Just curious what resorts everyone has stayed at? What was your favorite? Least favorite? Which would you go back to and why? We stayed at the Grand Floridian, and while I absolutely loved it, next time we would probably stay at the polynesian, the animal kingdom, or one of the moderate resorts (port orleans or caribbean beach maybe). We figured since it was our honeymoon, we might as well splurge. Next time, I don't think I will feel like spending the same kind of money though.........
The first time, we stayed at a non-Disney hotel across from Downtown Disney (Buena Vista Palace, I think)... it was nice enough... nothing too fancy, but fancier than a Best Western, if that makes any sense. When we went for our Honeymoon, we figured we'd splurge because, well, it was our HONEYMOON! ; So we stayed at the Contemporary in a Tower Club (partial concierge) room. ; LOVED it! ; lots of space, and so conveniently located with the monorail running right through the lobby! This last time, we were originally going to stay in the Contemporary again, but their prices have skyrocketed, so it was a toss-up whether we'd stay at the Polynesian or the Animal Kingdom Lodge (those were our next top-two... we considered the Grand Floridian, but when we were there in '03 we checked out the public areas of a few other hotels... the Grand Floridian just seemed too 'proper' an atmosphere for us, personally)... with the Savannah's on-site, and our new-found love of photography, the Animal Kingdom Lodge (concierge level) made more sense this time. ; We still spent a little time at the Polynesian, though, since we attended the Spirit of Aloha dinner-show ; If we were golfers, the Polynesian probably would have won out. ; We absolutely LOVED AKL... can't say enough good things about it. ; I think our only issue (apart from flight times meaning we got to sit in the lobby for 4.5 hours until our room was ready) was when we tried to FedEX some stuff home... the concierge upstairs told us he could do it for us, but it'd probably be faster to do it at the front desk... unfortunately, DH ended up with one of the newest employees down there who didn't really know how to process the shipment *sigh* ; Still... even THAT wasn't that bad ; The rooms were a good size (not as big as the Tower Club at the Contemporary, but still plenty big enough for us), the savannah view was outstanding, the service was excellent, and for the biggest hotel on-site, it was amazingly quiet! ; The in-hotel dining options were all good, too I'm trying to convince DH that next time we have to try Wilderness Lodge ; Although if there's more than just the two of us, we might need to reconsider... or try one of the cabins at that resort ; (eventually, I WILL get there *laugh*)
We stayed at Port Orleans Riversde in 2005. We all (Me, DW, DS-5 and DD-9) loved this place. ; We were in the Aligator Bayou side and the rooms were a great size and design. ; The grounds were great and the central pool was a great place for us all do have some down-time.
We stayed at the Port Orleans French Quarter. ; It was awesome. ; It was quiet and we had a large room with a king size bed. ; I loved the atmosphere and the food was great. ; Way better than the parks I thought. ; I didn't like the pool so much, but that is another story. I would definitely stay there again.
We have stayed at CBR, OKW and CSR. ; Both CBR and CSR have impressed us very much... staying in Jamaica at CBR was great, and close walking distance the main area. ; Staying right beside the 'quiet pool' at the Ranchos at CSR was also incredible... we had no idea how great that would be, very quiet and relaxing. However, we didn't enjoy OKW very much. ; We found the bus service had really long waiting times and we were also far from the main area. ; Unfortunately, they also didn't have a food court, only a full service sit down restaurant and a walk up window, which wasn't really great... The place I would love to stay next is WL... we were absolutely blown away with it when we visited Whispering Canyon.
I am pretty cheap so when we stay on site it's at a value resort. Our current favorite is Pop Century. We had a great view of hourglass lake and they have a large food court. The biggest reason we liked Pop Century however was the fact that the buses went directly to the parks there were no other stops. I don't know if this changes based on season but it made getting to the parks and home much quicker. My DW is pressuring me go go somewhere else so for our 2008 trip she wants to try the Carribean Beach Resort any thoughts on that resort?
