Outside the Parks - A Guide to Visiting the Resorts of WDW pt. 1

EVERYBODY that goes to Walt Disney World visits the four theme parks.  A lot of those same people visit the two water parks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach (particularly in the summer).  One of the most missed treasures by those that aren't actually staying in them are the resort properties that make up Walt Disney World's 25,000+ accommodating rooms.

The last time that I was at Disney around Christmas, my mother took us to a few of the resorts to look at the Christmas decorations.  I love Christmas time for a number of reasons, but the decorations are on of the big ones.  I intend to do the same decorations tour that I went on previously, but expand on it.

This post is not an advertisement about staying in the resorts - you won't find any information about pricing or what the rooms are like.  This post is an exploration of the common areas of each of the resorts, and what makes them unique - so much so that you'll want to visit!

(A quick note - all of the photos in this post are (c)Disney.  No infringement intended)

Disney's All-Star Sports, All-Star Movies, and All-Star Music Resorts

               

The novelty in these resorts is in the oversize-ness of EVERYTHING.  Each section of each resort is themed appropriately (at AS Sports, there's a football section, a basketball section, etc.) that coincides with the overall theme of the resort.  The pools are fun to see too - particularly the piano pool at AS Music.  Each of the resorts has a themed food court where the food's pretty decent.

Disney's Pop Century Resort

This resort is particularly fun for adults who grew up in the 60's, 70's, 80's, or 90's (scary we can call people who grew up in the 90's adults...).  It's themed similarly to the All-Star Resorts, but with some twists - each section is themed for a different decade, with oversized pop culture icons in each one.

Disney's Art of Animation Resort

This is one of the newest resorts in the Disney portfolio, and I've never actually seen it, so naturally, it's one of my first stops.  The best I can tell, it is similarly themed to Pop Century and the All-Star resorts, with the focus being Feature Animation.  Each section is apparently themed with a different movie (I know one section is the Little Mermaid).

Disney's Port Orleans Resort - Riverside & French Quarter

Honestly, I've never visited these two resorts.  From what I can gather, they are styled after turn-of-the-century New Orleans, similar to the movie "The Princess and the Frog" - except the resorts have been around a lot longer than that.

Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort

This resort was one of the first resorts after the original three opened.  It is styled after a brightly colored, tropical island paradise.

Disney's Coronado Springs Resort

This resort is styled around the turn-of-the-century gold rush march towards the west.  Modeled after the Mojave homes of the southwest, it also is home to one of WDW's convention centers.  There is an INCREDIBLE food court in there, with different types of food from around the world that you can mix-and-match.

We'll explore the other half of the resorts in pt. 2!