Is the grass always greener?

[MickeyMarcie]

Here is my dilemma . . .

We have stayed at POFQ twice, 2004 and 2007, and we love it. We love how small it is, the pool, the food court, the one bus stop, but I can't help but wonder if I am missing out on a lot of other great experiences by just staying at the same place all the time. We are planning a trip in June, and my DH wants to stay at FQ again for all the reasons listed above. Keep in mind, my DH does this for me and our kids, he is not a born Disney person, although I am trying my hardest to convert him. So the question is . . .

Do we stay at POFQ or try CS or another moderate? Are we limiting ourselves by not trying all Disney has to offer?

BTW, if some codes do come out I may try to lobby for WL! I would love to stay there sometime.

Thanks for any help you can give me. I really appreciate all of your opinions and insights.

 

[maxiesmom]

For me part of the fun of a trip to Disney is trying out different resorts. Having said that, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for POR, as it was the first Disney resort I ever stayed at. And my trip last year was a return visit to that resort.

Have you considered a split-stay? You could do a different resort first, knowing you were going back to your beloved POFQ later in the trip.

 

[TangaroaTiki]

It's definitely fun to try other resorts, but you'll always have your favorite.

Our fave is the Polynesian - and we've tried Wilderness Lodge, Grand Floridian, Boardwalk, Beach Club, POR & Caribbean Beach and while it was fun - nothing feels like home as the Poly does to us.

 

[GQ's Ghost]

Try as many resorts as you can.

Our first "disney" resort was Port Orleans, then we tried CBR...at that point we decided we were ready to try a deluxe and wen to the contemp.

As you can see in my sig, we have tried many resorts in the last few years. We can honestly say, our 2 favorites are WL, and YC/BC. Depending on budget we choose between the 2.

But we also have the knowledge of what moderate we like if the oppertunity presented it'sself and we needed to saty there.

 

[MickeyMarcie]

I have suggested a split stay many times, but my husband hates the idea of having to pack and move and waste valuable vacation time. Is it not as complicated as it sounds? Perhaps if you could offer some tips it would help. Thanks!

 

[maxiesmom]

We always try and plan a down day, where we don't do the parks, and switch resorts on that day. You will have to repack your luggage, but Disney will transfer it to the next resort for you. They come to your room, take it away, at is shows up in your room at the next resort. Easy as pie! You can always pack a swimsuit in a seperate bag and swim at either resort that day too. Or one of you could take care of checking in at the next resort, and then meet up with the rest of the family at the park.

 

[cfknight]

FQ is our favorite. I wanted to try out a deluxe, so we stayed at the BC last december. It was nice, the location was awsome. But all in all we will be returning to the FQ next year.

 

[iloveeeyore]

I know exactly how you feel! We have the same emotional attachment to the Poly that you have to POFQ. We believe that at least half the fun of a Disney vacation is in the resort, and the Poly provides exactly what we're looking for.

However, we also know that Disney offers so many different experiences, so we've decided to try something new this trip, WL. We figured if we didn't do this SOON, we probably never would. We plan to fully immerse ourselves in all the WL has to offer. I have made our ADRs for WCC, which we will visit for BL&D during our stay, and AP. We plan to buy refillable mugs and grab stuff at Roaring Forks and have cocktails on our balcony and watch the EWP and use the recreational facilities and hike over to FW... It's hard to give up the familiar (especially when it's so beloved) for the unknown, but we've made a family promise that we won't look back nostaligically at the Poly during this trip. When we get back home, we can start planning our next trip and we'll see, maybe back to the Poly, maybe not...we are intrigued by CR tower and AKL and BW and Swan and ...

We would never switch resorts during our stay, unless we were REALLY unhappy somewhere and Disney offered to accommodate us elsewhere. Vacations are too short to spend even 1 hour in the switching process. But that's just us.

Whatever you decide, hey, you're going to Disney!

 

[chickenskin]

Don't look at it as the grass being greener, just different. I was one of those "will only stay at" people, if I couldn't stay at the Poly I wasn't going, but I've changed my ways. We've now also been to POR, CBR, and WL and are currently booked to return to WL in Sept. I'll always love the Poly first and foremost, just a personal thing, but our experiences at the other resorts were wonderful, in fact we love POR and WL, CBR was very nice but just not as much to our liking. Try something new, you won't be disappointed.

 

[SGMCO]

Our goal is to stay at all of the MODs because our budget.
Just lately I've learned from the DISboards how I can rent points at
DVC resorts from DVC owners and the cost would run around the same as
staying in a MOD so I am seriously considering learning more about
how to do this. It has opened my eyes to the posibilitys of stay
at deluxe resorts. My DH has no desire to stay at a Value--even though
I think I would like to try POP--just for fun.
I'm so glad there are so many choices out there for people with
any budget.

 

[mericletwins]

I have suggested a split stay many times, but my husband hates the idea of having to pack and move and waste valuable vacation time. Is it not as complicated as it sounds? Perhaps if you could offer some tips it would help. Thanks!

We just got back on the 17th from our first split stay. Moving was so simple. We threw our toiletries and other loose items back in the suitcase and zipped them up. We called bell services and them came up and tagged our bags with our next resort and took them away. We went to the parks and when we had enough we went to our next resort and checked in. We called bell services at the new resort and gave them our room number. If the bags are there they bring them up. If not, call back in a little bit. The bags are generally transferred between the resorts between 1 and 3 p.m., but I would probably not count on the bags being there till after 4:00. Doing a split stay was so simple. I didn't feel like we wasted any vacation time at all. Five minutes to throw stuff back in the suitcase and another five minutes to check into the new resort? That was about all. We do not generally unpack our suitcases at a hotel however, but I can't imagine that would take all that much more time to pull your stuff out of the drawers and put it back in the suitcase. If I was the really organized type I guess I could have packed some suitcases that we knew we would open for the first resort and then other suitcases that we knew we would use at the second resort. That way you don't have to open all the suitcases. Generally, the way I pack know is each person gets their own suitcase, but I could just as easily pack everyone for resort A into suitcase one and two, everything for everyone for resort B into suitcase three and four and the fifth suitcase could be for the things we use at both resorts such as tolietries, shoes, sweatshirts, etc. (We have five people, hence the five suitcase plan oulined above.)


I would not hseitate to do a split stay again, in fact I look forward to it. Our next stay, in June, is with DD's dance team, so we have no choice in resorts. We are staying at POR.

 

[MickeyMarcie]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I have been really talking to DH today about staying a couple of nights at WL or maybe the whole time!!! If we can't swing the WL, I imagine we will stay at POFQ.

I do know one thing; June cannot come soon enough!!

 

[G8r4evr]

For me part of the fun of a trip to Disney is trying out different resorts. Having said that, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for POR, as it was the first Disney resort I ever stayed at. And my trip last year was a return visit to that resort.

I agree. Trying new resorts is part of the fun! As much as I loooved CBR, I doubt we will be back there until we try all of the deluxes =)

 

[Grumpy3]

We have been staying at the WL for the last few years but have decided to venture out when we visit in December and stay at the CBR mainly becuase we don't plan on having a lot of down time to enjoy the resort. Normally when we go in the summer it's worth the extra money to stay at the Lodge because we build in time to enjoy being at there but since this will be our first Christmas trip we probably will be on the go most of our waking hours.

 

[hoosiergirl7]

Our first stay was at POR. That was the first time DH had ever been to the World. Granted it was only my 2nd. We really like the resort because it is quiet. Last trip we stayed off-site which although we saved a little money was a big hassle because we had to rent a car to get everywhere.

This trip we are staying at WL which is a deluxe because the only 2 MOD's that had rooms available was POR/FQ and CBR (and their big pool is undergoing renovations - with a very active 4 YO boy, a good pool is a must!)

I am excited as I've wanted to stay at WL for some time now.

I would stay either go for a split stay even though your DH isn't excited about it or try another resort. If you don't like it, then the next trip you can go back to your comfort zone.