Details, details, details...calling all Disney resort enthusiasts!

[mickeymedic]

Are you a detail-oriented person? If so, I need your help. DH and I are visiting WDW in January. We've been there a bunch of times in the past 6 years. So, I'm looking for some of the over-looked sights and sounds around the resorts. I am a huge fan of the Disney theming. I love how they pay attention to even the smallest details. So, I need your help finding some of these details.

We will be eating at Animal Kingdom Lodge and at The Beach Club. We will probably also visit The Contemporary. For those of you who are familiar with these resorts, what are some of the small, often overlooked details that we should be looking for? Please feel free to share details of other resorts, too.

I'll go first. DH and I are staying at POR again in January. (We love this resort.) For those of you who have never ventured into the restrooms off of the main lobby, there is some true disney detailing in there. (I can only speak for the ladies, not sure what the men's room is like.)

OK. Who's next?....

 

[lovmy2girls]

Well, don't know if this is exactly what your looking for but..
At the Poly there is Polynesian music throughout the grounds and even under the water in the main pool if you are lucky enough to be in there when not crowded to hear it. I think this just adds to the atmosphere there. The smell when you walk into the GCH is intoxicating, that is why so many people keep coming back, Disney drugs them.

 

[NeverlandPixie]

The butterfly garden at POR!

 

[mickeymedic]

The butterfly garden at POR!

Where is the butterfly garden? I missed this on our last 2 trips!

 

[PoohsFan1]

Whenever we go to WDW we always go to CR to look around, eat, shop, whatever. This is my DH and my 2 DDs favorite resort but are always too cheap to stay there. Anyway, in June we decided to drive over to CR since we had a rental car and went in through the front doors, where you check in...we always go to CR by monorail. As you walk in, there is a huge statue of Mickey in his conductor's outfit shaking hands with the real conductor (forgot his name) from the movie Fantasia. It was such a wonderful surprise to see this statue as you walk through the doors. Many have probably already seen this statue, but like I said, we have never gone through this way so it was a surprise to us.

 

[mickeymedic]

Whenever we go to WDW we always go to CR to look around, eat, shop, whatever. This is my DH and my 2 DDs favorite resort but are always too cheap to stay there. Anyway, in June we decided to drive over to CR since we had a rental car and went in through the front doors, where you check in...we always go to CR by monorail. As you walk in, there is a huge statue of Mickey in his conductor's outfit shaking hands with the real conductor (forgot his name) from the movie Fantasia. It was such a wonderful surprise to see this statue as you walk through the doors. Many have probably already seen this statue, but like I said, we have never gone through this way so it was a surprise to us.

I've also never been to the CR except by monorail. DH will think I'm nuts when I make him get off of the monorail so that we can go down and walk through the front doors.

 

[bevgray]

When you dine at AKL, take the time wander through the lobby and up the different "trails" that lead to the rooms. At ever juncture there are African maps, artwork, maps and viewing areas of the different Savannahs. In the evenings, there is often a storyteller as well as cast members from different parts of Africa giving lectures or just standing by to answer questions.

At POFQ, it can be a real treat to just sit on one of the benches beside the river. It gives you a real feel of the old river days when you sit there and wave at the boats as they go by. Very pleasant for a fifteen-twenty minute quiet interlude.

 

[NeverlandPixie]

Where is the butterfly garden? I missed this on our last 2 trips!

It's on the mansion side, behind Acadia House.

 

[mickeymedic]

When you dine at AKL, take the time wander through the lobby and up the different "trails" that lead to the rooms. At ever juncture there are African maps, artwork, maps and viewing areas of the different Savannahs. In the evenings, there is often a storyteller as well as cast members from different parts of Africa giving lectures or just standing by to answer questions.

We were planning to arrive about an hour before our ADR so that we could wander around the resort. We will be on the lookout for story tellers. Thanks for the advise!

 

[mickeymedic]

It's on the mansion side, behind Acadia House.

Thanks! We've stayed at Acadia House twice. I can't believe we missed this!