what would your go to resort recommendation be?

[mickeyluv'r]

-Poly- we're staying here in November and I am so excited. It has great theme. I love that you can walk to the TTC to take the monorail to Epcot (when it's open). We rented someone's DVC points (ours are long gone...) which makes it more affordable. I'm not sure how comfortable you are with the like no cancellation policy.

Villas/bungalows, I gather? Poly itself is closed until "Summer 2021."

If you haven't, I suggest reading over all the closure announcements to learn what is open and closed. I have stayed at some of the hotels when they were being renovated, and often - IMO - it is no big deal, but this closure sounds a bit more extensive than usual. For example, the Poly monorail station will be closed as of November 2, and also the front door of the main building.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Totally agree with this. There are particular resorts I love in the summer, but I have no desire to stay at in the winter. T

Beyond the hotel theming, there are practical reasons to choose some resorts somewhat based on seasons. Outdoor, uncovered walkways are enjoyable on sunny spring day. In FL's wetter months, covered walkways are super! Sometimes a semi-protected pool can make a bit of difference when it comes to swimming. November can be a bit windy, and the weather sometimes borderline for swimming. At AKL and WL, the buildings partly protect the pool area from wind; while say, CR's quiet pool is both away from the hotel, on the lake, and further from the main building. Pools are heated, but still, short walks to main building are appreciated.

Another factor- partly mentioned by some- is the difference between using WDW transportation and having a car. At some hotels, parking might be right outside your room. At others, it can be a bit of a walk to your car or the bus stop.

I sometimes find, how much I like hotel is impacted by where our room happens to be, or how considerate your hotel neighbors happen to be, which isn't always 100% fair to the hotel. (Unless the walls are thin.) Sometimes a single CM can also have an impact.

We've stayed at multiple WDW and Universal resorts a number of times, and often a single cast member can make or break a hotel stay. Once at BC, a CM did a simple act of giving us a small juice box. Probably 80 cents worth of juice? But that little act of kindness, in that moment, meant the world to us. I remember her whenever we return. On the opposite end...at one hotel we encountered a CM who significantly messed up our reservation.. She tainted my perception of that hotel for a bit.

 

[fla4fun]

If food was what you missed at Pop, I would pick POFQ. You have very easy access to all the restaurants at Disney Springs, plus POR plus POFQ. That being said, from your choices, WL and CR would tie for first place. They are very different, but I love them both. Some people say CR isn’t themed, but I disagree. It has a minimalist vibe that feels very “contemporary“ the same way the trees make WL feel like a “wilderness”. POFQ and Poly would tie for second place. GF would be third and then AKL last. I like having a water feature, and really missed that at AKL. I drive, and don’t like that the self parking is across the street at GF.

If you end up looking at a moderate due to pricing when the real planning starts, with the advent of the Skyliner, I would pick POFQ first and CBR second (due to Skyliner).

Really, you won’t make a bad choice between them. Think about what amenities you want and which parks you want to get to easily, and a choice will become obvious.

 

[Wishuponastar0412]

Villas/bungalows, I gather? Poly itself is closed until "Summer 2021."

If you haven't, I suggest reading over all the closure announcements to learn what is open and closed. I have stayed at some of the hotels when they were being renovated, and often - IMO - it is no big deal, but this closure sounds a bit more extensive than usual. For example, the Poly monorail station will be closed as of November 2, and also the front door of the main building.

Yes, the Villas (DVC) side. The closure doesn't bother us much as it's just 1 night. The TTC is actually about the same distance from the DVC rooms as the main building. We actually prefer it to be quiet. We'll be at the parks both of the days and want somewhere to be able to relax at night as the parks are currently closing so early!

 

[Disneylover99]

I sometimes find, how much I like hotel is impacted by where our room happens to be,

Definitely a huge consideration for me, even at the smaller resorts.
Room location makes all the difference.

 

[Dug720]

Definitely a huge consideration for me, even at the smaller resorts.
Room location makes all the difference.

And yet, because hotels are not like cruise ships where you can select your room, that is what you have the least amount of control over. You cannot pick your room. Yes, you can make requests, but they are just that. If your desired location is filled when you arrive, no amount of pitching a fit in the lobby because you didn't get your request is going to make a room in that area become available.

I seem to be weird in this, but I make my request and let it go. I'm just happy to be at Disney, and as long as I have a room that meets what I reserved, I'm not going to raise a fuss.

 

[Disneylover99]

And yet, because hotels are not like cruise ships where you can select your room, that is what you have the least amount of control over. You cannot pick your room. Yes, you can make requests, but they are just that. If your desired location is filled when you arrive, no amount of pitching a fit in the lobby because you didn't get your request is going to make a room in that area become available.

For me, length of stay influences my feelings about location as well.

On a shorter trip, room location is not as important. But when we stay for two weeks at the same resort, we’ll request a switch the following day if we’re unhappy with our room location.

I seem to be weird in this, but I make my request and let it go. I'm just happy to be at Disney, and as long as I have a room that meets what I reserved, I'm not going to raise a fuss.

I think most people understand what a request is and very few people ”raise a fuss” but there is nothing wrong with politely asking for a room switch if there is availability. It never hurts to ask.

Anyways, we all have different priorities on our Disney trips. Neither is right or wrong or weird. Some people only use their resort to shower and sleep, while others spend more time at the resort than in the parks or opt for resort only stays.

 

[figmentfinesse]

Have you considered renting DVC points? We are a couple in our mid-20s who have a solidly Disney moderate budget, but I was able to get us a Copper Creek studio for $282 a night through points rental. Will be our first deluxe stay and I couldn't believe how easy it was. Really looking forward the microwave actually haha!

 

[cosmicdare]

And yet, because hotels are not like cruise ships where you can select your room, that is what you have the least amount of control over. You cannot pick your room. Yes, you can make requests, but they are just that. If your desired location is filled when you arrive, no amount of pitching a fit in the lobby because you didn't get your request is going to make a room in that area become available.

I seem to be weird in this, but I make my request and let it go. I'm just happy to be at Disney, and as long as I have a room that meets what I reserved, I'm not going to raise a fuss.

This is great advice. I find a lot of people think that because this is Disney, their requests will always be honored, regardless of how unreasonable the requests are.

 

[Dug720]

This is great advice. I find a lot of people think that because this is Disney, their requests will always be honored, regardless of how unreasonable the requests are.

I think it's a combination of because of it being Disney and also because of forums like these and other discussion places on the internet where people come on and post about how they got their exact request. (The same applies to pixie dust upgrades (or upgrades that happened because of some not so magical circumstance that is never revealed so it seems random) and surprises.) You don't see as many posts about people getting part of what they ask for - or not at all what they ask for but are just happy to be there - as you do the extremes so it sets up this environment where people expect everything to be honored that they want because "I read on..." (insert this or any other forum or social media site)

I learned that sometimes there is a good reason requests are not met from experience. I had one trip where it was not an unreasonable or even specific room request (simply "Broadway section in All Stars Music"). I got my room assignment and it was in the Country Music section. I politely asked if there was nothing available in the Broadway Section and the CM called the assigner's office and learned that yes, there were a couple of rooms in the Broadway section open but they were trying not to assign anyone there unless they had to as there were two tour groups staying in that section. I was very happy to have NOT gotten my request that time! I might have had to deal with the groups around the resort, but at least I didn't have to deal with them around my room!

Another time I'd booked a Standard Room at CBR and discovered on the Magical Express that I had been "upgraded" to a Pirate Room. Because I was there for Marathon Weekend, I really didn't want to deal with the added possibility of extra stuff to bang my legs on, so I went to the desk and politely asked if I could be downgraded - and a family who would love it be given that Pixie Dust. My CM got on the phone to the assigners - and the CM at the station next to her leaned over and whispered "I don't blame you!" with a wink. The assigner was able to change me - turns out it was just before they were refurbing and the area I was going to be in was slated to be up next so it was pretty run down and I think I was one of the only rooms in that building that was occupied. But it was not horrible and I accepted it because I had asked to not go into a Pirate Room.

Sometimes there is a very good reason you didn't get a request and it turns out it wasn't granted because they knew there would have been complaints about it in spite of that being your request.

 

[Shellyred8]

My significant other and i made the decision last trip that we won't be staying at Value resorts anymore. POP wasn't bad we just enjoy a bit of the finer things...in a we are in our mid-late 20's way. not a '20 year career as a CEO' way so keep that in mind lol

together me and him have stayed at coronado and caribbean beach and now Pop.
this is only his 3rd time going to Disney (all with me...i ruined him) and i have gone every year or so since i was 6 months old. so while i have stayed at a LOAD of Disney resorts i haven't ya know, personally had to pay for them all..or even remember them all.
this past trip we had a meal at grand floridian, yacht club, contemporary, wilderness lodge and walked around the polynesian and it got us thinking that we will definitely save up for a nicer resort for our next trip but which one first?!?

we compiled a list of resorts:
-Port Orleans (i have talked about it before and he likes the idea, yes it is a moderate but the one he hasn't tried)
-Contemporary
-Poly
-Wilderness Lodge
-Animal Kingdom
-Potentially Grand Floridian
We did leave out most of the EP resort area because we want more of a unique experience...one that you could only get at Disney World. Yacht Club was beautiful but for the purposes of the list we couldn't have every single resort as must do's.....

With that being said, with pricing aside for the moment (mainly because pricing isn't available for when we are looking) what is your first recommendation in terms of resorts?
save the best for last?
What is your favorite?
Was any on the list kind of disappointing? not entirely worth the money?
If you DON'T pay for a Tower room at contemporary is it kind of pointless?
What about a normal room at AKL instead of a Savannah?

we also threw around the brief concept of doing a split stay to potentially save money. but we mainly just don't know where to start or if all on the list are must do experiences.

again pricing aside for the moment. we know they are expensive and that is why we are looking for opinions. having convenient transportation is cool, but not the top reason why we liked the monorail resorts. it's more about the atmosphere, room quality, experience, restaurants, etc.

1. I love ALK. If you don't book a Savannah room, you might get a partial savanna view. If you enjoy sitting on a balcony enjoying a beverage or something like that, I would lean towards getting a Savannah view. I love the super short bus ride to AK. The bus ride to EP and HS is only 10-15 minutes (depending on traffic). Not much worse than other bus rides. The bus ride to MK is the one that gets a little longer.
2. I really like WL too. If you enjoy the pools, they have two pretty nice pools that are quite close together. It's nice to be close to MK for your MK park days. But for all other parks you have to take a bus (or some other mode of transportation).
3. I felt like the GF was overrated. For us, it's nice to visit, but we are one-and-done there.
4. We like doing split stays. We usually try to stay at an MK resort for our MK days and then at a Boardwalk resort for our HS and EP days. We usually plan for AK on our move day, since we have to take a bus regardless of where we are. Also, if you do a split stay and to do a Mod/Deluxe split, I would recommend doing the Moderate first and the Deluxe last. Save the best for last!
5. Poly - Pre-Covid, I loved this place for it's transportation options. You could boat or monorail to MK. You could walk over to the TTC to pick up the monorail to EP. Hopefully all of those options will be back some day. I also like that they have different food options. It's a nice break from burgers and hot dogs.

Happy planning!

 

[mrd7896]

i appreciate everyones' feed back so much!
this is all unchartered territory. my parents were wonderful when i was growing up to bring me to as many different resorts as possible, but i barely remember them.
and now paying for my own trips i want to enjoy my time at disney and stay at a resort that is worth it...i think i deserve to spoil myself a bit!

FWIW we are looking at December of 2021--which is why we can't get pricing yet. Usually by this time we'd already have something booked but just waiting on Disney.
So the reno's should be complete by then for resorts.

Deluxe wise i think we are leaning towards AKL and Poly.

If a split stay makes sense we will start at Poly least expensive room option (for Epcot and MK) and move to AKL for the remainder of our stay in a Savannah View Room.
I'm eager to see what the price difference for having a full stay at those respective resorts vs. split stay would be.
We don't think GF is in the cards for this next trip and unless CR is pricing wonderfully (for a main tower room) we prefer Poly overall as the resort option.

If we can't financially do back to back deluxe's we may split and go over to GDT since i've been looking at those rooms nonstop.

Naturally my sweet sweet boyfriend threw a wrench in my pre-planning thoughts when he asked about split staying and doing half of our trip at a Universal hotel.
We are big potterheads and more of 'adrenaline junkies' when it comes to rides so we really enjoy spending 2 to 3 park days in Universal and Islands of Adventure.
He made a great point that during our stay a few weeks ago it was semi-convenient to travel back and forth to Universal from POP because we were sharing a rental car with some other members of our party. But in past trips we've had to Uber because we don't normally go the rental car route. I think it could be fun to switch things up and stay at Universal..i know you get an extra hour at the parks and maybe we could stay at one of their 'deluxe' resorts with the Express Pass included.

But that means we only will do one disney hotel and my decision is STILL UP IN THE AIR.

eagerly waiting for Disney to give me some pricing! I can't decide if i want the convenience factor (AKA a monorail hotel), or more of the atmosphere aspect for a December Holiday trip.
so even though i didn't want it to solely be up to pricing..as always it will be

 

[quinacciani]

DH and I are deluxe-or-bust folks at this point too. I grew up staying at the All Stars or my aunt's house an hour from Orlando, while DH's fam stayed at the Poly or WL

IDk if anyone suggested this, but if you are planning far out, I would consider renting DVC points. Just book 11 months to the day you wnt to go. We used them for OKW and saved a ton. It makes staying at the deluxe resorts more palatable for us. Granted this is pre-COVID advice, but I would at least reach out to DVC Rental Store for a quote. You are out your deposit if you cancel and don't purchase the insurance plan. This plus tix from Undercover Tourist will give you some savings depending no dates/discounts Disney is offering at the time.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

And yet, because hotels are not like cruise ships where you can select your room, that is what you have the least amount of control over. You cannot pick your room. Yes, you can make requests, but they are just that. If your desired location is filled when you arrive, no amount of pitching a fit in the lobby because you didn't get your request is going to make a room in that area become available.

I seem to be weird in this, but I make my request and let it go. I'm just happy to be at Disney, and as long as I have a room that meets what I reserved, I'm not going to raise a fuss.

A few things to unpack here. I rarely make much in the way of room requests before I arrive. I maybe check one of the boxes on the electronic form, though in my experience, it is somewhat like drawing straws or rolling dice.

But why the unnecessary hyperbole in your post?

I have found that an effective strategy for getting what I want/need in just about any business transaction is to actually communicate with people. When it comes to room requests, mine are very minimal. If however, it happens that I don't care for my room assignment, my approach is simply to talk - politely -to the front desk staff to see if a more preferable option is available. If not, I generally accept the room location.

It is a simple transaction.

That said, I've been to WDW many times. On rare occasions, I've been assigned a rooms with significant problems. I won't list them, but think clear health code violations. These rooms should have been pulled out of inventory. In those cases, I felt I had a responsibility to alert the staff so that they can fix it. Silently tolerating a health code violation doesn't do anybody any good.

I'd hate to see a child injured because one of us wasn't brave enough to report a serious safety risk.


I also sorta think you are conflating three different things. If it happens, that say, another guests behaves very rudely, that's beyond WDW's control, but it still might taint my perception of that hotel. On the opposite end, one small kindness from another guest can have a lasting positive impression for a long time, even though that is also beyond WDW's control.

 

[Dug720]

But why the unnecessary hyperbole in your post?

Hyperbole would be saying ALL guests who do not get their requests pitch fits, which I did not do.

However, I have both worked in a hotel and seen/heard fits pitched when people did not get requests as well as more than once seen a Disney guest berating CMs about not getting their requests. If you have never experienced it, be thankful.

It may be rare and I've had bad luck seeing it as much as I have, but it does happen. And even you admitted that a guest behaving very rudely might taint your opinion.

I'm unclear where a child being injured even enters into this. That has nothing to do with room requests and I mentioned nothing about it in my post.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Hyperbole would be saying ALL guests who do not get their requests pitch fits, which I did not do.

However, I have both worked in a hotel and seen/heard fits pitched when people did not get requests as well as more than once seen a Disney guest berating CMs about not getting their requests. If you have never experienced it, be thankful.

It may be rare and I've had bad luck seeing it as much as I have, but it does happen. And even you admitted that a guest behaving very rudely might taint your opinion.

I'm unclear where a child being injured even enters into this. That has nothing to do with room requests and I mentioned nothing about it in my post.

No, but there's a lot of grey area between the two options you gave: not speaking up at all or "pitching a fit." Maybe I'm misreading your earlier post.

You mentioned pitching a fit. I wouldn't pitch a fit over a room request, but there are rare times I feel justified in taking a firm stand with front desk staff. That's what I meant.

I have done my time working in the service sector. I don't spend much time in the hotel lobbies. I only recall one rude lobby family at WDW and they weren't yelling over their room. They were yelling over a free flower a CM had given them.

Generally, I don't pay attention to other peoples' conversations, unless they are exceptionally loud. I only paid attention to the family with the flower because of the yelling. Big sis was hitting little sis with it and little sis was yelling. It was truly exceptional to see a little girl beating her sister with a flower until it broke all over the floor. Rudeness was the way they just left it on the floor, and maybe the way the adult just ignored the way the two girls were behaving.

 

[starousse]

Although our favorite is the Poly, you're best bang for the buck would be to get a standard room at AKL. You get the comfort and convenience of deluxe without the hefty pricetag. When you check in or prior, put in a request for a partial Savannah room and there's a very good chance of having an amazing view.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

If doing AKL, spring for the savannah view rooms. It's the main attraction at this resort, so why miss it? If not going for savannah view because you won't spend long at the resort, then don't stay there.

My favorite is the Contemporary. It's just the coolest. CR, along with the Poly, offer the quintessential WDW experience. And the food is very good, with Steakhouse 71 offering excellent value for delicious food.

Wherever you decide to stay, just make sure to take the time to explore and appreciated the details. Notice all the work the imagineers put into making the resorts magical!