Which resort for family of 4?

[mykidsrock76]

Trying to decide between CBR, GDT or a splurge on the Contemporary for an 8 night trip March 2021. We’re a family of four, including a 16 and 17 year old. CBR has the Skyliner but that seems to get mixed reviews. GDT has larger rooms than CBR and my daughter loves the design elements. Contemporary of course has the perk of proximity to MK and the rooms are the largest of the three choices. We haven’t visited since 2012 and not sure what resort transportation is like these days. We are not planning on renting a car while we’re there, so we’re either relying on Disney transportation or rideshare.

 

[shu24]

I'd pick the largest room since you have teens. I survived a stay in POP when my kids were 19 and 15, but with teens you can't go wrong with as much space as possible since they seem to take over the room with their stuff (for my son- electronics, for my daugher-clothes).

 

[Deb & Bill]

Trying to decide between CBR, GDT or a splurge on the Contemporary for an 8 night trip March 2021. We’re a family of four, including a 16 and 17 year old. CBR has the Skyliner but that seems to get mixed reviews. GDT has larger rooms than CBR and my daughter loves the design elements. Contemporary of course has the perk of proximity to MK and the rooms are the largest of the three choices. We haven’t visited since 2012 and not sure what resort transportation is like these days. We are not planning on renting a car while we’re there, so we’re either relying on Disney transportation or rideshare.

Contemporary gives you a bit more access to dining options without needing to call an Uber or Lyft. CBR would give you second best options for dining as long as there aren't any problems with the Skyliner. But the rooms are a lot smaller than CR or GDT. CR rooms are nice sized and they do have a day bed.

 

[SarahC97]

I love GDT, but until they open the Quick Service food court there, without a car I don't think I'd recommend it. If money is no option, then go with the Contemporary. The rooms are really big and the couch that folds down into a daybed is comfortable for a teen if they don't want to share a bed. The only drawback of CR is that the bathroom is one big room - sinks, toilet, and shower. That could make getting ready in the morning challenging since the sinks aren't outside the toilet/\shower like they are in CBR, but the CBR rooms are not very big comparatively and they're not particularly nice, either.

 

[Marthasor]

Trying to decide between CBR, GDT or a splurge on the Contemporary for an 8 night trip March 2021. We’re a family of four, including a 16 and 17 year old. CBR has the Skyliner but that seems to get mixed reviews. GDT has larger rooms than CBR and my daughter loves the design elements. Contemporary of course has the perk of proximity to MK and the rooms are the largest of the three choices. We haven’t visited since 2012 and not sure what resort transportation is like these days. We are not planning on renting a car while we’re there, so we’re either relying on Disney transportation or rideshare.

I would do CR. The size of the room and the proximity to MK is such an advantage, particularly with teens. We do like the Skyliner, but it can be hit or miss - we stayed at RIV last December and when it worked it was great, when it was down, not so much! If you want to save a little money at CR, opt for a garden wing room. We actually prefer them as you don't have to contend with the elevators in the tower at all to access dining and the path to MK. The elevators in the tower can get quite crowded. We also like the proximity to the pool from the garden wing.

 

[JenBush]

What kind of Disney vacationers are you and your family? Are you in the park open to close or do you like spending more time in your room and around your resort. The size of the rooms at CR and being able to walk to MK is awesome, but if you are park open to close people the extra $ for that might be better spent elsewhere. However, if money isn’t a concern I vote CR whether you are all day park people or not.

 

[Dug720]

I guess my family is weird - our first on-property stay was as all adults (celebrating my grad school graduation and my sister's college graduation) and we were in one room at CBR and were fine.

We love CBR!!

 

[RoseGold]

I would not go GDT. I mean I'm sure it's nice, but it's bus dependent, which is a big negative, even without Covid.

The fifth sleeper CB might be a good pick because you have three beds. I bet the price difference is staggering against Contemporary. It would be hard for me to justify the cost difference when CB is so nice and has great Skyliner access.

With such a long stay, I'd consider a split stay and maybe do the last couple nights at Contemporary?

If you're looking at Contemporary prices, you could also consider renting DVC points and get a 1BR instead. A lot of them have a bed, sleeper sofa, and a sleeper chair. Of course, this is not for everyone and is a process in itself.

 

[Eastern]

I would do a split stay GDT and CR.

 

[Leigh L]

GDT is lovely (here now) and it was just adult DD and myself. If DH and DD13 were with us, I'd book a regular room at CSR instead. (can't speak for CBR as we've never stayed there).

The reason being the bathroom in GDT is everything is in one room and trying to get 4 people ready in the morning wouldn't work for us.

At CSR, buses in the morning were great Fri/Sat/Sun, but terrible on Mon and more than terrible on Tues. Not sure if that's normal or just a fluke.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Trying to decide between CBR, GDT or a splurge on the Contemporary for an 8 night trip March 2021. We’re a family of four, including a 16 and 17 year old. CBR has the Skyliner but that seems to get mixed reviews. GDT has larger rooms than CBR and my daughter loves the design elements. Contemporary of course has the perk of proximity to MK and the rooms are the largest of the three choices. We haven’t visited since 2012 and not sure what resort transportation is like these days. We are not planning on renting a car while we’re there, so we’re either relying on Disney transportation or rideshare.

We’ve stayed at a number of WDW resorts with two kids, one is a teen and as they’ve both gotten older, we prefer more space with the deluxe Disney resorts with better locations. We stayed a week at CBR this past August and really didn’t care for it. Skyliner is spotty especially over the summer. May not be an issue in March but the rooms are small and the bathroom is right. My younger daughter is tiny so she slept on the pull down 5th sleeper so while each of the kids had their own bed, it was still tight for 4 people. I’d pick CR for the monorail and easy bus transportation with only one stop. The buses at CBR at awful. CSR buses are not as convenient as CR but no where near as bad as CBR. The sheer number of bus depot stops at CBR gets old after a week’s stay there. Food at CBR is just the food court or hop over to riviera. Definitely more food choices at contemporary.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I would look into David's vacacation club rental and try and stay at DVC With two teens I would think space would matter the most.
https://www.mousesavers.com/davids-vacation-club-rentals/We really like David's!!!

 

[nw6675]

I highly recommend CR for the same reasons previously given unless you are spending majority of time at Epcot or HS. BLT would be awesome if you consider the CR.

But from personal experience, be careful with DVC rental agencies if you go that route and search these boards for reviews and issues before using. Travel insurance is a must in that case. I won't ever use one again, even with the savings that can be had.

 

[RoseGold]

Renting DVC is its own process, and is not for everyone.

I would not do business with several DVC rental companies, on either side of the transaction. You can read lengthy threads about their business practices here.

March 2021 might be too late anyway to rent DVC points, especially with so many extra points around. This requires more planning.

 

[sponica]

I guess my family is weird - our first on-property stay was as all adults (celebrating my grad school graduation and my sister's college graduation) and we were in one room at CBR and were fine.

We love CBR!!

I spent a week at Pop with 3 girls in college and don't remember it being terrible . I figure we were just there to shower and sleep anyway.

 

[Dug720]

I spent a week at Pop with 3 girls in college and don't remember it being terrible . I figure we were just there to shower and sleep anyway.

Yeah. It just seems the most commonly sung song around here is "OMG, how could you have more than 2 people in a room????" regardless of the category - outside of multi-bedroom villas.

 

[KelsiesMommy]

I'm going to stretch it and offer a different solution that we are going with in Feb 2021- book 2 rooms at a value- put the teens in one and mom and dad have their own room- More space for us with two teens makes for a much better vacation experience- especially bathroom situation. And 2 rooms at Pop was cheaper than one deluxe room

 

[Shellyred8]

I would vote for a split stay between CR and CBR. Then plan your park days around where you are staying to minimize as much bus transportation as possible.
FYI: Based on what I've read and some of what I've experienced, the issues with the Skyliner are really mostly at park open time. The rest of the day they are usually fine. You will see a bit of a line at park close too, but it's not near as bad as having to wait for a bus (IMO).

 

[VandVsmama]

Trying to decide between CBR, GDT or a splurge on the Contemporary for an 8 night trip March 2021. We’re a family of four, including a 16 and 17 year old. CBR has the Skyliner but that seems to get mixed reviews. GDT has larger rooms than CBR and my daughter loves the design elements. Contemporary of course has the perk of proximity to MK and the rooms are the largest of the three choices. We haven’t visited since 2012 and not sure what resort transportation is like these days. We are not planning on renting a car while we’re there, so we’re either relying on Disney transportation or rideshare.

I wouldn't want to stay at GDT because of the limited food options right now. CBR gives you more options for food, plus you could always hop on the Skyliner to eat QS at Riviera if you wanted to.

Your kids can suck it up and survive in 1 hotel room with their parents for a week.

Ultimately, go with whatever fits in your budget. But if you want to splurge, totally stay at Contemporary. To get the best of both worlds, you could stay in a garden wing room...~$200 less per night than staying in a Tower room, but you still are there at the Contemporary.

I second the advice about not doing a DVC rental. The rental contracts are usually very restrictive and you will NOT be able to get your money back if you have to cancel or reschedule...you'd need to purchase trip insurance for that.

 

[MomOTwins]

I would vote for a split stay between CR and CBR. Then plan your park days around where you are staying to minimize as much bus transportation as possible.
FYI: Based on what I've read and some of what I've experienced, the issues with the Skyliner are really mostly at park open time. The rest of the day they are usually fine. You will see a bit of a line at park close too, but it's not near as bad as having to wait for a bus (IMO).

Unless it is raining or there is lightning in the area, when it shuts down and they have ONE bus to serve every skyliner resort. We stayed 9 nights at Riviera and literally every day the skyliner was down all afternoon and evening due to lightning.

I would vote for CR. Having a nice resort with good food options is very important now with earlier park close and limited dining. And a bigger room is nice with teens especially with a daybed to allow them to have separate beds so they aren’t fighting over blanket hogging and kicking in the night.