Resorts You Thought You Wouldn't Like...

[HairyChest]

but loved once you stayed there?

My first disney stay was the polynesian which i instantly fell in love with and wasnt interested in any other resort. Then they started the construction. so i booked the grand floridian. Wow what an amazing expirience. The theming didnt speak to me until i stayed there. Thats when i got it.
I have a hard time now choosing between the poly and the grand but ive ended up back at the grand ever since.


I also booked art of animation for 1 night (after missing our flight out, what a shame ). I suprisingly enjoyed it alot even though im a deluxe snob! The food court was especially good, reeeeeelly good. Doesnt replace a deluxe but its a great value option.

On the other hand Ive tried port orleans riverside and didnt like it as much as i thought i would. The grounds were beautiful but i got a motelish feeling from the room that i didnt like.

The wilderness lodge i loved just as much as i thought i would. Very beautiful. Third only to the grand and poly imo.

I still want to try animal kingdom lodge and beach club but i think i may not like them as much...

 

[patty57]

The Swan and Dolphin. We always stayed at BW or BC, and when people got off the bus at the S/D, I always wondered why people stayed there...until I finally did. I love them.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

BWI. My DH and I stayed there in 2006 and I was less than impressed. Fast forward five years later and the rate was better than BC (which we loved), so we tried it again - LOVE IT!!! Love BWV even more! The theming, the Boardwalk, the food, even the pool (I know - clown slide - DS loves it!). I think it's now my favorite resort in WDW!

 

[Jennasis]

Pop. I HATED the pics I saw. I hated the giant garish icons. Then we had to book it once because it was all we could afford...and it was freaking adorable! Love that place.

 

[The Sasquatch]

bc quickly became our favorite after trying it for the first time by chance. Stormalong bay is better than any resort pool on property. The refurbed rooms are beautiful. On the flip side we are trying GFlo for our first time in April

 

[NicoleLarson]

ASMo! It was a spur of the moment thing (as in we were on i-4 & said hey, lets spend the night @ disney, for whatever reason my DH agreed) and we didn't have a lot to spend. The kids went nuts and I actually liked it as well. We are still deluxe people but I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again.

 

[Disneylover99]

Pop.

We were staying at POFQ but we were thinking of booking a bb at a Value resort and I decided to take the bus to Pop from DTD late one night to see if it appealed to me. Well, I hated it. It seemed loud and dirty and I figured my family would hate it. But I booked it anyways and agonized over my decision for a whole year.

We ended up loving it and we've been there several times now. I find it clean and quiet.

 

[toodycat]

WL---The first time we stayed there, it paled in comparison to the GF, Poly and AKL where we'd stayed before. Our room was on the first floor, so not much view. Everything seemed so dark in the lobby yet not as beautiful as AKL's similar lobby. My son has autism and attendant sound sensitivity, so whenever we passed the Whispering Canyon Cafe, he had to cover his ears. However, my sister convinced me to give it another try nearly 10 years later during the Christmas season. I loved it! The Christmas decorations in the lobby were fabulous; we had an upgrade to a room on an upper floor with a view of the pool and lagoon; our meal at the Whispering Canyon Cafe was delicious with pulled pork spring rolls and a whiskey milkshake, and the dinner we had at Artist Point was incredible! I am so glad we gave WL a second try.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We decided to try POR after having stayed exclusively at deluxe resorts. We were surprised at how much we really liked the grounds and the room. We are even returning there in June.

 

[clayfolks]

We are DVC members who love AKV. We love the theming and the CMs. We got stuck staying in a 2 bedroom villa at GF last September, because our guests really wanted to stay there. I dreaded the thought of it for months. The property was gorgeous and the staff was exceptional. I fell in love with the GF!

 

[happymommy]

Total hotel and resort snob that I am, I stayed at Pop last August (just me and DD). She had thought it looked so cute, so I figured we'd give it a try. We loved it! So much so that in any future trips if it's just two of us, I'll likely book there! We're staying two nights over spring break there before DH comes down to join us (then moving to a villa at AKV that we rented from an owner - so we have space for privacy and two bathrooms will be nice).

I really can't justify the costs of the Disney resorts any longer. Last trip to BWI it was just me and DD for the week, and it was totally not worth $300/night (we both agreed). It was noisy and just not worth it.

We love the food court at Pop - it's so convenient to get a meal or snack (and we mostly brought it back to the room - it does get noisy in there). I actually thought the selection was better than at the BWI. Yes, we do have Epcot right there and all, but to just grab dinner when you're tired it was great.

 

[loves to dive]

The Swan and Dolphin. We always stayed at BW or BC, and when people got off the bus at the S/D, I always wondered why people stayed there...until I finally did. I love them.

I so glad you posted this, I'm a BC/YC fan but couldn't get a decent price for my upcoming trip since I refuse to pay rack rate. I found a good discount at Dolphin so very hesitantly booked there. I'm a tad worried I'm not going to like it, especially since I understand they are working on it but the price was less than a mod so I'm going to try it.

 

[loves to dive]

I have two. I've stayed at all the deluxe resorts except WL and SS, we just like the feel of the deluxes and hate having to bus everywhere. In an effort to stay at all the resorts, I booked a split stay with AKV and BWV (not DVC through WD) and fell in love with AKV. I kept telling myself all these years I'd hate it because you have to ride the bus everywhere and it's so far out. We were only there for 2 nights and wished we had stayed longer, mind you we were in a 1 bedroom but loved the look and feel of the place. I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again in the first part of a split stay (I have to have me some time at the Epcot resorts every time I go, I can't help it)

POR, we always visit at least one other resort while we are there, trying to decide if we might want to stay there and visited POR and hated it. It seemed too big and didn't like the motel feel. Since then I had stayed at POP for two nights (again trying to stay at all the resorts) hated it but found out I could put up with the motel feel for a couple of nights. So, on my first solo trip I booked a split stay with 2 nights POR - Magnolia Plantation room and 3 nights OKW, studio. Fell in love with POR and didn't want to leave to go to OKW but I was renting points so not going wasn't an option (didn't love OKW by the way). After I've done all the other mods, I won't hesitate to stay at POR again for another split stay.

I still have to try, CS, POFQ (I did walk over there every day) and CBR. I have a split stay 2 nights CBR, 4 nights Dolphin coming up in March. Both new resorts for me. I've done POP and ASsp and most likely won't do the other all stars or AoA, I just couldn't make myself like the values no matter how short the stay. The idea of paying moderate prices for a value at AoA just turns me off, I did walk over there from Pop and liked the theming but I don't think I like it enough to pay those prices to stay in a concrete block building. Plus side, some of them did have inside corridors but no balcony's so I think I'd rather have the outside corridors just so I wouldn't feel so confined.

 

[AngiTN]

I wasn't excited about staying a night at ASMu. But I didn't hate it and would stay there again
I didn't think I would care for CR but turned out I did like it more than expected and picked it as the place to take my Mom on her first trip
I wasn't sold on Boardwalk but 1 stay there and it is now my favorite resort.

 

[kyleandconnorsmom]

Ok, I'm going to go way back and show where my Disney nerd-ness began. When I was a kid, I would hord the AAA Florida tour books and had all of the resorts and everything about them memorized. Way back in the early-mid 90's my dream was to stay on property and the Polynesian was my ultimate dream (still yet to be realized),however, I always thought that Port Orleans and Dixie Landings looked really boring. Well, fast forward to 2011 and we end up booking a last minute trip at what is now POFQ and I fell in love.

Also, I never really had an interest in AKL, but my middle son watched the planning videos with me and, as an animal lover, really wanted to stay there. So, against my own wishes, we ended up staying there last June...and I'm so glad we did! I loved everything about it.

We are currently booked at POR this July and I'm less than psyched about it, so I'm hoping to be as pleasantly surprised as I've been the last two times.

 

[Babsy]

I didn't hint that I would like the CR but. After staying there, it is one of my top three resorts! Also, the Swan and Dolphin made me wonder why anyone would choose to stay there. Now we stay at the Dolphin nearly every trip as part of a split stay with an MK resort (often the CR)!

 

[MuppetBaby]

AoA. We are more of a mod family. But stayed there last year for two nights for budget reasons before a cruise on the Dream.

We loved it. Great food court, amazing pool, nice room and fantastic theming. Would stay there again over our previous regular favs of CSR and CBR.

 

[Mousemommy1]

AoA. We are more of a mod family. But stayed there last year for two nights for budget reasons before a cruise on the Dream.

We loved it. Great food court, amazing pool, nice room and fantastic theming. Would stay there again over our previous regular favs of CSR and CBR.

That's good to hear. We are doing AoA for 2 nights before our cruise in April. I'm actually excited to check it out!

 

[thisismyusername]

I have loved--to varying degrees--all of my stays at Disney resorts. However, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to like SSR very much and only booked it because it was super cheap to rent points and the only thing available for a last-minute trip. There were things that I didn't like so much about it (here's looking at you busses), and if given the chance to stay elsewhere, I probably would, but I plan to definitely go back to SSR. Perhaps it's because Disney Springs is so vibrant and awesome to stay by now with so many great restaurants and a vibrant night life, or maybe it's because we have done the parks so frequently that we feel more relaxed about getting to them, but SSR is a really cool resort which sort of makes you feel like you *live* at Disney, rather than are just staying there.

 

[epsmith921]

Didn't think we'd like CSR after a bad experience attempting to stay at CBR and now we like it and I think it's the one moderate my husband might be willing to stay in.

We're trying CR in May so we'll see how that goes. I don't love the decor (BC, YC, BWI, and GF are my taste) but I can't beat a walk to MK! I was so tempted to book GF! The walk is what gets me.