THE WIFE GOT 40% OFF ON CONCIERGE LEVEL ROOMS AT THE YACHT CLUB...:

Beating Florida's Theme-Park Hordes: Hotels at Disney, Universal offer ways to shrink waits, but the rooms at one badly need some magic (LAURA LANDRO, 11/14/09, WSJ)

We started out at the Contemporary, where we could check in early. As at the Royal Pacific, we'd chosen club-level accommodations, which cost more than standard rooms but were more than worth it at Disney, at least, for the extras like concierge services and a lounge with food. (At present, club-level rooms start at $530 nightly vs. $295 for a standard room.) Our travel agent was able to upgrade my brother and sister-in-law to a larger family suite, with big terraces overlooking the pools, lagoon and the Victorian-style Grand Floridian in the distance.(That hotel, along with the Polynesian Resort, is also on the monorail.) The Contemporary's all-suite 14th floor is the only one that doesn't have internal corridors looking over the central atrium, making it quieter and less hectic-feeling. Families can also rent apartment-style accommodations with kitchens in the new Bay Lake Tower, adjacent to the Contemporary, that's part of the Disney Vacation Club time-share program.

My room on the 12th floor, with a king bed, had a big flat-screen TV, sleek desk area, small pull-out sofa and a pretty marble bath with motion-detector lights for nighttime and towels folded in the shape of Mickey Mouse or a swan each night. The club lounges on both floors, which put out a light breakfast and snacks at intervals into the evening, are also great places to watch fireworks, which the girls loved.

Our one big frustration was navigating the Disney restaurant-reservation system, which felt like dealing with HAL, the malevolent computer from "2001: A Space Odyssey." We couldn't book anything we wanted at a reasonable time online; a phone reservationist insisted on getting my name, address, phone number and credit-card information before she would tell me if anything we wanted was available. Then she said it wasn't. When I asked for alternatives, she asked for all the information over again. Next, we tried the Contemporary's concierge. The young man tried hard to get us a reservation at the hotel's California Grill, but failed. (He left us free passes to Epcot Center as consolation.)

Finally, on my arrival I sat down with two other concierges. They were terrific, recommending alternatives and arduously booking them online, no easy task for them, either: It took half an hour on two occasions to do it all. (A Disney spokesman said the reservation system's information-gathering is necessary to improve its database for the benefit of guests, such as differentiating people with similar names.)

The first table we got was at Citricos, at the Grand Floridian, and the grouper and short ribs were excellent. At Epcot's Coral Reef the next evening, the seafood was pretty good as well, despite the scuzzy feel and the food-littered carpets. My nieces, ages 7 and 10, were thrilled to face the giant aquariums with guests and staff scuba-diving alongside marine life, including a shark.

The monorail station on the fourth floor turned out to be hugely convenient and hugely packed—budget-tight parents beware, there's a giant Disney store nearby. After many rides and events, we took a break at the Contemporary's stark pool, which loses points on landscaping but gains some (at least for 10-year-olds) with its long, winding water slide.

...and it rocked.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 14, 2009 8:24 PM