Advice on where to stay

[erineab]

We go to Disney World every year, but have never once stayed at a Disney resort. We will be staying a week at Wyndham Bonnet Creek this March (2014), but will be arriving 4 nights prior to this stay and would like to FINALLY try a Disney property!
Now that packages are available for booking, I'm looking for some advice. I have currently saved the following packages:

Art of Animation - Standard Little Mermaid Room - Tickets and Dining - $2552
POFQ - Garden View Room - Tickets and Dining - $2841

Is POFQ worth the extra money? My kids are avid swimmers so pool areas are somewhat important. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated, as I'm a total newbie in this regard!

 

[Kae]

We go to Disney World every year, but have never once stayed at a Disney resort. We will be staying a week at Wyndham Bonnet Creek this March (2014), but will be arriving 4 nights prior to this stay and would like to FINALLY try a Disney property!
Now that packages are available for booking, I'm looking for some advice. I have currently saved the following packages:

Art of Animation - Standard Little Mermaid Room - Tickets and Dining - $2552
POFQ - Garden View Room - Tickets and Dining - $2841

Is POFQ worth the extra money? My kids are avid swimmers so pool areas are somewhat important. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated, as I'm a total newbie in this regard!

We have not stayed at AoA it does look amazing doesnt it. the pool area looks very nice. At POFQ you can use the pools at POR & you have the boat to DTD.

Kae

 

[kmb584]

POFQ is my favorite Mod resort but if pools are going to be the deciding factor I'd book AoA in a heartbeat. The Big Blue Pool looks incredible and the resort is also home to the Flippin' Fins and Cozy Cone pools. Lots of options for fun, themed swimming time!

POFQ has one pool, the Doubloon Lagoon pool (complete with a sea serpent waterslide) but offers the use of the 6 pools at POR. The Ol' Man Island pool at POR is awesome and DD loved it but the other 5 are quiet, non-themed pools.

 

[Marionnette]

We go to Disney World every year, but have never once stayed at a Disney resort. We will be staying a week at Wyndham Bonnet Creek this March (2014), but will be arriving 4 nights prior to this stay and would like to FINALLY try a Disney property!
Now that packages are available for booking, I'm looking for some advice. I have currently saved the following packages:

Art of Animation - Standard Little Mermaid Room - Tickets and Dining - $2552
POFQ - Garden View Room - Tickets and Dining - $2841

Is POFQ worth the extra money? My kids are avid swimmers so pool areas are somewhat important. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated, as I'm a total newbie in this regard!

How important is it for your kids to have a pool slide? The Value Resort pools do not have them. The moderates do. However, the Big Blue Pool has a cool underwater sounds feature.

I would also take into consideration that the LM rooms have double beds while the POFQ beds are queen size.

 

[jperrot1]

This is a close call from my point of view. For your first on property stay its a close call. May I suggest AoA on the notion that it is barely a year old and practically new. Although Disney does a good job with room upkeep and refurbishments. But then again those AoA rooms are so small it just about makes me change my mind and now suggest Port Orleans. Oh gosh..... OK.... For your first on property visit I suggest Port Orleans. Bigger rooms, bigger beds, and a nice pool with a slide, and resort is more condensed. There's also a nice boat ride to the marketplace (Downtown Disney). Never mind. It's a tie in my mind. I'm not trying to be funny or confusing but I believe this is a really close call between the two.

 

[Sparkly]

I agree with a previous poster. POFQ has bigger rooms, nicer grounds (although not over the top Disney), it's a much smaller resort and probably quieter too. I would stay in the moderates.

 

[MKFan-PR]

Hmmmm... decisions decisions...

On the one hand... you have AoA which has great theming (including the pools), and would be a great choice for a first-time stay at a Disney resort. On the other hand you have POFQ, with bigger room and bigger beds, a pool with a slide (AoA has no slides, plus at POFQ you have the additional option of using POR's even larger pool), and a beautiful boat ride to DTD...

If they're both within your budget, I think I would recommend POFQ. It'll be a little more comfortable and quieter, and you'll have more options!

(...but AoA is not a bad choice. Man, this is hard! )

 

[momjeeps]

For me it would depend on the kids age. We loved AoA theming when we stayed there last November. The pool activities were really enjoyed by our 8 and 10 year olds.

I think if both kids are under 10 they'd really appreciate the theming of AoA while they are young I'd do AoA for them.

 

[Patience]

How old are your kids? Older kids might prefer having the water slide at the moderate resort but I've heard the water slide at POR is better for older kids than the one at POFQ. Also, if your kids are older, you might prefer having two sinks and a bigger room. The value rooms are tiny. We stayed at Pop in 2011 and had two adults, one teenager and one preschooler. It was a tight fit but we adjusted.

It's a tough decision. The theming at AoA is really appealing for younger kids. For our trip this year, I first booked a LM room at AoA but switched to POR in a royal room (for less money) when free dining came out. Although it would have been cheaper still to stay in a regular POR room instead of the a royal room, I really wanted the royal theming for my 6 year old who is excited about staying in Tiana's room with the little princess touches.

 

[MommaBearof4]

We go to Disney World every year, but have never once stayed at a Disney resort. We will be staying a week at Wyndham Bonnet Creek this March (2014), but will be arriving 4 nights prior to this stay and would like to FINALLY try a Disney property!
Now that packages are available for booking, I'm looking for some advice. I have currently saved the following packages:

Art of Animation - Standard Little Mermaid Room - Tickets and Dining - $2552
POFQ - Garden View Room - Tickets and Dining - $2841

Is POFQ worth the extra money? My kids are avid swimmers so pool areas are somewhat important. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated, as I'm a total newbie in this regard!

How bigs theming for your kids? AoA screams disney from the rooms to the grounds to the pools. POFQ is more subtle and it could almost not be onsite. POFQ has a water slide and shares the POR pools. AoA doesn't have water slides but it is brand new.

This is going to sound odd, but this trip we are staying at POR in a Royal Guest room for our princess's bday trip, but I would prefer AoA for theming, newness and overall Disneyness. The hubby wanted a bigger room, so we compromised and picked a theme room, but next time I am at AoA.

I haven't been in the AoA pools, but when we took a tour of AoA, the CM told us music played underwater in the Nemo pool. But if swimming is a huge factor and water slides by extension, POFQ is probably better for you.

 

[dminnie]

A few thoughts:

Sometimes it's nice to let the kids look at the ones you have it narrowed down to and then let them decide(or at least give their input).

If cost is important to you, I would suggest POR or CSR (sorry, I know you didn't give these as choices). Chances are, as you get closer to your trip, discounts will be announced. AOA and POFQ either isn't included in discounts or their discount is maybe 5% while the other resorts have 20 - 30% off.

I think the mods are worth it for pool slides, larger rooms, extra sink, bigger beds and other amenities. But...I haven't been to AOA either. It is the newest resort and a lot of people are giving it great reviews.

I think every resort has activities at the pool and movies at night. POR has a nice pool and several quiet pools. POFQ only has one pool and the slide at it is not much. My kids are not avid swimmers and they wanted to head back to the bigger slide at POR after about 10 minutes. If you stay at either of those resorts, they DO allow pool hopping between them though, which is nice. I think CSR has the best pool of all the mods. The slide is longer and the hot tub is bigger. They also have volleyball nets, a playground and ping pong tables by the pool. CSR has a health club(the only mod with that). POR also had a playground by the pool(I can't remember if FQ did). The disadvantage of CSR is that the main pool isn't close to the main building, although they do have QS food at the pool. POR may be a great choice for you since you can use the FQ pool also, take the boat to downtown Disney and the food court is close to the main pool.

 

[erineab]

Thanks for all the great replies!

My children are DS7 and DD4. We will have a lot of extra room when we move over to Bonnet Creek, so I don't really mind being a bit cramped during the time we are on property.

I am not overly concerned about lush accommodations or waterslides (my daughter is a chicken little and sadly won't go down them anyway). I am looking for the feeling of full Disney immersion with a good pool and/or splash area, as they love to swim. Would AoA be the best bet for Disney theming?

Right now I am thinking we will go ahead and book the AoA, Little Mermaid room. If by some crazy scenario free dining was offered (checking in March 4), it might be worth our while to move to a moderate, in which case I would go with POFQ or POR.

Thanks again for all the input......LOVE the disboards!

 

[erineab]

OK, so my AAA (called CAA here) travel agent just called me back. She thinks we would prefer POR and with a small CAA discount it would be $2702 for tickets, dining, and room.

If we end up getting a discount (there will likely be some form of discount during that time), it would likely be on par pricing to AoA Little Mermaid room (since others have said AoA does not usually have discounts). I am sooooooo confused about what to do!

 

[spiceycat]

boy though you had made up your mind.

with your kids would go with AoA

that say the pool at POFQ is just cute.

here are the swimming pool area
nemo
http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/showgallery.php/cat/1432

por
http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/showgallery.php/cat/1541

pofq
http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/showgallery.php/cat/1544

 

[DISzy]

Thanks for all the great replies!

My children are DS7 and DD4. We will have a lot of extra room when we move over to Bonnet Creek, so I don't really mind being a bit cramped during the time we are on property.

I am not overly concerned about lush accommodations or waterslides (my daughter is a chicken little and sadly won't go down them anyway). I am looking for the feeling of full Disney immersion with a good pool and/or splash area, as they love to swim. Would AoA be the best bet for Disney theming?

Right now I am thinking we will go ahead and book the AoA, Little Mermaid room. If by some crazy scenario free dining was offered (checking in March 4), it might be worth our while to move to a moderate, in which case I would go with POFQ or POR.

Thanks again for all the input......LOVE the disboards!

Considering these factors, then it sounds like AofA is what you are looking for. Just know that if you decide to stay on property again there are more luxurious options

 

[Marthasor]

I would do POR or POFQ. I know it's not in-your-face Disney theming, but it is so much more comfortable, so many more amenities, etc. We stayed at AoA and it is cute to look at, but I barely got any sleep - it was loud and the beds were incredibly uncomfortable. I wanted to leave after one night. On the other hand - stayed at POR, had a bigger room, bigger, more comfortable beds, boat to DTD, etc. Chances are, once the discounts come out, you will actually be able to get POR or POFQ for less than the LM room.