No offence but...WDW rooms in hotels...

[Booknut]

don't look that great to me! Some looked downright old and tired.

I haven't ever stayed onsite and my husband and I trying to figure out which hotel to stay at. We were going to stay at the Port Orleans French Quarter or Coronado Springs but we aren't really that impressed with the photos of the rooms! Maybe they look better in person??!

So far we've seen all the photos of the rooms in the different resorts and actually, one of the better rooms seemed to be at Pop Century! Has anyone stayed there recently and if so, what did you think?

We really just want a bed to sleep in and a pool to come back to in the afternoon. As we're thinking of going in mid-January we are hoping for small crowds.

Would love your opinions on whether its really worth the money from value to moderate and moderate to deluxe. Thanks!

Eloise

 

[angel659]

Hi

It really pends if you want to stay onsite or not. If you dont like the pics then I would go off site and save some money.

Personally staying on site is really nice and we cant wait to return next year. We have stayed at All Star Sports and Movies. Personally I would not stay here again, only because of the transportation issues we had. Some of the parks would share one bus stop for all 3 of the All Star Resorts and the lines were big and the last thing you want to do is wait.

I have not stayed at the Pop before I cant see any difference in the value resorts other than themes. It really pends on what themes you like. From value to delux the rooms are not entirely the same. Difference is obviously themes and size of the rooms. Delux hotels tends to have a better location and offer more services and activities.

We are booking the poly next yr for 3 nights, because we like the location we can use the monorail and poly offers views of the MK.

Again, if you really are not fussed on what you have seen so far. Book off site and save some money.

 

[edenlee]

We love to stay on site at the Beach Club - it is fabulous - great location, lovely surroundings, food to die for - need I say more!

 

[Goofyish]

You have to remember that the rooms are themed to correspond to the theming of the resort. So rooms in the Aligator Bayou section of POR are very 'rustic' looking with beds made from rough cut logs etc.

Room at Pop are themed to suit as well, so may appear more bright and colourful.

It's very difficult from a photograph to get a feeling of what a room is really like.

We have found all the rooms we have stayed in on-site to be clean plenty big enough for us, especially considering the amount of time you actual spend in the room.

 

[alisonbestford]

We stayed at CSR last year and the room, itself, was fine but the air conditioning was incredibly noisy!

I, personally, wouldn't spend the extra money to stay onsite again as I prefer to be able offsite anyway but I'm glad we experienced onsite and everyone is different

 

[jdybnsn]

We stayed at Disney PORS a couple of years ago ...the hotel was reasonable (certainly alot better than the cheap & nasty I- Drive hotels on our first Orlando experience), pools & grounds are themed, and there were alot of benefits....free Disney buses, free Park parking, free ferry to DTD ......and even more now with ADR booking and EMH.

However, on the minus side the rooms ARE small and we found the standard of the food hall & its prices very poor (in my book, Disney is actually below MacDonalds when it comes to the mass catering market in any of their food outlets).

And when we stayed at a town house at Regal Palms this year, the difference in accommodation standards, and comparative cost, really hit home.

On this holiday there were 2 adults, 2 children, rattling around a fully equiped 4 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom house (with excellent communal pool facilities) at a fraction of the cost of 5 adults, and 2 children crammed into 2 rather tired rooms at the PORS.

That said I think every one should try a Disney hotel at least once, it is definitely an experience in itself, and I am still very glad we had the experience of staying at PORS.

Is a Disney hotel really worth it ?.......HELL NO !
............but would I still recommend you try one ? - ABSOLUTELY !

 

[Merylj]

How many of you are there? You get bigger and better rooms the more you pay but for just two of you Pop Century rooms would be fine - although there`s not alot of storage.
I`m never too concerned about the rooms themselves as we are never in them but I like the theming and location of some resorts much better than others. It`s never an easy choice!

 

[AlanUK]

Personally staying at Disney for us has nothing to do with the standard of the rooms. As far as we are concerned they are clean, safe and comforatable. They have all the necessary facilities that I think a hotel room needs to supply - Bathroom, bed, TV etc.

What makes the difference for us is the themeing of the resort in general, the friendly cast members, the free and easy transport to and from the parks, the extra time we are able to get in the parks through EMH's and just that fact that if we didn't want to we wouldn't have to leave Disney property for the entire duration of our stay

It all depends on the resort you stay at of course, the moderate resorts are not so close to the parks with fewer transportation options, whereas the deluxe resorts tend to be just a stones throw away, and depending on the room, quite often you can see one of the parks just by looking out the window or stepping onto the balcony. This is great for something like Illuminations if you can see EPCOT or Wishes if you can see the Magic Kingdom

 

[mandymouse]

Personally, for me all hotels are the same, just a room to sleep in. We never cook (so don't need a suite or villa) and we love to stay on-site to use Disney transportation and EMH. We stayed at the Pop Century at Christmas, and we LOVED IT, so much so, that we have booked to go back this New Year

I think you'd love it too

 

[Claire L]

We have found the rooms to be fab, great themeing and always plenty of space. I must say some of the hotels that have been there a while are going through a refurb program at the moment to update them. I just hope they keep the lovely units at WL with the forest and bear scene on them. We woudl never stay anywhere other than onsite for the convenience, theming and the whole experience really

Claire

 

[stitch&ariel]

We have only stayed onsite once and that was last year at Pop Century and I have to say it was well worth it! I loved it and thought the rooms were nice although we aren't in them that often. I think that there is a better Disney feeling when you stay onsite as you are there in the magic all the time!

 

[paulh]

you have to realise that off site has to go better than disney so rooms are bigger offsite.If you just want somewhere to rest your head at night and relax by pool in the afternoon would say stay at Pop as the rooms at disney are not much differnt from the values to the mods.Only extras at mods is usaly you have a slide at pool and a hot tub.we have stayed at every disney hotel apart from monorail hotels and would stay at any again
Paulh

 

[angel659]

Unfortunately for us we have outgrown the value hotels. We are a family of 5. We would love to spend two weeks in POR, but the villa we have seen is £300 cheaper than POR. We are booking a villa and staying at Poly for 3 nights as a treat.

 

[mark&sue]

After staying both on site and off site we just love staying on site and have bought into DVC where the rooms are much bigger.

At the end of the day it is all a matter of personal choice. I do recommend that you at least try an on site holiday at least once though, as you really feel immersed into the magic. When we stay off site it just does not feel the same but this is just our own families personal opinions. Disney obviously gets many happy repeat visitors many of whom go on to purchase into DVC as we did. I have never looked back.


Susan

 

[Frances999]

I sort of agree with you. The rooms at the WDW resorts I have stayed at have always been of a high-standard, but not at a particularly deluxe level which matches the room rates they charge. When comparing the Disney Deluxe Resort rooms to other hotels charging similar rates (i.e 5 star hotels), it is clear that the WDW rooms aren't really right up to the highest level.

However, as others have said, the room is less important for us when at WDW. The location, theming and CM service is what makes every cent of the room rates worthwhile.

I must add though, I think the new rooms at The Polynesian are particularly impressive ~

 

[Miffy2003]

Having stayed in six different WDW hotels over the last few years I have to say I have found them all extremely comfortable, furnished to a good standard and themed perfectly. The pools, grounds, common areas and rooms all fit this criteria in my opinion

Having stayed onsite and offsite there are benefits and advantages to both, but personally I can;t imagine going to Orlando and not staying onsite for the majority of my trip

Frances, I am going to have to ask you to stop teasing me with wonderful pictures of the Poly

 

[Booknut]

Thanks for all your advice! We're still 'debating' which ones to choose, we might split the visit and do 1 week at POFQ, 4 nights at an all star and end with 3 nights at a deluxe!

DH loves the look of the Wilderness Lodge but i'm not so keen on those rooms (again!) but those pictures you just posted on the Poly is making me re-think my view on that hotel!

Well, there could be worse things to worry about than picking a hotel at Disney

 

[TandCmum]

We stayed at POFQ ;last year and loved it. The whole resort had a full refurbishment in 2004 and the rooms are lovely. They do look old fashioned but that is just the theme, they were very clean and comfortable,we had no complaints.

However next year we are spending 2 weeks in a villa as 16 nights in one room was just a bit too much with 2 small children, and then we are having a week at the beach club to get the onsite benefits.

 

[minniemick]

The Polynesian has everything you want, two lovely pools you can watch the fireworks from the beach you even get the music piped in. You can also see the water pagent from the beach as well, it is so convenient to get the boat or the monarail to Magic Kingdom and Epcot and the TTC.

 

[Frances999]

The Polynesian has everything you want, two lovely pools you can watch the fireworks from the beach you even get the music piped in. You can also see the water pagent from the beach as well, it is so convenient to get the boat or the monarail to Magic Kingdom and Epcot and the TTC.