Moderate and Deluxe Resorts

[alotocki]

Looking for recommendations, suggestions, etc....we've always stayed in Value resorts in the past (Pop Century and AOA suite), but looking to possibly "upgrade" for this next vacation in December 2019. Would love to hear some of recommendations on the other resorts because we are clueless! There are four of us (possibly five if my mom travels with us), DD will be 9 and DS will be 7. Thank you!!!

 

[dragonfly57005]

I like the Grand Floridian over the Polynesian. Poly was too noisy for us. The Contempory is nice too - quick walk over to Magic Kingdom.

 

[chris benton]

I'd start researching by checking on what features are important to you.
I care more about proximity to parks, than anything else. Epcot and Hollywood more than MK or AKL.
Pools and food are next on my list.
Epcot area for me.

 

[VAfamily1998]

My two favorite are the Boardwalk Inn and Wilderness Lodge. BWI is within walking distance of two parks and I really like the theme. Wilderness Lodge is just gorgeous. We like being able to watch fireworks and the electrical water pageant. A standard room at Wilderness Lodge only sleeps 4, so if you wanted your mom to come along, you'd have to look at a Deluxe room or get two rooms.

For moderates, my favorite was Coronado Springs, but it is undergoing a lot of changes right now and I prefer to avoid staying at resorts undergoing major changes. I also really liked Port Orleans Riverside, it had beautiful grounds and a nice boat ride to Disney Springs. I didn't care for Port Orleans French Quarter or Caribbean Beach--plus CB is also under some heavy construction right now.

 

[IndianaRRT]

All of the deluxes are wonderful. It depends on what appeals to you and your party. Look into all the individual resort pages on these boards. The first post in all is full of great info. Our favorite deluxe is WL. We love the theming, but for us, location is the key. We enjoy being a boat ride away from the monorail loop. It's convenient, yet just far enough away to be peaceful. If we need to be on the loop, the Contemporary is our choice. We love the walkability.

 

[Haley R]

Our favorite resort out of all of the categories is POFQ. We've stayed at POR and AKL, but still thought POFQ was the best.

 

[LSUmiss]

I like the Grand Floridian over the Polynesian. Poly was too noisy for us. The Contempory is nice too - quick walk over to Magic Kingdom.

Funny I like poly over GF & Contemporary b/c think those 2 are too loud & crowded with guests just coming to eat or visit the resort. Don’t feel like poly brings in as many outside guests. I also think poly has best transportation on site. Monorail to MK & Epcot. And first to pick up on busses to ak & dhs.

 

[Haley R]

Funny I like poly over GF & Contemporary b/c think those 2 are too loud & crowded with guests just coming to eat or visit the resort. Don’t feel like poly brings in as many outside guests. I also think poly has best transportation on site. Monorail to MK & Epcot. And first to pick up on busses to ak & dhs.

We've never stayed at the Poly, but this year we had a free day so we drove to every resort that we hadn't previously been to. We weren't impressed by the Poly at all. I'm not completely sure why, but we both liked the atmosphere at the Beach/Yacht club and I absolutely love the elegance of the GF.

 

[LSUmiss]

We've never stayed at the Poly, but this year we had a free day so we drove to every resort that we hadn't previously been to. We weren't impressed by the Poly at all. I'm not completely sure why, but we both liked the atmosphere at the Beach/Yacht club and I absolutely love the elegance of the GF.

Yeah everyone is different of course. We only stayed at GF & Beach once. I never stayed at Yacht. I feel like gf is pretty, but just an overpriced POR. I also hated being at packed bus stops in the morning with ppl who were just there to eat or see the resort. I think the grounds at poly is more peaceful but it’s a very different decor so it’s not for everyone of course.

 

[Haley R]

Yeah everyone is different of course. We only stayed at GF & Beach once. I never stayed at Yacht. I feel like gf is pretty, but just an overpriced POR. I also hated being at packed bus stops in the morning with ppl who were just there to eat or see the resort. I think the grounds at poly is more peaceful but it’s a very different decor so it’s not for everyone of course.

My opinion is only based off of walking through so I really wouldn't have a good opinion until staying at one of them. GF and Poly are both out of our price range for now, but hopefully sometime we can try them out!

 

[HopperFan]

If Mom comes, making you 5 your only moderate choices are POR, CBR and the Fort Wilderness Campground Cabins. I would look at those and narrow down to which are acceptable and use them to compare to the deluxe you narrow down to.

 

[peabody58]

You may want to rent DVC points and get a 1 BR at BLT or AK Kidani. These units sleep 5 and have 2 bathrooms. I'd go with BLT if you can afford it.

 

[shellyj]

Our absolute favorite is AKL. We rent points to book 2 bedroom villas. We love everything about the resort. There is so much to see and do. Some of the resort activities are truly unique, like night vision animal viewings and drumming in the lobby. There are plenty of places to watch the animals (we paid for savanna view once, wasn't worth the extra expense to us). The pools are wonderful. The gift shop is large and unique.

We don't find it to be far from everything, which is the one complaint I read about AKL. Every resort is close to some parks and farther from others. We usually use the buses and find them to run smoothly.

FWIW, our least favorite by far is SSR. We feel it lacks Disney magic and it too spread out to easily enjoy all the amenities. The gift shop is teeny tiny and shares space with the QS. The internal bus takes a long time to circle the resort. The QS however, is the best resort QS I've been to.

 

[jandkmom]

Our favorite is the Poly for several reasons: it feels the most like a tropical vacation, it is the most convenient transportation wise (since you have the MK monorail there and then have an easy walk to TTC for the Epcot monorail), the beach view of the fireworks and electric water parade is fun, great pools, several yummy options for meals and the rooms are among the biggest out of the Disney resorts. If you can swing it, the club level is amazing.

 

[Animal]

You can book a room for five at POR. There's a little bed that folds down that a 7 year old would love. POR has been a bit pricy lately because it's a great moderate resort. Sometimes you can get AKL or somesuch for not much more.