Resorts & Related Characters

Did you know that many Walt Disney World resorts are the "home" of certain Disney characters. With the exception of value resorts, most resorts pay homage consistently to a particular character or set of characters. Sometimes this is expressed in the art and landscaping, and other times you can actually meet the characters. In this article, we explore which characters "sponsor" these resorts.

Value Resorts

Art of Animation

We feel Art of Animation can hardly be called a value resort, but it is, and it is one of a new breed. While Pop Century and the All Stars resorts have very subtle character connections, there is nothing subtle about Art of Animation. The large pool is Nemo themed, and the rooms exist in three neighborhoods: Little Mermaid (standard rooms), Lion King (suites), and Cars (suites). That means you are going to see depictions and sculptures of the characters from all of those movies throughout the resort. In fact, we think the Cars wing is so detailed that it feels like you're in Radiator Springs.

Moderate resorts

Caribbean Beach Resort

With it's Caribbean feel, it should be no surprise that this resort is associated with the characters from The Little Mermaid. While none of the characters make an appearance at this resort, you will find a few references to them. For example, the table service restaurant here is called Sebastian's. The resort also recently began a renovation of rooms, including converting some rooms to "Little Mermaid Rooms". Don't worry - the theming of these rooms is not as heavy-handed as it is with the Little Mermaid rooms over at Art of Animation.

Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter

While this resort existed long before the movie The Princess and the Frog was even a glimmer in the eye of Disney Studios, these characters fit right in at this resort, or should we say these resorts, since Riverside and French Quarter are technically two different resorts, both based on the deep South. At Riverside, the themed royal rooms pay homage to Princess Tiana and her other Prince and Princess friends. And it's hard not to think of Tiana while at French Quarter, grabbing some beignets.

Coronado Springs Resort

The original portion of this resort, with its Southwest feel, is associated with the Three Caballeros: Donald, Panchito, and Jose Carioca. This is found in the landscaping through use of topiaries and in the name of the gift shop, Panchito's sundries. When Gran Destino Tower was added, the character association here was even more obscure. The name comes from a short the Disney Studio worked on with none other than Salvador Dali called "Destino". In the film, Chronos, the Greek God of time, falls in love with a mortal woman named Dahlia. Production on this short started in 1940 but was halted by World War II, and finished only many years later under Roy Disney's oversight. Therefore, while you won't find characters you might consider "Disney characters" here, you will find homage to Walt, Roy, and Dali throughout the tower.

Deluxe resorts & DVC

Grand Floridian

The one constant of the Grand Floridian seems to be Cinderella herself. She, and her Prince Charming, make appearances near the grand staircase in the grand lobby of this resort, even doing a little dance. Beyond Cinderella, the Grand Floridian seems to be updating its image and character associations. It used to be that Mary Poppins and the characters from Winnie the Pooh graced a character meal at 1900 Park Fare. This dining location closed during COVID and is only now re-opening 4 years later to a new line-up of Cinderella, Mirabel, Aladdin, and Tiana.... and we have so many questions. Like, what do these characters even have in common? Nonetheless, that's your line-up of characters you can actually meet at the Grand Floridian. Beyond that, though, we still feel like Mary Poppins will forever be associated with this resort.

Polynesian

Of course, you are going to find Lilo and Stich here, with a surprising addition of Pluto who somehow pulls off hanging out with the islanders. You'll find them at the character dining at Ohana, and also the merchandise heavily skews toward their merch. In the past few years, Moana has joined the ranks as well, but really only appears in room decor. Or should we say, Maui's tattoos appear.

Contemporary

When we think of the Contemporary Resort, we think of the most vanilla of options, and for the most part, that's what we get in terms of characters. It's going to be the Fab Five over here, for the most part. At Chef Mickey's you will have a chance to meet Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald, and most of the motifs around the resort are a take on Mickey shapes. One place this changes is in rooms, which are being refurbished to be modestly themed to the Incredibles. That's probably because the Contemporary Resort was built to represent the future as envisioned in the 70s, and that goes hand in hand with the setting and architecture you can find in the Incredibles.

Riviera Resort

The Riviera Resort's halls are graced with lots of art, and the art depicts, subtly, themes from a few European-setting Disney characters: Peter Pan, Rapunzel, and, very subtly, Cinderella. A large mosaic outside in a courtyard is perhaps the best representation of this, where the lanterns from Tangled rise opposite the stars from Peter Pan to meet at the top. Meanwhile, over at Topolino's Terrace, the character breakfast includes Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, and Donald in European attire, probably in an attempt to draw more people to dine there with the "main" characters, though, I, for one, would certainly not mind a meal with Peter Pan and Rapunzel. Can you imagine the hijinks?

Beach and Yacht Club

Disney's Beach Club and Disney's Yacht Club are really two sister resorts, but they are so close to each other and share so many amenities, we thought we'd lump them together. And it's good we did, because references to characters in the theming here are going to be few and far between. One place you'll find characters is at a character breakfast at Cape May Cafe, where Minnie, Mickey, Donald, and Daisy are in beach attire.

Saratoga Springs

This resort may have the most unique character sponsors of them all, because they are all horses that have appeared in Disney movies! And what a long history of horses it has been, stretching from Horace Horsecollar (1929) from Disney's first short that featured a horse, to Major the Horse (the horse who pulls Cinderella's pumpkin carriage), to more modern Disney horses like Phillipe from Beauty and the Beast, Maximus from Tangled, and Bullseye from Toy Story. Who is your favorite Disney horse?

Animal Kingdom Lodge

The theme here is appreciably subtle when it comes to characters, though the connection to Disney's Lion King is difficult not to make. So much so that although the resort originally did not contain reference to the Lion King characters, there are now refurbished Lion King rooms facing the savannah with more overt references to the movie, such as the sunrise at the opening credits.

Wilderness Lodge

We personally think Wilderness Lodge is having an identity crisis similar to that of the Grand Floridian, where the character dining has taken on a life of its own, regardless of the theme of the resort in which it's located. Wilderness Lodge is themed after America's National Parks and we might expect to see woodland creatures like Chip and Dale, or the Jackalope from the Pixar short (wouldn't that be cool?) but instead, at the Storybook Dining at Artist Point, we have.... Snow White and the Evil Queen. And even this exists here because it mimics the Storybook Dining at the Grand Californian at Disneyland, which is very similar in architecture to the Wilderness Lodge.

Fort Wilderness Campgrounds

Now, at least the campground got it right with having Chip and Dale. In fact, this is one situation where you don't even have to pay for a character meal to see characters. Chip and Dale are usually there in the evening at the campfire for marshmallow roasting.

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We hope you enjoyed this exploration of resorts and their associated characters. You might notice some resorts aren't listed here and that's because we couldn't find a strong tie to any characters in particular at them. And we have thoughts about the associations that do exist! The Grand Floridian doesn't make a lot of sense to me without Mary Poppins, and the Wilderness Lodge needs more woodland creatures like Bambi. We also think the Contemporary Resort's Atrium would make a perfect laugh floor and wouldn't mind seeing Monster's Inc. theming instead of the Incredibles.

What do you think of the character references at resorts? Tell us by coming over to our Facebook page and commenting on this article! Until next time...