Why?

[wdwgypsy]

Why do you pick the resorts you do when you go to WDW?

We pick the AllStar Movies because of course the disney movie theme but also we don't really want more out of a hotel than a clean bed, clean shower and place to keep our clothes and growing pile of disney souveniers. So we can't see paying some of the prices that are charged for some of the others.

Why do you pick your place to stay.

 

[Samsma]

We pick our resorts (deluxe) for the proximity to the park and the size of the rooms. We have chosen YC this year for the ease of getting to EPCOT and the Studios without having to get on a bus and travel 20 minutes. We also love the pools at the deluxes and we will be spending a lot of time at the resort on this trip. We are going to try to take it easy and relax, not being out from dawn to midnight every day and my DH can't take a small room with our kids for long at a time!

 

[wilde_oscar]

for me it is budget, values allow me to go more often... and I go commando (not that kinda commando). up in the morning at no later than 7, dressed an on the way as quick as possible to a big buffet breakfast... parks all day till close, usually DTD after, back to the room to shower and sleep, repeat. the only thing I use the resort for is a place to charge camera batteries, washing up and sleeping... no need to spend extra on a room that will get used so little . I consider the water parks to be my "pool" in the afternoons... though one day I wanna stay at BC just to check out the sand bottom pool... but I can live with out that.

 

[lov2b@disney]

We like to try new resorts- so each trip we do something different, we like that each resort has different feels and things to offer.we definately have our favorites though!

Deluxes are our favorite for sure! BC is next! So far our favorites are WL and POLY- love the proximity to MK! Size of the rooms (esp with DS x3- the youngest who is 2) we need a little more room!

 

[TiszBear]

I can't speak for anyone but me but this is why I choose where I have stayed.

Prior to buying into DVC in 1999, I picked the hotels I stayed in on property for theme and want to stay in every hotel on property. When I first started going to WDW (late 1970's), we stayed at Fort Wilderness Campground. Later when All Star Music opened that is where I stayed, that was due to price. Then I moved onto the All Star Movies, again it wa based on price and also theme. Until 1999 it was always All Star Music. In 1999 I bought in DVC and the Boardwalk was available. I had wanted to stay there but could not afford it. So DVC was it. With the DVC I stay at my home resort, The Baordwalk, but I have been able to stay at Poly, GF, Contemporary. When I didn't have enough points I stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. I have also stayed at Pop.

If I didn't have the DVC I think I would be staying one of the following, Fort Wilderness, All - Stars, or Port Orleans Riverside.

I love having the options to stay in a different theme hotel. Yes a hotel is the place to have a clean bed, a shower, and a place to eat but at Disney it is also about staying in a place that is not the normal hotel. Does that make any sense?

Jennifer

 

[SteveInBrooklyn]

For me, I always pick a resort I haven't stayed in before. I've done all the values, now I'm doing the moderates. Don't know if I'll be able to do the deluxe, though. They are just too expensive for me.

 

[Sobes]

This was our first year staying on site. We usually stay at a condo off site. So we picked ASMO, for the theme and DD(2) picked it by the pictures online. Of course we wanted to keep the cost down and that was another reason we picked ASMO..
We basically used it to charge cameras, sleep, and shower, I had the whole..up at 630am and in line for bus by 8am. It was great.(cant get up that early for work but could at Disney must be the magic).

We are discussing maybe staying AKL next year and just book early as possible and make payments. Also, DVC has been thrown around in our discussion, but not sure if its worth it...gotta do some more research.

 

[LSchrow]

we started (20+ years ago ) with budget & comfort being our main concerns. stayed at one off-site (never again), most of the moderates, then FW cabins.
realigned our preferences to location, amenities, larger rooms ("bang for buck") & stayed at all the deluxes (except CR). we would stay in the same resort, but change the type of room (GF deluxe w/sitting room, YC concierge, etc).
as the years have passed, we find we spend much more time enjoying the resort, less & less time in the parks (we have APs, so stopping in for dinner is easy ).
now we have DVC, with our absolute favorite being BWV with BW view. walking to EPCOT, watching Illuminations from our balcony, sitting by the "quiet" pool with a good book, people watching in front of BRG with drinks, playing along with the street perfomers, etc have become the most important (& memorable) parts of our WDW vacations; we no longer run from ride to ride, do "rope drops", or feel rushed/harried on our vacations....now they are all about relaxing & enjoying the "other sides" of WDW

 

[Freyja]

We will be staying at the ASMO for our first on-site stay. Until now we´ve always stayed off-site in hotels or a villa and actually will be splitting our stay between a villa and the ASMO this time.

The main reason for us is the cost. With a family of 6, soon to be seven, we need 2 rooms or a suite/condo/villa. That on top of our flights from Iceland, 3 week car rental (the cost for the flights is hardly acceptable unless we make it a long vacation), tickets, meals etc. can be quite expensive.

We wouldn´t be able to vacation as much as we do (usually 3-4 overseas trips a year) if we spent our money on deluxe accomodation.

 

[KTSMOM]

We pick the hotels that we know we will most be comfortable in. We usually take breaks in the afternoon and want to spend time resting in the room or going to the pool, so moderates seem to work nicely for us. They are within our budget range and meet our requirements for room size and ammenities. sp?
I do love the WL too but unfortunately that's not usually in my budget for our trips. We are going to spend one night at one of the POP resorts this trip and I am interested in seeing if I like it.

 

[aripantaloon]

Our first trip together in 2000, we stayed at the Poly. We wanted somewhere romantic and beautiful.

This trip, we are staying for 1 day at the All Star Movies and then a week at the AKL. We arrive at 2pm on a Friday and didn't want to pay Deluxe prices for a few hours at the resort. We chose the Movie resort over the other value ones because we thought that the theme would appeal to DD4 more than the others. We picked the AKL because DD4 absolutely LOVES animals. The rest of us do, too, but let's face it, it's all about the kids. We wanted this trip (the kids' first) to be completely awe-filled and this resort fit the bill.

We would love for it to be on the monorail for the convenience, but the monorail resorts seem to be a bit more "adult" themed than the other deluxes. Not that they aren't appropriate for kids, but they are more boring for the little ones.

 

[ntsammy5]

It's different every trip. Sometimes for the location, sometimes for for amenities, sometimes for for budgetary reasons. We find we don't stay at the resorts for huge amounts of time so spending the extra $$$ doesn't always make sense. It's nice though to stay at the SoG and have the best of both worlds. The next trip we're staying off-site for the first time in over 20 visits.

 

[Nienor]

Why do you pick the resorts you do when you go to WDW?

We pick the AllStar Movies because of course the disney movie theme but also we don't really want more out of a hotel than a clean bed, clean shower and place to keep our clothes and growing pile of disney souveniers. So we can't see paying some of the prices that are charged for some of the others.

I pick mine for exactly the same reasons. I spend my time in the parks. So all I need is a place to sleep and shower. I've stayed at ASSp and POP.

I did stay at Caribbean Beach once years ago with a good code I got. But personally the rooms aren't any nicer than value rooms. I can't see spending more just because the resort had a slide in the pool and a sit down restaurant.

 

[Marty Joe]

We worked our way up from budget, to moderate, to deluxe. While we had a great time at all of the resorts we have stayed, the Poly is our home - it is our happy place - it is where we can relax. We have one vacation a year that we pull out the stops and let-r-rip. Its not a class thing, its not a money thing (Lord knows) - its a "get me the hell out of Indiana" thing. The Poly has become our destination. I am told, however, that millions of snakes will migrate to the Polynesian resort on the 2nd week of June this year. Would'nt you just know it, this is our week !

 

[If U Had Wings]

I chose my resort by price and theme. While not on the grounds alot on my vacation, I do like to use the pool a bit, and take walks around the grounds.

The Poly would be my first choice, but unfortunately it's out of my price range. I love POFQ for the peaceful theming and the small size. I love walking around the grounds looking out over the river and exploring all the little courtyards around the place.

 

[buzznina]

We have only stayed at Values or Mods and our favorite is POR/POFQ and we decided on them because of the theme as well as the extra amenities over the Values. Since we drive to WDW we definitely need a fridge because we bring a case of water and usually will have cereal in the AM so we bring milk. We like the double sinks and the curtain to close off the bathroom area from the bedroom. POR/POFQ has boats and bikes to rent, a horse drawn carriage ride and of course a boat that goes to DTD. The price jump to the deluxes, especially the ones on the monarail line is, IMO, not worth it. We are going again the first week of December and the price difference between Mod and WL is $1k, more if wanting to stay at GF, Poly, CR etc. We have went to the deluxe resorts to eat and look around, the DW and I are not sold that it is worth it, we can spend that money on all sorts of stuff at WDW not to mention it could pay for all of our season passes for the following year. This is how we choose ours.

 

[KigerKat]

This is my first trip to Disney, but DH has been several times growing up so he let me choose where to stay. I chose POR because it had more of a romantic theme than most, it was closer to the parks, and the price wasn't too high. We don't have children (yet), so I wanted a resort that had more of an adult theme. POR seemed like the perfect place to celebrate our first anniversary at!

I would like to stay at a different resort each time we go in the future, until we find one we absolutely fall in love with. Even though our first trip is over 6 months away, I know our next trip will either be at AK or BW.

 

[Lovetherodent]

Our first trip (just dh and I), we booked what we could afford and stayed CBR (this was before the values were built).

Next trip, with two kids in tow, we stayed value, again for budget reasons. We felt REALLY cramped and found the buses crowed all the time and decided that we'd have to do a moderate in the future. Keep in mind that at this point we knew nothing about codes and discounts and just went to the travel agent and booked.

Third trip, I booked POFQ online. Then I found this site, where I learned the POFQ was closed for rehab and guests had been reassigned, BUT if I called WDW, I could probably upgrade for an astonishing low rate. I called. Got the Poly for $25 more a night than I was paying for POFQ. We were hooked, hooked I tell you on the deluxes. We just felt pampered our whole stay.

Fourth trip, dh had a conference in Orlando. If I could get a rate close to the rate offered by the conference hotel, dh's employer would pay for the room. By then I knew about Disboards and Mousesavers. We found a code and could get standard view rooms at AKL or WL for LESS than the conference hotel. Jumped on that one. We stayed at AKL because dh isn't into the whole lodge thing. Kids were unimpressed with the pool

This time, we're staying Yacht CLub. The rest of the family loves Epcot, and we're right there. Kids are still into swimming and we do go back to the resort every day for pool time. Figured we could do YC and skip the water park option on the tickets. Couldn't find a code or discount (other than AAA) for the trip, so we're shortening the stay (3 nights Disney, 3 nights Cocoa Beach), but it's worth it to us the "feel" of the deluxe resort.

 

[diane358]

I picked my resort based on price. We use our hotel for a place to sleep, shower and dress. When we are at Disney we want to be in the parks.
Last time we went we stayed at POP since our kids ages were 6, 4 and 1 1/2. Now that are kids are older, 8,6 and 3 we can't stay at a value unless we get the family suite or connecting rooms. For us it's less money to stay at POR.

 

[rebe1968]

I will be spending 60 percent of my time up and about I refusse to spend money on a empty hotel room. I dont drive half a car.So I will always stay at Value for me..I wont waste anything especially money!