What's up with De-theming the Resort Rooms?

[allsaintsatx]

DLH is a different class of hotel though. I don't feel like its fair to compare to pop.

I also don't know if we can really say is Pop is that sterile and disneyless unless someone has stayed in those rooms. Did I miss something? I thought the remodel was in progress?

Someone in this thread also mentioned an upgraded room at the yacht club which took out the rugs for a hardwood floor. I wasn't referencing the POP specifically per se, more making note of the trend to "clean" up the room in a refurbishment by taking away accents, pillows, runners, rugs, art that kinda stuff. While, as an example of it done right, the DLH retains its charm and magic but is also clean and modern. And has color. Practically a World of Color. Did you see what I did there?

 

[toonaspie]

DLH is a different class of hotel though. I don't feel like its fair to compare to pop.

I also don't know if we can really say is Pop is that sterile and disneyless unless someone has stayed in those rooms. Did I miss something? I thought the remodel was in progress?

A small number of the refurbished rooms in Pop are now open and there are a few tour videos up on Youtube by guests.

I think the DLH refurb happen prior to the new modern clean style becoming mainstream. That hotel will probably catch up in a few years time.

I'm of the agreement that the Pop refurb color scheme is bad. I would have gone for different color patterns based on the decade each room is in. The bathrooms look amazing however, so at least there's that.

 

[tcufrog]

Westcoastwild...

It's a Klimpton. Staying there was my dh' stipulation for going to SF for family vacation last summer. I loved it. It was fun and family friendly without pandering to the kids or making me feel like I was taking one for the team staying there. It felt like what Disney deluxe hotels should be.

 

[Aurora0427]

Eh, a bathroom wallpapered with Cthulhu sounds good in theory, but in practice, maybe not.

Seriously.... dying...

 

[DebbieB]

People complain about the theme change at BWV in the studios. It went from Pink and Green walls and a loud bedspread to seafoam green walls and the white duvet with runner. I personally like it better.

 

[Jennasis]

Disney should have looked at the Argonaut Hotel in San Francisco for inspiration. The hotel is nautical themed but the theming looks contemporary, sophisticated, and high end.

No. Just no. This looks awful.

Eh, a bathroom wallpapered with Cthulhu sounds good in theory, but in practice, maybe not.

Can't. breathe.

 

[Mrs. W]

I also like the more subtle theming and modern designs of the renovated hotel rooms.

I *always* stay on-site at WDW and I do so because of free parking and proximity to the parks. Hotel theming isn't a factor for me, so I'm fine with the recent renovations.

 

[Planogirl]

People keep saying that some of the changes make the rooms look like Holiday Inn Express. Um, I like to stay at Holiday Inn Express when on the road and frankly the rooms that I've seen from them aren't quite so dreary and colorless. JMO.

 

[3Gsandme]

I like the updates. They're tasteful and look much cleaner and less cluttered. I like the updates to Pop. The old rooms looked horrendous. Nearly all hotels at all price points have ditched the busy, polyester comforters and drapes.

 

[AnnitaR70]

I go to Disney for Disney! Therefore we love Art of Animation!
I can stay in a "tastefully" decorated hotel anywhere else. Disney for us is about being immersed in the experience.
To each their own... it's nice that there are enough choices for almost everyone's tastes.

 

[Chimaera]

While I agree the old rooms (especially at the Values) looked dated, I think there's a line that could be found between the "in your face" theming and the stark "hospital" look of the new Pop rooms. My wife loves the new look though, so I know where we'll be staying for our next Value trip.

 

[DLgal]

I have always hated the over the top themeing in the rooms. It always felt so disjointed and overwhelming. I like my hotel room to be calming and having all kinds of crazy patterns and colors and weird themed furniture and lamps was just too much sensory overload. I am all about themeing the outside of the hotel buildings,the lobbies, the pools, the grounds, etc. That is what sets Disney apart from other hotels. But I am loving this new look of the rooms. So much better.

 

[DLgal]

Answer: $$$.

That is all.

Generic furniture is easier to replace than custom made. It's also cheaper. So while the rates skyrocket, the quality decreases.... y'know, like the food.

Um, those Inova table bed things aren't cheap. They are much more expensive than the basic platform beds and simple table they had at Pop before.

Basically all the new furniture in Pop is higher quality than what was there before. Not to mention much larger TV's, larger mattresses, etc. You can call the Pop refurb, in particular, sterile or plain or whatever, but "cheap" isn't a word I would use to describe it. Cheap would have been changing the linens and slapping a coat of paint on the wall and calling it a day.

 

[daannzzz]

Many years back when they started removing the comforters and just putting a runner I thought it made the rooms looked like they were unmade and less colorful. I was amazed at how different the room looked without the comforter. But I understood why they did it. Now there are no runners and it looks more like the room is incomplete but I still understand why. It is something we just need to get use to. I do like all the themed rooms and was torn when they started this new style of remodel. Yes the strong themed elements are gone so it is a bit less fun but I think the rooms look a bit more upgraded and classy now. We were at WDW a month ago and stayed in 6 different locations (don't ask) 4 of which I had never stayed at before. 3 DVC, one Wilderness cabin, an Animation Suite and a moderate. The Boardwalk Inn Studio was awesome. I never liked the decor there previously and really love the new rooms. We had a 2 bedroom Beach Club Villa and it was very, very nice. It still felt a bit seaside themed but cleaner and nicer. OKW has not been touched and while I loved the layout of the studio and even the decor was fine the bathroom needs to be updated. I am sure these will be nice once remodeled. The Wilderness Cabin was wonderful. Art of Animation felt worn. I was never a fan of the interiors here as they look like they were decorated by K-Mart and are so in your face with the themeing. I understand they are for kids and we had one with us this time so he picked Nemo. It just felt cheap and tired and dirty, but I liked the bathrooms there. We got one of the newly remodeled rooms at Coronado Springs and loved it. It feels much upgraded and the the South Western theme is still present in the artwork and colors. I completely understand people who are disappointed with these changes. The rooms ARE less "fun" and themed and a bit more like offsite hotels, but I think they are more classy and cleaner and they still feel special because of where they are located.

 

[DisMomof2Princesses]

I really loved the room theming of the past. Although I think that the current 'clean lines' instead of theming looks fine, I do agree that Disney is losing something here. It IS possible to keep a modern, on trend look and still maintain a more individual and unique room decor at each resort. Where is the Disney imagination of the past? The designs are fine and tasteful (whatever that means, because style is a matter of personal preference. What is tasteful to one (Buckingham Palace) is overdone to another; and what is bland and boring to one (POP Century) is elegant to another.)

The magic of Disney is the ability to combine the immersive experience in a themed, while lovely, relaxing room. It does feel like it is being lost to the ordinary, but nice, category.

My opinion only, of course.

I agree!

 

[disneydacey]

Stayed in a refurbished room at BCV last year and LOVED it. Clean, modern, beautiful. It looked like a room at an upscale beach resort. Which is what it is supposed to look like. That's the theme. Stayed at AoA in a little mermaid room. Good god is it over the top. I'm okay with in your face theming in the park, not in my room.

 

[SorryI'mNotSorry]

The new Pop renovation is pretty confusing to me. The AofA rooms are so bright and cheery and the theming is great. Now you walk across the bridge and open one of the new Pop rooms and it looks like a hospital room. They couldn't even bother to put any paint on the walls. I don't get it. At all.

 

[rosiebean]

As someone who loves the deluxe hotels at WDW for their theming (including inside the room!), I think there's a happy medium between "over the top" and "it looks like any hotel in anywhere USA". I wasn't a fan of GF's rooms before the recent update, for example. Too much Victorian everywhere, IMO. I like the rooms now...a lot of white, but unique touches. But...in the most recent renovations at other hotels, WDW seems to be taking away the touches and leaving just...a lot of white.

To me:

Over the top = POR's Royal Rooms or AoA suites. I like both resorts and rooms! But they are kinda in your face...and some trips, I'm just not into that.

It looks like any hotel in anywhere USA = what BC kind of looks like and what Pop's new rooms look like. All white, kind of bland, and morphing quicker and quicker into a generic hotel room without cute little WDW touches (and by cute touches, I don't mean hidden Mickeys on every single surface or gaudy bedspreads).

I was never a fan of overly patterned carpet nor did I like bedspreads. But I liked the unique touches (especially in the deluxe resorts)....the headboards at YC, the fun Mickey Mouse lamp at BC (I think it was at BC...where he was on a lifeguard chair), and the most excellently themed throw pillows and runners at Poly.

Taking the runners and throw pillows away from Poly takes away from the theme of the room, IMO. Our room last fall at BC was nice, but I missed the unique and subtle Mickey touches (like the cute lamp). I preferred the look of the old BC rooms. I'll admit, I like the look of the new YC rooms (love the constellation drapes!), but I'm a bit disappointed overall that WDW seems to be turning rooms (including values...Pop renovation frankly looks like a hospital room) into very IMO generic hotel rooms. And I don't think it's because guests prefer that look. I think it's clllllll aboooouuuut the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

I love the location of the Swolfin resorts, but don't like staying there while at WDW because I like the theming of onsite hotels. As soon as onsite hotels start looking just like Swolfin rooms, I'll be at the Swolfin, getting the same great location and saving mega bucks.

 

[evilqueenmindy]

Years ago, not for Disney but for another event in Orlando, my cousin and I were broke, and split a room in Kissimmee that was "recently remodeled"
We were in this ugly room with this very light furniture that had a big armoire or drawer chest with pineapples on it in this loud coral/turquoise color. I couldn't figure out where I had seen it before. It looked pretty terrible, and the furniture was clearly old. We laughed about the "updated" room and moved on with our lives, never able to place the weird piece of furniture during our stay.
About a month later I was looking at pics of the Swan/Dolphin, which had been remodeled, and the site still had some old room pics.
Low and behold, the weird armoire with the pineapple doors had come from the Dolphin, the ones in good condition were sold to this "new" hotel.

So if you find yourself missing Disney theming in the rooms, don't worry, it might turn up in some random Ramada on international drive.

 

[Scott MC]

OP..
Thank you for starting this thread!
I had been contemplating starting a thread called "Bye Bye BedRunners" or "Where Have all the Pillows Gone?" for a bit now.

I love Disney resorts, especially Disney Deluxe resorts, and friends who know me well joke that for me, roughing it is a 3 1/2 star hotel, so I like my hotel rooms to be clean, updated, and comfortable. I understand that Disney has to keep up with the times and trends of the hotel industry and not bankrupt themselves, and I was actually liking the trend of removing the comforters and switching to white linens with colorful (often themed) bed runners and or pillows. I felt that this was a way to keep an air of whimsy in the room while competing with the local Sheraton, Marriott and heck the Swan and Dolphin (all of which, as we all know are monumentally cheaper than your average Disney deluxe resort).

But now that they're going with white on white on white in the bedding (removing the bed runners and pillows) the rest of the room lacking Mickey/Minnie lamps, or artwork that blatantly or not so blatantly shows your favorite characters immersed in the setting of your resort seems all the more glaring.

I'm indifferent to bare floor vs. rug, and I still like the white bedding, but the missing runners and pillows really does a number on making the room look finished or not. To those to whom it doesn't matter, and say that the theming of the room doesn't affect the feeling of theme in the rest of the resort, I tip my hat to you and say that I'm jealous, because for me, it really does matter. I will miss the theming, and I can only hope that if this boring bedding is the trend of the future at WDW resorts, then as they continue to remodel, the fun lamps/artwork/curtains might come back more noticeably.

Also, one more thought....if Disney is going for all white bedding, is it too much to ask to have a really posh looking duvet on the top? I was looking at the rooms at the S/D, the Waldorf, and the Ritz (all of which, at various times are cheaper than many Disney deluxe resorts) have heavenly looking fluffy top blankets/conforters/duvets. The fact that Disney is just triple sheeting the bed with plain white sheets looks really cheap comparatively.

Don't read this post as a complaint, but more a disappointment. We're spending 10 nights at the BC this summer and likely our honeymoon at BC or YC next summer, so we're still paying, but I just wish that the powers that be, could (and I know they can if they want to) be a little more creative in reminding guests that they are at a Disney resort, while still keeping up with the current styles.