expect in a hotel, such as cable TV, daily housekeeping, phone, a full bathroom, and air-conditioning. The resort amenities are similar in that they have the standards such as pools and restaurants, but also a marina, horse-riding stables, and outdoor entertainment venues for campfires, twilight movies, and nature walks.
Room Types: Wilderness Cabins come with a full kitchen and sleep 6 guests, with a double bed and two bunk beds in the main bedroom, and a pull-down double Murphy bed in the living room.
Best Room Locations: The Cabins are all at the south end of the Fort Wilderness property, which makes them far from all the resortarea amenities and the water transportation to the Magic Kingdom. Still, there is a pool in this area, and cabins in the 2500 or 2600 loops place you near that pool as well as near one of the internal bus transportation stops.
Atmosphere: The cabin mood is set up well, with exposed wood walls and handmade wood furniture that is upholstered with warm, western Native American prints. The rustic feel is an ideal frame for windows that look out on forested areas in one of the rare secluded resort spots in all of Walt Disney World. The public building takes you further from the modern cabin feeling into a more historical look at old forts from the Western expansion—or at least what the expansion of the Old West looked like on Davy Crockett shows of the ’50s.
Summary
Disney can bring some sanity to your accommodation budget. You may have slightly longer transportation times on the way to the parks in the morning, but the impact is minimal and the savings are significant.
Chapter 9
Value Resorts
In This Chapter
• Learn about Disney’s Value resorts
• Select the theme and location that is right for you
• Discover the pitfalls of different room locations, and learn how to avoid them
• Find out what room and resort amenities are available
The honest truth is that, no matter what travel discounts you land, a Walt Disney World vacation is unlikely to be cheap. Thank goodness Disney realized that we were not all born of robber barons and endowed with trust funds when they created the Value resorts! These lower-cost options may not have all the amenities of a Deluxe resort, but they make up for it with explosively fun decor and a vibrant atmosphere that is always buzzing with families. They also offer significant advantages over their similarly priced non–Disney property competitors that make them appealing options.
What Is a Value Resort?
Walt Disney World has four Value resorts, with a fifth opening in 2012. All feature a central building for registration, shopping, dining, and transportation. The cozy guest rooms are located in three-story buildings covered with massively oversized decorations themed to the different resorts. These rooms, designed to hold four, offer only the very basic hotel amenities that you might expect. Two double beds (with a few single king rooms available), a pair of chairs with a small table, and a TV on a small chest of drawers pretty much round out the furnishings. The bathroom holds a bath/shower and a toilet, with the sink separately located out by the closet. It may seem sparse, but do you need more?
Other room features include a safe, ironing board, and iron. You can also request a mini-refrigerator (for a charge), crib, or hair dryer. Laundry facilities are located in separate buildings on the grounds and next to the pools. The resorts also have a gift shop, food-court dining, arcades, in-room pizza delivery (no other room service available), playgrounds, pools, and bus service to all the parks and Downtown Disney.
Over the top decor at the All-Star Sports Resort.
Photos © Disney.
A new room format also has been recently developed for the Value resorts, the Family Suite. This is basically two rooms redesigned to accommodate six, along with one more child in a crib; it also includes a kitchenette. The cost is usually a bit more than the cost of two separate rooms, but the kitchenette might be worth the small extra cost, saving you on snack and meal expenses. The greater feeling of all being together rather than split across two rooms also can be a nice treat.
Bottom line: These resort options are ideal for families on a budget. They all get a thumbs-up for being good at what they are: affordable and adequate accommodations that immerse you in the Disney experience.
Value Resort Pros
• Affordable cost
• Vibrant decor, an attraction in itself for families with children
• Food court and pizza service, offering more affordable food options
Value Resort Cons
• Smallest rooms in all of Walt Disney World
• Bus-only transportation
• Noisy public areas
The Walt Disney World Value Resorts
Let’s look at each Value resort. Keep an eye on the decor of each resort, as that can be the biggest differentiator, and can make your choice easy based on what your kids like best.
Disney’s Pop Century Resort
Overall Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Location: Epcot area
Price Range: $82–$179 for a standard room
Transportation: Buses to all theme parks, water parks, and Downtown Disney.
Special Features: Visually extravagant decor, lakeside ambiance for select rooms.
Room Types: Small rooms for 4 include two double beds. Some single king rooms also are available.
Best Room Locations: The ’60s B Hall, overlooking the lake.
A room overlooking the large lake is the ideal choice for its view as well as the quieter setting, if you can get it. Rooms by a pool or playground are noisy, and a room far from the main building can add a fairly long walk to get to the bus transportation that takes you to the parks.
Dining: Food court, in-room pizza delivery. No room service.
Atmosphere: Everywhere you look, you are surrounded by oversized icons of the past century, with buildings dedicated to decades from the 1950s to the 1990s. Vivid story-high letters on each building shout out the lingo of the era, paired with relevant giant objects like a life-size foosball set, giant Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads, and an immense Big Wheel.
Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
Overall Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Location: Animal Kingdom area
Price Range: $82–$179 for a standard room
Transportation: Buses to all theme parks, water parks, and Downtown Disney.
Special Features: Visually extravagant decor.
Room Types: Small rooms for 4 includ
e two double beds. Some single king rooms also are available.
Best Room Locations: Toy Story hall #10. A room overlooking a pool or playground can add significant unwanted noise. The wrong room also can add a fairly long walk to get to the bus transportation that takes you to the parks.
Dining: Food court, in-room pizza delivery. No room service.
Atmosphere: Dive into the silver screen as you swim in a pool themed on The Mighty Ducks, complete with an immense duck goalie mask and giant hockey sticks. Elsewhere are giant reminders of many of your children’s favorite movies, including a three-story-tall Woody (from Toy Story) who even has Andy scrawled on the bottom of his boot. The decor here might well be the most appealing to small children of all the Value resorts, and that means more than you might imagine when it comes to getting them into the Walt Disney World mood. Other buildings are themed to 101 Dalmatians, Fantasia, and Herbie the Love Bug.
This resort could be the best Value resort for families with younger children, particularly those who are heavily into Disney movies.
Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
Overall Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Location: Animal Kingdom area
Price Range: $82–$179 for a standard room, $194–$365 for Family Suites
Transportation: Buses to all theme parks, water parks, TTC, and Downtown Disney.
Special Features: Visually extravagant decor and Family Suite rooms.
DID YOU KNOW?
Washers and dryers each cost $2 per load, with detergent available for $1 out of the vending machine. The view is ideal: you can do laundry and watch kids in a pool at the same time.
Room Types: Small rooms for 4 include two double beds. Some single king rooms also are available. Family Suites for 6 plus a crib include a queen-sized bed, two chairs that fold out to single beds, and one couch that folds out to a double bed.
Best Room Locations: The Calypso halls #1 and #10. As with all the All-Star Resorts, pools and playgrounds can add a lot of noise to your life. Other rooms can add a fairly long walk to get to the bus transportation that takes you to the parks.
Dining: Food court, in-room pizza delivery. No room service.
Atmosphere: Only giants could wield these monstrous musical instruments. Buildings are themed to Calypso, Jazz, Rock, Country, and Broadway, complete with instruments, giant cowboy boots, and other decorations. Although this resort’s decor has the least “pop” of all of the resorts, it might be preferable for a group with teens or no kids, as it might seem a bit less childish in its environment.
The unique feature of the Family Suites will certainly increase interest in this resort. If you’re traveling in a group of five, six, or seven, this might be the best choice because of the suites.
Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort
Overall Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Location: Animal Kingdom area
Price Range: $82–$179 for a standard room
Transportation: Buses to all theme parks, water parks, TTC, and Downtown Disney.
Special Features: Visually extravagant decor.
Room Types: Small rooms for 4 include two double beds. Some single king rooms also are available.
Best Room Locations: Go for rooms in the Surfing hall #6, facing away from the pool. As with all the All-Star Resorts, pools and playgrounds can add a lot of noise to your life. Other rooms can add a fairly long walk to get to the bus transportation that takes you to the parks.
Dining: Food court, in-room pizza delivery. No room service.
Atmosphere: Surfing, basketball, tennis, football, and baseball are the themes here. The decor is pretty worn. The tennis halls are particularly beaten up. But the sports can still be fun, and seeing kids walking up to three-story-high football helmets and 30-foot-high basketball hoops can provide some humorous reactions.
HIDDEN MAGIC!
The decor here can be an attraction unto itself. Send older kids out on sightseeing walks while younger siblings nap. Give them a camera to capture some of the sights that they think are the most outrageous.
The resort benefits from being the first bus stop of the All-Star Resorts. This means your kids might stand a chance of getting a seat on otherwise-packed buses.
Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
Overall Rating: Not rated yet
Location: Epcot area
Estimated Price Range: $82–$179 for a standard room, $194–$365 for Family Suites
Transportation: Buses to all theme parks, water parks, TTC, and Downtown Disney.
Special Features: Visually extravagant decor and Family Suite rooms.
Room Types: Small rooms for 4 include two double beds. Some single king rooms also are available. Family Suites for 6 plus a crib include a queen-sized bed, two chairs that fold out to single beds, and one couch that folds out to a double bed.
Best Room Locations: Family Suites will be in buildings themed to Lion King, Cars, and Finding Nemo. The fourth set of buildings, themed to The Little Mermaid, will be standard rooms. The best rooms will enjoy the common lake that is shared with the Pop Century Resort.
Dining: Food court, in-room pizza delivery. No room service.
Atmosphere: This new resort is sure to have the same wonderfully intricate and oversized theming.
HIDDEN MAGIC!
So what is my favorite Value resort? The truth is, they are mostly similar, but if given a choice, there are some differences.
• Best resort with little kids, tweens, or teens: Art of Animation Resort or All-Star Music, for the Family Suites
• Best resort for adults: Pop Century
Summary
Value resorts are great at what they do, and they don’t pretend to be more than what they are. They provide affordable on-property accommodations with a fun flair and the basic amenities that most guests need, as well as valuable Disney Resort guest benefits. What a smart way to spend your money!
Chapter 10
Deluxe Villa Resorts and the Disney Vacation Club
In This Chapter
• Find out what extras you get in a Deluxe Villa resort
• Discover the world of Disney’s Disney Vacation Club (DVC) time-share program
• Review the camping alternatives of Fort Wilderness
So you say you have a big group? Okay, let’s move on from traditional hotel rooms to something a bit more industrial strength! Accommodations in the Deluxe Villas category offer you larger spaces for larger groups. Studios as well as one-, two-, and three-bedroom villas are available, and the choices go on from there. Many of these are also Disney Vacation Club resort properties, a time-share program that offers resort hotels throughout Walt Disney World and also at other locations throughout the United States. Perhaps the most important benefit for the majority of the accommodations offered here are the in-room kitchenettes. Not only is it convenient to have some of the features available in your room, but if you can genuinely expect to eat a few meals there, you’ll dramatically reduce your vacation cost. Some of these choices are connected to resorts we have already reviewed in previous chapters, so you should already have an idea of what the atmosphere and location are like.
If you need a bit more than the average hotel room can offer, these could be the right solution for you.
What Is a Deluxe Villa Resort?
These resorts are designed with the knowledge that many parties visiting Walt Disney World can be larger than the fictional family of four that we used as our model in the budgeting chapter. When you have as many as 12 in your group, you have an alternative accommodation solution that keeps you all together. So what are the differences from standard rooms? A greater variety of accommodation types including multiple bedroom suites, a variety of kitchen types, and time-share programs are just a few.
Remember, too, that while these are typically part of the Disney Vacation Club time-share program, you can book them like any other Disney resort at Walt Disney World without being a participant in the program.
/> The Fort Wilderness campsites are listed in this chapter as well. They are not, however, in the Deluxe Villa category, and they are not affiliated with the Disney Vacation Club. However, they offer accommodations that are different from a simple hotel room, so this is a good place to discuss them.
Deluxe Villa Resort Pros
• Rooms with kitchens available
• Multiple-bedroom suites to keep your family together
• Time-share investment opportunities available
Deluxe Villa Resort Cons
• Limited locations
• Time-share investment opportunities available
What Is the Disney Vacation Club?
The Deluxe Villa group of resorts at Walt Disney World is very much intertwined with the Disney Vacation Club. However, Disney’s answer to time-shares takes its leave from the standard business with a sales pitch that is less high pressure and a product that is well known. If time-shares are of interest to you, you should know that their properties are not just at Walt Disney World; they also have beachfront resort properties in Vero Beach, Florida; Hilton Head, South Carolina; and Oahu, Hawaii.
Looking to buy in on the Disney Vacation Club? First off, you’ll want to visit its website, at www.disneyvacationclub.com. You can also check out some of the time-share reseller sites to see if you can buy from someone else. One that focuses on Disney time-shares is www.dvcbyresale.com.
HIDDEN MAGIC!
Which of these should you choose? Make sure you review the sister resorts, if they apply, to get an idea of whether the resort area is right for your party. But what if I had to choose?
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Walt Disney World, 2012 Edition Page 10
