Resort Board Community :) .... General Resorts discussion, open to all!! :)

TigrLvsPooh said:
I admit I'm a bit leery of BLT after reading so many people don't like it. But I'm going with an open mind. I expect to walk to the CR for pretty much anything we might need, and I'm OK with that. We plan to walk to MK and monorail to Epcot most of the days we are there, so that will be convenient. I agree with you, we are CL people and love it, but I'll try anything once. ;)

I was leery too, but we fell in love!!! We didn't notice anything other than very little wear/tear and everything else was awesome. We requested a high floor, even numbers and we were NOT disappointed. We had half lake/half MK view and we loved it.

Can't wait to go back...we've been DVC members for a while and have stayed at about 70% of all the resorts, and this by far was our favorite!

Do be prepared to walk though ;-)
 
I was leery too, but we fell in love!!! We didn't notice anything other than very little wear/tear and everything else was awesome. We requested a high floor, even numbers and we were NOT disappointed. We had half lake/half MK view and we loved it.

Can't wait to go back...we've been DVC members for a while and have stayed at about 70% of all the resorts, and this by far was our favorite!

Do be prepared to walk though ;-)

Unfortunately for our group (marathon trip) only one villa is lake view, the others are all standard view (including ours) so I'm not expecting any kind of view whatsoever. Mainly I just hope I'm not looking at a big pile of garbage in a dumpster. LOL :lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao:
 
just read through the whole thread and I LOVE IT! We have been going to WDW every year since 97 ( I went 2x before that too) and we don't have an actual home resort either. We have stayed at Dixie Landings :rotfl:, POFQ, ASMU, ASMO, POP, AKL, CR, and will be staying at AOA this coming April. I have followed many of your trip reports...we also have 2 boys! Glad to find this thread :woohoo:
 
just read through the whole thread and I LOVE IT! We have been going to WDW every year since 97 ( I went 2x before that too) and we don't have an actual home resort either. We have stayed at Dixie Landings :rotfl:, POFQ, ASMU, ASMO, POP, AKL, CR, and will be staying at AOA this coming April. I have followed many of your trip reports...we also have 2 boys! Glad to find this thread :woohoo:

Yay!!!! WELCOME!!!! :welcome: Which part of AoA are you doing in April? I bet you are excited!!! :)
 


And you can add me to the list of Dixie Landing folks! ;)

Just happen to have this in my collection:

EC026750-D602-4A9C-B46F-748B396A7279-429-0000001B586E0A7A.jpg


:thumbsup2
 
we are staying in a standard room, could not afford the suites...but hey at least we are going! I would love to afford some of the other deluxes that I see everyone mentioning. We rent points some years from a co worker, and were almost going to do BWV in a studio, but opted for AOA. Long story!
 
I think those Little Mermaid rooms look adorable! :) I really wanted one last weekend but they were totally sold out.
 


Hi Erika :goodvibes :wave2: I'm always interested in hearing about the resorts, because it seems like I am always changing my mind about where to stay :rotfl: (thus my permanent home on the RCer thread! ;)).... I stayed at AKL CL on my first trip in Jan 2008 and we fell in love with it! On my second trip in Sept 2009, I briefly flirted with a Ressie at CSR when they where introducing the thought of CL there , but I quickly changed back to AKL CL in the end because I just couldn't not go back "home!"

In FEB 2011, my son and I went on a trip by ourselves and I bounced all over trying to find somewhere "new" to try.....had reservations at BWI, Poly, and finally decided on staying CL at the beach club. We went , and our first day there looked at each other and said "I wish we were at AKL!!!" it just wasn't home! My most recent trip, in Oct 2012, I decided to stay at the POLY and they it for ourselves.....we bounced around on that Ressie too, from BWI Deluxe room to POLY CL.....in the end we went with POLY because we needed three dedicated sleeping arrangements. We liked it very much.....but just didn't LOVE it! I have come to the conclusion that I think we are an AKL family.....but sadly, my boys are grown (16/20) and trips to Disney are looking like they won't include the kids much anymore.....EXCEPT one last time, in Late NOV/ 2014 or Jan 2015 when I take my youngest son and his GF on a graduation trip , which I've promised them for 2 yrs now! BWI deluxe room still has a pull on me, and it's one I am still interested in trying outside of AKL.....however, on the grad trip, I'm leaning towards KIDANI 1 BDRM Savahnah view villa with deluxe dining in place of club level. It would be my first non- CL stay.....but I love everything I've seen about Kidani's 1 bdrms....the king bed, two bathrooms, washer and dryer in room, and two pullouts for the teens.....two tv's and beautiful balconies! I just think Kidani fits the bill and am aiming at trying it out.....hey, it might be the winner!! :) for a family stay, anyway. I will miss CL, but we've always wanted to try deluxe dining, this would be the perfect time to they it!

I'm looking forward to hanging with you all and talking resorts :goodvibes

PS...I just finished reading your Kidani TR and it solidified for me that this will be my next resort stay! Wonderful review, and I'm so excited to try it!

Marie :flower3:
 
Hi Marie! Hope the weather isn't too bad now! Lots of rain here. We loved our Aug AKL CL stay. We have wandered around Kidani and looks very nice. Love Saana. And I love their savana, seems more open then AKL
 
I admit I'm a bit leery of BLT after reading so many people don't like it. But I'm going with an open mind. I expect to walk to the CR for pretty much anything we might need, and I'm OK with that. We plan to walk to MK and monorail to Epcot most of the days we are there, so that will be convenient. I agree with you, we are CL people and love it, but I'll try anything once. ;)

For what it's worth, we stopped at BLT last month to go up to Top of the World and I really liked the feel of the place. Granted, I only saw the lobby, TOWL, the elevators, and the skywalk to the tower, not the actual villas, but it really made me want to try the place. I'm 99% sure we'll give it a try next year pending availability.
 
We consider ourselves semi-Disney experts. We are certainly experts for our location we live in, but compared to many we are still green. We are DVC memebers (The only ones probably in a 200+mile radius from us) plus AP members and like to try different resorts. We actually enjoy spending more time visiting the different resorts then we do the parks. So I'd love to help you answer any questions that others may have that you don't have answers to. We are partial to Beach Club, then AK Kidani comes in second for us. However we recently went to SSR and enjoyed it. Last night we booked a totally unexpected mini vaca Jan 26-30th and decided to save our DVC points and stay at POP. It's going to be hard to go back to a value when we are now spoiled by DVC, but we have stayed at POP and enjoyed it. Good Luck! I look forward to chatting with you all. :thumbsup2
 
For what it's worth, we stopped at BLT last month to go up to Top of the World and I really liked the feel of the place. Granted, I only saw the lobby, TOWL, the elevators, and the skywalk to the tower, not the actual villas, but it really made me want to try the place. I'm 99% sure we'll give it a try next year pending availability.

That is good to know! :) I trust your judgement because I think we've always been on the same wave length so to speak. ;) I think 3 nights will give us a good taste of the resort. I'll be sure to post a live report so you guys can follow along on our stay. :thumbsup2 Only 58 more days to wait!


Hi Erika :goodvibes :wave2: I'm always interested in hearing about the resorts, because it seems like I am always changing my mind about where to stay :rotfl: (thus my permanent home on the RCer thread! ;)).... I stayed at AKL CL on my first trip in Jan 2008 and we fell in love with it! On my second trip in Sept 2009, I briefly flirted with a Ressie at CSR when they where introducing the thought of CL there , but I quickly changed back to AKL CL in the end because I just couldn't not go back "home!" In FEB 2011, my son and I went on a trip by ourselves and I bounced all over trying to find somewhere "new" to try.....had reservations at BWI, Poly, and finally decided on staying CL at the beach club. We went , and our first day there looked at each other and said "I wish we were at AKL!!!" it just wasn't home! My most recent trip, in Oct 2012, I decided to stay at the POLY and they it for ourselves.....we bounced around on that Ressie too, from BWI Deluxe room to POLY CL.....in the end we went with POLY because we needed three dedicated sleeping arrangements. We liked it very much.....but just didn't LOVE it! I have come to the conclusion that I think we are an AKL family.....but sadly, my boys are grown (16/20) and trips to Disney are looking like they won't include the kids much anymore.....EXCEPT one last time, in Late NOV/ 2014 or Jan 2015 when I take my youngest son and his GF on a graduation trip , which I've promised them for 2 yrs now! BWI deluxe room still has a pull on me, and it's one I am still interested in trying outside of AKL.....however, on the grad trip, I'm leaning towards KIDANI 1 BDRM Savahnah view villa with deluxe dining in place of club level. It would be my first non- CL stay.....but I love everything I've seen about Kidani's 1 bdrms....the king bed, two bathrooms, washer and dryer in room, and two pullouts for the teens.....two tv's and beautiful balconies! I just think Kidani fits the bill and am aiming at trying it out.....hey, it might be the winner!! :) for a family stay, anyway. I will miss CL, but we've always wanted to try deluxe dining, this would be the perfect time to they it!
I'm looking forward to hanging with you all and talking resorts :goodvibes
PS...I just finished reading your Kidani TR and it solidified for me that this will be my next resort stay! Wonderful review, and I'm so excited to try it!
Marie :flower3:

I seriously love Kidani! ::yes:: I can remember so vividly just laying in the master bedroom thinking to myself ... this is the BEST room we've ever had. :) It's perfect for traveling with older kids, the boys loved having separate pull-outs and their own bathroom, the only down side for us is that we rarely book our trips far in advance. Most times we plan in a matter of weeks. So the availability through DVC (we rent points) is always slim. We usually end up sticking with CL rooms because they are easier to get with an AP rate on short notice. Honestly though, I would rather have a 1 bedroom villa than a CL room because we just order grocery delivery and set up our own personal lounge with REAL COFFEE, better snacks, and more booze! ;) HA HA!! {{kidding!!!}} :upsidedow
 
We consider ourselves semi-Disney experts. We are certainly experts for our location we live in, but compared to many we are still green. We are DVC memebers (The only ones probably in a 200+mile radius from us) plus AP members and like to try different resorts. We actually enjoy spending more time visiting the different resorts then we do the parks. So I'd love to help you answer any questions that others may have that you don't have answers to. We are partial to Beach Club, then AK Kidani comes in second for us. However we recently went to SSR and enjoyed it. Last night we booked a totally unexpected mini vaca Jan 26-30th and decided to save our DVC points and stay at POP. It's going to be hard to go back to a value when we are now spoiled by DVC, but we have stayed at POP and enjoyed it. Good Luck! I look forward to chatting with you all. :thumbsup2

Isn't it funny how so many of us live in parts of the US where we are completely isolated from WDW experts! People around my town think I'm either an undercover Disney employee, a travel agent, or just completely off my rocker! :rotfl2: But they come crawling out of the workwork when they want help planning a trip. :goodvibes I never turn anyone away, I love helping people, but I know they secretly think I'm nuts. :upsidedow
 
Isn't it funny how so many of us live in parts of the US where we are completely isolated from WDW experts! People around my town think I'm either an undercover Disney employee, a travel agent, or just completely off my rocker! :rotfl2: But they come crawling out of the workwork when they want help planning a trip. :goodvibes I never turn anyone away, I love helping people, but I know they secretly think I'm nuts. :upsidedow

That's exactly how it is here too! People are always asking " Why do you always go to Florida?" "Aren't you sick of Disney yet?" Then they are the same people that come asking for help planning their trip when they decide to go.

Where are you from? It's always nice to chat with other Disney fans. :cheer2:
 
I love when I have friends going to Disney so I have someone to talk about it with!! I'm having major withdrawels ~ no trip planned until sometime in 2014. I'm hoping that now that my DH and I have finally booked our 10 year anniversary trip (only 7 months late, lol), he might be a little more willing to plan a disney trip before then. But until then, I'll just (patiently?!) wait.

So here's a question ~ hope it's okay ~ but has anyone stayed off-site? We never have, but by the time we go next time, we will be an official disney family of 5, so our options will be more limited. Room size is the number one factor for DH ~ which is why we didn't stay at WL last trip (but Poly instead). Any good suggestions? I'd be happy to stay at Poly again, DH wants something new. I would like to try AoA, but since it will more than likely be summer when we go (or at least spring), I know my girls will be disappointed without a slide (and they are pricey for a value category, IMO).
 
I have stayed on property and off and enjoyed all of my trips. We rented a house 3 bedrooms 3 baths, private pool and hot tub, 5 mins to Disney. Honestly it was great. You need your own car and you do lose some of the Disney magic. I have to say that having a stress free trip with extended family made it all worth the loss of magic ;). If I was rich I would just always stay in a DVC villa but since I am not I know there will be more off property houses in my future. By the way my DH prefers to stay off property.
 
We have rented houses, and haven't had the best of luck with that. However we have stayed at Sheraton Vistana, Vistana Villages, Marriott Harbour Lake, Marriott Grand Vista, and Westgate Lakes. Out of those the Westgate was HORRIBLE. The others, very nice and plenty of room.

I agree with the statement that you do lose some of the magic when you stay off property. We actually bought DVC for that reason alone. We own a off site time share and it's worth every penny, HOWEVER, our DVC is near and dear to our heart.

We also rent a car so that's not a worry. We don't like being a the mercy of public transportation.

Beach Club is our favorite with AK Kidani being a very close second. It really depends on how many people are with us on which resort wins out. If AK was closer to more things I think that it would win hands down.

As far as being off site, the other semi-pro for it is you don't always have to go far for cheaper food. Disney food is hands down expensive and isn't always tasty.

Our thoughts are....on property or not....we are still going to WDW! Good luck with your choice. :thumbsup2
 
That's exactly how it is here too! People are always asking " Why do you always go to Florida?" "Aren't you sick of Disney yet?" Then they are the same people that come asking for help planning their trip when they decide to go.

Where are you from? It's always nice to chat with other Disney fans. :cheer2:

I live in Indiana, just outside of West Lafayette (home of Purdue University). :thumbsup2

I totally agree!!! LOVE talking to other Disney fans! :grouphug:
 
AWW! My cousin plays football for Purdue!

You're kidding!!!! What a crazy coincidence!!! My dad has been a professor at Purdue for 42 years. :goodvibes I actually know quite a few people associated with the football team, my husband is a sports broadcaster.

It's a Small World!!! :upsidedow
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top