There are a ton of great places in Walt Disney World to grab a drink and relax, and that makes it difficult to decide WHERE you should go. 

If you’re in the Magic Kingdom area there are a few options nearby with the Monorail resorts and Wilderness Lodge. 

My top 3 places to get a drink near the Magic Kingdom are:

1. The Outer Rim at Disney’s Contemporary Resort

2. Geyser Point Bar and Grill at Wilderness Lodge

Geyser Point Bar and Grill Review

3. Enchanted Rose at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort

What makes the Enchanted Rose so unique?

It’s unbelievably well themed. 

Being at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, it had to fit in to the overall decor, but be unique at the same time.  This spot has the elegance of the Grand Floridian with the décor that matches the wonder of the Beauty and the Beast live action film.

Fans of the film will appreciate the attention to detail that has been woven throughout the 4 different spaces. 

Inside the lounge is a fantastic golden chandelier that hangs over the bar.  It’s a reference of course to Belle’s gown.

If you would rather sit outside, there is seating available with a great view of the splash pad and the lagoon that is to represent Beast’s garden terrace. 

Next we have the garden room representing the forest surrounding Beast’s Castle. 

The last room is my favorite, the library!

With tables like this in the seating area, the details are less than subtle here

But they are fun!

Do you recognize anyone?

Now I have not done this lounge justice if I don’t mention that they have fantastic drinks and they serve food too!  Check out the menu here

Will this be on your “must do” list for your trip?

Let me know in the comments!

I have loved Disney’s Contemporary Resort for as long as I can remember.  It was the first place I stayed on my first trip to Walt Disney World in 1974.  It became our ‘Disney home’ in the 70’s and it wasn’t until new hotels were built that we branched out to try some others.

Are the Contemporary Resort rooms really deluxe rooms?

Yes!  Given this is one of the original resorts, the rooms are bigger than most.  While the style has changed over the years, the structure has not.

From the moment you walk in to the room it is modern, clean and inviting.  It really still has a feel of classic luxury in my opinion.

From the perspective of the pictures – the closet is on the left and the bathroom is on the right.

The closet is large with plenty of storage space to hang your clothes and includes 3 drawers in the first compartment.  Up top there is extra bedding and a steam iron.

The Incredibles theming is well represented inside with their super suits hanging in the closet.

The second door opens to a full-length mirror, the safe and 2 more drawers.

At the end of the closet is the ‘coffee station’ equipped with a Keurig.  Some more Incredibles theming makes an appearance on the back of the wall with their cocktail glasses and mugs represented.  Of course I think I love the Edna one the best!

Under this station the drawer is filled with cups, coffee, sugar and creamer.  The door on the bottome opens up to a small fridge.

How big is the bathroom in the Contemporary Resort rooms?

To the right (left as you’re walking in to the room) is the large bathroom.  This bathroom is beautiful and bright.  The mirror is fantastic with a frosted monorail on the side and I love it.

With double sinks the vanity area was big enough to unpack all of my toiletries and have plenty of room to spare.

The tub looked very comfy and if I had extra time I would have gone to Basin to get a nice bath bomb to enjoy it! Maybe next time.

The tub sides were a bit high though, so you need to be careful getting in and out.

Inside the water closet there is some fun art work of Jack-Jack and all of his powers.

Are the rooms at the Contemporary resort nice?

As you move in to the room, the only thing that struck me as odd was the couch was UNDER the TV.  You would really only be able to watch TV from the beds.  The couch itself pulls down in to another small bed.

There were plenty of outlets and USB charging ports throughout the room.  Beside the beds and next to the couch as well.  I was never at a loss to charge my devices.

The beds were comfortable and had room to put your suitcases underneath to keep them out of the way.

The table offered me a place to set up my laptop and get some work done while I was there.  It was also a great place to eat dinner the night we had take-out from Steakhouse 71.

Is there too much Incredibles?

No.  And believe me, I was worried about it.  I was worried they would stick the Incredibles absolutely everywhere and it would be too much, and it really wasn’t.  Online all of the pictures seem to focus on it, but when you’re standing in the room looking at it with your own eyes, it isn’t a lot.  There are some fun touches, but it’s not overpowering.

Disney’s Contemporary Resort is one of my absolute favorite resorts for so many reasons, the rooms are just one of them.

Have you stayed here before?  Do you love it?  Watch our video tour below.

If you’re looking for a moderate resort, check out our review of Disney’s Gran Destino Tower here.

Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa was not one of my favorite resorts in the past.  It always felt too large and a bit ‘dated’ if I’m honest, but my opinion has changed after my recent stay.

I had gone to Walt Disney World after being away for so long.  Given it was more of a last minute plan, I couldn’t get a resort for the entire duration of my stay.  Using my Disney Vacation Club points, I managed to book a preferred studio room at Saratoga Springs for a week.

A preferred room means that you will be close to the Carriage House (which is basically the main area with the dining, shop and large pool) or you will be close to the walkway to Disney Springs.  My fear at such a large resort is getting lost (I’m directionally challenged) so room location is very important to me.  I was in Congress Park – the first building in the row along the water.

Once my room was ready I went to bell services and they took me and my bags in their cart to my room.  That was handy – I didn’t have to try and find it myself!  While on the way he explained to me the landmarks to use so I could walk back to the main building and to Disney Springs.  I wasn’t convinced I wouldn’t get lost – but his directions did help.

This was my first trip to Saratoga since the rooms had been updated.  The old rooms looked very dark and dated.

The furniture and trimmings were all dark colors, it made the room feel small.

The new furnishings were bright and inviting!

While I checked in by myself, my friend would be joining me half way through my stay.  This couch conveniently pulls down in to a bed so we each had our own.

I was working remotely while I was there and the WiFi held up perfectly.  The coffee table in front of the couch converts in to a table – perfect for me to work on.

These rooms being Disney Vacation Club studios have a kitchenette with a microwave, small fridge, toaster and coffee maker.   It’s such an improvement from the old forest green color that the cabinets used to be!

The vanity area had plenty of space for toiletries including two deep drawers.  The closet was a fair size and I chose to store my luggage in there instead of under the bed.

The dresser had 6 full size drawers, we had no problem unpacking all of our things in this room.  On each side of the dresser there were outlets for 2 plugs and 2 USBs.  Between my camera, laptops, my phone and my watch – I always need extra outlets.  That would be my only complaint about the studios at Disney’s Bay Lake Tower.

This studio was perfect for me to work from being so close to Disney Springs.  I could walk from my building to Earl of Sandwich at Disney Springs and back on my lunch break!  I even walked up to the main building on my lunch one day and did not get lost.  The new features in the My Disney Experience app has a little map that directed me, it worked like a charm.

The resort somehow didn’t feel quite so BIG this time around.  I managed to even find the laundry room!

Laundry at the Disney resorts is pretty high tech – well, connected to a website that gives you all sorts of info.  I did a full review of laundry at Walt Disney World here.

Has Saratoga Springs moved up in my list of resorts?  Absolutely.  The updated rooms are beautiful and comfortable and you can’t beat the proximity to Disney Springs.

Have you stayed at this resort before?

For a full walk through of the room check out my YouTube below.

Disney’s Coronado Springs wasn’t my favorite resort the first time I stayed there, but the next visit had me hooked.  The resort had so much to offer in terms of amenities that you couldn’t deny it was a great resort.

When Disney’s Gran Destino Tower was built, it just added to the benefits of staying at the resort.  I was very impressed the first time I stayed in the tower in 2019.  I did a full review of the it and the standard room from that trip.

Can you work remotely from Walt Disney World?

When I finally returned to Walt Disney World after being away for over 18 months, I had decided to make it a longer trip.  I was going to work remotely from the resorts.  Since we were still “working from home” at my unmagical job, I figured I could make my “home” in Orlando.

The big question was which resorts I was going to stay at.  WiFi would be a necessity with all of my video conference calls that take up my day.  With Coronado Springs being a convention hotel, and having the NBA stay there, I figured it was a safe bet to spend 10 days there.

Would Disney WiFi hold up?

Given the length of time I was staying AND that I would be in the room working for a full 9 hours a day, I knew I needed space.  I debated staying at Pop Century instead so that I could use the Skyliner after work, but I quickly decided it wasn’t enough space and the WiFi might not be sufficient.

The king room was perfect for what I needed.  The extra large desk gave me plenty of room to set up.

The lamp had plugs and USB outlets so I could set up both of my laptops and phones without having cords everywhere.  I’m not going to lie – having the TV overhead provided a little background distraction for some boring meetings!

Not having the second bed meant that there was space for a seating area.  This was perfect for me to relax and enjoy a cup of tea before I started work, and at the end of a long day.

What was the best part of working from the Gran Destino Tower?  Getting to meet up with friends for drinks at Three Bridges Bar and Grill after work!

Who wouldn’t want to end the work day this way?

For a full room tour – see my YouTube video below.  

Have you stayed at Disney’s Gran Destino Tower?  Did you love it too?

When Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom first opened on October 1st, 1971 there were 2 original resort hotels, Disney’s Polynesian Resort and the Contemporary.

The Contemporary Resort was ‘the future’.  The monorail goes THROUGH the resort, it was like nothing anyone had ever seen before in 1971.  To this day it’s still pretty fabulous 50 years later.

For the 50th celebration of Walt Disney World, the rooms have been updated and refreshed at the Contemporary Resort, the Polynesian was done earlier this year.   At the Contemporary they have introduced “The Incredibles” to the theming and decor, and really transormed some of the room spaces.

There is more of a seating area than before and the furniture is very different from what it was.  The colors are brighter and the design is sleek and inviting.

Edna makes an appearance on this fabulous pillow Darling!

There are Incredible touches everywhere – even in the drawer!

While the Incredibles touches can be found throughout the room, they are subtle in some areas and more prominent in others.  I love the changes they made to the wall surrounding the balcony door and the curtains.

Notice the enclosure around the doors are rounded at the top.

I don’t think anyone can open the closet and not want to yell “Where’s my suit” – how many times do you think the kids will say that??

You just wanna say “Where’s my super suit??”

My ONLY issue with this is that I really think they missed the boat here by NOT having Frozone’s suit in here, after all – that was HIS line in the 2004 movie.  

The bathrooms got an update as well.  Keep in mind that these rooms are fairly large compared to the newer resorts.  These bathrooms were quite large to begin with, but they seem to have made them look brighter.  This picture below is one I took on my last stay at the Contemporary.

The sinks took a LOT of room, I always felt it was a bit wasted.

You can see there is much more counter space and better lighting in here.

Much better lighting and actual counter space is a welcomed update!  You can see in the reflection of the mirror – that is the water closet behind.  There is some Incredible art in there too.

Disney’s Contemporary Resort is my favorite on property, it was the first resort we ever stayed at – and it holds a special place in my heart.  I was a bit nervous about this update, would it be tasteful?  Would they “ruin” the aesthetics of the resort for me?  Honestly, I don’t think they did.  I like that it’s bright, I like that there is ‘character’!  As an adult, I don’t need the Incredibles, but when I think back to being an 8 year old staying there – the Incredibles would be AWESOME to have had in my room.  So while it’s got some extra “family” components it didn’t have before, I don’t think they’ve completely alienated the “adults only” that would stay there.

This is just my opinion though, what do you think of the update?