Best WDW resort to stay at precruise and after cruise

[ladybugmommy84]

I am having the hardest time deciding. Trying to stay under at least 250. I also receive a Florida discount for being a resident. So far I have looked into Riverside and Art of Animation. Any advice? It will just be my daughter and I. She's 6.

 

[diznymom]

All Star Sports is our favorite value resort.

 

[5Texans]

We stayed in the Princess Suite at the riverside w/ our 5/3/1 y/o DD and they LOVED it. It would be pretty close to 250. We like being able to go to Disney Springs by boat and my girls liked the carriage ride. We also stayed at Pop Century once and I found the beds very uncomfortable and IMO it's worth it for the upgrade to Moderate. Prior to POP we only stayed at Deluxe and I was having major withdrawals.

 

[ladybugmommy84]

We stayed in the Princess Suite at the riverside w/ our 5/3/1 y/o DD and they LOVED it. It would be pretty close to 250. We like being able to go to Disney Springs by boat and my girls liked the carriage ride. We also stayed at Pop Century once and I found the beds very uncomfortable and IMO it's worth it for the upgrade to Moderate. Prior to POP we only stayed at Deluxe and I was having major withdrawals.

Thank you for that! Looking at the pictures the beds look uncomfortable. I definitely want to stay at Riverside for my daughter and the mermaid room at Art of animation resort

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We love AoA, definitely our favorite of the WDW resorts. We've always bypassed the moderate resorts and either do AofA or a deluxe.

 

[mmouse37]

We stayed last August at Pop Century and I was not really a fan. It was Ok for a short stay but I much prefer the moderates. My favorite is Coronado Springs and we like to book the business class rooms....they come with lounge access that has complimentary continental breakfast and evening snacks and complimentary beer, wine and sangria from 5 to 10 pm. Business class guests also get a building very close to the lobby building and the bus stop. POFQ would be my next favorite moderate.

We just stayed at AKL Savanna View 2 weeks ago and LOVED it but I couldn't justify the price every trip. That was a special trip with our family for my husband's birthday.

MJ

 

[Soontobegoodsell]

We always stay at Port Orleans French Quarter. It's our home base and love it.

 

[1Winston]

We have always done the animal kingdom, the kids love watching the animals from their room.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I liked Port Orleans, liked Riverside better than French Quarter there. Also stayed at Coronado Springs, thought it was OK. It's been a while, but as as family, we enjoyed Caribbean Beach.

We also stayed at Boardwalk, it was very nice.

 

[mmouse37]

We have always done the animal kingdom, the kids love watching the animals from their room.

Our two granddaughters 17 mos and 19 mos absolutely LOVED the animals....every minute we were in the room they would run to the sliding glass door and say amuls, amuls (which in toddler speak is animals!, animals! LOL). I don't know if it was the cooler weather or what but there were tons of animals out all the time. We saw giraffes galloping about...it was fantastic!

MJ

 

[DWillowBay]

Given that it's just you and your young daughter, I would endorse your idea of AoA and the Little Mermaid rooms. My son and I did this last year and I couldn't have been happier with the experience. The rooms were plenty for the two of us. The grounds are very nice and the cost is reasonable. We stayed in the King Triton bldg and were closest to the Main Bldg. This made the walk to LM room very doable from the bus stops after a long day in the parks. I have seen people comment on how far away LM is from the Main Bldg, but I thought it was a nice walk. (5 minutes...maybe)

 

[ladybugmommy84]

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Our two granddaughters 17 mos and 19 mos absolutely LOVED the animals....every minute we were in the room they would run to the sliding glass door and say amuls, amuls (which in toddler speak is animals!, animals! LOL). I don't know if it was the cooler weather or what but there were tons of animals out all the time. We saw giraffes galloping about...it was fantastic!

MJ

Wow that's beautiful!

 

[mevelandry]

I would go for any of the moderate resorts over a value (based on the beds and soundproofing).

 

[2Bnºoºt2B]

Port Orleans Riverside - Royal Guest Room - River View ... our go-to for the past two WDW stays ... love it !

 

[RedSox68]

Go through the DVC rental points site. We have gotten rooms at Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom for less than we would have paid at a moderate resort! Otherwise, Port Orleans is our favorite - both sides.

 

[PirateFrank]

You should stay at whatever resort is your favorite WDW resort. I don't see a benefit of one resort over another, for the purposes of pre or post cruising stays. That being said, I recommend this to anyone looking to stay on property on a budget -- Don't discount the moderates, even if they are slightly out of your budget. The pools are better themed, they have at least one TS restaurant and the is a chance of less beds per resort. Ive done several trips at all categories and nothing is more frustrating than ending the day at the MK, walking to the end of the plank to catch the Pop Century bus, only to find that there are 3x as many people waiting to get on a pop century bus as any other resort -- and half as many buses servicing the stop.

 

[ladybugmommy84]

Go through the DVC rental points site. We have gotten rooms at Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom for less than we would have paid at a moderate resort! Otherwise, Port Orleans is our favorite - both sides.

I have no clue how to do it all

 

[ladybugmommy84]

You should stay at whatever resort is your favorite WDW resort. I don't see a benefit of one resort over another, for the purposes of pre or post cruising stays. That being said, I recommend this to anyone looking to stay on property on a budget -- Don't discount the moderates, even if they are slightly out of your budget. The pools are better themed, they have at least one TS restaurant and the is a chance of less beds per resort. Ive done several trips at all categories and nothing is more frustrating than ending the day at the MK, walking to the end of the plank to catch the Pop Century bus, only to find that there are 3x as many people waiting to get on a pop century bus as any other resort -- and half as many buses servicing the stop.

Thanks, well I don't have a favorite since this is our first cruise etc

 

[GoofyNewfie]

You should stay at whatever resort is your favorite WDW resort. I don't see a benefit of one resort over another, for the purposes of pre or post cruising stays.

Funny you say that. I have a recommendation about where not to stay PRE cruise that mattered to us. And could matter again. However, with knowledge, and probably more luck than we, you'd be able to avoid it.

Our precruise stay 2016 Easter was at the Wilderness Lodge. Great place. I'd certainly go back. But not precruise. We had a 2 night stay.

Our arrival was later than expected. Something like 1am. We had a forest view that happened to overlook the boat launch - but we didn't know this until 6am when the boats start sounding their mandatory horns 3 times before and after docking quite a few times per hour. So, we started our day MUCH earlier than expected. In a nice hotel like that, we expected to lounge and not get up until maybe noon to get a good start on our expensive Disney Fantasy Easter cruise. But, no matter we said, that's ok, we'll just go to bed early tonight. We hit the hay around 10 or so knowing that the boats would be starting up again around 6am. But, no, sleep was not to be had. Around midnight, some sort of firework event happens outside our room from the boats (we think it was the boats). It was unreal how loud it was.

If we'd been there for a regular DisneyWorld vacation, we would have been up at the crack of dawn anyways and probably loved staying up for fireworks. That's how we roll at DW. But on cruise, I really don't want to start tired.

 

[ladybugmommy84]

Funny you say that. I have a recommendation about where not to stay PRE cruise that mattered to us. And could matter again. However, with knowledge, and probably more luck than we, you'd be able to avoid it.

Our precruise stay 2016 Easter was at the Wilderness Lodge. Great place. I'd certainly go back. But not precruise. We had a 2 night stay.

Our arrival was later than expected. Something like 1am. We had a forest view that happened to overlook the boat launch - but we didn't know this until 6am when the boats start sounding their mandatory horns 3 times before and after docking quite a few times per hour. So, we started our day MUCH earlier than expected. In a nice hotel like that, we expected to lounge and not get up until maybe noon to get a good start on our expensive Disney Fantasy Easter cruise. But, no matter we said, that's ok, we'll just go to bed early tonight. We hit the hay around 10 or so knowing that the boats would be starting up again around 6am. But, no, sleep was not to be had. Around midnight, some sort of firework event happens outside our room from the boats (we think it was the boats). It was unreal how loud it was.

If we'd been there for a regular DisneyWorld vacation, we would have been up at the crack of dawn anyways and probably loved staying up for fireworks. That's how we roll at DW. But on cruise, I really don't want to start tired.

Thank you sooo much this really helps!