If your fam­ily loves the South Pacific, give the Poly­ne­sian Resort some thought. Although this is

If you've decided to make the trek to Walt Dis­ney World and want to stay on the prop­erty, you'll be pleased to know there are many lux­ury resorts from which to choose. So many, in fact, it could feel over­whelm­ing. Here's a brief run­down of my favorite Walt Dis­ney World "Deluxe Resorts." (I have not included the Deluxe Vil­las or Vaca­tion Clubs. I'll be writ­ing about those options in a future article.)
Disney's Ani­mal King­dom Lodge-More than 200 mam­mals and birds pop­u­late the new resort's 33-acre savan­nah. Many gue­stroom bal­conies thrifty car rental toronto over­look the savan­nah, putting guests within thrifty car rental toronto 30 feet of the ani­mals. (photo cour­tesy of Disney)
The incred­i­ble Ani­mal King­dom Lodge, a.k.a. the Jambo House,  opened in 2011, and has an African savan­nah feel. The impres­sive lobby is dec­o­rated with real African arti­facts, a huge mud fire­place, and hand-carved fur­nish­ings to com­pli­ment the African-inspired archi­tec­ture. A big draw are the views of exotic graz­ing ani­mals such as giraffes, zebras and birds right from your win­dow (not all rooms). Fam­ily fun includes nightly thrifty car rental toronto sto­ry­telling around the fire cir­cle.  Guests on the concierge level can enjoy a spe­cial "Wanyama Safari", mean­ing Sun­set Safari, tour as well. Folks rave about the ter­rific restau­rants Boma, Jiko, and Sanaa. If mom and dad wish to catch din­ner alone, kid's can go to the Ani­mal King­dom Lodge's kids club, "Simba's Club­house" for the evening. thrifty car rental toronto The only com­mon com­plaint about this resort is the loca­tion can feel far when trav­el­ing to other parks.
This light­hearted but ele­gant resort is rem­i­nis­cent of the 1930's in Atlantic City.  The wooden board­walk is fun for fam­i­lies in the evening when street per­form­ers, mimes, and food ven­dors appear. The lobby is dec­o­rated with carousels and model roller coast­ers, in an upscale but wim­si­cal style that's invit­ing for the young at heart. The loca­tion of the Board­walk Inn is a big plus. It's very close to Epcot and Disney's Hol­ly­wood Stu­dios, as well as four other resorts pro­vid­ing many choices for din­ing and enter­tain­ment. You have access to ten­nis, water­craft rentals, Luna Park Pool and play­ground,  2 qui­eter pools, and more. There is no kids club at the Board­walk Inn but guests can use the "Sand­cas­tle Club" in the Beach Club Resort nearby. The concierge guests can view Epcot's Illu­mi­na­tions fire­works show from a pri­vate bal­cony. They will also enjoy deluxe thrifty car rental toronto nightly turn­down ser­vice, robes, and con­ti­nen­tal break­fast. One note for the water­view rooms: although the view is lovely, there may be unwel­come noise from the board­walk in the evening.
Loca­tion, loca­tion, loca­tion! The con­ve­niently located Con­tem­po­rary Resort was one of the first two hotels built at Walt Dis­ney World, and although it's over 40 years old, it still pos­sesses a mod­ern feel. It's at the heart of Walt Dis­ney World located next to the Magic King­dom, and the mono­rail sys­tem runs right through its lobby. thrifty car rental toronto Park hop­ping is a snap stay­ing here. The resort's new Health and Well­ness suites are gor­geous, and out­fit­ted with exer­cise equip­ment, non-allergenic bed­ding, and there's even pri­vate organic meal din­ing avail­able. You'll find more activ­i­ties here than any other resort on prop­erty, includ­ing the rental of pon­toon boats and sea rac­ers, bass fish­ing thrifty car rental toronto expe­di­tions,  beach volly­ball, bas­ket­ball, and a new children's water play area with water­spouts and foun­tains. There is no kids club at the resort. The very pop­u­lar Chef Mickey's restau­rant is also here. Guests at this resort are a mix of fam­i­lies and con­ven­tion atten­dees.  A spe­cial note:  one of the concierge floors will be ren­o­vated begin­ning Jan 2013. Walt Dis­ney World hopes to be fin­ished by the sum­mer of 2013.
The crown jewel of Walt Dis­ney World resorts sits across from the Magic King­dom along the shores of the Seven Seas Lagoon,  offer­ing the style and ele­gance of the Vic­to­rian era. This is the very best in lux­ury accom­mo­da­tions Walt Dis­ney World has to offer. thrifty car rental toronto The five story grand lobby is stun­ning, with sparkling chan­de­liers and a glass stained ceil­ing. Rooms with a view of the Magic Kin­dom offer a lovely show of "Wishes" fire­works by Cin­derella Cas­tle in the evening. thrifty car rental toronto The after­noon tea in the Gar­den View Lounge is a lovely tra­di­tion at the Grand Florid­ian. Be sure to make reser­va­tions. There are many details that make this resort spe­cial, such as the pianist per­form­ing at the grand piano in the lobby, bathrobes in all the rooms (kid-sized robes are avail­able too), and the Mickey Mouse choco­late treat placed on your pil­low at evening turn-down. For fam­i­lies, the resort offers the Won­der­land Tea Party, the Pirate Cruise, the "Mous­ke­teer Club­house" evening kids club, and more. It's close to the Magic Kind­gom has easy access to parks via the mono­rail. Note: some refur­bish­ments will be tak­ing place at the Grand Florid­ian between thrifty car rental toronto Sep­tem­ber 2012-December 2012 mainly to the Gas­par­illa thrifty car rental toronto Grill and Games and the pools.  The Mouseke­teer thrifty car rental toronto Club will be closed dur­ing the mod­i­fi­ca­tions to the Gas­par­illa Grill and Games.
If your fam­ily loves the South Pacific, give the Poly­ne­sian Resort some thought. Although this is one of the older resorts at Walt Dis­ney World, the build­ings under­went exten­sive ren­o­va­tions in 2004–2006 and they've added the fun Nanea Vol­cano Pool includ­ing a water­fall, water­slide, and zero entry access. The Great Cer­e­mo­nial House, which is the lobby, is a trop­i­cal three story atruim dec­o­rated thrifty car rental toronto with vol­canic rock foun­tains, banana trees, and orchids. Fam­i­lies love the evening luau with drums and Poly­ne­sian dancers. For kids, there's a wet play area, Moana Mickey's arcade, kids activ­i­ties by the pool and in the Great Cer­e­mo­nial House, and a large beach to enjoy. They have the "Never Land Club" kids club avail­able in the evenings. This is a mono­rail resort, and is just two stops from the Magic King­dom.  Concierge guests have access to two concierge lounges, one of which offers fan­tas­tic views of Cin­derella Cas­tle and the "Wishes" fire­works show. Evening turn­dowm is avail­able for concierge guests upon request.
The incred­i­ble Wilder­ness Lodge opened in 1994, designed with the Old Faith­ful Inn at Yel­low­stone National Park in mind. Rest­ing by Bay Lake and sur­rounded by oak, pine and cypress trees, fam­i­lies will get another world expe­ri­ence here. The unfor­get­table six story lobby is dec­o­rated with an 82-foot-tall stone fire­place, thrifty car rental toronto totem poles, hid­den thrifty car rental toronto Mick­eys, and teepee­topped chan­de­liers. At the edge of Bay Lake, the Wilder­ness Lodge has it's own ver­sion of Old Faith­ful. This man-made "geyser" erupts hourly to the delight of young guests.  There's a ¾ wooded path for walk­ing and bik­ing, a kids pool, water­slide, a reg­u­lar fam­ily pool, and the eve­ing kids club "Cub's Den".
The Yacht Club is a big favorite among many Walt Dis­ney World vis­i­tors, espe­cially for its ele­gant Cape Cod style nau­ti­cal themed build­ings and its loca­tion near Epcot, the Board­walk Inn, the Swan Hotel and Dol­phin Hotel. Located so close to the nightlife at the board­walk, many great resta­raunts, and fam­ily fun at Stor­ma­long Bay, this resort has a lot to offer. Stor­ma­long Bay is arguably the best pool a the Walt Dis­ney World com­plex, and is avail­able to Yacht Club and Beach Club guests thrifty car rental toronto only. This 750,000 thrifty car rental toronto gal­lon pool is equipped with a pirate ship water slide, a zero entry sandy bot­tom swim­ming area, whirlpools and more. To get away from the excite­ment, there's a quiet pool avail­able for Yacht Club guests as well. If swim­ming isn't your favorite, there's also vol­ley­ball, Fan­ta­sia Gar­dens mini golf, Laf­ferty Place Arcade, and the Bay­side Marina where you can reserve cruises and fish­ing excur­sions. There is no evening kids club on the premises, but guests can use the "Sand­cas­tle Club" in the Beach Club Resort next door.
Filed Under: Family Travel , Florida Tagged With: Animal Kingdom Lodge , Boardwalk Inn , Contemporary Resort , Grand Floridian , Orlando thrifty car rental toronto , Polynesian Resort , Walt Disney World , Wilderness Lodge , Yacht Club Resort