Stays

Let’s talk about My Beloved Bay Lake Tower (mbBLT), but also some other hotels maybe? Since this whole thing is a work in progress, I will begin by listing the hotels I have stayed at or have a rez at in the last few years only and then we’ll get round to reviewing them. We’re not going to talk about the time we stayed at The Disney Institute in the late ‘90s for example (before it became Saratoga Springs). To begin, I’ll focus on US hotels just because I have a thought in my mind that at some point I will probably try to stay at all of them - for the fridge magnets (an alternative way to spell “obsessive compulsion”).

All Star Movies
I have fond memories of me and the kid - who was 7 at the time - spending a week here together. It was her first visit to WDW. The room was small, the food hall - and the bus! - was crowded. But it was so much fun! The way the buses smell is a sense memory I have from childhood, so being on those buses again with my kid was surreal. Also - parent know this: kids love being able to choose their own food from a vast array of options. Mine still loves a buffet!

Stats

  • Opened - 1999

  • Theming: Fantasia, The Love Bug, Toy Story, 101 Dalmatians, and The Mighty Ducks

  • Rooms - 1,920 (could they not have squeezed in 3 more?)

  • ~Capacity - 7,680

  • Signature Rooms & Suites: 0

  • Buildings - 10

  • Pools - 2

  • Restaurant - World Premier Food Court

  • other - gift shop, arcade

Paradise Pier/Pixar Place
That first trip with the kid was to CA and we stayed at Paradise Pier (as it was then). We did character dining at the PCH Grill. The Pixar glow-up is a definite improvement. Fun fact: the hotel was originally independently owned and was bought by Disney in 1995. I wish Disney could just buy up the entire area between S Harbor and the Santa Anna and build something like an All Stars resort, but if I owned one of the many hotels on that land I would ask for a gagillion dollars to sell, which is probably what happened…

Stats:

  • Opened - (1984 as non-Disney Emerald of Anaheim, later Pan Pacific) 1995 as Disneyland Pacific Hotel; 2000 as Paradise Pier; 2024 as Pixar Place

  • Theming - Seaside Amusement Park (Paradise Pier); All things Pixar (Pixar Place)

  • Rooms - 479

  • ~Capacity - 2,532

  • Signature Rooms & Suites: The "Coco" Suite (2-bed); The "Incredibles" Suite (2-bed); Pixel Suites (2 & 3 beds); Sketch Suites (1 & 2 beds)

  • Buildings - 1

  • Pools - 1

  • Restaurants - 4 (have eaten at all of them - they are all… ok.)

    • Great Maple Modern American Eatery

    • The Sketch Pad Café

    • Small Bytes

    • The Creators Club (club level lounge)

  • Other - Gift shop, Fitness center, meeting space, ballroom

The Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
We have stayed here several times now. It’s a classic Arts & Crafts style giant lodge building with a labrynth of rooms spreading out in every direction. (It was designed by the same architect, Peter Dominick, who brought you The Wilderness Lodge and the Animal Kingdom Lodge so if you’ve ever though “wow, these are pretty much identical” that’s why!) If you don’t get a room request in, you can end up with a very long walk to the lobby. There’s a certain irony to looking out of your window and seeing the Park entrances and then having to walk all the way back the length of Downtown Disney to get out of the hotel so you can walk back through Downtown Disney again to get to the Park entrance, only to look up and see that your hotel room was [shakes fist] right there. Bonus - it has a special entrance to DCA, which is very handy!

Stats

  • Opened - 2001

  • Theming - American Arts & Crafts movement, with a CA emphasis. So lots of Chip n’ Dale and Bambi and Mickey and Minnie in outdoor gear with leaves and trees and things. I feel like I’m about to name check some “Mission Style” chairs, like Stuart from The Californians…

  • Rooms - 948 (including 44 suites) plus 71 DVC villas

  • ~Capacity - 4,000

  • Signature Rooms & Suites: “Mount Whitney” and “El Capitan” presidential suites, Arcadia Suite, Arroyo Suite.

  • Buildings - 1 huge, sprawling building with multiple wings

  • Pools - 3

  • Restaurants

    • Napa Rose

    • Storytellers Cafe

    • GCH Craftsman Grill

    • GCH Craftsman Bar

    • Hearthstone Lounge

    • The Veranda (club level lounge)

  • Other - Gift shop, Spa, Fitness Center, Concierge, Sequoia Ballroom, Trillium Room (large event space), meeting rooms

The Contemporary & My Beloved Bay Lake Tower
I’ll group these together, although mbBLT does not share the same loopy theming that the Contempo was subjected to in 2021. Not to be flippant, but hadn’t we just come through a pandemic? Had we not suffered enough? Yeah, that was really flippant. Anyway, I don’t like the theming.

Here’s the thing: The lobby of the Contempo has a beautiful mural by Mary Blair. Why not extend that and make the hotel Mary Blair themed? Subtly… don’t make it look like It’s a Small World. Her style is so iconic. It’s such a missed opportunity! This woman deserves to have an entire hotel themed around her, not just a mural. And what better place than the Contemporary hotel? A Mary Blair theme would appeal to kids and adults. Instead we got the Incredibles (don’t even talk to me about those closet interiors or that Jack Jack artwork in the bathroom - why do you want me to think about a burning sensation when I’m about to go to the loo?).

I’m just grateful that My Beloved Bay Lake Tower has avoided the same fate and looks to have had a very lovely glow-up that I cannot wait to experience in January. Until then, I’ve got two stays happening in the Garden Wing at the Contempo, which is the lower-cost wing outside the main tower. We stayed a few times in the Main Tower when I was a kid when it was just kinda - I don’t really know what the theme was to be honest because nearly everything looked bad in the ‘80s. There was a lot of brown for some reason!

If you’re reading this, Jeff Vahle (likely!). Please think about re-doing The Contempo with a tasteful Mary Blair theme! It’s not too late.

Stats

  • Opened - 1971 (Contempo), 2009 (mbBLT)

  • Theming - The Incredibles (Contempo); Modern (in the design sense), geometic shapes and cool colors (My Beloved Bay Lake Tower)

  • Rooms - 655 (Contempo); 428 (mbBLT)

  • ~Capacity -

  • Signature Rooms & Suites -

  • Buildings - 2 (Contempo); 1 (mbBLT)

  • Pools - 2 (Contempo); 1 (mbBLT). Guests at Bay Lake Tower can use all 3 pools!

  • Restaurants

    • California Grill

    • Chef Mickey's

    • Steakhouse 71

    • Contempo Cafe

    • Contemporary Grounds

    • Outer Rim

    • Atrium & Tower club lounges (Contempo - mbBLT has no restaurants)

  • Other - fitness center, tennis/sports courts, jogging trails, arcade, gift shops, convenience store, monorail station IN the lobby (all Contempo)

The Boardwalk Inn & Villas

Stats

  • Opened - 1996 (architect Robert A.M. Stern)

  • Theming - Turn of the Century Atlantic City (so, like, an idealized Atlantic City that doesn’t exist but sure would be nice if it did!)

  • Rooms - 378 (Inn) 532 (Villas)

  • ~Capacity - 1,512 (Inn), 2,128 (Villas)

  • Signature Rooms & Suites - Sonora VP Suite and Club Level suites, but other than that the theming is the theming (it’s pretty great though)

  • Buildings

  • Pools - three, the main Luna Park Pool and two smaller pools on either side of the resort.

  • Restaurants

    • Bell Vue Lounge

    • Flying Fish

    • Trattoria al Forno

    • Big River Grille & Brewing Works

    • AbracadaBar

    • Jellyrolls

    • BoardWalk Deli

    • Cake Bake shop - upscale bakery that recently opened

    • various kiosks along the boardwalk (cotton candy, hot dogs and the like)

  • Other - Side Show Games Arcade, Health Club, Surrey Bike Rentals, Fishing, Ferris W. Eahlers Community Hall, Playground, Tennis and Pickleball, Jogging Trail, Street Performers on the Boardwalk, Shops, Skyliner, Boats, Bus

Pop Century

  • Opened - 2003

  • Theming - 1950s through 1990s

  • Rooms - 2,880

  • ~Capacity - 11,520

  • Signature Rooms & Suites - none

  • Buildings - 10, two for each of the 5 decades

  • Pools - three: Hippy, Bowling, and Computer themed

  • Restaurants - two

    • Everything POP: quick service food court

    • Petals Pool Bar

  • Other - Shopping, arcade, playground, jogging trails, etc.

The Caribbean Beach Resort

  • Opened - 1988

  • Rooms - 1,536

  • ~Capacity - 7,000

  • Signature Rooms & Suites -

  • Buildings - A total of 24 two-story buildings divided into five themed "villages": Aruba (6), Barbados (3), Jamaica (6), Martinique (3), and Trinidad (6). Part of the resort was demolished and replaced with the Rivera resort, which opened in 2019.

  • Pools: Six. The main "Fuentes del Morro Pool" and a leisure pool in each of the five villages. Each village also has its own beach. The resort itself is about 200 acres and spans the perimeter of Barefoot bay.

  • Restaurants:

    • Sebastian's Bistro: A table-service restaurant.

    • Centertown Market: A quick-service location.

    • Banana Cabana: A poolside bar and lounge.

    • Spyglass Grill: A quick-service location in the Trinidad area.

    • Centertown Market Grab & Go: A separate quick-service option within the Centertown Market.

  • Other - Skyliner hub station, several bus stations (big resort!), boat dock, Caribbean Cay -an island in the middle of the bay with a playground (also a way to get across the Bay!) - vollyball, jogging trails, the Calypso trading post, arcade, etc.

Animal Kingdom Lodge - Jambo House

The Grand Floridian

Non US Hotels

The Disneyland Paris Hotel

The Disneyland Hong Kong Hotel

The Disneyland Shanghai Hotel

The Disneyland Hotel TDR

The Hotel Mira Costa TDR

The Fantasy Springs Hotel TDR