Alaska DogCat
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2004
- Messages
- 480
This is my first post on DisBoards. I'm just back from a fabulous 12 night stay at three resorts at Disney World. The vacation was planned almost entirely by my DW who worked to make it a most magical event.
During our stay, we spent three nights at the AKL, six nights at the CR and three nights at the BW villas. I hope I can give some insights into these very different resorts for future first time visitors like my wife and I were before our visit.
AKL Concierge: We began our stay at the AKL Conceirge. Check-in was a breeze and despite our extremely early arrival, our room was ready. The conceirge staff were incredible, re-ordering our PSs and reservations for massages and working to make sure we understood all that was available to us. This was the Disney magic I was hoping to experience!
The accomodations at the AKL are incredible. I was fearful that the surroundings would be too dark, but did not find this to be the case. The architecture focuses on central points within the resort and seems to build a sense of community with other visitors. This resort was designed and built with the idea of bringing people together. The room was good--good size, excellent bedding and well adorned.
All of the hotel staff--the conceirge staff and other staff we interacted with, were incredible. It also struck me that the guests staying at the resort were also very nice and seemed to reach out to us. Of course, the conceirge staff bent over backwards--greeting us by name during our visit to the lounge, making sure we had all of our arrangements covered and even sending a gift to our room. Truly a great experience.
Overall, the experience here was magical and we felt pampered and treated well. We felt a part of a community of people experiencing the Disney Magic.
CR 14th Floor Conceirge This was my pick for our vacation stay. I had been 'through' the CR as a child the year DW opened and always dreamed of staying here. To be able to stay on the 14th floor with a MK view was even more exciting.
Alas, the CR experience is not all I expected.
We checked in to a very courteous, but cold check in. Since we were staying on the 14th floor, I thought we would have a check in experience similar to the AKL, but this was not to be. It was very much like checking into any hotel when I'm traveling on business---which was sort of the overarching them of our visit to the CR: business travel with a view of the MK. Unfortunately, I was on vacation, celebrating a delayed honeymoon and my 40th birthday and was looking for Disney Magic.
I had read that the CR lacked theming, but thought that meant simply that it wouldn't be as much 'disneyification' as other resorts. I didn't realize that this meant we would be spending time in a hotel that could be any business class hotel in any city in America.
The place is cold and it feels like most of our fellow visitors were there for conventions. The lack of communal areas like a comfortable lobby or a pool that feels part of the resort like at the other resorts contributes to this disconnect. Over and over, I found myself saying this is supposed to be a resort, not a business hotel. If you had dropped me here and didn't expose me to the views of the MK, I would have thought I was in an Embassy Suites in Muncie, Indiana.
The 14th floor conceirge staff was a bit disappointing---when we asked for help with PSs, I got the distinct impression we were taxing an overtaxed staff. Everywhere we went, staff seemed to be talking about the labor strife at DW. I have great sympathy for the CMs and their plight to get a contract, but didn't want to hear about it on my vacation.
One little detail that really irked me was the Conceirge staff's consistently keeping the service door on the 14th floor open. The first view we had when getting off our elevator throughout our trip was a service area.
The lack of personal attention made me wonder what I was paying for by being on the Conceirge floor. The snacks and beverages are nice, but frankly I'm looking for service---a greeting, willing help, smiling faces. These were in short supply during our visit to the CR.
The room was adequate--the bed was not as luxurious as AKL and the room lacked things like electrical outlets and the television set is the central focal point of the room---something I'd rather have hidden or not in the room on my magical vacation.
Of course, the view from our 14th floor balcony was to die for. It was magical watching Wishes from this vantage point and watching the castle colours change throughout the night after park closing.
Overall, I wouldn't stay at the CR unless I was looking for a business hotel. The feel is like any hotel I stay at during my work travels and frankly made me tense. The conceirge staff is stressed out and seems to not have their hearts in it anymore.
BW Villas Our last resort experience was the BoardWalk Villas. We had no conceirge service here, but staff greeted us, were knowledgeable and contributed to the magical experience. We checked in at the front desk, were greeted warmly, chatted extensively with our agent. We were helped with extra arrangements and it felt as if we were receiving the world class disney treatment, even though we weren't staying conceirge at this resort.
Our room was not ready, but when we called several hours later, it was. We went and unpacked and got accustomed to our great accomodations. The 1 bedroom suite was excellent. We had a pool view which was whimsical and the whole villa contributed to our comfort.
The bedding was great--comfortable bed, adequate pillows, etc. We had ample room to spread out.
The Boardwalk area is magical--everyone seemed happy to be there (staff and guests) and the nearby eating and entertainment is enough to keep anyone busy. The closeness to MGM and Epcot were great and not having to take the bus was a definite plus.
This was my favourite resort of the three we stayed at. The staff seemed to know how make the Disney Magic shine, the buildings, grounds and surroundings contribute to guest comfort and the space of the 1BR unit allowed us to unwind in comfort.
If I had it do over again, I'd skip the CR and split my time between AKL and BW.
During our stay, we spent three nights at the AKL, six nights at the CR and three nights at the BW villas. I hope I can give some insights into these very different resorts for future first time visitors like my wife and I were before our visit.
AKL Concierge: We began our stay at the AKL Conceirge. Check-in was a breeze and despite our extremely early arrival, our room was ready. The conceirge staff were incredible, re-ordering our PSs and reservations for massages and working to make sure we understood all that was available to us. This was the Disney magic I was hoping to experience!
The accomodations at the AKL are incredible. I was fearful that the surroundings would be too dark, but did not find this to be the case. The architecture focuses on central points within the resort and seems to build a sense of community with other visitors. This resort was designed and built with the idea of bringing people together. The room was good--good size, excellent bedding and well adorned.
All of the hotel staff--the conceirge staff and other staff we interacted with, were incredible. It also struck me that the guests staying at the resort were also very nice and seemed to reach out to us. Of course, the conceirge staff bent over backwards--greeting us by name during our visit to the lounge, making sure we had all of our arrangements covered and even sending a gift to our room. Truly a great experience.
Overall, the experience here was magical and we felt pampered and treated well. We felt a part of a community of people experiencing the Disney Magic.
CR 14th Floor Conceirge This was my pick for our vacation stay. I had been 'through' the CR as a child the year DW opened and always dreamed of staying here. To be able to stay on the 14th floor with a MK view was even more exciting.
Alas, the CR experience is not all I expected.
We checked in to a very courteous, but cold check in. Since we were staying on the 14th floor, I thought we would have a check in experience similar to the AKL, but this was not to be. It was very much like checking into any hotel when I'm traveling on business---which was sort of the overarching them of our visit to the CR: business travel with a view of the MK. Unfortunately, I was on vacation, celebrating a delayed honeymoon and my 40th birthday and was looking for Disney Magic.
I had read that the CR lacked theming, but thought that meant simply that it wouldn't be as much 'disneyification' as other resorts. I didn't realize that this meant we would be spending time in a hotel that could be any business class hotel in any city in America.
The place is cold and it feels like most of our fellow visitors were there for conventions. The lack of communal areas like a comfortable lobby or a pool that feels part of the resort like at the other resorts contributes to this disconnect. Over and over, I found myself saying this is supposed to be a resort, not a business hotel. If you had dropped me here and didn't expose me to the views of the MK, I would have thought I was in an Embassy Suites in Muncie, Indiana.
The 14th floor conceirge staff was a bit disappointing---when we asked for help with PSs, I got the distinct impression we were taxing an overtaxed staff. Everywhere we went, staff seemed to be talking about the labor strife at DW. I have great sympathy for the CMs and their plight to get a contract, but didn't want to hear about it on my vacation.
One little detail that really irked me was the Conceirge staff's consistently keeping the service door on the 14th floor open. The first view we had when getting off our elevator throughout our trip was a service area.
The lack of personal attention made me wonder what I was paying for by being on the Conceirge floor. The snacks and beverages are nice, but frankly I'm looking for service---a greeting, willing help, smiling faces. These were in short supply during our visit to the CR.
The room was adequate--the bed was not as luxurious as AKL and the room lacked things like electrical outlets and the television set is the central focal point of the room---something I'd rather have hidden or not in the room on my magical vacation.
Of course, the view from our 14th floor balcony was to die for. It was magical watching Wishes from this vantage point and watching the castle colours change throughout the night after park closing.
Overall, I wouldn't stay at the CR unless I was looking for a business hotel. The feel is like any hotel I stay at during my work travels and frankly made me tense. The conceirge staff is stressed out and seems to not have their hearts in it anymore.
BW Villas Our last resort experience was the BoardWalk Villas. We had no conceirge service here, but staff greeted us, were knowledgeable and contributed to the magical experience. We checked in at the front desk, were greeted warmly, chatted extensively with our agent. We were helped with extra arrangements and it felt as if we were receiving the world class disney treatment, even though we weren't staying conceirge at this resort.
Our room was not ready, but when we called several hours later, it was. We went and unpacked and got accustomed to our great accomodations. The 1 bedroom suite was excellent. We had a pool view which was whimsical and the whole villa contributed to our comfort.
The bedding was great--comfortable bed, adequate pillows, etc. We had ample room to spread out.
The Boardwalk area is magical--everyone seemed happy to be there (staff and guests) and the nearby eating and entertainment is enough to keep anyone busy. The closeness to MGM and Epcot were great and not having to take the bus was a definite plus.
This was my favourite resort of the three we stayed at. The staff seemed to know how make the Disney Magic shine, the buildings, grounds and surroundings contribute to guest comfort and the space of the 1BR unit allowed us to unwind in comfort.
If I had it do over again, I'd skip the CR and split my time between AKL and BW.
