Your Favorite Resort?

Good question! We have stayed at Values when our kids were small and it was perfect for us. We have stayed at the Dolphin and the location is awesome and the heavenly beds are really heavenly, but no ME and it didn't "feel" as Disney to me. Our last several stays have been at Port Orleans Riverside and we LOVE it here. I guess as of right now POR is on the top of my list. That being said, I would like to be able to try ALL of the resorts at some point!

Yeah my favorite resort is Wilderness Lodge also. I also love the theme, the food, the pools, the boat ride to MK, the water pageant, the privacy and the way that you are greeted at check in! I've visited all of the Deluxe resorts and stayed at OKW, BW and WL. My favorites are WL and BW because of the location and themes. However, i'm sure I would be happy at any Deluxe resort as OKW was just as relaxing and they have a great pool and homey feel.

Way to hard to pick. Resorts are the 5th theme park, wait the food is the 5th theme park? So Resorts are the 6th or 5.5th. Anyway, no matter where we stay we always make it a point to go to the other resorts for something. Dinner, drink(, shopping. When staying onsite you may sleep in one resort but I feel welcome and enjoy visiting all of them.

Wilderness Lodge is a close second but for me it's Animal Kingdom Lodge, no contest.

Wilderness lodge is our favorite hands down. We have stayed at the Poly, Port Orleans FQ and Riverside, and Pop Century. The only one I probably wouldn't go back to is Pop. It just wasn't my kind of hotel. Next year we are staying at Riverside and Animal Kingdom is on my wish list. Boardwalk is this year and I am excited to be so close to Epcot!

Pop Century is my favorite! I have stayed other places, but I love everything about Pop.

Our first stay was CBR and loved it, then it was POFQ two years later, and really loved it more, and two years later it was PORS and we thought this was the perfect resort so we stayed there a further twice until we got a 40% offer in 2014 at WL..OMG.. ...Big mistake..Don't think we would venture to another resort, just love everything about it..

My favorite resorts are the WL and Beach Club villas . The feel at both of these resorts are spot-on as being at a luxury resort at the Northwest or Northeast US. But for the last few years and for convenience to EPCOT & the Food and Wine Festival, we've been staying at the Beach Club (which is on my top two list) .

I've only stayed at five resorts (all values or moderates). Pop is my favorite value and POFQ is my favorie moderate. I would happily stay in either of those again.

I don't have a favorite. Each one is special in its own way.

We've only stayed in 3 so far. Of those 3 the only one we won't stay in again is Port Orleans Riverside. The mosquitos, the ridiculous bus lines and waits and the overall feel weren't for us. Our favorite is tied between Caribbean Beach (feels like you're on a Caribbean vacation on a Disney vacation and the cool kid-friendly pool) and French Quarter (small and easy to maneuver). Unlike Goldilocks I still don't think we've found the one that's juuuuust right though.

Art of Animation was a favorite of ours! The lobby is outstanding! The rainbow colors and all of the concept drawings are a sight to see. We've stayed at all of the Value's and never found anything to complain about so we liked them too. I stayed at Caribbean Beach YEARS ago so I really don't remember much about it. We have toured a bunch of others and we stay at AKL for the first time in a couple of weeks so I'm thinking it may top the list!

I'll rank the ones I've stayed at:

1 Beach Club
2 Boardwalk
3 Bay Lake Towers
4 Grand Floridian
5 POP
6 SSR

I think the most "magical" resort I've stayed at was the Grand Floridian, however my heart belongs to the Polynesian. That being said, we own at Animal Kingdom Lodge and I can't say enough good things about it.

The Polynesian is our favorite resort. It hooked us the first time we stayed there. We have stayed in garden view rooms and MK view rooms, but our favorite is 3rd floor Tuvalu MK view. We have not stayed at the Poly DVC yet, that is in January.

My next favorite would have to be the Contemporary, MK view. I love the clean lines of the rooms there and the basic colors. It feels clean and crisp. The Theme Park view is awesome, although not only for park but also the view of the entire area and the Poly & GF and Seven Seas Lagoon. Walk out onto that balcony on a clear day and it can take your breath away, but the Poly can do that too in its own right.

We have stayed in the GF theme park view once and we were not impressed at all with the room or the view. We were right out on the end building you see when taking the boat from the MK to the GF. We were first floor and the view was nothing spectacular of the MK, even the fireworks were not impressive from there.

Now the DVC Villas at the GF were impressive. We stayed in the 2 bedroom villa and the master bath is awesome! We were to floor facing the Wedding Chapel and the parking lot, but that did not bother us a bit. We could see and here the Poly, the Monorail and watch the weddings. we also had 3 full balconies outside.

We have stayed at the Boardwalk several times, all DVC, boardwalk view and garden view, and we would stay there again. I really enjoyed the Boardwalk view and listening to people and watching the performers on the boardwalk. Would definitely request close to the elevator though next time. It can be a real hike to your room. We had one bedroom villas both times.

SSR is our home resort and have stayed there several times with no problems at all. The resort is really spread out, but we drive our car and it does not bother us a bit. Love the views of DTD from Congress Park buildings. They also have the best hidden Gem of a restaurant "The Turf Club Bar & Grill". They have some awesome food and great service. It's usually an easy place to get in if you do not have an ADR.

We like the AK Lodge and Kidani Village. Both resorts are amazing to see but are the farthest from everything except for the Animal Kingdom Park.

We have stayed at the Yacht Club one night, Club level. Not impressed with the Club level at all, but the resort itself was nice. I would like to try it again sometime.

The Beach Club we stayed DVC several times. Just didn't do anything for me and no I don't think we would ever stay there again unless we had too!

The only Moderate we ever stayed at was the Caribbean Beach Resort. We stayed there several times before I got Scrappy to agree to stay at the Poly and the was the end of that! Only went back once for one night, but I would stay there again if need be. It was a pretty nice resort. Its big though.

We stayed at one Value Resort, I think it was All Star Music. I think my mind is blocking out that trip because the only thing I remember is going to open the dresser drawer and when I pulled on the handles, the whole front on the dresser came off. Also the beds sucked!

Aside from the fact that I haven't visited the sports or movies sections of the All-Star resorts, I've been to every resort on property. I've ranked them based on, assuming equal prices, where I would try next if the resort I wanted was full. The ones where I've actually been a guest are in bold. The other rankings are pure speculation and are based solely only my impression of the lobby, shops, and restaurants that I have visited at the resort.

1. Wilderness Lodge
2. Port Orleans Riverside
3. Contemporary/ Bay Lake Tower
4. Polynesian
5. Beach Club (staying for the first time in March!)
6. Grand Floridian
7. Port Orleans French Quarter
8. Old Key West
9. Boardwalk
10. Saratoga Springs (where we own)
11. Art of Animation
12. Fort Wilderness (Cabins--I don't so much do the camping)
13. Animal Kingdom Lodge
14. Coronado Springs
15. Pop Century
16. Caribbean Beach
17. All-Stars
18. Swolphin

Deluxe - Contemporary - for decor and view, Beach Club - for location
Moderate - Port Orleans French Quarter - hands down
Value - Art of Animation

Ok, I don't want to get scolded and yelled at or hijack a thread but WHY is this the complaint I hear most about this resort???

Deluxe - Boardwalk (I would love to try Poly, GF, or WL.)
Moderate - Caribbean Beach Resort
Value - Pop

I don't think we will ever stay value again unless we have to. A few reasons: overly crowded, beds suck (only a full bed & they are hard), ugh the busing system shared between the All Star is terrible!

Moderate - I've actually stayed at all except Coronado Springs. I just like the tropical theme best! I would def. be willing to stay moderate again. The only downfall is the distance to bus stop and main lobby area.

No scolding JMed, that's an honest question. I think it just seems that it is the furthest truthfully. Plus most of the other resorts are sort of bunched together and AK Lodge & Kidani Village are all out on their own. No monorail, no boat, no walking to anything. As close as it is, I don't even think you can walk to AK Park as far as I know. What they need is one of those overhead ski lift type rides from AK Lodge to the Park, going over the Safari, or right next to it.

Hopefully if you were staying there, you would get an automatic fast pass for the ski lifts! LOL. I know no one is going to scold I just know some are very passionate about their reasons. I don't mind driving to the parks. Even with the bus system, boats, and such, we still take our car (I know not everyone has this option) I feel more in control that way. I just find that "reason" for not liking AKL the most dominate one.

We stayed at the Values and they don't have those options either, is it mainly because its a Deluxe with no other option than bus???

For me some of the it feels so far away from everything has to do with our meals. I know a lot of people love them, but none of restaurants in Animal Kingdom Lodge give me the wow factor. I do not really dislike any of them but none of them rates as a have to do it again meal. If we stay on a monorail resort we have a ton of choices that are only a boat ride or monorail ride away. If we stay in the Epcot area resorts, we have a lot to choose from that are only a boat ride away. Not always having to drive for a meal is great if you like to have an adult drink with your meal. Than add to that, that we usually only spend 1/2 day in the Animal Kingdom during our whole trip. All of that just makes it seem like we do a lot more driving when we stay there than any other resort.

You may have hit the nail on the head! We drive everywhere too, unless I'm planning to partake excessively in spirits. Then it's a cab!

We love the rooms at AK Lodge & Kidani Village and I know the roads so well its only a few minutes anywhere by car, but get caught in traffic, like the day of the wild fire and I4 was closed, whew! Took us close to an hour for a 10 minute trip.

Thanks y'all just wondering about that for a while now!!!!

My favourite is also Wilderness Lodge. I've only stayed at WL, BCV and POFQ but have visited all the deluxe resorts and I would still book WL next time if we could afford it. I love the theming, the sights, sounds and smells of WL are just gorgeous I love that MK is a boat ride away, the boats are my favourite sort of transportation and the CMs there were the friendliest and most helpful of the various resorts we visited. In fact I liked it so much I bought a print to bring back home with me

Preview	Attachment	Size
	img_5520.jpg	1.05 MB

Yay..Bought the exact print last year and it hangs proudly in our living room..

For me, my favorite in terms of the ones I've stayed is Pop Century. (Only other hotel I've ever stayed in was All-Star Sports.) Seems more vibrant and colorful with all the pop culture toys and icons from the past. Maybe I feel that way being a history major and knowing about all the different social changes and culture in American history.

In terms ones I want to stay at but haven't, Animal Kingdom Lodge tops the list. It is isolated away from the other deluxe resorts but I think having that far-away location from MK and Epcot works in its favor. It's a very calm, pristine and serene resort by the looks of it and I love the lobby and its theming. Plus the restaurants they have look very appetizing.

Thanks for asking the AKL question JMED, I've been wondering the same thing!
We have fallen in love with AKL but we also don't drive & we rely on Disney's transportation.
We also don't tend to park hop very much and when we are out at a park, we usually stay there
the day without going back to our room. I think these are some of the reasons we wouldn't mind
staying at AKL. That being said, we have only visited there and not stayed there overnight...so
perhaps if we were there for a whole week we would change our mind.

For now, POR French Quarter is our first love. I keep telling Amy if they were to up grade it
to a DVC Property- we'd be in big trouble because I would take the DVC plunge without looking back!