Everything is Better at Disney, Even Golf.
It’s a running tag line around my house that “everything is better at Disney”. And while we say it in a joking manner, we also acknowledge that the statement carries a lot of truth. Disney’s over-obsession with customer service and guest satisfaction pours into everything that they do and it shows. From the cast members, attractions, food and fireworks that we have all come to know and love, Disney knows how to put just the right amount of magic into everything. But it’s not just the typical that Disney magic applies to. Disney offers so many “outside the box” activities that will touch on at another time but today we are going to talk about one of my favorites. Golf.
For years I was tormented by the illustrious greens and fairways as I waited at the bus stops of Saratoga Springs knowing that 18 holes were not going to fit into our plans this trip. “Next time”, that is what I would tell myself every trip as we would pass each of Disney’s majestic courses. That was until our trip in May of 2017.
What originally started off as a girls trip to Disney to check out the newly added Pandora in Animal Kingdom somehow morphed into an adult couples trip to check out Pandora and Universal. Now if you know me at all I am not a big roller coaster and rides person. (there’s is a reason I play golf) So when talks of Universal and Harry Potter came up about a trip with no kids I seized my moment. I love my wife, but I am not sure how much she would love me back if I tried to saddle her with 3 kids by herself in Disney while I chased a little white ball around on a golf cart. Marriage is a good thing and I wanted to keep it that way so I waited patiently for that perfect day and lo and behold it was upon me. I browsed all of the courses online and ultimately decided to play at Disney’s Lake Buena Vista Golf course. I have seen this course many times and passing so I figured I had a pretty good idea of what to expect, but believe me when I say I only had half of the picture painted.
On this particular trip, we drove but our car was going to be used to take the rest of our party to Universal that day so I figured I would be on my own for transportation. However, my amazing travel agent wife got with the clubhouse when booking my tee time and arranged for free transportation for me too and from the course. Now while they offer this service to all guest I like the think Tiffany pulled this string just for me because she loves me that much, so, for the time being, we will just go with that narrative because it fits the rest of the story. From the moment the cab pulled up to the resort I have never felt like such an important person. (to clarify, I am not but it sure felt nice to pretend) My clubs were loaded into the cab by a cast member and we were off in the stretch limo (ok, it was a Camry but hey…) to the course.
Upon arrival, I was greeted with the same great Disney service. As I went grab my clubs I realized I was too late. My clubs were already being loaded onto my golf cart and brought around to the other end of the clubhouse where I would find it after I checked in with my all my head covers already removed, an ice chest full of ice for any drinks that I wanted to keep cold, and a bucket of range balls for a quick warm up. So we were already starting off pretty good.
Obviously, I was golfing alone on what was already a pretty busy weekend so I was paired up with another duo. I introduced myself at the first tee box with all the intention in the world to just hang back as to not intrude on others. They quickly insisted that I was with them that day and that is how we proceeded. It had always been my experience that you will meet some of the nicest people on a Disney vacation and the golf course was no different. We proceeded to play the most magnificent 18 holes of my life. Now to be clear when I say magnificent holes I am in no way referring to my own game. I am solely referring to the magnificent facilities that Disney golf has to offer.
First off, the course layout was just about perfect. It’s slightly north of 6000 yards depending on the tee box, that provides a good variety of shot selection and just the right amount of difficulty. I would in no way consider myself a scratch golfer so to me this course was perfect. For those golfers who want more of a challenge, I would recommend playing either the Magnolia or the Palm courses. For the average golfer the Lake Buena Vista course is just fine, but despite the degrees of difficulty the course conditions were absolutely immaculate. It was very easy to see that Disney’s attention to detail spills over into their golf courses. From the perfection of the greens to the updated and well-maintained golf carts Disney left no stone unturned in offering the absolute best golf experience.
We finished up in a little over three hours where we arrived back at the clubhouse where my clubs were cleaned for me and stored until I was ready to leave in my stretch Camry back to the resort. Now was this my best round of golf ever? No. Did possibly hit a boat with a golf ball? Well, we aren’t going to talk about that. But was this an absolutely great day of golf on a beautiful course where you are treated like a king/queen? 100% yes. As stated earlier, everything is better at Disney and in my opinion golf is no different. This is yet anything thing that Disney has done right. So have your travel agent set you up a tee time, hit em straight, and for the love of God watch out for boats. (that was a lot of screams y’all).
Who is ready to experience golf at Disney? Contact us today to get your trip booked and tee times scheduled.
Avid Disney fan, husband to Tiffany, father of three, Brock, Bailey, and Brennan. Lover of travel and blogger for the Wish Upon Afar travel blog, The Travelers Journal.
