Plannig a WDW trip

[KittyJSS]

Hi all. I am new here so bear with me. I am thinking of planning a trip to WDW for this September. I have been to Disney many, many times since 1982, my sister lived in Orlando for 10 years and moved back home in 1994. My last trip to a resort was for New Year's 1998. I did take a day to visit Animal Kingdom in 2000 while I was staying on St. Pete Beach. I have not been back since then. I now am married and have a three and a half yo DD. She will be four when we travel next. I am leaning towards the Coronado Springs Resort because I like the moderate resort feel (I stayed at ASMu in 1995). I know my husband and I would love this resort, but is it geared enough for our DD? I have also stayed at Dixie Landings and loved it there and my just book that instead but stay at the Port Orleans River side. I'm excited to show off my knowledge of WDW to my husband and daughter as I have been into the parks over 20 times. What is new at the Magic Kingdom now that should not be missed.

 

[AJKMOM]

There are a lot of things new since your last visit.

Just me, but Coronado Springs might be too large to walk around with a 4 year old, it's very spread out.

Dixie Landings is now Port Orleans Riverside, and the old Port Orleans-the one that is much smaller and designed to look like New Orleans- is now called Port Orleans French Quarter.

The room sizes are the same, but POFQ is much smaller and more intimate than it's sister resort POR. You can use all the amenities at both, since they are sister resorts. They also share the bus service.

 

[KittyJSS]

It has been a while, I looked up the Port Orleans resort a while back and see they integrated the two, but I do remember staying at Dixie Landing's and sharing things with Port Orleans, I think they just changed the name. Either way, I really liked that resort and am leaning towards it. Also, I remember they had a boat that went down river to Downtown Disney, do they still have that? I also like that Port Orleans is closer to the Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney and Coronado Springs is further off by the Animal Kingdom.

 

[litlpixie]

Port Orleans is wonderful!!! I am a big fan of both resorts. If I were you making a choice and had a little one, Iwould choose the FQ, its so peaceful and everything is close as far as the pool and the main building. No matter where your room is, you'll never have a long walk with a 4 year old back to the room after a long hot day at the parks. Food court has good selection and you could always walk down to Riverside and have a nice sit-down breakfast at Boatwrights (try the banana stuffed french toast or the eggs benedict!! YUM) Yes, the still have the boat to DTD, which is a great ride.

 

[Taja]

I haven't stayed at POR yet (it's on my list!), but have stayed at CSR.

If I were a child, I would absolutely love The Dig Site!

It is a large resort, and can require some walking. I was walking wounded when I stayed there, so what most people walked in 5 minutes took me 15 or 20 minutes. *eek* That said, I still enjoyed the calmness of the resort. And it's downright gorgeous at night! *LOL*

You'll probably want to take a stroller, regardless of where you stay. Those little ones can be awfully heavy when they go to sleep suddenly.

 

[karibritt01]

We stayed at CSR our first family trip when DD was 3. She LOVED this resort. There were more lizards, ducks, fish, turtles, etc to look at walking around the lake! We were in Ranchos 6A, which was 5 minute walk to the main pool, and directly across a small (3 rows max) parking lot from bus stop 3. We could go from our room to the bus in 3 minutes, including the elevator ride. Last summer I booked POFQ because I wanted to try something different... both kids were upset, and DD cried to go to "our hotel."

 

[KittyJSS]

Thanks for all the advice. It has been a while since I've been to WDW and stayed at the resorts, I wouldn't have it any other way. I still have a ton of planning to do, but I think my heart is telling me to stay at the POFQ, since I've stayed at the Riverside part. I love how the resort is so laid back. I need to get my old pictures out of storage and reminisce.