Frommer article full of WDW misinformation

[boomhauer]

I read some of the book at Barnes and Noble this weekend. I was actually quite insulted by how she described the Value Resorts. She compares them to crappy roadside motels. Clearly, the Disney ambience is lost on her.

Dioesn't surprise me. The Frommer books have always had bad things to say about Disney. They're also the most inaccurate off all the guidebooks.

 

[YoHo]

I read some of the book at Barnes and Noble this weekend. I was actually quite insulted by how she described the Value Resorts. She compares them to crappy roadside motels. Clearly, the Disney ambience is lost on her.

Dioesn't surprise me. The Frommer books have always had bad things to say about Disney. They're also the most inaccurate off all the guidebooks.

They are crappy roadside motels. I'm insulted people actually think they have Disney ambience at all.


So there!

 

[DC7800]

If the author was seeking 'Disney ambience' at the All-Stars or Pop Century, that might well explain why she failed to find any (as in there was little to find...).

Crappy roadside motel is hardly the worst thing the value resorts have been called. Sadly, in the context of WDW, it's not a completely unjustified comparison.

 

[boomhauer]

They are crappy roadside motels. I'm insulted people actually think they have Disney ambience at all.


So there!

Have you ever stayed there?

I've stayed at all the Values, OKW, Riverside and caribbean Beach, and I found more of a Disney feel at ASMovies than the rest of them. The rooms are small, but that doesn't bother me. I've yet to see a roadside motel with a nicer food court, bar, arcade, check in desk, pool or grounds.

 

[dwaters]

Have you ever stayed there?

I've stayed at all the Values, OKW, Riverside and caribbean Beach, and I found more of a Disney feel at ASMovies than the rest of them. The rooms are small, but that doesn't bother me. I've yet to see a roadside motel with a nicer food court, bar, arcade, check in desk, pool or grounds.

I agree!

I've stayed at All-Star Movies twice and the place makes me feel like a kid.

Yes the actual rooms are small and basic (yet still themed) yet as many have said before, how much time do you really spend in your room on a typical Disney vacation?

 

[EUROPACL]

There has got to be some sort of alert that is sent out as soon as Pop or All Stars are bad mouthed.

 

[dwaters]

There has got to be some sort of alert that is sent out as soon as Pop or All Stars are bad mouthed.

Ahh, yes there is.
Like the Bat-Signal, the Mickey head shaped beacon shines up into the night sky once the good name of Disney's All-Star Resorts has been besmirched.

It is the duty of us DOGS (Defenders of Giant Sculptures) to swoop in on any message board thread which veers in a negative path while referring to the colorful, whimsical resort hotels which bring us so much joy.

 

[YoHo]

Have you ever stayed there?

I've stayed at all the Values, OKW, Riverside and caribbean Beach, and I found more of a Disney feel at ASMovies than the rest of them. The rooms are small, but that doesn't bother me. I've yet to see a roadside motel with a nicer food court, bar, arcade, check in desk, pool or grounds.

First of all

Second of all, No, I've never stayed there. I took one look, suppressed the gag reflex and moved on.

Please define "Disney Feel" cause I have no idea what you mean by that. The Polynesian and Contemporary defined what a Disney resort was supposed to be from the very beginning. All of the mods are at lease conceptually the same. We can talk about how they fail or don't individually, but in concept, they're the same. Only the Values are different from this. Only the values eschew the concept of place and simply BRAND the hotel.

When I think of "Disney feel" I'm thinking of the concepts, and execution that were done by those that understood what made Disney great. In other words, Port Orleans has Disney feel, because it is staged and themed the way Disney stages and themes their projects.

The values are just decorated. They have a Disney feel, because it says DISNEY on it, not because they follow the core design principles that made Disney a household name.

 

[rantnnravin]

They have a Disney feel, because it says DISNEY on it, not because they follow the core design principles that made Disney a household name.

YoHo,
you've gotta know that statements like that fly over many DOGS (thanks dwaters) heads...
(the DoM icon doesn't look like a dunce cap for any particular reason, does it?)

 

[YoHo]

You'd have to ask Lutz about that.

 

[boomhauer]

First of all

Second of all, No, I've never stayed there. I took one look, suppressed the gag reflex and moved on.

Please define "Disney Feel" cause I have no idea what you mean by that. The Polynesian and Contemporary defined what a Disney resort was supposed to be from the very beginning. All of the mods are at lease conceptually the same. We can talk about how they fail or don't individually, but in concept, they're the same. Only the Values are different from this. Only the values eschew the concept of place and simply BRAND the hotel.

When I think of "Disney feel" I'm thinking of the concepts, and execution that were done by those that understood what made Disney great. In other words, Port Orleans has Disney feel, because it is staged and themed the way Disney stages and themes their projects.

The values are just decorated. They have a Disney feel, because it says DISNEY on it, not because they follow the core design principles that made Disney a household name.

I won't argue the Poly as I love it there, but as for the Contemporary, though impressive and perfectly located, it's merely just a hotel. No theme to it. That's fine if that's what you're looking for.

What you may think of the Disney feel may differ greatly (and certainly does) from what others may think. I stayed at Riverside for the first time in July, and while I found it to be a nice resort, I didn't feel like I was at Disney. Now granted, that's the point, but just isn't what I'm looking for.

I'm the LAST person to defend Disney of it's foibles, but I don't feel the Values are one. I've stayed at many roadside motels, and I assure you, none of them had the service, upkeep and ammenities that the Values have.

All I can say is, whenever I stay at the All Stars, I feel like I'm right in the middle of Disney.

 

[rantnnravin]

but as for the Contemporary, though impressive and perfectly located, it's merely just a hotel. No theme to it.

ummm... yeah, ok. hotels with monorails going through them are just so passe...

look, i've stayed in the value resorts too. do i feel like i'm surrounded by "disney stuff" yeah
do they feel themed? no. they are decorated
let's think of it this way, A theme, in the literary sense, is "the message the author is trying to convey to the reader through the piece."
so with that in mind, what is the "message" of the poly? - being in the south pacific; what is the "message" of the animal kingdom lodge? being in the african savannah, what is the "message" of the contemporary? being in a furturistic (circa 1965- when Walt conceived it) building where public transportation comes to your doorstep - i don't know of another place in this world where this is possible; what is the "message" of Port Orleans? being in the Old South; what is the "message" of Coronado Springs? being in the southwest; what is the "message" of All- Star Sports? a locker room threw up all over a roadside motel

 

[DC7800]

as for the Contemporary, though impressive and perfectly located, it's merely just a hotel. No theme to it. That's fine if that's what you're looking for.

The Contemporary Resort has a contemporary theme. You may not personally like it, and you might argue that it hasn't aged as gracefully as some other concepts, but that in no way detracts from the fact that the place has just as definitive a theme as the Polynesian.

It should also be noted that the construction of an ugly tower in place of the north wings hasn't exactly helped matters.

I stayed at Riverside for the first time in July, and while I found it to be a nice resort, I didn't feel like I was at Disney.

That's sort of the idea. A properly themed resort should transport you to a different time or place (New Orleans, Africa, Old South, etc.). The value resorts don't do that because they aren't themed - they are just decorated concrete boxes or "crappy roadside motels" (put the oversized icons and tacky lettering of Pop Century on the side of most any roadside property, and it would look very much like Pop Century). The Wilderness Lodge has a very different architecture from the Contemporary - true to it's theme. All of the All-Star resorts share the same basic architectural design (with a slightly different layout of buildings) with only different 'decorations' attached to differentiate the Music from the Movies, for instance.

None of this in any way means you should not enjoy your stay at any WDW value resort - I expect to do so in just a few weeks, personally. But it is also true that the value resorts aren't what they should be or could have been. The 20th century might not be the first choice for a resort theme, but if properly done, should make me feel like I've almost gone back to the 1950's or 70's - that might give me a reason to want to stay there (other than just for the price). You don't feel like you are in the 1950's at Pop Century - it just has 1950's decorations (often tacky, at that).

Disney once could do so much better than a building which proclaims "Do the Funky Chicken". The Polynesian and Contemporary are proof of that.

 

[dwaters]

The value resorts don't do that because they aren't themed - they are just decorated concrete boxes or "crappy roadside motels" (put the oversized icons and tacky lettering of Pop Century on the side of most any roadside property, and it would look very much like Pop Century).

True- but the fact is, just because you could do this somewhere else, nobody has. "Decorated" they may be, you still can't find any hotel decorated like these anywhere else in the world. Not even Anaheim, Paris, Toyko, Hong Kong, etc.

There are also touches like the green army men along the rooftops, the trapezoid shaped hockey rink pool for Mighty Ducks, the railings for the Dalmation building with bones and hydrants. There may be some theming in the walkways if I remember correctly. Decorations can be taken down overnight or a few days. If Disney sold the property it would take a lot of work for the new owners to remove all the Disney touches.

In a strange way, the values are a more authentic Disney experience than some of the deluxes. To many Americans Disney means Mickey and Magic.
While Sorcerer Mickey is prominent at the main pool of All-Star Movies, he and his magical touch are nowhere to be found in the fancy-pants stuffy Grand Floridian.

Why go to a fake Hawaiian resort when you could travel to a real one?
Why go to a fake Cape Cod seaside resort when you could travel to a real one?
Why go to a hotel with super-cool larger than life icons of your favorite Disney characters when you could.....oh wait- you can't- there is nowhere else to see them.

It's sort of like Magic Kingdom vs. Epcot. Both have incredible theming and attention to detail, but there is a sense of wonder and fun and magic at MK that just doesn't exist at Epcot.

 

[boomhauer]

ummm... yeah, ok. hotels with monorails going through them are just so passe...

Impressive? Yes. Worth $400 a night? No.

Different strokes for different folks. Your description of the Values being roadside motels that threw up decorations is way off in my opinion.

As I said before, I've never seen a crappy roadside motel with such great swimming pools, food courts, nicely landscaped grounds or arcades. You seem to be forgetting every aspect of the Values other than the room.

 

[EUROPACL]

[
True- but the fact is, just because you could do this somewhere else, nobody has. "Decorated" they may be, you still can't find any hotel decorated like these anywhere else in the world. Not even Anaheim, Paris, Toyko, Hong Kong, etc.

As I said before, I've never seen a crappy roadside motel with such great swimming pools, food courts, nicely landscaped grounds or arcades. You seem to be forgetting every aspect of the Values other than the room.

Sure they have but becasue they don't have a Disney logo slapped on them you will find many reasons why they aren't as good as Pop or All Stars...

For Example...behold the magic and Disney of this place...

http://www.nickhotel.com/


I'm quite sure it would be a diffferent story if these motels were outside the backgate of Disney.

 

[YoHo]

I was gonna suggest that maybe the fact that nobody else has done it shouldn't be considered a good thing, but then you brought up the nickhotel.....

No I stand by my statement. Nobody's created a theme park attraction that slices your thumb off intentionally at the end. That doesn't mean Disney should start construction of Abattoir the ride. (with real rotating knives, no blood caked on the walls with this one.) The Values are like an abattoir of the mind. It slaughters creativity.

 

[jeanylaser]

does anyone the website of Frommer! Or either website!

 

[EUROPACL]

does anyone the website of Frommer! Or either website!

Does anyone get the feeling that people are joking when they ask for a website address while on the Internet? I swear I fell like its some big joke that I don't get.

 

[boomhauer]

The Values are like an abattoir of the mind. It slaughters creativity.

The Value resorts aren't about creativity. They're about allowing guests who could otherwise not afford to do so a chance to stay on Disney property.