Yes the Disney IS being lost...

[WorldWacky]

I too miss having more theming in the rooms. But if your kids are complaining about the rooms at CBR being small, sounds like they have some high expectations. Not sure where you have been staying, but those rooms are not small at all.

Not at all. We last stayed at a Hampton Inn! Nothing fancy, but there definitely was less room between the bed and wall at CBR. As far as size, not TERRIBLY different. As far as theming, also not terribly different. That’s all. They remembered the rooms at POR Alligator Bayou from a few years ago with the Hidden Mickeys in the carpet and bedspreads and really liked it. They were disappointed that it felt like any other hotel room. It was fine.

I just showed my husband the pictures of the Coronado room above and he asked me if that’s where we’re staying over Christmas. (We’re going to Pittsburgh. He thought it was a picture of the Holiday Inn that we go to. Just sayin’.)

 

[jlwhitney]

For us its the bubble for sure and not having to drive our car. While we don't love the buses we have tried driving to the parks and we do not like it at all. I also don't want to see Orlando everyday of vacation nor its awful traffic. We aren't uber/lyft people and with two kids in car seats and soon to be three its not an easy option anyway.

 

[Jennasis]

We've always been happy with our room decor in our DVC rooms. BLT is our home and we love the Ikea-like rooms. The Poly was great too. BWV didn't have much theme but the rooms were nice. The only thing I hate is triple sheeting. The A/C is COLD in those rooms and 3 sheets isn't enough to keep me warm.

 

[HopperFan]

Not at all. We last stayed at a Hampton Inn! Nothing fancy, but there definitely was less room between the bed and wall at CBR. As far as size, not TERRIBLY different. As far as theming, also not terribly different. That’s all. They remembered the rooms at POR Alligator Bayou from a few years ago with the Hidden Mickeys in the carpet and bedspreads and really liked it. They were disappointed that it felt like any other hotel room. It was fine.

I just showed my husband the pictures of the Coronado room above and he asked me if that’s where we’re staying over Christmas. (We’re going to Pittsburgh. He thought it was a picture of the Holiday Inn that we go to. Just sayin’.)

Well I have found plenty of rooms that were half the price of Disney moderate, as nice or nicer and 30-35% bigger.

This spring stayed at new Hyatt Place right outside Disney Springs. No fancy amenities but we were spending our time in the parks. But for our down time .... room WAY BIGGER, way nicer, awesome bedding, even the sofa bed was comfy. Everyone had their own bed.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

Well I have found plenty of rooms that were half the price of Disney moderate, as nice or nicer and 30-35% bigger.

This spring stayed at new Hyatt Place right outside Disney Springs. No fancy amenities but we were spending our time in the parks. But for our down time .... room WAY BIGGER, way nicer, awesome bedding, even the sofa bed was comfy. Everyone had their own bed.

Very nice!! Was this one of the rooms that was 1/2 the price of Disney mod?

 

[HopperFan]

Very nice!! Was this one of the rooms that was 1/2 the price of Disney mod?

Yes at the time, think it was around $110. I just looked for our January trip and it's $143 for 424 sq feet and includes breakfast. We loved it.

 

[Mousey0324]

My room at Coronado a few weeks ago. It was a refurbished room. I LOVED IT! I don’t want Mickey everywhere.

Has nothing to do with mickey. Has everything to do with theming. Although the room in the images look really nice. It doesn’t fit with the theme of Coronado springs at all. Looks like it fits better at contemporary. I’m not asking for hidden mickey. Some styling cues from mexico wokuldnt hurt. Again nice but a little disappointing.

 

[GAN]

My room at Coronado a few weeks ago. It was a refurbished room. I LOVED IT! I don’t want Mickey everywhere.

View attachment 286322View attachment 286323View attachment 286324

I must have just missed you, I had one of those rooms the first week of November. It was a great room -I really enjoyed it.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Has nothing to do with mickey. Has everything to do with theming. Although the room in the images look really nice. It doesn’t fit with the theme of Coronado springs at all. Looks like it fits better at contemporary. I’m not asking for hidden mickey. Some styling cues from mexico wokuldnt hurt. Again nice but a little disappointing.

Like this?

 

[Kms943]

How is Coronado Disney's only convention resort? Both Grand Floridian and Yacht Club have Conference centers do they not?

 

[missbrooke06]

See, this is funny. I really liked the theming at CBR. I thought it was a more mature island theme and really pretty. I do miss the linens/blankets being themed but the cabinets and Murphy bed were really nice. I think we'll go back there once construction is done.

 

[JacknSally]

My travel party is me and my husband, no kids. We haven't traveled a ton, and when we do, we go to Disney - so our hotel experience is with Disney hotels (though I work in a hotel at home)... Just staying in hotels makes us feel like we're in Disney, because that's the only time we stay in hotels.

That being said, the theming of the individual room doesn't matter as much to us as the theming of the entire property. We LOVE Riverside - but we hate the rooms. They *do* feel authentic to the theme (DH is from New Orleans and the rooms remind us of his grandparents' home) but they also feel so outdated. We LOVED the decor of the room we had at Caribbean Beach, though - clean, modern, updated, but the accents still felt tropical and beachy, and definitely not like we were just in any hotel anywhere. If I could've taken the bathroom door and the light fixture home with us, I would've tried haha. I would much rather have a clean, modern subtly-themed room at an overall-well-themed resort than an in-your-face, true-to-theme-no-matter-what room at an overall-well-themed resort. CBR and Dolphin have had our favorite individual rooms of any resort, but Riverside and French Quarter have been our favorite resorts.

The individual room decor is the least important part of the resort for us, honestly. We pick our resorts based on rates, overall theme, and location.... but mainly because of rates. As far as feeling like we're in the bubble, we feel that way at any on-property resort because of the Magicbands, the cast members, the transportation - not because of the resort theme. We'd rather pay more to be onsite at a themed hotel with Magical Express and park transportation than pay less to be offsite at any old hotel and have to transport ourselves. Would it save money? Sure, but it wouldn't feel like a Disney vacation to us.

 

[Tiggerette]

Reading this thread gave me a thought....

IF most of the redesigned resort rooms comprise barely-there-Mickey aesthetic, then will those rooms that have Kitschy-Mickey themes also have a greater likelihood to appear outdated? It makes me think that despite a refresh with new furniture, the aesthetic shift alone will "age" a significantly themed room.

Hmmmm....

 

[SorcererHeidi]

And for me, it's not necessarily "all Mickey all the time". But it's a THEME - be that Mickey, or Disney animation, or New Orleans, or the Caribbean - whatever. But as long as it's done, and done well. Just not "new/clean/generic looking".

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Reading this thread gave me a thought....

IF most of the redesigned resort rooms comprise barely-there-Mickey aesthetic, then will those rooms that have Kitschy-Mickey themes also have a greater likelihood to appear outdated? It makes me think that despite a refresh with new furniture, the aesthetic shift alone will "age" a significantly themed room.

Hmmmm....

One person's "outdated" is another person's "classic".

 

[SorcererHeidi]

One person's "outdated" is another person's "classic".

True dat, @DaisyDuck001 - nicely put!

 

[JacknSally]

And for me, it's not "all Mickey all the time". But it's a THEME - bit that Mickey, or Disney animation, or New Orleans, or the Caribbean - whatever. But as long as it's done, and done well. Just not "new/clean/generic looking".

Totally agree! I think it's possible to modernize the rooms and stay with the theme of the resort. We felt that was done successfully with our room at CBR. FWIW, I don't think the updated rooms at Pop keep with the theme of that resort, but we also weren't crazy about the decor of the not-updated rooms when we stayed in them, either. Those old rooms *did* feel like just a basic boring hotel room to us, with nothing more than a blah framed poster to hint at the decade your room/building was supposed to represent.

Totally possible to be modern/fresh/updated without being generic!

 

[Mousey0324]

Like this?

A cactus picture and 2 light fixtures...kinda weak.

I’m pretty sure this will be kept as Coronado springs with Mexican theming as all the painting in the casitas part of the resort seems to confirm this. Just think they could have done more. Still looks nice n clean.

 

[ArtistBruce24]

It was a really interesting article and I certainly agree that the rooms are starting to lose it's 'Disney' feel. I will give some serious props to DisneyLand at the Grand Californian, the recent renovations are amazing and I really wish WDW would follow suit with some of the ideas incorporated there.

This is the kind of theme that works spectacularly with the new renovations; clean, vibrant, but still in touch with Disney and it's history. It goes back to DisneyLand being just an orange grove with Chip N' Dale playing in the tree and Bambi in the sleeper bed sleeping in some rooms. Granted, this is a Deluxe resort and so we expect to be totally immersed for the price we pay but I really feel like Disney could use this sort of creativity at the moderate and value resorts. The pictures even contain easter eggs in each room to the connection of DisneyLand and how everything happened.

I guess the other question is for those who don't want to be totally drenched in Disney theme, would this work for you? If you take the time to appreciate the small details and research the various easter eggs in the pictures then it's great for us Disney veterans. But for those who simply could care less how would you feel if the new rooms carried a design like this?

 

[DisneyFanThi]

A cactus picture and 2 light fixtures...kinda weak.

I’m pretty sure this will be kept as Coronado springs with Mexican theming as all the painting in the casitas part of the resort seems to confirm this. Just think they could have done more. Still looks nice n clean.

Those bathroom divider doors seemed pretty Southwestern too...you also had the those silhouettes of the Three Caballeros as well.