Favorite deluxe?

[chocovrdmicears]

Poly used to be our favorite..had several fabulous stays there - but our wallet didn't love it. Now with the construction...no thanks.
AKL is our current favorite. We love the theming, the animals, the food, the pool, the off the beaten path feel.
We have visited them all now and most recently WL was the one that amazed us. We shall see next trip if it exceeds AKL.

 

[MillauFr]

We just got back from a stay at the Poly and Wilderness Lodge. We loved both of them. Only negative of the Lodge was the travel time between our room and the Magic Kingdom. It took 25 minutes from our room to the front gate and 35 minute during the return trip. Too long for my liking.

 

[rosiebean]

1. Poly, far and away. Beautiful grounds, huge rooms, great water pressure in the shower (which means a lot to me!), able to see the water pageant and fireworks from the beach, fun food options... Not to mention, it's two stops on the monorail to MK and an easy (IMO) walk to the monorail to Epcot.

2. Yacht Club. I love the theme, how quiet the lobby is compared to BC, the easy access to the countries at Epcot, the ability to see fireworks at Epcot from my garden view balcony, and the access to SAB. Staying there was just so...elegant and nice. Best mousekeepers I've ever had, and excellent cast members overall.

3. BC. Very pretty rooms, but the lobby (especially with outside visitors going to the character breakfast at cape may) and gift shop/food area was always so busy that it wasn't relaxing for me. Everything else was great...cast members, access to Epcot, etc. I just found the lobby too loud and busy for my liking.

4. Contemporary tower. Love the rooms, love the tower views, love whole nostalgic feel of the place. But don't love the prices for staying in the tower. And as the prices for the garden wings are similar (or more!) at times than my first three preferences, I'd stay at those first.

5. BWI. Beautiful rooms. Some views are spectacular. But the boardwalk in general isn't enough to me to stay for an entire stay. We usually stroll along the BW one night during our Disney vacations, and while fun, the area isn't a place I want to visit more than once. I find the food options lacking (outside of a few table service restaurants), and while I don't mind in theory venturing outside of a hotel for food, given the quality of what's available on the BW, it's not something that endears me to the hotel.

6. GF. It's thematically a beautiful hotel, but it just doesn't appeal to me. Even if its costs were on par with ALK and WL, it would not appeal to me. But it has a wonderful location, great food options, helpful staff, etc., which still place it higher on my list than other resorts.

7. ALK. Love the theme of the lobby/grounds, find the rooms dark, liked the food options, found that the rooms where you pay to view the animals don't always result in actual animal viewing. Also did not like having to take a bus to every park. Personally, if I'm staying deluxe, I'd rather pay more for the ability to easily access one or two parks.

8. WL. See above. What puts WL at the bottom of my list is my lack of love for it's theme. It's really my own opinion that drives this. WL has very good food service, excellent cast members, AND the boat to MK. Plus it's a very affordable deluxe. But I'd rather stay in the more expensive options above because the theme here does *nothing* for me.

Which tells you that the opinions about deluxes are VERY subjective!

 

[monica9]

1. Poly, far and away. Beautiful grounds, huge rooms, great water pressure in the shower (which means a lot to me!), able to see the water pageant and fireworks from the beach, fun food options... Not to mention, it's two stops on the monorail to MK and an easy (IMO) walk to the monorail to Epcot.

2. Yacht Club. I love the theme, how quiet the lobby is compared to BC, the easy access to the countries at Epcot, the ability to see fireworks at Epcot from my garden view balcony, and the access to SAB. Staying there was just so...elegant and nice. Best mousekeepers I've ever had, and excellent cast members overall.

3. BC. Very pretty rooms, but the lobby (especially with outside visitors going to the character breakfast at cape may) and gift shop/food area was always so busy that it wasn't relaxing for me. Everything else was great...cast members, access to Epcot, etc. I just found the lobby too loud and busy for my liking.

4. Contemporary tower. Love the rooms, love the tower views, love whole nostalgic feel of the place. But don't love the prices for staying in the tower. And as the prices for the garden wings are similar (or more!) at times than my first three preferences, I'd stay at those first.

5. BWI. Beautiful rooms. Some views are spectacular. But the boardwalk in general isn't enough to me to stay for an entire stay. We usually stroll along the BW one night during our Disney vacations, and while fun, the area isn't a place I want to visit more than once. I find the food options lacking (outside of a few table service restaurants), and while I don't mind in theory venturing outside of a hotel for food, given the quality of what's available on the BW, it's not something that endears me to the hotel.

6. GF. It's thematically a beautiful hotel, but it just doesn't appeal to me. Even if its costs were on par with ALK and WL, it would not appeal to me. But it has a wonderful location, great food options, helpful staff, etc., which still place it higher on my list than other resorts.

7. ALK. Love the theme of the lobby/grounds, find the rooms dark, liked the food options, found that the rooms where you pay to view the animals don't always result in actual animal viewing. Also did not like having to take a bus to every park. Personally, if I'm staying deluxe, I'd rather pay more for the ability to easily access one or two parks.

8. WL. See above. What puts WL at the bottom of my list is my lack of love for it's theme. It's really my own opinion that drives this. WL has very good food service, excellent cast members, AND the boat to MK. Plus it's a very affordable deluxe. But I'd rather stay in the more expensive options above because the theme here does *nothing* for me.

Which tells you that the opinions about deluxes are VERY subjective![/QUO

Thanks for this post!

 

[PoohsFan1]

Ours is the Poly, but not while all the construction is taking place. We also like the Contemporary and the Yacht Club.

I would have to agree, we really like the Poly but you wouldn't see us there until after all of the construction is completely finished. On our trip in May we went there to look around, and I was just saddened to see all of the construction walls up, especially around the now gone waterfall inside the lobby .

With that said, our most favorite deluxe resort is BC because of the location, the pool, the theme, and the ambiance. After that we really like the Contemporary and WL.

 

[Dano13]

For us it is the Boardwalk Inn with the Contemporary next up.

We feel the Cresecent LKe resorts have the best location and the BWI is fabulous hotel. Love being on the Boardwalk and it's fun atmosphere, but retreating to the hotel offers peace and quiet as well.

 

[clapton]

1. VGF- love everything about it!
2. BWV- love the atmosphere and the short walk to Epcot.
3. BCV- love the theme and the pool.
4. BLT- love the Contemporary and short walk to MK.
5. VWL- beautiful lobby, good QS but rooms are a little dark for me.
6. AKL - beautiful resort but a little to far from everything for me.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

1. Poly, far and away. Beautiful grounds, huge rooms, great water pressure in the shower (which means a lot to me!), able to see the water pageant and fireworks from the beach, fun food options... Not to mention, it's two stops on the monorail to MK and an easy (IMO) walk to the monorail to Epcot.

2. Yacht Club. I love the theme, how quiet the lobby is compared to BC, the easy access to the countries at Epcot, the ability to see fireworks at Epcot from my garden view balcony, and the access to SAB. Staying there was just so...elegant and nice. Best mousekeepers I've ever had, and excellent cast members overall.

3. BC. Very pretty rooms, but the lobby (especially with outside visitors going to the character breakfast at cape may) and gift shop/food area was always so busy that it wasn't relaxing for me. Everything else was great...cast members, access to Epcot, etc. I just found the lobby too loud and busy for my liking.

4. Contemporary tower. Love the rooms, love the tower views, love whole nostalgic feel of the place. But don't love the prices for staying in the tower. And as the prices for the garden wings are similar (or more!) at times than my first three preferences, I'd stay at those first.

5. BWI. Beautiful rooms. Some views are spectacular. But the boardwalk in general isn't enough to me to stay for an entire stay. We usually stroll along the BW one night during our Disney vacations, and while fun, the area isn't a place I want to visit more than once. I find the food options lacking (outside of a few table service restaurants), and while I don't mind in theory venturing outside of a hotel for food, given the quality of what's available on the BW, it's not something that endears me to the hotel.

6. GF. It's thematically a beautiful hotel, but it just doesn't appeal to me. Even if its costs were on par with ALK and WL, it would not appeal to me. But it has a wonderful location, great food options, helpful staff, etc., which still place it higher on my list than other resorts.

7. ALK. Love the theme of the lobby/grounds, find the rooms dark, liked the food options, found that the rooms where you pay to view the animals don't always result in actual animal viewing. Also did not like having to take a bus to every park. Personally, if I'm staying deluxe, I'd rather pay more for the ability to easily access one or two parks.

8. WL. See above. What puts WL at the bottom of my list is my lack of love for it's theme. It's really my own opinion that drives this. WL has very good food service, excellent cast members, AND the boat to MK. Plus it's a very affordable deluxe. But I'd rather stay in the more expensive options above because the theme here does *nothing* for me.

Which tells you that the opinions about deluxes are VERY subjective!

This is a great post with lots of things to consider.

 

[Babsy]

We love all the deluxe resorts so it is difficult to choose a favourite. Which is the top choice will vary with when you ask me. It was definitely the Poly for many years. Now, I'm not so sure. I like the rooms in the CR tower with the MK view the best. I like the lobby of the GF the best. If the Poly comes out of the construction as good as ever, I like the grounds of the Poly the best. I like the WL at Christmas the best. For many years while my children were teenagers, I would have said that the BC was my favourite resort. The YC is now my Favourite Epcot resort for during food and wine.The AKL has my favourite restaurants.

It is REALLY hard to choose just one!
The only thing that I think that I can safely say that the MK area resorts are my favourite. I ALWAYS try to stay at least part of my WDW vacation in a MK resort.

 

[Kristina4109]

I have not stayed at all the Deluxes, but here are my humble opinions about the ones I have experienced first hand:

1) The Poly! This is the only WDW resort I have stayed at twice. Mind you, right now with the construction I don't think it would be a good choice unless your only priority is transportation. After the construction ends it will go back to my number 1 choice.

2) The Beach Club Villas! If you are prioritizing Epcot on a trip, this place can't be beat. When we stayed here, we had dinner reservations at World Showcase almost every night. It was glorious to stroll out of WS after dinner back to our villa.

3) Grand Floridian. Gorgeous, lush, luxurious. But a teensy part of me felt like I was underdressed every time we walked through the lobby. However, coming back from the parks to hear an orchestra playing Gershwin in the lobby was amazing.

4) Contemporary. Fabulous proximity to the MK and great location for watching the Electrical Water Pageant. But too noisy, and I don't dig the style of the resort.

5) Wilderness Lodge. Breathtaking lobby and good dining, but no character meals on site and the trip to and from the MK was too long for my taste.

6) Animal Kingdom Lodge. Can't argue with those views or the lobby or the food, and chatting with the CM's from Africa is so cool. But I found the rooms to be too dark.

Never stayed at the others so can't say much there.

 

[raddisneyfan]

Poly is our favorite for the relaxing atmosphere and friendly people. The grounds are/were beautiful. The monorail is just a bonus. However I won't stay there until all the construction is finished. I'm looking forward to finding out if it'll still be relaxing after they change everything.

Yacht Club is also good when anything is going on at Epcot like F&W or at Christmas time. There's so much to do around the resort with the Boardwalk and all it's activities and then there's that awesome pool. It just seems for alive and vibrant.

I totally agree regarding the Polynesian--love the relaxed atmosphere after the craziness of the parks. I hate to say it, but I don't think the construction will stop me from staying there this coming February--don't think I could wait until 2016 to stay there again. Kind of like the fact that when the pool is under construction, guests get free entry to Blizzard Beach with a special entrance and everything--not sure if it will be warm enough in February to take advantage of all that has to offer though. I have to say however, that I am very disappointed with Disney for converting Rapa Nui, Tokelau and Tahiti to DVC rooms--they were always my favorite buildings. I also love the size of the rooms at Poly. I think the Poly, the WL and the AKL all have the best theming and I would say that the WL and AKL would rate higher with me if their rooms were as big as the Poly. I think some of the best grounds are found at the Moderates though--the Port Orleans resorts and the Coronado Springs I think have great grounds, but because of the way the rooms are more like motel rooms with a walkway in front of your window, they seem a lot of times too dark for me--that said, if I go more than once a year, I usually would stay at a Moderate once and then the Deluxe the 2nd time. I'm going in February and will try to stay at the Poly, but would consider a change depends on what's available when they hopefully release discounts later this month or early October for my travel dates. Wouldn't mind trying the Grand Floridian or the Boardwalk since I've never been to either--neither really ever appealed to me, but maybe I would change my mind if I actually stayed instead of just going to dinner or walking around them.

 

[jd65]

1.BWI- This resort is so charming. When you drive up to the resort and it says "Boardwalk" on the porte cochere it is just amazing. The Boardwalk itself has so many good options, and to top it all off you have the wonderfully everlasting food options of Epcot ten steps from your room. The grounds of the Boardwalk Inn are beautiful (the gardens and quiet pool). Even the Luna Park pool was never crowded when I was there (last week of August). Also walked to HS, not a bad walk and it is very nice. Would stay here again if I could afford it.

2. BC/WL- I say a tie between these two. BC's great qualities include that mega-pool (AKA mini water park), many restaurant options (Beach's and Cream, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Captain's Grille, Cape May). Although, it is a very busy resort and you must get to the pool well before lunch to get even one lounge chair. WL ties BC because of the spectacular grounds, which are probably the best on WDW property for the price. There is a fantastic woody running trail, great relaxing but quick boat ride to MK and everyone forgets the night time electrical pageant! It's a water parade on Bay lake that is only for the MK resorts! On the flip side, dining options are limited (one QS and one TS) and the pool is quite small with a below average slide (moderate resorts have a better slide).

I would go with BWI! You get a lot for the price, including the best water slide on property and the most dining options!

 

[raddisneyfan]

1.BWI- This resort is so charming. When you drive up to the resort and it says "Boardwalk" on the porte cochere it is just amazing. The Boardwalk itself has so many good options, and to top it all off you have the wonderfully everlasting food options of Epcot ten steps from your room. The grounds of the Boardwalk Inn are beautiful (the gardens and quiet pool). Even the Luna Park pool was never crowded when I was there (last week of August). Also walked to HS, not a bad walk and it is very nice. Would stay here again if I could afford it.

2. BC/WL- I say a tie between these two. BC's great qualities include that mega-pool (AKA mini water park), many restaurant options (Beach's and Cream, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Captain's Grille, Cape May). Although, it is a very busy resort and you must get to the pool well before lunch to get even one lounge chair. WL ties BC because of the spectacular grounds, which are probably the best on WDW property for the price. There is a fantastic woody running trail, great relaxing but quick boat ride to MK and everyone forgets the night time electrical pageant! It's a water parade on Bay lake that is only for the MK resorts! On the flip side, dining options are limited (one QS and one TS) and the pool is quite small with a below average slide (moderate resorts have a better slide).

I would go with BWI! You get a lot for the price, including the best water slide on property and the most dining options!

My last stay was at the Beach Club--I loved the pool and loved being at an EPCOT resort with the proximity to EPCOT World Showcase--I was really, really, really close to the entrance--I was at the end of the resort closest to the entrance--so was ideal. However, I must say I was not impressed with the resort or the room--it definitely was showing it's age and I'm not really a fan of the theming compared to other resorts. I think I would prefer the Boardwalk and understand they just finished a total room renovation last month--this is a very big plus for the resort and if I get a good discount may stay there instead of the Polynesian. One thing though, how are the room views? I don't really want to pay extra for a Boardwalk view and I understand you only get two options when booking--a Standard View or a Boardwalk view. At the Poly, I never pay extra for water views and have never had a problem. Another issue I have with the Boardwalk is that I don't want to have a room next to the Convention Center--I can always request, but am never guaranteed. Hate to sound like I'm so concerned about a room when you never really spend so much time there, but for me the fact that I'm paying so much to stay there, I want the best of everything.

 

[jd65]

My last stay was at the Beach Club--I loved the pool and loved being at an EPCOT resort with the proximity to EPCOT World Showcase--I was really, really, really close to the entrance--I was at the end of the resort closest to the entrance--so was ideal. However, I must say I was not impressed with the resort or the room--it definitely was showing it's age and I'm not really a fan of the theming compared to other resorts. I think I would prefer the Boardwalk and understand they just finished a total room renovation last month--this is a very big plus for the resort and if I get a good discount may stay there instead of the Polynesian. One thing though, how are the room views? I don't really want to pay extra for a Boardwalk view and I understand you only get two options when booking--a Standard View or a Boardwalk view. At the Poly, I never pay extra for water views and have never had a problem. Another issue I have with the Boardwalk is that I don't want to have a room next to the Convention Center--I can always request, but am never guaranteed. Hate to sound like I'm so concerned about a room when you never really spend so much time there, but for me the fact that I'm paying so much to stay there, I want the best of everything.

Yes, we loved BC, just didn't quite make it up to BWI standards for us. We stayed at BC in 2008 and didn't notice any wear&tear (yet)...I'm sure it has changed. We stayed at BWI in 2011 and the rooms were really fine...I hear the Villas were worn away though. BWI really has everything you need- 2 gift shops! A large one on the boardwalk and a small one off the lobby.

No, standard and boardwalk views are not the only one- there is garden views and that is what we have. They faced the inner courtyard with a quiet pool closest to Epcot. When we were there, garden view price was in between boardwalk and standard price and a MUCH nicer view than boardwalk view from my opinion. Something about seeing nice landscaping and no people is better than seeing a lake with a bustling boardwalk (if I wanted a water/lake view I would stay at any resort BUT BWI).

 

[raddisneyfan]

You see--that's what I want to hear and you got the room that I wanted--garden view next to the quiet pool--I would definitely stay there if I get a room like yours! I have walked around the resort many times and I love the theming there--I love the big porches with the big chairs and I like the fact that the lobby is not as huge as some of the other resorts--it makes it seem more quaint like you would expect at an Inn.

 

[AudreyLovesTheMouse]

Love the WL/ great theme-ing (is that a word?)/ so relaxing! Just came back from the CR and...well... super location, but we weren't thrilled. We will be back at the Grand next year. It is truly magical!