We booked BC last December because, well - it's one of our favourites and we hadn't stayed there in a while. We booked it last April and then decided to get APs and go several times over the next year. We then decided that, instead of staying at our usual favourites, we'd stay at all of the deluxes we hadn't stayed at yet to confirm that our favourites are really just that (our current favourites are: GF, BWI, BC, AKL).
Because we are going more often for the next year, some very short trips and some longer, we decided that we would be spending more time at the resort and taking advantage of the pool, lounges, grounds, and just generally relaxing rather than going to the parks all day long. We like to do TS restaurants 1-2 times per day plus spend time just relaxing in lounges so proximity to choices can be a factor too. We used to pick the resort based on the parks we intended to primarily do that trip but we now tend to go whatever park we feel like whenever we feel like it so it's not quite as much of a factor but it can be for certain things.
February we did Wilderness Lodge and really liked it. We really enjoyed the pool, Geyser Point, the couches by the water and the general vibe of the place. We spent part of one day with friends and the rest going to all of the parks and Disney Springs as well as time in the pool, lounges, and generally hanging out - location wasn't really an issue either positively or negatively. But it's definitely going on the favourite list. I'm not really sure exactly what it was about the resort but it really struck a note with us.
In May we're going to the Contemporary. It's not one we've ever really had much desire to stay at but it was on the list and our friends said they'd come and stay at BLT for a few days with us because they hadn't been there before. I'm not sure the pool will be a winner for us but it's also a short trip and half of it will be with our friends. They really like to spend time at MK so proximity may be a good thing for this stay. We are also going to V&A for dinner one night so the closeness to GF is handy.
In September we're going to stay at YC. We plan to spend a lot of time at F&W so the proximity was a definite plus here. We're also going to
MNSSHP so while it's not as convenient, we're planning to spend more time at F&W than MK so location was a major factor. Also the proximity of so many restaurants between Epcot/YC/BC/Boardwalk/S&D.
That leaves only the Poly out of the deluxes. We toured around it 2-3 times over the last two trips and decided to eliminate it from our list even though it violates our original plan. We just can't seem to get over the 70's vibe of the outer buildings (narrow and dark hallways with low drop ceilings with ceiling tiles). The pool is really small and very shallow. The layout of the grounds seems disorganized and unappealing to us. Maybe if the price had been more on par with WL we'd have done it but the pricing is more on par (or higher!) than GF so we just couldn't get over that. We both admit that we may have been influenced by Aulani and how amazingly they've designed that and that the Poly fares poorly against that. In any case, we have decided to stay at BWI for December. We plan V&A this trip too so GF was a potential choice although we'd have had to do a bit of modification of our dates because availability is a bit limited. However, we haven't stayed at the BWI for a long time and we really enjoy Epcot during the Christmas season and the restaurant and lounge choices. So proximity won out a bit this time even though we intend to do
MVMCP as well as V&A. We haven't spent time in the clown pool at all but we have fond memories of the quiet pool where we were often the only people there so BWI it is.
