As a test, I recently stayed in both with my wife, 25-year-old son and his friend. Our family, four-time west coast Disney veterans, is now travelling in adult mode ... no kids or cots, thank you.

My quest to find the best-buck accommodation in one of the Disney's 24,800 rooms was not easy. Let's say we're a tough audience. All of us have stayed in a wide range of hotels and motels throughout North America and Europe.

Our group of four tried the cheapest and the most expensive accommodation at Disney World. After much discussion and afterthought, we agreed on the following impressions:

DISNEY MAGIC

The All-Star Music Resort had the most Disney Magic, with more character rodents than you could shake a stick at. Mickey Mouse was on the carpet, walls, table, lamp, bed spreads, shower curtains and hangers, leaving no doubt you were at THE magic place.

If you are travelling with kids, they will be mesmerized with all the (occasionally) tacky Disney visuals, ignoring what is essentially a basic room.

The blue-bottom guitar and piano-shaped pools, surrounded by three-storey-high sculptures of musical instruments and scattered Disney theme statues are inviting. Big is important here, impressing young, inquisitive eyes.

Happy and courteous Disney staff frequent the pool with games and entertainment for guests. By all accounts, the kids have a hoot in the pool area, with most parents lounging nearby.

The fast-food service is basic, clean and quick. No sit-down table service here. You eat cheap and keep on going. Parking is free in all Disney resorts, a plus. Surprisingly, the parking lot here is closer than that in our upcoming room upgrade. So if you need frequent access to your car, the budget setting is a better choice.

The meticulously groomed green spaces really made us feel like we were staying in the only resort in town. Transportation to and from the theme parks is prompt and, of course, free.

Total cost for four days in June for two adults and two kids, $484, or $121 a day, attraction passes not included. When booking, don't bother with the optional $54.24 upgrade. All it does is get your car parked closer to your room.

CLASSY ADULT ESCAPE

Our planned upgrade to Disney's Beach Club Resort in the Epcot area was an eye-opener for all of us on what the nicer things in life are all about, if you can afford it.

Bellmen greeted us, offering to take our luggage and park our car. We felt special here right from the get-go. Our room was upgraded to Club Level concierge, for the purpose of this story, with even more luxuries ahead.

The ambience oozed with late 19th-century, New England nostalgia. The air in the main open lobby had a hint of flower aroma, pumped through the air vents.

Our special room card took us to the otherwise inaccessible Club Level, immediately leading to another personalized concierge desk where even more immaculately groomed and impeccably behaved staff welcomed us.

The rooms were quite a contrast to the All Star Music Resort, with noticeably more luxurious furnishings: higher and fluffier beds, yacht-themed wallpaper and double sink bathrooms with polished brass fittings. Our own private balcony overlooked the pool and beachfront; all hinted we had arrived, but not necessarily at Disney.

There was only a hint of Disney characters on the bed cover and a lonely lampshade in the darkest corner.

The real "adult" treat was the concierge service at the Regatta Club, which included a lounge with self-serve continental breakfast, mid-day snacks, afternoon tea, evening wine and cheese, and evening cordials and dessert. This more than made up for the lack of a fast-food outlet. Afternoon and evening all-you-can-drink beer, wine and special liqueurs for grown-ups make it a good deal for the $607 upgrade; kids who can only quench their thirst on milk, pop and cookies are not getting their (parents') money's worth.

The beach and pool area are a world away, with real sand on the Crescent lake beachfront and sand- castle-building in one of the sand-bottom lagoons. Kids were happy here, too, even in the absence of Disney characters to keep them company.

Total cost for four days in June for two adults and two kids, $2,656 or $664 a day, including the additional $607 for club level (free daily treats and drinks and personal concierge service), rear-garden view club level or $989 for front lagoon view. The front view wears off fast, so go for the rear and use your savings on passes. Attraction passes were not included.

THE WINNER

Does more than five times the cost of the Disney Beach Club Resort give you that much more Disney bang? Not really; in fact, you're getting less. You could lounge around the Beach Club Resort all day and miss out on the rest of Disney World altogether, which for first-time visitors is the point of being there. Two-bedroom suites at the Beach Resort start at over $1,275 a night. This is definitely an adults-first stay.

We saw happier young faces exploring the oversize visuals anywhere at the All-Star Music Resort. Kids at the Beach Resort only got excited at the pools. My grown-up son and friend quickly forgot their past youthful Disney visits, in favour of the sophisticated and classy Beach Resort. I am glad they are on their own.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

You should factor in more than just room rates when you stay in the vast Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando. Room rates vary a lot, depending on season and location, starting at $121 for the month of June at the value resorts.

Consider staying at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort where a room for two adults and two children costs $179 a night in June (attraction passes extra). It is located in the Epcot resort area, and shares the picturesque Crescent Lake along with much more expensive resorts.

After the earnings release, analysts were most reassured by the strong performance of Disney's parks and resorts, which are considered most vulnerable to a downturn in consumer spending. In fact, Disney said hotel bookings through 2008 were trending higher than last year as the weak U.S. dollar helped keep American vacationers closer to home and attracted foreign tourists.

But on Monday, Pali Research analyst Rich Greenfield downgraded the stock to "Neutral" from "Buy," arguing that the theme parks are not immune to weakening consumer confidence.

And last week, Disney's general counsel and chief financial officer both reported unloading Disney shares, raising questions about how much upside remains in the stock price.

Since Disney announced its first-quarter results, General Counsel Alan N. Braverman has sold 115,000 shares of common stock. Also, in two separate transactions, Chief Financial Officer Thomas O. Staggs exercised options for 125,000 shares and sold them all under a prearranged trading plan.

The Web site InsiderScore.com, which tracks insider deals, noted the sales in a research report: "The sale by the general counsel was a rare non-options related transaction at the company, while the CFO exercised options that were more than eighteen months away from expiration, selling the stock for a less than 30 percent gain," InsiderScore.com analysts said.

According to InsiderScore.com, the transactions were the first for both Braverman and Staggs since February 2006. The sales were the first at the company since March, and Braverman's sale was just the third by any insider in more than five years.

"Historically, insider sales at (Disney) have been related to the imminent expiration of options," the InsiderScore.com analysts said.

In an analyst note explaining his downgrade, Greenfield boosted his 2008 and 2009 earnings-per-share estimates, but said the risk-reward outlook has since diminished since he upgraded the stock to "Buy" on Jan. 30.

Greenfield said investor confidence in Disney's theme parks has improved, compared with some "dire" expectations in January. "That being said," Greenfield added, "we do not believe the parks are recession proof and we find it hard to believe that weak consumer confidence will not begin to have an impact as we move into fall 2008 (early fiscal 2009 for Disney)."

Greenfield also noted that the domestic performance of "Prince Caspian" missed expectations. The sequel brought in about $55 million when it opened last weekend, topping the box office, but falling roughly $10 million short of the first "Narnia" movie and missing analyst expectations. Soleil Research Associates analyst Marla Backer said the movie was expected to gross higher in its debut than the first "Narnia" film.

On the comparable weekend last year, "Shrek the Third" set a first-weekend opening record for an animated film, bringing in $121.6 million.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Jeffrey Logsdon was not as discouraged by the light opening, noting that he still expects the film to be "exceptionally profitable." But Greenfield said any weakness by "Prince Caspian" puts that much more pressure on Disney's upcoming "Wall-E" to be a blockbuster, which he said "appears far from certain." "Wall-E," the latest release from Disney's Pixar Animation unit, is slated for release in late June.

With uncertainty around the film slate and theme park performance, Greenfield notes one potential catalyst that could boost shares this summer -- the release of Disney Channel's original movie "Camp Rock" on June 20. The movie stars tween heartthrobs The Jonas Brothers, and is hoping to attract a similar crowd to the one that made "High School Musical" a megahit.

Held on the beautiful grounds of Disney's Fort Wilderness lodge and the streets of neighbouring towns this course is flat and fast by most standards with some gentle rollers sprinkled throughout. The swim start was in Bay Lake which is a man made, critter inhabited water off Fort Wilderness. With the water at 26 degrees for the 6:20 a.m. start, participants were not permitted wetsuits nor any warm-ups as the sun was just cresting the horizon. Heading off in age based waves, triathletes began their race with a running start from the beach. Our group in general were happy with their land marking skills having not been in the open water for some nine months.

On to the bike, it was fast and interesting as there were numerous turns, some out and backs as well as gentle rollers with a maximum incline of fewer than three degrees. The roads were partially closed which was helpful when it began to rain and we could stay clear of traffic as well as the growing packs of flying triathletes. With the bike going 4k long, it was a relief to see the familiar Disney landmarks as we approached Fort Wilderness for transition. Winding through long canopies of tree lined roads, past watching horses we dismounted and headed out onto the flattest, hottest run. With temperatures reaching 34 degrees during the bike, it felt like 40+ in some sections of the run as we turned off the paved path onto an open horse field with nothing but the sizzling hay under our feet and the blazing sun above our heads.

While the temperature slowed the majority of runners, turning some into woggers and the consensus in transition was that it was a hard race, our group was happy with their results. Representing Quinte were Dennis Hills (5:45:55), Jeff Musson (5:59:17), Nancy Coakley (6:39:19) and Sandy Musson (7:11:20). Congratulations also to Scott Sharpe from Kingston (5:29:12) who had relatives from Quinte spectating on his great race and fast finish.

The first step towards this effort is a tie up by Walt Disney Co’s business unit Disney Consumer Products (DCP) with the Rs 500 crore Popley group.

The companies together will rollout a limited edition of couture line of diamond jewellery in India targeted at “discerning” woman aged 25 years and above. 

Branded as Disney Popley Fine Jewellery, the line will be retailed through Popley’s stores in India as well as from other niche jewellery retail outlets having a similar branding.

However, Popley will be the only retailer to have the distribution and product development licence in India for the new line. The jewellery line, to be priced upwards of Rs 25,000, will jewellery comprise neckpieces, earrings and rings with designs inspired by Disney stars Mickey and friends, Winnie the Pooh and Disney princesses.

Roshni Bakshi, director, Disney Consumer Products, said: “In India, the general perception is that Disney is a kid’s brand as most of the interface between the consumer and the brand is through contents such as movies. These, again, are mainly animation and thus associated with children.”

She added: “We want to reach out to the masses as a family brand in India as well. We will offer products through tie-ups targeted at members other than kids in the family.”

Last year, Manish Arora collaborated with Disney to design a range of garments as part of his fall winter collection.

Globally, DCP offers jewellery in the north American market through a similar licensing tie-up.

Rajiv Popley, director, Popley Group, said the jewellery, to be designed and manufactured by Popley in India, will be available across the Middle East “very soon.”

The line, with around 8-88 pieces across each segment, will be manufactured at Popley’s Mumbai plant. The technology and other related products will be imported, Popley said. The diamonds used in the jewellery will be certified by the International Gemological Institute, headquartered in Antwerp, and the gold will be certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).