Disney World hotels aren’t your average hotels. These are magical places where magical experiences, meals, and memories occur! They’re also places where RIDICULOUS things can — sometimes — happen!
Caribbean Beach Resort
We’re not talking random cameos from Disney characters, either. No, we’re talking about the MOST ridiculous things to ever happen at Disney World hotels, so buckle up!
Especially over the past year, Disney World hotels have been ALL over the place with changes, closures, re-openings, and menu changes, but the resorts have been making silly/confusing/WILD choices for YEARS, and based on recent happenings, it doesn’t look like this pattern is changing any time soon!
Contemporary Resort Construction
From some puzzling buffet setups to some unexpected wake-up calls, these are the most ridiculous things to ever happen at Disney World hotels!
Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
The Time the NBA Got Their Disney Bubble Barber Shop
Prior to 2020, the phrase “the NBA got their own Disney Bubble barber shop” wouldn’t even seem like a cohesive thought, but of all the crazy things that have happened at Disney World hotels as a result of the pandemic, this takes the prize!
NBA Barbershop Beyond the Big Blue Wall
The NBA Bubble was HUGE news when they were quarantining at Disney World hotels in 2020. Considering how long-term the stint was, it’s no surprise that some interesting developments emerged…like NBA-run coffee shops? Even crazier was that time we spotted an NBA-branded barbershop behind the big blue wall at the Grand Floridian! It truly was their own little world in there!
Check out more of the weird world of the NBA at Disney World here!
When Art of Animation Went Art-Less
An art hotel without art is like the Rivers of America without an actual river! It just…doesn’t feel right. Which is why it was so jarring to see the Art of Animation literally ERASING its art!
Art of Animation is missing something
Granted, it was thankfully only for a brief moment, as the hotel got a facelift, but it was still a surreal sight to see iconic Disney faces being painted over!
Check out this quick update here!
When We All Stopped Screaming For Ice Cream
Of all the MANY amazing ice cream desserts in Disney World, the Kitchen Sink Sundae at Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts takes the cake! Literally, this behemoth is filled with cake (among numerous other things)!
The Kitchen Sink Sundaes at Disney’s Beach Club Resort
Part of the appeal of the Kitchen Sink Sundae has always been the pomp and circumstance that came upon ordering it — and by that we mean Cast Members do a whole song and dance as they bring it to your table. Flashing lights, cheers, and lots of attention were a big part of the appeal of ordering this. But last year, that all stopped! As a pandemic precaution, there was no more screaming. We totally get it, but it definitely felt odd ordering something this over-the-top and then just quietly eating it like it’s the most casual thing in the world.
See why we love the Kitchen Sink here!
When Caribbean Beach Resort Made Guests Eat in a Tent
Well, guests at Caribbean Beach Resort probably didn’t sign up for this! It sounds like something from Fyre Festival, but one time in 2017, during a big renovation, the hotel set up a buffet area…in a tent, while Banana Cabana and the restaurant formerly known as Shutters (now Sebastian’s Bistro) were closed. Sounds like a BIT of a downgrade from the normal dining options, and to make things even MORE ridiculous, the hotel charged guests the same price!?
Seating in Temporary Food Area during the refurbishment…in a tent
In case all that wasn’t bizarre enough, Caribbean Beach REALLY learned into the craziness by making guests visit random hotel rooms for snacks! Like, they literally turned guest rooms into pop-up snack stands to help ease the hurt of the quick service location being closed. 2017 was truly a time (remember when THAT sort of thing seemed like the weirdest thing we’d encounter in Disney World. Ahh to be young!)
That Time the Grand Floridian Thought Tomato Bisque Was Secret Menu-Worthy
Disney World is FILLED with secret menu items, which are always fun to track down and discover! Usually, these secretive items are understandably discreet, because they’re extra special or extra intensive, or both! But tomato bisque seems like a bit of a head-scratcher.
Shhh this tomato bisque is a secret apparently
Listen, we love a good tomato bisque. It’s comforting and wholesome, and pure creamy goodness! But it’s nothing fancy, ya know? Which is why it was so surprising to see that Grand Floridian Cafe was hiding their tomato bisque as a secret menu item?! We definitely licked the bowl clean, but we’re still not sure why we needed to covertly ask a Cast Member for it… . Ooodles of Disney locations have tomato bisque. What’s next, secret menu chicken tenders?
Check out this SUPER SECRET soup here!
The TWO Times the Polynesian Tried to Convert Us to Rice Lovers
With certain foods we can’t get enough of, we’re creatures of habit. This is 100% true of the noodles at ‘Ohana at the Polynesian Village Resort, which have been a longtime side dish — and a fan favorite! But then in 2019, the unthinkable occurred: Noodle-pocalypse.
Give us our noodles back!
The restaurant discreetly started replacing noodles with fried rice, which is delicious, but come on. You can’t casually take away our favorite food and think we won’t notice! Even weirder? ‘Ohana gave us a panic attack recently by previewing their soon-to-reopen menu with NO NOODLES IN SIGHT. Fortunately, it was a false alarm and the noodles returned safe and sound, but this emotional roller coaster needs to stop!
Reunited with our sweet NOODS! Check it out here!
When We Found Ourselves Sitting Outside Our Hotel at 2:45AM
Wake-up calls are a common occurrence at Disney World hotels. After all, you need to be WIDE awake to snag those Rise of the Resistance pay-per-ride Lightning Lane slots! But a fire alarm in the dead of night that requires guests to go sit outside at 2:45AM? No thanks!
Credit: @alexileigh412 on Instagram
Random fire alarms actually happen more often than people realize, including at Pop Century and most recently at Wilderness Lodge, but that doesn’t make them any less ridiculous!
Disney’s Pop Century
This happens more often than you’d think but, especially if you have small kiddos with you, a middle-of-the-night wake-up call can be the WORST. Talk about being cranky in the morning!
Whether Disney is hitting the “mute” button on its ice cream sundaes or making us eat buffet food in a tent, these memorable moments definitely qualify as some of the most ridiculous things to ever happen at Disney World hotels!
Which Disney World Resort Will You NEVER Stay In Again? Here’s What Our Readers Said!
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What’s the most ridiculous thing that’s happened to YOU at a Disney World hotel? Let us know in the comments!
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Add one more. Forcing guests to wear masks outside. No science to back that up. You just end up with stupid vacation pictuires.
This might be normal, but on my first solo stay @ Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort back in early 2020, I walked all the way to my room in Aruba, but my magic band didn’t work, so I had to walk all the way back to Guest Servies w my luggage, explain the problem, and then go ALL the way back AGAIN, where it finally worked!
Benjamin, sadly I’ve heard of this happening quite a bit over the years.
Sadly my family was one of many eating in a tent 🤦♀️And then a guest licked a spoon and put it back with other spoons, I told a cast member!
To be fair chicken tenders and french fries ARE secret menu items at many Disney table service restaurants