Most RELAXING home resort??

[AllisonBrubaker]

We are looking to purchase DVC and want a home resort that feels relaxing....longer stays with less park days but enough activities to keep elementary school aged kids occupied. I’m thinking Copper Creek and Animal Kingdom Lodge. What would you say is most relaxing?

 

[kimj88]

I have to say, even though not 1 of the 2 you mention, I find the most relaxing DVC resort to be Old Key West. Nice pool, nice community hall, ping pong, basketball, shuffleboard all outside by the main pool. Laid back atmosphere, and huge rooms, particularly the 1 bedrooms. Also, short boat ride to Disney Springs for a leisurely stroll, shop or meal.

 

[zavandor]

Most relaxing, I think it's OKW, by far. There's something in the whole Key West setting that makes you relax as soon as you arrive.
SSR has equally stunning grounds and has the advantage of having DIsney Springs in walking disatnce, so it's easy to go there for a few activities (Lego Store, cinema, bowling...). OKW is a nice boat ride away, so maybe not much of an advantage.
SSR also has 2 feature pools.
You can also pool hop between SSR and OKW.

AKV is stunning, but a bit more isolated.

 

[MrsBooch]

If you include ALL DVC resorts? Hilton Head.

Just WDW resorts from the ones you mentioned? Copper Creek - the theming is like you are not in Florida - down to the trees. It's gorgeous.

WDW resorts you didnt mention? OKW

 

[lovin'fl]

There are several.

AKV....great pools and animal viewing and neat kid activities. But you can easily book this at 7 months with any other points.

OKW....nice pools and kids activities and very quaint and quiet. But you cannot walk to any parks or even to DS. And there aren't elevators so you might be hauling your stuff up a couple flights of stairs (and yourselves after a long day at the parks). OKW isn't too tough to book at 7 months out either. But the HH section is and worth buying for being near the HH (which gives you easiest bus rides if you get on HH bus stop and go right out to parks ....then get off 1st stop, coming home, at Penninsular and short walk to HH section).

SSR....this is pretty relaxing due to spaced out campus. This has been the most quiet rooms we have had on WDW property. They have great pools. And you can walk to DS for so many dining options and shopping and movies and bowling and happy hour. We love it. But you also can easily book it at 7 months. Though the lower buy in price, lower annual dues and longer life left on contract (longer than the 2042 resorts)....it is really the best buy going.

HHI...this is very relaxing and great to have in these crazy times where you can book there and not have to get park tickets for parks that aren't fully operating. And a trip to HHI, you can social distance easier. We have been to HHI twice since the pandemic (though not DVC). And just love it there. But we sold our HHI points because the annual dues have gotten so high that when you calculate how much dues it costs for your stay (take number of points you are using and multiple by the $9.10 dues) it is way more than you pay to rent on VRBO or at one of the Marriott Beach front places and other rentals. We figured it out for our June trip. Did a week in a 2BR rental and paid $1400 where DVC 2BR in dues would be $3100 for same week. Crazy too much. All the same can be said for Vero Beach (dues are even higher there). ****just saw today that dues will go up another 10% here to almost $10/point. Crazy high and I am glad we sold them this year.

CCV or BRV....I would say BRV is more relaxed being away from main lobby but both are nice. And CCV gets you a longer contract life. You have boats to other MK resorts and MK (or is it TTC?). Close to MK but out of all the chaos the monorail resorts bring. They have nice pools and Geyser point. Tough to book either resort, especially Nov to Jan....Xmas decor time. And even forget about studios even as an owner its tough. We have 70 points there and have tried to book a studio there a couple times to no avail. We now used 1.5 years of point to book our anniversary night in a cabin.

BLT and Poly are noisy and busy and were not relaxing. Most of our points are at BWV and it too is super busy and noisy. Not very relaxing either. But we love being in the mix of things somewhat and love walking to 2 parks. Just prefer quiet in room when sleeping (like 11pm to 7am). BWV has been hit or miss in that regard too but BLT and Poly were noisy in rooms all night for us. We haven't yet stayed VGF but visited GF plenty to see it is also busy and chaotic there.

BCV....it is the most relaxed resort with easy park access (the ones mentioned in paragraph above). The rooms are quiet. The pool is super nice. And you have all the goings on of the boardwalk just a short walk away. And a super quick shot into Epcot. Many times I regret we bought BWV instead of BCV....but we did it to book the standard view at BWV and save points.

Have not stayed at or even been to the new RR. So can't answer about that. But I wouldn't buy there due to the resale restrictions (if bought via resale you can only use it at RR).

But I would say that the first few mentioned are best because you can't see and hear the parks. So if you do a no park trip (or even just 1 or 2 park days) you won't be missing and longing by seeing the castle or Tower of Terror or seeing folks walk to and from the parks....won't see or hear fireworks as easily. We went once and didn't do parks. Stayed at OKW. DH would have went crazy if we had been at BWV or BLT. It would have drove him nuts seeing and hearing the parks.

So maybe consider CCV or BRV is you want a chance to get a studio there. But be prepared to have trouble during fall frenzy (late Sept through marathon in Jan) even as an owner. Though if you even want a chance, you need to own there. If you rule out those, then I'd say to go with the best deal at SSR.

 

[The Jackal]

You can walk from OKW to DS during daylight hours. It is over a mile, it does take some time, not fun in 90+ sunny days because you are in the sun 99% of the time. But we walk miles at the theme parks and there isn’t much shade unless you at a restaurant or in a indoor ride.

 

[lovin'fl]

You can walk from OKW to DS during daylight hours. It is over a mile, it does take some time, not fun in 90+ sunny days because you are in the sun 99% of the time. But we walk miles at the theme parks and there isn’t much shade unless you at a restaurant or in a indoor ride.

Not a real dedicated walkway though.

 

[Deb & Bill]

To us, OKW is the place where you head to after time in the park that day and then forget you are in the middle of WDW. It's like a small community with friendly people. You can walk around the resort, walk to Disney Springs during daylight hours (not lit at night), visit the Community Hall where you can play games or do art-type stuff, dine at Olivia's, grab a drink at the Gurgling Suitcase. You park where you stay instead of in a giant parking lot. Plus the porch is large and comfortable. You can sit outside and read or watch the golfers.

 

[Tigger's ally]

You can sit outside and read or watch the golfers.

My son and I will be playing LBV Sunday morning after playing the Magnolia Saturday afternoon. Just seemed like a nice weekend to get away! If you are going to be there, If I were you, I wouldn't watch ! We play best ball on trips like this just so we don't get too mad about our game. We also always drink just a little. Arghh. We are just staying at Pop because it was a last second thing to use some of my airline credits before they expire. Might think of hitting up Gurgling Suitcase. Sure wish the boat was operating as we have dinner at City Works Saturday night as well.

 

[Kim&Chris]

Old Key West!! Big comfy rooms that feel more like "home" than other resorts (to me, at least).

 

[Kim&Chris]

You can walk from OKW to DS during daylight hours. It is over a mile, it does take some time, not fun in 90+ sunny days because you are in the sun 99% of the time. But we walk miles at the theme parks and there isn’t much shade unless you at a restaurant or in a indoor ride.

We do the OKW to DS walk early in the morning to take advantage of the pre-sun coolness, but walking back can be like a jungle trek in the heat. One time, we stopped at Saratoga and took the bus back. I felt lazy, but I was also hot as hell.

Now, we try to only do the walk during the cooler months. Much more enjoyable!!

 

[LSchrow]

Importantly (imho), the only resorts that have Community Halls are OKW, SSR, BWV, BLT, AKV-Kidani & RIV. CHs may offer video games, pinball, ping-pong, pool, crafts, DVD rental, etc (most options currently available, despite covid). We find that they are great for some quiet time away from the parks, & usually go at least every 2-3 days. While you can go to CHs from another resort, it's usually quite a walk.
With your considerations, I would probably chose SSR (beautiful, serene, very relaxing, & walk to Springs), followed by AKV (as stunning as the resort is, with some of the best restaurants on-site, we find the transportation there to be some of the worst). We found OKW pretty, but uninteresting (1 bdrms & up are large, but there was little to do without always taking a bus). We also don't care for the fact that the cars abut the villas so closely.
Oddly enough, BWV is a quiet resort (with our favorite quiet oasis on property, the BW Inn pool - it is not unusual to be the only people there). The resort has very quiet & elegant interiors with access to activities & excitement within easy walking distance. The biggest drawback would be the shorter contract length.

 

[JETSDAD]

My votes for relaxing resorts would probably be OKW, SSR, & AKV (especially Kidani).

 

[MICKIMINI]

OKW just never gets old! As OP's have mentioned it is totally laid back and a great place for kids. I love other resorts, but the majority of our points are OKW...DVC really got it right (our first contract 1996).

 

[Cinderbrella1]

My family has had very relaxing stays at Saratoga, and now that our children are young adults, I think we'll be heading over to DS more frequently. Saratoga is so quiet, and the spa there is very nice. We usually try for the Grandstand area.
We've also loved our stays at Kidani, Boulder Ridge, and Copper Creek. Again, our stays there made it feel like we were away from the craziness of the parks. We still haven't stayed at OKW, yet........

 

[Wedgeout]

Tough one but I’m going to give the relaxing award to SSR. OKW was a close second. The edge went to the closeness to DS. Kids have options there like movies and bowling etc. You have priority booking when decide you stay in a treehouse or GV. There is all the talk about the nature path from OKW to DS. It works both ways. There is the path from SSR to OKW..what!?!?! Enjoy Olivia’s, as a DVC member take a dip in the pool, then stroll back. Plus as you relax, you aren’t looking at one of the parks (or theming of one like AKV). And the price! That alone gets me relaxed.

 

[michelleiada]

Animal Kingdom Lodge is a super relaxing resort with lots for the kids to see and do. Pools are beautiful. Animal viewing is so awesome. The CMs are amazing at AKL.

 

[AllisonBrubaker]

Thank you!!

 

[ande2428]

We are looking to purchase DVC and want a home resort that feels relaxing....longer stays with less park days but enough activities to keep elementary school aged kids occupied. I’m thinking Copper Creek and Animal Kingdom Lodge. What would you say is most relaxing?

Hilton Head is very relaxing and non Covid times a lot to do!