Need help choosing resort for anniversary trip...

[lacy1101]

DH and I are celebrating our 25th anniversary in October and we are planning a little getaway to Disney for a couple of days of Food & Wine. I am having a difficult time choosing a resort that has a "romantic" feel to it, yet also complies with our budget. Deluxes are pretty much out due to the cost and the values are out, too, for lack of romance. I am seriously looking at POR (never stayed there but have read some reviews), a DTD hotel, or possibly renting points and staying in a studio at a DVC property. Our plans only involve 2 days at Epcot - no other parks. We will be staying 3 nights and will have a rental car. I would love some suggestions from my DIS friends in the know!! What are your thoughts?

 

[Mickfarland4]

Aw, shute! I was going to say WL!! I haven't been to WDW in almost 20 years and am planning my first family trip for next year. Maybe you can rent for VWL?? I think it would be very romantic...CBR has the hammocks on the beach but, POR looks very tranquil as well...Good luck in your decision!!

 

[MARY-IN-OH]

My vote for moderate is POR in the mansions area, there is a bridge that goes over the river and short walk to the food court and restaurant & gift shop. Stay in a "Royal" room if you can for a little more, those rooms are very romantic. check out the video on allears website for the "headboard fireworks". My husband and I stayed in a royal room in Oak Manor in early February. You can take a horse drawn carriage ride, and even if you don't it is still cool walking around and seeing the horses giving rides. Also, there are quiet pools, and those are much quieter than the main pool with the slide. We love the pool bar at the main pool though too. Caribbean Beach is close to as romantic as POR, but I think POR is more romantic and so pretty with the river and riverboats etc. Also, the bar there is fantastic inside by the foodcourt and restaurant, entertainment many nights as well in there.

If you can rent DVC points, all the DVC's are romantic. We also stayed 5 nights at Saratoga Springs in Congress Park overlooking the river and downtown disney. It's nice being a short walk from downtown. Totally awesome...and romantic! Have fun!

 

[spiceycat]

POFQ or POR for moderate
AKV or VWL - romantic
bcv or bwv for walking or boating to Epcot (and Studios)
of course should ask you what you consider romantic?

you might love dark resorts or your choice maybe more light colored, beachy type

 

[Sandi]

If you rent DVC points, do BWV or BCV so you can walk to Epcot. Of the moderates, I would choose POFQ.

 

[Mickey & Minnie Mom]

DH and I are celebrating our 25th anniversary in October and we are planning a little getaway to Disney for a couple of days of Food & Wine. I am having a difficult time choosing a resort that has a "romantic" feel to it, yet also complies with our budget. Deluxes are pretty much out due to the cost and the values are out, too, for lack of romance. I am seriously looking at POR (never stayed there but have read some reviews), a DTD hotel, or possibly renting points and staying in a studio at a DVC property. Our plans only involve 2 days at Epcot - no other parks. We will be staying 3 nights and will have a rental car. I would love some suggestions from my DIS friends in the know!! What are your thoughts?

If you forgo the rental car & use ME, would you be able to do deluxe if a discount came out for your travel days? If so, I would choose YC/BC. We stayed at BCV for our 10th anniversary and it was perfect. Got us hooked and we just keep going back to BC. It would only be better during F&W.

Otherwise, I would book a room at Swan or Dolphin. If you are a member of AAA, they have some very good rates. That way you have the benefit of being so close to Epcot, can get a king size, still a great pool but all at a lower cost and you already are budgeting a rental car so that would work out to get to/from the airport.

Happy early Anniversary!

 

[honeymo78]

If you rent DVC points, do BWV or BCV so you can walk to Epcot. Of the moderates, I would choose POFQ.

For this Oct it may be too late to get a studio rental at BWV or BCV depending on the dates. If that's the route you want to go, I'd advise acting sooner rather than later.

 

[lacy1101]

Aw, shute! I was going to say WL!! I haven't been to WDW in almost 20 years and am planning my first family trip for next year. Maybe you can rent for VWL?? I think it would be very romantic...CBR has the hammocks on the beach but, POR looks very tranquil as well...Good luck in your decision!!

My vote for moderate is POR in the mansions area, there is a bridge that goes over the river and short walk to the food court and restaurant & gift shop. Stay in a "Royal" room if you can for a little more, those rooms are very romantic. check out the video on allears website for the "headboard fireworks". My husband and I stayed in a royal room in Oak Manor in early February. You can take a horse drawn carriage ride, and even if you don't it is still cool walking around and seeing the horses giving rides. Also, there are quiet pools, and those are much quieter than the main pool with the slide. We love the pool bar at the main pool though too. Caribbean Beach is close to as romantic as POR, but I think POR is more romantic and so pretty with the river and riverboats etc. Also, the bar there is fantastic inside by the foodcourt and restaurant, entertainment many nights as well in there.

If you can rent DVC points, all the DVC's are romantic. We also stayed 5 nights at Saratoga Springs in Congress Park overlooking the river and downtown disney. It's nice being a short walk from downtown. Totally awesome...and romantic! Have fun!

We have stayed at WL in the past and was kinda looking for something different. We stayed at POFQ last November and took the boat from POR over to DTD one night and I thought POR was very charming. I thought the entertainment (comedy and jazz) was a neat plus!

POFQ or POR for moderate
AKV or VWL - romantic
bcv or bwv for walking or boating to Epcot (and Studios)
of course should ask you what you consider romantic?

you might love dark resorts or your choice maybe more light colored, beachy type

If you rent DVC points, do BWV or BCV so you can walk to Epcot. Of the moderates, I would choose POFQ.

Herein lies my dilemma. I probably prefer dark resorts, but the ones closest to Epcot are mostly light-colored and beachy. I have looked at pics of all the DVC resorts online and the ones that probably appeal to me the most simply for the appearance of the room are AKV and BLT; however, I realize the best ones for location are BCV and BWV. I don't usually put so much thought into the actual room when planning a Disney trip, but since this is going to be a much more laid back trip (we will have free time on our arrival and departure days to enjoy the resort a little bit, and then we probably won't even enter the park until 11:00ish on our two Epcot days), I would like for it to be comfortable and pleasing to the eye. I have always had this thing for white, fluffy comforters in my hotel rooms, but I can live with the bedspreads when I'm in Disney. Just not sure about this trip . . .

If you forgo the rental car & use ME, would you be able to do deluxe if a discount came out for your travel days? If so, I would choose YC/BC. We stayed at BCV for our 10th anniversary and it was perfect. Got us hooked and we just keep going back to BC. It would only be better during F&W.

Otherwise, I would book a room at Swan or Dolphin. If you are a member of AAA, they have some very good rates. That way you have the benefit of being so close to Epcot, can get a king size, still a great pool but all at a lower cost and you already are budgeting a rental car so that would work out to get to/from the airport.

Happy early Anniversary!

Thanks for the anniversary wishes! I have seriously considered the Swan and Dolphin as well - forgot to mention that in my original post. That might even be my preference if I could get a reasonable rate. As far as foregoing the rental car and using ME, we are probably looking at flying in to Sanford (right now about half the cost of MCO) and would need the rental to get to WDW. I can use Thank You reward points and get it for free.

 

[mommyrosa2]

DH and I are celebrating our 25th anniversary in October and we are planning a little getaway to Disney for a couple of days of Food & Wine. I am having a difficult time choosing a resort that has a "romantic" feel to it, yet also complies with our budget. Deluxes are pretty much out due to the cost and the values are out, too, for lack of romance. I am seriously looking at POR (never stayed there but have read some reviews), a DTD hotel, or possibly renting points and staying in a studio at a DVC property. Our plans only involve 2 days at Epcot - no other parks. We will be staying 3 nights and will have a rental car. I would love some suggestions from my DIS friends in the know!! What are your thoughts?

Happy Anniversary!!! I just booked something for DH & I for October for our 28th anniversary and his 50th! If you are going to do a moderate, my vote would be CSR. It's a beautiful resort, which to me, has a deluxe feel to it, the beds are super comfy and they now offer a business class category which would put you in a very sought after location (Cabanas 9B). With the business class booking you have access to the lounge where you can get breakfast each morning (continental style) and in the evening drinks (alcoholic and non in the evening) as well as snacks...it's like a club level light. We enjoyed our stay so much back in '09 that we are returning this August and I booked the business class this time. You should definitely go check out the information and pics at the CSR thread and seriously consider it - it's a gorgeous resort.

 

[mmmears]

Since it's an all-Epcot trip, I'd choose a resort there where you can walk/boat to Epcot. YC is wonderful for adults, if you get a good deal. Otherwise, I'd seriously look at Swan/Dolphin -- their prices seem close to Disney mods, and you won't have to bus back and forth to the F&W.

 

[katrina1122]

We just did our 10th anniv at POFQ. So pretty and quiet. Nice and small and fairly quick to epcot. We loved the boat to DTD. POR is super huge and has internal bus stops, it took 15 mins to do the loop the few times POFQ picked up POR. Since you aren't there long I'd do POFQ since it's only 1 bus stop for the whole resort and generally does not pick up POR.