CR or WL or Dolpin??

[Deborah_Mary]

Hi all!

Dh & I are trying to decide where we would like to stay for our upcoming trip to Disney World. We have our top 3 choices but are trying to come up with a pros/cons list of each one before making our decision.

Our top choices are:

Contemporary
Wilderness Lodge
Dolphin

Just a few side notes to possibly take into consideration...

MY first choice would be the Polynesian but I really doubt our budget will permit us getting to stay there unfortuately even with a possible code coming out. We've stayed at the Contemporary 2 other times and enjoyed it greatly (especially last year's trip when we booked a standard view room and got upgraded upon check in and got a tower room facing MK, talk about AWESOME!) do to it's wonderful location. Our dd will be 4 1/2 this year when we are planning on going and we found last year the monorail was super nice to just hop on and go take a break mid-day. We spend most of our time at the MK (dd's fav) followed by MGM being 2nd. Epcot and AK are pretty much tied for last. We only spent a small portion of our time in either one of those parks last year, but I'm sure we'll spend more time there as she gets a bit older especially AK, possibly even this year.

We will hopefully be there 4 or 5 nights depending on the code/deal that we can get for that time. So any helpful information, comments or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated it as to where you would suggest we stay.

Thanks again!

Deb*

 

[Mouseteacher]

I have stayed at the CR and the Dolphin. Both are favorites. Here's my thoughts: I'd choose the Dolphin over the CR Garden Wings. I love the Tower rooms and enjoy being on the monorail. However, the Dolphin location is awesome! Walking distance to BW, Epcot, MGM, BC/YC and all the terrific eateries. The Dolphin resort is wonderful - nice rooms (although smaller than the CR Tower) and a wonderful array of pools.

So, it depends on which location you prefer: close to MK and the ability to walk to it and on the monorail OR close to Epcot/MGM/BW. If the size of the room and beds matter, CR = queen beds plus daybed / Dolphin = double beds.

You can't lose with either choice - both are winners IMHO. Let us know which you choose.

 

[pointandshoot]

We have a four year old DD. Our first trip was at the CR and she too loved MK and the monorail. Our second trip we stayed at WL. She loved the the geyser and the waterfalls and the visit was great. On both trips, we did MK alot.

During the second trip, however, she always wanted to ride the monorail and visit the CR. So we would walk (or carry, ouch!) her from MK to the CR at the end of the day then ferry to WL. When she was really tired and we got the the CR, she would ask if we could sleep there

Also, we had a very early breakfast PS in MK for both our trips. From the CR, is was a monorail ride. From WL, we had to bus to transportation and ticket then monorail to MK. The extra step makes for an even earlier morning.

If you are looking for a new experience, WL will be awesome. In my opinion, CR is a bit more convenent with a small child and multiple MK visits. Hope you have a magicial trip!

 

[Deborah_Mary]

for taking the time to share your opinions and experiences with me! I truly do appreciate it. We are still discussing our possibilities and trying to weigh the pros and cons of each resort since we have some time to do so.

We really found the Contemporary SO convienent with being so close to MK and then just a monorail switch to Epcot. However the Dolphin would be pretty darn close to MGM & Epcot so transportation would be quick there too. I had a thought that if we were to stay there visited Epcot we could catch the monorail to the TTC and then switch over the head to MK, but it may just be quicker to go by bus...

Then I thought WL looked REALLY neat and thought transportation to MK wouldn't be too difficult since the boat is right there. We could either go to CR and jump on the monorail there or go to MK directly....

Ahhh, the joy of decision making I guess.

We had thought about staying at a moderate resort (most likely PO-FQ) but then decided we really rate location/transportation quite high on our list since we have dd. She really enjoyed the monorail and thought it was so cool.

$$ is of course an issue and the WL or CR (or Dolphin) we could possibly get a doable rate since they'll be in their value season in July and hopefully some codes will come out to make it that much more affordable to stay there as well. Like I said in my original post, I'd LOVE to stay with dh and dd at the Polynesian (my all time fav) but it's just so pricy. Dh has enough trouble spending the extra money on a room we just sleep and shower in, if you know what I mean?

Anyway, again thanks for the insight and if anyone else has any info to share or contribute good or bad about any of them, I'd love to hear it.

Deb*

 

[WDW2000]

I'm with you. If money wasn't an option I would LOVE to try the POLYNESIAN Lagoon view!

If it were up to me, I would split my stay between the WL and DOLPHIN. Since, you have stayed at the CR before, try something new and the WL is an awesome resort and very convenient to MK. When you are at the WL enjoy the MK, and then Switch to the DOLPHIN, and enjoy the MGM & EPCOT. I usually only like to split stays if staying at least 6 nights, but I have done it with 5 nights - and it was like getting 2 vacations in 1! In fact it was the WL & Dolplhin on a 5 night stay! I always like to try a different resort when going to WDW and you will not be dissapointed in the WL or Dolphin.