Are there any of you that just HAVE to stay....

[olecow]

We stay at either POP (for the Skyliner) or POR. We just love POR. It's quiet, beautiful, and just a great place to be for us.

 

[maltdizzy]

We stay at either Yacht Club or the Poly. Since we only go every 3-4 years, not much desire to try anywhere else. But, with the only child growing up (class of 2025), I'm not even sure when the next WDW trip will be. We will be hitting Disneyland/Knotts/So Cal in 2024 (used to be passholders when we lived out there).

 

[melvin1970]

My family loves the Wilderness! We do try other resorts and we always compare them to the Wilderness. I do enjoy the GF and Riviera also.

 

[danceintherain]

My kids only care about access to a pool when we travel. They also aren't quite water slide lovers yet, so that's not a factor.
The nicest thing about the value resorts is the food court. The moderates are somewhat comparable, but they tend to be more spread out. I actually didn't like POFQ BECAUSE it was so small. It just always felt so busy.

We're doing a big splurge trip this year, then I'm not sure we'll be able to justify the cost of even moderate any more. Then when I try to compare value to Shades of Green, Shades of Green will likely win out. I actually just booked a night there before our trip in December as a placeholder in case it turns out more practical to go down on Friday. I probably will try to book the night at the Beach Club, but if it's not available, then so be it. For 2 rooms at Shades of Green, it's about $400. 2 rooms at a Value would be closer to $500, if we can't get a discount. Moderate more than that etc.

But, we're very fortunate to have Shades of Green as an option. We haven't stayed there yet, but it might be the only way we travel to Disney in the future, since the Disney-owned resorts are getting to be less "worth it."

In your case, I'd look at your priorities. If you plan to spend MOST of your time at the parks, and the extra stuff at the values is plenty for you, then staying there again might make sense.
But, I also like to try something a little different every trip, so I'd probably pick a different value.

 

[QueenofPrideRock]

The Polynesian Village is my dream resort. I don't want to stay there until I can go for at least two weeks. I want enough time to enjoy it ALL.

See, I find a way to justify MK deluxes even if all I'm doing is crashing there after a long day at the parks. Like I said ... expensive taste! To each their own, especially when it comes to budget priorities of course, but I find it worth it to "come home" to those gorgeous lobbies and grounds. Especially with the refurbished rooms at both GF and Poly.

Are you me? And as much as I adore Epcot and HS and being able to walk to them, it’s just not the same as the monorail resorts. The vibe and energy staying over by MK is one of those intangibles that’s so hard to explain, especially as adults without kids. On paper we “should” be Crescent Lake people, and I do enjoy staying over there, but GF and Poly just hit different.

I will say my childhood nostalgia is actually for the Dolphin, which sounds odd until I say my family stayed there on the rare trips growing up when we stayed on property. But it still seemed just as magical to me as a kid, which is something I think is lost on people who dismiss those hotels because Mickey isn’t plastered everywhere. It was Disney World, who cares. We couldn’t afford Disney resorts. In those days there were no mods or values.

I absolutely adore Coronado though, specifically the tower. I always joke if they somehow plopped it on the Boardwalk I’d never stay at the other resorts around there again.

And me! Grand Floridian and Poly are my "must do" resorts or I just don't feel like I've had *my* Disney vacation. I have on occasion split stays between GF/Poly and AKL CL, Beach Club, Wilderness Lodge. Every time I was at one of the others, I regretted my split stay and wished I'd just stayed at the GF or Poly.

That was definitely the way I felt on my 40th birthday trip, which was my first split stay. I think I definitely got the order and the balance wrong last time, at least for me. I learned my lesson about doing the monorail resort first and for fewer days, YC just could not live up to GF and my biggest regret was leaving the latter. I kinda feel bad about it because it was my first time at both resorts and almost a totally unfair comparison, since I got pixie dust at GF and everything was so magical. Next weekend (!!) we check into YC and will switch over to Poly for the majority of the trip. Feeling a lot more confident about that decision.

You know what they say about great minds! This is also why the only split stay I've really done is Universal/Disney, never Disney/Disney. I just have a feeling I'll miss the GF or Poly too much while I'm staying at [insert other resort here], even if "on paper" it makes more sense as Kylenne said. I have definitely considered the Swolphin as a Crescent Lake option too, but usually the pretty comparable cost of renting DVC points ends up swaying me back to GF/Poly hehe.

I also think both the Poly and GF have done the best job with the room refurbs. The Moana touches are cute but not too in-your-face, unlike the cheap-feeling Incredibles stickers over at the Contemporary. There are a lot of individual things I love about CR but it's kind of a mish mash mess in places right now. Somewhere I'm happy to visit or dine at but not necessarily stay.

 

[LRdismom]

I'm trying to make my way around to all of the DVC resorts, but there are some that just keep calling me back. AKL Jambo, Saratoga Springs, and Wilderness Lodge. We've repeated these a few times.

 

[georgina]

at the same resort each time at WDW because you just love it so much? I went for the first time back in 2017. After two years of research on ALL the Disney resorts, we chose All Star Sports and loved it. We're planning our second WDW trip in 2025 to be sure the new Splash Mountain is open. (Yes, I know it's Tiana's Bayou Adventure, but I'll always call it Splash Mountain) This time my parents, both in their 70's will be coming. The trip will only be a week. I don't want to stay at a deluxe resort unless I'm there for much longer so I'll have more than one rest day just to enjoy the resort. I've been watching a lot of the updated videos on the moderate and value resorts. The other day I'm watching one on Port Orleans French Quarter and my 13 year old DD says "We have to stay at All Star Sports again. It was SO fun there." I agreed with her. I like how it's small and not so spread out, so we'll likely stay there again.

To answer your original question, no, I have stayed at all levels of resorts but am now more often offsite. I am just wondering if your DD who will be 15 next trip will really have the same enjoyment of ASSp that she had when she was 7?

The only monorail resort that appeals to me is the GF. I am finally going to stay there later this summer, on a DVC rental. I like the BW area resorts, have stayed at BWV, BC, and Swan. Moderates - CSR and POFQ (both nice). Also stayed AKL once, Pop several times, a couple of All-Stars for short trips (only used AS for a place to sleep on solo trips)

 

[DizneyFamof4]

We have a LOT of trips, so we have stayed at a bunch of the resorts (see signature), We started off Deluxe and then some values, then we were strictly Mods, but the last 4 of 5 trips we have picked POP. Because it's a fun resort, big cost savings over Mods and a GIANT cost savings over Deluxe (we have ended up saving enough $$ to be able to do more trips) and having the skyliner to Epcot and DS is a game changer for us. We have learned that we have had just as great of a time at any all the resorts we have stayed at and now have a very hard time justifying paying $300+ more PER night at a higher level resort. Also, we are not Park commando's, we will do 1-2 resort days during an 8-9 day stay so the resort is not just a place to sleep and shower at. I will say that POFQ was our favorite before the skyliner, and we always love GF, but again the GF price is just not worth it to us. I will say that I am looking at a split stay POP/CR next time, because my DDs would like to stay at CR.

 

[clapton]

Have been going to WDW for a very,very,very long time and have stayed at all the resorts over the years except OKW. Bought DVC in 2010 at BLT and VGF. We usually stay at VGF since it is our favorite. We also like the BWV and the BCV when we can get a studio at 7 months out. We like to switch it up, MK resorts one trip and Epcot resorts another trip. They are all great and unique in their own way!

 

[Disney Spaz]

For me and DH it is Grand all the way. We bought into DVC in 2013 when it was announced because it was my dream resort. I stayed once for 2 nights and fell in love. I was worried DH would think it was too much but he almost flat out refuses to stay anywhere else now. Our DD feels that way about Wilderness Lodge and our DS feels that way about AKL. DH has agreed to do both for each of them but we always have the end and stay longest at Grand.

 

[missingdisneymore]

We've stayed at all but 3 resorts. I found the kids preferences charged with age. Younger-All Stars and Pop, got a little older and liked the mods with the hot tubs/slides. Older still and tried the deluxes. Themes were nice but they weren't overwhelmed with excitement.
Honestly, we don't prefer the deluxe. We drop into the food courts often and the deluxe food courts are no bueno so we seem to have happily found a middle ground at CSR. We've been dozens of times and just returned but are planning our 10th or so stay at CSR.
Nothing wrong with exploring new or going with what you know. Enjoy!