Want to stay on site but rooms look meh?

[Jellifer]

Just like the title, I've only ever stayed on I-drive and was dying to stay at a Disney property but for the price of them the rooms don't seem all that nice.

We used to use the 111 bus to get to the parks but I know that's not an option any more so I thought on site would be the way forward but I can get a suite in the radisson for £600 cheaper than a standard room at the cheapest moderate and I'm seriously reconsidering staying on site.

Is it still possible to stay on I-drive and get to disney without too much faff? We won't be driving because I'm blind and OH needs a break from chauffeuring me around.

 

[queendisney]

IMO I think the rooms are fine at Disney. They have what you need. The money is obviously more as you are paying for the convenience of it being at Disney. How much time do you really spend in your room anyway. Personally there is no way I would stay down Idrive no matter how nice the rooms are and especially if I was going to be doing Disney and didn't have a car. We normally stay at POR and the rooms at Disney are themed to each resort. Have you maybe looked at the Bonnet Creek resorts? They are generally more generic in their room decoration.

 

[2Tiggies]

I agree with Vanda, but then I'm a devoted onsiter. I think the rooms are lovely, but $ for $ there is no arguing that you are going to get a lot more for your money staying offsite.

We love the rooms at the resort we stay at. We've stayed at moderates 4 times, once at a value (which was clean, fresh and in better condition that the very expensive hotel room we booked in the UK at the airport that year!) and this year we are trying out Bay Lake Tower.

You need to weigh up where the value is for you. If you have small children or guests in your party who need space, naps or rest breaks and more down time at the hotel every day, then obviously the little extras have more bearing on your decision.

With all that out of the way, there are still benefits to staying onsite that you don't get offsite and proximity to the parks is a big one.

 

[mackay_j]

Although I have stayed on site quite a few times, I agree with you the rooms are not that great (nor in fact is the housekeeping/cleanliness in some of them- we got free 3 day tickets for all 4 of us and 12 fast passes due to how bad our room in PO riverside-when management finally arrived to have a look).

However, I would say that the rooms in OKW were better - not great, but more roomy and with balconies and more facilities. But watch we found our first room very very noisy due to buses braking to turn right outside our window so had to move location (to turtle pond which was much better)

May be look at the doubletree in down town disney as the rooms there can be both a reasonable price and are suites.

On the whole we prefer to stay on a villa and drive- we only stayed on site for short bursts (as part of a longer off site stay) when kids were young as a special treat for them. Then later to get the free dining- but that is not as good a deal as it used to be so its off site for us from now on I think.

 

[flortlebap]

I agree - some of the rooms are definitely meh. But some are beautiful.

For my own personal taste, I like AKL, CSR, POR, CR, YC and the Poly. My least favourites (and I have my flame retardant suit ready lol) are OKW, SSR, any values, or GF.

The rest I don't really have any opinion on.

 

[pickers1982]

I find all the rooms at the 5 resorts I ve stayed in pretty identical and distinctly average. You are paying for the location and benefits. I think once you stay on site you never look back! With fast pass plus that only intensifies the argument

 

[queendisney]

I agree - some of the rooms are definitely meh. But some are beautiful.

For my own personal taste, I like AKL, CSR, POR, CR, YC and the Poly. My least favourites (and I have my flame retardant suit ready lol) are OKW, SSR, any values, or GF.

The rest I don't really have any opinion on.

That's the thing with the Disney rooms isn't it, there are generally rooms to suit most tastes. I'm with you on the rooms above. Actually the ones that appeals to me most are the Contemporary resort. The least are the Princess rooms at POR, but I do like the standard rooms at POR. But its also resorts themselves that either you like or don't. My least fav are GF and most of the Values but just because there is no greenery, they are high in just concrete! I love the resorts with lots of outdoor space ie, POR, CBR..I like to see trees, grass, bushes...

 

[Tink2312]

Have you thought about renting DVC points? Depending on the time of year and room size, it could work out a bit cheaper than a mod, but with deluxe amenities and at least a small kitchenette and seating area. If you go on David's DVC rental you'll find a calculator to work out how much the cost would be. You can try to book from 11 months out if there's a renter with points at the resort you want.

 

[Jellifer]

I have thought about DVC, didn't realise you got a sitting area as standard so I might give that a go.

 

[wiigirl]

I have thought about DVC, didn't realise you got a sitting area as standard so I might give that a go.

 

[cliveywolves]

I find all the rooms at the 5 resorts I ve stayed in pretty identical and distinctly average. You are paying for the location and benefits. I think once you stay on site you never look back! With fast pass plus that only intensifies the argument

Yep pretty much agree with this about DW hotels, stayed at about 5 diff resort hotels, not much in all of them but always been more than happy and it just completes the whole disney experience

 

[BudgieMama]

That's the thing with the Disney rooms isn't it, there are generally rooms to suit most tastes. I'm with you on the rooms above. Actually the ones that appeals to me most are the Contemporary resort. The least are the Princess rooms at POR, but I do like the standard rooms at POR. But its also resorts themselves that either you like or don't. My least fav are GF and most of the Values but just because there is no greenery, they are high in just concrete! I love the resorts with lots of outdoor space ie, POR, CBR..I like to see trees, grass, bushes...

Definitely! When we first booked, we spent a long time looking at all the room photos... when I joined the DIS, I was surprised to hear how popular the Poly is, as I HATED the look of the rooms... It's good that there's a variety to choose from (and that I won't have to fight flortlebap for the rooms at SSR, which I love the look of and look perfect for us! )

 

[2Tiggies]

I was surprised to hear how popular the Poly is, as I HATED the look of the rooms... It's good that there's a variety to choose from (and that I won't have to fight flortlebap for the rooms at SSR, which I love the look of and look perfect for us! )

Reading this made me realize that rooms are even less important to me than I thought. I don't like old, ornate, or 'buildings with character' and you would never find any dark wood in my house. Yet POFQ is our favorite resort. I don't really care for the decor, but that's now why we stay there. We like the atmosphere, the size, the staff, the boat to DTD, bus service, proximity to the parks and many other reasons. Even more oddly, I have always wanted to stay at the Poly. Again, don't care for the style of decor but I love the actual resort. We visited SSR one year and had a look around and I wasn't particularly excited. I found it bland, boring and void of atmosphere.

You'd never find me at POR. There are features of that resort that would drive me nuts, lol. In fact POR and SSR fall below the values on my list. So it really does depend what you're looking for: The resort, the room or both.

 

[chmurf]

for us, a resort is so much more than just the room.
The room is there to sleep, take a shower, and store all the junk we keep on accumulating.

What's important is what's not the room. The pools, feature or quiet, the overall theming, the food courts, restaurants, play area, marshmallow toasting, surrey bike and searaycer rental, horsedrawn carriage ride, you name it. And the overall feel of the resort.

I love POR, especially Aligator Bayou, because it's so .... like us ... We don't like POFQ that much... for a silly reason ... being French, staying at French Quarter just would seem weird (I told you it was silly) no too much of a vacation (just as if you picked a city that's the same name as your hometown for a stay abroad.) yup, silly, lol.

I couldn't stay at some of the other resorts, like GF for example. For DW and I this hotel looks like a white bird cage. TBH I'd probably kill myself if I had to stay more than 3 nights there.

We love POP, because it's busy, happy busy. Colors are flashy, in a word : groovy.
It is not a matter of hotel category, it's a matter of atmosphere and ammenities.

Offsite hotels lack that disney feel. That disney atmosphere. (not to mention onsite perks)

and, let's be fair, we don't go on vacation to stay in the room all day. What's next ? Ask for a bigger TV Screen ... we hardly ever turn that thing on (except for the Duffy Bedtime Story for DS)

The rooms are probably less fancy than at other hotels. But how much time do you actually spend in your room ? Most of that time will be in the dark, eyes closed, sleeping.

As soon as we step out of our Disney room, we're in a "disney park" in itself. We don't need to spend 45 minutes on a bus or in a car to go from Idrive (for example) and reach the "mickey zone" (as DS calls all that's inside the magical gates).

A more beautiful room offsite. Sure, but what for ? I know I'll spend less time awake in that room than i'll spend in transportation to go to the parks.
As far as I'm concerned, rooms might be prettier and comfier offsite, but that's irrelevant. What's inside the room is not important, what I want to know is what happens as soon as I step out of that room and into the action.

 

[Minniesgal]

If you don't like he onsite rooms you don't need to go as far as I drive. We just stayed at the Buena Vista Palace and the hotel and the rooms were lovely and it was right at DTD with its own transpiration. All he hotels on hotel plaza boulevard are quite good and very close. Alternatively here are so e condos resorts on the 535 with shuttle buses much closer than Idrive.

We love onsite and prefer not to leave it until I runout of DVC points but here are good options very close.

 

[crabbie1]

Have you thought about renting DVC points? Depending on the time of year and room size, it could work out a bit cheaper than a mod, but with deluxe amenities and at least a small kitchenette and seating area. If you go on David's DVC rental you'll find a calculator to work out how much the cost would be. You can try to book from 11 months out if there's a renter with points at the resort you want.

You would need to rent a one bedroom villa to have a separate seating area. Unless you meant have a sofa/sofa bed. The nicest studios for 2 are AKLV and BLT in my opinion for a family of 4 I would say OKW. This is from a WLV owner

 

[WiganTony]

If you don't like he onsite rooms you don't need to go as far as I drive. We just stayed at the Buena Vista Palace and the hotel and the rooms were lovely and it was right at DTD with its own transpiration. All he hotels on hotel plaza boulevard are quite good and very close.

Beat me to it!! Just to add that these hotels have a half-hourly shuttle to the four main Disney parks, and are within walking distance of Downtown Disney and the Crossroads area of Lake Buena Vista. Website for all the hotels here.

Also worth noting that if you stay in the LBV area near to the Lynx no 50 bus, these buses run every 30 mins to Downtown Disney and the Transportation and Ticketing Center, last bus back around midnight.

 

[Tink2312]

You would need to rent a one bedroom villa to have a separate seating area. Unless you meant have a sofa/sofa bed. The nicest studios for 2 are AKLV and BLT in my opinion for a family of 4 I would say OKW. This is from a WLV owner dde0a

True that renting a 1 bed would give you a full lounge but I class a sofa and "coffee table" as a separate seating area and definitely an extra above what you would have in a hotel room. The only studio not featuring that is OKW which has 2 queen beds. IMHO even a studio is an upgrade from a mod room which the OP was considering.
Although I love BLT (it's one of my home resorts) I'd definitely agree with you on AKV, even for up to 4 people. I'd also recommend SSR, BWV and BCV (although renting at the latter 2 and BLT may prove more difficult in terms of availability).

 

[wayneg]

Everyone has differing opinions on hotel rooms.
We first stayed onsite in 2000 at the All star Movies, we were so disappointed it took us 8 years to try onsite again. It was the most basic room possible.
Our 2nd stay in 2008 at the AKL was a far better experience although we were upgraded to savannah view, the view made it for us.
We have since stayed a few times at OKW with free DDP but that has now got too expensive for me.

Some people love the disney resorts, others like us can take them or leave them. This Sept is our silver Wedding trip so I said to DW she could choose any hotel she wanted, back to AKL, OKW, GF, her answer, "I would rather have a nicer room offsite" So we are staying in a 2 bedroom, almost 1300sqft for not much more money that a basic room at a value resort (£68/nt) http://www.extraholidays.com/orlando-florida/wyndham-bonnet-creek-resort.aspx

Enough hotels onsite & offsite to cater for everyone, good luck finding one you like.

 

[crabbie1]

Everyone has differing opinions on hotel rooms. We first stayed onsite in 2000 at the All star Movies, we were so disappointed it took us 8 years to try onsite again. It was the most basic room possible. Our 2nd stay in 2008 at the AKL was a far better experience although we were upgraded to savannah view, the view made it for us. We have since stayed a few times at OKW with free DDP but that has now got too expensive for me. Some people love the disney resorts, others like us can take them or leave them. This Sept is our silver Wedding trip so I said to DW she could choose any hotel she wanted, back to AKL, OKW, GF, her answer, "I would rather have a nicer room offsite" So we are staying in a 2 bedroom, almost 1300sqft for not much more money that a basic room at a value resort (£68/nt) http://www.extraholidays.com/orlando-florida/wyndham-bonnet-creek-resort.aspx Enough hotels onsite & offsite to cater for everyone, good luck finding one you like.

Are these the ones next to CBR wayne? On disney property? I have looked at these and the rooms are gorgeous. Jacuzzi bath and all. Great value as well. Hope Matt will be joining you? Looking forward to his blog.