AoA, POR, POFQ, CSR???

[mjmstd1]

We are planning our first family trip January 2014. We have been showing our 4 year old DD the pictures of the resorts and "she" has narrowed it down to 4. My DH and I stayed at CSR in 2005 for our honeymoon and we did enjoy that hotel very much but we were close to pick-up areas as well as food court and would love to see the renovated rooms. We have heard how far LM rooms are at AoA and that would be where we would be staying if we booked AoA. My first choice was POR for the beautiful landscape (secretly hoping to convince family to get RGR)and my husbands first choice is POFQ for the size.

I would love some opinions on what everyone thinks of these resorts. Please persuade my family one way or another

 

[goofyintoronto]

POR is my fave. The grounds are gorgeous. The mansions are stunning. Love the pool and food court. I love the fact that the bike rentals and horse/carriage ride is located at POR. I personally didnt like the appearance of POFQ. And I didnt like the tiny food court either.

 

[Disneylover99]

I agree with your husband. I love POFQ because of the size and their pool would be perfect for a 4 year old.

How long are you staying? The longer the stay, the more you will appreciate POFQ.

The AofA rooms would be okay for a couple of nights, but if you are staying for a week or more, the walk will get tiresome.

 

[goofyintoronto]

I agree with your husband. I love POFQ because of the size and their pool would be perfect for a 4 year old.

How long are you staying? The longer the stay, the more you will appreciate POFQ.

The AofA rooms would be okay for a couple of nights, but if you are staying for a week or more, the walk will get tiresome.

Very good points here. I forgot your kid is 4. She'd love the POFQ pool! Would be perfect for her. And I agree that for a couple of nights AoA would be great, but anymore than that and the walk back to the room would just seem longer and longer.

 

[Disneylover99]

I also wanted to say, you can walk over to Riverside and swim for the day (that is what we did) and we ate at their food court once. It is bigger and better then POFQ. I would get a preferred room at Riverside though. The grounds are beautiful, but too large for me.

Also if you rely on the buses to get you to the parks, I would stick with POFQ as opposed to Riverside since there is only one bus stop and if you go early in the morning you don't usually have to share with Riverside. If you are driving to most parks, Riverside might be okay.

Both resorts have cute little playgrounds near the main pool and both resorts have boats to DTD (love this)!

 

[alc571]

POR is our fav by far. To us, AoA was a hotel whereas POR is a resort. When we pulled up to AoA it was like pulling up to a Walmart - huge parking lot and a big (albeit Disney decorated) cement building. POR is like traveling into the old south. We picked POR over POFQ because it was newly renovated. We visited POFQ by waking to it, and it seemed older and dirty compared to POR (IMO). If you stay in the mansions at POR (which is where the royal rooms are) you won't even notice how large the resort is. The buildings are close to everything.

 

[Disneylover99]

We picked POR over POFQ because it was newly renovated. We visited POFQ by waking to it, and it seemed older and dirty compared to POR (IMO).

The rooms at POFQ have been renovated as well (within the last two years or less). If you are referring to the food court being older and dated (maybe even dirty) I will agree. But the grounds are well maintained and our room was very clean. The grounds at Riverside are beautiful, but I feel the grounds at POFQ are both beautiful and charming!

 

[DizDaD7]

As much as I want to say CSR, because that always wins out when I vote on a Resort, but I too will have to say POFQ for your 4 yr old....Not sure of the walks at AoA but if they aren't that bad, I think that would appeal more for her...

All in all though CSR has a special spot in my HE**T.

 

[goofyintoronto]

We visited POFQ by waking to it, and it seemed older and dirty compared to POR (IMO).

This is exactly what I thought of POFQ, as well as my DS12. But a lot of ppl love POFQ...maybe you will too. As I said its perfect for a 4 yr old because of the pool and the size of the resort.

 

[267]

We stayed at POR in October and loved it! We had two adults thee kids and an infant and stayed in building 16. Grounds , pools and food court were great but the room was a little small but ok. We had such a great time but booked at the Contemporary for our next visit in August

 

[zy144622]

I have loved POR for years. This past trip was Feb and a first with children DD4 DS1. POR was just too big with young kids. We took a day trip to POFQ and loved the closeness of everything. We will defiantly stay at POR again when kids are older in a preferred room. As for food courts we liked them both.