First time to WDW need help on resorts and dining

[Limonadier]

Hi all,

The family is Me, Wife and 2 sons 8 and 9 yrs. We are going in March, at the Coronado for 7 days (or maybe I will switch to POFQ...not sure). The plan is to have 7 days park pass with Hopper option. Right now we have the DDP with the package. We want to stay on site and no plan on having a car. First any advice or preferences between these 2 resorts ? and the biggest dilemma is on Dining. We are thinking of upgrading to the Deluxe for $ 600 but not sure. any advice welcome. We are not fast food eaters usually, and like to have nice sit down dinners with wine etc... For example in Mayan Riviera All Inclusive we would eat at A la carte restaurant every nights. Seems like a lot of food but then again we usually do eat breakfast and will probably do Quick service for lunch. Which plan would be better ?

Thanks in advance for any guidance

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Just off the top of my head, how much time do you want to spend eating?

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Oh sorry, didn't comment on resorts. We stayed at POFQ before DVC. It's a lovely resort!

 

[NewCrew42]

I have stayed at POFQ. Very nice. It is a small resort and very easy to get around. You can take the boat over to PORS or to DTD.

 

[rvchat]

Hi all,

The family is Me, Wife and 2 sons 8 and 9 yrs. We are going in March, at the Coronado for 7 days (or maybe I will switch to POFQ...not sure). The plan is to have 7 days park pass with Hopper option. Right now we have the DDP with the package. We want to stay on site and no plan on having a car. First any advice or preferences between these 2 resorts ? and the biggest dilemma is on Dining. We are thinking of upgrading to the Deluxe for $ 600 but not sure. any advice welcome. We are not fast food eaters usually, and like to have nice sit down dinners with wine etc... For example in Mayan Riviera All Inclusive we would eat at A la carte restaurant every nights. Seems like a lot of food but then again we usually do eat breakfast and will probably do Quick service for lunch. Which plan would be better ?

Thanks in advance for any guidance

i like both resorts. you will love either, (imho).

 

[Dizneydaz]

I've stayed at both and I prefer POFQ. I love the feel of it and without a car it will be nice to be able to take the boat (or bus of course) to DTD. There are some good TS choices there.

As far as the DDP goes, we have done the reg. DDP 6 times now and the QSDP twice. We haven't done the Deluxe. Personally I wouldn't want to spend all my time eating plus having to make all those ADRs. Personally, for me, 1 TS and 1CS per day would be fine.

I know you aren't going to do the QSDP but I have started my review of our recent trip with many CS options reviewed. HTH.

We ate at POFQ and had a very good dinner there. I will be reviewing it soon.

 

[Limonadier]

Hi
I didn't really figured out time to eat really, my plan would be breakfast in the morning theme parks all day with a sit down dinner and then bed

 

[Limonadier]

to Dizneydaz, I will certainly read your reviews to give me some ideas, thanks

 

[cancer_survivor_06]

We stayed at CSR last dec it wasn't bad, I had a couple for issues w/ cleanliness hair in my room they tended to immediately and broken glass in the walkway that was there for our entire 11 day trip despite the workers that passed it several times a day and mentioning to the desk a couple of times. Otherwise we enjoyed the resort theme it is large. My preferred resort is POFQ but that is b/c it is the very first disney property I stayed at so there is bit of nostalgia not to mention I am from new orleans so its fun for us. We also like to spend a good bit of time at downtown disney so we like being able to take the boat. We don't park hop for us its a waste of time and money only once in the past ten years that we have been going have we done the park hopper and I added it when we got there for only two of us when we decided for sure that we wanted to hop. If you plan on using it for dining purposes then it may be worth it for you but it takes up so much time that we prefer to stay in one park and we exit for dining reservations at other resorts.

If you think that you will be doing a good bit of signature dining that alone would make the deluxe ddp worth it IMO since w/ the basic plan that uses two table service credits for one meal. The signature meals we do are California Grill, Jiko, Brown Derby and Cinderella's Royal Table. You also have the option of doing the hoop dee doo revue and spirit of aloha luau which last I checked are two meal credits. I would look at the places you want to eat and determine if those ressies would cause you to go over your allotted amount of meal credits on the basic dining plan. If your reservations would exceed the addition cost of 600 it may be easier to pay out of pocket for what you exceed the basic ddp. Also keep in mind the deluxe plan allows you to have one app, one entree, and dessert at a table service meal and the basic only allows you to have the entree and dessert you pay oop for appetizers.

 

[amy-momofthree]

We stayed at Coronado last month and LOVED it!

The pool is awesome and was my 8 year old sons favorite part! Check out some pictures of it and maybe show your boys? My kids chose Coronado over pofq because of the pool alone. They won't be disappointed

 

[DizneyDogs]

As for the dining plan I would look at the online menus with prices and see what you would typically order and then add it up. For us we found the "free" dining plan package to be more expensive than just booking our resort and tickets separately and paying out of pocket for our meals. It's a lot of food and we don't typically eat an appetizer and dessert with every meal so felt it was just a waste.

I personally would pick POFQ or Riverside for a resort as they are both centrally located. Coronado Springs seems to be a little bit out there, but they have a really nice pool and food court. I guess it just depends on what you are looking for and if you plan to be spending any length of time at the resort.

 

[ekatiel]

The regular DDP is A LOT of food. I can't even imagine having the deluxe plan! We like to be at the parks for rope drop (we get there about 30 minutes before they open each morning), which is a good idea if you're going to be there at a busy time. You can get SO much done in the first couple of hours that the park is open. For that reason, we always eat a quick breakfast in the room and then head out to the parks. We usually have poptarts or donuts and some milk (you can usually buy half gallons at the food court). We have brought the breakfast stuff in our luggage once, and once we had garden grocers deliver items to our room on the first day. That makes the regular DDP a great option for us, since we can eat a CS lunch and then a sit-down dinner. I would not get the deluxe unless you plan on eating several 2 credit meals. Disney-- especially with little boys!-- is not the type of vacation where you want to spend a ton of time in restaurants! --Katie

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

Hi all,

The family is Me, Wife and 2 sons 8 and 9 yrs. We are going in March, at the Coronado for 7 days (or maybe I will switch to POFQ...not sure). The plan is to have 7 days park pass with Hopper option. Right now we have the DDP with the package. We want to stay on site and no plan on having a car. First any advice or preferences between these 2 resorts ? and the biggest dilemma is on Dining. We are thinking of upgrading to the Deluxe for $ 600 but not sure. any advice welcome. We are not fast food eaters usually, and like to have nice sit down dinners with wine etc... For example in Mayan Riviera All Inclusive we would eat at A la carte restaurant every nights. Seems like a lot of food but then again we usually do eat breakfast and will probably do Quick service for lunch. Which plan would be better ?

Thanks in advance for any guidance

What are your dates of travel? You can still get the free dining plan at a moderate resort if you book before the 17th of December. That could save you some serious cash!

 

[Tink-aholic]

I think you should look at the restaurants and make your decision from there. Take a peek at the menus at www.allearsnet.com and figure out where you want to eat, and choose a dining plan based on that.

You should also be aware that, depending on when in March you want to go, some places have already been booked for awhile now.

Finally, if staying at a moderate resort at peak or near-peak times, I would count on about 3 1/2 to 4 hours of time for each sit down meal that is NOT in the park or resort you are already in that day (more if you plan to go back to your resort to change -- which you might because hey, it IS Florida!). That is a lot of time to focus on eating, particularly if it is your first time.

I have personally visited the World lots, so taking my time and enjoying the restaurants is part of the experience for me. But I can also tell you that even in over 100 visits, I STILL haven't seen it all!

Good luck!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

The problem with CSR is it is a convention hotel with a lot of loud people running around late at night (after the bars) and not as family oriented as the other Resorts.

 

[JennSaint]

We've stayed at Coronado and never had a problem with noise. My boys prefer the pool at Coronado also. I like POFQ for it's size and quaint feel to the resort. That said the main pool at Coronado is far better and there are several quiet pools also. Personally if I were you I would downgrade your dining plan and maybe stay at a deluxe resort. Your boys might really love Animal Kingdom Lodge. We've stayed there 3 times. Great theming!

 

[hanutedmansionmomma]

We chose Coronado out of all the moderates because it has queen beds. It is a hike to get around the large property, but we enjoy it and the theming very much. DH's favorite part of the trip was enjoying a banana flavored drink and some wings at the dig site pool bar

DDP was plenty of food for us. We used it for lunch and dinner. Bring some poptarts or something small for breakfast snack in the room and eat a snack when you get to the parks. We eat one nice breakfast buffet on our last day (like Boma at Animal Kingdom). If you're going to eat at any sit down places, the DDP is worth it. We didn't do it last time and I regret it. Don't forget to make reservations at some resorts, not just the parks. It's nice to check out the resorts and get some good food!

There's a nice thread about Coronado on the resorts page. Lots of information and pictures.

 

[mikewdw]

regular dining plan is a lot of food. unless you are really going to plan your entire day every day around all of your dining, i would go without deluxe plan. it would be hard to stop so often and say, "well we cant wait 30 min for Space Mountain because we have to go eat again". i am a big guy and love my food but I am usually stuffed on just the reg. plan (we do character buffets for our kids so always eating plenty once a day). never done CS but have done FQ on honeymoon, loved it, and done Riverside 3 times now, really beautiful grounds.
have a great first trip

 

[seasheller]

We stayed at Coronado Springs this year and hated it. Would not go back there. Doing Port Orleans this year, usually do Pop Century and have also stayed at Saratoga Springs.

Had several issues at CS. They called one morning early to wake us with a happy birthday song. It was not a message for us. Called again to tell us there was a problem with our credit card which panicked me. Called the card company and they had no issues. CS had not entered our card when we registered even though it was given to them. When they gave us our room, it had several pieces of luggage that belonged to some one else. We called and told them and they said, "OH, it has been cleaned." Right! You think I'm going to enter a room with someone else's luggage. We told them we would go to Downtown Disney for the day and they could straighten it out. When we came back to registration later in the day, you would think we were criminals for the way we were treated. Would never go there again.

 

[elf]

My kids loved the moderate resorts in this order Caribbean Resort (multiple slides, zero depth entry, small water park type section), then POR(mainly because we could visit two pools PORiverside & POFQ), Coronado liked the pool better at Coronado than POFQ... But loved all three..