How important is choice of resort?

[hellokitty]

We stayed at POR in the AB units (for families of 5) in November and I don't know if I would recommend it to you. The resort is nice, BUUUUT is is extremely spread out. We got stuck in building 34, which is one of the most remote buildings (even though I put a request in to be closer to the main building). My 3 yr old usually wanted to be carried for at least half of the way back to the main building (about a 15-20 min walk), and that got old really fast. Also, the bussing was absolutely HORRIBLE, like we waited for a bus for 30-40 min on several occasions. We stayed at POFQ in 2011, and the busses were great, so it was a shock to us, just how bad POR's busses were compared to POFQ. IF I were to recommend POR to anyone, I would tell you to go ahead and cough up the extra $ for the preferred room location. This way, you won't end up in a remote building, like we did, and the walk would be 5-10 min to the main building and pool. We were not able to take the kids to the main pool, since it was so far away and a little bit cool, so they would have turned blue on the 15 min walk back to our room, so they used the quiet pool, which was ok, but the reason you pay for a mod resort is for a pool with a slide. The quiet pools, are just regular pools with no slide, so I felt like we paid mod prices for a value room. If you are driving, that would be great too, so you wouldn't have to depend on the busses. When we stayed at POFQ, we had a car, but never had to use it, since the busses were so fast. So, we flew the last time to POR and we really regretted not having a car.

If I were to plan another trip, we'd either stay at the new AoA family suites, beach club or the contemporary deluxe rooms, or we'd just rent DVC points. I'm kind of soured on POR after our trip. Admittedly, I know that POFQ is the smallest resort and that is probably why we loved it so much. POR is just sprawled out and while some ppl find the atmosphere very relaxing, we live in the midwest where we see a lot of green and trees on an everyday basis. I felt like we were in a cabin or something, it didn't really feel like we were anywhere very special. Unfortunately, POR is the most affordable option for a family of five, so it bums me out that we disliked it. The room itself is ok. We didn't spend a lot of time in it. The murphy bed is ok, my 3 yr old slept on it, but I tried it and felt it was really uncomfortable (a very stiff foam). By the time you get the preferred room, it doesn't seem like such a great deal. Another option that I would consider is two connected value rooms. That would have been cheaper and given us more rooms and two bathrooms w/o paying the suite prices. All of the rooms have fridges now, so the only extra thing that the suites have is a microwave. I'd also consider renting a condo/house or staying at an offsite time share resort, like bonnet creek, at this point, in fact, due to how bad the bussing was last time, I'm not leery of staying onsite w/o a car.

[123LuckyMom]

I think since your children are older, you don't need to spend the extra money to be in a monorail hotel. It's REALLY great when the kids are in strollers and you need to be going back and forth for naps, but for older kids, it's not necessary, and the theming at the Contemporary is the least nice of all the deluxe resorts, IMO.

I've only ever stayed in the monorail resorts or the Swan or Dolphin, so I don't know about the other ones you mentioned, though I believe the campsites have campfires and a singalong every night, which might be fun on an early night, like your Animal Kingdom day.

[ray7694]

When I was planning my trip I had it narrowed down to the AoA suites and a moderate. I didn't think the expensive of a deluxe was worth it. I ended up picking Coronado Springs as everything I read said they have short wait time for buses and an awesome pool. I gave up the suite idea because everyone has told me that you will be exchausted after parks all day.

[egoldber]

Of all the WDW hotels I have stayed at, (and we've stayed at most of them and visited all the others) I think the Animal Kingdom Lodge has by far the best theming. It is inconveniently located, but if you have a rental car, that doesn't really matter.

[hillview]

we rented via Dave and had a great experience. I loved having the DVC place
http://www.dvcrequest.com/

[Indianamom2]

Well, we've stayed at Shades of Green (military resort), Port Orleans Riverside (without kids), and the Polynesian (oh and one night at Fort Wilderness). Of those, hands down, my favorite was the Polynesian, but it is so dang expensive. We were only able to go because we went with my in-laws and they booked with their military discount.

Port Orleans was fine for the two of us, but like another poster, we went in the off season (beginning of Nov.) and were way out in the boonies. We did not enjoy the long walks to anywhere and the bus service was very slow. It wouldn't be my first choice for those reasons.

If you want theming, the Contemporary will probably disappoint, though you can't beat the location/transportation ease. It's just a nice hotel.

We are going this September and bought DVC points from our BIL/SIL who own and are not able to go this year (or maybe even next). As a result we were able to stay in a Savannah view room at the Animal Kingdom for approximately the same cost as the All Star resort. I would definitely at least look into the DVC points and see how it compares.

[BayGirl2]

I think a lot of the choice depends on what type of hotel you would usually stay in outside of Disney, what theming you are most attracted to, and how your touring style works with the location and transportation. For us Disney is the one place we don't need to stay in a condo with kitchen because we enjoy eating out TS a lot and room sharing is less of an issue given our schedule and sleep-motivated kids. But since DH and I travel for business and are used to staying at nice hotels I think a Value would annoy us - they look like dorm room quality to me and I hate outside-opening rooms (which even the moderates have). For some people price may be a bigger motivator, they travel infrequently, and like to be near a food court. I prefer public transportation in real life so would be annoyed to drive at Disney, so location is key. Others will have a car no matter what so location is not such a big issue. Totally a personal preference but I'd ask yourself about all those issues. The list you have seems to be at all ends of the spectrum and not really focused on one level of features/price tradeoff.

Here's an interesting view on room size vs. price. http://blog.touringplans.com/2011/09...money-resorts/
Despite that comparison some of the issues I mentioned above would still put us in a Deluxe or DVC if we were going for a long trip, the other features are just worth it to us.

[klwa]

Glad I could be of so much help earlier.

One thing another poster reminded me of, the AS suites are all in the buildings closest to the bus stops, so less walking than at AoA.

[KrisM]

Thanks for the insights. There is a lot to consider. I just don't know how we'll pick!

I looked at the point renting site, and the cheapest is a 1 bedroom OKW for $3400, which puts it up to the Contemporary range in price. We'd get more space though.

We rarely stay in hotels, so don't have a good idea of what we want. When I worked I traveled and stayed in basic hotels. DS1 and I spent 2 nights in a hotel earlier this month, but nothing fancy. Otherwise, we either stay with family or rent a condo when we travel, so that we can cook. But, the place we go, everything closes at 6pm, so we spend a lot of time in the condo. Obviously, WDW doesn't close at 6pm .

The DDP and 8 day tickets come to $3k for us. I guess I need to figure out how much more we can spend on the vacation. I don't know that we'll do DDP, but it was a starting point for cost comparison.

If we drive, we could spend more on a room. We'd save on travel and we'd be there fewer nights. I'm not sure if we'll fly or drive, but that is a consideration.

[westwoodmom04]

I third the recommendation for renting DVC via points. We did it through David's rentals and it was very professional. The downside is you must commit and pay months in advance, and you can not cancel. The upside is that you have a suite with laundry, full kitchen and way more space than a hotel room for the same price as a standard room in the more upscale disney resorts. Given the length of your stay, you might want the extra space. We stayed at BLT, which is adjacent to the contemporary. However, there are also dvc properties at Wilderness Lodge, Boardwalk, and Animal Kingdom, as well as one property, Key West, that is only rentals.