Family, travel, mom blog | Theme Park Mom (Leigh Caldwell)

Bay Lake Tower, the newest Disney Vacation Club resort, opens today. This luxurious new property is attached to the Contemporary Resort, and villas offer views of either Bay Lake or the Magic Kingdom.

I have written about the Bay Lake Tower before. In honor of its opening, I wanted to give you a look at some of the (not-so-)Hidden Mickeys that add to the Disney experience here.

First up is the gorgeous modern decor in the Bay Lake Tower lobby. It includes this end table with a set of familiar ears.

Next up is a Hidden Mickey in the rug of a Grand Villa’s living room.

You can spot a familiar face in the silver finish of the Bay Lake Tower’s elevator doors.

And there are more than just random circles in the green coverlet in this Bay Lake Tower bedroom.

Finally, though I would not classify these as “hidden,” Mickey is prominent in the Bay Lake Tower’s new pool area, especially on the waterslide.

The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort is offering a new tool for travelers planning to stay at the resort, an app for iPhone and iTouch users.

This application allows hotel guests and those planning a stay to get detailed information on the Swan and Dolphin Resort, including a video tour, information on guest rooms and dining options and a detailed map to help you navigate the resort’s 87 acres.

The hotel’s iPhone app was developed with the help of Florida State University’s College of Business.

The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin has 2,265 guest rooms, restaurants, recreation areas and meeting facilities within the Walt Disney World Resort. The Swan and Dolphin are in the EPCOT resort area, in between EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The hotel is managed by Starwood and each room has my favorite hotel bed – the Westin Heavenly Bed.

You can download the new iPhone app at the Apple App Store or through the resort’s Web site.

There’s a new option for stays at the Caribbean Beach Resort at Walt Disney World: rooms themed around
“Pirates of the Caribbean.”

The Caribbean Beach Resort is considered a “moderate” in Disney lingo, which hits in the middle of the pricing (and the amenities offered) at the three classes of Walt Disney World resorts – deluxe, moderate and value.

This resort is really a village, with more than 2, 100 rooms in 33 two-story buildings. The buildings are grouped into six villages named after Caribbean Islands, such as Martinique and Jamaica. Each of those villages has its own white-sand beach, pool, playground and bus stop for Disney transportation.

These guests areas are all set around Barefoot Bay, the Caribbean Beach Resort’s lake. The resort’s Old Port Royale has a food court, Shutters table-service restaurant, shopping and a large pirate-themed pool with a water slide and a hot tub.

The new pirate-themed rooms at the Caribbean Beach Resort are in the Trinidad South section of the Walt Disney World hotel. The swash-buckling decor includes carpet made to look like plank flooring, bedding printed with gold coins and other pirate treasure and dark wood furnishings made to resemble ship’s wheels, barrels and treasure chests. These guest rooms come with two double beds, and there is room for a cot (available from the resort for an extra charge), a pack-and-play or a sleeping bag for a fifth person to stay in the room.

That’s Stefanie checking out the curtain separates the sink and bathroom area from the rest of the guest room. These curtains are a new addition since my last stay at the Caribbean Beach Resort, and I think they are a great idea, especially when a family is staying in the room. They add more privacy, and also allow parents to wake and begin getting ready in the morning before the children, without lighting up the whole room.

The Flying Dutchman is etched into the shower wall, lest you forget you are sailing with Capt. Jack Sparrow on this Walt Disney World trip.

These rooms are a fun place for a pirate-loving family to stay on your next trip to Walt Disney World. I’m thinking it would be especially fun to stay in one of these rooms for a birthday celebration, and treat the birthday boy or girl to a pirate makeover at the new Pirates League in the Magic Kingdom.

A one-night stay in the new pirate-themed rooms at the Caribbean Beach Resort starts at $174, that makes them $25 higher than stays in other rooms at this Walt Disney World hotel.

Here’s an amazing savings opportunity for a fall getaway at Walt Disney World.

The Holiday Inn in the Walt Disney World Resort is opening Nov. 15, and the hotel is offering a limited number of rooms at the rate of $57 per night from opening day through Dec. 21.

If you book in time, $57 will get you a room with a king bed and a sleeper sofa. If you would prefer two queen beds, the grand-opening rate is $67.

The Holiday Inn in the Walt Disney World Resort is within walking distance of Downtown Disney and offers transportation to all the Walt Disney World theme parks. All the rooms accommodate four people and come with the Holiday Inn “Kids Eat Free” offer.

You can book the discounted rooms online. After the special rate rooms are sold, rooms at this new hotel in Orlando will go start at $110 per night.