I arrived in Orlando, Monday April 26 in the evening for an afternoon meeting on the 27th. That gave me the morning to go to DW! Not enough time to hit the parks, but I really wanted to check out the EPCOT Resort area - a place I had never been. My daughter is 6, and since we seem to spend most of our time at the MK when we have been, we always think of the monorail resorts first. Since I had some time to myself, this seemed a good time to scope it out.
I left my hotel early and arrived at the Boardwalk Inn around 7:00am. The Inn and Villas are great! I liked the pools and the whole Boardwalk area. There are some places for quick food, which is important to us, and atmosphere was great.
I really loved the YC and BC! These hotels are fantastic! The atmosphere, layout, restaurants, and Stormalong Bay were much more that I expected. Seems like the perfect place for a longer stay.
I wasn't to impressed with the Swan and Dolphin - in terms of a Disney hotel. They seem like the hotels I stay in for business (though a higher standard), and I didn't get any of the "Disney family feel" there that I get at the Disney hotels. One aspect we love about the hotels is that we know we're at Disney, and the Swan and Dolphin actually made me feel somewhat like I was offsite.
I had not been familiar with the layout of the area and how close it is to EPCOT and MGM. This would make Illuminations and Fantasmic a lot easier for us!
All in all, I was really impressed with this area, and think that next time we visit, this may be the place to go.
I also took a quick jaunt up to the CR - which is one of my favorites. Staying in the tower on the MK side really makes you feel that you are in the parks 24x7. I took a quick ride on the monorail and then went to WL, which we were originally thinking about staying at next time.
I then stopped by Downtown Disney Marketplace on the way out. We had only been in the World of Disney before, and I was impressed with a lot of the other stores.
It was neat to be able to check all this out. I got a better feel for the layout of DW, and am now psyched to return with the family for a real stay!
I left my hotel early and arrived at the Boardwalk Inn around 7:00am. The Inn and Villas are great! I liked the pools and the whole Boardwalk area. There are some places for quick food, which is important to us, and atmosphere was great.
I really loved the YC and BC! These hotels are fantastic! The atmosphere, layout, restaurants, and Stormalong Bay were much more that I expected. Seems like the perfect place for a longer stay.
I wasn't to impressed with the Swan and Dolphin - in terms of a Disney hotel. They seem like the hotels I stay in for business (though a higher standard), and I didn't get any of the "Disney family feel" there that I get at the Disney hotels. One aspect we love about the hotels is that we know we're at Disney, and the Swan and Dolphin actually made me feel somewhat like I was offsite.
I had not been familiar with the layout of the area and how close it is to EPCOT and MGM. This would make Illuminations and Fantasmic a lot easier for us!
All in all, I was really impressed with this area, and think that next time we visit, this may be the place to go.
I also took a quick jaunt up to the CR - which is one of my favorites. Staying in the tower on the MK side really makes you feel that you are in the parks 24x7. I took a quick ride on the monorail and then went to WL, which we were originally thinking about staying at next time.
I then stopped by Downtown Disney Marketplace on the way out. We had only been in the World of Disney before, and I was impressed with a lot of the other stores.
It was neat to be able to check all this out. I got a better feel for the layout of DW, and am now psyched to return with the family for a real stay!
