FRIENDS, PHOTOGRAPHS, and Birthday FUN! 3/3 30 Day Photo Challenge Day 21

[Dizneydaz]

We stayed at Beach Resort once and loved it! We were able to splurge since I had my DNiece, a DLR CM with us, and got a great discount. It was so nice to be able to walk to Epcot in less than 5 minutes. We didn't really use Stormalong Bay much. I was a very cold Dec.

When we stayed at BC it was the only time we were at a resort that you could get to a theme park so easily. Loved that aspect. We do always have a rental car though.

We've also stayed at AKL a few times and it's my favorite of all! BEst part-sitting on our balcony early in the a.m. enjoying my bowl of cereal while the animals were waking up and enjoying their breakfast. It was so quiet you can actually hear them munching!

I love POFQ. Love the themeing (sp?) and the beignets. And you are a boat ride away from DTD. Lots of adult drinking places at DTD.

We also enjoy CBR. We stayed in Jamaica so it was only a short walk to the main pool and food court. All the sandy beaches were wonderful. Only problem we had was even though it was a cold Jan. the whirlpool was always overflowing with kids. We didn't seem to have this problem while at POFQ, POR, or AKL.

What a wonderful party! She did go all out. The kitten is so cute!


Can't wait to read more....

 

[PixieMama]

Hi, Hope! I popped over from the link in Karen's siggie... I'm also planning a girls-only trip!

Going to WDW in September with my mom, my sister, and sister's BFF. I cannot wait!

My BFF is also going to WDW in September, but sadly, not at the same time I'm going. We would LOVE to tour the World together... hopefully one day we can plan a trip for the two of us.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

We stayed at Beach Resort once and loved it! We were able to splurge since I had my DNiece, a DLR CM with us, and got a great discount. It was so nice to be able to walk to Epcot in less than 5 minutes. We didn't really use Stormalong Bay much. I was a very cold Dec.

When we stayed at BC it was the only time we were at a resort that you could get to a theme park so easily. Loved that aspect. We do always have a rental car though.

We've also stayed at AKL a few times and it's my favorite of all! BEst part-sitting on our balcony early in the a.m. enjoying my bowl of cereal while the animals were waking up and enjoying their breakfast. It was so quiet you can actually hear them munching!

I love POFQ. Love the themeing (sp?) and the beignets. And you are a boat ride away from DTD. Lots of adult drinking places at DTD.

We also enjoy CBR. We stayed in Jamaica so it was only a short walk to the main pool and food court. All the sandy beaches were wonderful. Only problem we had was even though it was a cold Jan. the whirlpool was always overflowing with kids. We didn't seem to have this problem while at POFQ, POR, or AKL.

What a wonderful party! She did go all out. The kitten is so cute!


Can't wait to read more....

Thanks for all the info!!! Of course it just made it all the harder to choose!

 

[DrMomof3]

Love the birthday party pics! Great theming!!!
If drinking is the priority, definitely look at the Epcot resorts. Remember no alcohol in MK! Poly is super convenient to MK and Epcot but the Boardwalk are resorts are awesome for access to those yummy Epcot drinks! It's all about priorities!

Amanda

 

[-Hope-]

I haven't had any dreams but I have what I always have... LISTS!!

I have lists for every contingency (except paying full price because surely one of us will get a pin code, lol). It seems that if we stay at a deluxe our best bet is the 40% pin code while a mod would be a better deal with free dining (but who knows if we could even get so lucky for a trip in February).

Based on what I've found The Poly is definitely the priciest of the resorts BUT if we get that 40% pin code it will hopefully be totally doable. BC is barely cheaper, only about $50 for the entire trip so it hardly seems worth it to give up the Poly for fifty bucks. CBR on the other hand is much cheaper and if it were a choice between CBR or not going I'd definitely be okay with CBR.

IMO it's worth it to spend more for the Poly for the convenience AND because I think it's the one we both want and may never have another opportunity to do again. HOWEVER I think we have to be realistic and say that when it's time to actually book that we'll be happy with CBR if we can't both afford the Poly. And while I love the look of POFQ and also love the idea of the boat ride to DTD I just think it's going to be a longer bus trip than CBR and if we decide to stay at a mod I want it to be one that's as close to MK and Epcot as possible.

 

[-Hope-]

I'm here, Hope! It is so great that you're taking a girl's trip - you're going to have so much fun! I like the idea of POFQ so that there's more money for drinking but since this is a trip without husbands or kids, it makes sense to splurge on deluxe accommodations. I'm so excited for you guys!

We sound like such lushes!

I've been known to dream about different aspects of a Disney trip myself. Personally, for a quick trip I would pay for the convenience of staying at a monorail resort. Especially Poly! I love it there! CBR is very nice, but I say live it up on this trip!

I totally agree Erin, we should live it up as much as we can!

 

[-Hope-]

We stayed at Beach Resort once and loved it! We were able to splurge since I had my DNiece, a DLR CM with us, and got a great discount. It was so nice to be able to walk to Epcot in less than 5 minutes. We didn't really use Stormalong Bay much. I was a very cold Dec.

When we stayed at BC it was the only time we were at a resort that you could get to a theme park so easily. Loved that aspect. We do always have a rental car though.

We've also stayed at AKL a few times and it's my favorite of all! BEst part-sitting on our balcony early in the a.m. enjoying my bowl of cereal while the animals were waking up and enjoying their breakfast. It was so quiet you can actually hear them munching!

I love POFQ. Love the themeing (sp?) and the beignets. And you are a boat ride away from DTD. Lots of adult drinking places at DTD.

We also enjoy CBR. We stayed in Jamaica so it was only a short walk to the main pool and food court. All the sandy beaches were wonderful. Only problem we had was even though it was a cold Jan. the whirlpool was always overflowing with kids. We didn't seem to have this problem while at POFQ, POR, or AKL.

What a wonderful party! She did go all out. The kitten is so cute!


Can't wait to read more....

That is all great info, thank you so much!

I'm curious about AKL, we briefly discussed it but I have read in more than one TR that people could smell animal feces while sitting on their balcony. I'm thinking if you loved the balcony you didn't have this experience. Wondering if anyone else has read about or experienced this??

 

[-Hope-]

Hi, Hope! I popped over from the link in Karen's siggie... I'm also planning a girls-only trip!

Going to WDW in September with my mom, my sister, and sister's BFF. I cannot wait!

My BFF is also going to WDW in September, but sadly, not at the same time I'm going. We would LOVE to tour the World together... hopefully one day we can plan a trip for the two of us.

Sounds like a great girls trip in the works for you and your family!

 

[-Hope-]

Love the birthday party pics! Great theming!!!
If drinking is the priority, definitely look at the Epcot resorts. Remember no alcohol in MK! Poly is super convenient to MK and Epcot but the Boardwalk are resorts are awesome for access to those yummy Epcot drinks! It's all about priorities!

Amanda

We really aren't lushes I swear! (Well, at least I'm not.) Seriously though, we do plan to enjoy the fact that we don't have kids and the Epcot resorts seem great for that but we both LOVE MK and want easy access to it as well.

It's SO hard to decide!!!

 

[-Hope-]

So, Karen- what do you think after all the info is in?? I'm really leaning toward the Poly with CBR as a back-up. But like I keep saying, this is YOUR birthday trip and I want YOU to be happy!

I'll have to bring my lists over so we can properly look over things and weigh all the options but I don't know when we're going to get the chance to do that and you know how impatient I am!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

So, Karen- what do you think after all the info is in?? I'm really leaning toward the Poly with CBR as a back-up. But like I keep saying, this is YOUR birthday trip and I want YOU to be happy!

I'll have to bring my lists over so we can properly look over things and weigh all the options but I don't know when we're going to get the chance to do that and you know how impatient I am!

I'm leaning towards the Poly as well. I've been there when we went to Ohana, and I loved the grounds...do you know how difficult it is to get to Epcot from the Poly? This is what I'm holding out about. Do we have to go through TTC or does the monorail go straight to Epcot from there? I think having CBR as our "we're broke but still finding a way to make this trip happen hotel backup" sounds good!

I'm not a lush.

 

[-Hope-]

I'm leaning towards the Poly as well. I've been there when we went to Ohana, and I loved the grounds...do you know how difficult it is to get to Epcot from the Poly? This is what I'm holding out about. Do we have to go through TTC or does the monorail go straight to Epcot from there? I think having CBR as our "we're broke but still finding a way to make this trip happen hotel backup" sounds good!

I'm not a lush.

Hmmm... that's a good question. I hadn't even considered we might have to change at TTC. I'm going to check the transportation boards to see if I can find out.

 

[-Hope-]

Phhht... you're right we would have to transfer at TTC. Now I'm torn again between BC and the Poly. And have we dismissed BW because you might be staying there with Rey?? It's quite a bit more expensive as well plus the no CS issue. It looks so cool though (except for that freakish clown slide that totally creeps me out). Gah, this is SO hard!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Ok, I researched a little more and looked at a map of the Poly. Apparently you can just WALK to the TTC, it's right next to the resort. If we request a couple of the closer buildings, it wouldn't be far and we would just be a ride away from Epcot...but then again, we would just be a short walk from WS if we were at BC! What a predicament!

Here's the map, you can see the TTC on the right:
Poly map

 

[-Hope-]

That IS really close. Of course there's no guarantee when you make a request but even if we didn't get what we requested I don't think it could be much further than the walk to the bus stop when I stayed at ASMu. And if we were walking to WS from BC it would probably be just as long to walk as the furthest building from the TTC.

Here's my real dilema. I love the Poly, I remember looking at it and thinking it was only pipe dream to think I'd ever stay there . HOWEVER I also love the idea of walking to WS. And, since BC also has a beach which is one of the big draws for the Poly it makes the decision even harder. Both of those things are equally appealing to me and I've poured over pictures of both resorts and I just CAN NOT decide. It may just come down to price unless one of us (ahem, Karen) makes a decision. When I looked at the Disney site and plugged in fake dates to get an idea about price BC was cheaper. But when I was looking at resort info on allears the Poly was cheaper in February. :

What do those of you who have actually stayed at the Poly think of the transportation to Epcot?? Amanda, I know you've stayed at the Poly, any thoughts??

 

[Parla]

On the other hand...if we stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter, think how much more money we would have for drinks?!??

I DREAMT about resorts last night!!! This choice seems way harder than when it's me and my family. I think b/c we are limited by money when it's the whole family, but staying at a Deluxe is possible with just me, myself, and I! (and Hope!)

So, I'm torn b/c I love the look of Poly, but REALLY love the look/feel of CBR. Poly has the transportation I really crave though. With such a short trip, I really don't want to spend my time on buses, and we will most likely fly...then again, out of the Deluxes, Poly looks the best to me...but it's one of the most expensive!

So is the $200+ that I will spend on Poly worth it not to ride buses from CRB everywhere???

Poly gets my vote. I would love to be a short monorail ride aways from MK. I've actually always wanted to stay there but am really in love with AKL.

We sound like such lushes!

Um, don't post photographic evidence and then start denying it.

P.S. I'm picking up a lot more friends from work on my facebook page since I mentioned the other night that I was going to make a scrapbook and would upload each picture to facebook in real time.

That is all great info, thank you so much!

I'm curious about AKL, we briefly discussed it but I have read in more than one TR that people could smell animal feces while sitting on their balcony. I'm thinking if you loved the balcony you didn't have this experience. Wondering if anyone else has read about or experienced this??

I don't remember ever smelling poo on our balcony and we were out there a lot. It was the most relaxing bit of unwinding I've ever done at Disney. Maybe the other people were on the lower levels? I'll let you know in October if it's stinky.

 

[-Hope-]

Poly gets my vote. I would love to be a short monorail ride aways from MK. I've actually always wanted to stay there but am really in love with AKL.



Um, don't post photographic evidence and then start denying it.

P.S. I'm picking up a lot more friends from work on my facebook page since I mentioned the other night that I was going to make a scrapbook and would upload each picture to facebook in real time.



I don't remember ever smelling poo on our balcony and we were out there a lot. It was the most relaxing bit of unwinding I've ever done at Disney. Maybe the other people were on the lower levels? I'll let you know in October if it's stinky.

That's good to hear that you didn't have a stinky balcony- I hope the same is true for October.

 

[-Hope-]

Hmmm... I was just perusing the Poly and BC FAQ threads and discovered that the Poly doesn't have a hot tub but BC does. BC also has a lazy river.

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Hmmm... I was just perusing the Poly and BC FAQ threads and discovered that the Poly doesn't have a hot tub but BC does. BC also has a lazy river.

Hi guys.....here I am.......already on page 3, I see.......So, I think based on the hot tub and lazy river, I am now going to choose BC!!!! Yep BC, BC, BC, BC!!!!

I'm here, Hope! It is so great that you're taking a girl's trip - you're going to have so much fun! I like the idea of POFQ so that there's more money for drinking but since this is a trip without husbands or kids, it makes sense to splurge on deluxe accommodations. I'm so excited for you guys!

Oh, don't you remember, Erin??? You and I were planning on hijacking their trip and joining them??!!! So, you can be excited for ALL OF US!!!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Hi guys.....here I am.......already on page 3, I see.......So, I think based on the hot tub and lazy river, I am now going to choose BC!!!! Yep BC, BC, BC, BC!!!!

Keep up Ann! Ok, Ann votes for BC...hmmm....it's SO CLOSE to the drinks! That may put me over the edge...



Oh, don't you remember, Erin??? You and I were planning on hijacking their trip and joining them??!!! So, you can be excited for ALL OF US!!!

The more the merrier! You and Erin can share a room, Grey Goose Slushies for everyone!!!!!!!