Help me decide which Resort? 1st time onsite!!

[Eviie]

This will be our first time onsite. And it being onsite we want it to be a good first time at a Disney Resort. Why? Well for one we'd want our grandparents to be convinced to come with us the following year. And secondly, who wouldn't want a good first time at a Disney Resort!

I'm debating whether to stay at the Contemporary, Poly, WL, AKL. We are even considering BCR. But before making any decisions i want to see pictures of the average room at those hotels. I want to see if it fits us or not. I heard POLY & Contemporary have the largest rooms, but i've heard not always positive things about it, so again i want to make sure these hotels are good. Yes i've checked the Disney Resort picture thread but it's hard to find exactly what i'm looking for there.

So if you please have any pictures of rooms you've stay at those hotels (Average room) i'd appreciate it. And even more, if you have any info to share about your stay in any of these i'd also appreciate it.

Thanks for your time.
DIS rocks!!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

WOW, you've got a lot of narrowing down to do!

First, as you know, you'll read as many different experiences at resorts as there are DIS members. In the last 3/4 days I've read fabulous reviews of the Polynesian and then one review that was not so good - and yet they had a very similiar situation as a very positive review - sick child an how they felt it was handled by the resort.

Same with POP, POR and FQ - this week have read more good than bad reviews, but there will always be those trips that do not go as we hope.

If you go to some of the thread for each resort, you'll find better photos there.As you know, it really comes down to which theme draws you most.

Sorry I don't know how to post photos, but there are loads of great ones on the individual resort thread.

Happy planning!!!

 

[MissionMouse]

You will hear and read good and bad things about everything that exist at Disney World on this site. Inappropriate expectations, over planning, differences of taste, etc..etc..

All of the resorts are fine choices... CR, WL, PR, or AKL, but are they a fit to your criteria? Do you have one?

I think many people who are uncertain have either not taken the time to define a solid criteria of what they want or don't want; are jumping the gun to make a decision without complete research, thus they have trouble making a decision due to the lack of information; or their stretching their budget to the point they become inflexible. In your case, I perceive you are putting to much weight on opinions from unknown, unvalidated sources of information.

Are you able to answer these simple questions?

- Are the grandparents highly mobile people?
- Do the grandparents plan on staying with your family throughout the day or return to the resort?
- When you think of Disney World...what are 3-5 images that come to mind? (i.e., castle, monorail, etc)
- Do you plan on returning to the resort to spend time at the pool?
- Do you plan on park hopping?
- Are resort restaurants important to you? If so what type?
- Are you bothered by construction zones when on vacation?
- Do you want to stay at a resort with multiple methods of transportation?
- Do convention crowds bother you?
- Are room views important? If so, what would you like to see?
- Do family member love animals?
- Do you want to stay at a resort with water activities
- etc etc

Personally our grandparents always found the MK resorts to be more to their liking since they spent time with the grand kids and would return to the resort when they felt like it. They esily joined back up with us by cell phone.

 

[Us3]

Those are all nice resorts! I'd say its all in the "experience" you want to have, time of year you are going, etc etc. I'd pick any one of those and then go back to each of the others on your next visit!

 

[cara loves the poly]

We have been to the Poly twice, have a third time coming up, LOVE IT! We don't even want to try anything else!

 

[cara loves the poly]

Here is what all of the standard rooms (excluding suites) look like:

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[cara loves the poly]

Here is the view from our 3rd floor balcony (Tahiti):

[/IMG]

 

[Eviie]

Thanks for the quick replies!! Wow love that standard ROOM!!! :O

I can easily answer those questions. The grandparents both can walk fine, but grandpa has bad back and grandma just get's tired. They've been going with us every year since 1997 minus 1 year. They keep saying everytime we go, that it will be there last time going but they keep coming back The reason why we want to start booking at an onsite hotel is because if for any reason they won't want to walk the park with us anymore they can catch the bus back together, without any problems. We just want a hotel with a good amount of space considering it's 5 people. We would love the POLY but we've heard cases of... BED BUGS?! Don't know if that was false or not but i heard it alot!!! :O

And i've heard that you can go into WDW resorts and walk around the lobby and stuff. Do you need any special permission?

 

[cara loves the poly]

Thanks for the quick replies!!

I can easily answer those questions. The grandparents both can walk fine, but grandpa has bad back and grandma just get's tired. They've been going with us every year since 1997 minus 1 year. They keep saying everytime we go, that it will be there last time going but they keep coming back The reason why we want to start booking at an onsite hotel is because if for any reason they won't want to walk the park with us anymore they can catch the bus back together, without any problems. We just want a hotel with a good amount of space considering it's 5 people. We would love the POLY but we've heard cases of... BED BUGS?! Don't know if that was false or not but i heard it alot!!! :O

And i've heard that you can go into WDW resorts and walk around the lobby and stuff. Do you need any special permission?

There have been reports of bedbugs at ALL of the disney resorts. I take them w/ a grain of salt. We've never had a problem. There are a lot of bugs in Fl, I think people get bit elsewhere and assume it's the worst.

 

[MissionMouse]

There are easy sites to find out on the Internet with photos and detail information the exceed this site. Tikiman for PR and Grahams for GF

 

[Eviie]

There have been reports of bedbugs at ALL of the disney resorts. I take them w/ a grain of salt. We've never had a problem. There are a lot of bugs in Fl, I think people get bit elsewhere and assume it's the worst.

Well thanks for that info! Can you see them with the naked eye?

On the top of my list i have

WL, and POLY.

Then on the bottom is BCR, AKL & Contemporary.

Where are these threads for these? I've heard resort threads, have no clue about them though?

 

[skipperkim]

Take this quiz. It might help you decide which one you want to stay at.

http://hotels.about.com/cs/disneyworld/l/blwiz_wdw01.htm

 

[DizneyNutz]

Well thanks for that info! Can you see them with the naked eye?

On the top of my list i have

WL, and POLY.

Then on the bottom is BCR, AKL & Contemporary.

Where are these threads for these? I've heard resort threads, have no clue about them though?

Individual resort threads are all over this board. I have posted a link to a WL one below. This is our favorite resort, but not trying to sway you, because I truly believe in staying at the particular resort that has the theme you are wanting to experience. You should consider ALL of the resorts and figure out your themeing for your upcoming trip. There are a lot of posts on here about what someone else doesn't like about other resorts, but ultimatetly you all may like the positives of that particular resort. So research as many posts on the resorts boards and try to take them all with a grain of salt and research the positives, because one bad experience doesn't mean you will have the same. Go with what you want to experience and form your own opinion. Bottom line is everyone is searching for something different and staying anywhere onsite will help you experience the magic.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=658804

 

[mr. figment]

I believe the Contemporary wings are being worked on. So they may not be the best places for that afternoon rest. Poly has been recently redone in the past couple of years. My parents and brothers family stayed there in 2005 and commented on the extremely nice rooms for families. BC/BW great places if Epcot and MGM are your favorite parks.

 

[PlainJane]

I don't believe you can fit 5 people in a WL standard room; I don't know if that takes WL out of the running for you.

The Poly is an amazing hotel, the rooms are large, the pool is beautifully themed w/a slide and a view of the castle, the transportation options are possibly the best on property, you have easy access to two other resorts shopping and dining, and your own resorts restaurant and shopping options as well. All of the reasons above are why I would choose the Poly.

 

[Us3]

Take this quiz. It might help you decide which one you want to stay at.

http://hotels.about.com/cs/disneyworld/l/blwiz_wdw01.htm

That was a cool quiz...thanks for sharing!

 

[Eviie]

Thanks for the awesome help everyone. This has really helped me minimize my options. The ones that best fit us are POLY & WL. I think if during that time we can afford to stay at both (2 nights here, 2 nights there, an offsite there.. get it?) we will do it! And since we love all the other hotels just as much we are thinking of eating at the beach club. I heard there was an icecream shop there.... is this true? IF so, then what we'll do is after coming back from the parks mid day, drive to beach club for a nice, refreshing icecream then hit the hotel relax and go back to the park. I was thinking maybe shopping and strolling around boardwalk?

Is there a minimum amnt of nights you can stay at a Disney resort?

I thank you guys again in advance, i honestly think planning out a Disney vacation this nicely without DIS is nearly impossible. TIA!!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Well, what a plan!!

There is no minmium night stay at a Disney resort if you book room only - with a pkg there is usually a min 3 ngt stay.

At the Polynesian, Captain Cook's Snack Company, has self serve, Dole Whip

The Beach Club has an ice cream shop: Beaches and Cream - it is VERY popular, so waits can be long. It also has sandwiches, burgers etc. Definitely check out the ice cream menu on www.allearsnet.com

There is another Ice Cream Shop in Downtown Disney:Giardinelli's which is just an ice cream shop.

Boardwalk area has some shops and retaurants, snack places etc.

A great place to check out all the various areas and even food menu's is:
www.allearsnet.com

It has loads of fantastic information - way more than we could share here!

Have fun planning....a word of warning...once you stay onsite you may never stay off again!!!

 

[Eviie]

Well, what a plan!!

There is no minmium night stay at a Disney resort if you book room only - with a pkg there is usually a min 3 ngt stay.

At the Polynesian, Captain Cook's Snack Company, has self serve, Dole Whip

The Beach Club has an ice cream shop: Beaches and Cream - it is VERY popular, so waits can be long. It also has sandwiches, burgers etc. Definitely check out the ice cream menu on www.allearsnet.com

There is another Ice Cream Shop in Downtown Disney:Giardinelli's which is just an ice cream shop.

Boardwalk area has some shops and retaurants, snack places etc.

A great place to check out all the various areas and even food menu's is:
www.allearsnet.com

It has loads of fantastic information - way more than we could share here!

Have fun planning....a word of warning...once you stay onsite you may never stay off again!!!

Wow, now that was an informational post!! Thanks!! Yes i've heard that many times before, and i am pretty sure we will join that club and never go offsite again, unless we absolutlely had too! I heard that in WL you can't stay at a standard room because 4 is for standard. Is this true? We live in FL, so it's not everyday where we can get this outdoorsy feel that's why we are so interested in WL, but if we can't stay there with a standard i guess we'll have to stay 2 nights POLY, 2 nights BCR?

Our plan is staying offsite the first night then the next night check into a Disney Resort. Why were doing this? More affordable + It's another thing to look forward to in our trip First is the excitement of going to the park but once you get that, you'd wanna do more... right?! So that way we can go back and look forward to something totally new. FUN FUN FUN!! Too bad we'll have to wait till April-May to go back to the world. But better than never going!

What type of room at the BCR has a day bed (Or is it trundle..?) with 2 queen beds? I don't think this is the standard. But if it isn't, what type of room style is this? We're pretty interested as well.

SO HARD MAKING OUR MINDS, these are all great hotels!!

TIA!!!!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

BC rooms generally hold 5

From allearsnet.com :

Most rooms have a maximum five-person occupancy per room. Prices are per room, and there is an additional adult charge of $25 per adult per night for more than two adults in a room

. Here's the link:
http://allearsnet.com/acc/faq_bc.htm

Sounds like a wonderful plan!! Be sure to check for any room specials here or on the Disney site and if you have Florida resident passes or are simply a Florida resident, there are sometimes nice discounts - not in peak seasons though Check www.disneyworld.com and click on Florida Residents.

On that same site, to the left you'll see all the resorts listed. Just click on resort facts and you'll find lots of your questions answered!

Sounds like a great and fun plan!!