mini golf - where & is it worth it?

[ilanakan]

how far are the mini golf courses from aoa? is it within walking distance? if not, how do you get there? are the courses any good? are they worth the trouble? how crouded are they?

 

[mesaboy2]

how far are the mini golf courses from aoa? is it within walking distance? if not, how do you get there? are the courses any good? are they worth the trouble? how crouded are they?

I would say the golf courses are within walking distance of the Epcot resorts, but not AoA. They are across the street from Swan/Dolphin. Did Fantasia Mini Golf a couple of years ago and it was a nice change of pace and not busy. I drive so don't have issues getting there, but I could see how doing it via Disney transportation might be a little complicated from a different resort.

 

[bigbabyblues]

Winter Summerland shares a parking lot with Blizzard Beach. I don't think it is walking distance from anything, but you can take the Blizzard Beach bus. We like the winter side bettr, but both were fun.

 

[kaulds]

The one across from the Swan and Dolphin is within walking distance from the Epcot resort area. Having golfed at all of them, this is the one I recommend, there are two of them located there. One is geared more for kids and the other one takes a little more skill.

 

[annej]

We always have a car so I can't comment on how easy they are to get there otherwise. We love Winter Summerland - both sides! Fantasia is fun but if you want a more "putt-putt" golf experience then do winter Summerland. We always do both sides and my kids - even though they are pretty grown up - still ask to do them each time we are there. Planning to hit them our last day before driving home on our upcoming trip.

 

[Robo]

I would say the golf courses are within walking distance of the Epcot resorts...

Fantasia Gardens is walkable from the Epcot area resorts (approx. E-4 below.)
Winter Summerland is not (A-1 below.)

 

[Robo]

The one across from the Swan and Dolphin is within walking distance from the Epcot resort area. Having golfed at all of them, this is the one I recommend, there are two of them located there. One is geared more for kids and the other one takes a little more skill.

 

[mesaboy2]

Fantasia Gardens is walkable from the Epcot area resorts (approx. E-4 below.)
Winter Summerland is not (A-1 below.)

I briefly considered a simple map, but figured you'd be along before long. Thanks for the clarification on Winter Summerland.

 

[aleksandr]

We typically do 3 of the 4 courses each trip. The two courses at Winter Summerland are by far the easiest of the four.

The gardens course at Fantasia Gardens is not overly difficult, but a notch above those at Winter Summerland. The Fantasia-based deco is impressive and worth photographing, particularly if you are fond of the Sorcerer's Apprentice.

The fairways course at Fantasia Gardens is another story. This course is more like real golf, only scaled down to a miniature scale. It is difficult, but still fun. Allegedly Golf Digest Magazine ranked it as the hardest mini-golf course in the world, though I've never verified that claim. I said we do 3 of the 4 because we don't usually do this course on each trip. Younger children will NOT find it fun or interesting.

The overall theming of all the courses is exceptional and the value is pretty decent, particularly if you make use of the 50% off coupon they provide for the next day.

We've also "won" special limited edition golf balls by hitting a particular hole-in-one, getting a certain par, or just friendly chatting with the cast members.

 

[P00H1010]

how far are the mini golf courses from aoa? is it within walking distance? if not, how do you get there? are the courses any good? are they worth the trouble? how crouded are they?

As others have said Winter Summerland is next to Blizzard Beach. If you are using Disney transportation take the Blizzard Beach bus. The entrance to Winter Summerland is by the entrance to Blizzard Beach. Fantasia Gardens is by the Swan and Dolphin. If you are using Disney transportation I would suggest taking a bus or ferry ride over to the Swan and Dolphin and walk over to Fantasia Gardens (there is no direct bus to this location).

As far as if it is worth it I would say that is personal preference. My opinion is if you are doing a longer trip (say 7 or more days) taking the time out to do this would be fine. I think if you are doing a shorter trip than that it might take too much time out of your day at the parks when you factor in the time it takes to complete a course and the travel time to and from the location.

On our last trip we did Winter Summerland and had a good time. It was not really crowded on the day we went (depending on how fast the people ahead of us were playing we had maybe a 2 or 3 minute wait a few times for the next hole which was no big deal). I want to say it took us about 30ish minutes to complete the course. If you are worried about crowds I would suggest (for Winter Summerland atleast) not going on a day that Blizzard Beach has EMH....I would imagine the more people at the waterpark, the more people on the courses as well.

 

[andyman8]

Just wanted to add that there is a walkway that goes from the All-Stars through BB and up to CSR. This means those three are "walkable" from each other, but I don't know how long it would take.

 

[andyman8]

Sorry to double post but here are the walk times from Google Maps. Please note that these are from the front of each resort. The walk times work both ways, also.

Disney's All-Star Sports Resort >> Disney's Winter Summerland Mini-Golf - 10 minutes

Disney's All-Star Music Resort >> Disney's Winter Summerland Mini-Golf - 15 minutes

Disney's All-Star Movies Resort >> Disney's Winter Summerland Mini-Golf - 20 minutes

Disney's Coronado Springs Resort >> Disney's Winter Summerland Mini-Golf - 15 minutes

There's also a McDonald's in between the All-Stars and BB if you're interested. I've heard the food is reasonably priced!

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

If you are golfers, the Fairways Course at Fantasia is superb...and it attracts less kids as it is more difficult. We loved this, and this was the first time we had played mini golf at Disney...but certainly won't be our last!

 

[PeterPanic]

I played at Fantasia Gardens last April and was really disappointed at how run down it was. Chunks were missing from the "Tee" pads, artificial grass was worn badly in spots and some of the moving "figures" were not moving. Maybe they were just imitating the Yeti, I don't know!

Hopefully, by now, they have fixed that stuff.