Next Trip to Disney (Where to Stay)

E-Ticket to Ride

In 1977, the year i took my Senior trip with my Class mates in High School, only Fort Wilderness camp ground, The Polynesian Resort and the Contemporary Resort were open among the Disney operated resorts. However, quite a few Non-Disney operated hotels were opened close buy.  Having just graduated from High School our choices that were within the means of a group of students that earned the cost of their trip by cleaning out chicken coops and gleaning corn from fields did not include the expensive Resorts run by Disney.  We stayed at a beach resort near St. Petersburg called the Thunderbird.  The hotel still stands there today and is right on the beach. My Class spent lots of hours swimming and enjoying the St. Pete area and during our stay, we were bused to Disney World where we spend the day riding and seeing all the attractions at Magic Kingdom.  It was a great day. One of the biggest highlights of the day for me was my first adventure on Space Mountain.  Since Space Mountain takes place in the dark, riders never know what what twist or turn to expect.  At that time Attractions were rated as to the excitement they would bring and Disney priced each ride using a Ticket System.  Rides such as  Space mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. were E-tickets rides. Of course, the best rides would cost more. In 1977 E- tickets were 90 cents each. The cost of a Day at Disney was within reach  for a newly minted high school graduate in 1977.  While that trip was full of great memories and a side trip to Disney World from the beach is never a bad thing, I don't recommend staying in St Pete and driving to Disney world over a multi-day trip. A day trip to Disney from St. Pete or Clearwater can be a lot of fun. My family has traveled to Disney a couple of times from the Tampa/St Pete area, going to The Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney to see Cirque Du Soleil. 

Nieces with Minnie (I got to dance with Minnie)

My next trip to Disney was in 1985, traveling for the first time to Disney with my wife.  We had been married about a year and since my wife had a new job and I was just out of school myself, We didn't have a lot of time for a long honeymoon. So a year later, we decided to go to Florida and visit my sister who was living in the Tampa area at the time. As part of that trip we choose to spend a couple of days at Disney.  Epcot had been open for about 3 years, so we had a new place to visit. Our Disney expertise had not grown to the point where we knew what activities were available other than the parks. Even Illuminations, Reflections of Earth was not yet available to watch.  Essentially Epcot was a collection of about 7 pavilions in Future World along with Communicore east and west.  The World Showcase had  about 10 countries to visit.   Mission space and the Test Track  had not yet  opened and the pavilions they occupied were still Horizons,which presented a vision of the future through the eyes of Disney Imagineers, and The World of Motion, which, as expected, was the history of transportation over the years. Interestingly, Horizons was considered as sort of a sequel the Carousel of Progress in Tomorrow Land  and The World of Motion was sponsored by General Motors, the same company that sponsors the Test Track today.   Even So, Epcot was a wonderful place and maybe because of its newness, and there was no other theme park quite like Epcot, I thought it the best theme park ever.  We spent two days at Disney World  staying in a Sheridan Inn near the entrance to the park.  The On Site Resorts were still out of our reach and none of the value resorts existed yet.  The first All-star resort didn't open until 1994, nine years after our visit. I remember the hotel being what you would expect  hotel to be.  The room was nothing special except for the fact that it was near Walt Disney World and that in of itself was a good thing. Please, understand that the room was clean an well appointed as most Sheridan's are.  Sometimes, for those on a tighter budget, staying in one of the Hotels in the Resort plaza or near the entrance of  Walt Disney World can be an alternative.  I personally feel that in order to have the full Walt Disney World experience visitors should immerse themselves completely and for immersing yourself in all things Disney there is no better way than to stay in a Disney resort.

Jeremy with Minnie. (This was his first trip to Disney)

Another 15 years passed before my family would visit Walt Disney world.   A new millennium would come into being and, while there have been some changes to the parks since, the four Disney parks as we know them today had come into existence.  My parents wanted to take their grand kids to Disney when the were old enough.  In order for them to go, we of course "had" to go with them.  Disney had changed a great deal since we had last visited and this was the first time our family actually stayed on site.  Our family had grown.  At the time we had a 10 year old girl and an 8 year old boy, this would be the first visit for both of them to visit Walt Disney World.  I looked forward to seeing all the new stuff and seeing the original Disney World through the eyes of my kids.  Our home base for this adventure was the Caribbean Beach resort.  I think we stayed at the Martinique section of the resort which was very convenient to Port Royal.  We got Standard View rooms that didn't have a view of the lake.  To be honest, visitors pay a pretty significant premium to be able to see the lake and while its nice, wasn't worth the additional cost to us.  Others might feel differently. The bus stop wasn't far from our room and Port Royal, which had the food court and a table service restaurant was close by.  We had a pool in Martinique but the pool at Port Royal had more amenities like water cannons and a water slide.  We purchased the drink cups which gave us free soda during our stay at the resort and most of our meals were taken at the food court.  The food was good and varied and this was our first exposure to the drink cups.   I think they were bigger back in 2000 but you can refill as much as you like so the progressive reduction in the size of the drink cup isn't really a big deal to me.  On our millennium trip, the bus drivers were very helpful and full of Disney knowledge. Drivers would announce the stops and tell you stories about Disney World while you traveled from one place to another.  Now, however, A technology based announcement system tells visitors where they are and where they are going.  While the drivers are still friendly and courteous I miss the stories they would tell while traveling to the various parks and locations.  From time to time visitors will run into one of the "Old School" bus drivers that continue the tradition of spinning yarn while driving, especially if the bus ride is longer and the driver is a little older.  All in all I was very happy with our stay at the Caribbean Beach resort and would stay there again.

Jeremy, Grandma and Great Grandma.

2002 was a soccer World Cup year and was hosted by South Korea and Japan.  I know this because our next trip to the Orlando area was while the World Cup was going on.  I would get up early in the morning sometimes to watch some of the matches. This trip was not really an Official Disney trip for my family and me.  But its worth some discussion due to the fact that we rented one of the luxury vacation homes in the area. The home where we stayed was large with several bed rooms.  It was owned by someone who lived in the UK but had some connection with Hollywood.  The rooms were filled with movie memorabilia.  The beds were comfortable and the common rooms were large and filled with useful furniture. The home even had a private pool that was encased in a screened room.  For an extra charge, We could have had the pool heated but it was warm enough in the summer that heating the pool wasn't necessary.  That week my wife and kids explored some of the other theme parks and attractions the Orlando area had to offer.  Our immediate family visited Universal Studios,  Islands of Adventure, Sea World and Discovery Cove.  As I mentioned in a previous post, Discovery Cove is an aquatic animal encounter that was loads of fun.  My wife's sister and brother in law spent most of their time at Disney and we all attend a Character Breakfast at Chef Mickeys. Renting one of these homes for a week in the Orlando area is a great alternative if you focus is on the other attractions in the Orlando area.  The house was a perfect home base for us as we went to all those wonderful places.  The Island of Adventure was great fun.  The Incredible Hulk coaster and the Spiderman 3D ride were amazing and the house in Kissemmee was the perfect spot to venture out.   I'm absolutely sure that a Disney Guest could have a wonderful time if they stayed in these homes, and if I can ever convince myself to go to Orlando with out going to Disney, A rental home would be my first choice. However,  for this next trip, I want to stay on site and completely escape into Walt Disney World.

Disney Characters add Magic to the Disney Experience.

Asside form a couple of day trips when our family stayed in the St. Pete area, it was 7 years before we visited Walt Disney World again.  For the second time we arranged to stay in a Disney Resort.  Not too many years ago, under the leadership of Michael Eisner, Disney had opened the Disney Institute.  The Institute allowed Disney visitors the chance to take classes with some of the talented Disney staff.  Everything form Fitness to Cooking was taught at the institute. In  2008 most of the institute housing was refurbished and the Treehouse Villas became available in 2009 as part of the Saratoga Springs Resort.  The interior of the Treehouses are beautiful and the beds were comfortable.  Since we had almost all of our family with us at the time.  My wife and I slept on the sleeper sofa.  Now, I must pause a moment to extole the virtues of the Sleeper sofas and sleeper chairs that Walt Disney World used in the Treehouse refurbishment.  They are remarkably comfortable, with no bar in the middle of your back to keep you awake like conventional sleeper sofas. If I ever need to buy a sleeper sofa again, I want one of these.  Anyway,  Inspite of the comfort level of the Sofas and Chairs. We had a few issues when we stayed at the Treehouses.  Mainly with transportation.  As most experienced visitors know, The main mode of transportation from most of the resorts is by bus.  Since the Treehouse Villas were connected to the Saratoga Springs, and visitors check into the Villas at Saratoga springs.  People that stayed in the Treehouses were required to take an additional bus to the Treehouses. This extra bus extended travel times to the parks significately.  If a visitor wanted to go to Blizzard Beach for example, they would catch a bus from the Treehouse Villas to Saratoga Springs, then transfer to the bus that would take them to blizzard beach.  Since the wait time for a bus can be as long as 20 minutes, though a 20 minute wait time is rare, People could wait as long as 40 minutes just to get on the bus that goes to their park, and that doesn't count the ride time form the Treehouse Villas to Saratoga springs.  I guess it is a minor quibble and really didn't lessen our enjoyment of the parks, But it is something to think about when you plan where you want your home base.

There were a couple people there that summer.

Having had a magical time on our August 2009 trip, my wife and I started considering when we would go to Disney again. We planned for the this next trip to be the first without our children for many years and since it had been 25th anniversary of our original trip in 1985 we decided to celebrate with a return to Walt Disney World. We made up our minds that we would go down to Walt Disney World over the Christmas season and we were able to find a good value by booking through Southwest Vacations.  Our choice of resort became The French Quarter at Port Orleans.  Our first choice of building was one near the center of the complex. Disney wasn't able to honor this request for a specific building. Originally, they had put us in a building that was pretty far away form the main building were the restaurant was.  I believe that my wife waited till after our luggage had arrived in our room then she went on a mission to get us closer to the center of the resort.  As it turned out we ended up just a few steps away from the bus stop and near the main building.  Personally, I would give up nearness to the restaurant to get near the bus stop. It was wonderful not having a long walk to our room after a long day of Disney magic.  One can get a little footsore walking the parks and a warm bed close to the bus stop was wonderful. While not as extravagant as some of the Deluxe resorts The French Quarter at Port Orleans had all of the amenities that we needed and some of which we couldn't take advantage. The French Quarter has very good pool area. We couldn't use the pool because of the weather.  A good quick service restaurant is contained in the complex and bus service was fairly exclusive to that resort.  Many times we went right to the parks after being picked up by the bus and even when we journeyed over to Riverside, Port Orleans was always the first stop.  The rooms them selves were in the process of being refurbished.  Ours, I'm sure, was on the schedule but hadn't been done yet.  Even so, the bed was comfortable and room was nicely appointed.  I was grateful for the free coffee  My job each morning was to make the coffee before we dressed to find adventure in the parks. All in all I thought that Port Orleans made wonderful spot for our late fall/early winter getaway to Walt Disney World.

I told you a fat guy in a tu-tu was funny.

The next summer was the summer of the Grand Gathering.  We had, at its peak, a group of 18 people staying together at one time.  Our choice of venue for this trip was Kadani Village at the Animal Kingdom Resort.  Because of our desire to stay together and because of how large our group was, we found that the best bargain we could make was staying in a couple of two bedroom Villas. The cost of Villas at Kadani village was more reasonable that at some of the other locations at Disney World. At this time, The Art of Animation was not yet open and some of the other Family Suite options at the Value Resorts didn't offer enough bed space for our mostly Adult group.  Out of all the folks we had in our gathering only two were children.  All the rest of us were teens or adults.  In addition to the more reasonable cost, some of our party had expressed an interest to stay in the Animal Kingdom resort.   I had always thought that the Animal Kingdom Resort was out of the way.  I thought that the only park that was easily accessible from the resort was, of course, the Animal Kingdom.  My opinion had been formed before we stayed at the Treehouse villas near Saratoga springs and all the extra bus travel that entailed. I was pleasantly surprised when none of the parks were an unreasonable distance from the resort and, while Disney says that you can wait up to 20 minutes for a bus, I found that our wait time was usually no more that 10 minutes or so, and the bus station was close to our Villas.  One of the features of the Animal Kingdom that I had caught my eye was the savanna in the interior of the resort. Kadani Village encircles an area where a number of exotic animals are free to roam.  The animals live there and are cared for by expert Disney staff.  The Villa that my wife and I stayed in didn't face the savanna but the other half of our party that stayed in the other Villa were able to wake up and drink coffee while looking out over a collection of giraffes, Wildebeests, antelopes and other amazing animals.  Of course there were no predators included on the savanna for the obvious reason that Disney doesn't want to have their herds of animals reduced by the instincts of a lion. Along with the amazing views, the proximity of some of our favorite restaurants made staying at Kidani attractive.  Jiko's was just a van ride away and Sanaa was just down the stairs of the lobby for Kidani Village.  Of the Signiture restaurants where my wife and I have eaten, we have gone to Jiko's most often. The food there is wonderful and the staff, in typical Disney fashion, was friendly, attentive and, more importantly perhaps, a lot of fun.  I'll discuss Jiko's and other Restaurants in a future post.

Goofy is always a Favorite

So where does that leave us when it comes to choosing where we stay on our next trip.  Our first choice should be to stay in a Disney Resort.  The advantages of the transportation system and the extra value hours out weigh in my mind any additional cost.  If visitors are playing to fly into the Orlando airport, folks that stay at a Disney Resort can make use of using the Disney Magical Express at no extra cost, saving an additional couple hundred bucks or more on car rental. Finally, folks that stay at Disney resorts can take advantage of the Disney Dining plan which can save a lot of money if visitors plan to eat at the parks or at the resorts.  Some times, Disney will offer the Dining plan as part of a package when you reserve your room.  We also have made wide use of the extra value hours.  My kids have often returned from a night at the Magic Kingdom that wouldn't have been available to them otherwise. There are lots of tangible advantages to staying on a Disney property. There is an intangible element to surrounding yourself with the magic of Disney that makes it very difficult for me to stay anywhere other than a Disney resort.  In addition to all the places I've stayed, there are others resorts I would like to try.  I have always wanted to stay at the Board Walk Resort.  We visited the Board Walk one time when we did a day trip from Clearwater on one of our many trips to visit my wife's aunt.  I thought it was beautiful.  Since our exploratory visit to Disney's Boardwalk, I have had the opportunity to visit two real board walks in Atlantic City and Ocean City in New Jersey.  Atlantic City might be a bit too "adult" for a Disney's board walk resort, but I think that the spirit of the more family friendly Ocean City board walk can be found on the planks of Disney's Boardwalk resort.  I also find the new Bay Lake Towers attractive.  The problem with staying in Bay Lake Towers comes down to money. I would want to stay in one of the rooms that face the Magic Kingdom theme park. The cost of a room with a view of the fireworks each night at Bay Lake Towers is pretty expensive.   I also think that staying the Polynesian Resort would be a lot of fun.  The tropical South Seas theme of this resort might be a very relaxing way to spend the off hours when not pursuing fun at the parks or seeing a great show.  I guess at the end of the day,  while the higher end resorts have more amenities, when we go to Disney,  we pretty much just sleep at our resort and while no plans have been made yet,  I imagine we will return to the French Quarter where we had such a wonderful time in 2011.

* I know the pictures don't have a lot to do with the topic other than they were taken at Disney, but these photos were of family. Family member will read this Blog and I hope they will be happy to see themselves in some of the pictures.  After all,  Disney is about families no matter what kind of family you have.