Where to stay? What would you do...

[GervaisCouple]

Hello,

This Feb. we are heading out on our families first Disney Cruise!
We are flying in a couple of days early for a little added fun...
We arrive on a Thursday around noon...we are not planning to enter the parks, but are going to visit one of our favorites: the Hoop Dee Doo Revue for a 4:00 showing and then hopefully catch the Chip'n'Dale bonfire after. We are hoping this will leave us a little time between arrival and the dinner show to have a little fun splashing in the pool...So, that leads to my question:

Where would you stay? My previous experience is with the Deluxe resorts, but I am thinking Moderate makes more sense this time...

We want a fun pool (waterslide!)...
Other "fun" amenities would be a bonus in case the weather is too cold to swim...
And since we are heading to Fort Wilderness for the show...easy access would be great!

Any recommendations?

Right now we are thinking we will skip renting a car for this portion of the trip. We are traveling with another family, but they are arriving later so the plan is to connect in the morning back at MCO to get our rental car with them...travel to LEGOLAND...and then to the port for an overnight and sail away...This means we will be relying on the Magical Express to get us back and forth from MCO. It doesn't appear that there are any published lists of the bus routes...but I am worried we will spend all of our time on buses! UGH...so, any info on that would be appreciated as well!

Thanks Disers!

 

[Kim1964]

POR and POFQ are the closest mods to Ft. Wilderness, but I think the most fun mod is CSR......definitely the best mod pool slide. POR and POFQ have the boat to DTD, which is nice if it's too cold to swim.

Given the Hoop Dee Doo plans, I'd get the rental car before you leave MCO. With just a couple of days at WDW before the cruise, the car will give you more flexibility than taking buses, particularly resort to resort.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

BRRRRRR Swimming in February? Might be a bit chilly. I would make sure you choose a resort with a hot tub as well in case it is chilly. Have you thought about the Wilderness Lodge? THe prices aren't as steep as the other deluxe resorts and it has a slide and two hot tubs as well as quick trip to the HDDR. My two mod recommendations would be CSR and POR.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We stayed at the WL in February and loved it. The weather was in the mid 70's and it was just barely warm enough to swim. There are three hot tubs there. Two of them face Bay Lake and you can watch the geyser erupt while relaxing there. And there is a large hot tub by the quiet pool next to the villas. I loved the bubbly springs in the quiet pool.

It was very convenient to get to Hoop Dee Doo from the WL. The boat ride over there is about 12 minutes long. You can also walk to FW on the trail, but I wouldn't do it in the dark. We could see the fireworks from MK when we were getting out of the 6:15pm Hoop Dee Doo show. People were sitting on the beach at FW to watch the fireworks. The same boat goes to the CR, where it is easy to hop on the monorail. We did that in order to get to our ADR's at the Poly and GF.

We loved the WL so much that we decided to go back again in December for the Christmas decorations.

 

[GervaisCouple]

We will be escaping the cold...and have swam on previous trips this time of year. Yes, weather can go either way...but it is possible.

 

[GervaisCouple]

Currently thinking we will rent a car to cut down on travel time...trying to decide between port Orleans French quarter out Coronado springs...thoughts?

 

[Sue M]

POFQ or POR are our fav mods. They have a little more to offer, with a boat to DTD, evening entertainment in the lounge, horse & carriage rides, and slides. IMO POR has the best pool. And the best food court. When we stayed at FQ we walked over to POR a couple of nights for dinner. Love the Pasta Bar.

 

[HopperFan]

CSR has one of the best slides on property and one of the largest hot tubs if it's cool. It's a beautiful resort, particularly at night. The rooms are deluxe in feel.

 

[Sue M]

POFQ or POR are our fav mods. They have a little more to offer, with a boat to DTD, evening entertainment in the lounge, horse & carriage rides, and slides. IMO POR has the best pool. And the best food court. When we stayed at FQ we walked over to POR a couple of nights for dinner. Love the Pasta Bar.

I should make my statement clearer, I think POR has the best pool between POR & FQ.

CSR prob has a larger pool, I just prefer the theming at Por & POFQ.

All the pools and resorts are nice, I'd go with the resort theming that appeals to you.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

Currently thinking we will rent a car to cut down on travel time...trying to decide between port Orleans French quarter out Coronado springs...thoughts?

Out of these two choices I think CSR has the better pool.