Disney Deluxe Resorts

BESTDISNEYVACATIONINFO.COM

(Not affiliated with the Walt Disney World Co.)

Disney Deluxe Resorts: Disney Deluxe Resorts offer the same as the Moderate Resorts but much more as well. Staying in a Deluxe Resort is like staying at Disney World as a very special guest! So much more is offered to the guest of a Deluxe Resort. The Ambiance of these resorts is absolutely wonderful. Deluxe resorts are set up a little different when it comes to the resort rates. Each one has separate rates. The rates also range from the type and style of room you reserve. The rates can range from “That’s not too bad” to “Holly Moley!!!”. Disney’s Wilderness Lodge: When you first step into this resort your first initial reaction will be “Wow!” The Wilderness lodge is just that, a Wilderness Lodge. The Main lobby is of cathedral ceiling with large wooden beams. The gigantic chandeliers over head are designed like Native American Tee-pees. Within the lobby is an oversized fire place with rocking chairs to set and relax to a nice roaring fire. There is so much to see just within the lodge itself it becomes overwhelming. The lodge has a gift shop, a bar, an arcade game room, 2 restaurants to choose from and a food court as well. The themed restaurant in the lodge is the “Whispering Canyon Café”. At the “Whispering Canyon Café” they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. During dinner the cast members get kids and everyone involved in games and activities during your meal such as riding a wooden stick horse around the restaurant. Great menu and great food!!! A more elegant dining experience is at the restaurant within the resort called “The Artist Point.” The food court is found in the lower part of the lodge, basement, called “Roaring Fork” which is a counter service area. You may choose to dine inside or outside to the beautiful scenery. Along the back side of the resort sets a large swimming pool with a rock formation styled water slide. The walk ways on the back side are very scenic with rock formations and some small walk through cave area’s. There is also a couple of hot tubs and like most resorts a pool bar. Along the walk ways there is even a geyser that erupts every hour on the hour. There is activities here as well for children from scavenger hunts to contest. There is two types of transportation from this resort. To Downtown Disney and to most theme parks you must take a Disney Bus. To get to Disney Magical Kingdom you can either catch a bus or a water taxi. The wilderness lodge rooms have several views. Most views have a balcony. At the Wilderness Lodge most rooms hold only 4 people however there is limited suites at the lodge that holds up to six people. To get rates for the suite you must call Disney to get a quote. The Wilderness Lodge also has villa’s for larger families. The villa’s is more like a condo at the Wilderness Lodge. They have a kitchen and living-room area with bedrooms. To get a rate quote must speak to a cast member for details. Rooms range from $225 to $1350 To see a chart for the Wilderness Lodge rates for 2008 go to web sight www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/disney-rates-deluxe-2008.htm or you can try www.disneyworld.disney.go.com This sight should help you with the rates. Over all the Wilderness Lodge is a favorite and highly recommended. Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge:The Animal Kingdom Lodge is a great resort for anyone who is enthused about animals or interested in the African culture. Take a trip to the dark continent of Africa. This Lodge is huge!!! Large lobby with African artifacts and African culture everywhere you turn. The biggest attraction to this lodge is the animals. Here you will find a set up like the African plains where you may see animals from Giraffes to zebras. There is a walkway around the plains area to get great views of the animals. Great photo opportunities!!! The swimming pool here isn’t really a themed pool and there is not really a wow factor to it but it’s still a large nice pool with a slide. There is also a hot tub and an outdoor cabaña bar near the pool. The Animal Kingdom Lodge has the standard rooms that hold up to 4 guests however the lodge also has rooms that can hold up to 5, 6, or 8 guests. To see a listing of the rates for the Animal Kingdom Lodge go to www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/disney-rates-deluxe-2008.htm Room Rates Range From $225 to $2,840 The Animal Kingdom Lodge has one form of transportation to the theme parks and to Downtown Disney and that is by bus. There are several places to eat at the lodge. One is the “Mara” which is a counter service restaurant that serves both American and African entrees. For a Buffet style breakfast or dinner with African style flavors try the set down service of “Boma”. For a real African treat you must eat at “Jinko”. My wife and I wasn’t sure about eating at Jinko at first but the food turned out to be one of our top favorites. There is a semi-dress code for this restaurant, the men shirts must have a collar on it. No tee-shirts allowed. Shorts are allowed as long as they are nice dress casual shorts such as kaki shorts. No blue jean shorts or swimming trunk style shorts. Eating at Jinko is a wonderful experience. It is somewhat an elegant restaurant, wonderful service with outstanding food! You will experience African traditions as well, such as an African blessing of the food. You will be offered a warm wet towel that has been soaked in floral oils before the service of your food. Simply take the towel and wash your hands with it. That is the African Blessing of the food!!! Jinko is one of the top two favorite restaurants of my wife and I. A must when visiting Disney World!!! Disney’s Polynesian Resort: “Aloha”. This may be my favorite resort. It would be a toss up between the Polynesian Resort and the Wilderness Lodge. The Polynesian Resort has all the feel for Pacific Islands. The buildings are dark brown wooden buildings and bright color trim. Once again Disney has made the ambiance spectacular. With tropical plants and trees through out the resort with torch lite walkways you feel as if you are in the Hawaiian islands. This resort has several places to get the tropical drinks of a lifetime. Try the “Tambu Lounge”!!! You will find your true tropical drinks. Some drinks are even served in pineapple cores.

There is also a pool side bar as well. The swimming pool is really unique. It is a volcano themed swimming pool. It has a water slide coming down the volcano. Believe it or not this pool has underwater music playing. The pool sets right off the Seven Sea’s Lagoon and has a perfect view of Magic Kingdom. It’s a wonderful view of the castle at night with the fireworks. There is also a white sandy beach area as well. The Polynesian Resort has several forms of transportation. To get to Magic Kingdom you can choose from either a water taxi, bus or the monorail. To get to Epcot you can either take a 10 minute walk to the Transportation and Ticket Center and catch the monorail to Epcot. If you take the Monorail around to change monorails at the Transportation and Ticket center it maybe a 20 minute ride around. To get to the other theme parks you must take a bus. There are may things to do to keep you busy at this resort. It has water craft rentals, beautiful walkways, especially at night, gift shops, an arcade and wonderful restaurants. There is a counter service food court called “Capitan Cooks”. The food court like most has a wide variety of food to choose from. There is a set down service restaurant named “Kona Café” that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with a Polynesian flare menu. There is also the “Kona Island Café Coffee bar” that serves fabulous varieties of coffee. Now for the all time favorite restaurant, “Ohana’s”. Ohana serves a character breakfast with “Lilo and Stitch”. But the highlight of Ohana is the dinner!!! This is a must when visiting Disney. “Ohana” means family and that’s just how you will be treated. They will address you as cousin and be on a personal basis with you. Very friendly atmosphere. BEWARED!!! As you are eating pace yourself and go slowly, a lot of food is headed your way!!! This is all you can eat style dinner and they will bring more food out to your table than you can possibly imagine. They start you off with appetizers and salad and then will bring out several entrée’s of skewered meats and carve it right at your table. The meats are cooked in the open where you can watch the open pit flame up with wood and rocks cooking the meat. Then once you feel like a tick ready to pop they then bring out a most fabulous dessert!!! It is a Hawaiian bread pudding served with vanilla bean ice cream and banana foster poured over it. My wife is not crazy about bread pudding and I’m not too crazy about bananas but we both agreed that this is the best dessert you can get at Disney world. Believe me; we tried a lot of great desserts too. If you time it just right as you are eating your meal at Ohana you may get a great view of the fireworks being shot off at Magic Kingdom. The Polynesian Resort also offers a dinner show as well on certain nights. Two shows per night Tuesday through Saturday. All you can eat Luau with unlimited beer, wine or soft drinks. It is called “The Spirit of Aloha Polynesian Luau”. The luau is held in an outdoor setting. As you are served you meal a luau show will be held on stage demonstrating Hawaiian dances and traditions. Room Rates Range From $340 to $2,830. The three Deluxe resorts that I named are the Favorites!!! I won't go into the others in detail but will give the names: The Contemporary Resort, The Grand Floridian, The Swan and Dolphin, Saratoga Springs, and Old Key West. If you are into camping you may want to check into Disney's Fort Wilderness which is a campground and family cabins. For mor information on Disney camping visit: disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/resorts/resortLanding or www.disney.ca/vacations/disneyworld/II/B/19