Although regional climate modeling efforts have been underway for over two decades, it is unclear which regional climate modeling method provides the most robust results. As part of a DOE-funded project to test the veracity of global high resolution and global variable resolution simulations for regional modeling applications, the researchers examined a series of idealized, full physics aquaplanet test cases performed with the DOE-NCAR Community Atmosphere Model (CAM) coupled to the new MPAS atmospheric dynamical core (CAM-MPAS). Both quasi-uniform and variable resolution (VR) experiments were performed in an aquaplanet setting, which is land and season free, but still contains many realistic climate features. Comparisons between quasi-uniform simulations using CAM-MPAS and other dynamical cores in CAM show that CAM-MPAS provides a reasonable aquaplanet simulation in terms of its kinetic energy spectra, precipitation characteristics, and general circulation. Importantly, the high resolution region in a CAM-MPAS VR simulation has a climate similar to a global quasi-uniform high resolution simulation. Hence, high resolution results are achieved over a given area at a fraction of the computational price of a global high resolution simulation. However, the interaction between the CAM moist physics and the mesh refinement region in the VR simulation also produces a zonally asymmetric response, with a region of high precipitation and an associated diabatic heating anomaly on the western periphery of the high resolution region.