Disney World Vacation Package - Have you stayed at a Walt Disney World Resort?

Have you stayed at a Walt Disney World Resort?

I haven't been since I was a child, and I'm planning on taking my children next year. I'm trying to pick a disney resort, they all look great but, I'd love to hear about your experiance at the resorts. Any recommendations? Thanks for all the great answers!!! Keep them coming :)

Public Comments

Yep. Coranado (sp?) Springs.
I stayed at the African-themed place. It was okay. I would rather have stayed at a different one though. The only cool thing was animals roaming around (zebras and giraffes and stuff) but you didn't see them that often by just looking off the balcony.
well... their all very nice. there isn't one bad one i suggest you set a budget and see what kind of hotel you can get with it. you could also stay at a hotel outside disney world. we were going to, but we ended up staying because of the complications w/ taxi and it would cost alot
I've stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort and the Polynesian Village, and both were awesome and their own unique benefits. My favorite was the Caribbean Beach Resort simply because of the places to walk and the different looks of each Island being recreated. All the resorts seem like they have their own special qualities, so I would recommend staying at different places each time - you can't go wrong.
yes
For five consecutive summers, my family and I travelled to Florida for two weeks. We stayed at the Wilderness Resort each time. I highly recommend it. The lodging is wonderful: nice sized cabins with enough room to comfortably fit six or seven (I'm one of five children, plu my two parents), and you would definitely like the forests and wetlands in that part. You can get a club car and travel to the pool, golf course, horse back riding area, and many other places. There are always little lizards running everywhere, so if your children are young, like my brothers, they can chase them around and try to catch them. We also say some exotic wild birds just walking around, like a peacock or two. One of the highlights was the weekly movie night, in which you can gather round a huge bonfire, roast marshmellows, and watch a classic Disney movie on the big projection screen. It is simply beautiful, I don't think words do it justice. There is also the added bonus of being right near the park, with a shuttle that runs continuously to being people back and forth. We also pool-hopped quite a bit, as all of the resorts have spectacular pools to visit. Have a great time, hope this helps!
I have stayed their with my kids and had a great time. They seem to all be good in their own way. We stayed at Dixie Landing . It had a swamp outback type of feel and it was very nice. No complaint. They even have a place within walking distance through the woods to go eat and have breakfeast. They had everything at that place for breakfeast. You could also take a boat down the river to visit other parts of the park or take a bus/shuttle that ran often to wherever u wanted to go in the park. No cars involved at all. I have to say that my favorite place to go in the park was epcot. Lots of places to eat their and visit. Parades are awesome!! Different country buildings to see. Magic kingdom also fantastic. It was my fourth time their in 30 years. Have a great time....
Yes, I've stayed at the All Star (Sports) and the Port Orleans (has a new name now). I highly recommend the All Star resorts. The pools are fun. The theming is fantastic, food court good and easy to use and the All Star resorts are priced lower than the others. All Disney resorts are great and going to be super kid friendly. But, the All Star resorts are cheaper and the theming is so fun. My son (10 at the time) is a sports nut so we stayed at the All Star Sports. Next time we go we will stay that the All Star Movies because I love the disney movies. If you don't need all the amenities (room service, etc.) go to an All Stars! Go to this website: www.allearsnet.com. It's like the Disney travel bible! It will answer any question you have about Disney and disney vacations. It's a great site I used when planning my trip!!!
I love all of them and have stayed at almost all the Disney resorts at least once. Personally, I think the Animal Kingdom Lodge has the most comfortable beds on property. I would normally suggest looking into staying at a resort closest to the theme park you plan to visit most while visiting.
No way! I saved hundreds of dollars staying in a motel in Kissimmee. You can see the lovely Disney World Resorts without staying there. There is a FREE bus that takes you from all the hotels in Kissimmee to Disney World. And the Lynx bus takes you directly to Disney World from Irlo Bronson Highway. And you can ride the bus anywhere in central Florida for $3 a day!
The last trip I made was in 1999 and I stayed at the Wilderness Lodge. It was an awesome place and there's a boat dock right behind it to catch boats to the Magic Kingdom or the transportation center. The WDW buses also make stops there every 10 or 15 minutes. I loved staying at the Wilderness Lodge.
We stayed at Port Orleans-Riverside,it was very nice,but it was more of an adult resort.My brother's family stayed at the all star movie resort.We went to see it,and will stay there next time.More kid oriented.One thing I can tell you is to take full advantage of the dining plan.I have 4 kids and the meal package saved us a ton.Also,NEVER EVER go in August.It was sooooo HOT.They also keep one of the parks open late every night for resort guests only.
Yes. I think the Beach Club, and the Contemporary have very kid friendly themes, and atmosphere.
I love love love the Port Orleans Riverside. Its the nicest of the moderate resorts. Its formerly the Dixie Landings resort that they remodeled. Its nestled right on the river so there are boat rides back and fourth to Downtown Disney. They have a huge food court, Boatwrights restaurant, several pools and countless other amenities. I like it so much we are going back again in December. There are some really pretty beautiful pics of it on this website. http://www.allears.net good luck!
First choice for me is Animal Kingdom Lodge. It a lower price deluxe resort. Watching from my hotel room while animals eat plants is relaxing. They have bunk beds if your kids need to sleep away from each other ($25 more/night for bunk beds). Second choice is Port Orleans, French Quarter. The beds are smaller (not queen sized) but the pool as a great theme with a sea serpent slide. Pop Century is my favorite for "value resort," but if you can afford it, stay in a mid or higher priced resort. I would stay away from Coronado Springs unless you will have a rental car, too much walking because the resort is so spread out. Also, people in business suits for conferences spoil the vacation atmosphere.
just got back in may---we stayed at the polynesian--it was expensive--but i just loved it--my 3 boys loved it too--balcony to sit outside while they slept, beach for them to play at, we took the boat around the lagoon one afternoon after lunch just to give them some time to digest before going back in the pool. they have a cafe for snacks, of course the monorail to magic kingdom, and my favorite--we watched the magic kingdom fireworks from the beach every night--no crowds to worry about. We did eat breakfast at the beach club--never stayed but very nice--walking distance to epcot--you can see epcots fireworks from there--they have the best pool of all the disney hotels~~~
i like boardwalk inn its such a nice resort
if you do not mind the price i love the Beach Club. The pool is awesome, and you can get a smaller room which is cheaper
We loved the Polynesian, and Fort Wilderness when our kids were young, they are beautiful and the restaurants are great. As preteens the kids favorite changed to the Contemporary. Now that we spend little time in our rooms we stay at Pop Century and save enough to go more often or stay longer each trip.
We have stayed at the Polynesian and the Beach Club on Concierge level and non-concierge levels. The resorts are very nice and family friendly. My family really believes it is worth the expense to be right in Disney Property. We love being able to get back to our resort as soon as we start getting hungry or tired. It's also nice to be able to go back to the resort for cocktails while we enjoy the fireworks. We also like to split our stay between resorts. If we're enjoying Epcot, we'll stay at an Epcot resort. If we're in Magic Kingdom we'll stay at one of those. That way you get all the benefits without having to deal with buses and stuff. I hope you have a great trip.
Stayed at the pop century. I think it would be nice to stay at a disney hotel because you don't have to worry about driving and you get into the park earlier. With staying at the lowest priced hotel disney has, you could afford to have them next door (don't know how old they are, maybe not possible) but anyway it was a nice room. The hotel was loaded with kids, they would have others to play with at the pool.
WITH KIDS I SUGGEST THE ALL STAR MOVIES RESORT -IT NICE AND CHEAP. HAS A THEMED POOL WITH FOUNTAIN ARCADE,DINER,HUGE GIFT SHOP,A CHILD'S THEATER, AND ALL THE BUILDING ARE THEMED AROUND DISNEY MOVIES SUCH AS TOY STORY,FANTASIA,HERBIE,101 DALMATIANS. IT GREAT. you GET ALL THE ADVANTAGES(BUS PICKS YOU UP AT THE HOTEL AND THE PARK,SORRY THE MONORAIL DOESN'T COME THAT WAY BUT YOU CAN RIDE IT AROUND TO VISIT THE OTHER HOTELS) AS THE REGULAR RESORTS WITH A CHEAP PRICE OR DO THE POP CENTURY BUT I LIKED MOVIES BETTER ALSO TAKE YOUR KIDS TO CINDERELLA'S ROYAL TABLE FOR BREAKFAST IT ALL YOU CAN EAT CHARACTER MEAL IN THE CASTLE AND THE RAIN FOREST CAFE VERY COOL
Every resort I have stayed at was fantastic! We've stayed at some expensive ones and some budget ones. Even on the lower end, things were great; the pools, the food, the room, etc. I don't think you could go wrong at any of them. I've stayed at Coronado Springs, Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge (GREAT for kids, get a room with a view of the savannah!), Beach Club, Caribbean, and All Star Movies.
We stayed at the BoardWalk Villas in a boardwalk-view studio (renting points from a Disney Vacation Club member), and absolutely loved it. The Beach Club Villas across the lake from the BoardWalk has a huge sand-bottom semi-water park, so that's where we'll be staying on our next trip with our children. I highly recommend renting Disney Vacation Club points from an owner and staying at a DVC resort. Renting points makes staying in a Villa very affordable, and you get all the perks of staying at a Disney resort as though you had booked a package (such as Magic Express and the Disney Dining Plan). The DIS Boards' DVC Rent/Trade forum is a great place to look for DVC points to rent (look to spend no more than $10/point).
Have stayed at both Pop Century and Coronado Springs and would reccomend them to anyone.