Jump to content

Menu

Best "On Site" Resort to Stay at WDW?


Recommended Posts

When are you going? My 7yod and I just stayed there for a week in May and it was absolutely, and surprisingly, wonderful! I asked for a room away from the pool/food court (which is cheaper anyway) and it was great. Very quiet and peaceful the entire time. Not sure how that might differ in the summer though! The customer service there was great as well. Very helpful, knowledgeable and quick to respond. One night I lost my ID pouch when I was near the pool and it had my room key, driver license and credit card in it. Before I even realized it was missing the manager called to tell me it had been turned in. The room, food court and pool areas were always very clean and nice as well. With a 3 and 6yo, I think the room will be big enough for the four of you as well. I wasn't planning on doing any cooking and knew we would spend most of our time outside the room, so it was fine for us. We were in a building in the "Broadway" section and the furnishings were nice as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We stayed at All-Star Movies, and loved, loved, loved it! The rooms are a bit small, but they were big enough. We had 5 people in one room. (We booked one of our dc in a room w/ a single friend w/ 2 dc, but our dc all stayed w/ us). It was quieter than music, lots of families, and some neat stuff for the kiddo's to climb on/ explore.

 

hth

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think my friends that have stayed in the values prefer Pop Century. It's smaller since it's just the one resort.

 

The BEST? The tower room at the Contemporary with Magic Kingdom view, next up the Beach Club villa's. But i'd give anything to stay a few nights in the Tower with my kids. It was my fav until i had to pay for my own vacations :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We stayed at Port Orleans and liked it well enough. We were actually there about two weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans so that was weird:001_huh:. But, in any case, we liked it. I have nothing to compare it to because that was the only vacation we have ever gone on in our 22 years of marriage. It was a nice, cozy place to return to after hoofing it through the parks every day.

 

The last night we were there my daughter, then 12, informed us that there was a darling little locket in the gift shop that she really wanted for her souvenir and asked if she could please get it (she hadn't picked out anything yet, unlike all her siblings). Well, it was just past closing time, but the staff very graciously opened the store back up so she could buy her locket. I found that precious indeed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

and our favorites, by far, were the Wilderness Lodge and the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Both were equally beautiful in their own unique ways. If I had to choose, I would probably say the Animal Kingdom Lodge IF you can get a room looking onto the animal safari. It was wondeful to wake up in the mornings and see all the animals grazing in the woodlands. The resort is beautiful by any standards, but the animals really made it special. When we were there with very young kids, we liked the zero depth entry to the pool. It was so nice for the little ones to play in.

 

The Wilderness Lodge is beautiful in a totally different way, The huge totem poles and timbers used in the lobby are breathtaking. The swimming pool has a geyser that shoots up once each hour, and the kids really loved it. If you're planning on spending a lot of time at the Magic Kingdom, it is nice to be able to take the small boat ride over to the park instead of having to use buses or the train.

 

Have a wonderful trip---wherever you decide to stay. When we go back again, we will always stay on one of the WDW resorts. It's a magical place, indeed!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

every year for the past 10 years is The Boardwalk. TB has transportation to all of the parks (via bus, boat, or walking distance to EPCOT where you can take the Monterail). TB is itself a nice place with shops and restaurants situated around the boardwalk. Nightly entertainment on the boardwalk is a lot of fun, the comedians always get a couple of audience members to participate.

 

You're also close enough that if you want to go back into EPCOT for dinner you can. EPCOT is also close enough that you can see the laser show. We've watched the laser show from our room several times.

 

I won't stay anywhere else when we go down there.

 

HTH.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had 2 rooms at Pop last year and liked it a lot. The year before that we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge, which was really lovely, but not worth the extra money, IMO. We were able to get 2 rooms at Pop for less than one room at WL. I DO think it'd be worth the money to get a deluxe with a better location, though--on the monorail or in the boardwalk area (especially here; I'd love to be able to walk to epcot). But since we don't have the money, it's sort of irrelevant whether it's worth it or not ;). If you wind up sticking with the All Star, it'll be fine and you'll have a great trip!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have stayed at the Fort Wilderness Log Cabins two years in a row...and, LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!

 

We stayed once at one of the newer family suites at one of the All-Star hotels...and, you have heard correctly. It was VERY loud...walls seemed paper thin because we could hear everything going on around us...doors slamming were loud...etc.

 

Take a look at the cabins. They are terrific!!!

 

~Holly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you can afford it, I HIGHLY recommend the Animal Kingdom Lodge with a Savanna View room. My mom took me to Disney this past spring for our birthdays, and the Savanna View was amazing! We got up early each morning to start our day (like 6 AM with 2 adult women trying to get ready), and were rewarded with tons of animals outside our room.

 

I'm sure it's very expensive though. But if you can swing it, the AKL is amazing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, they're more expensive, but I'd say the resorts on the monorail are the best. ;) I don't personally care for the Contemporary (my kids describe it as like being in an airport terminal, and I agree), but I love the Grand Floridian (quiet, elegant, easily accessible by monorail), and the Polynesian is great too (and depending on where you stay, it's possible to walk to monorails that go straight to Magic Kingdom *or* Epcot -- none of the other resorts have that convenience). Animal Kingdom Lodge is really beautiful and wonderful -- I loved it! -- but I hated the hassle of taking buses everywhere, and it's so far from all the parks...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have stayed at alot of the resorts. Dh use to have alot of business trips down there. We loved the Grand Floridian and the Wilderness Lodge (no monorail.) Our girls love the Polynesian. This would always be their choice. I like being on the monrail and I like being able to take a boat to MK.

 

We do not do fast food so we have never stayed at a value resort.

 

Moderate resorts are nice too. We liked our stay at Port Orleans, Coronado Springs, and there was one other one, but I can't remember it's name right now.

 

Animal Kindon Lodge is beautiful, but transportation is by bus everywhere and long from what we have been told.

 

 

We just love this Unofficial Walt Disney site:

http://allears.net/index.html

Deb works very hard and has alot of good free information.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It depends on what you want for non-park hours.

 

Contemporary had the best pool of the three - water slide! Good size rooms. Monorail from MK, walk to. First time we stayed on site.

 

Cabins at Ft Wilderness. No sharing walls with neighbors, Full kitchen. Great food at the restaurant. Takes a while to get anywhere! Standard, no frills pool. 2 tvs. Did I say full kitchen with full size fridge? (Kids woke up, got a juice box, turned on tv in bedroom while dh and I kept sleeping. Youngest was 3, oldest 10.)

 

Family suites at Music. Noise was not a problem. Cool pools. Best food court set up of the three. Dorm size fridge. 2 bathrooms! 2 tvs. Our room had the door, not the kids' room. Long waits for buses. Great size room.

 

If we went back? I'd want to go to... well, somewhere different. I heard a rumor that they were putting family suites at Pop. I'd go there. Family suites with my family of 5 are the way to go!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We stayed at the Animal Kingdom with the Savanna view two years ago. It was awesome to see all those animals right outside your window. The kids had bunk beds, which made it even more fun for them. The only drawback was that it is a bit remote from the parks, so you have to take the bus everywhere. If we go again, I think we'll stay at the Polynesian and have the monorail access. I like to be able to go back to the room easily and that's the way to do it.

 

The other one that looked neat was the Boardwalk. The boardwalk itself is fun, and you can actually walk to Epcot from there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We do not do fast food so we have never stayed at a value resort.

 

This cracked me up - DH & I don't sleep in double beds.... so we've never stayed at a Value! LOL!!

 

When we stayed at Port Orleans (hmm, when it was PO, so the FQ side?) we had a king bed room.

 

We (back in pre-marriage time) has a miniscule room at the Grand Floridian - one of the attic rooms. We came from the Contemporary Tower with a HUGE room for 5 of us to that. UGH.

 

The Poly runs a close second in my favorite list though.... alas, my kids will probably never get to stay on a Monorail resort.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were planning on staying at the All-Star Music, but I keep reading that it is small and loud. :001_huh: That is not cool. It will be me, DH, DS6, adn DD3. Help!

 

We have only stayed at Saratoga Springs, but we loooooove it there! We are going in January, the first week offsite the second week at SSR.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think we are going to stick with that then. I don't think we can get reservations anywhere else this close to time anyway!!!!:tongue_smilie:

 

Our first trip to Disney as a family (we were only 4 people) was in September at ASMovies, it was very nice, not noisy or crowded, but it was September. I'm sure it will be fine. When are you going?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...