Best resort for young ones!

[jlk51496]

I am a little overwhelmed with all the hotel choices! I would like to try something other than the value...but not sure if it is in our budget! (we already stayed at ASM in 2000 before kids)

When we go in OCT - we will have a very newly 3 yr old and an almost 2 yr old..with them so young we wont be doing the parks the whole week and will stay at the hotel and enjoy the pool/hotel activities just as much (thinking 4 of the 7 days for park tickets) So I would ideally like nice grounds/pools, etc!

Any recommendations!?!?

Thanks

 

[Perditamarie]

Welcome to the DIS!!!!

I like POP for the kiddie pool, splashground and food court. We also thought the buses were pretty good and the main pool was very big.

If you go up to a mod, we really enjoyed POR...the grounds are great, the boat to DTD was super and we really enjoyed being able to use the pool at POFQ as well. There is also a marina and just lots to do at the resort...they even have horse drawn carriage rides, but we never had time! CBR is supposed to have a really cool new pool that is very kid friendly.

All Disney resorts have playgrounds as well.



You have guessed my secret...we basically choose a resort based on the pool and transportation!!!!

HTH get you started...check out pics on http://allears.net/acc/faq_hot.htm

 

[jc040404]

Are you completely against Pop? My little ones, 19 months & 3 yrs, LOVE it there. We've been staying at POP every year since my oldest turned one, with more visits since we decided on APs this last year. They've always had a blast. We actually just got home from CSR today. More than once, my three year old asked when we'd get to go to Pop instead! It's super kids friendly, with lots for the little ones. It'll save you some money and I think your children will love it.

 

[Rebecca924]

Hi there! We've stayed at both Wilderness Lodge & Beach Club. Both were great - but we felt WL was much better suited to young families. Our kids had a great time at WL and the transportation was MUCH better - in our experience. We did not see a playground at Beach Club - although they did have an awesome pool. WL has a playground on the beach. We've had a room before where the kids could see the MK fireworks from the balcony of the WL which was great. It just had more of a "family-fun" feel to us than BC.

 

[Motomiker]

Hi there!
I know you said you stayed at ASMusic before and wanted something different. How about the cabins at Fort wilderness? We like the idea of a seperate sleeping area for the kids and it's easy to get to MK. Also, have you ever tried a family suite at ASMusic? We loved it for the amount of room it provided!

 

[mmmears]

If you want to move up from the values, check out the mods, but also make sure to look at the WL and AKL. If you can find a good discount, they are quite affordable deluxes that are wonderful for families. Good luck -- there is so much to choose from!

 

[stitch34]

I think I have to say Pop. With the kids ages, surely they will love the pop jets and the kiddie pool is awesome! Food court, we prefer Pop's over other resorts. I think overall the kids will enjoy Pop, as will you! Theming is really fun there, and is nice to take some time to walk around and check it all out.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

The Contemporary because it's the closest resort the Magic Kingdom and the only one with a walkway that goes there. Besides that besides their pool they have a brand new kids splash play area, plus they are the least expensive resort on the Resort Monorail line.

 

[djp0630]

The Contemporary because it's the closest resort the Magic Kingdom and the only one with a walkway that goes there. Besides that besides their pool they have a brand new kids splash play area, plus they are the least expensive resort on the Resort Monorail line.

I totally agree!!! Being able to walk to the MK is so cool!! Especially since with Little ones, you have the stroller, etc.

 

[WOW! SERIOUSLY??]

Pop Century

 

[snowhyte]

You are going to get many different answers here!!!

I am going to say POFQ if you want a mod. It is a nice, small resort which will be easy to get around and to/from the bus stop with the little ones.

However, if you can afford a little more, go with the WL. THe great thing about that resort is it is very relaxing and is also a short boat ride from the magic kingdom. Something you might also want to consider is that they have balconies and the values and mods do not. These really come in handy when the little ones are napping and you want to do something other than sit in the room with the lights off!!! The size of WL makes it easy to get around to transportation, pool, food, and the gift shop which is also very nice with little ones.

 

[bledsoepixies]

We stayed at WL last September and I thought it was very kid friendly. Lots to explore and just very "homey". The pool was also fun. We did the boat ride only once. I do think it would be nice to be closer to MK, but have not tried that yet. Hope that is somewhat helpful.

 

[TinkerbellinLouisian]

I recommend POLY for those who don't have $ limitations and who have small children...

Our Favorite WDW Resort is BC for our family with(Now) teens..

BUT for families with Small CHildren...
POLY HAS:

1) Access to Monorail from the Resort . (Easy Transportation to and from MK)

2) "Ohana...the very best (IMHO) Character Breakfast !

3) WONDERFUL pool...while not overwhelming (BC is the BEST pool...but 'save' it till kids are older and can enjoy it!) sandy beach, slide, etc.

Hugs,
Mary

 

[bwilcox]

We stayed at CBR this summer, and my kids-2 and 3-loved it! The best part was the kiddie pirate swimming pool. They cried when it was time to leave the pool to go to the parks! Also, there were tons of critters to spot: we saw baby ducks, toads, rabbits, lizards, and butterflies. They had a blast!

 

[mickeystoontown]

From the original posters' post, it sounds like they have a set budget but want to move up from a value resort. I'd suggest that the original poster look into a room at the Caribbean Beach Resort. The standard rooms have a slight Nemo theme (at no extra charge) and other rooms have a full lbown pirate theme (extra charge). If you want to be guaranteed a room near Old Port Royale (main pool, food court, etc.), you can pay a little extra and you'll be placed in either Trinidad North or Martinique.

The zero entry main pool was recently refurbed completely and now has a pirate/Spanish theme complete with two slides. There is a separate play area for the kids that has a large pirate ship which dumps water periodicially. For the adults, you'll find two hot tubs just to the side of the pool.

The beaches are a great place for kids to build sandcastles while the adults sit in the beach chairs or lie in the hammocks. You can also rent all types of watercraft, bicycles and surrety bikes from the CBR marina. There's even a pirate adventure cruise for the kids.

 

[KatMark]

Personally, we won't stay at the values...we find them too loud and too noisy and just too "busy." We like going back to our resort to relax without Disney in our face 24/7 (the one time we stayed at a value we hated it and so did our kids). We love the Coronado (CSR) -- we've stayed eight times now with number nine on the agend with the AKL for a split stay on our next trip. It is our "home away from home."

That being said, however, I agree with Mickeystoontown that the CBR would also be a great fit with the kids your ages...especially with the zero entry pool and the themed pool and activities.

I personally don't think you can go wrong with any of the moderates.

 

[buzyanne]

1. CBR is lovely, It is spread out. has a wonderful lsland look. Has an island for the kids to play on. Has sandy beaches with hammocks. Did I say spread out?. It has several different dining options in the main building. It has a newly updated pool. They also have a island for kids to go to and see wild life (not sure if still there my kids were young when we went)

2. CSR Is a lovely spanish themed resort. It also is spread out. It had resently been updated and some of the rooms have queen beds. It has a nice pool as well. The main building has several dining selections and hosts a conference center as well. This is not normally noticable around the resort. The pool is great for kids.

3. POFQ is a lovely smaller resort. It is decorated like mardi qras. It has only 1 bus stop for the resort. It does not have a set down dinning resturant of it's own. It does share with with POR. The pools is small and has a small slide. It has boat service to DTD.

4. POR, Is my favorite mod, It has 2 sections the Riverside and the French Quarter. Both are lovely but very different. The Riverside are more rustic cabin like buildings. Some can sieelp up to 5 with the use of the trundle bed. the 2nd area is the Mansions like those found in New Orleans. They are lovely with a lovely secret. They have elevators. They are great if you have a stroller. The pool is great. My gds loved the kids pool and the big pool. all hotels provide life jackets with your room. Drake 3 used his to go down the water slide at POR in Sept.
POR also has fishing, a fishing trip, a pirate trip, (not sure ages)

We have stayed in all the different mod's and enjoyed each and every one.

 

[Camno's Mama]

We picked POFQ (our kids are 6,4 and 3 mo.) because we thought it would be the best fit for a young family. The bus situation seems simpler...one stop, hopefully less crowded (based on reviews), etc. Since we have a double stroller, that is something we value, as we noticed that it was tricky taking two kids and a double on the crowded POP bus last year.

The resort is smaller than the other mods, so less complicated that way. When we are there, I know that there will be some back and forth to the room. (We got locked out of our room because of some kind of key/lock error five out of the seven days that we were at POP, and the back and forth drove us crazy).

The food court sounded pretty good...we are only doing on TS meal...with the little ones, CS is the way to go for us. Their food court seemed better and less expensive than at least one of the other mods.

When looking at pics, my kids really liked the look of the pool. I think CBR and CSR looked a little intimidating to them. We are hoping to walk over and use the one at POR, which you can do if you stay at POR. I've also read that POR's food court is very good, so we will be trying that as well.

The boat to DTD is a huge plus. Also, I know my kids will love watching the carriages go by.

If the mods don't end up being in the budget, my kids really liked POP. The buses come through a lot...we only had one really long wait to DTD one night. (They are crowded though, and we did not often get a seat). They food court is really nice, with lots of options. Since your kids are so young, you will probably really like their pool options. They have a kid splash area, another area that has the fountains, and then the pools which are fun. When my kids were at the 2/3 age range though, they were much more interested in the splash areas than the actual pools. They also really liked the icons, although I think they would have enjoyed the icons at ASMo even more.

Good luck deciding!