Do you really spend alot of time in your room?

[Colleen27]

We don't usually spend a lot of time in the room, but we're pool people so that's the thing we agonize over when it comes to resort choice. For example, the values aren't even a consideration for us, because always we want a pool slide and a hot tub.

The other issue is bed size. If the mods had queen beds or would guarentee connecting rooms, we'd stick to mods most of the time, but 2 double beds for the 4 of us is just too cramped for good sleep.

 

[GinnyFavers]

Twice someone has been seriously ill on trips -- once it was me, and once it was Miles.

Both times, thank goodness we weren't in a Value or even a Moderate resort. Being stuck in your room and the resort for two days at the Animal Kingdom Lodge is still a vacation.

 

[pfalcioni]

It's just the two of us, and we pack light, so the value room size is fine. It's definitely small - but we do alot of camping, and any hotel room is large in comparison to our camper - heck, the value room has more square footage than our motorhome!

We are definitely in the commando category - we get up, shower, grab the coffee cups and granola bars and after a cup of coffee, head to the parks. We're there all day - getting back to the room after the parks close.

Of course, we're not there during peak season - so we're not talking some 18 hour marathon, but 9am to 11pm usually.

I'm very frugal - we take lots of vacations during the year, so I have to stretch our budget to fit in all the fun. One way I stretch is with the cheapest room possible. All we expect is a clean room, comfortable bed, clean sheets and towels and a decent tv - anything extra is icing!

I agree with the OP, I know folks who don't really look at their 'needs', but choose a room based more on their 'wants' - or just because they haven't done their research and found out options. This is fine if it's within budget, but I know so many people who only vacation once every 5 years or more because they say it is so expensive.

When I ask where they stay and they say how much they've spent, I'm astonished. They're spending five times as much as we do - and that's why they're going so infrequently.

Sure, a beautiful resort is great. But being able to enjoy all the things that are really important to us, and doing it more often, is the most important thing to me. If that means a cheaper hotel, bag lunches and some dinners in the room, I'm all for it!

 

[cmonroe]

With kids, we spend more time in our room and time at the pool. Before kids, we spent time enjoying the room and the resort grounds. So, the room and resort are important to us.

After staying at WL, I wanted more space in the room, so we are trying ASMusic Family Suites. And, after staying at WL and POFQ a few years ago, I wonder if POR/POFQ rooms have more floor space than WL because of the difference in the size of the beds. It just seemed tight at WL, but then we hadn't stayed in a hotel room with our kids before. I felt like we had little room to get by each other. So, I need more floor space.

Anyway, I think that you will be happy with POR.

Elmo,

I have never stayed at WL, but my brother and his family stayed in a suite at ASMu for our trip this past April. My point of reference is CR Northwing or tower room. It was much larger with a kitchen and the nice part about it is the parents have their own bedroom separated from everyone else and your own bathroom!

 

[monami7]

We love picking out and relaxing at our resort. The Values scare us because nothing about them looks relaxing!

 

[goodferry]

We do spend a lot of time in our room...I have two active boys and two active girls! The baby takes a nap in the afternoon and we are on vacation, we want to relax some We do some park time, but I don't think it can be all about the kids all the time. We usually go for 10 days and take things slow, go for rope drop, back to the resort for lunch, relax until 6 and then go for dinner and maybe something in the evening, but not always. We usually book a concierge room so that we have the availibility of those extra amenities because we are in the resort so much.

 

[twoeeyy]

we spend just enough time to shower and sleep for about 6-7 hours

 

[LeahA]

pfalcioni-

You hit the nail on the head! So many people ask me how we can afford to go to Disney every year. It's because I am frugal in some ways. We drive from Illinois instead of paying for 5 airline tickets and a rental car. We eat breakfast in our room. We try to avoid buffett's and charachter meals, too expensive! We usually eat one counter service meal per day where we get our kids to split meals and one sit down meal.

I have to admit I would rather be frugal with Disney and take a few extra trips close to home in my year, than spend all my dollars at Disney. Last year we splurged and stayed at the POLY garden view with the AP rate, it was awesome, can I do it every year, no, I can't. Although the room was large and we had that flat screen t.v. and patio and day bed and queen size beds, which were awesome, it didn't really change how many hours we spent in our room.

Here's to being a little frugal, and making some sacrifices, to afford more than 1 vacation per year!

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

I look at so many posts of people including myself wondering if they have picked the right hotel or not. How much time do you really spend in your room?
We wake up and spend about an hour in the a.m. we go to the park,come back, change into swim suits and go swimming, come back, spend about another hour showering etc...go to dinner, come back at night, sit up for an hour and go to bed.
That's roughly around 4-5 hours of awake time in room! When I look at it that way, if the room is clean and big enough for my family of 5 and affordable, that should be all that matter's.
I loved the WL and the POLY, but next year we are staying at POR, and I know the room will be alot smaller, but other than that, for the 4-5 hours we are awake in the room, I don't think that will matter too much!

This was exactly my reasoning as to why we are staying at CBR this time. The rooms are almost as large as WL the difference is there is an outside door not a hallway door and there are double beds not queen size. But even those aren't enough to justify the extra money we saved by staying in a Mod and even staying longer. I just hope I'm right or I'll never hear the end of it from DH, because he wanted WL again.

 

[PrincessNED]

25% to 33% of each day !

 

[WOODY13]

To us the room/resort is very important we spend one or two days of our vacation exclusively at the room/resort.

 

[chickenskin]

While we may not spend a lot of time in the room, we like having a nice hotel to go back to, by nice I mean that we like the theming, location, room decor, the grounds, and amenities of the resort. The resort is as much a part of our Disney trip as the parks.

 

[alldiz]

Like some one else said....

I look at the resort as the destination....with some really cool parks
nearby.

Since buying DVC we spend even more time at the resort.
Usually go to the parks for a few hours....swim....go to dinner...
maybe a park....come back chill.....bed.
I try to take advantage of any kids activities that are going on at
the resort.

I have stayed at POFQ and I loved it.....the double beds make me
crazy though....we are used to a king.
got a cot last time though....and it was great.
Kerri

 

[BigGreen73]

My DW and I spend little to no time in our rooms. We get up shower and are usually out for a walk sometime between 6am and 7am, we get breakfast at the food court around 7:30am, dropped our refillable mugs at the room, and we are off to a park.

We then usually get back to the room anywhere between 10pm and 1am, grab something drink, and off to sleep.

Rinse and repeat.

So including sleep, we spend maybe 8 hrs in the room. Give or take.

 

[Uncleromulus]

We've been to WDW 30 times now, and spend less and less time in the Theme Parks. We spend a lot of time in our one bedroom at OKW, just relaxing.

 

[G8r4evr]

This was exactly my reasoning as to why we are staying at CBR this time. The rooms are almost as large as WL the difference is there is an outside door not a hallway door and there are double beds not queen size. But even those aren't enough to justify the extra money we saved by staying in a Mod and even staying longer. I just hope I'm right or I'll never hear the end of it from DH, because he wanted WL again.

My husband and I were thrilled with CBR. The rooms are very spacious (especially if you are lucky enough to get a corner room) and the grounds are beautiful! Definitely a great value for the money.

WL is next on my list, but I have yet to find a rate that I feel good about paying there. LOL I may be destined to be a mod girl forever.

 

[rt2dz]

We don't spend that much time in the room--regularly. It isn't that big of a deal to me. HOWEVER, there are other things that are super important to me. I like the added safety of interior hallways, I want the option of room service in case someone (a child) gets sick, etc that regulates us to a deluxe resort. Well, that and being a family of 5.

We then pick which resort based on various aspects. Price is the number one. Occasionally location. And we do like to try different hotels.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

In the past, we haven't spent much time in the room.
Just to sleep, lounge a little bit before bed and sometimes swim at the resort.

We usually do short trips - 4 or 5 days - and we try to squeeze in time at every park.

We've only stayed value in the past and the resort time wasn't a priority.

I've booked CR for our next trip so I'm going to plan some extra resort time to enjoy it!

 

[Bellamickey]

We have been to Disney 8 times and when we go. We don't spend hardly any time in our room. As long as it has a bed and is on Disney Property, we are content. Just their to sleep so really not that picky with all the extra amenities. We don't mind the value or moderate resorts.

 

[PamNC]

I get what you're saying, I really do! But, it's about more than the actual square footage of the room...for me anyway. We love the YC/BC or the Poly. For me, it's the convenience and the amenities of the resort. The rooms are nice, but we all know they aren't up to the standards of a really nice 4-star hotel. I don't think anyone would argue that point. These resorts offer the least amount of stress and strain for getting to the parks. Then, add on top of that nice sit-down restaurants and superior pools. We don't actually spend a lot of awake time in the room, but we do like to sit on the balcony and watch the world go by. You can't do that at the moderates.

I will say that POR is a great resort - it's our favorite moderate. We stay moderate once in awhile and with the new prices we may become regulars. We love the boat to DTD and the grounds are beautiful. The pool leaves something to be desired, but that's becasue we're comparing it to the Volcano Pool and the big gun...Stormalong Bay.

We love the Epcot Resort area and all it offers...within walking distance and we love the Poly for the monorail and the beautiful grounds and views. Can't beat being right on the Seven Seas Lagoon.

As the realtors always say, Location, Location, Location.

PamNC