Favorite Disney Resort

[diz-knee24]

Hey Guys....i was wondering what people thought about various resorts in WDW. my favorite for example has to be animal kingdom lodge just for the great views of the animals. And dont forget about the african buffet yum. Also if anyone has any cool secrets about port orleans french quarter i would love to hear them..much obliged

[Wonderland16]

at the lobby at the french quarter, the music notes on the lobby desk spells out "When the Saints Go Marching In"! check it out when you go!

[GIOny]

My favorite is usually whichever one I stayed in last last and in this case that would be the Wilderness Lodge.

[diz-knee24]

cool

[SkellingtonGRL]

I stayed at Port orleans, both of them!...the french quarter is the better of the two DEF!...there are leaf impressions on the sidewalks, and the pool slide is sooo much fun!!!! i must have went down it a thousand times!

[nicki12]

I have been to only one resort and that is Shades of Green (I am a Navy brat) and I loved it. I really want to go to the Grand Floridian or the Carribean Beach Resort when I go back next yeat but I still don't know.

[Cinderella2]

I love the little brick streets and the beignets at the FQ. The GF, though, is breathtaking. I adore the bird cage in the lobby, and the cozy lounge on the second floor.

[MickeyMagic08]

I really like the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had a room with a Savanna View and there were these birds that would always stare at themselves in the reflection on a door on the bottom floor. It was also cool to listen to the animals at night. Very relaxing!

[wdwforever]

One of my favorite resorts is Animal Kingdom Lodge. Something about the smell that I love. I do like Port Orleans - French Quarter, we just stayed there in December, loved the atmosphere and the beignets. I have also stayed at All Star Sports and Music, Contemporary, and Caribbean Beach. I've always wanted to stay at Wilderness Lodge though.

[cskiff7895]

contempory is by far my favorite, get a room in the main tower with a theme park view, it's awesome

[Tmntrans]

Stayed at Caribbean this trip..No problems , quiet, EASY access with buses,but the pool was closed the day before we got there due to refurb.Went for lunch at Wilderness Lodge. Was promptly TOLD WE WERE staying there next.

[queenofthehouse]

at the lobby at the french quarter, the music notes on the lobby desk spells out "When the Saints Go Marching In"! check it out when you go!

Thanks for sharing; I didn't know this about the notes.

Resorts I've staying at:
Shades of Green: very nice, afordable prices and the rooms are more like a Disney Deluxe resort, the only thing is because it's not really Disney, the resort bus doesn't take you directly to the parks, it takes you to the transportation center. Because of that, it takes a little longer to get where you want to go.

All Music: Fun. My first Disney property vacation. My son was only 7 and he enjoyed that everything was so BIG. Our room was by the BIG western boot. The food court has something for everyone.

Contemporary: We are lucky enough to stay at the Contemporary when the Shades of Green was being renovated. The wing we stayed in is gone now, but I loved it. I especially loved being able to walk back from Magic Kingdom after the fireworks. The bus stops were crowded with people and we could just walk. Our room was so big for just my son and I. We had a great view of the monorail riding by and going into the tower. One of my favorite photos is of my son lying on the bed reading, and seeing the monorail going by in the background. Staying at the Contemporary is why I am a Disney property only vacationer.

Caribbean Beach - 3 times: I love this resort. It's so big that each section has it's own smaller pool. The main pool looks like a fort with cannons shooting out water. The food court has something for everyone. The feel of the resort is very tropical and relaxing. The rooms are the largest our of the moderate rate resorts and the same size as the rooms at the Animal Kingdom and Wilderness lodge (deluxe). The one complaint that I hear, from others, about this resort is that it's so big and it is. I don't mind walking, so I didn't find it a problem. But if you do, then just request a section closer to the food court or even Jamaica isn't that far it's across the bridge; so it's away from the crowds, but close enough to walk across the bridge. The Caribbean Beach is one of my very favorites. The only problem I have with it is the bus. Becasue the resort is so big, it takes the bus a long time to get out because it has so many stops. And because there are so many stops, by the last few stops, people end up having to stand.

Aminal Kingdom Lodge - 3 times: Everyone needs to stay here at least once. First visit, I was not happy. It was a busy Feb. vacation week and we were given a smoking room (we don't smoke). My son and I had a headache and my husband's eye were so red. Everything in the room smelled, even my pillow. I complained everyday for 4 days, with no luck. The only reason I even went back is after I wrote a letter to complain, I was given a free night. I used it on my next visit, for our last night and they gave us a Savanna view, which was breathtaking. Because of hurricane Charley we were then stuck there for 4 days. After that I love the place. The people couldn't have been nicer. They worked really hard to entertain the guest even though I'm sure they had their own personal issues to worry about. But getting back to what the resort has to offer: The food court is good and the other dining offers are to pricey. The animals are a great plus. The kids enjoyed the pool because you could walk in like being at the beach. The lobby is incredible and don't pass by all the cases they have displayed. The artwork and the huge mask are very interesting. Get one of the CM's to give you a lobby tour.

Wilderness Lodge - 3 times: This is my son's favorite resort; I can only get out of him "because it's neat". Eat at the Whispering Pines and ask for ketsup (very funny), the kids will enjoy that. They also have a wonderful lobby with totem poles and indian head dresses. The food court is small, but you should find everything you need. I love the water launch to the Magic Kingdom, what a relaxing way to travel. Keep in mind that even though this resort is close enough to see the MK fireworks, the problem is that the trees are to high to see them. You will need to go down to the beach or the boat rental dock, unless you are staying on the 6th floor over on the left side. If you get a pool view, you might want to stay higher then the 2nd or 3rd flloor, for a little more quiet. At night you can see the Water Parade, which will go by the resort, with it's music and changing characters and lights. The pool is nice and has what looking like a running stream flowing into it. Lots of photo opportunities here.

The Polynesian: I still haven't made up my mind about this one. It has so much going for it. The monorail is a big plus and you can also easily walk from the monorail at the transportation center too. At night it's beautiful to sit on the beach and watch the fireworks from the MK or the Water Parade. The other fun thing is that you can also hear the narration from the fireworks because they have speaker all around the pool, bar and dock area. It was great being right there for the Ohana character breakfast. The lobby is very nice with the waterfall. We also had a great view of the marina too. This resort has a lot of good things but I wasn't happy about the amount of foot traffic. This resort gets a lot of visitors from other resorts because of the Luau at night and in the morning because of the Ohana character breakfast. It just seems that there is always a constant stream of people waling by. I felt a little like I was staying at a mall and this is the part I'm having trouble with.

Saratoga Springs: Uninteresting. This is part of the DVC and I staying there because of a deal from my anual pass, but I don't think it would want to stay there again. Plus it was so big that it took a long time for the bus to pick everying up and get out of the resort area. If you plan on spending a lot of time at Downtown, you may enjoy it. You can take the water launch over, but after midnight (I think) you need to take the bus back.

[wdwfamily4]

Animal Kingdom and then Wilderness. We also like any of the Boardwalk hotels.Wilderness for the theming and the others for scenery and activities.

[bowlingman7]

I've stayed in a few, but Fort Wilderness is still, by far, the front runner. Nothing like sleeping in my own bed. Not to mention I love the outdoors.

[Sorria]

Most people look at me like I'm crazy when I say this...but my favorite Disney resort is the Yacht Club.

It may have helped that the first time we stayed there was for my graduation and we stayed concierge. But it was such a magical stay....our room was very nice, we got towel animals every day. When we walked in the room I had chocolate, baloons and a Mickey-ear hat with a graduation tassel taped to it. We could see Stormalong Bay form our balcony, yet we were far enough away that the noise from the people in the room didn't disturb us. We could hear seaguls from outisde which we found relaxing and we could see IlumiNations every night. We even got to see Cinderella's carriage when a wedding was done there.

The staff was nothing short of excellent and tried to help us in any way possible. All the foods offered at the concierge were good, especially the sugar cookies.

The cabins at Fort Wilderness Campground runs the Yacht Club a close second. It was just such a memorable trip, I really can't see how the resort gets all the bad reviews it does based off my trips there, we've been three times and never had a problem with the Yacht Club.