Calling all Moms w/kids between 8 -12 yrs old

[disneycjm]

Hello all,
First great job to all you for the wonderful and helpful info on these boards. My question is, for a mom (and DH) who are taking a DD9 to WDW for the first time, where is the best place to stay that your kids absolutly loved and want to go back?? I hear many opinions from adults on their favorite but I want to know from a kids point of view. She loves swimming, so a pool and waterslide are a must. I have looked and read at soooo many reviews its making me crazy that I can't decide. Any help is appreciated. We are planning for the second week in August or perhaps the week of Thanksgiving.

 

[mic&min]

I have a 12 year old daughter and she really loved the pool at the Beach Club. It is really large and has a waterslide.

We spent one whole day at the pool there.

Enjoy!! :jumping4: :jumping4:

 

[nygrl]

my ds 8 loves loves loves the cr he loves the pool he loves the slide he loves that the monorail goes right through the building. he just loves everything about it!

 

[Scoootch]

well...that's somewhat of a loaded question lol. If you can narrow it down a tad to what budget you are looking at that would help. All WDW resorts have great pools with waterslides from the moderate catagory on up. Values will not have the waterslides..if that's a help. Personnally, IMO I can say that just about all of them are great and kid friendly but budget may or may not help narrow it down to a few suggestions

 

[nygrl]

Hello all,
First great job to all you for the wonderful and helpful info on these boards. My question is, for a mom (and DH) who are taking a DD9 to WDW for the first time, where is the best place to stay that your kids absolutly loved and want to go back?? I hear many opinions from adults on their favorite but I want to know from a kids point of view. She loves swimming, so a pool and waterslide are a must. I have looked and read at soooo many reviews its making me crazy that I can't decide. Any help is appreciated. We are planning for the second week in August or perhaps the week of Thanksgiving.

just a suggestion but you may want to post this on the teen board i bet they would be able to tell you themselves.

 

[disneycjm]

Thanks, I didn't even know they had a teen board...thanks for all your posts!

 

[wonderlandaddict]

My kids loved POFQ!

 

[dturner]

My DS (8) LOVES the All Star Sports.

I asked him the other day if he wanted to stay somewhere else like the Animal Kingdom Lodge for our upcoming trip in May and he said a big "NO", I want to stay at the All Star Sports like we did the last time.

Personally, I love CBR! Actually, everywhere I've stayed in Disney I love, LOL!!

 

[DisneyFan09]

I'm in the same going crazy boat as you trying to decide on a resort. There are so many to choose from!! I have dd's 8 and 9 and they loved the Polynesian. The volcano pool is very cool with a pretty decent waterslide. The whole pool area is nice for adults too, they have a great poolside bar and plenty of tables and the view of the castle from the pool area and beach is spectacular.

The Yacht and Beach Club has Stormalong Bay which I've heard is like a mini water park so that would probably be a good choice too!!

Good luck with your decision, I feel your pain!!!

 

[disneycjm]

DisneyFan09 - thank goodness I am not the only one making myself crazy!!! I have looked at each resorts pictures but its not the same as seeing it for yourself. I think the more I look the Poly is sounding like the place for use. Good luck with your decision.

 

[DisneyFan09]

I think you'll love the Polynesian and it's laid back atmosphere!! Like I said, the views are great and you'll love the boat and monorail. Lot's of choices for meals and shopping!! As much as I would like to try someplace new, that's probably where I'll end up again. Be careful, this resort will spoil you and you'll never want to stay anywhere else!

 

[Amariela]

My DD was 9 when we took her for the first time.

We stayed at POFQ & WL - both my kids liked the POFQ pool better. The sea-serpent slide (With King Triton riding on his back), was a favorite of my Ariel-loving DD>

 

[java]

Our favorite disney pool is the beach club pool. My little guy loves the sand and my bigger guys love the pirate slide. They also love the current pool there. Oh and the sinking sand. What we also love about the beach club is the closeness to Epcot. We like to try the countries out for dinner and it is so convenient to just walk on over. This time we are staying at the grand floridian because we have added a family member and think being on the monorail will ease our trip. I just found out that they changed their pool?! I can't imagine that beautiful large (plain) pool being turned into a lagoony beachy one. We'll see.

 

[johnsonet]

Hi. My DD (8) has been to WDW 9 times and has stayed at the following:

GF - first 5 visits plus 1 more
AKL - 3 visits
WL - 1 visit
BWI - 1 visit

(We split one stay b/w the WL and AKL; another split was GF and BWI this summer)

She ADORES the GF but I must say that of all the stays the place she can't wait to go back to is WL. I would highly recommend it!

 

[goodferry]

We went last June with a nine, thirteen, and five year old and stayed at the Polynesian. They all loved the pool, we had a hard time getting them out!! We did visit the BC/YC and checked out SAB and it looked incredible. I have heard, however, that some moms get nervous because it is VERY spread out and it would be easy to loose a kid for a while. We went back and forth on whether to stay there for our next trip, but in the end, we still really spend more time at MK, so the Poly works out better for us. The volcano slide is great and the zero entry was perfect for our 1 year old.

 

[Pienut]

Animal Kingdom Lodge, its absolutely MAGICAL!

 

[HM]

We've stayed at ASMo, CBR, WL, Poly, AKL, BWI, YC and GF. My DD is 9 1/2.

When I asked DD where she would like to stay again she picked AKL or BWI.
DS (who is 11) says WL.

 

[Buzz2001]

My DD loves the Disg Site at CSR. We spend hours at the pool and she just loves the slide. Check out pictures on my CSR website below

 

[eeyore0062]

OK, since that waterslide is a must, that rules out any of the value resorts.

Now, we can look at the moderates:
PO-FQ, my favorite--- less spread out so you don't have to walk far to the food court, the pool or the bus stop. At busy times during the day, the bus stop is a dedicated stop, just for that resort. Even when it isn't it is still the 1st stop on and the 1st stop off before picking up at PO-R. The pool here is nice and has a serpent slide. If that is too tame, you all can use the pool at PO-R, too. Wow, 2 themed pools and 2 water slides...how cool is that?
PO-R--- more spread out than PO-FQ. Other amenities the same. Both have a ferry to and from DTD.
CBR- probably the most spread out of the moderates. Smaller food court and pool, but the slide is OK. The beaches are pretty. Bus Transportation is pretty good... very good to DisneyMGM, since it is virtually next door
CSR--- this is a moderate resort with a convention center, so often in the mornings you see many business types in the food court. Avoid the Casitas, as that is where they usually put the conventioneers. Has a nice pool and a good slide.

Deluxes: Well, favorite is the Polynesian... just can't say enough wonderful things about this resort. Love the pool, the beach, the lobby, restaurants, rooms, etc. The slide it through a volcano, which is lots of fun

Wilderness Lodge: a bit too rustic and masculine for me. Rooms are a bit small for a deluxe resort. Does have a nice pool with a slide

The Contemporary: largest rooms on property. Lots of energy. Pool isn't really themed, but the slide appears to be good.

Of course for the pool to end all pools, stay in the Yacht and Beach Club. They have a mini water park... only one slide, but LOTS of fun!

I haven't stayed at the other deluxes, but the pools are all nice, and have good slides, as well.

 

[jehma]

my ds 8 loves loves loves the cr he loves the pool he loves the slide he loves that the monorail goes right through the building. he just loves everything about it!

Us too! We stayed there in 2001 with an 8, 5, and 1 year old. Now they're 12, 9, and 5, and we're going back. We love the CR Tower.