What Dictates Which Resort You Choose?

[DAWGPOUNDAJ]

Just for fun: What are the deciding factors when you choose a resort.

For us it's obviously the price, followed by the room decor (we like either dark woods or bright colors, nothing in-between seems really "exciting" to us), the availability of a food court b/c it's quicker to get food that way, and the number of quiet pools.

Things we are not concerned with: Proximity to parks, the main pool, how spread out the resort it, transportation (we always have a car on hand anyways), sit down restaurant services, or children's activities (no kids yet).

Anyone else?

 

[Ladyhawke10]

Just for fun: What are the deciding factors when you choose a resort.

For us it's obviously the price, followed by the room decor (we like either dark woods or bright colors, nothing in-between seems really "exciting" to us), the availability of a food court b/c it's quicker to get food that way, and the number of quiet pools.

Things we are not concerned with: Proximity to parks, the main pool, how spread out the resort it, transportation (we always have a car on hand anyways), sit down restaurant services, or children's activities (no kids yet).

Anyone else?

Wow...my priorities are entirely different!! Proximity to the parks is integral...in fact, we like to switch around during stays to adjust our closeness to the successive parks (for example, a few nights at AKL to visit AK, a few nights at BWI to visit MGM and Epcot). I love having water transportation options (such a departure from real life) and beautiful theming (including a great main pool area). I love having resorts that are compact because I like to refill my mugs ALOT and my son always seems to need a snack or what have you. I love a resort to have a lot of fun nooks to relax in (which is what I love about the AKL and GF). GFs children's activites are definitely a plus, but not everything. It wouldn't be a big deal to travel over there to enjoy them. Same with restaurants...I guess they are not a priority (at least I don't need to be in the same resort as my fave eateries). I don't need a food court but like general stores (like the green door in BWI). I don't need a gym while at WDW

I like lots of pretty landscaping to walk around and a great, lowly populated jacuzzi (or jacuzzi tub!) and a heated pool (those freezing temps aren't fun in the evening...) Ok, I've gone on enough

 

[stemikger]

So far I have stayed at three Disney resorts POR (my first) CBR and Pop Century - I loved all of them.

Having said that price plays a part but even though Pop Century was the cheapest we loved it and are going back this year. If I get that vacation feeling when I walk in the lobby - that is all I care about. I loved the atmosphere at Pop Century and I loved the main pool.

Here is what is most important to me:

1. Atmosphere - (it must give me that good vacation feeling)
2. Pool and pool bar. I don't drink much but on vacation I enjoy a few cocktails poolside. It makes me really feel like I'm really away on vacation.
3. Food Court and Gift Shop. I like to eat my lunches at the Food court and I like to browse a little bit during my stay and I really like having a nice size food court and gift shop where I stay.
4. Transportation. I always fly to Disney and I never rent a car so this is important to me. So far all the resorts I have stayed were great. Never waited that long for a bus.
5. Game room. I love to take a break during the day and play some games with my daughter.

Those are my top five and so far all the resorts I have stayed didn't disappoint.

 

[susy]

We go by what resort we have not yet stayed at!

 

[WDW LifeLong Fan]

On average we visit WDW 3-4 times annually. We rotate our choices between the four of us. Me, DW, DD18, and DD17.

It usually works out that we stay at 4 different resorts each year!

 

[swilphil]

Location, price, size of room, has to feel like something special, especially when paying for a deluxe.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

I chose GF RPC for our Dec. trip for various reasons. We will spend a tremendous amount of time at the MK with my 3 1/2 year old. I love the Christmas decorations at the GF. The transportation is wonderful. Great children activities. We are going to enjoy the resort and do the parks slowly.

I chose concierge level because I will have my mother and 3 children with me and the use of the lounge will be convenient. I love the GF and the way the CMs treat us. They have always given us excellent service in the past. I wanted a resort that my mother has visited. She is suffering from an eye disease and I know she will be more comfortable in familiar surroundings.

Lori

 

[Goofy's Muse]

Wow...my priorities are entirely different!! Proximity to the parks is integral...in fact, we like to switch around during stays to adjust our closeness to the successive parks (for example, a few nights at AKL to visit AK, a few nights at BWI to visit MGM and Epcot). I love having water transportation options (such a departure from real life) and beautiful theming (including a great main pool area)...

This sounds like me! Proximity, transportation variety (no cars for me!), beautiful theming, plus a place than can handle a family of 5!

 

[goodferry]

Well, it depends. If the kids are with us, close to the MK and on the monorail are musts. No more loading a stroller on a bus to get to the MK. Also, we prefer a concierge room because it makes breakfast and relaxing in the afternoon much easier. Theming isn't so much a factor for us since we love all the deluxe resorts for different reasons. The pool is a biggy also, if the kids are along, since they spend a lot of time in the pool.
Now if the kids aren't along, it is blown wide open. For our next anniversary trip we chose BWI because we had heard that the concierge lounge and staff are wonderful. We like that it's close to Epcot and MGM and a lot of wonderful dining options. We visited last trip and thought it was a beautiful resort, so that was our choice.
We don't rent a car, so transportation I guess is the biggest factor for us, especially with the four kids along

 

[Kimberle]

1 - Must be a deluxe

2 - Location

3 - Resturant accessability (we like to have a variety of resturants we can choose from for dinner and EASILY get to them either by walking or Disney transportation.)

4 - Pool/common areas

5 - Bathroom in room.

6 - Price

Note, I'm not ranking Disney transportation because I think the Deluxes are pretty equal. They all have their "highs" and "lows".

 

[turnlisa]

Let's see...must be a deluxe, at the moment close to MK is important, theming, and that's really about it. We stay concierage because the lounge is convenient and we like to be spoiled. As far as transportation, we like it being convenient to get to MK and Epcot but don't mind driving everywhere else.

 

[Minerva]

Several different things went into deciding where to stay this trip. Since it will be my first time staying on site and my kids first trips at all I wanted to try a couple of different resorts. The prices our first night made the Values attractive and since a lot of the trip is being centered around my dd's birthday Sports was the logical choice since my son (me too) is a big sports fan. We'll only be there one night but that will give me a chance to see if the rooms really are as small to me as some think they are so I'll know about staying there for a week another time. We'll be there when the Christmas decorations are up and I wanted to stay somewhere that Christmas decorations seemed to blend in with the theme. I also wanted a beach this trip and wanted the option of taking a boat sometimes. WL just fit all of that so it got the vote for where to switch too although POR was in the running also, if it just had a beach. I don't know that I'd stay at WL if we were going during the summer though, the Yatch Club and Boardwalk say summer to me in the same way that WL says winter to me.

 

[oogieboogie]

Since our goal is to stay at every Disney Resort, the choice is driven by:

1) Which resort haven't we stayed at
2) How much of an AP discount can we get

Theming, deluxe/moderate/value, proximity to parks really aren't factors for us since
a) we rent a car and it's just as easy to drive as it is taking transportation
b) we've stayed at value, moderate, and deluxes
c) we know Disney is on the ball on theming, and anywhere you go you get the Disney treatment.

 

[BethC1952]

We have slightly different priorities. We don't like the deluxes because we like to be able to step out of our room into the great outdoors. I don't mind people walking past my windows since we keep the curtains closed when we want privacy, and we sleep like logs so outside noise has never bothered us.

Price is not the deciding factor, but it helps. We don't do pool slides, although we do use the pool, but any pool will do, whether it's a fancy theme pool or a quiet pool. If we're going to WDW just to relax, it's nice to have a hot tub. If we're going for park visits, a hot tub isn't quite so important.

A place to get a good breakfast is fairly important, whether it's a food court (love the one at Pop Century) or a sit-down (love Boatwright's at POR). A good gift shop is a plus, but there are plenty of shops at WDW that are no more than a bus ride or boat trip away.

DH and I love to walk, so room location makes absolutely no difference to us, but landscaping and outside building decor is very important. We're many years past the "commando touring" stage, and we take our time and stop to smell the roses, so it's nice to see some flowers!

Proximity to parks doesn't matter, either. If we're close to one park, we're far from another. The buses will get us whereever we want to go.

With all of the above, our favorite resorts are Port Orleans Riverside, Pop Century, Caribbean Beach and All Star Music, in that order.

Beth

 

[*Fantasia*]

~Price-Definitely a big factor here!! If we can't afford it, we can't stay there!
~Theme/Atmosphere
~Pool
~Food Court (food varieties)
~Transportation

 

[Linda T.]

My priorities are:

l. It has to be a moderate.

2. The themeing/atmosphere of the resort.

3. The food court and bus service.

4. The main pool and quiet pools.

We have tried two moderates - POR and CBR. CBR is our favorite - my daughters never want to try anywhere else. They love the beautiful themeing of this resort.

____________________________________________

1979 - Offsite
1995 - CBR
1997 - CBR
1999 - POR
2003 - CBR
2005 - CBR (Going End of June)

 

[javaj]

Monorail -- so we've always stayed at CR, but this May, we're trying the Poly!

 

[mommykds]

Interesting question....

For us it would be in order of importance...

-Theming & atmosphere..Want to "feel" like I am on vacation right away.

-Price

-Good location to at least one fo the parks

-Bus transport (no car)


Things that are not important are...

-Food court as long as there is a grab & go style place

-Monorail..like it but not necessary

-Size of room...smaller moderates aer ok for us because we don't spend alot of time in the room

 

[Ames]

We look for price...quiet pools...theme...good food courts...and counter space. lol. 2 sometimes 3 adult women we need lots of bathroom counter space. This keeps us from going to POR or POFQ aside from the themes not appealing to us.

 

[ep4244]

1. Proximity to parks (we normally split our stay so half the time we're close to epcot and half to MK)

2. Pools - I've found my DD's do better if they go back to the hotel and I'm more likely to get them back there if the pool is good

3. And of course last but not least - where I feel like staying - what surroundings do I want to indulge myself in.

4. Price - depending on if Mr.Murphy is with or against me each year decides our price range for hotel. Mr. Murphy and his laws have been kind this year so we get BWI and Contemporary.