Viewing the Disney Resorts

[DisneyBoodawg]

Will be staying at the Courtyard by Marriott this October. We have never stayed on site and are interested in viewing some of the Disney resorts for possible future stays. We thought this may be a good first day option to get us ready for the Disney magic.

Are the resorts open for viewing? Or, is this discouraged?

We will be able to use the Courtyard by Marriott's transportation system. Our initial thoughts were to concentrate on the resorts around MK and take a late night dinner and viewing of the fireworks.

Any thoughts on how best to see the Disney resorts?

 

[KTSMOM]

I don't think they discourage resort visiters. My husband and I stayed off site last time and wanted to revisit the Wilderness Lodge so we just took the Disney bus system and visited it. The resorts have a ton of restaurants in them, so you could go have a meal in the ones you are really intersted in and look around after you eat. Just a thought.

 

[Montana Minnies]

Hi Disneybodawig,
Since you are staying close to the DTD area I would think you could take a bus there and then switch to one of the on property resort busses or take a boat ride over to OKW or to the POR. I'm not sure if the bus drivers check bus passes very throughly or not. My sister and I were able to stay on property for the first time this year and we too were interested in seeing the other resorts. All I can say each is beautifful with their own unique themes. There is also the monerail if you are at the MK and it can take you over to the Comtemporary, Polynesian or the GF. As Kitsmom said the resorts have restaurants that you may be interested in eating at, that alone is a good enough reason to go to visit. Our experience was that we had no problems with visiting any of the other resorts and really enjoyed doing so.
Have a great trip!
"Montana Minnies"
Enid

 

[jjsmom]

One of our favorite down time and/or rain activities is visiting the resorts. The architechture and landscaping of WDW resorts are breathtaking and it's a great way to unwind and take in some more magic. If you would like to see the fireworks, I would highly recommend the Calif. Grill on the 15th (?) floor of the Contemporary. The view is spectacular.

We also like visiting the pool bars at the Deluxe Resorts. In fact, it has become a tradition for our family to meet at the pool bar (not to swim, obviously) at the Y & B Club after the girls go to Epcot and the guys golf all day. These are special treats that add to the magic and provide a break from the parks.

We have "resort browsed" for years and have never felt unwelcomed or discouraged by Cm's and other staff.

My best wishes for a wonderful vacation

 

[ncbyrne]

Our our 2000 trip in May, we spent all day on Mother's Day touring all of the resorts, even though we were staying off-site! I researched all of the dining opportunities and then made PS for brunch and late dinner. We had a car, but parked at the TTC and took the monorail and the boat. To get to Fort Wilderness, we took the boat from the Contemporary. We parked at Boardwalk to view the B&YC, Dolphin and Swan. It was an awesome day and we were never discouraged at all. In fact, we were welcomed everywhere. As long as you have Disney passes, they entitle you to use all of WDW transportation, including busses, monorail and boat.

 

[myhandd]

You can walk to Marketplace at Downtown Disney to catch a bus to any of the resorts.

 

[disneychrista]

We also had no trouble going to the different resorts. This is one of the ways we tricked my DD when we switched to the AKL. It just "happened" to be the day we decided to go look at the different resorts, the last one being AKL. It was great. We just hoped on the bus and went to the different resorts, downside being you had to transfer busses at a park or DTD.