Need help selecting a deluxe resort!!

[Spencer Wright]

I have been to Disney 8 times and am hoping to return next August.

I'll be going with my mother, sister, and possibly some other family, but I'll stick with the three of us for now!

I have stayed at the one deluxe in particular three times (including last two trips), as well as at two other deluxe hotels and two moderates.

While I love the hotel of choice for the past couple of trips for one particular reason, I would like to look into a change.

For hotels, we are definitely looking at deluxes, and I am most concerned about relatively easy access to the parks (no resort is great in this aspect however some are certainly better than others).

My mother's main priority is themeing and a great quick service place, especially one to fill mugs and get breakfast.



I'll keep the one we stay at a secret for now and see what people come up with! So to recap, I am investigating a new deluxe to stay at, with a priority given to a great quick service and relatively easy access to parks.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!!

 

[skramer100]

Easy access to parks is kinda hard without know which parks? Epcot/Hollywood I would definitely go with Beach Club. MK area they are all nice, but we loved Wilderness Lodge. Living in south Florida it really does feel like you are traveling to the northwest.
If it is purely for resort only, then I would go with either GF or Wilderness. Love both of those places.

 

[Spencer Wright]

Easy access to parks is kinda hard without know which parks? Epcot/Hollywood I would definitely go with Beach Club. MK area they are all nice, but we loved Wilderness Lodge. Living in south Florida it really does feel like you are traveling to the northwest.
If it is purely for resort only, then I would go with either GF or Wilderness. Love both of those places.

I appreciate the feedback! I have heard of long bus rides in and out of WL. Is that not the case from your experience?

 

[skramer100]

I appreciate the feedback! I have heard of long bus rides in and out of WL. Is that not the case from your experience?

We drove up so had car. Never really bussed. Did the water taxi to and from MK and loved that. Honestly if you need to bus and are worried about the wait, Disney really has accepted Uber and it might cost $15 or so. WL is a great place. Food choices are good and Artist Point is the most underrated restaurant on property.

 

[CynBeth]

We stayed at the YC in Dec and loved it! It was our first time staying at an Epcot resort. We could walk or take the boat to Epcot and DHS which was great. It shares a bus with BC to the other parks and is the first stop. We also love staying in the MK area. There is the electrical water pageant and places to see the MK fireworks from your room or other areas. Plus a nice variety of food places with easy access to food at the nearby resorts. Nothing against GF but we prefer WL, Poly, and CR. For WL we love the boat ride to MK and to CR and FW plus the theming. WCC is one of our favorite breakfasts on property and eat there even if not staying at WL. We love the tropical atmosphere at Poly especially the torches at night. It is an easy resort to walk around with a short walk to the TTC for the Epcot monorail. And you can get to MK by boat or monorail. CR was the first resort I ever stayed in as a kid so it holds a special place in my heart. There is something about the monorail passing through it and you can walk to MK. There is a boat to WL and FW. Most of our trips lately have been during the holiday season either Thanksgiving Week or the second week of December and the bus service was always fine for us.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I appreciate the feedback! I have heard of long bus rides in and out of WL. Is that not the case from your experience?

I'll comment on WL as we just stayed there last week! Bus and boat service to MK is fantastic. The bus service to the other parks was shared with Ft. W, which wasn't so great. We circumvented that by using Lyft and Minnie Vans. Given the money we saved by NOT staying on the monorail or an EP resort, I was happy to spring for quick, private car service to and from the other parks. The quick service options at WL are fabulous. There are two now, Roaring Forks and Geyser Point. Convenient and delicious! WL is now tied with BWI as my favorite resort. Given the proximity to MK, the ambience and the food options, it is truly the best bang for your buck in the deluxe category.

If you want a bigger room and closer proximity to a park WITH good QS, I would have to go with GF. One monorail stop from MK and Gasparilla's is very good. Not only is the food good, but it is set up in a way to make it less chaotic than other QS IMHO (Capt. Cook's at Poly was a chaotic nightmare).

For the best proximity to more parks, BWI would be my choice as you can walk to EP and it's a closer walk to DHS than the other EP resorts. I like the QS choices there (Boardwalk Bakery, pizza window, food kiosks and Ample Hills), but if it's raining, getting to that QS is not very pleasant. The QS at BC/YC is not great, though that may be changing with the current YC renovations that should be completed soon.

 

[Monorail_Man_NJ]

Polynesian for theme on monorail.
Boardwalk Inn for theme in EPCOT area.

 

[TJA]

I have been to Disney 8 times and am hoping to return next August.

I'll be going with my mother, sister, and possibly some other family, but I'll stick with the three of us for now!

I have stayed at the one deluxe in particular three times (including last two trips), as well as at two other deluxe hotels and two moderates.

While I love the hotel of choice for the past couple of trips for one particular reason, I would like to look into a change.

For hotels, we are definitely looking at deluxes, and I am most concerned about relatively easy access to the parks (no resort is great in this aspect however some are certainly better than others).

My mother's main priority is themeing and a great quick service place, especially one to fill mugs and get breakfast.



I'll keep the one we stay at a secret for now and see what people come up with! So to recap, I am investigating a new deluxe to stay at, with a priority given to a great quick service and relatively easy access to parks.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!!

We've stayed at all of the deluxes. In the Epcot area, we love the BC, and are not overly fond of BWI and YC. You seem to be familiar with Disney resorts in general, so I'm sure I don't need to recite all the pros and cons, but the reasons we love BC include: walking to both Epcot and HS, the pool SAB, Beaches & Cream, the lobby, renting surrey bikes on the boardwalk, walking to mini golf. To get to MK, we like to take the long way there and walk through Epcot to get to the monorail.

In the MK resort area, our favorites are both Poly and GF. To be fair, we do like CR a lot too but it's not a favorite theme of mine (I'm female) and I'm remembering your mother's main priority is theming. For me, Poly is great for a summer time vacation. GF is great for a holiday vacation (we loved it at Easter time and are going back in a couple months at Thanksgiving time). Love the monorail and boat options at both. Also love being able to see the Castle and HEA at both resorts.

WL is so-so for me. With all the new renovations, I'd love to try it again sometime. We are a family of 4 and find the regular rooms quite small and that is a hold-back for me booking there.

AKL = love! But, again, smaller rooms. For you, though, if it's just the 3 of you in a room, you would probably be just fine! However, this resort requires a bus everywhere, and we would not enjoy that day after day.

 

[xlsm]

The Wilderness Lodge is my faaavorite. Love the option of boat or bus to MK (we like buses for morning rope drop and boat in the evening). Never had much of an issue with long waits or bus rides for other parks. I mean, it sometimes happens, but we've had excellent luck for the most part. Have stayed there four times, and want to go back! Have done Boardwalk and AKL, and will be at the Poly in October (then possibly back to AKL in January), and nothing compares to WL for me.

 

[sleepydog25]

Also suggest WL. Theming is hard to beat, and the resort feels so relaxed after a long day at the parks. Bus service is above average there, especially to MK, and of course, there's the boat to MK or CR or FW. Roaring Fork has reopened, but to be honest, it has taken a step back in quality. However, Geyser Point has opened, and while they've scaled back their menu a bit, it still offers a few different (and better) items than RF.

 

[Shanti]

I have been to Disney 8 times and am hoping to return next August.

I'll be going with my mother, sister, and possibly some other family, but I'll stick with the three of us for now!

I have stayed at the one deluxe in particular three times (including last two trips), as well as at two other deluxe hotels and two moderates.

While I love the hotel of choice for the past couple of trips for one particular reason, I would like to look into a change.

For hotels, we are definitely looking at deluxes, and I am most concerned about relatively easy access to the parks (no resort is great in this aspect however some are certainly better than others).

My mother's main priority is themeing and a great quick service place, especially one to fill mugs and get breakfast.



I'll keep the one we stay at a secret for now and see what people come up with! So to recap, I am investigating a new deluxe to stay at, with a priority given to a great quick service and relatively easy access to parks.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!!

Animal Kingdom Lodge. The theming can't be beat, the Mara is a very nice quick service location, and the animals are great. Standard rooms are affordable for a deluxe, & if you request a room on the Kudu Trail like we did, you might even get a great animal view from your balcony despite being in a standard.

 

[loves to dive]

We have stayed at all of them multiple times except WL and SS. We prefer the Epcot resorts because Epcot and HS are our favorite parks so being able to walk to both is great. While my favorite is YC, in reality we just stay at whichever one is less, including Swan/Dolphin. MK is a half day park for us and has been for the past 15 years or so, so we don't stay at the monorail resorts any more. If we were going to, maybe during a split stay, we most likely would stay at GF. CR is just too contemporary and convention feeling to me, Poly has great theming but tends to be a little too busy and, yes I'll say it, tends to be more kid friendly, my son is grown. GF is more our style, a little more adult feeling. We haven't stayed at WL yet but will at some point so we can say we have but it will be a split stay. We loved AKL and again would stay there during a split stay but since we spend so much time at Epcot, it wouldn't make sense to stay there an entire trip.

 

[Disney Mom 7272]

We have stayed at AKL, WL, Bay Lake, AOA and Boardwalk! Loved all of them and have never had a problem with waiting for buses. WL was nice to boat to Magic Kingdom. I always go to the parks at rope drop and get to the bus stop usually about at least an hour before the park opens and have not had any problems with making it to the parks in plenty of time for the park to open! As far as leaving the parks, I just realize that there are a billion other people trying to get back to their room to. The only time I have ever had to wait an long time for a bus is when we stayed at Art of Animation and that was leaving the park at night!
We are trying the Poly and Beach Club next year as a split stay!

 

[Spencer Wright]

I'll comment on WL as we just stayed there last week! Bus and boat service to MK is fantastic. The bus service to the other parks was shared with Ft. W, which wasn't so great. We circumvented that by using Lyft and Minnie Vans. Given the money we saved by NOT staying on the monorail or an EP resort, I was happy to spring for quick, private car service to and from the other parks. The quick service options at WL are fabulous. There are two now, Roaring Forks and Geyser Point. Convenient and delicious! WL is now tied with BWI as my favorite resort. Given the proximity to MK, the ambience and the food options, it is truly the best bang for your buck in the deluxe category.

If you want a bigger room and closer proximity to a park WITH good QS, I would have to go with GF. One monorail stop from MK and Gasparilla's is very good. Not only is the food good, but it is set up in a way to make it less chaotic than other QS IMHO (Capt. Cook's at Poly was a chaotic nightmare).

For the best proximity to more parks, BWI would be my choice as you can walk to EP and it's a closer walk to DHS than the other EP resorts. I like the QS choices there (Boardwalk Bakery, pizza window, food kiosks and Ample Hills), but if it's raining, getting to that QS is not very pleasant. The QS at BC/YC is not great, though that may be changing with the current YC renovations that should be completed soon.

I really appreciate your feedback!! I am thinking WL seems like a very strong candidate. My only concern was the transportation but I like the easy access to Magic Kingdom and love that boat ride.

 

[Spencer Wright]

Animal Kingdom Lodge. The theming can't be beat, the Mara is a very nice quick service location, and the animals are great. Standard rooms are affordable for a deluxe, & if you request a room on the Kudu Trail like we did, you might even get a great animal view from your balcony despite being in a standard.

The AKL has been our hotel of choice!! I think it is absolutely gorgeous, but am looking for a change since it feels so far from everything (especially MK).

 

[Aurora0427]

I have been to Disney 8 times and am hoping to return next August.

I'll be going with my mother, sister, and possibly some other family, but I'll stick with the three of us for now!

I have stayed at the one deluxe in particular three times (including last two trips), as well as at two other deluxe hotels and two moderates.

While I love the hotel of choice for the past couple of trips for one particular reason, I would like to look into a change.

For hotels, we are definitely looking at deluxes, and I am most concerned about relatively easy access to the parks (no resort is great in this aspect however some are certainly better than others).

My mother's main priority is themeing and a great quick service place, especially one to fill mugs and get breakfast.



I'll keep the one we stay at a secret for now and see what people come up with! So to recap, I am investigating a new deluxe to stay at, with a priority given to a great quick service and relatively easy access to parks.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!!

Stay at the Polynesian. We just returned from an 11 night stay. The theming is perfect for August. Captain Cooks is the best quick service on property at a deluxe. Access to Epcot is easy because you can walk to the TTC and hop on the Epcot Monorail. Magic Kingdom is accessible by boat or monorail or express monorail if you walk to the TTC. We were Grand Floridian fans but may permanently defect to the Polynesian.

The Grand would be my second choice based on your quick service request. Gasparilla Grill is pretty good. Transportation isn't terrible- easy access to MK. Epcot is a bit longer.

We love Beach and Yacht Club, but their quick service stinks. Boardwalk doesn't even have one.

We hated Wilderness Lodge. The rooms are tiny and dark and the transportation is terrible.

We haven't stayed at the CR since 2008, so I can't provide recent updates.

 

[addiln]

For me it is all about where I am spending more time at then I can decide on the resort. Last trip it was adults only so we stayed at BW and loved walking to and from Epcot and HS. This trip with the kids we are staying at BLT since we will spend more time in MK. I think for quick service meals you will be better off near the MK resorts. Not having one at BW kind of sucked on our last trip. They have the bakery but options are very limited there. We have stayed at Kidani and loved the theme of the resort but it was a little far from everything for my liking but overall it was great.

 

[disneygolfer1985]

I would suggest any Epcot resort because of location. You can walk to 2 different parks and don't share buses with other resorts to MK or AK (BC/YC share a bus). If this would be more of an adult oriented trip, then I think the Epcot resorts would be a great option. Also, it allows you a great place to take a break during the hot afternoon hours and can head back to the parks around dinner time.

 

[IceQueen182]

I would also go for an Epcot resort for an adult-only trip. We particularly love the theming of BWI- it's gorgeous, and the night life on the Boardwalk is really fun, as well as access to great dining. The slight drawback here is that the quick service location isn't particularly convenient, but Boardwalk Bakery's food is great! It's also nice to be able to walk or boat to HS, and to walk into Epcot through the IG.

If you're spending lots of time at MK, the Poly is also great and that has the edge over BWI for easy access to quick service. Captain Cook's is quite good and pretty centrally located. It's also nice to have monorail access to two parks (MK and Epcot via walking to the TTC), but I found the bus ride to AK in particular to be long. The theming is beautiful, and watching the fireworks from the beach is lovely.

You really can't go wrong with any of the deluxes, and at the end of the day is depends on which parks you're prioritizing and what theming appeals to you.

 

[kboo]

Love reading everyone's responses! Here's my personal votes:

1. MK area - Grand Floridian is the winner for us - for theming, views, restaurants (there isn't a bad one of the bunch, and we've tried every one from the pool bar and Gasparilla Grill to V&A), atmosphere, and service. CR wins on convenience but other than the classic monorail-through-the-hotel there isn't a ton in the way of theming. Poly and WL, we do love the TS restaurants and theming, but have never stayed there, but would like to someday in the future.

2. Epcot area: Beach Club and Boardwalk are tied - My husband likes Stormalong Bay; I like being closer to HS and being on the Boardwalk and I think Ample Hills beats Beaches and Cream. I don't think you can go wrong with either.

3. AKL/AKV - also a lovely resort; even when not staying there we usually try to go to Sanaa and Boma. The theming is terrific and it is also usually more affordable as far as deluxes.

Our overall favorite at WDW? Probably Grand Floridian by a hair. It has the most restaurants, they're all excellent, there is no bad view from any room (except DVC 1221 - google it) and the rooms are big. I thought it would be too "fancy" for me but even my 6yo loves it.