Port Orleans isn’t even deluxe but it’s my favorite and I love either side but those beignets at the French Quarter are worth a trip alone! Happy Wednesday y’all! 🥂🎩🖤
It was my favorite until I reach the age/physical point where I have to return to the room in the middle of the day for a brief rest. It just takes too much of the day to travel between any park and Port Orleans - and, since the buses make several stops, it drives me crazy. In 2022 I had to take rideshare, which gets really expensive and still takes a long time. So I have switched to an Epcot area resort and, despite the cost, am very satisfied with it.
Hubby and I are local adjacent - we live in the Tampa Bay Area - and staycation at WDW Resort often. The Poly is our favorite but lately the price and experience of AKL has been our go to!! We leave our car in the parking lot for our whole stay and take advantage of Disney's complimentary transportation. The bus rides have always been seamless, very quick and efficient with very friendly drivers!! When we stay at the Poly, we use boat transportation as much as we can with the over crowded Monorail as a last resort!!
Extended magic hours was nice. We spent the day at the pool. Arrived to the park around 7, ate, took pictures, shopped, fireworks. Park closed at 11. From 11-1am we walked on to every ride, no wait. In Epcot got back to back Guardians because of the extra virtual queue.
YES it's worth it! (If you can afford it...) There is no substitute for staying where you can easily walk to one (or two!) of the parks and a variety of table service restaurants. Of course there are other amenities as well.
The Poly is my favorite. Two trips ago we stayed at the Contemporary, but had dinner at Ohana. As soon as we walked into the Poly, I regretted staying anywhere else. Sure it’s expensive, but we only go every 2-3 years and I’m hoping we decide to do Club Level on our next one.
Club level at Poly is absolutely amazing! Location is fabulous and the lounges are wonderful. Honestly, I've traveled all over Southern USA and to Europe, yet my favorite ever is Club level Poly! Tonga building is the best for cozy comfort (its own concierge and lounge plus rugs in the bedroom) and Hawaii is best for beach proximity and proximity to the full service lounge. Plan it! You won't regret it.
@Saphire Gates Gaming I stayed at Carribean Beach a couple of years ago. Beautiful beach and great location near Skyliner, but just not as luxurious as Poly.
When we went in January, we visited every resort just TO see them! (Also had some meals at a few). From what I saw, the Poly and Wilderness and Beach Club are MUST do for our future trips.
My rankings are 1. Yacht club, 2. Beach Club, 3. Boardwalk, 4. Contemporary, 5. Grand Flo, 6. Wilderness Lodge. I have NOT stayed at the others Deluxe resorts.
We are staying at the Polynesian club level for my sons 13th! This is once in a lifetime and I’m so excited! We will be there when Tron opens and hope we get to ride it!
It's weird that Disney World still doesn't have merchandise delivery to their own resorts, considering Universal Studios had their hotel delivery available at least as early as June last year.
Going on my last Disney trip before college in a few months and I’m staying at the grand for the first time!!! I’ve wanted to stay there my whole life and we’ve saved up enough dvc points to do so ahh!!!
@@richardmercer2337 I agree. We actually stayed at the Lodge 3 weeks ago, you can see our videos. We drove our own car, so it was easy to go park to park.
We went last May and stayed at the Swan Reserve. All the perks of Delux at a super low price. Well, free for us (other than parking fees) with using Marriott Bonvoy points. We had free breakfast delivered to our room every morning, walking access to Epcot and Hollywood Studios, and going to the extended evening hours was amazing. Our room had fireworks views of both Epcot and MK! We loved it.
I’ve been to Disney World four times in the last year and a half and every single time I was able to buy items in the theme parks in. I was able to send it to my hotel. It’s an amazing park. I love it. I’ll keep on doing it.
If you love Mary Poppins, see if one of Grand Floridian’s new MP rooms is available yet. I’m boycotting them until 1900 Park Faire reopens as it’s the most fun character dinner for adults and kids! Great character breakfast too! Ohana is always a win, as long as you don’t let them rush you out the door. If you are a Lilo n Stich fan like my BFF, Ohana breakfast is also a must. Go for the Poly! It’s so much fun, and so Disney.
@RLucas3000 I agree with you wanting 1900 Park Fare to reopen. I’ve never been, but I really want to take my kid. Maybe it will reopen later this summer? We love both Mary Poppins and silly Stitch! My last resort was a Value, so any of the two would be a treat! (Thinking Poly😍) Thanks Jedi!
Poly all the way!!! It's like a Hawaiian vacation while Disney World is a short walk (TTC is like a 10 min walk to connect directly to Epcot monorail) or hop the monorail to MK.
Disney is remodeling the 1900 Park Fare. I sure hope they don't ruin the Mary Poppins theme but knowing Disney it will be a disaster. Not holding out hope.
I like the Floridian too but I think they are remodeling still. We are going to stay at the Yacht club. I like the fact that Epcot is a few minute walk away. The Swan and Dolphin are nice too!
I’m stuck between contemporary resort and art of animation resort amazingly they are the same price… we absolutely love art of animation it’s our favorite but the lore of being in a deluxe resort is strong…
It got to the point that I couldn’t even afford the cheap hotels in Disney so now I don’t bother stay right outside by Saratoga springs. I go to Universal and stay in one of their deluxe hotels for half the price and I get fast pass with it.❤ only time I think about going to Disney is to go to Epcot for the festivals that’s about it because the Disney sucks compared to universal now
I love the deluxe resorts at Disney but alas my wallet does not always love them. So if I can book one at a good price, I'm there, but if not my first choice for moderate is always French Quarter and if I have to do a value I'll stay at Pop.
A caveat about Epcot-area hotels: the walkway to the International Gateway to Epcot is partly bordered by a big smoking area next to the waterway. I have extreme sensitivity to tobacco smoke (actually, any smoke, but tobacco is worst) and my doctor told me to stay far away from it. I have to wear a heavy-duty mask supplemented by many layers of tissues to breathe even a little to walk past this. The boat option is far better.
Stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge’s Kidani Village numerous times. Very nice seeing animals outside your room. With that being said, staying at overly expensive resorts is the biggest waste of money there is. Just how much time are you going to spend in that room?
To give an idea how expensive it could be, I will give you a an example. We have a trip this October, we are staying in a 3 bedroom Savanah view at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We are using our built up DVC points. If we were paying cash the 9 night stay would cost $28,851. That does not include park tickets or food! Crazy!
It's a great deal but you cannot cancel. That is a turnoff for me. Some give a credit for a future date but that doesn't work for everyone. I don't like renting knowing this. Paying cash at a Disney resort you can cancel up to 5 days and get a full refund.
Crews Cup USED to be a great lounge to go to. Not anymore. They've changed the menu now and you can only get steaks. A continuation of Yachtsman Steakhouse. You can no longer get a burger or the prime rib sliders. Big mistake by Disney. I used to go there all the time and they always had a line to get in. I was just there last week and the lounge was empty. A real gem is now gone. Another failure by Disney's greed
I’m not a crazy animal rights person but am I the only one who the animal kingdom lodge depressing ? I also find it kinda wrong they have the most African artifact collection in America. Disney has it? I’m sure many other groups associated with African culture in a real way would value it much more, like a museum. But fr all those African animals cramped up at Disney for guest viewing pleasure doesn’t seem fun. Also the area looks dingy.
I have stayed there when it first opened up what I do love about the lodge is for me this is close as I'm ever going to get to Africa. The food the culture the language stories the music the people. I love that the people were employed from all throughout Africa. It was wonderful to have conversations with people from Cape Town to Johannesburg and everywhere in between from cities to small villages.a majority of the items in the store and decorated throughout the resort were all handmade by local craftsman . This by far is one of the most culturally rich resorts you can ever stay in.the animals are well cared for on property as well. I encourage you to seriously take a look you will be impressed.
There’s a lot of space for the animals to roam and they’re well taken care of. Also, the resort lobby where the African treasures are kept is beautiful and they are handsomely displayed. Hopefully you’ll get a chance to see this with your own eyes. It really is a captivating resort.
