Debarkation Day: Scenario #2 - Spend the night in Orlando???

[SeaSpray]

DH can't make us his mind. When I told him about the 2 choices for the flight home (either 11:45am or 4:30pm) he said "maybe we should stay that night in Orlando somewhere since it's a long weekend. We can fly home on Sunday and still have off on Monday".

Ok, so I called WDW and got prices for the Polynesian, Contemporary, and Wilderness Lodge. It would be for just that one night and we wouldn't bother going into the parks, especially since it'll be Labor Day Weekend and crowded. After being on the cruise all week I'm not sure which resort we'd enjoy the most. We like the idea of being on the monorail, or else I would've gotten prices for the Animal Kingdom Lodge as well as Yacht Club. However, since we want to relax, I'm thinking we want a resort that we can spend time swimming and eating at. That leads me to my next thought which is the Kona Cafe. Our family LOVED this restaurant and that's why I'm thinking that the Polynesian fits the bill on all counts: on the monorail, great relaxing theming, and great restaurants.

On the otherhand, since I was a child and went to WDW at the age of 14 (back in 1975), I've always wanted to stay in the Contemporary tower. Maybe we should stay there because we'd still be on the monorail with easy access to the restaurants at the Polynesian. I just don't think this resort is as "relaxing" as the Polynesian would be.

Then I was thinking about the possibility of trying out either the Hard Rock Hotel or their new Royal Pacific Resort. Both of those seem like they'd be good for a relaxing overnight stay.

Can some of you please give me some input here? Between DH and I unable to make up our minds, it'd be nice to hear some other people's comments and opinions. Thanks!

 

[alexandrew]

Since you have no plans to go to any of the parks, why stay on property? Ditto for the Universal hotels you mentioned....however, if you stay on property at one of the Universal properties, you get front of the line(FOTL) access for all attractions, making an otherwise ridiculously crowded and annoying weekend (Labor Day, one of the worst in terms of crowds) more palatable....

As for whether WDW offers a similar arrangement for their parks, I'm not sure....

If you still have no plans to go to parks, I would suggest Orlando World Marriott....very very nice, yet near everything....

 

[SeaSpray]

I did think about staying off-site someplace, but not sure where. Also, we do enjoy the restaurants at the monorail resorts. Another option I guess would be to return to the Radisson at the Port for a night, relax and swim there, then go home Sunday.

I'm open to all suggestions at this point.

 

[Karel]

I would stay at Poly or the Boardwalk area. The Poly - because you like the restaurant, you can see the fireworks from the beach, rent watercraft, you can ride the boat around the lagoon and you can ride the monorail. Or stay in one of the Boardwalk resorts so you can go to the Boardwalk that night. I would pick yacht or beach club so you can have stormalong bay for entertainment. I would love to stay at Wilderness L but you might feel too stranded there.