Marriott Lakeshore Reserve / Cypress Harbour OR Disney POR w/FD?

[itutorfortravel]

Hi all...

really torn over what to do and thought I'd get some input from the DISboard experts...

We're traveling to WDW this December. It's our favorite time of year to go, and it's been about 5 years since we've been.

We have the option of doing a split stay between the Marriott Cypress Harbour / Lakeshore Reserve (4 nights) or doing 5 nights with Free Dining at Disney Port Orleans Riverside.

We have stayed in off-site condos for every other trip to WDW and it's been great each time....we've stayed in some beautiful resorts, but we would really like to stay on property sometime, too.

I just can't decide if we are going to be disappointed in the POR experience compared to other hotels we've stayed at before. We tend to splurge on our vacations and stay in really nice places...some examples in Orlando have been Sheraton Vistana Villages, Marriott Grande Vista, and Floridays.

The thought of staying onsite and having free dining is enticing though, too!

The difference in cost will likely come to about $800 to $1000 less to stay in the condos and have the same experiences in terms of days in the park and paying out of pocket for our meals. (of course, we have one less day in the condos, but even cutting back the WDW package to 4 days, it's $500 to $700 more than the condo.)...if it makes any difference, the one condo is a studio and the other is 2 Bdr. / 2 Bath and we are a family of 3.

So my question is...should we stay with the tried and true condo experience and save $ or should we splurge on a Disney resort with free dining...and is POR really a splurge or should we wait till we can do a deluxe?

All opinions and ideas are welcome! Thanks!

 

[jeff968]

We've done the on-site and have it out of our system. We are just so spoiled with the timeshare villa we could never go back. Cypress Harbor is a fantastic resort, perfect size, something for everyone, huge rooms, and beautiful. I think the $ savings is even greater.

 

[Ed J]

We did a split stay last November at POR (3 nights) and Lakeshore Reserve (7 nights). There is no comparison of the accommodations, LSR is much nicer than POR. We liked Cypress Harbour very much also.

If I was doing a park only trip, I'd pic POR over LSR. If I was going to play golf and fish part of the trip (what I did) LSR and Cypress Harbour would be my choice.

Ther are no views like this from POR

It really depends on what your looking for, park time or other interests time

 

[Ed J]

Inside at LSR.

 

[itutorfortravel]

Thank u so much! It is primarily a park trip tho we have thought about doing disney and us/ioa as we've never done them before. We really enjoy the condo space, kitchen, washer/dryer etc so I am sure we'd love the marriott properties...we have just never stayes on disney property and i was excited about being able to get free dining o er the holiday...now I'm worried about being disappointed in the accommodations...still have a few weeks to decide.

 

[itutorfortravel]

Beautiful pics of the resorts by the way! Thank u for posting...certainly does look more scenic than POR!

 

[hsmamato2]

I vote for onsite,since there are LOVELY views at the various resorts,and nothing beats that all disney feeling...IMHO

 

[Ed J]

Thank u so much! It is primarily a park trip tho we have thought about doing disney and us/ioa as we've never done them before. We really enjoy the condo space, kitchen, washer/dryer etc so I am sure we'd love the marriott properties...we have just never stayes on disney property and i was excited about being able to get free dining o er the holiday...now I'm worried about being disappointed in the accommodations...still have a few weeks to decide.

I wouldn't worry about being disappointed at POR, it's nice, just not LSR nice .

 

[itutorfortravel]

Thank you again everyone! I have a reservation at POR and I'm holding it for a few weeks until we decide for sure. We got such a fabulous deal on the condos (We actually have them for longer than the 4 nights, but due to school functions may not be able to use them longer than that )

I have ALWAYS wanted to stay onsite at Disney and have priced the WL many, many times but always went back to the condo idea and have never been disappointed. I just thought with it being right around Christmas (actually up until Christmas Eve), we might enjoy the Disney experience...maybe I need to just bite the bullet and see how much WL would be?! Then I wouldn't worry about a moderate Disney resort vs. a beautiful condo!