The best Resorts to tour for fun when there

[Rikariko12]

Ok, so we want to tour a couple of the resorts when we are down there for fun and maybe do some fun activities at these resorts. We are Staying at the Poly this and have previously stayed at the Grand Floridian, Coronado Springs, and All Star Music. But last time my hubby and I went there we checked out AKL and WL just for fun. This time I know we are going to tour Boardwalk on our 2nd day at Epcot and do dinner somewhere there.

But, my question is, are there certain Resorts you've just loved walking around b/c they were beautiful or interesting? Have you ever done any activities at another resorts?

Last time we went was in 2007, right before I got prego with our now 8 year old. This time we will have the kiddo with us.

 

[Jaimie1911]

Your 8 year old would probably love walking around Art of Animation! Since you're staying at the Poly it would be easy to check out the Contemporary. Ft Wilderness seems like a lot of fun to tour.

 

[Lesverts]

My favourite resorts to visit are:

Wilderness Lodge: the lobby and the grounds are beautiful and fun to walk around and through.
Grand Floridian: some nice shopping, get atmosphere and quality restaurants
Polynesian: lobby, grounds and food options
Animal Kingdom Lodge: lobby, lounge, food options and atmosphere

 

[Hi Pluto]

We love walking the loop from Beach Club/Yacht Club around to boardwalk. You could stop at Beaches & Cream for a counter ice cream or stop at the bakery at boardwalk for a yummy snack. Boardwalk also has a Wyland gallery, which has some really beautiful art.

~Cari~

 

[WEDWDW]

Your 8 year old would probably love walking around Art of Animation!

Agree-especially Cars at night!

And then walk across the bridge to POP and check out the AMAZING Shadow Boxes in the Lobby!

 

[loves to dive]

I've toured them all now but I used to play resort roulette with the buses. I'd just go to the bus stop and stand in the general area I wanted to go - first bus to arrive I'd hop on it. I'd do it in reverse when leaving the resort, first park bus to arrive I'd hop on it. Having said that, since you are interested in the Epcot resorts just go to any one of them and walk through them all and don't miss going over to Swan/Dolphin.

 

[pattyw]

Fort Wilderness is like you left Florida! Trail's End has a wonderful buffet(good price too). You can rent a pontoon boat there and go around Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon. You can visit the horse barn and get a pony ride(I think these are still available). They have wagon rides at night.

 

[Rikariko12]

loves to drive - What is cool about Swan and Dolphin? The grounds? Pool? Shopping? Lobby?

 

[Leelo]

My favourite resorts to visit are:

Wilderness Lodge: the lobby and the grounds are beautiful and fun to walk around and through.
Grand Floridian: some nice shopping, get atmosphere and quality restaurants
Polynesian: lobby, grounds and food options
Animal Kingdom Lodge: lobby, lounge, food options and atmosphere

I agree! Those are my faves also!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Ft. W is really a lot of fun! The stables that house all of the WDW horses are there and there is also a playground. Trail's End is also a good place to have lunch or dinner.

The whole Boardwalk area is fun. Go at night when the entertainment is going on and the carnival games are open (they only take cash). They will also have movies on the village green. You can rent a surrey bike or even walk over, through the Swan/Dolphin property and play Fantasia mini-golf. Stop at AbracadaBAR for a drink (they have fun, magical 'mocktails" for kids!) and get some ice cream at Ample Hills. If you son is into sports at all ESPN Club is a lot of fun.

I did a monorail crawl with DS9 on our last trip. We started at Trader Sam's at 4 pm to see the antics as people ordered the specialty drinks (we just had mocktails and apps), stopped at GF and then had dinner at Cali Grille and saw the DHS fireworks from there.

AoA is really cool at night, too!

 

[loves to dive]

loves to drive - What is cool about Swan and Dolphin? The grounds? Pool? Shopping? Lobby?

It's worth a visit while you are in the area. The pool is shared by both Swan and Dolphin and might come pretty close to SAB at BC/YC. There are a number of good restaurants there, a great soda shop at the Dolphin which we think is as good as Beaches and Cream at BC. They are convention resorts and the lobbys do feel very much like that but it's worth walking over and just wandering through them.

 

[megs1313]

POR: great food court, boat to disney springs, yeeha bob is a BLAST, walk over to POFQ and get beignets!

AKL: depending on time of day either you can do the night goggle animal viewing + marshmallow roasting OR during the day you can do the drum circle off the lobby (which was a highlight for my daughter last trip) and check out the animals on the savanna

Boardwalk: get a dinner reservation at trattoria al forno and get there early enough to catch one of the boardwalk performers before your reservation. this is especially nice on an epcot day where you can use the international gateway. trattoria was by far our best dining experience this last trip. service was unreal and the food was fantastic.

Grand Floridian: their quick serve has just had an update and has some really great food options. take the monorail over there and eat at gasparilla's outside just before the fireworks and then catch the fireworks and water parade from the patio. we also enjoy the live music in the lobby, but you'll need to check the schedule to see when it's available.

WL: ride the boat over from MK and get a dinner reservation at Whispering Canyon Cafe (your 8 year old should love the hijinks and bottomless milkshakes) then take the walk back out to see Old Faithful and catch the boat under the stars.

 

[Nancyg56]

We love walking the loop from Beach Club/Yacht Club around to boardwalk. You could stop at Beaches & Cream for a counter ice cream or stop at the bakery at boardwalk for a yummy snack. Boardwalk also has a Wyland gallery, which has some really beautiful art.

~Cari~

This is an activity we always plan. I love the area!

 

[DizDaD7]

Ok, so we want to tour a couple of the resorts when we are down there for fun and maybe do some fun activities at these resorts. We are Staying at the Poly this and have previously stayed at the Grand Floridian, Coronado Springs, and All Star Music. But last time my hubby and I went there we checked out AKL and WL just for fun. This time I know we are going to tour Boardwalk on our 2nd day at Epcot and do dinner somewhere there.

But, my question is, are there certain Resorts you've just loved walking around b/c they were beautiful or interesting? Have you ever done any activities at another resorts?

Last time we went was in 2007, right before I got prego with our now 8 year old. This time we will have the kiddo with us.

Most of the PP's have it covered.

Besides the basic MK Loop, which is the easy answer.For obvious reasons.
We loveAKL/V..It'll feel like a vacation within a vacation..Like you've been transported directly to AFRICA. You easily can spend most of the day there...There's a ton of activities there to see n do. The grounds are gorgeous. You can grab a great meal or three.>All of the restaurants are excellent..Each different & Unique...Even The Mara (QS). They have a very nice lounge as well.

We also would recommend the POR/FQ sister resorts as well. POR The grounds are quaint, and so laid back. The pools are amazing, the overall feel here is Soothing...Even amongst all the craziness that WDW has to offer. YeeHaw Bob's (as a PP) stated. He's in the lounge, and he is GREAT! The biggest plus is, taking the boat over to POFQ, for their Beignets (DELISH) & then continuing down to SSR & eventually DS, to complete the tour..

 

[DG25]

I'm going to second fort wilderness especially if you want to do activities. After years of visits, last year I took only my granddaughter for her birthday, 15 days. We took two days just at ft wilderness, and could have done more and we never even stayed on grounds. We did archery, we did pole fishing, we did a carriage ride, we did a wagon ride, we went horseback riding, we ate at hoop Dee do, and at trails end. We went to the stables. There was just not enough time to do everything, they have a sing along and a movie night but all have them, but this one has a little amphitheater, the cook marchmellows which a lot do but this one feel like your at a camp site, not in a resort. Oh they have Mickey cook out, which I thought would be boring, but I would do it again, goofy and me danced the night away.

My second choice would be POR and POFQ, again pole fishing, walk the cobble stone streets, boat ride between them, movies on the grass, my kids loved the private cruise at all four of the resorts that have the, POR being one. A boat ride to DS, a carriage ride at night between the two resorts, this may not be allowed, a swim in the pool, I forget rules, but I'm DVC so I can pool hop.

Have fun.

 

[DG25]

Oh, probably at all the resorts but would do a surrey bike ride at wilderness or POR and POFQ, your kids would like a surrey ride to see the sights there, I think they have them at boardwalk also.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

My second choice would be POR and POFQ, again pole fishing, walk the cobble stone streets, boat ride between them, movies on the grass, my kids loved the private cruise at all four of the resorts that have the, POR being one.

On my last trip I learned that the boat service between POR and POFQ had switched to more limited hours, something like 10AM to 4PM. Maybe these hours are seasonal or they change for some other reason. Mentioning just in case it affects anyone's plans. The boat service from each of them to DS has longer operating hours, but in the evening they were running boats just between DS and each resort, so you couldn't boat directly from one resort to the other. There was however a bus between these two resorts. Again this could all be subject to seasonal changes.

Regarding the "private cruise", I wonder if you meant the pirate cruise.

 

[DG25]

On my last trip I learned that the boat service between POR and POFQ had switched to more limited hours, something like 10AM to 4PM. Maybe these hours are seasonal or they change for some other reason. Mentioning just in case it affects anyone's plans. The boat service from each of them to DS has longer operating hours, but in the evening they were running boats just between DS and each resort, so you couldn't boat directly from one resort to the other. There was however a bus between these two resorts. Again this could all be subject to seasonal changes.

Regarding the "private cruise", I wonder if you meant the pirate cruise.

Sorry yes, pirate cruise. That is a shame if boats were to keep those hours. Every time we were there the boats went from do to POFQ to POR and then reversed so you could go between hotels fast and easy. It did open around 9 am but ran real late. I will say on our stay, there was not an am bus between the two resorts, we waited for like 30 minutes asking each bus, we finally just gave up and walked, we were told in am they don't go between resorts. But the walk was like 6 or 7 minutes so fast and easy, and once there by the time you go back the boats are running.

 

[DizDaD7]

Oh, probably at all the resorts but would do a surrey bike ride at wilderness or POR and POFQ, your kids would like a surrey ride to see the sights there, I think they have them at boardwalk also.

Indeed they do....& it is a pleasant trek around the Lake.....Although it's funny to see them sometimes struggle coming around the bend by the pavilion up the hill towards the bridge...Some Dad's are totally wiped out by the time they get to the top..

 

[DaisyDuck001]

That is a shame if boats were to keep those hours. Every time we were there the boats went from do to POFQ to POR and then reversed so you could go between hotels fast and easy. It did open around 9 am but ran real late. I will say on our stay, there was not an am bus between the two resorts, we waited for like 30 minutes asking each bus, we finally just gave up and walked, we were told in am they don't go between resorts. But the walk was like 6 or 7 minutes so fast and easy, and once there by the time you go back the boats are running.

The boat and bus service times seem to vary. When I was there the boats ran between the resorts around 10-4, and there was a bus in the evening. I didn't look into what may have been available before 10AM. At a different time of year, the hours could be different anyway.