Best resort for young tweens

[MSparty]

Hello everyone, I am needing advice about a disney resort for our two kids (one is 10 and the other is 11 years old). We are going to be at Disney for almost a week and will be going to all of the parks, but also hope to have a day just at the resort and some downtime throughout the other days. The kids definitely want a great pool and stuff to do. They have both been to Disney when they were younger, so this will be a bit of a different experience, but most definitely still want them to experience the "magic"! Would love any advice....Port Orleans, Animal Kingdom, Wilderness Lodge, Yacht Club, and Boardwalk Inn have been recommended to us. I have been researching, but would love some help from experts! Thank you!!!

 

[100acreHiker]

We've stayed at most of the deluxe resorts. I have two boys 12 & 9. After 5 years of Disney, they have their favorites. For them: Boardwalk is number 1. They did like Beach club, but found the pool to be too busy. They also really liked Grand Floridian. I felt like I could let them wander a bit more at GF and BWI. They'd go down to the Boardwalk bakery and get a snack, etc, or, at GF, they'd go to pool snack bar. They're more compact resorts. Beach Club was really nice, too. If your kids like a resort that has a water park-like pool, then that would make sense, but it's definitely larger and busier because its connected to Yacht Club and shares a pool. But the slide is amazing. We also prefer to stay where we can walk in to Epcot.

 

[Ben23A]

Hello,
I'm 17 years old now and have been on many trips to Disney in the past, personally I really enjoyed the pool at the Yacht Club and the pool at the Boardwalk. Wilderness lodge is also extremely nice I have never stayed there but have visited many times and it seems very nice and I know it's a favorite of many. AKL is unique in the fact that the Savannah is right there, if your kids are really into animals this is a great resort, however I feel there pool lacks. My personal favorite as a child was none of the ones you listed but is the Polynesian Village Resort, this is a very expensive resort however it makes for a unforgettable vacation. The pool is amazing with a great slide there is also a very nice "quiet" pool and being able to sit on the beach and watch the water parade (I'm blanking on the name) and the fireworks (with piped in music) is great (the new firework show may change this experience however). Also at the Poly I really enjoy the fact that the monorail and boat to MK are right there (I love both of these) and you are in walking distance to the TTC which has the monorail to Epcot.

 

[Ben23A]

We've stayed at most of the deluxe resorts. I have two boys 12 & 9. After 5 years of Disney, they have their favorites. For them: Boardwalk is number 1. They did like Beach club, but found the pool to be too busy. They also really liked Grand Floridian. I felt like I could let them wander a bit more at GF and BWI. They'd go down to the Boardwalk bakery and get a snack, etc, or, at GF, they'd go to pool snack bar. They're more compact resorts. Beach Club was really nice, too. If your kids like a resort that has a water park-like pool, then that would make sense, but it's definitely larger and busier because its connected to Yacht Club and shares a pool. But the slide is amazing. We also prefer to stay where we can walk in to Epcot.

I totally agree with you the Boardwalk is a very nice atmosphere and the Yatch Club/Beach Club pool can get very busy. I enjoy the ability to walk to Epcot and boat to HS. I also enjoy that at GF and Poly, like I mentioned, both have the boat and monorail to MK.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

My kids absolutely love the BC and SAB. There were lots of teens/tweens and a volleyball net. Those kids played for hours. We had to beg him to get out so we could go to a park. One night he actually stayed in the pool (he was 15) while we went to Epcot without him. So the pool being busy worked in our favor since my kids enjoyed having the other kids around.

My kids are pool people. The pool is probably more important than the resort. They weren't thrilled with the Poly pool. They really liked CBR pool, more than Poly.

 

[jolene63]

We stayed at BWV for nine nights in December. My 10 and 13 year old loved it there. The pool slide is a lot of fun. They loved walking down to the bakery in the mornings to get their favorite muffins. The location can't be beat. It was great walking to EP and HS. There is also a putt putt course within walking distance that they loved. There really wasn't anything we disliked about BWV and we are excited to go back someday.

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

When I was 12 (10 years ago) my family stayed at Coronado Springs. I loved it. The pool there is really cool and the grounds are pretty. It's one of the more reasonably priced moderates as well, if I remember correctly. I liked the feel of the resort. I never remember it seeming too crowded. I can recommend it.

 

[Ben23A]

My kids absolutely love the BC and SAB. There were lots of teens/tweens and a volleyball net. Those kids played for hours. We had to beg him to get out so we could go to a park. One night he actually stayed in the pool (he was 15) while we went to Epcot without him. So the pool being busy worked in our favor since my kids enjoyed having the other kids around.

My kids are pool people. The pool is probably more important than the resort. They weren't thrilled with the Poly pool. They really liked CBR pool, more than Poly.

I

When I was 12 (10 years ago) my family stayed at Coronado Springs. I loved it. The pool there is really cool and the grounds are pretty. It's one of the more reasonably priced moderates as well, if I remember correctly. I liked the feel of the resort. I never remember it seeming too crowded. I can recommend it.

I agree CS is also a fun resort but I think it is not the best for kids who might want to be doing activities around the resort also right now CS is under renovation.

 

[TJA]

Hello everyone, I am needing advice about a disney resort for our two kids (one is 10 and the other is 11 years old). We are going to be at Disney for almost a week and will be going to all of the parks, but also hope to have a day just at the resort and some downtime throughout the other days. The kids definitely want a great pool and stuff to do. They have both been to Disney when they were younger, so this will be a bit of a different experience, but most definitely still want them to experience the "magic"! Would love any advice....Port Orleans, Animal Kingdom, Wilderness Lodge, Yacht Club, and Boardwalk Inn have been recommended to us. I have been researching, but would love some help from experts! Thank you!!!

My kids are now 14 but went to Disney many times when they were both 10 and 11 and have stayed at all the resorts you listed. Their favorites were BC and Poly, and I realize you didn't list those 2 lol. We stayed at YC and BWI and both were very nice but not overly full of families/kids, so we always favored BC out of the 3 Epcot resorts because we liked a little more family action (most likely due to Cape May character breakfast...). But definitely the pool at BC/YC was always a favorite for my kids, and I believe they would say it's still their favorite even now. There are a lot of different sections to that pool so the kids really never get bored. We loved walking to both Epcot and HS. We were NOT bus fans, so we usually walked through Epcot to catch the monorail to MK - obviously not the quickest route so we didn't take this route if we were in a hurry.

My kids also love Poly, and now the GF since we finally tried it last year. Both are amazing resorts with views of the Castle. My kids love the pools at both. As parents, we especially love being so close to MK, having the monorail, and also being able to watch fireworks from the resorts versus having to be in the parks.

As far as the resorts you listed, our favorite is AKL. Unfortunately, we don't love the bus system and really prefer to be on the monorail or at an Epcot resort, especially if we plan to go back and forth a lot. Otherwise, AKL is so much fun and very unique.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

BWI is hands-down my DS9's favorite resort. Even if we don't stay there (which isn't very often!), he asks just to go for the evening so he can see the shows and play the carnival games. He also LOVES the slide. BWI is really lively and is within walking distance to EP and DHS.

Second favorite would be Beach Club because of the pool and proximity to EP (and the Boardwalk!). We prefer the atmosphere of BC over YC.