Split stay...help with 1st resort AoA or POR

[monica9]

Hi everyone
Already booked our 7 night trip staying at Polynesian. We want to do only 5 nights there and our first 2 nights at a different resort. I like trying new resorts. I was thinking of POR and taking the boat the first night to DS and then following day do AK then the rest of our days will be MK, EP, HS and half day Blizzard Beach while we stay at Poly. Our little one has been into the princesses lately which had me thinking maybe we should do our first 2 nights at AoA instead and stay in the little mermaid room. We are only a family of 4 so don't need a large room. The resort looks nice and bright and think the kids would enjoy the nights there. We would still do AK on our first full day but not sure about the day we arrive. We don't care about going to DS and were only going to go to take the boat ride from POR. POR will be the only moderate we haven't tried and have been wanting to try it but my DH doesn't like mardi gras themed anything.
What would make most sense to do? We don't like moderates because of how big they are. Little Mermaid rooms seem far from the food. Is the walk brutal?
We don't care about the pool as we won't be using it.
Our draft itinerary is:
Arrive around 1pm at POR or AoA if at POR then going to DS on boat. Not sure about AoA
day 2 AK
day 3 head to Poly to check in. MK
day 4 HS/MK
day 5 BB/resort to swim, Ohanas and watch electric parade at night
day 6 MK/EP
day 7 EP/MK
day 8 resort/leave
Any suggestions for us?
Thanks for the help!

 

[DWillowBay]

We love the Little Mermaid rooms! The theming is great! I don't agree with those who say the walk is far. Plus, you get to walk through the Lion King section which is also very well themed and fun! There's a great pool at the LM section, if that's important to you. That would be my choice, but have a great trip no matter what you decide.

 

[Donna3271]

Your plan sounds great! Your little one may also love the Royal Rooms at Port Orleans. You would then have access to DS by boat plus a princess themed room. All great choices!

 

[mickeymom22]

Have stayed at all these resorts:

Pros of Port Orleans Riverside: Royal Rooms and boat to DS (my kids loved this when they were little)

Pros of Port Orleans French Quarter: Love the small size of the resort, boat to DS, beignets and gumbo at food court (it has been refurbished so Mardi Gras theme isn't as big as it once was), and great shaded playground One of my favorite WDW resorts!

Pros of AoA Little Mermaid rooms: Loved the main pool (music and characters can be heard under water), loved the animation classes, AWESOME theming...the walk through the Lion King section to the Little Mermaid section was fun for my daughter...take a walk over to the Cars section. The theming there is superb too! The actual length of the walk to the food court isn't bad either.

If the pool doesn't matter to you, I would totally stay at the PO French Quarter!

Your family will have a great time with any of the resorts! Happy Planning!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

POR is so much more comfortable than AoA, IMHO. AoA is cute, but it was, by far the loudest, most uncomfortable WDW resort we've stayed in. I would suggest pricing out a royal room at POR. They are super cute.

 

[monica9]

Have stayed at all these resorts:

Pros of Port Orleans Riverside: Royal Rooms and boat to DS (my kids loved this when they were little)

Pros of Port Orleans French Quarter: Love the small size of the resort, boat to DS, beignets and gumbo at food court (it has been refurbished so Mardi Gras theme isn't as big as it once was), and great shaded playground One of my favorite WDW resorts!

Pros of AoA Little Mermaid rooms: Loved the main pool (music and characters can be heard under water), loved the animation classes, AWESOME theming...the walk through the Lion King section to the Little Mermaid section was fun for my daughter...take a walk over to the Cars section. The theming there is superb too! The actual length of the walk to the food court isn't bad either.

If the pool doesn't matter to you, I would totally stay at the PO French Quarter!

Your family will have a great time with any of the resorts! Happy Planning!

Thank you for the pros and cons. Now I want to swim at AoA and listen to the music underwater!

 

[monica9]

POR is so much more comfortable than AoA, IMHO. AoA is cute, but it was, by far the loudest, most uncomfortable WDW resort we've stayed in. I would suggest pricing out a royal room at POR. They are super cute.

I’ll take a look at the Royal room considering we were already budgeting for 7 nights at poly. I just like the bright, loud theming I see in the photos for AoA and it’s only two nights. I am going to go check out the Royal room though because my older one might like that.

 

[mickeymom22]

Thank you for the pros and cons. Now I want to swim at AoA and listen to the music underwater!

That was honestly why we stayed there! We wanted to see the theming and hear the characters under water. We heard music under the water in the main pool (Nemo pool).

I love that you are doing a split stay. We do them often so we can experience new resorts as well as favorites. We haven't gotten to stay at the Poly yet, so I am super jelly of your trip!

 

[monica9]

That was honestly why we stayed there! We wanted to see the theming and hear the characters under water. We heard music under the water in the main pool (Nemo pool).

I love that you are doing a split stay. We do them often so we can experience new resorts as well as favorites. We haven't gotten to stay at the Poly yet, so I am super jelly of your trip!

We haven’t been able to do poly either and probably won’t much more after this. It’s been a dream of mine and on my bucket list. It’s gking to be my 40th and my husband and my 15th anniversary so we decided to splurge. But I love being at another resort for a day or two before moving to our main resort. Makes for a more exciting trip for us!

 

[smiths02]

Hi everyone
Already booked our 7 night trip staying at Polynesian. We want to do only 5 nights there and our first 2 nights at a different resort. I like trying new resorts. I was thinking of POR and taking the boat the first night to DS and then following day do AK then the rest of our days will be MK, EP, HS and half day Blizzard Beach while we stay at Poly. Our little one has been into the princesses lately which had me thinking maybe we should do our first 2 nights at AoA instead and stay in the little mermaid room. We are only a family of 4 so don't need a large room. The resort looks nice and bright and think the kids would enjoy the nights there. We would still do AK on our first full day but not sure about the day we arrive. We don't care about going to DS and were only going to go to take the boat ride from POR. POR will be the only moderate we haven't tried and have been wanting to try it but my DH doesn't like mardi gras themed anything.
What would make most sense to do? We don't like moderates because of how big they are. Little Mermaid rooms seem far from the food. Is the walk brutal?
We don't care about the pool as we won't be using it.
Our draft itinerary is:
Arrive around 1pm at POR or AoA if at POR then going to DS on boat. Not sure about AoA
day 2 AK
day 3 head to Poly to check in. MK
day 4 HS/MK
day 5 BB/resort to swim, Ohanas and watch electric parade at night
day 6 MK/EP
day 7 EP/MK
day 8 resort/leave
Any suggestions for us?
Thanks for the help!

POR isn't Mardi Gras themed, POFQ is New Orleans/mardi gras theme, POR is old Louisiana (bayou and plantation)
POR has the Princess themed rooms
Both have boat to DS

 

[mickeymom22]

We haven’t been able to do poly either and probably won’t much more after this. It’s been a dream of mine and on my bucket list. It’s gking to be my 40th and my husband and my 15th anniversary so we decided to splurge. But I love being at another resort for a day or two before moving to our main resort. Makes for a more exciting trip for us!

I think staying at the Poly is a perfect splurge! Happy Birthday and Anniversary!

Hubby and I are splurging later this year and taking our kids on the Magic to celebrate our 25th anniversary!

 

[Monorail_Man_NJ]

Definetely Port Orleans (Riverside or French Quarter). French quarter will book up faster due to less rooms.

AoA Little Mermaid rooms are TINY. 4 PPL would be super cramped.

Plus Moderate > Value for amenities.

 

[monica9]

I think staying at the Poly is a perfect splurge! Happy Birthday and Anniversary!

Hubby and I are splurging later this year and taking our kids on the Magic to celebrate our 25th anniversary!

We love cruising. It will be so much fun. Enjoy!