Review : Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort

Arriving at Orlando International Airport, allow between 30 and 60 minutes by car to get there, depending on the time of day and the frequent traffic on the stretch of I-4 near SeaWorld. If you want to avoid freeway tolls on purpose, don’t forget to plan your journey accordingly and allow a little extra time.

The hotel is an integral part of the prestigious Golden Oak neighborhood, a residential island of exclusivity nestled in the heart of the Walt Disney World Resort‘s enchantment. With convenient access to parks, world-class golf courses and a host of entertainment options, the resort offers a harmonious balance of relaxation and adventure. Here you’ll find a haven where opulence meets enchantment, making it the perfect gateway to the enchanting world of Disney.

The Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort is one of the most expensive hotels in the Walt Disney World territory. This luxury resort is not owned by Disney, but is located on Disney’s land. The focus is clearly on the Four Seasons brand first, not the Disney brand, and the word order in the hotel name reflects this distinction and partnership, with the emphasis on the Four Seasons brand front and center.

When you arrive at the hotel, you must use the valet to park. The price is 42 USD per day.

Conveniently located across from the front desk, the Disney Planning Center can facilitate guests’ plans to enjoy the Disney parks, whether for tickets, restaurant reservations or special events with the characters.

In the lobby, there’s an interactive screen with a map of the property that young and old can use to locate the various places on the hotel grounds.

Four Seasons guests receive free round-trip transportation to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Luxury coaches transport customers in style and comfort. There’s usually an hourly coach to each park.

Room rates at this resort can vary considerably depending on the time of year and the type of room or suite you choose. The cheapest rates are very rarely below 1,200 USD per night (in low season). As a small consolation, no resort fee is added to the bill.

The hotel has 443 rooms, including 68 suites, spread over 17 floors. We have room 923. It’s a standard room called the “Golden Oak View Room”, approximately 500 square feet in size. The view to the east is spectacular.

From our balcony, we also have a view of people coming and going to the entrance.

We love everything about this room: the balcony, the hypoallergenic bedding, the cozy bathrobes, the TV screen in the bathroom mirror, the twice-daily maid service, and so on.

Rooms are equipped with electronic tablets that guests can use to order 24-hour room service, check menus at on-site restaurants or book spa appointments.

Five pools are spread across a huge five-acre (approx. two-hectare) playground.

The “Oasis” pool is for adults only, and is the one and only pool reserved exclusively for adults among all the hotels on Walt Disney World territory.

This infinity pool is surrounded by towering cypress and palm trees, all lined up in perfect symmetry. With its view over the lake, the swimming pool invites you to relax. It even features an underwater audio system.

For the whole family, there are several other pools, including a 7,500-square-foot one, as well as a “lazy river” that meanders through a magnificent tropical setting.

Even the so-called “splash pad”, usually modest in size with a few water jets for toddlers, takes on gigantic dimensions here with unique architecture!

Water slides, a climbing wall and a basketball court complete the range of fun activities available around the pools.

The Capa restaurant (Spanish steakhouse cuisine) on the 17th floor of the hotel was unfortunately closed for renovations at the time of our visit. We had planned to dine there to admire the fireworks at Magic Kingdom and Epcot on the restaurant’s outdoor terrace. The location would have been ideal to observe them, as it is only 3.5 km (as the crow flies) from each of these two parks.

For dinner, we opted for the Italian restaurant Ravello, located on the hotel’s terrace level. The plates were neatly presented and the service was impeccable. Needless to say, everything was delicious.

Here are photos of our meal.

The Ravello restaurant also offers breakfast with Disney characters every Thursday and Saturday.

For a coffee or gelato at any time of day, stop off at the Lickety Split café.

The Four Seasons hotel chain has no loyalty program.

Indeed, Four Seasons hotels place great emphasis on providing exceptional service and a personalized experience for every guest. They believe that every customer should feel special, regardless of their status in a loyalty program. By not having a loyalty program, they avoid any differentiation in service quality between customers.

Four Seasons hotels have built a solid brand reputation for luxury and high-quality service. This reputation often leads to a loyal customer base with no need for a formal loyalty program.

That said, there is still a way with some credit cards to get a free or discounted night at a hotel in that chain: you have to rely on generic booking portals linked to certain credit cards, which allow you to use their points to pay for the travel expense in full or in part.

Here are two ways you can redeem points for a free or discounted room at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort using two of these credit cards.

First method: Use the points from your TD First Class Travel^® Visa Infinite* Card.

The TD First Class Travel^® Visa Infinite* Card earns TD Rewards points. You can redeem these points through the Expedia for TD booking portal. Every 200 TD Rewards points reduces the cost of travel by $1. For example, to reduce the cost of a room by $300, you’ll need to redeem 60,000 TD Rewards points.

Second method: Use the points on your Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card.

Similar to the first method, you can use the Expedia website dedicated to Scene+ to make your reservation, and earn or redeem Scene+ points. You can redeem 1,000 Scene+ points for a $10 credit to reduce your bill, or pay for your entire reservation in points. For example, you can redeem 30,000 points to reduce the cost of a room by $300.

There’s simply no equivalent to this hotel in the Walt Disney World area. Even the Waldorf Astoria Orlando, Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes and JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes hotels can’t match the product offered by the Four Seasons brand, which delivers an upscale experience from start to finish.

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