Where to stay?!

[pluto377]

I'm going in January for a solo trip to Marathon Weekend. I cannot decide where to stay. I'm between Pop, AS Music, POFQ or Saratoga Springs. I like Pop because of the Skyliner and all the places it can easily take me, plus the access to AoA for food court variety. I like AS Music because I've never stayed in an All Star and the price, which would allow me to add an extra park day. On the other end, I was thinking I could do a no park trip and stay at POFQ and just enjoy the resort and pool since we're taking a family trip in March with lots of park time. And I like Saratoga for similar reasons to POFQ, but I'm worried about the size of the resort. And my other worry with a no park trip is what if the weather isn't great and then I'm stuck at the resort? I won't be able to afford a park ticket if I splurge on the resort. Someone help me!

 

[SnowWhitee]

I love POFQ, but in January I would not bank on pool time and it being nice out.

If you had any money left after a room at SSR, do that and get a spa treatment there. If the weather is nice, you could also have pool time. There is the walking path or boat to Disney Springs for additional dining options and retail therapy. Bonus is that these rooms were just refurbished.

Between Pop and AS Music I would pick Music. The rooms are even newer than Pop and the furnishings are the same. Plus you will get your extra park day. You could still ride the Skyliner from Epcot or HS to a resort just to say you did and maybe grab lunch or dinner.

Whatever you choose, have fun!

 

[sponica]

I would just pick whatever resort that I can afford that has availability.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

Which races are you running that weekend? When I did the princess half, I REALLY wanted that hot tub after to ease the pain. If you are that kind of person, you need POFQ or Saratoga. I stayed at Key West both times I have run races there because I like having the kitchenette on race morning as well. I can get up, get ready, and make my bagel with peanut butter before I head to the race bus.

 

[NicoleLarson]

I'm going in January for a solo trip to Marathon Weekend. I cannot decide where to stay. I'm between Pop, AS Music, POFQ or Saratoga Springs. I like Pop because of the Skyliner and all the places it can easily take me, plus the access to AoA for food court variety. I like AS Music because I've never stayed in an All Star and the price, which would allow me to add an extra park day. On the other end, I was thinking I could do a no park trip and stay at POFQ and just enjoy the resort and pool since we're taking a family trip in March with lots of park time. And I like Saratoga for similar reasons to POFQ, but I'm worried about the size of the resort. And my other worry with a no park trip is what if the weather isn't great and then I'm stuck at the resort? I won't be able to afford a park ticket if I splurge on the resort. Someone help me!

As others have asked, I think it depends on what races you are running. If you are doing Dopey or some of the longer ones maybe just having a rest day will be a nice change of pace. Having stayed at most of these during a race, I would choose POFQ. It's a compact resort with 1 bus stop and it has a hot tub. I would think once they open POFQ and POR that they will start the boats to DS, but you could spend an afternoon there. You could go to AKL and look at the animals, have lunch at Sanaa. Take the bus to HS, then ride the skyliner around, stop at RIV for a bit to eat. Just some non-park day ideas. My least favorite (for races) is SSR. It's HUGE and to catch the race bus in the morning, there will be just 1 stop and getting to it is up to you. Plus once I got to the stop it was packed so I decided to roll the dice and drive, which worked out but just added some undo stress to my morning. It's not much, but priceline (refundable deals) does have WDW resorts for 10% off. I don't know if that makes an actual difference in the total price vs booking directly but could be something to look into.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Not to make this more complicated.. but you can stay st the dolphin for between the price of pop and All stars , they are really nice

 

[pluto377]

I’m doing dopey so I definitely want some rest days. Thanks for the input so far!

 

[PixieDust&MickeyPretzels]

I'm going in January for a solo trip to Marathon Weekend. I cannot decide where to stay. I'm between Pop, AS Music, POFQ or Saratoga Springs. I like Pop because of the Skyliner and all the places it can easily take me, plus the access to AoA for food court variety. I like AS Music because I've never stayed in an All Star and the price, which would allow me to add an extra park day. On the other end, I was thinking I could do a no park trip and stay at POFQ and just enjoy the resort and pool since we're taking a family trip in March with lots of park time. And I like Saratoga for similar reasons to POFQ, but I'm worried about the size of the resort. And my other worry with a no park trip is what if the weather isn't great and then I'm stuck at the resort? I won't be able to afford a park ticket if I splurge on the resort. Someone help me!

I second making sure the resort has a hot tub (which the values do not). We always used them for a little bit after our races!

Make sure that the resorts you are staying at are “preferred” for the race. They used to have specific resorts that had bus transportation at 3-4am to the race. Not sure if they changed that but for all that I did POFQ was one. We stayed there for one of the wine and dine half marathons and it was great. Another plus is there there isn’t much of a walk to the rooms where the other ones you have listed could have longer walks.

Also cannot tell you how jealous I am as those medals look amazing

 

[Carol_]

We stayed at Swolphin two years ago for marathon weekend. No complaints. Hot tub, Mandara spa, boat to someplace I can’t remember but I could barely walk so the boat was nice.
Oh! And we had a partial fireworks view as a bonus.