The first Resort you stayed at?

[kaligal]

Marriott was my first, lol.

First at Disney? Beach Club. And it does have a special place in my heart. I remember sitting on the balcony and talking to my mother, saying, "You know how you look at pictures and you're all gaga about something and then IRL it's always much worse? This is better. Better than the pictures."

If they had decent balconies, I would stay there most times I stay in Disney hotels. It's very me - my style. And it's so close to the WS, where I spend a lot of my time at WDW. The only reason I don't stay there is the crappy balconies.

 

[DemoBri1]

Our first stay was at YC for our honeymoon. It was a memorable experience indeed as it actually turned into two separate stays on the same trip. We had planned for the first five days at YC, and then we were moving to an off-site property for the remaining portion of our trip to be closer to Sea World and Universal. BIG MISTAKE!! After one night in a "suite" hotel on International Drive we called back to YC and stayed the remaining nights back there. We were pretty lucky to get a room and this room's view was a perfect view of Crescent Lake and the Boardwalk. It was also a corner room so we had plenty of windows to look out of.

Since the honeymoon, we've been back a couple of times, but with DVC most of our stays have been at BCV. We have stayed at all of the deluxes now with the exception of GF. Maybe we'll add a couple of days onto our next trip to take care of that.

To finish I will answer the OP's original question in that the YC will always hold a special place for us, and I'm sure at some point we will stay there again.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I stayed at the Polynesian in '93 (I was 11). It was my first trip and my parents saved/planned for 3 years for this "once in a lifetime trip". I had a very frugal childhood, camping was our usual vacations and we never went out to eat or got fast food. We stayed at the Polynesian for 5 nights with a version of what the Deluxe Dining Plan is today (3 TS meals a day with appetizer, entree, and dessert). I was amazed and in awe of everything! The Polynesian will always be my most favorite resort because it brings back such wonderful memories for me .

Oh, and that "once in a lifetime trip" turned into twelve trips since...

 

[LuvLDM]

Our first onsite stay was at POR in the early 90's when it was still Dixie Landings, it is still one of my favorites

 

[abk96]

Our very first trip ever to Disney was for our honeymoon back in 96. We stayed at GF and it was wonderful.

We always go to visit the resort and our stepping stone which is located directly across from the GF along the water, but for some reason we have not stayed there again. I guess because we have kids now and I kind of wanted it to be our place.

Maybe some day we'll go back as a couple and stay there again. That would be nice.

 

[Pakey]

Our first trip was at the Contemporary back when the only resorts were the Poly and the Contemporary.

It does not hold a special place. I've stayed in most of the Disney resorts now and I don't think any of them hold a special place; each resort has "something". We now stay most often at an Epcot area resort because we love Epcot but my overall favorite resort is AKV.

 

[mirage0306]

our first onsite stay was WL. we loved it! this next time we're trying CBR and BWI, because we want a different experience. However, WL does hold a special place in my heart as it was our family's first visit to Disney. It was a *beautiful* resort and truly magical.

 

[OldsDr]

First stay onsite was WL in 1994. It had recently opened and was awesome. I was 17 years old and my sister paid for the trip for me my brother and my parents for taking care of her after an accident. I still remember walking into the lobby and being in complete awe. I saw in the brochure they had bunk bed rooms (did not want to share a bed with my brother), I asked the guy checking us in if we could have one of those. He said those are more expensive than what you booked, but let me see. He upgraded us.

The arcade was where the sitting area for roaring forks is now, we spent some time in there.

The guy bringing our luggage explained how the designers hide shapes of Mickey all through the hotel and we should try and find them. First time I ever heard of hidden Mickeys

It was raining horribly when we arrived, and since we were not as well versed in WDW as we are now we waited in the room for it to let up. Went and got burgers and fries from roaring forks and watch beneath the planet of the apes on TV waiting for the rain to stop.

It was amazing to a kid whose last trip 7 years prior stayed at the Econo lodge.

That was the trip where me and my brother (he is 6 years younger than me) really hung out together for first time. I would always beat up and pick on him as brothers do and we always got along as brothers, but we really did fun stuff together on that trip for the first time.

That first day of that trip is one of my best memories in life never mind of WDW. The whole trip is something that was so great it taught me a valuable lesson about subsequent trips. Never try and recreate the magic or good times, it can't be done. But go forward and make new awesome memories and good times.

To answer the question yes WL was my first on property and holds a very special meaning to me.

 

[minniebride]

Does it hold a magical place in your heart that others just can't touch?

I ask because my DH and I stayed at AKL on our first visit to WDW.

We had the most magical, perfect 2 weeks ever.


SO now whenver we think of planning another trip - even though we've stayed at other resorts since and loved them all - we both just want to book Jambo House all the time!

(Well, i would stay back at GF RPC - but I'd rather not bankrupt us )

I feel guilty for not trying other places too, but I just loooooooove AKL.

Are you the same with the first resort you stayed at?

The first resort I ever stayed in as a child was the Polynesian in 1979. This resort has continued to hold a special place in my heart So much that I stayed there again with my husband for the first half of our honeymoon. It was just as magical then.

The first resort I stayed in with my DH (before we were married) was a split-stay of CBR & AKL-we loved both of them!

 

[buzznina]

'73' and it was at CR, what a dream come true for a 12 year old

 

[PixiePoppins]

Poly a couple times in the 70s...LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! Stayed there again in 2010, and it is still as magical!

Also many special memories at:
Dixie Landings...first trip with DH
POFQ...first trip with kids
POR...first 2 weeker
ASMo...surprise trip for kids
ASMu...mother(me)/daughter trip

 

[DisneyDre]

My first stay at WDW was when I was 5 at The Fort Wilderness Campground. I actually remember a lot from that trip. The pictures help too. My my fave place to stay is The Wilderness Lodge Villas! Welcome home!

 

[rentayenta]

Does it hold a magical place in your heart that others just can't touch?

I ask because my DH and I stayed at AKL on our first visit to WDW.

We had the most magical, perfect 2 weeks ever.


SO now whenver we think of planning another trip - even though we've stayed at other resorts since and loved them all - we both just want to book Jambo House all the time!

(Well, i would stay back at GF RPC - but I'd rather not bankrupt us )

I feel guilty for not trying other places too, but I just loooooooove AKL.

Are you the same with the first resort you stayed at?

No. Our first resort was POR and while it was fine, now that we have DVC, I'm not going back. It holds nothing for me. It was a place to sleep. It was magical because it was our first trip and the trip itself holds a special place in my heart.

 

[Amy&Dan]

What a great thread. A lot of these have brought a tear to my eye, its always so neat to read about other people's special memories!

All Star Movies for us. I had really wanted to stay at CBR but as soon as my kids watched the planning DVD, they wanted ASMO. The fact we had a dalmation at the time made it even more special since that is the section we got and also my son was a huge Toy Story fan in those days so we spent a lot of time going over to that area of the resort.

I really toyed with staying there again next month, this will be our last family trip to WDW before my son joins the Marines and it seemed sort of full circle. But his Toy Story days are long over and he likes his moderates and with a teenage daughter, I need a double sink!

Its probably better we don't stay there this next trip, it might make me sad to remember that our last stay there was when he was 9 and now he'll be going out into the world on his own and the next time he comes back to WDW with us, he'll be a grown man and not even the teenage kid he is now, not to mention the little guy who saved his money for a disposable camera so he could take his own pictures of Buzz and Woody! I should find those pictures, they are a hoot.

We have gone over to ASMO several times to eat in the food court and it always brings back great memories. I just remember how excited my kids were when we pulled into it and we were finally at WDW.

The Disneyland Hotel also does this same sort of thing for me. Our first ever trip was to DL and we stayed there. We have been back there six or seven more times though and I always remember that first trip and how Goofy really was wandering around the lobby just like he did in the planning DVD!

 

[magicbob]

When I was a kid, we stayed at Poly and Contemporary on two separate occasions. But with my own family, we always either just stayed with relatives or at a cheap off-site hotel. Last year, we had our first on-site stay at All-Star Movies. The difference in staying on-site was SO much more magical. Since then, we've stayed at CBR and POR. We'll be at Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas in April. Although we may not go back to All-Star again, it will always have a special place in our hearts because it was our first onsite visit and we enjoyed it SO much!

 

[Sorcerina]

First stay was at All Star Movie in October 1999
Second stay was at Pop Century in January 2005
and in October we are going to stay at POFQ

 

[DisneyHardin]

My first on site stay was at All Star Movies - I was just super excited to be staying on site.

One of my best memories though was when I was a kid and we stayed off site, but we spent an afternoon and went over to the Grand Floridian just after it had opened and poked around a little bit. I thought that was the most beautiful hotel I had ever seen.

 

[willowsnn3]

Our first stay was at CBR. Was ok but doesn't stand out as being special. POR was nice & loved CR, but our heart belongs to POP Century We did not like ASMU. We plan on trying all the resorts.

 

[momogintz]

My 1st stay on-site was at AS Sports, when DD was 7...she'll be 23 this month!

 

[bushdianee]

All Star Sports for me. Followed by All Star Movies. Carribbean Beach- several times, POP, and POR. Will be at WL in May.