Disney Resorts - which one and why?

In My Humble Opinion
1

My best friend wants to take me to Disney (Florida) in January, for my 30th birthday. We still have Parkhopper passes from when we were there in 2004 and spent a few days confined to our rooms due to a hurricane (we were engaged at the time and went with his family).

Anyway, we can’t decide where to stay. We were going to do the Contemporary but we already stayed there in '04 and are thinking of trying something new.

So, what resort would you recommend and why?

We will mostly be going to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot but as long as there’s transportation from the resort, location isn’t a major factor.

2

Port Orleans Riverside, without question (used to be known as Dixie Landings). It’s a “moderate” resort, but has, imo the best landscaping and theming of any hotel on property (or even off, imo). Absolutely beautiful, expansive, and all-around fantastic. It has such a unique flavor that you won’t find anywhere else–hell, the damn thing even has an island with several sights and activities.

My parents are going back next week and that’s where they’ll be staying–just like the last 5 or 6 times they’ve visited. They’ve also stayed at the Coronado and Caribbean Beach resorts before, and have also scoped out every other hotel on property, yet Riverside is still their favorite.

3

Wow.

That is actually the one I keep going back to.

Based on what I came up with for a price, and what you said for a review, my friend is gonna look seriously at that one.

4

I have always liked the polynesian resort. Great food, great service, right next to the monorail, and a FABULOUS pool. If you’re military, the Shades of Green is the absolute best, though.

5

congodwarf, was it Hurricane Charley? If so, that is quite a coincidence – we were holed up in the Dolphin during Charley, which I highly recommend as a hurricane shelter, and just stopped in on our last day of vacation a couple of weeks ago to have a drink to celebrate 5 years going by since then.

Anyway, Disney World is my life. If you wanted to try out a new Deluxe resort, my favorites are the Wilderness Lodge and the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The theming and landscaping are awe-inspiring in both. The Wilderness Lodge has a stream running through the lobby that turns into a waterfall at the pool, and a geyser that goes off every hour, plus both bus and boat service to the Magic Kingdom (bus service to all the other parks and areas). The Animal Kingdom Lodge has a savannah teeming with animals. My best friend and I stayed there several years ago and would start each day with coffee while sitting on our balcony and watching the bongos and giraffes stroll by.

As far as Moderate resorts go, Port Orleans Riverside has been my favorite since it was called Dixie Landings. The grounds are gorgeous and I adore Ol’ Man Island.

I love all the extra touches they put into the resorts, like the towels arranged on the pole to form an ‘M’ and the towel animals that Mousekeeping sometimes sets up.

6

I’m drawing a blank on the name. I think it was Frances. We were there actually, right around this time of the month. I think we arrived either on 8/30 or 8/31.

The contemporary was a good shelter too - if you like the Disney Channel. :stuck_out_tongue:

7

2004 was quite the year for hurricanes. Charley hit on Friday the 13th of August that year. We were supposed to fly back home that day, but instead got a great story to tell. I enjoyed watching the wind whipping whitecaps on the pond between the Dolphin and the Swan way too much. When the wind died down for a bit and then starting whipping whitecaps going the other way, we knew the eye had just passed over us.

As far as convenience of travel goes, you cannot beat a monorail resort, but you do most definitely pay for it. My best friend and I stayed at the Wilderness Lodge for the second time this past June, and had checked on the Contemporary for the same time. It would have cost almost $1500 more for the week, which … no. We’re thinking Polynesian for the next trip, whenever that may be, depending on what price we find then.

8

I’ve done the Animal Kingdom Lodge and Port Orleans French Quarter and can recommend them both. I think the advantage of PO:FQ vs Riverside is that everything is closer at FQ. Plus, I think if you’re using Disney transportation, the buses stop at FQ before Riverside.

I did like AKL better, but then, it’s more expensive. Great resort. Eat it Boma!

If you’re on a budget, I hear good things about Pop Century (AKA Skopa Towers).

9

Port Orleans Riverside is my favorite moderate, too. Its a great value, the grounds are beautiful. However, you do take a bus everywhere (or drive if you have a car).

If you can afford it, staying either on the monorail (the Polynesian is my choice) or at the Epcot Resorts (Boardwalk or Yacht and Beach Club) gives you really easy park access. If you are off drinking in Epcot for the evening, walking back to the Boardwalk is a really easy end to the day.

10

We’ve only been once so I’m afraid I can’t offer much in the way of a comparison. We were though very happy with the accomodations and amenities at the Grand Floridian. The main lobby offered a variety of restaurants and shopping, plus monorail access. The rooms were spacious and had beds so comfortable that I’m sure we weren’t the first to look at the make so we’d know what kind to buy next. There were a couple of nice pools, we even watched a Space Shuttle launch from one. A lake surrounded the property and there were both paddle and power boat rentals. Several restaurants were within easy walking distance. Perhaps most pleasing though was the fact that every evening they’d lay out a couple of nice spreads of appetisers and they served complimentary drinks, champagne, Courvoisier, etc. Between all that and an awesome staff, our stay was as nice as one could possibly wish for.

(The Riverside and Wilderness Lodges do look like awfully nice places too, love the themes!)

11

POR is a great moderate resort, but since you stayed at the Contemporary, I’ll mention a few of the premium resorts:

  • Animal Kingdom Lodge themeing is great, and the chance to see the animals early in the morning is very nice. Restaurant selection is great as well. Only downside here is you have to take the buses to everything, unless you have a rental car.

  • Another vote for the Poly. I love this resort (stayed here on our honeymoon) and I think offers a great balance of themeing, access (on the Monorail beam) and restaurants. Plus you can enjoy fireworks and a nighttime water show if you spring for the lagoon view.

12

I’m glad there are so many positive reviews for POR. When I read up on it last night, it really seemed like a place we’d like. Cost really isn’t an issue since Adam was planning on the Contemporary anyway. But, I’d prefer he paid less for the room.

My reasoning is:

  1. Why pay more when we’re only going to be sleeping there?
  2. The less we pay on the room, the more we can pay on food and other stuff.
  3. He’s paying and it’s a birthday present. I will be unemployed as of tomorrow and I don’t know when I’ll find a job or how long Worker’s Comp will continue sending me money. So, I can’t help him pay. I’d rather he didn’t spend twice as much on a room. I’d feel guilty.
  4. We don’t mind taking the bus.
  5. We both really like peace and quiet.
13

I’ve only been at the Contemporary and the Polynesian. But I would happily check into the Polynesian and live there the rest of my life if it were possible.

14

We stayed there too, back in 2007 - based I think on a recommendation from other Dopers. There’s a boat from somewhere on the property to one of the parks, I think (we never took it and my memory may be faulty), but as there are buses to all the properties, you don’t have to worry about transportation.

I’d definitely consider staying there again. You don’t have the really direct park access like from some (e.g. the Polynesian or the Contemporary with monorail access) but it never takes all that long to get anywhere by bus.

I’d like to stay at one of the fancier ones some time - the grounds at the Polynesian are lovely and ditto at the Animal Kingdom lodge - but the jump up in price isn’t worth it. We’ll wait until we can go during the off-season (when we can go sans kids).

15

Any opinions on CBR? Mrs. Homie and I were planning on staying there December 2010, but I’m hearing a lot of good things about POR.

*This will be our first moderate. We did Scopa Towers last time we were there and loved it!

16

Another vote for the Poly if you’re going delux, but I only go for that if I can afford the extra expense of the Concierge level (for the free drinks and goodies laid out with a view of the lighted boats “parade” on the lake at night [forget what that’s called]).

If you like peace and quiet and also want him to spend a bit less, we usually stay at the Key West resort. Like many of the moderate resorts, it has units with kitchens, which I find convenient. Key West was one of the first timeshare “Disney Vacation Club” resorts built, and it was built before they figured out they could build the units much smaller. So the units at Key West are much roomier and not so cramped.

It’s also one of the more peaceful, quiet resorts I’ve stayed at.

Have fun!!!

17

I imagine you will get just about every one mentioned once, but since we generally like to have an off day and a half day or two without parks (since we go fairly often), we are suckers for Yacht Club and Beach Club, leaning towards the latter, namely for their awesome pool and also the location to EPCOT and the Boardwalk for dinner.

18

I’ve stayed at CBR several times - it was the first moderate. Brainiac4 and I stayed there on our honeymoon. Its a nice place, but it doesn’t have the same feeling of being transported somewhere else that Port Orleans Riverside does (I like Alligator Bayou instead of the Mansion rooms). But the difference between those two room types at Riverside and the townhouse looking units at Port Orleans give you the feeling of three resorts, all connectively themed. Its really a cool spot.

Some of the things Port Orleans offers - its two resorts connected, so you get two theme pools (although its about a five minute walk between the two). Plus two food courts and two restaurants. Its a boat ride to Downtown Disney (but not any park) - which offers a lot of restaurant choices. You can go cane fishing off the dock for - what in Disney terms are - reasonable prices.

I think the best set of photos I’ve found out on the net belong to this woman: www.suitedisney.com. For the most part, you are getting two full beds in a hotel room - the real difference from one to the other is what the resort looks like and how your room is decorated. So to me, photos is part of the decision making process. She also has scanned images of the resort map - one thing to do is to look at the LONGEST walk to the food court and where the resort bus stops are. We’ve always had good luck with getting fairly convenient rooms - but that might make one resort more attractive than another.

19

We just got back from a week at the Wilderness Lodge (a deluxe resort). It is our favorite resort at WDW. The resort is absolutely stunning. I know that people always say that you are hardly at the resort, but we still think it is worth coming home every night to beautiful surroundings. Also, we drank our coffee every morning watching the ducks swimming around in the pool. :slight_smile:

We’ve also stayed at the YC (deluxe) and visited family last week who were at CBR (moderate).

One difference between moderate resorts and the deluxe resorts is that the moderates are all motel-style, with a window that looks out onto a walkway. The deluxes have balconies or patios, and have interior hallways. Also, most of the moderates have double beds instead of queens beds. (The CSR, which is a moderate resort, is currently replacing its beds with queens.)

Of the deluxes, WL and AKL are the cheapest. We think that the WL is the best value for the money, especially compared to the other deluxes. However, if I had to pick a moderate, I would probably pick POR. It looks beautiful.

If you want specific WDW advice, I recommend checking out DISboards.com. It is a moderated website that I found to be extremely helpful. There is a forum dedicated to the WDW resort hotels here.

Note:
AKL = Animal Kingdom Lodge
CBR = Caribbean Beach Resort
CSR = Coronado Springs Resort
POR = Port Orleans Riverside
WL = Wilderness Lodge
WDW = Walt Disney World
YC = Yacht Club

20

Well, we’ve decided on the POR. I’m so excited. January can’t possibly get here fast enough.
I really didn’t want to go in September last time. I don’t deal with the heat very well. But, three of the family members had job or school requirements that required it. As a result, between the heat and being locked in my room for two days, I didn’t much enjoy my first trip.

This time, I plan to enjoy it to the fullest. The POR really looks like the place for us. I really hope the general store lives up to its name. I love general stores.

We’ll go to Downtown Disney at least once. Adam didn’t go last time and I went but didn’t really enjoy it because the heat of the day had left me feeling very ill. I didn’t get to see much of it either.

We will be spending the vast majority of our time in the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Epcot will be our main destination for at least 2 of the 5 days we’ll be there. The only country we got to see last time was the Netherlands. I thoroughly enjoyed it. But, I want to see them all. We also missed at least half of the rest of the park.

I’m not sure if we’ll go to any of the other parks. We’re both kids at heart and could spend the whole week in the MK.

I doubt we’ll be eating at the resort. We’ll probably just nibble our way through the parks.

And this time, I’m going to get myself a damn turkey leg! I never got the chance last time and they looked soooo good.

There was this pineapple/ice cream drink that I had in the MK. I really want to get another one.

I’d also like to get some souvenirs. The only things I got last time were a shirt and my Mickey ears. I’ll have to find a way to save up for those though. I don’t think I can let Adam pay for EVERYTHING.

Anyway, thank you everyone for your help. I was leaning towards the POR but you helped me to be sure it was right for us. After reading what everyone said, and doing his own research, Adam agrees.

Only 4-1/2 more months to go. I’m going to take a huge amount of pictures this time!

This is going to be the best birthday ever.