Would You Stay in an Adults-Only Disney Resort?

[Moliphino]

Not sure why you quoted me, but I havea funny story of my own.

Was once on a funny filed trip/nature walk. The kindergarteners were a bit loud, but the adult leader was far LOUDER! The kids were excited to see squirrels and fall leaves, but they were eager to hear her, and were just overall enthusiastic to be outdoors. The woman leading the walk kept yelling, "IF YOU AREN'T QUIET WE WON'T SEE ANY ANIMALS! YOU WILL SCARE THEM AWAY!"

If anyone was scaring off animals, it was 100% her. She also had the very annoying habit of continuously talking down to everyone. She kept warning them to be careful where they stepped and all, while not doing herself what she was telling us to do. I held my tongue, but our escort was very annoying.

Just as we were almost to the nature center, just as she was AGAIN shouting something inane while walking backwards, she nearly stepped on the biggest black rat snake I have ever seen! It was huge!

She just about jumped out of her skin!

It was absolutely hilarious! The kids were overjoyed to see such a big snake. As annoying as she had been, the students had an excellent story to tell everyone, so it made up for having to endure her.

It was in response to the "Children are no more disruptive than many adults" comment. They are, on the whole, much louder than most adults.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

It was in response to the "Children are no more disruptive than many adults" comment. They are, on the whole, much louder than most adults.

You reminded me of a fun day! So it is all good.

I've suffered through enough sporting events to say adult sports-crowds are louder than your average class of schoolchildren.

 

[Chili327]

This is like a bad sit-com. How many times are people going to write versions of this:
"I'm not a kid hater.... but I hate being around kids".
"I'm not a kid hater.... but I'd love having no kids around".

You don't ever enjoy a little quiet time?

 

[jtopp]

How profitable would a specialty hotel be? the failure of the star wars themed experience shows that it might not be a good idea. All adults, however, might work on a limited basis. The success of the non park resorts are largely based on fewer families and more mature clients

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

How profitable would a specialty hotel be? the failure of the star wars themed experience shows that it might not be a good idea. All adults, however, might work on a limited basis. The success of the non park resorts are largely based on fewer families and more mature clients

You're comparing two widely different things IMO.

 

[Moliphino]

You reminded me of a fun day! So it is all good.

I've suffered through enough sporting events to say adult sports-crowds are louder than your average class of schoolchildren.

Yeah, but that's an environment where you're supposed to be loud and cheer. Children don't tend to differentiate as well.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yeah, but that's an environment where you're supposed to be loud and cheer. Children don't tend to differentiate as well.

I take it that person has never been behind a kid screaming in your ear at a sporting event either. You know that scream that makes you wince in pain? Through several hours of a football game no less. A kid's scream hits differently on the ears.

But I agree with you that a sporting event is different and as much as my ears hurt (and they did), with the kid who was also throwing popcorn just haphazardly all around, it was more expected than what you mentioned with a train.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Yeah, but that's an environment where you're supposed to be loud and cheer. Children don't tend to differentiate as well.

We'll have to agree to disagree, I think.
Adults set the rules on when adults are allowed to be loud.

Children are plenty capable of being quiet. Here are some examples:

An auditorium full of children will almost always be silent if they are watching a classic Disney movie, except the parts where they are supposed to laugh. The opening shot of the castle = Pavlovian silence.

For that matter, I've even seen children sit still for C-Span! (I know middle schoolers who annually all film and create their own documentary videos for the C-Span contest every year. They are very serious about the project.) https://www.studentcam.org/

Just about every WDW hotel lobby plays Disney cartoons. Kids of all ages gravitate to those screens. I almost always find children silently transfixed when I visit any WDW hotel lobby. I invite you to take a look on your next WDW visit.

Turtle Talk in the Living Seas in another place to find well-behaved children.

Another fun stop is the drawing class in Animal Kingdom. Very young children sometimes get bored or overwhelmed, but most children work hard to complete their sketch, at least all the times I've taken the class, It is free, and great fun.

 

[Chili327]

How profitable would a specialty hotel be? the failure of the star wars themed experience shows that it might not be a good idea. All adults, however, might work on a limited basis. The success of the non park resorts are largely based on fewer families and more mature clients

Let’s try it at a small new place near BWV/BCV, and see how it goes.

 

[ttintagel]

The only drawback I can see is that it would probably be way more expensive than I could afford. Like that airline that recently announced they will be offering an adults-only section is making those seats more expensive. The result will be that parents in the general seating area will make even less of an effort than they currently do to keep their kids from creating a disturbance, and adults who can't afford the adults-only seats will have it even worse than they do now.

 

[JPPT1974]

As long as it is not that bad and just really for adults who want to get away from real life.

 

[Jwaire]

Some of the comments on this thread lack any knowledge of Disney World history whatsoever.

I hate to break it to some of you, but the Polynesian and Contemporary were not geared toward children when they first opened. If you go back and look, they offered bars with nightly live entertainment, salon and barber services, antique and clothing shopping, spas, fitness centers, real steakhouses, upscale "exotic" restaurants, adult recreation like boating and sailing, etc.

It was very much an upscale adult experience. Disney didn't prevent you from bringing your child, but those resorts were not catered to or designed for children like now. They built the first child care center at the Poly so parents could drop their kids off and go enjoy the nightlife. Even Chef Mickey's was once a high-end steakhouse.

The Grand Floridian had very similar amenities too.

Disney did not start making their hotels "family oriented" until the mid-1990's.

So it wouldn't surprise me if Disney decided to build an adult-oriented Four Seasons-like resort on property surrounded by a new golf course.

Will they ban kids like Virgin? No, but it's easy to not market or appeal to adults with children.

As for Pleasure Island, it didn't close because of drunks. It closed because it was located between the West Side and Marketplace and it's a lot more profitable to rent out high-end shopping spaces than run a bunch of nightclubs.

 

[gmi3804]

We'll have to agree to disagree, I think.

No, we don't.

It's typical of these forums that the discussion has devolved into arguments over which age group is louder.

 

[goofyintoronto]

But, to make an exclusive resort sort of makes me think of Virgin cruise line following the same model in terms of age restrictions.

Yeah, and a hot tub on a Virgin cruise ship is just about the last place on earth you'd find me, if you know what I mean.

Im going on my first adults only/Virgin cruise next month. Hot tubs scare me as it is! I dont go into hot tubs ever.....I would definitely NOT go into one on an adult cruise.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Some of the comments on this thread lack any knowledge of Disney World history whatsoever.

I hate to break it to some of you, but the Polynesian and Contemporary were not geared toward children when they first opened. If you go back and look, they offered bars with nightly live entertainment, salon and barber services, antique and clothing shopping, spas, fitness centers, real steakhouses, upscale "exotic" restaurants, adult recreation like boating and sailing, etc.

It was very much an upscale adult experience. Disney didn't prevent you from bringing your child, but those resorts were not catered to or designed for children like now. They built the first child care center at the Poly so parents could drop their kids off and go enjoy the nightlife. Even Chef Mickey's was once a high-end steakhouse.

The Grand Floridian had very similar amenities too.

Disney did not start making their hotels "family oriented" until the mid-1990's.

I agree, some people don't know the history of WDW very well. I've been going to WDW for over 50 years. I distinctly recall visiting WDW as a small child.

I remember the original Concourse. The Contemporary had a 1970's style cafeteria. The whole places seemed magical to me. The idea that there could be a hotel with a monorail running through it, with shops and dining.

Back then you could - pretty easily- go up to the top floor lounge as a family. I'd get a Shirly Temple while my folks had an adult beverage, and we'd all enjoy the view and the comfy chairs for a bit. That was a real treat.

We could not afford to stay there. We stayed offsite. Along the monorail rote headed to MK were topiaries in the shape of assorted Disney characters!

My hometown had an excellent Polynesian restaurant, so my parents weren't as excited about the Poly.

HARD disagree though that it wasn't child friendly. We had different expectations in the 1970's to be certain. It was the only place my folks let their inner child out. That was the magic of WDW, and what made it so unique.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

It's typical of these forums that the discussion has devolved into arguments over which age group is louder.

Disney has had some 50 years of operation. If they wanted to open an adults-only hotel, they would have.

If they want to open one in the future, they will.

 

[bookgirl]

It would not be the deciding factor as I care more about the vibe as it related to my preferences (rooms, food, decor, location, price, etc).

But all other things being equal between two resorts and one was child free I'd probably try the child free resort.

 

[DisneyHardin]

This is like a bad sit-com. How many times are people going to write versions of this:
"I'm not a kid hater.... but I hate being around kids".
"I'm not a kid hater.... but I'd love having no kids around".

I'm an elementary school librarian. I love my job and my students, but that doesn't mean I want to be around children 24/7.

 

[gmi3804]

Disney has had some 50 years of operation. If they wanted to open an adults-only hotel, they would have.

If they want to open one in the future, they will.

That wasn't the question that OP asked.

 

[danceintherain]

I was in the parks in November. There were plenty of adult only guests. So many that I actually mentioned it to my daughter (17) during the trip. Twice on the friendship boats there were ZERO kids. None. Not one.

Disney loves DINKS and SINKS (lol). Some have a lot of disposable income Disney would love to get their hands on. And in their own way they cater to them with adult only experiences in the parks (tequila tasting, V&A).

The last trip I went on with my kids, my mom noticed how many adults were there without children. She hadn't gone there outside of school breaks since she lived in Orlando. Then she ended up going without kids last year, because that's where her sister wanted to go for her 60th birthday. They had a blast.

There's certainly a market for kid-free travelers. Probably more of a market than there was for Star Wars enthusiasts willing to pay $8000 for a 2 night trip and they tried that.

I have 4 kids, and sometimes travel without my children. DH and I actually considered doing the Galactic Starcruiser without the kids, because it's very difficult to fully immerse in anything with the kids along. But, the timeline just didn't work out for us to go with or without the kids.