My Disney Top 5 - Walt Disney World Resorts I Still Haven't Stayed At...But Really Want To
by Chris Barry, contributing writer
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Welcome back to another Disney Top 5. As always, I hope you are all safe and well.
I've been writing a lot about things I still have to do at Walt Disney World. I guess it's because I don't really know when I'm going to be able to make it back there so I'm constantly thinking about what i want to do when I finally get back. My last Top 5 was about the things that I surprisingly still haven't done; things like the Hall of Presidents and a meal at 'Ohana. The article before that was about my Walt Disney World bucket list; things I'd love to do if the right time and maybe a truckload of money ever come my way like a bungalow at the Polynesian. There's still so much to do! Staying in that same vein, I thought I'd take a look at the places I've stayed at Walt Disney World and the places that I still haven't laid my head to rest after a long crazy, but magical day in the parks.
When I'm inevitably asked by friends or co-workers for my Walt Disney World trip advice, the first emphatic and enthusiastic words out of my mouth are always, "Stay on property in a Disney resort!" There's nothing like a Disney resort. I've searched all over the east coast for places to stay with my family and we've been to plenty of nice places and a few great places, but, in my personal opinion, the Disney resorts are all just a step above. It's hard to beat the cleanliness, the theming, the amenities and the special treatment you receive when you're staying at one of the on-property resorts. And on top of it all, you're in the Disney bubble. That goes a long way. I've said it many, many times here in my articles; when I'm down there, I don't want to leave the bubble.
Case in point; we were staying at the Yacht Club a few years back and some of my daughter's friends wanted a Starbucks type of coffee experience. They weren't so enthused by the "Disney coffee" available at the resorts. They read online that there was a good coffee shop over at the Swan and Dolphin. I couldn't care less about coffee, but I wanted to see what those resorts were like, so we took a walk over one early morning before heading out to the parks. Everything was nice enough for sure, but I have to say, my Disney bubble was popped by one simple thing - the TV monitor in the lobby next to the coffee shop with CNN on. At the Yacht Club, in the lobby, I'm getting Disney cartoons on the TV. Up in the rooms, I have the resort channels on and nothing else. I don't want to see the news. That's not why I come down here. I come to escape the real world and the simple act of having CNN on in the lobby of the Swan was enough to make me want to leave and not come back. No offense to these two resorts, but…sorry…bubble popped.
So that said we've made it an unbreakable vow to never stay in a non-Disney resort or hotel when we're in Walt Disney World. That's just our thing. I've heard plenty of the reasons people give for venturing off property. You can't convince us. I'm not going to Publix, or to Walgreen's or to any chain restaurants out on the main drag. I need the bubble. I've been spoiled by the Disney resorts and I can't wait to get back to them some time soon. My first choice would be the Yacht Club, of course, but we've stayed at a good handful of others over the years. Just so we have full disclosure for this list, the other Disney resorts that I've stayed at are: All Star Movies, the BoardWalk, Caribbean Beach, French Quarter, the Polynesian, Riverside and Wilderness Lodge. That's a pretty good cross section of the resorts. There are quite a few that we still haven't stayed in and there are a few more hopefully on the way. There are some I have no real interest in staying in, some I don't care if I go back to and then there are these, the Top 5 Walt Disney World resorts that I still haven't stayed in…but really want to. For the purposes of this list, these are resorts that I can practically stay in. There's no Polynesian bungalows or Bay Lake Grand Villas. That's a whole different 'blue sky" list. This list is more down to Earth.
5 – The Cabins at Fort Wilderness
I've always wanted to stay at these cabins for some reason. I guess I like the idea that we have a whole cabin just to ourselves. I fully realize that this wouldn't be a stay at our beloved Yacht Club with it's fancier lobby and incredible pool complex. A stay in the cabins would be a whole different thing but I think it might make for an interesting change. There's plenty to do at Fort Wilderness like canoeing, horseback riding, tennis, campfires, the beach, etc. I love the idea of being on Bay Lake, the body of water purportedly spotted from the air by Walt himself when they were searching Central Florida for a location for his Florida Project.
One of the rustic cabins at Fort Wilderness Campground. Photo by Donald Fink
When we stayed at Wilderness Lodge, my wife and I took a long nature walk from the lodge over to the campground and ran into several deer which made me want to stay here even more. Despite it's massive size, the few times I have been over to Fort Wilderness, it does seem pretty tranquil, and that makes me want to give it a shot. Given the current "mess" that we're all in, I've thought that the cabins would be a pretty good option if I were willing and able to head to Walt Disney World right now. Staying in a separate, fairly self sufficient cabin with my family seems like a potentially good idea in the current pandemic climate.
4 – Treehouse Villas
I can remember on our first visit to Port Orleans French Quarter we were on the boat over to Downtown Disney and we spotted these odd buildings on the shoreline and wondered, "Cool…what are those?" At that time, I don't believe they were even being used which led to an even greater mystique surrounding them. This was 2003-2004 and I'm aware that in the early part of that decade international students that worked in Epcot's World Showcase were being housed there. To us, they looked abandoned, which, of course, made me want to see them even more! When I heard they were being refurbished as DVC units, I was even more intrigued. I remember seeing the concept art for the refurb around 2009 and thinking, "I've got to stay inside one of those someday.
Circle wipe to 11 years later and I still haven't been anywhere near the villas. Following up on my thoughts about the cabins, the Treehouses would be a very different trip, but even more so. From what I've seen of the cabins, they seem to be pretty close to each other and there are a lot of them. The Treehouses seem a lot more isolated from one another, set into the trees along the Sassagoula River. The interiors look like they would provide some much needed space for this family of 5. Just imagine having two bathrooms! Technically, there's enough room in here for two families. The Treehouses do sleep 9. That might be a bit much, but on one of our recent trips we had adjoining rooms at the Yacht Club and there were 9 people between the two rooms and the adjoining doors were pretty much always open. That was a good time so I bet the Treehouses would provide the same amount of fun and since there are three bedrooms there would be some extra doors to close between all of us. I'd give the cabins a try at Fort Wilderness, but if I don't I'll be fine with that. The Treehouse Villas though, will be a splurge that i really want to take one day.
3 – Gran Destino Tower
To quote Monty Python — and I think that's the first time I've ever written those words after 12 years here on MousePlanet — and now for something completely different. You'd be hard pressed to find more polar opposites than the two preceding resorts and one of Walt Disney World's newest places to stay, The Gran Destino Tower at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort. Now, I'm going to throw my one caveat out here at the very beginning. I'm not crazy about the fact that Gran Destino is a 15 story building, that looks kind of generic. The Universal Orlando area has a lot of generic tower hotels. There are generic looking towers up and down the Atlantic coast to stay in. I always liked the fact that, the Contemporary aside, Disney's resorts have always been different looking and lower in height. And I simply must quote writer Derek Burgan from over at touringplans.com who wrote that the Gran Destino tower, "has more than a passing resemblance to Biff Tannen's Pleasure Palace Casino and Hotel from Back to the Future II." That's one of the funnier things Ive read describing a Disney hotel, but he's not too far off! Still, Gran Destino, from the pictures I've seen looks pretty darn cool inside. The artwork and the stained glass in the lobby areas and restaurants are very impressive and despite me not being crazy about the hotel's height, it's hard to beat the views of Walt Disney World from some of the higher floors and the rooftop Dahlia Bar.
The Gran Destino Tower at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort. Photo by Alan S. Dalinka
We've never stayed at Coronado Springs. We were there once years ago when my wife was running in a Disney based triathlon and the Coronado convention center was the home base. While my wife was picking up her bib and registering, my daughter and I wandered around to get a look at the place and it seemed quite nice. The whole convention center aspect turned me off a little as we saw quite a few parties of people dining and walking around in business attire with convention badges around their necks. That just reminded me too much of work and that's not something I want to think about at Disney. Still, with the new tower in place which seems to feature a beautiful and unique aesthetic and everything else Coronado Springs has to offer, i would like to give it a shot someday.
2 – Animal Kingdom Lodge
One of the Disney hotel issues we have run into over the years is that we have a family of 5. Right off the bat, that rules several resorts out if we're looking for a standard hotel room and not an expensive suite. If you go down the list of places I've stayed in above, we were at French Quarter, which we loved, with just my daughter. The boys stayed home with the grandparents because they were a bit too young. We did the same with her at Caribbean Beach and then I returned there to stay when just my sons and I took one of our "boys only" trips. If we all want to go, these two resorts are out of the question. The only reason I was able to stay at the Wilderness Lodge, with rooms that only sleep 4 people, was because my wife and I went by ourselves for a glorious "adults only" long weekend. I stayed at The All Stars as a chaperone on a school trip. The standard rooms at Animal Kingdom only sleep 4 and that has pretty much kept it off our list as an option. We're also not too crazy about the whole "buses only" thing. What can I say? You get spoiled by boats, monorails and walks into Epcot from the Yacht Club. That said though, we have been to Animal Kingdom lodge once or twice and it is a striking resort.
The main lobby of Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. Photo by Donald Fink.
There's beauty and grandeur around every corner and it's all pulled off in a completely unique way. i put a Savanna View room on my Walt Disney World bucket list a few article ago, but one of these days I just want to stay in any room at this awesome resort. The African art, the soaring 6 story lobby, great food options, a tremendous pool, and oh yeah…the animals out on the savanna are all reasons that I will indeed someday stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
1 – Contemporary Resort
Hearkening back to some of my thoughts on Gran Destino, I've never been too crazy about the fact that the Contemporary is indeed a tall hotel. I'm a big fan of the lower, more spread out hotels on property. I've also never been all that attracted to the modern decor. So given those two objections, why is this resort sitting in my number one slot of places I still haven't stayed but really want to? There's a few reasons. The first is the old real estate mantra; location, location, location. Walking into and out of Epcot from the Yacht Club has become an indispensable feature of our trips there. Walking into and out of the Magic Kingdom is something I need have at my disposal just once. Then there's the monorail. We've stayed at, and loved, the Polynesian so we know what it means to have the monorail access. It's awesome. Of course, at the Contemporary, the monorail literally comes into the lobby and there's almost nothing cooler than that.
Then there's the whole classic aspect of the Contemporary. It was one of the two original Walt Disney World resorts and it was a building ahead of its time, so that's appealing to me. I can go on and on really. The California Grill at the top of the resort is still hands down one of the best meals I've ever had. Downstairs in the lobby is Bayview Gifts where I always seem to score something really cool for my Disney collection, more so than at other resort gift shops. Chef Mickey's. The Wave. The boats to and from the Magic Kingdom. The list keeps going. We've adopted the Yacht Club as our all time favorite Disney resort, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. But I can't call myself a Walt Disney World fan and completist until I spend at least one night in the Contemporary, preferably with a balcony overlooking the Magic Kingdom!
I'll never tire of staying on Disney property. As I said above, I need the Disney bubble. The resorts are more than just a place to put your head on a pillow after a long day in the parks. Nothing against anyone who ventures off and stays in a non-Disney hotel, but I do feel like you're missing out on a crucial piece of the experience. I get that it's more expensive and I appreciate budgets. Believe me, 5 people on any vacation is never cheap. To me, the Disney resorts are worth the extra cost. I don't think they're too expensive for what they're giving you when you compare them to other resorts of their caliber. We never go during the peak holidays and we always look for at least a 20-25% off deal on our rooms. They can be found from Disney several times a year - at least in most normal years that is. There were even several trips where we got 40% off our room only reservations. That enabled us to stay at the Polynesian two years in a row. I hope someday deals like that come back so I can finally tackle this list. One way or the other, I'll get to them. I've made that promise to myself.
That's my list for this time around. As always, I'd like to hear what you have to say. Click on the link below and let me hear your thoughts on my list, share your top 5 resorts that you haven't stayed in, but really want to, stay safe and I'll see you next time with another Disney Top 5.
Comments
1. Grand Floridian
2. The Swan
3. Contemporary
4. Port Orleans French Quarter and Riverside
5. Caribbean Beach
And Chris- we wouldn’t have watched CNN either... we are strictly FNC guys!
I'm curious why The Swan so high on the list?
Fox News, CNN, Local News, USA Today...No news on my Disney trips!!
No big mystery. My bucket list is to stay at all the deluxes. The GF, Swan and CR are the only ones we have not stayed in. No particular order.
Believe me, I admire those who can stay inside the Disney bubble for the duration of their stay. My boyfriend and I travel alone so as much as we love Disney, we want FNC when we’re getting ready in the morning and FNC before we turn in at night. We don’t watch Stacey except maybe once and we don’t like the edited cartoons. To each his own, right? We don’t read the paper since they stopped the free copies delivered to your room each am at the deluxes. Not worth going to the lobby for...
Gotcha. Gotta say, I have no desire to stay at the Grand Floridian. We've been there several times to eat and walk around. It's beautiful, but it seems very sterile to me.Much rather spend my money next door at the Poly. Being a teacher, I can get a pretty decent rate at The Swan/Dolphin but once again...bubble.
I never used to touch that free USA Today!! I'll rewatch Stacey over and over again. The only time we ever put the news on was when we were there for Hurricane Charley and it was literally going to barrel right through WDW. For that we tuned into the local news and Weather Channel.
I agree with your “stay on property” opinion plus I share your sentiments exactly on the Disney bubble. I hate it when hotels have news on the lobby/common area TV monitors. Another hotel pet peeve and bubble burster of mine is hotels playing radio/pop music in their common areas.
Here are my full disclosures. I am a DVC member so I tend to stay in studios at the deluxes. I have stayed at FW Cabins, Beach Club, Dixie Landings/PO Riverside, AS Sports, Pop, Coronado, Saratoga, Wilderness Lodge, Poly, and AK Lodge. AoA and Riviera are the only resorts I haven't stepped foot in.
My comments on your Top 5:
FW Cabins – I enjoyed my stay here when I was a kid. I love the vibe of FW. I would definitely stay here again.
Treehouse Villas – As a kid, I loved treehouses especially Swiss Family. This would be on my list if I was a kid.
Gran Destino – Hilarious Biff Tannen reference. After visiting GD, I would enjoy this resort if it was at a non-Disney destination but the theming is too generic and sterile in comparison to other moderate and deluxe WDW resorts.
AKL – I love this resort. Some consolation on the bus situation – the buses seemed more efficient at AKL than any other resorts I’ve stayed.
Contemporary – I agree with your opinion. I dislike the modern décor.
Here are my 5 although I would have to be unable to score a DVC reservation at Poly and Wilderness Lodge to consider these. MK is my favorite park and I spend an abundance of vacation time there so location to MK is important.
1. Grand Floridian – I love the location to MK. Although the theming is sufficient, I do not adore the Victorian theming in comparison to themes of Poly and WL.
2. Contemporary – Location to MK is the only reason this is high on my list.
3. Boardwalk – I like the romanticized early-1900s boardwalk theme plus short walks to Epcot and DHS.
4. Yacht Club – I like the short walks to Epcot and DHS plus Stormalong Bay. I give the edge to Boardwalk over YC strictly because YC’s Cape Cod theming lacks immersion for me since I live an hour from the Cape Cod canal bridges. On a side note, I wish far more of the Cape Cod hotels, resorts, restaurants, and shops would model their theming of the YC and Beach Club.
5. PO French – This is my favorite theme of the 5 resorts listed but it is low on my list because I assume the bus situation to MK is inadequate similar to my experiences at PO Riverside.
When I turn on TV at a WDW resort, the only channels I'll tuned in are WDW Today, Your Disney Resort, Stacy, DVC infomercial, Disney Nature, or Wild about Safety
That's my lineup right there and when the kids were small, it was Disney Channel of course but even they would rather watch the resort channels. We would leave Your Disney REsort on just for the background music!
I totally agree with your opinion of GF. It’s beautiful. We enjoy Narcoossee’s and Citrico’s and night caps at the Enchanted Rose 🌹. But we have no desire to stay there and would only do so at a ridiculously low price which would never be offered or unless we won a stay there. Oddly we adore the Grand Californian maybe because it reminds us so much of our beloved Wilderness Lodge and we love the balcony views of California Adventure. The rates at GC don’t seem to bother us as much either maybe because we only make it out to Disneyland every 5 years or so and we stay a week.
Great comments!
Wish I thought of the Biff Tannen joke, but I gave the author credit. That is the only thing that would seem to worry me about Gran Destino, just what you said - not as themed as I would like and perhaps a little generic of a tower. Still...the view!
Gotta still say, the Grand Floridian just doesn't appeal to me.
We stayed at BoardWalk and while it certainly was nice, we wouldn't go back. We didn't like not having an indoor food area to go to, a food court or a counter service. I get the pizza and the bakery are supposed to be that, but...nope not buying it. Plus I have to say there was an inordinate amount of drunks stumbling past our balcony from the dance hall and the dueling pianos. We looked out on the main boardwalk side courtyard, so maybe an inner balcony would have been a better call. One of those drunks said something creepy to my 16-year-old daughter. I'm not into sports in anyway at all and coming back from the tranquility of World Showcase past ESPN with similar said drunks outside screaming during a football game seriously popped my Disney bubble. Don't get me wrong - a bottle of wine out on our balcony is a nightly occurrence - I'm just not stumbling drunk down the boardwalk creeping out other guests!
I ADORE the Yacht Club and I totally agree that the Cape Cod hotels could stand to learn a thing or two about theming their resorts from Disney.
The French Quarter is a wonderful place to stay. Problem with our family is we're 5 and we can't fit unless our party is smaller for some reason. The bus situation at French Quarter is much better than Riverside. When staying at Riverside, we would frequently try to hop a French Quarter bus and then either walk or boat over to Riverside. There are times a day when they share and there are times when they were separate.
Citircos is awesome! So is the Grand Floridian Cafe and we've had great meals at 1900. On one of our stays at the Poly, we slowly walked over to the GF. The goal was to meander around the lagoon, eat at the Grand Floridian's counter service and then we would hop the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. That was a great evening...but we still admitted we didn't want to ever stay there!
I love Grand Californian also because it reminds of WL and I love the short walk to both parks.
You convinced me. YC has now passed Boardwalk on my list. I enjoy a good beer nightly on WDW trip and I did visit Pleasure Island and Jelly Rolls when I was in my early-mid 20s but drunks and ESPN football rowdiness would drive me crazy on vacation.
You're never stayed at the Contemporary Chris?!!!! Sigh
My big bucket list one is the Grand Floridian like a lot of others. Haven't been able to bring myself to spend the money, but one day!
I agree with a lot of your others. I want to do the Grand Destino Tower too once the NBA clears out.
First time my wife and I went to WDW was with another couple who were friends. That was 25-30 years ago. We both bought packages – a weeklong stay at a divey place on International Drive that I’m positive isn’t there anymore. Also got rental cars and tickets to the three Disney parks (pre-Animal Kingdom). It worked…. We had a good time, and we even went to Cocoa Beach one day and Tampa on another (there, for Busch Gardens).
My wife and I went back a year or so later. That was the start of fairly regular trips, and lots of different hotels. That time, we stayed at the row of hotels that’s now called the “Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels.” This is far enough back that the hotel was a Travelodge (it’s the Best Western Lake Buena Vista now). Over a few more years, we stayed at the DoubleTree Suites and what’s now the Holiday Inn Orlando Disney. They were all fine.
But we always wanted to stay on the property. At this point, I can’t remember what “true” Disney hotel we stayed at the first time. My best guess is the Boardwalk. And since then, we’ve been back to the Boardwalk, a couple times with suites and a 2-3 times with regular rooms.
We’ve also been to the Wilderness Lodge 3-4 times (beautiful, and we love it so much, but you can’t walk to a park); Beach Club 2-3 times; Yacht Club once or twice (lucky enough to get comped to concierge level, which was fantastic); the Contemporary (in the north wing, now replaced by Bay Lake Tower, but it was still fun to be so close to the Magic Kingdom, eat at the California Grill, and go out from the restaurant and watch the fireworks); the Polynesian (great views, interesting buildings, Ohana, Tonga Toast…!); Coronado Springs (small rooms, but great common areas and pool); the Swan (once) and the Dolphin (twice, and if we were go back to one of those two, it’d be the Dolphin because of the restaurants, including a grab-and-go).
With all those, we now always end up going to the Crescent Lake/Boardwalk/Beach/Yacht area. Like some others have said, Crescent Lake hotels give you short walking distance to two parks, not to mention multiple restaurants and sites to see.
I cannot wait....
Man, reading this really makes me want to slap on this crumby mask and head to WDW! I'm with you on the whole Family of 5 thing. It makes it difficult to do WDW. In fact, the last time we went to WDW, 2012, my third child was 1. After that, it became immensely easier (and cheaper) to just stay in California and book a hotel that fits 5 across the street from the parks. WDW must do better on this, but I know they never will.
Here's my Top 5 that I want to get to one day!
5. Wilderness Lodge - saw the lobby on our second trip while eating there. Always thought I'd get there...but now with a Family of 5, doesn't look promising
4. Animal Kingdom Lodge - we stayed at Kidani, but it's not quite the same without the grand entrance and epic pool of the main site
3. Grand Floridian - Because. Just because.
2. Poynesian - just to get that Hawaiian vibe and hit the parks in the same trip = Magic
1. Boardwalk - the idea of walking into Epcot whenever I want is the best idea of all time
Yes...my name is Chris...and I still haven't stayed at the Contemporary.
That's a lotta hotels and resorts there Wichita!! We were convinced that we were Polynesian people - and I certainly could be at any given time - but we love the Yacht Club and Crescent Lake area so much now that that just seems to be home. I cannot wait either!
Hey Gator! Great to hear from you as always.
Trust me...writing it makes me want to head there more than you reading it!!
If you have a little one, you could easily fit in Port Orleans Riverside in the Alligator Bayou section. They have that pull down bed to make room for 5. We loved staying there until my daughter grew too big for it.