Help! Resort decisions!

[cjj120]

We are a family of 4 with 2 boys who will be 6yo and 4yo when we go to Disney in Oct of 2013. We put a deposit down for the CR Garden Wing but I am now 2nd guessing the CR. We like the CR for the transportation convience. We love the idea of the monorail but we only plan on 1 day at MK, 1 Day AK,1 day Hollywood Studios and 1 day at the resort/Downtown Disney and 1 day Seaworld. We also plan on going to MNSSHP. My question is do you think its worth staying at the CR since were still going to have to take a bus to AK,Hollywood studios and Downtown Disney. Thank you in advance for your comments.

 

[twinboysmom]

Yes, I do. We loved the resort and walking to the MK was so convenient. Much quicker than any monorail. It's also easy to go do activities on your resort day at FW (just a quick boat ride) or explore the other monorail resorts.

 

[sndral]

Also consider where you plan to eat and whether you will have any table service and or character meals in your schedule as this may require buses/boats/monorails as well. Curious why you aren't visiting Epcot, as it has so much to offer, IMO.
CR is convenient because of the easy walk or monorail to MK. You can also monorail hop to Epcot. As you are staying in the garden wing, however, you have a bit of extra walk to MK or to actually board the monorail or catch the buses. Here's a map http://allears.net/acc/ResortMaps/contemporary.pdf
AK is a bus ride from all resorts. You can walk/boat to DHS from all the Epcot area resorts (BWI/BC/YC) but otherwise it is a bus ride to DHS from everywhere else.
Given your schedule, I wouldn't stay @ CR just for 'ease' of transportation for one day at one park. Disney has around 23 resorts and they appeal to all sorts of tastes, here's the thread devoted to the CR on DIS - the first pages are full of helpful info and pix,
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2762185

 

[loveshak22]

Curious why you aren't visiting Epcot, as it has so much to offer, IMO.
CR is convenient because of the easy walk or monorail to MK. You can also monorail hop to Epcot.

I was wondering that as well...I'd definitely switch out DTD for Epcot but I guess that wasn't really your question

If you go to MK and Epcot 2 of the 4 days you are there and you have breakfast/lunch/dinner reservations at some of the restaurants on the monorail line then I think it's definitely worth the price. If you really are just going to MK one day and MNSSHP that same night then the other 3 days you are taking buses to get everywhere then it might not be any better than other resorts unless you just want to stay there to experience CR - and that is worth it regardless of the transportation!

As a kid I always wanted to stay at Poly or CR. I'm still thinking of CR for our late Jan 2013 trip just to stay there finally but my DH really wants to try AKL and I think AKL would be cool too so we'll probably stay there this trip. We did WL in the past and loved it but we got a really good rate when we stayed there so that's why CR dropped down on the list that time. Then another time I went with my parents and an 11 year old and we wanted a moderate resort and stayed at POFQ. One day though I'll get to CR or Poly...it depends on your priorites on each trip!

 

[Neesy228]

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that I'd pick a Value resort, purely because of the ages of your kids. From that young perspective, those big icons make it so cool, fun, unusual and memorable. When my boys were those ages, they loved all of the things at ASMovies. I mean, really LOVED them. My youngest had us take a picture of him by one of the Toy Story characters every morning!

Save yourself a bunch of money and go for what will leave a lasting impression. As much as I love the CR, I wouldn't stay garden wing and I wouldn't spend the money if I was going with my kids. It's a lovely hotel and a great location (especially with a theme park view), but it really is just a plain hotel from the viewpoint of a child. If you're wanting a Deluxe resort with impact and some convience, maybe the Poly...if you don't mind not being on the monorail, consider AKL or WL.

 

[Mom2six]

We are debating CR for part of our next trip because of the monorail and being able to see Wishes nightly. Will you be watching the fireworks either from your room or from the observation deck?

The first half of our vacation is firmly settled on the Art of Animation. My children adore the whole theming there - we actually all loved it. My youngest son in particular (4) is a huge fan of both Cars and Finding Nemo that we can't pass up the opportunity for him to be able to indulge in his Lightening McQueen obsession - he hung out with each car for a long time and we got the most adorable pictures. The Finding Nemo pool was a huge hit too. The family suites allow you to put the kids to bed in the other room (the living room and eating area) and have a room to yourself. I see that your sons are 4 and 6.