Does it really matter where you stay?

married2mm

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 15, 2011
if you couldn't have your chosen resort-would you still go on vacation?

Would you/do you have a backup resort?

For those who simply the resort is a place for sleeping; how do you select your resort?
 
if you couldn't have your chosen resort-would you still go on vacation?
-Yes, I wouldn't let it stop me.

Would you/do you have a backup resort?
-with the exception of the values and CBR, I would stay pretty much anywhere else on property. when i ask my TA about availability I usually give her 3 resort options in order of my preference.

For those who simply the resort is a place for sleeping; how do you select your resort?
-the resort is more than our sleeping place so i really cant answer that. even if it's just your sleeping place, though, you might consider trasportation around the resort since that will still affect you.
 
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes.

Wait, yes it matters where I stay. ;)

Yes, if I couldn't get where I wanted or one of my back ups, I would delay our trip until
they became available. I don't see that ever happening though.
 


I won't stay value so if that was all that's available I would stay offsite or postpone.

I'm not a big fan of OKW or Saratoga but I might stay if they are the only available option and the price is right.

The resort isn't just somewhere for us to sleep.
 
If only value resorts are available, I would postpone or move my trip. I would also prefer not to stay at CBR again, but I might consider it if the price was right, and if we had time constraints for our vacation that made it so that we could not move the trip.
 


It absolutely matters where we stay. The resort is a big part of our vacation. I usually have several potential time frames in mind when I start looking and if my preferred resorts are not available, I adjust my dates.

Our resort is more than a place to sleep. I might have one backup, but basically if my resort of choice was not available I would postpone my trip

This is us as well. We spend more time at the resort than we do the parks, so where we stay is a big part of our trips. We are pretty flexible as far as when we can go, so if our first or second choice isn't available during certain dates, we postpone and adjust our dates to accommodate resort availability :).
 
I would stay at any on-site resort! In fact, that is my plan...stay at them all! I like to do split stays, and plan my park days by which resort I am staying in. I have not stayed at any of the MK resorts yet...they are next on the list! :-)

I have stayed at Fort Wilderness campground, and it was great to be able to take the ferry to MK, the Contemporary, and Wilderness Lodge!
 
if you couldn't have your chosen resort-would you still go on vacation? Would you/do you have a backup resort?
For us the resort is a huge part of our WDW vacation. It is not just a place to sleep. It is a place to sleep, to shower, to lounge, to reflect, to plan, to take in the view, to eat, to swim, and to get to the parks from. The quality of all of those experiences impact our trip in a big way.

The Disney resorts in particular each have their unique style and charm, so that staying at a certain resort colors your trip. I can't think of the first WDW trip I took with my son in 2009 without also thinking of Wilderness Lodge. I was awestruck at the grandness and theming of the lobby, and I remember walking through the tall trees to and from the boat dock on Magic Kingdom days. I have similar resort-specific memories for every trip. Just grabbing a generic motel room on the local highway would not have provided a comparable experience.

So yes, our resort matters. I like many of the deluxe resorts, as well as Fort Wilderness, so it's not like if one resort is not available, we won't go. But we won't stay just anywhere- I always put a lot of thought into it.

You can have a great Disney vacation even if you don't get an ideal resort. One of our nicest trips was the February we stayed at Pop Century. But the specialness of that trip had to do with other factors besides the resort, which itself was not a great place to hang out. Going back there at the end of each day was a bit of a downer. I don't plan on staying at a value again- would rather get a nicer offsite hotel. But if you're asking, "Can a family have a great trip without spending a fortune on an expensive resort?", the answer is yes.
 
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I've enjoyed every resort I've stayed at, but there are some that don't appeal to me, CR, BWI, and All Stars. So that pretty much gives me a large selection to choose from!
 
Our goal it to stay at as many WDW resorts as we can while we can. But that doesn't mean we don't have our favorites. My wife loves the Polynesian, I love the Wilderness Lodge and the Animal Kingdom Lodge is a close second. And in the future I would like to stay long enough to do a split stay and return to one of them. Of the moderates we like Port Orleans Riverside and it is the only resort that we have returned to a second time. But we also make the resort part of our vacation, returning during the day for some rest from the crowds, dining reservation, entertainment, drinks by the pool. So even if we don't get our first choice when we plan our next WDW stay that is fine with us because we have so many more resorts we haven't stayed at :flower::yay:
 
We have ruled out sleeping in anything smaller than a queen, so the values have been off the list (a suite is just more than we need for three of us). With Pop's refurb, I have it booked for our short pre-cruise visit.

We have stayed at POR, CBR and AKL - while I would return to any of them, I want to keep trying new resorts if possible.
 
Yes it matters to me/us. We have a first choice and s back up. If it doesn't work, we just go another time. Fortunately we do have several favorites and within reason, are willing to pay for them.
 
I have favorites and some resorts I am not interested in, so would probably not book. I can be flexible with dates or resorts/split stays that I can usually find what I want. Cost is a factor too. It also depends what you are doing while at Disney.
 
We both camp and use the main Disney resorts / dvc so we always seem to get on property. If for some reason we can't, we will stay at a KOA near the park..
 

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