Sounds like you had some brilliant times there! I've only stayed once like i said but I don't think the staff were as enthusiastic as you seemed to have. I really didn't enjoy the gymnasts running round the hotel in February though... Too irritating for me to relax in the front area on the sofas.I haven't stayed there in years, but I have stayed several times. I did love it each time I stayed. I loved the fact it was close to Disney but not on their property per-say. My kids were teens at the time and were able to walk to DTD when they wanted to instead of hanging with us. My son's entire baseball team stayed there one year when they were playing @ Disney. Each day they came back from playing the front lobby staff always asked how they did. They ended up winning the entire tourney and when they came in that day, the entire lobby staff cheered for them then again, that was years ago... so things can be very different, different staff....
We had considered other hotels, but our budget simply cannot cater to a better hotel by Disney. That hotel was perfect for our budget and left plenty of money for us to shop freely and do as we wished, including taxi fares. I guess when you can't have as much as you would like, you just have to accept what you CAN have. :/If you didn't like the gymnasts running around, maybe you should consider a different hotel. That hotel is very close to the AAU headquarters and I know that is why some AAU teams pick that place. It makes it easier for coach meetings, and its much lower in price than the Disney resorts that come in the packages. This resort is offered (or at least it use to be) in their package deals for the teams. We didn't do the package as we were FL residents and got a better deal that way, even with a block of rooms. Again, we never had a problem, but if you are looking for a quiet lobby to lounge around in, I honestly don't think you will find it there.
We had considered other hotels, but our budget simply cannot cater to a better hotel by Disney. That hotel was perfect for our budget and left plenty of money for us to shop freely and do as we wished, including taxi fares. I guess when you can't have as much as you would like, you just have to accept what you CAN have. :/