Tell me which resort we want!

[TinkerMarie]

We've been to WDW twice in the past year, staying at Wilderness Lodge in September 2012 and Coronado Springs just this February.

We MAY go back in September of this year, or more likely January/February of 2014. We liked the February weather much better. Being from (also) hot and humid south Louisiana, the February weather actually felt like a vacation, rather than going from sweltering to ... sweltering.

What we liked about WL: boat to MK, great theming, kids' club
What we didn't like about WL: CS too crowded/NO indoor seating!, no kiddie pool, cramped layout in room, TS didn't appeal for many reasons

What we liked about CSR: plenty of CS seating, great playground, kiddie pool, good theming, spacious room (little spaces to park the stroller, plus large sink area with separating door! woo!
Didn't like: too much walking, buses (never again)

I've done some deduction and I think I know what we want, but which resorts have this?

Transportation to parks, other than buses. (so deluxe minus Animal Kingdom, or Fort Wilderness, right?)

All in one building. (OR a good chance of being able to get a room in the main building with the restaurants, etc ... Contemporary, what others? I don't know anything about the Boardwalk area resorts. DH is insisting that he walks enough in the parks, and I'm inclined to agree.)

Good kiddie pool. (So strike WL from the list as there's no kiddie pool at all ... I don't know about the others.)

Great theming. We enjoyed that aspect of both WL and CSR. (Contemporary seems not to have this so much, we've been to Chef Mickey's and walked around a bit, and were underwhelmed.)

And more than two beds, since next time our DS, albeit still under 3, will likely be too big for a pack'n'play. He's zooming up the growth charts! (I've heard GF and the Poly, and maybe YC/BC have daybeds, etc. All rooms or just certain categories?)

Of course there are tradeoffs to be made. In order of importance the list would probably read: room size/extra bed, all in one building, transportation, theming, kiddie pool, restaurants.

So, where would you stay?

 

[lobsterslayer]

We've been to WDW twice in the past year, staying at Wilderness Lodge in September 2012 and Coronado Springs just this February.

We MAY go back in September of this year, or more likely January/February of 2014. We liked the February weather much better. Being from (also) hot and humid south Louisiana, the February weather actually felt like a vacation, rather than going from sweltering to ... sweltering.

What we liked about WL: boat to MK, great theming, kids' club
What we didn't like about WL: CS too crowded/NO indoor seating!, no kiddie pool, cramped layout in room, TS didn't appeal for many reasons

What we liked about CSR: plenty of CS seating, great playground, kiddie pool, good theming, spacious room (little spaces to park the stroller, plus large sink area with separating door! woo!
Didn't like: too much walking, buses (never again)

I've done some deduction and I think I know what we want, but which resorts have this?

Transportation to parks, other than buses. (so deluxe minus Animal Kingdom, or Fort Wilderness, right?)

All in one building. (OR a good chance of being able to get a room in the main building with the restaurants, etc ... Contemporary, what others? I don't know anything about the Boardwalk area resorts. DH is insisting that he walks enough in the parks, and I'm inclined to agree.)

Good kiddie pool. (So strike WL from the list as there's no kiddie pool at all ... I don't know about the others.)

Great theming. We enjoyed that aspect of both WL and CSR. (Contemporary seems not to have this so much, we've been to Chef Mickey's and walked around a bit, and were underwhelmed.)

And more than two beds, since next time our DS, albeit still under 3, will likely be too big for a pack'n'play. He's zooming up the growth charts! (I've heard GF and the Poly, and maybe YC/BC have daybeds, etc. All rooms or just certain categories?)

Of course there are tradeoffs to be made. In order of importance the list would probably read: room size/extra bed, all in one building, transportation, theming, kiddie pool, restaurants.

So, where would you stay?

I think beach club sounds like your best bet. It has the daybed, it's all in one building, the only park you need to ride a bus to is AK, the parts of storm along bay for younger kids, and lots of restaurants close buy. Or if you want to spend most of your time in MK then maybe the Polly but looking at the list of importance my vote would be Beach Club.

 

[TinkerMarie]

Thank you, Beach Club does sound pretty nice. Is there a difference between Beach Club and Yacht Club w/r to any of our list items? Like, Beach Club is all in one building but Yacht Club is not? I just know they share Stormalong Bay.

I'll have to look into BC. We do enjoy Epcot, so maybe it would be nice to be over that way.

 

[Pakey]

Thank you, Beach Club does sound pretty nice. Is there a difference between Beach Club and Yacht Club w/r to any of our list items? Like, Beach Club is all in one building but Yacht Club is not? I just know they share Stormalong Bay.

I'll have to look into BC. We do enjoy Epcot, so maybe it would be nice to be over that way.

The biggest differences are BC only has 50% of their rooms with full balconies.

BC has the Marketplace with QS options, YC does not.

 

[karly05]

Just to clarify on BC: in order to ride the Monorail from BC to MK, you would have to enter Epcot through the International Gateway (so you'd need Park Hoppers to enter both Epcot and MK on the same day), walk all the way through the park, out the front gate, catch the Monorail to the TTC, then switch to the MK Monorail.

Much easier to take the bus (although admittedly I've never minded the bus).

I love BC, though, and it's great to have the short walk to Epcot and the boat to Ep & DHS. My main negative about BC is the lack of CS, but apparently they have expanded the Marketplace some more since I was last there.

 

[cleophus12]

Another vote for the Beach/Yacht Club. However, since CS seating seems to be important to you, that is a problem here too. The CS options at the Epcot resorts are sorely lacking IMO. We walked across the Boardwalk to the Bakery (which is currently closed for refurb) and ate at an outside table on the water every morning and it was a great way to start the day. There are places to take your CS "meal" to sit down and eat, but they are just kind of randomly placed around the resort. We loved the BC and we did have a balcony room. From the balcony we could hear the music from Epcot, ie the band in the UK and the track that plays as you go through the International Gateway, and we could see Illuminations over the tops of the trees. Magical place. Oh, since you mentioned transportation preferences, our biggest issue with BC transportation was that the buses usually make several stops on the way to the parks. It's a YC/BC/Swan/Dolphin route as i recall.
The Poly does have a decent CS restaurant with seating, however, and good transportation options.

 

[ParrotBill]

Contemporary is a close fit to your requirements also. Good CS with plenty of inside seating. All in one cool building.

I don't know if Contemporary has a kiddie pool - that might be the only issue.
Big rooms - check
One biulding - check
Cool transportation - check
Theme - check unless you are one of those who does not like the retro-modern theme
Pool - not sure about kiddie pool
Restaurants - check check check when you add in lobby to lobby on monorail

(My two favorite places for many of the same reasons: Beach Club, Contemporary!)

 

[msminnieears]

The Poly is nicely themed, great restaurants and transportation would be the better there. (I haven't stayed there but did stay at Contemporary, same trans but you can walk to TTS instead of getting on the monorail to Mk then transferring at TTS, just eliminates one step. However you will have to take a bus to HS and AK. Great pool area with a slide for the kids too. Really depends on which park you will be at most and what is the most important item to you.

 

[Kimi313]

I would pick by which park you would visit the most. If its MK I would pick Poly but you did request all in one building which Poly doesn't have but it is so pretty there I don't think you will mind walking around. If Epcot is your main park then I would pick BC even though some parents with small children have said that are uncomfortable how big the pool is and watching your child gets difficult. Hope this helps and have a great time!

 

[LovinPooh]

Ok. Ot....no seating inside at roaring forks?
How is the outside seating then?

 

[jaceraden]

I would pick the Beach Club too.

BUT, be warned that preference for daybeds goes to groups of 5 with children 3+ so you might not get a daybed for your family of 5 with a child under 3. Make sure you put "daybed" in your request - but that isn't sure fire either.

 

[siskaren]

Ok. Ot....no seating inside at roaring forks?
How is the outside seating then?

Roaring Forks has indoor seating.

Check post #8 of this thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2969675

And I also noticed the OP says there isn't a kiddie pool at WL, but here's a picture of it:

http://allears.net/acc/wl98.jpg

 

[Kimi313]

I would pick the Beach Club too.

BUT, be warned that preference for daybeds goes to groups of 5 with children 3+ so you might not get a daybed for your family of 5 with a child under 3. Make sure you put "daybed" in your request - but that isn't sure fire either.

I don't know if this is the norm but we went to BC around NYE with DH, DD, and her boyfriend so we had requested a day bed for him to sleep on. When we checked in we had no day bed and I said "oh okay well I really needed the daybed for DD's BF" and she said " no problem we can just send up a roll-away bed if that is okay". We were fine with it, I was shocked because I didn't think they even had roll-away beds. Now I will say we put it in front of patio door which didn't make the room seem crowded but if it had been warm and we used the patio it would have been a pain. But it was designed to stand up but I was scared it would fall over on someone.

 

[cleophus12]

Roaring Forks also has some outside seating right outside the door. It is in a shaded area, but traffic through there could be busy because it is right by the path where you come up from the boats and even from the pool from one side. Still a nice spot to sit and relax. DH would go down there and have his coffee every morning before everyone was up and about. He loved the spot.

 

[workingpig]

We loved the Beach Club...I don't think you will be disappointed!!!

 

[scarlett24]

I would think with a child under 3, you will be spending lots of time at The Magic Kingdom. The Grand Floridian, The Polynesian and The Contemporary are the MK area resorts. Of those three, I would pick The Polynesian. You can get back and forth to the MK via the monorail or a pleasant boat ride. You can also easily ride the TTC monorail to Epcot, which leaves you on a bus only for Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. I really found the monorail convenient when our baby was asleep in her stroller and it was time to go back to the hotel. Just roll on, no waking the baby to fold up the stroller and load onto a bus. The rooms will have 2 queen beds and a daybed, and the rooms are quite large. It is not one large building, but several longhouses, but the grounds are beautiful and the resort is not very big. You could easily walk from one end of the resort to the other in about 6 mins. I also like the Contemporary and GF, just like the Poly theming the best. Also love that you can watch Wishes from the beach of The Poly. The music is piped in and no huge crowds to contend with. Love the restaurants at The Poly too, Captain Cooks (Dole whips), O'Hana and Kona Cafe-yum.

 

[LovinPooh]

Roaring Forks has indoor seating.

Check post #8 of this thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2969675

And I also noticed the OP says there isn't a kiddie pool at WL, but here's a picture of it:

http://allears.net/acc/wl98.jpg

Thank u

 

[JimGA]

We've been to WDW twice in the past year, staying at Wilderness Lodge in September 2012 and Coronado Springs just this February.

We MAY go back in September of this year, or more likely January/February of 2014. We liked the February weather much better. Being from (also) hot and humid south Louisiana, the February weather actually felt like a vacation, rather than going from sweltering to ... sweltering.

What we liked about WL: boat to MK, great theming, kids' club
What we didn't like about WL: CS too crowded/NO indoor seating!, no kiddie pool, cramped layout in room, TS didn't appeal for many reasons

What we liked about CSR: plenty of CS seating, great playground, kiddie pool, good theming, spacious room (little spaces to park the stroller, plus large sink area with separating door! woo!
Didn't like: too much walking, buses (never again)

I've done some deduction and I think I know what we want, but which resorts have this?

Transportation to parks, other than buses. (so deluxe minus Animal Kingdom, or Fort Wilderness, right?)

All in one building. (OR a good chance of being able to get a room in the main building with the restaurants, etc ... Contemporary, what others? I don't know anything about the Boardwalk area resorts. DH is insisting that he walks enough in the parks, and I'm inclined to agree.)

Good kiddie pool. (So strike WL from the list as there's no kiddie pool at all ... I don't know about the others.)

Great theming. We enjoyed that aspect of both WL and CSR. (Contemporary seems not to have this so much, we've been to Chef Mickey's and walked around a bit, and were underwhelmed.)

And more than two beds, since next time our DS, albeit still under 3, will likely be too big for a pack'n'play. He's zooming up the growth charts! (I've heard GF and the Poly, and maybe YC/BC have daybeds, etc. All rooms or just certain categories?)

Of course there are tradeoffs to be made. In order of importance the list would probably read: room size/extra bed, all in one building, transportation, theming, kiddie pool, restaurants.

So, where would you stay?

If you want to skip the buses go to a Monrail ersort, Contemporary, Poly, Grand Floridian, but you only have 2 parks you can ride to. Buses to the other 2, AK and DHS