Recommendations 2days-1night /no parks

[son3disfan]

We have one night after our cruise in March and want to stay at a Disney resort.

Off the cruise at 9 am on Saturday and don't fly home until 10 pm Sunday.
We are not going to do any parks but might possibly do a water park ( after check out on Sunday).
What resort would you recommend? Traveling with two teens ( 17, 15)

Wanted to do Wilderness Lodge ( to see the fireworks possibly from Poly beach?) but worried about construction going on at the resort and not being able to use the pool.
Thinking Animal Kingdom , as we love Boma but not sure what the pool or things to do around the resort.
Thinking Beach Club with their pool, but worried it might be geared toward younger children.( and crazy busy?)
I love CSR and have stayed here when the boys were young, but remembering everything being a long walk!

Really just looking for your experiences in a " hang out " at the resort kind of day.

 

[ChasingLeslie]

I've never been to Beach Club, but I think Stormalong Bay would be a lot of fun! I would imagine it gets pretty packed though.

CSR is great, and you could request the Cabanas section in order to be between El Centro and the Dig Site.

 

[eporter66]

Personally, I would do Saratoga. If you are not doing the parks, you might want to just go over to Downtown Disney for dinner, drinks or something else. Also, having all the bus options, you can easily hop a bus to Wilderness Lodge or the Poly from DTD to watch the fireworks, then just catch a DTD bus back and walk back to your room

 

[Lucius Best]

The advantage to Wilderness Lodge would be proximity and easy access to MK, Fort Wilderness, and all the monorail resorts. I can't speak to what the status of construction would be next March.

Animal Kingdom has a nice pool, the animals, great-looking resort and good restaurants. Close to Blizzard Beach and mini-golf over there. You are somewhat isolated, but that might be good if you just want to chill out.

As far as moderates, our favorite is POR, we did a short post-cruise no-park trip there a few years ago. We like the atmosphere of the pool and food court there better than CSR. But we also didn't spend all of our time at POR, we also hung out at WL, ate dinner at FW, and cruised the monorail resorts. We avoided DTD because of the construction and difficulty getting there.

 

[nkereina]

We did this a few years ago. We got off our cruise around 8am in Port Canaveral, and were at POR by 9:30am. Our room was ready, but we did not have any requests since we were only staying one night. We hung out at the pool and then took the boat to DTD for the night. We specifically chose POR for the boat to DTD and was great.

If POR isn't an option for you, I would go with AKL. It's the perfect resort for a resort only trip, they have an awesome pool, and great dining options. It is a hike to DTD if you will be going there.

BC of course has a great pool, but we've always found it to be very busy. I would also be concerned about the construction at WL. And we like CSR, but with no parks, I would choose POR over CSR for the proximity to DTD.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We picked AKL for a pre-cruise trip a few years ago and it was fantastic. Gorgeous resort, animals, a beautiful pool and great restaurants.

I would not do WL because of the construction.

Another thought, if you aren't doing the parks - maybe try the Four Seasons? It's gorgeous and you can see the fireworks from the restaurant on the top floor!

 

[DisneyBelle_x]

We did something similar last year, did 2 nights at SSR pre cruise as wanted to spend time as DTD as well as resort so the walking distance was great and we also did some fun things like boat ride from DTD to POR and hired Surrey bike there, then we did 1 night at AKL post cruise which was perfect end to the trip

 

[sunflare]

If you do decide on CSR, I'd get the Business Class rooms, since you're not doing parks and will probably be around to enjoy the amenities They're in the preferred section, too, so it'll be closer to everything.

 

[son3disfan]

Thanks for the opinions !
I should have added that we have stayed at POR on a previous visit ( only mod that could hold us in a regular room way back when- family of 5 )Only 4 travelling this time.
I love POR ... Love the boat to DTD. Wanted to try something new.
We also have a car so buses are not an issue.
Leaning towards AKL, but like the price of CSR. What is the difference in pools of these two resorts? I have visited CSR and have seen the pyramid pool ( slide?) .
How would you describe AKL pool?