Since we couldn’t afford to stay at a Deluxe Resort on our Honeymoon we thought we would act like we were rich by touring as many resorts as possible in our US Polo Assn. polos, pastel shorts and Sperry’s (Neither of us actually own any of these. The closest we come is a fake, Meijer-brand pair of Top-Siders I got for Christmas last year that I wear to work paired with khakis).
Deluxe Resorts were somewhat of a mystery for me before our Honeymoon. Sure, I had ridden the Monorail around the loop and stopped at the Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand Floridian but other than going to Chef Mickey’s I had never explored any of the Monorail resorts. I had never been to the Wilderness Lodge; heck, I hardly knew where it was. I had never been to the Yacht Club, Beach Club, Swan or Dolphin (which are only half-Disney resorts if you think about it) and besides walking around the actual boardwalk, had never explored the Boardwalk Resort.
The only Deluxe Resort I had ever been in for more than a few minutes or a meal was the Animal Kingdom Lodge. One family trip shortly after 9/11 resulted in a super deal on a 3-night stay in a Savannah view room. Always the person to jump on a good deal, my mother booked it and we enjoyed a split stay between AKL and one of the All Stars. At the time, I thought it was really “cool” but didn’t like how far we had to walk to the buses or how small the food court was. When you are 9-years-old you don’t care about Jiko, Boma or Sanaa: I wanted some chicken nuggets damn it!
This trip was a completely different experience when it came to Deluxe Resorts. Being on the Dining Plan helped in our “Journey through the Deluxe Resorts” as we were guaranteed to visit at least three of them: Contemporary Resort (California Grille), Grand Floridian (Narcoossee’s) and Wilderness Lodge (Artist Point). Staying at Port Orleans French Quarter helped with our “Journey through the (slightly less expensive but still beautiful) Moderate Resorts” as Port Orleans Riverside was right next door, which was good because we didn’t have time to visit either Coronado Springs or Caribbean Beach. Our “Journey through the (cheap by Disney standards and still awesome because it’s Disney and they know what they are doing but some people think they are trashy) Value Resorts” was short; we only visited the Art of Animation since it had only been open for a few months prior to our trip and we had already toured the other Value Resorts during our last stay in March of 2011 when we stayed at POP Century.
Disney from Michigan 