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I’m torn between two very different impulses when thinking about my eventual Disney World vacation. One part of me wants to keep the vacation simple, to stay in a hotel with a kitchen outside of the resort so I can save money on lodging and food. That’s the part of me that will probably win out. If I’m to afford a Disney vacation, that’s likely what I’ll have to do.
But there’s another part of me, the kid still in there that’s especially pushing me to make that trip to Orlando. That part doesn’t necessarily want to go all out, to stay in the classiest resort with spas and more luxuries than I’ve ever experienced. But it does want to indulge in my imagination a little, to stay at a place like the Art of Animation Resort.
This part wants a themed room, one that when I’m staying in it allows me to pretend that I’ve stepped into a Disney world. A recent post on the official Disney Parks blog really isn’t helping these two parts reach a compromise anytime soon.
The post profiles Disney character rooms and includes a video doing just that. Some character rooms already exist at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, which is located on their Caribbean island, not in Orlando. An included video gives guests a glimpse of what’s coming in Orlando (and of course to tempt some people into wanting a Disney Caribbean vacation).
The pirate rooms at the Caribbean Beach Resort don’t really tempt me. They don’t even seem like rooms pirates would stay in, with bedspreads in gold-coin patterns and skull-and-crossbones curtains. Seeing the Royal Guest rooms due to open in March at Downtown Disney hotel Port Orleans Resort is what starts swaying me.
The Royal Guest Rooms are (perhaps strangely, or perhaps not) less gaudy than the Pirates-themed rooms. They feature little touches like Carpet (from “Aladdin”) carpets and other “hidden secrets” that are supposedly gifts from other Royals who stayed in the rooms.
Again, it’s neat, but I’m still not that moved. Then the staff describes their goals for the rooms. They talk about wanting the guests to feel like a part of the family, and I’m apathetic. They say they want guests to feel like part of the fun, and I’m slightly more, but still not really, interested. Then they continue that they want guests to feel like part of the story, and I’m hooked.
It’s the kid in me warring against the adult again. The adult knows I’ll see through a lot at Disney World that I wouldn’t have as a kid. I had a similar experience with trips to the Renaissance Faire, the first exciting one I took at 12 and the eye-opening return I made when I was 19. My most recent trip, at a less-pretentious 26, was much better.
Grown-up me knows I don’t need to stay in a themed Disney Hotel in order to have a good time at the theme park, but the kid in me really wants that immersion experience. If your feelings are at all like mine, then you, along with me, will continue to have your resolve tested when the parks blog releases its next video glimpsing at Disney themed rooms. Up next: more previews of the Art of Animation Resort.
Related Articles:
Disney World to Build “Avatar” Park
Four Seasons to Open at Disney World
Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom
*(This image by BestWDW is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
