Advice needed for clueless vacationer!

[sersee05]

So We are a family of five...2,adults and 3 kids(16,11,8). We are going to dis in November(week before Thanksgiving). My daughter will be in a lax tourney at Wide World of Sports. So it made it a perfect time to go back to Disney.

Last time we went was three years ago. We stayed at the Poly. We had a discounted room and no dining(totally regret the dining).

This year things are in the air. Not sure if we are driving or flying. If we fly would have to rent a car for three days for tourney. I started looking offsite and posted in the other hotel forum. We started looking at Windsor hills. I was told by a TA that possibly free dining will be released for my dates. After pricing everything...staying offsite won't save us as much as I anticipated.

With possible free dining on table..that is hard to pass up. I got quotes for Poly and we are in sticker shock. Last time we were in at least for $1000 less then what was quoted.

Por is more reasonable...my husband is pushing me to look onto it. He a nd I stayed at Porfq before and thought it was ok. Never been to Por. My concern is I have heard that its a tight fit for five. I have also been told it is on the decline..dont know how true that is . But I am also concerned with the construction at the poly with the price?

What can you honestly tell me about Por? Is it nice? Would it be tight? What is the beach club like? I have seen suggestions to others about renting dvc. How do you go about that? I have also seen people mentioning. BLT suites? What are those?


Thank you for any help and advice for this clueless gal.

 

[timandjanl]

BLT is Bay Lake Tower. It's a DVC property. I have never stayed at POR but I have stayed at AoA recently. We really liked it there. It's a value resort but its pretty new so everything was in great shape. Also, they have family style "suites" that sleep 5. 2 of your kiddos would need to share the sleeper sofa. As for renting points, I haven't done it yet but am looking into renting possibly next year. Google "David's Disney Vacation Club." That is the site that everyone on here seems to mention a lot and likely what I will use. Or if you want to save a little on the cost per point you can try to rent directly from a DVC member. Try the rent/trade board in the DVC section.

 

[Ravenne]

Por is more reasonable...my husband is pushing me to look onto it. He a nd I stayed at Porfq before and thought it was ok. Never been to Por. My concern is I have heard that its a tight fit for five. I have also been told it is on the decline..dont know how true that is . But I am also concerned with the construction at the poly with the price?

Really? I thought they were just refurbished 2011-2012? Can anyone else confirm/deny this?

I can see how POR/POFQ would be a tight squeeze for 5 people though.

 

[Missytara]

Really? I thought they were just refurbished 2011-2012? Can anyone else confirm/deny this?

I can see how POR/POFQ would be a tight squeeze for 5 people though.

That is correct. They were refurbished. The OP can find all the info on the POR thread. There is also excellent suggestions on utilizing the space for 5 people.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Our friends stayed at POR back in March and they are absolute Poly die hards but were trying to save money. They LOVED it!!!

POR was recently refurbished so I'm not sure what your source meant as far as "decline", but our friends gave such glowing reviews of POR that we seriously considered booking it.

 

[Marthasor]

So We are a family of five...2,adults and 3 kids(16,11,8). We are going to dis in November(week before Thanksgiving). My daughter will be in a lax tourney at Wide World of Sports. So it made it a perfect time to go back to Disney.

Last time we went was three years ago. We stayed at the Poly. We had a discounted room and no dining(totally regret the dining).

This year things are in the air. Not sure if we are driving or flying. If we fly would have to rent a car for three days for tourney. I started looking offsite and posted in the other hotel forum. We started looking at Windsor hills. I was told by a TA that possibly free dining will be released for my dates. After pricing everything...staying offsite won't save us as much as I anticipated.

With possible free dining on table..that is hard to pass up. I got quotes for Poly and we are in sticker shock. Last time we were in at least for $1000 less then what was quoted.

Por is more reasonable...my husband is pushing me to look onto it. He a nd I stayed at Porfq before and thought it was ok. Never been to Por. My concern is I have heard that its a tight fit for five. I have also been told it is on the decline..dont know how true that is . But I am also concerned with the construction at the poly with the price?

What can you honestly tell me about Por? Is it nice? Would it be tight? What is the beach club like? I have seen suggestions to others about renting dvc. How do you go about that? I have also seen people mentioning. BLT suites? What are those?


Thank you for any help and advice for this clueless gal.

I think, given the ages of your children, POR is going to be a tight fit. AoA may be a good option - it is a value and will feel significantly different than the Poly, but you will have more space. To save a little money over the Poly, try pricing out any of the EP resorts - BWI, BC and YC. They are all lovely.

Check out the DVC thread for info on how to rent points for a 1-bedroom villa that could accommodate your family.

Since you will have car, you may want to consider the Swan/Dolphin. It is on property, but not owned by Disney, so you couldn't get free dining if it comes out, however their rates are typically significantly lower and you can get discounts if you are AAA, a nurse, teacher, etc.

 

[sersee05]

Just a couple of people I know have said that about por. But maybe they went before the refurbishment. A couple newer tripadvisor reviews did mention they had two double beds. That was part of my concern of two double beds and a Murphy bed. That would be too small for us. I could put my son in the Murphy since he eight...but the two girls sleeping together could be a nightmare...lol

Te DVc thing is very overwhelming to me because its a new option. But I am wondering if it might be a good avenue? Can you add dining to a DVc?

 

[Zooshoveller]

I would consider the value suites at AoA and All Star Music (or is it Movies?). Both have 2 bathrooms!

 

[mickeynut1]

Just a couple of people I know have said that about por. But maybe they went before the refurbishment. A couple newer tripadvisor reviews did mention they had two double beds. That was part of my concern of two double beds and a Murphy bed. That would be too small for us. I could put my son in the Murphy since he eight...but the two girls sleeping together could be a nightmare...lol

Te DVc thing is very overwhelming to me because its a new option. But I am wondering if it might be a good avenue? Can you add dining to a DVc?

Out of the mods, CBR is the only one that still has double beds.....the rest have queens. So a room at POR in Alligator Bayou would give you 2 queens and a murphy bed. We've never stayed at POR, but it does look like a beautiful resort and does have a good following. With that said, an Epcot or monorail resort would get you a much larger room (of course at a much higher price), if you are concerned with space.

If you rent points for a villa, you can add the DDP without the ticket requirement. You just have to tell the renter you want the dining plan, which has to be paid for at the time it's added. If you get a villa through Disney and do a cash reservation with the DDP, you have to purchase a minimum of a 1 day base ticket for everyone in the room.

 

[sersee05]

If free dining is offered, then I am assuming that can be added to a DVc also.
Ok good to know..l confused on the tripadvisor reviews. Maybe they think its double when they are queens. We're all the rooms refurbished? Or are they still in the process?

Now beach club is a deluxe? So it would be bigger like the poly?

 

[mickeynut1]

If free dining is offered, then I am assuming that can be added to a DVc also.
Ok good to know..l confused on the tripadvisor reviews. Maybe they think its double when they are queens. We're all the rooms refurbished? Or are they still in the process?

Now beach club is a deluxe? So it would be bigger like the poly?

If you rent points, you cannot get FD. FD would only be an option if you book a cash reservation through Disney (pending availability of the resort/room type you want under the FD promo). Renting points is an agreement between you and the owner, with no involvement from Disney. FD requires you to book through Disney, pay rack rate for the room, and purchase a minimum 2 day base ticket for everyone in the room. DVC members can add the DDP to a DVC reservation without having to buy tickets, but they would pay for the dining plan and cannot get it free.

The BC is a deluxe resort with larger rooms than a moderate, but not as big as rooms at the Poly. Also, not all rooms at the BC come with a daybed, so that would have to be a request. They try to give priority of those rooms to families of 5, but sometimes they are not available (although they will provide you with a roll away should a daybed room not be available). With that said, the rooms at the Poly and CR are among the largest of the deluxe resorts, with all rooms at those two resorts having a daybed.

 

[DJFan88]

POR is awesome. The food court has excellent food for a CS, with make your own pasta, salads, yogurt. Plus it's a quick walk for POFQ CS if desired. Boat to DTD helps too.
The rooms are refurb and the place is not on the decline. It's beautiful. You get the 2 queen beds and the murphy bed.
Go to the resort board here and there is a very comprehensive thread. Also,
Andre who does the thread has an excellent site with all of the info. you could need and all the pictures on the thread are excellent.
This is the thread link:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3116350

As far as other deluxes, unless you're getting a suite, I think you'll get about 25-30 square feet extra only.

Don't know anything about these other suites, like AoA, just that the theming is much more kiddish (cars/lion king/mermaid) and sunny there, wheras POR has a lot more foliage.
Definetly check out the threads on each. Just looking at pictures can do it.

 

[Ofinn]

I would wait until Fall discounts come out and then decide. Rumor is it could be tomorrow.

 

[sersee05]

I will definitely check out the pictures. I think I also have the PORFQ in my head from years ago. We went for our honeymoon and stayed at this resort and we weren't thrilled with it. But that was over 16 years ago!! I just remember we kept going the wrong way when trying to find everything. I will check out the thread you provided..thanks so much.


Yea my ta told me the rumor is free dining will come out tomorrow and she believes it will include my week. So she sent me quotes of the room cost without the free dining...so I think thats it.

It's hard because the Poly fit us perfect three years ago. My sixteen year old is basically an adult and my 11 year old is almost as tall as her. We normally put my 11 year old with my 8 year old in a bed and that works out ok. But I read even with the renovations the Murphy bed is really good for someone under 5 ft tall....so my 16 year old wouldn't fit so comfortably. Last time we had the option of 40% off room or fd. We chose 40% because everyone told us it was a better deal than fd because we probably wouldn't eat that much.


As it turned out , we totally regretted not taking advantage of fd. We wanted to eat at all the restaurants on the grounds and they were expensive.

Thanks so much for everyones help and advice. I really do appreciate it!!

 

[dminnie]

Yes, the whole resort was redone at POR. It's complete.

I would go for the POR. Some have suggested a suite at AOA. I wouldn't do that since two kids would have to share a full size sofa bed. That doesn't sound so great to me. POR has queen sized beds and the murphy bed for your 8 year old. While it doesn't have two bathrooms like a suite at AOA, it does have 2 sinks which really helps with multiple people getting ready at once.

 

[ElizabethG]

For the size, a value family suite would be great. There are two resorts at WDW that have them. You would get 2 bathrooms and a kitchenette. The sleeping arrangements differ with them. At ASMu they have 1-queen bed, 1-full sleeper, and 2-twin sleepers. AoA has 1-queen bed and 2-full sleepers. Also AoA is new.

You could also price out CR garden wing rooms. They are less expensive than Poly, but comparable in size.

 

[sersee05]

Is CR the Contemporary?

 

[jmv223]

We love POR! We stayed there with 2 adults and 2 teens for 5 nights over Christmas break. It was cozy, but we definitely could have fit one more if we had too, especially an 8 year old. My 5' 3" daughter slept on the POR murphy bed with no complaints.

One more thing to consider though. Do you know for sure you can book your own accommodations? When My daughter's field hockey team was going to play in a tournament at the WWOS we were required to book the accommodations through their travel company, and their "discount" price was higher than I could have booked on my own.

 

[DJFan88]

Is CR the Contemporary?

yes

 

[jcjen519]

i agree that given the age of your kids a smaller room could be a tight fit. i would go with the Polynesian if you can swing it. if you do get free dining then there is the 1000 savings.

i would get 2 rooms unless i was at Polynesian or gf which will probably run the moderate cost to about that of one room at a deluxe (guessing). personally i would avoid a value if i could but that is just opinion and plenty would disagree.