CBR or PO-FQ Christmas Week With a 3 Year Old

[robinb]

{{sigh}}

I have flipped and flopped on this and still don't know what I want! LOL!

I currently have reservations at CBR for 5 days from 12/24-12/29. We stayed at CBR in November of 2000 and loved it. I got a great rate (thanks Mary!) for a standard view room and PO-FQ is also available for the same price. Now, I'm thinking that I might want to try PO-FQ.

Here are the advantages, AFAIK, to PO-FQ:
* PO-FQ is smaller.
* We can "pool hop" between the 2 PO resorts.
* We can take the boat to DD.

Disadvantages?
* No "sit down" restaurant.
* Is the food court smaller?
* Are the busses more crowded, multiple stops?

Here are the CBR advantages:
* It has been recently renovated.
* We already have mugs .
* We loved it before.
* Fantastic bus service.
* Rooms are larger.

Disadvantages?
* Spread out. We could be stuck a long way away from the OPR.
* I wasn't all the impressed with the pool (s). I don't even recall the wading pool.

OK ... did I miss anything? How is the playgroud at PO-FQ? Any other advantages/disadvantages you can think of? Thanks!

 

[robinb]

One more thing ... does PO-FQ have a kiddie pool?

 

[dcedwards]

Yes, POFQ has a kiddie pool. There is an alligator there playing a sax and out of the sax comes water. It is pretty good size and sits just a little way from the main pool.

We had our son there at 3 years and he loved it. The theme there is perfect for that age...so whimsical and magic. The serpent slide was also great for him...he is a good swimmer though. And, the playground is great for that age. It has a cusioned flooring under the equipment and there is a slide and some climbing apparatus...can't remember exactly but was just the right size for him (even a little bit big but he liked it.)

The food court at POFQ has just been rennovated. It is similar to the one at Riverside. Has station, you order food and then pay for it at the end. It used to have a nice place for kids to color, also. I assume it is still there. Plus, you can use the food court at Riverside, if you like. And, there is a sit-down restaurant there. You can catch any bus that goes over to Dixie...the first one that comes...and get there in less than 3 minutes. It is about a 15 minute stroll along the river.

As far as the bus transportation, you share with Riverside. There are 4 stops at riverside and one at FQ. At FQ you are first on and first off. Makes it nice. As far as the size...the two resorts combined might be a bit bigger than CBR, I'm not sure. But, we have not had a problem with the buses...only about a 5-10 minute wait...anytime...but I have read reports that say different.

Keep in mind that when you are there is one of the absolutely busiest times of the year. It will be crowded. ALL buses will be packed as well as resorts, food courts and the parks. We've been a couple times at this time of the year and there is no other way to describe it except VERY busy and crowded. But, hopefully Disney will have done their job and anticipated the large crowds.