The Four Seasons Orlando (Part 1)

Ed. – To hear (literally,™ James Hill) more about the Four Seasons, listen to Steve and Paula Bloom on today’s episode of the WDW Today podcast.

The Four Seasons Orlando is the newest resort at Walt Disney World. My in-laws, wife, and two children visited the Four Seasons Resort September 18-21. After the Touringplans Everywhere trip in October we will do a blog post comparing the deluxe resorts in Orlando. This blog post is going to focus on our experience at the Four Seasons.

While the Four Seasons Orlando is expensive the cost is in-line with other Four Seasons resorts and the high end of the Disney deluxe resorts. Currently the Four Seasons is offering a 50% discount to Florida residents, and a third night free special. The chart below shows the cheapest available room at different Four Seasons Resorts for November 13-16. The Disney resorts listed are prices if available.

The Orlando Four Seasons is the largest Four Seasons with 444 guest rooms, but is smaller than any of the Disney hotels. The standard rooms either have a king-sized bed and pull-out sofa or 2 double beds.

The service at the Four Seasons is top notch. 27% of the staff are transfers from other Four Seasons properties, which means they come with experience and knowledge of the Four Seasons brand. From the moment we arrived, we experienced the quality of service. The doorman escorted us from our car to check-in. After an efficient check-in process the receptionist took us to our room and showed us around. Moments later when the bell-hop brought our luggage up he gave us a more in-depth tour of our room including an orientation to the technology in the room.

The hotel has 2 different Wi-Fi options. We used the complimentary one and had no issues. There is a paid Wi-Fi option with higher bandwidth. Each room has its own iPad. The tablet replaces many items in a typical hotel room. It is the alarm clock, radio, resort map, resort information, event guide, weather report, and newspapers. The room had plenty of plugs for all our gadgets. At the night stand there were four outlets and two USB power ports.

Instead of a door hanger for privacy there was a button next to the bed to change the color of the doorbell: red meaning privacy (do not enter) and green when you are ready for housekeeping services. When we indicated that we did not want to be disturbed, housekeeping left a note with a phone number to call when we were ready for their services. There were two televisions, a large flat screen TV, and a small screen embedded in the mirror in the bathroom. Our never-one-to-initiate-hygiene 10-year-old son was so excited about the mirror TV he said he’d be brushing his teeth a lot during the trip. Both TVs had DVRs so you could record upcoming programs. The room also had a Bose Bluetooth speaker that you could connect the iPad or your personal device to.

The Four Seasons does not forget the kids. During check-in each kid was given a draw string backpack and a passport for a scavenger hunt. When we arrived in the room, the bed had a welcome note for my daughter, a baseball cap, water bottle, magazine, and a kid’s robe. (It was a bit odd because we had 2 children on the reservation, but our son happened to not be with us at check-in.) Shortly after the bell-hop left, housekeeping stopped by with a silver tray with welcome notes to each kid, cold milk, and chocolate alligators. Each day there was a small gift for one of the kids. We ended up with three chocolate alligators, three water bottles, three magazines, two baseball caps, and a Four Seasons Rubik’s Cube.

The scavenger hunt sent the kids around the resort, ending at Lickety-Splits, a café, for a free gelato. The Four Seasons has a complimentary kids club for kids age 4-12. Our 10-year-old son loved it. They had the latest video games. Kids could do organized group activities or one-on-one games with a staff member. Lunch is available at the kids club. Outside of the kids club they had pool, table tennis, foosball, and other games that anyone could enjoy. Also at “The Mansion” (the name for the outdoor games area) is a climbing wall, sand volleyball and a basketball courts. Close to the golf course are three clay tennis courts.

The pool and grounds are the most impressive we’ve seen on Walt Disney World property. The pool area is five acres. The landscaping around the pool areas has a natural tropical feel. Closer to the hotel the landscaping is more formal. The pool area includes an adult pool, family pool, 11,000 square-foot lazy river, and a splash zone. The splash zone includes two 242-foot water slides. Cabanas are at both the family and adult pools. Currently they are free, but we were told by staff that in the future the cost will be $200 a day. Even without a cabana there are many secluded areas to enjoy the pools. The pool area at the Four Seasons is about twice as large as Storm-a-Long Bay at the Beach and Yacht Club Resorts, but serves 1/3 the number of guests. (Yacht Club 630 rooms, Beach Club 583 rooms and 282 villas, Four Seasons 444 rooms/suites.)

The hotel has a full-service spa and fitness center, as well as a beautiful late check-out lounge that allows use of the showers and bathrooms in the spa. The top 3 floors of the hotel are under construction, and amenities such as a teen club, retail stores, 2 restaurants and a golf course are not yet open.

The hotel has a Disney Planning Center manned by Disney cast members. The cast members can help with tickets, reservations, or any other Disney needs. The hotel offers luxury motor coach service to the four parks. There are two bus routes. One goes to Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. The other bus route goes to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. They each leave once an hour but are staggered so that one bus leaves the hotel every 30 minutes. Disney does package delivery to the Four Seasons. Staying at the Four Seasons does not, however, qualify guests for Extra Magic Hours, 60-day FastPass+ reservations, or use of Magical Express from the airport.

The Four Seasons is not a resort for everyone. This is definitely a splurge for those who plan to spend time and enjoy the resort. If you enjoy the Disney Deluxe resorts and want an upgrade in service, give the Four Seasons a chance.