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Tag Archives: Resort
Take A Boat Ride With Us From Downtown Disney To Port Orleans Riverside
One of the reasons we enjoy staying at Port Orleans Riverside is the wonderful boat transportation option from the resort to Downtown Disney and back. It’s not just convenient but a terrific way to relax at the end of your day so you can get a great night’s sleep when you get back to the resort. Let’s take that ride from Downtown Disney to the resort together. I won’t be putting in a lot of narrative, just enough to let you know where we are. Enjoy the trip!!
Saratoga Springs Resort from the dock.
Tree House Villas.
Approaching Port Orleans French Quarter.
Port Orleans French Quarter Dock.
Back side of the King Triton slide at Port Orleans French Quarter’s Doubloon Lagoon pool.
Off we go to Port Orleans Riverside.
Coming in to the Magnolia Bend section of Port Orleans Riverside.
Arriving at the Port Orleans Riverside main building.
Safely parked at the resort dock.
I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as we always do. Even if you are not staying at one of the Port Orleans resorts take the ride from Downtown Disney to Port Orleans and back just for a mid day break. I’m sure you will love it. As always, enjoy your visit to Walt Disney World!!
Ken
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Oldies But Goodies – Moderate Resorts, A Very Viable Option For Us
Oldies seem to like Deluxe Resorts. From experience, it seems they lean towards the Magic Kingdom Resorts, not necessarily for access to the park itself but for the numerous transportation options, dining options, and overall ambiance of their particular favorite. I can’t blame us (Oldies), we love them and stay at them regularly also. But, deluxe is not the only category that would appeal to Seniors. In general, the Moderates offer the opportunity for fabulous visits, particularly visits of more that 7 or 8 days because they are less expensive.
Moderates tend to have fewer amenities than Deluxe but what they have is entirely adequate for the average Senior. If you have severe mobility issues the Deluxe category is probably for you because the resorts are more compact and involve less walking, but as I mentioned, for the average Senior the Moderate resorts should not be an issue. Disney has websites for all of the moderates but there are also individual “FAN” sites for all except Fort Wilderness. I’ll give you the sites I’m aware of and let you decide if any or all of them can meet your needs:
- Fort Wilderness Resort and Campgrounds: Pitching a tent isn’t the only option here, the resort has a lot to offer. The Official Disney websites enumerate everything that is available and does it quite well. First there is the Fort Wilderness Campsite site and there is a separate site covering the Fort Wilderness Cabins.
- Caribbean Beach Resort: This resort is lovely if not a bit spread out. It has a very large fan base that loves the very relaxed atmosphere. The Official Disney Caribbean Beach Resort site does a nice job of giving an overview of the resort. There is also an excellent Resort Fan Site that enhances the information that Disney presents.
- Coronado Springs Resort: This resort has a fan base that is growing all the time. It is absolutely beautiful and since it does handle a lot of Disney’s convention traffic (don’t worry, there is very little impact on the vacationing guests) the amenities are a bit more plentiful than some of the other Moderates. The Official Disney site gives an excellent overview of everything at the resort while this Fan site is done by a real fan and has a lot of energy – enjoy the music.
- Port Orleans Resort, French Quarter and Riverside: This one is our favorite and all the rooms are going to be completely refurbished this year, the refurb is currently in progress. Disney has 2 Official websites, one for The French Quarter and one for Riverside. The Unofficial Fan site for Port Orleans combines the resorts and does an amazing job. The site maintains up to date information on the room refurb and in general is probably the best hotel fan site I have ever seen.
I hope you, my fellow Oldies, will take a look at some of these resorts and with the $$$ you save perhaps you can visit more often (that’s our strategy). As always, enjoy your visit to Walt Disney World!!
Ken
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- Oldies But Goodies – What Should We Expect From A Walt Disney World Vacation? (chipandco.com)
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Ask a Disney Question: What Resorts Can Accommodate Five People?
This question comes from Amanda, who asks:
My family is planning a trip for Christmas. There will be about 25 of us all together and we need about 8 rooms. I want to know which hotel will allow a family of 5 in the same room without getting a suite. Also, does that same hotel have a room with two double beds and a walk in shower?
Amanda, thanks for your question and for reading the site. We see this question a lot. Unfortunately, none of the Disney value resorts will accommodate five people unless one of those people are under three-years of age. Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge, both second tier deluxe resorts, will accommodate five people in concierge level rooms. All other deluxe resorts will sleep five, with the fifth sleeping in a foldout daybed.
All resorts have handicapped accessible rooms with roll in showers, but not all of them have two beds. The Polynesian, for example, has one bed. Newer resorts with larger rooms, such as the Grand Floridian, have two beds and a roll in shower.
One final thing. Since you’re traveling with such a large group, you qualify as a Grand Gathering. Not only does this entitle you to sign your group up for special activities, it also means that you’ll be assigned a planner who is an expert in organizing larger groups. For example, they can advise you on the best the best dining locations for larger groups or arrange it so that your group’s rooms are close together.
I hope this helps!
Have a Disney question? We have answers. Write us at Chip and Co. We answer every question.
Chris writes here and at Everything Walt Disney World. She’s also a member of the Mouse Chat podcast.
Photo copyright Walt Disney Company.
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Resort Hopping 101 – Animal Kingdom Safari Hop
One of our focuses on the website the past few months has been Quick Tips. We like to prepare you for the parks and offer up tips and tricks to making your vacation more enjoyable.
If case you missed our last Resort Hopping 101 ‘s check them out Monorail Express, and the Epcot Area Ferry Hop. Today I want to talk to you about something outside the DisneyWorld Theme Parks and that is the Disney World Resorts, specifically the Animal Kingdom Area Resorts.
For those people who drove to Walt Disney World or have a rental car this is an easy Resort Hop. If you are like most people who fly there this Resort Hop is going to require you to ride the buses.
Transportation issues aside this resort hop has the most variety and is great for pictures. So lets get started..
Resorts
- Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Cornado Springs Resort
- All Star Movies
- All Star Music
- All Star Sports
I was trying to think of a theme for today’s Resort Hop so since we are in the Animal Kingdom area we are calling this a Safari Hop. So grab your safari hat and boots as we swing right in.
The best way to use today’s Resort Hop is to use Animal Kingdom as your base of operation. The buses to Animal Kingdom generally are light and all the buses are compacted in a nice area. With today’s resort hop we like to spread it out over a couple of days so what we normally do is go to the Animal Kingdom for the day. We find the 9am-5pm park hours works very well for this.
Day 1
Usually we like to leave after the Mickey Jammin Jungle Parade. That gives us a little time before we eat dinner to cruise around the resort and work up an even bigger appetite (as if walking around AK wasn’t enough)
About 99% of the time we have our ADR for Boma as its easily one of my favorite places to eat at WDW. So we head off to the Cornado Springs first. The CSR is beautiful, just walking around the lake is so serene. Be prepared to do some walking if you want to check out the whole resort. If you don’t feel like walking just stay around the main area, but if you don’t mind the walk be sure to walk over to the Dig Site. Check out a map of the resort here.
So after some window shopping its time to jump back in the car or bus and make your way to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. If your going by bus you will have to go to DAK first then to AKL. This is where leaving the park early comes into play. If you taking the bus be sure to watch your time if its to late your going to have to bus hop from Epcot to the AKL.
When you arrive at the Animal Kingdom Lodge be prepared to be amazed. I remember walking into the resort for the first time and was just in awe of how beautiful the inside of the resort is. Take your time and walk around. Sit in the comfy lobby chairs.
If I could move into a resort and live there is would be it. It is breath taking just to walk the grounds. You can easily spend hours walking around this resort. We were fortunate on our last trip to do that as our little one passed out in the stroller..To bad she missed out on the animals in the savanna.
If your not eating anywhere at this resort be sure to still check out the restaurants. Usually if you ask the hostess you want to take some pictures or look at the food they don’t mind.
The best article I have read with the most info on the Animal Kingdom Lodge comes from Allears. Check out the link here to learn more about the resort.
The attention to detail is phenomenal so TAKE YOUR TIME! Explore and just take in all the sights, sounds, and smells.
Day 2
The best thing about the All Star Resorts is they are all together. The worst thing is they all share the same buses. So depending on your situation and what resort you want to check out will determine how long of a bus ride you have so have patience. Most times we just go in order Sports, Music, and then Movies.
Walking around the resorts have fun taking pictures, exploring, and playing with all the fun things on site. You can get real creative with the pictures if you have a good imagination.
The three resorts are no where near the size of a moderate resort so you can easily do all three in a few hours depending on transportation.
Normally we use this day to kill time till our dinner ADR, or its something fun to do after dinner if you didn’t want to go back to another park.
So that concludes this weeks Resort Hopping 101. I hope you enjoy Safari Hopping as much as my family and I do. Stay tuned next time as I discuss the Lights Camera Action Hop.
If you have anything little tips or suggestions on things to do and see at these resorts be sure to let us know in the comment section below.
