What would be a good resort to stay at for our first Walt Disney vacation?|116830

My wife and I are taking our two daughters to Disney in Orlando for the first time. The girls ages are 6 and 3. We are overwhelmed with the variety of resorts and different types of entertainment to choose from. Any suggestions and past experiences would be helpful.

I have been to Disney World 6 times. 5 of them were with my children. I have stayed at Boardwalk Inn, Port Orleans, and Allstar movies. We loved the Allstar movies. We stayed there 3 times. It is considered a budget resort but it is great for the kids. the rooms are decorated in the disney movies. they have so much for them to do right at the resort. After staying at Port Orleans and Boardwalk we tried the Allstar Movies and saved money. the kids had more fun plus we had more money to buy them things with. Port Orleans is a wonderful place to stay without kids.
You really can_t go wrong with any of the resorts. I just realized that the kids were happier for cheaper.

I own a timeshare at Westgate Town Center. We have 7 kids and this by far was the best investment I_ve ever made. The resort has so much to do that the kids forget about Disney Parks and the others. I would suggest doing a timeshare presentation and staying at one of their locations. You can even get discount tickets to the theme parks. Have a good trip!!

for that age, it is worth staying at one of the monorail hotels---it made our trip so convenient--we stay at the polynesian---contemporary and grand floridian are on the monorail loop~~~

I would go for the Grand Floridian, Polynesian or Animal Kingdom Lodge. If your girls are _Disney princess_ fans, the Grand Floridian is probably your best bet. If they love animals, try AKL. Many of their rooms offer views of the safari, and there are many viewing areas around the resort as well.

Just look at all the options, we have just returned from a great holiday and we stayed in a private villa excellent value and our own pool/jacuzzi, everything we wanted and our own time to do what we wanted, take a look at www.a1floridavilla.com great location etc.

Personally, I think the on-site hotels are great because in the middle of the day you can go back to your room for a nap/snack. Trying to do the parks all day every day will be very tiring for them - and overstimulating. Unless you have a ton of money to spend, I think the deluxe hotels are a waste of money. Sure, they are luxurious, but your girls aren_t going to remember staying in the Grand Floridian. My suggestion: stay in a value resort - they are colorful and fun and probably will be much more fun for the kids. They really only need a bed and perhaps a pool to have a great time.

As the others have stated, there are many choices. It really depends on your family. You need to ask yourself some basic questions. What is your budget? The answer to this question will certainly narrow your selection process. How much time do you plan to spend in the room or at the resort? If you are not planning too much time in the room or at the resort, a value or moderate resort makes more sense. If you are going to be spending time at the resort, you may want to go with a deluxe. Are hotel amenities important to you? If so, go deluxe.
We have stayed at several of the resorts and they all had good and bad qualities. We love the Polynesian because it is so close to the Magic Kingdom and it is fun.
Since this is your first trip I would recommend using a Disney planning service. We have used
www.custommouseplans.com
and we loved them! The created our itinerary and touring plans and that made a huge difference! We got to do soooo much more than we would have without the plans and we still got plenty of downtime to relax. With their plans we never waited more than 10 minutes for any ride even on New Year_s Day!
Have fun on your first trip!

The best value resort is Pop Century. It is the newest and has the best pools and food court area. It has 3 pools and a splash pad area (like the sprinklers that shoot up from the ground for kids to run round in). Value resorts also have the cheapest prices for food on the resort.

Moderate is a good choice if you are looking for a bit more out of the hotel but without paying deluxe prices. Moderates have sit down restuarants as well as food courts. Skip Caribbean Beach for now - it is going through renovations. Coronodo is the convention hotel. The best moderate is Port Orleans - Riverside. You can stay in Alligator bayou (which comes with the regular 2 beds and a trundle bed...so more sleeping space) or the Mansions. The themed pool there is Old Man Island and it has the water slide that my kids LOVE! Also a playground and fishing hole. There are boat rentals, surrey bike rentals, and horse drawn carriages. There is also a water shuttle (free) that will take you to Port Orleans - French Quarter (5 minutes away) where you can get off and enjoy their dragon themed pool with a slide that is the tongue of the dragon...or you can take another water shuttle (free) all the way to downtown disney shopping and restaurants.

If you plan to spend almost all your time in parks...go ahead and stay value. But they are a bit more crowded feeling and noisier than the moderates. If you want downtime for naps and swimming and all that - go moderate.

Deluxe is hard to justify unless you have plenty of money. They are fantastic hotels...but you could just about plan a vacation to do just the hotel and skip the parks...LOL! The food there cost the most too...so really is cost _deluxe_ prices for everything.

If you_re on a budget, definitely POP Century. I have stayed there over 10 times and it is great! Very clean, fast transportation to Hollywood Studios _ EPCOT, and nice ammenities (restaurant, gift shop, pool, grounds). It is only considered a budget resort because of price, as it is far from cut rate.

If money is no object, the Animal Kingdom Lodge or the Wilderness Lodge are both excellent resorts. For your first visit, I would reccommend the Wilderness Lodge, as it is closer to the Magic Kingdom (a ferry ride can take you there in 15 minutes).

Since you will be spending very little time in the room, POP Century is the way to go.