Help me decide POR or BC

[Fiveisaparty]

I have booked a BC standard room for 4 nights in June, it wound up costing me 1381. I just checked and I could get a room at POR for 702! I can't decide. I have never stayed Deluxe before and I was excited about being able to walk to Epcot / HS. However half the price is tempting! We stayed at POR before and my kids liked it a lot. This is our first time to be able to take advantage of the pools (everyone can swim now and the weather will be warm). In theory, I can afford it, but it is still 750 dollars I could save. Those of you that have stayed at both or if you just have general mod vs. deluxe advice, I'd love your input.

 

[roydavid7771]

Stayed at both places, and my advice would be to ask yourself how much time you plan on spending in the parks. If you see yourself spending a lot of time at EPCOT, then hit the BC and have a blast at Stormalong Bay. Otherwise, POR is a wonderful resort that can take days to fully explore. You can't go wrong with either, and I normally advocate at deluxe stay whenever possible, but unless you plan on spending a whole lot of time at your resort, save the money and stay mod. Have a great time!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

For us, both the extra space and the ease of transportation make staying deluxe well worth the money! Add SAB into the mixture and it's an easy choice for us!

One other thing - as a party of 5 I think BC has so much more drawer/closet space in the room than POR that it makes everything stay neater.

 

[mickeynut1]

I have booked a BC standard room for 4 nights in June, it wound up costing me 1381. I just checked and I could get a room at POR for 702! I can't decide. I have never stayed Deluxe before and I was excited about being able to walk to Epcot / HS. However half the price is tempting! We stayed at POR before and my kids liked it a lot. This is our first time to be able to take advantage of the pools (everyone can swim now and the weather will be warm). In theory, I can afford it, but it is still 750 dollars I could save. Those of you that have stayed at both or if you just have general mod vs. deluxe advice, I'd love your input.

We've never stayed at POR, but have stayed at the BC and if the extra cost is doable, I'd go with the BC. As the pp said, if you will be spending time at the resort, I think it's worth the extra cost. Good luck.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

We've stayed at POR and Yacht Club (very similar to BC) and prefer Yacht Club because:

(1) Transportation - I can't stand having to wait for and ride the Disney buses. Even at Yacht/BC you have to use buses some, but the 5 minute walk to Epcot and the 15 minute walk to Hollywood Studios are great. Both are pleasant and you are in Epcot before you know it. There's also boat service to HS that is an enjoyable ride. At POR you might be looking at a 5-10 minute walk to a bus stop, a 10-20 minute wait for a bus then a 10-15 minute ride to a park. That's a minimum of 25 minutes if you time everything just right and in that time I'm already in Epcot or HS. I can't emphasize how much I like being able to walk over to Epcot so if you aren't going to spend time at that park then this perk wouldn't be as important. Note that we'll probably take a cab some days to MK or AK.

(2) Dining options - in addition to restaurants at the Yacht/BC, you can walk to the Boardwalk area or into Epcot (with park hoppers) to grab a bit to eat. POR has a pretty decent quick service option but you are somewhat limited there.

(3) The Pool - POR has a decent pool but Stormalong Bay is definitely the best pool on property.

(4) Room size - you definitely have more space at BC. Easywdw.com has the exact room dimensions but we noticed a big different in sleeping 5 people at POR to sleeping 5 at Yacht Club. Everyone wasn't quite as on top of each other at Yacht Club.

(5) Theme - some people complain about the theme at Yacht/BC but those resorts seem a bit more "Disney" to me than POR. Being able to look out at the Boardwalk at night, see the Epcot fireworks (some part anyway) from the resort, and walk right into Epcot are great perks.

If we can afford it we would pick Yacht Club over POR every time for the reasons mentioned above.

 

[elaw]

Stayed at both places, and my advice would be to ask yourself how much time you plan on spending in the parks. If you see yourself spending a lot of time at EPCOT, then hit the BC and have a blast at Stormalong Bay. Otherwise, POR is a wonderful resort that can take days to fully explore. You can't go wrong with either, and I normally advocate at deluxe stay whenever possible, but unless you plan on spending a whole lot of time at your resort, save the money and stay mod. Have a great time!

I agree .... Great advice

 

[Anna114]

Stayed at both places, and my advice would be to ask yourself how much time you plan on spending in the parks. If you see yourself spending a lot of time at EPCOT, then hit the BC and have a blast at Stormalong Bay. Otherwise, POR is a wonderful resort that can take days to fully explore. You can't go wrong with either, and I normally advocate at deluxe stay whenever possible, but unless you plan on spending a whole lot of time at your resort, save the money and stay mod. Have a great time!

You stole my thunder LOL. The amount of time at the resort should always play into the decision. Also.. $750 that's a lot of money to save, OP. That would weigh heavy into the decision also. That would be food and souvenirs for us.

 

[Merandab4]

You have 2 great choices! I love POR and find myself staying there over and over. However, if you can afford to stay at BC this time, why not? I know that the savings is significant, but at some point ( if you are like me) you will want to start staying at Disney resorts you have not tried yet. You already know you are interested in BC and can currently afford it. I would stay there now because the price of Deluxe resorts is only going to increase each year and it may get to the point where affording it is not easy. Go ahead and splurge, you are on vacation! (Just my opinion of course)

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

We've stayed at BC and POR and love both. While BC is my favorite reosrt, I would hesitate to stay there for such a short trip if you plan on spending most of your time in the parks. Stormalong Bay is wonderful, but it's not worth the extra money if you won't have that much time to enjoy it.

 

[KittyKat1978]

I actually went through the same thing for my upcoming trip. I booked BC GV, but kept looking at POR/CBR or even Pop.

The reason for me staying at BC was the proximity to Epcot. And for that reason alone, I have decided to keep my original reservation and stay at the BC.

Make a list of reasons to stay at each and see which ones are more important to you. Maybe that will help?

 

[Fiveisaparty]

Thanks everyone! I think we will go to POR. I do think we will spend most of our times at the parks since we are splitting between wdw and US this trip. I enjoyed POR and although I have always wanted to stay at BC I think I will wait and do it when can either do a split stay at Disney resorts or stay at BC the whole week. I have already booked and paid for the pirates and pals fireworks cruise, CRT and pirates league (not paid for that one yet). The 750 I save booking POR pays for all of that and I still have money left over!

 

[snorkelyn]

Have you considered Swan / Dolphin. Price wise, it will be similar to POR. They have promos too.

 

[jperrot1]

I should say I have not stayed at BC/YC yet, but we have stayed at the Swan, which is right next to the BC/YC. I can speak for the Epcot Deluxe Resort area experience. It is very magical. We have stayed at all moderates except for POFQ, as well as several deluxe resorts, and I can say there is a big difference with a deluxe stay. I know it's $700 more, but it's not much more when you include the cost of travel, park tickets, and then meals and things. That Epcot area is such a magical experience. And, the BC/YC is, arguably, the best main pool in the world.

I say go for the BC

 

[jperrot1]

We've stayed at BC and POR and love both. While BC is my favorite reosrt, I would hesitate to stay there for such a short trip if you plan on spending most of your time in the parks. Stormalong Bay is wonderful, but it's not worth the extra money if you won't have that much time to enjoy it.

Gosh. I just posted a "stay at the BC" kind of post. But, I would have to concur with the above opinion. Still, keep in mind the feeling of staying at an Epcot Resort. As other pp have suggested, you may want to consider the Swan/Dolphin which are less expensive, but still deluxe resort without question. Their main pool is not as nice as BC/YC, but still a fantastic pool. The planning of a WDW trip is half the fun to me. So, I hope you're having fun.

 

[Fiveisaparty]

Gosh. I just posted a "stay at the BC" kind of post. But, I would have to concur with the above opinion. Still, keep in mind the feeling of staying at an Epcot Resort. As other pp have suggested, you may want to consider the Swan/Dolphin which are less expensive, but still deluxe resort without question. Their main pool is not as nice as BC/YC, but still a fantastic pool. The planning of a WDW trip is half the fun to me. So, I hope you're having fun.

I am definitely having fun. Sometimes I think the planning is as fun / more fun than the actual trip haha. The planning goes on for months and the trip o is over too fast!

 

[Fiveisaparty]

Have you considered Swan / Dolphin. Price wise, it will be similar to POR. They have promos too.

I may have to look into this. We have an spg Amex which is Starwood hotels. Free nights would be awesome!

 

[Rustyroo]

We've stayed both, really enjoy both. Did a split between these two last time, it was nice. BC is our home resort so to speak, but we honeymooned at POR and stayed last time for our 15th anniversary. Love the boat to DD. Love the ease of transport into Epcot and DHS from BC. Both are nice. But BC is considerably more money. More convenient? Without a doubt. But POR is great and buses are ok. And you still have to do buses from BC to AK and MK anyway. And those stop at three resorts, sometimes five. If all time is in parks, POR might be the better choice this trip. But BC is certainly where our hearts are...

 

[Fiveisaparty]

I just called and I can get 5 nights at dolphin for free. Well, not quite free because they have 20 per day resort fee and the 25 a day for roll away but 225 for 5 nights is pretty good!

 

[HBGdancermom]

I just called and I can get 5 nights at dolphin for free. Well, not quite free because they have 20 per day resort fee and the 25 a day for roll away but 225 for 5 nights is pretty good!

Wow!!!! That sounds like a win win. I have only stayed at BC and that would be my vote for the convenience. I will say my main difficulty was getting my DH and 3 kids to leave the resort they lived it sooooo much. Lol

No bad choices here!

 

[staley98]

We stayed at the BC last summer and loved the pool, but had a water leak in our room which soaked all of our clothes and wasn't handled properly by management.
We stayed at POR in December 2011 and we're staying there again this summer. We loved POR!