ROLR? Just curious

[Maleficent's Dad]

Wow, differing opinions here! I will assume we’re talking about WDW DVC Resorts only. We’ve stayed at all of them, except the new Ft. Wilderness Cabins. We won’t stay at the newest three places if we can help it. Riviera, Poly tower, and Ft Wilderness are, imo, not really what DVC is supposed to be. Resorts? Yes. (And a campground). But not a real Disney community. Just my opinion. We don’t care for them for various reasons. Good thing there are lots to choose from!

 

[drusba]

It is an age factor as we have gotten older. Actually like OKW but the lack of elevators in most of the buildings dictates against its use. Also like Jambo but avoid now because of the combined bathtub and shower in the master bathrooms of the 1BRs and 2BRs, which have an unreasonably high step-over side to get into the tub/shower.

 

[I Run Long]

The Poly. Was really looking forward to it, but it was the worse stay ever. The rooms were great, the resort a hard pass.

 

[kilik64]

This is probably not the opinion that you are going to get the most of here, but our ROLR is BWV. Hear me out...

We always drive to WDW (about 8.5 hours away) and convenience to the car is a big factor. We drive to all of the parks except MK. There is no bigger PITA parking situation than BWV, where you end up walking a LONG way to your room. It makes loading/unloading a pain (we don't use Bell Services, I am a more DIY person) and just getting into and out of the lot is a pain. We prefer CFW, SSR, Kidani, BLT, and VGF1, which all have much better parking situations (OKW is good for parking as well, but lacks elevators (for the most part), which is a strike against it).

Yes to all of this! This post is me.

Also didn't care for the pool at all.

Room at BWV was great, no complaints, just hated the rest of the experience there.

 

[kilik64]

The Poly. Was really looking forward to it, but it was the worse stay ever. The rooms were great, the resort a hard pass.

Just curious, anything specific about the resort part of it? Were you in tower or longhouse?

 

[I Run Long]

Just curious, anything specific about the resort part of it? Were you in tower or longhouse?

We were in the longhouse. We did love the room - especially the split bath. It was the vibe of the resort from the beginning: 1) had to wrestle my bag from bell services when they delivered it to our room. The guy had a death grip on it until we handed over the tip, 2) Had to go to the front desk because we couldn't get into our room numerous times due to magic band issues where the staff either shrugged their shoulders or chuckled at the problem, 3) When in the quiet pool visitors would chuck their kids in the pool and managed to hit me a couple of times (I know that's a guest problem), 4) Terrible bus service - we had the longest waits there of any resort; 5) Monorail breakdowns (this was before the walking path to MK) - in fact it broke down more times than it ran during our visit. I know these are first world problems and I do understand why people love the resort, but it was enough for us that we'll never be back.

 

[Maleficent's Dad]

Just curious, anything specific about the resort part of it? Were you in tower or longhouse?

We were in the longhouse. We did love the room - especially the split bath. It was the vibe of the resort from the beginning: 1) had to wrestle my bag from bell services when they delivered it to our room. The guy had a death grip on it until we handed over the tip, 2) Had to go to the front desk because we couldn't get into our room numerous times due to magic band issues where the staff either shrugged their shoulders or chuckled at the problem, 3) When in the quiet pool visitors would chuck their kids in the pool and managed to hit me a couple of times (I know that's a guest problem), 4) Terrible bus service - we had the longest waits there of any resort; 5) Monorail breakdowns (this was before the walking path to MK) - in fact it broke down more times than it ran during our visit. I know these are first world problems and I do understand why people love the resort, but it was enough for us that we'll never be back.

The Poly is beloved. But I have to agree with @I Run Long on this. The vibe at the Poly is crazy busy, hardly relaxing. Tambu, ‘Ohana, Trader Sam’s, the volcano pool… all selling points, yes. But also downright crowded and over rated. The vibe at the tower was not my thing. I guess I’m not a fan of the high rise buildings! Oh, and I have stayed on both sides - the long houses and the tower.

 

[brittlh]

Definitely OKW. We don’t rent a car and it just too sprawling. It felt like I was at a big apartment complex in Florida and not like I was on vacation. We also had some annoying maintenance issues with poor customer service which left a bad taste in my mouth. I did love the Jimmy Buffett music at the pools and on the bus though!

 

[thanxfornoticin]

We've had the pleasure of staying at almost all the WDW DVD properties. Most are just amazing, like AKL, BC, OKW (our original). But based on actual experiences, the ones we don't need to ever do again are BW and SSR. That being said, I think the only location we might change dates for would be to avoid staying at the new cabins at FW. There is nothing about those that indicates we would enjoy staying there.

 

[Genie+]

I have to agree about BWV parking being a major weakness. To some extent Beach Club suffers that too. Big Pine Key and Poly Tower as well. They are so strong in other areas I’d never cross them off my list on parking alone, especially with each holding some very unique positives.

I would not like to spend a whole trip in an OKW studio. Just too overall lackluster. Can’t beat the point cost but that’s what our BWV contract is for. I cannot cross OKW off my list either due to the huge low point 2BR with our low dues VGF points. Parking outside the door? Yes, thanks! And we do enjoy the resort vibe there. It’s the OG DVC!!!

After staying Jambo we kind of wrote of Kidani. Jambo or bust for us now But we all love that resort so no crossing off the list.

Boulder Ridge might be my RoLR. I’d rather go with Copper Creek, and more likely to pick BLT over either. At least for somewhere we’d keep returning. I don’t have much interest in SSR personally but my young adult kids find it a good option.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Very possibly the least popular opinion:

I won't stay at AKV ever again. Yes, the savanna is cool, but right around the third day, seeing the same 3 giraffes and 2 zebras (if they were actually close by) kinda got old. With nothing of interest to see on the savanna at night, and limited time in the room during the day (I'm not going to do a resort day just to sit on my balcony), the novelty of maybe seeing the same animals over and over again just wore off. That leaves the onsite food options, and for those I CAN stomach a bus or Uber ride over for a visit.

Add all of the obviously negative points: ridiculously long corridors, a shuttle to get between Jambo and Kidani, bus transportation only, and just the general feeling of remoteness (you're closer to the Target at Flamingo Crossing than to Disney Springs), makes even OKW and SSR (including the tree houses) a better choice if it came down to having to pick the least appealing resorts.

For me, it's all about balance and the resort as a whole. Location, onsite amenities, what it's close to and provides access to, transportation, etc. all factor in, and the 5 minutes a day that we actually had an opportunity to see the animals on the savanna just didn't offset everything else. Prefer Kilimanjaro Safari, to be honest, and I'll bus or Uber over to have dinner at Boma or Sanaa.

 

[BWoody]

BLT and CFW are at the bottom of the list for me and the wife, and its a huge gap between those and the next lowest on the list. Would probably pay cash elsewhere if these were the only 2 options available. Considering I can't even book at CFW though (resale only), its really just BLT circling the bottom of the barrel since CFW isn't even really an option for us.

 

[TCRAIG]

OKW - but ONLY due to the lack of elevators…next would be RIV…I’ve stayed 3x in a 1 bedroom…I just don’t like the location/skyliner/pools/overall vibe of the resort.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

RIV. Points are way out of reason, and if I wanted to stay at the Bonnet Creek Hilton (and we have many times), I'd go and stay at the real thing with real amenities to go with it. The place takes stuffy to a level I thought could never be attained beyond GFH, and yet here we are. Don't get it. Never will, because I'll never give it a chance.

I do like hearing all these bad vibes on OKW, BLT, and AKK though. PLEASE! Keep them coming! It keeps us in places to stay! LOL

 

[airjay75]

Haven't actually stayed at many resorts yet (just AKL and RIV), and I do really want to try every resort out at some point, so I'll answer based on which resorts I currently prioritize last for future trips.

CFW is probably the bottom because of no w/d. I really don't want to have to deal with a communal laundry room again. Like, ever again. But, I'd deal with it to give the resort a try at some point.

After that, I'd probably say Poly. I visited and toured the island tower several times to make sure I didn't want to buy points there. Points charts are too high and the resort is just too busy. If I'm using that many points, I'd rather try VGF.

For non-WDW resort, probably Aulani. It is just such a long trip from the east coast to Hawaii, especially with young kids.

 

[JackosinDIS]

I haven’t stayed at all the resorts yet, but of those that I have, AKL Kidani is currently bottom of the list. The initial wow factor with the animals is obviously great, but after a few days they just become part of the furniture.

The pool and gym were good, as was Boma, but the walk to the bus and endless corridors just killed the vibe. We were at the far end of the corridor past the pool… it’s a long walk which you really don’t need after a day in the parks and every time you want to fill your resort mug.

Favourite so far was VGF (one of the few I don’t actually own!), but they all have great features which could make any one my favourite depending on the type of trip.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Saratoga Springs. I’m sure it’s lovely but it looks just like a 90s condo in my hometown suburb from the outside, and being near Disney Springs isn’t a positive for me. And I never rent a car so it seems less convenient. At least with Old Key West I’m on board with the Jimmy Buffet vibes. That said, I haven’t visited either in person.

I would say Riviera otherwise, but it’s restricted. I don’t like the location. I wouldn’t want to stay there to go to any parks because I don’t like the Skyliner. I’m sure it would be fine for a resort only stay if visiting Universal though.

I did not think I would like RIV - I was wrong. We loved it. Service is fantastic, amenities are great, and not sure what you don't like about the Skyliner, but compare it to OKW, SSR, AKV and CFW and I am driving to get to the parks as I would there - RIV still gets the nod. RIV gets far more frequent buses too.
RLR - that's going to be CFW, OKW, SSR in that order worst listed first), and would probably pick a non-Disney trip over staying at any of them.