2013-10-15

By Len Testa

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Earlier this month we launched Hotel Room Views, a new part of TouringPlans.com that shows the view you’ll see at every hotel room in Walt Disney World (more than 30,000 photos). We’re rolling out a few hotels each week, and we’ve got All-Star Sports, Polynesian, Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, and Wilderness Lodge available now.

Today we’re adding photos from each of All-Star Movies‘ 1,920 rooms.

The first page shows you a map of the entire resort. On the left side is a set of filter options you can use to find exactly the room you want:



All-Star Movies Resort Map

Room Type Includes Disney’s description of the view, and the bed type in the room (if we know it). All-Star Movies has Standard and Preferred views, most with double beds.

Walking Distance to Lobby Useful for cutting down on walking time

Walking Distance to Transportation Allows you to find rooms near bus stops, monorails and boats

Floors If you prefer ground or upper-floor rooms, you can specify that here

Sound Level Helps find the quiet rooms at the resort

Accessibility Identifies ADA-accessible rooms by feature, including roll-in showers and more

Our Picks Shows only the rooms which the Unofficial Guide has determined to be the best at the resort.

Prices You can also filter by price by entering the date you’re checking in.

Choose any of these options and click “Show Matching Rooms.” The map will highlight in red all of the buildings which have rooms matching your options.

Click on one of the highlighted buildings and you’ll see a map of all of the rooms in that building. Rooms which match your filter options will be highlighted in red:



All-Star Movies view of one building.

 

Click on any of the individual rooms and you’ll see the view from that room:

 Once you’re looking at a room’s view, you can do a comparison of nearby views by going left or right one room, or up or down one floor.

Another really great feature on this page is shown in the green text just below the photo:

Bldg 8,Flr 3,NE-facing room.Exmple:8955,8956,8957,8958,8959,8960,8961,8962,8963

This is the exact wording to give Disney (or your travel agent) to request that specific room, and rooms like it if this room isn’t available. During this project we learned that Disney’s reservation system may only have 80 characters of text to make room requests, and we’ve ensured that this text fits in 80 characters or less. While there’s no guarantee that you’ll get the room, by telling Disney the room you want and its alternatives, you increase your chances.

It’s Important to Choose Your Own Room

You’re paying a premium to stay on-site, and it doesn’t cost anything to make a room request. So consider the photo below, which is a Standard View room you could get at random if you just let Disney make the decision for you:

Up close and personal with the broom from Fantasia.

 

It may be from Fantasia, but that view isn’t magical. For the same money you could request room 3902 in the Mighty Ducks section, which has a nice view of the pool:

A better view from 3902

 

You’re also able to leave public reviews and private notes about a room, rate a room, and mark a room as a “favorite.”

When you mark two or more rooms as favorites, you’re able to do a side-by-side comparison of each room’s view by clicking the Compare Favorites link on the left side of the page.

We expect to have every Disney-owned resort in Orlando available by the end of this year. That includes DVC resorts, suites, and more. Here’s the approximate rollout schedule:

Week Ending

Resort

October 4

All-Star Sports Done!

October 11

Polynesian Done!
Saratoga Springs Done!
Wilderness Lodge Done!

October 18

Port Orleans French Quarter

Port Orleans Riverside

Caribbean Beach
All-Star Movies Done!

Pop Century

October 25

Coronado Springs

Animal Kingdom Lodge

November 1

All-Star Music

Art of Animation

November 8

Fort Wilderness (campsites and cabins)
Beach Club

Yacht Club

November 15

Contemporary Resort

BoardWalk Inn

Grand Floridian

November 22

Bay Lake Tower

Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas

December 6

Wilderness Lodge Villas

Old Key West

Saratoga Springs Treehouses

We had a lot of cooperation from Disney executives and resort staff to help collect these photos. For the deluxe and DVC resorts, we’ve got pictures of most of the first-floor rooms at every resort. For upper-floor rooms, we’ve got sample photos from different parts of each wing or building, showing the approximate view you’ll get at each room.

If you’ve got photos of the view from your room at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, please email them to us! You’ll be helping out other families planning their visit.

Whether you’re taking a honeymoon or taking the kids on their first trip to Walt Disney World, we’ll help you find the perfect hotel room.

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Sneak Peek: Picture The View From Every All-Star Movies Room is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

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