Resorts with Nice Grounds

[Cloudboy]

This is more of a rant than anything else, but why can't any resort in Central Florida ever have real nice grounds? They all crowd the place with rooms, and leave everything else either parking lots or pools. I took my parents down to Disney, and we stayed at Port Orleans. They loved all the paths around the resort, how they wound through the woods and gardens. I am now trying to find a place to stay with my Father, and nothing has that kind of grounds - I cant even find anything with a good boardwalk without having to spend over $300. With so much land available, and such nice natural areas, why cant any resort actually focus on the resort as whole?

 

[keishashadow]

Hyatt Grand Regency is very pretty and is quick drive from the parks. Customer service is top notch and the atrium is visually interesting and has resident parrots. Many rooms have views of DTD in the distance. We enjoyed a view of their lake and in the distance while lying in bed the MK fireworks thru balcony slider!

You can use a complimentary bike (or stroll) and head off to see nature area via boardwalk access. Often the resort is won thru priceline and they have decent AAA rates.

 

[Josh Hendy]

This is more of a rant than anything else, but why can't any resort in Central Florida ever have real nice grounds? They all crowd the place with rooms, and leave everything else either parking lots or pools. I took my parents down to Disney, and we stayed at Port Orleans. They loved all the paths around the resort, how they wound through the woods and gardens. I am now trying to find a place to stay with my Father, and nothing has that kind of grounds - I cant even find anything with a good boardwalk without having to spend over $300. With so much land available, and such nice natural areas, why cant any resort actually focus on the resort as whole?

I've asked myself these questions too, and the best answer that I can come up with is "property taxes". WDW has a very special and unique situation, being essentially its own municipality, the Reedy Creek District (or whatever its exact name).

Of course WDW pays some kind of taxes to some kind of state or county level government entities, but I would be willing to bet that the amount they pay per year per square foot of say, the land which contains paths and gardens surrounding a hotel, is significantly less than the property taxes that would be paid by the owners of a non-WDW property.

I think that this is the same reason why there seem to be no campgrounds anywhere in central FL which have anywhere near the amount of space and privacy that can be found at Fort Wilderness campground. I've never camped at any of these places, but a few years ago when I was looking into possibly camping at Orlando I was absolutely taken aback by the complete difference between Fort Wilderness and any other campground based on what I could see on Google maps satellite view. I asked myself, "Why doesn't someone else design and operate a campground with the same lavish amount of space and privacy as Fort Wilderness?" I concluded, probably because they can't afford to, because they could never get the sweetheart deal on property taxes that WDW enjoys.

This is of course mostly my speculation, but why else wouldn't there be more imitations of WDW's lavish use of space and landscaping, if it wasn't that nobody else can afford to do so?

 

[isla bonita]

We stay in Emerald Island resort and they have some very nice landscaping. More lanscape then hard scape.

 

[Emma1987]

Hyatt Regency or Buena Vista Palace.


The grounds of the Buena Vista Palace are gorgeous to walk around.