AoA, POFQ, or CBR?

[myhoney]

We are planning out next trip for August 2021. We are a family of 6, and our kids will be 16, 14, 9, and 8 when we go.

We have previously stayed at POFQ twice. We loved it. However, we were considering a LK suite at AoA as my youngest is a big LK fan.

I've read about CBR. During quarantine we watched the whole Pirates series, and the kids are fascinated! I don't like that the pirate beds are only fulls. That's a deal breaker for me. However, we also love to cruise and have been to Jamaica and Aruba. The CBR theming is fun with the beaches and the playground island.

Any recommendations on which resort to choose? We plan to be at WDW for 5-6 days and then go onto Universal for 3 days after. This will likely be our last full family trip to Disney and if we are trying a new resort, I want it to be a good fit. We know we need to get two rooms at a mod versus one at AoA, but the pricing is close enough.

Thanks!

 

[LovesTimone]

We have stayed at all three resorts several times... (Local and AP holders)

Here's my take on the three...

POFQ - We have always enjoyed our stays here... It is the smallest of the Disney Resorts, and that has it's pro's and con's... everything is an easy walk to the bus loop. Food Court is pretty dang good, but it is smaller so when the resort is near or at capacity it can get hectic and hard to find a place to sit for breakfast... At times it shares a bus with POR... so it can get tricky trying to get a seat... and does take a bit longer to get to where you are going... A real plus for us is the boat to Disney Springs, its a nice relaxing ride to and from... the pool at the resort is much smaller than at the other resorts... Another thing is that you can walk to POR, and try their food court which is a nice break... we have done that a few times for something a bit different and a change of scenery...

CBR - We really have always favored staying here, We love the island feel... and now with the skyliner it's an added bonus... I will say it is a walk from some of the island to the Food court and main pool... and the food court for us is good... Several bus stops as well as an internal bus loop..
Love the themeing of the main pool, and we enjoy the quite pools just as much... especially early morning and later in the evenings...

AoA - Love that the suite are inside hallways... for a party of 6 and 2 being teenagers, I would go this route.. 2 bathrooms, 2 TV's and everyone is in one room... and the bedroom has a real door for some privacy for mom and dad...Plus it nice to have a bigger college fridge and the microwave, and a place to put snacks... the pull out couch was quite comfortable, and the pull down was much bigger than I would have thought... my Adult DD slept on it, and she is like 5'9 and it was no problem... so you can come up with different sleeping arrangement for the kids... The themeing all over the resort is really special ... We stayed in LK, this was DD's favorite movie as a kid... soooo cute!!! The food court is pretty good, I think it has more of a variety... they offer nightly dinner specialties, and we had dinner there on check in day, as we arrived much much later than we had planned. I remembering thinking... that what I got was really good and seem like something you could get a TS...

Whatever you decide,... have a wonderful vaca...

 

[karen4546]

I agree with what @LovesTimone said above. I personally have not stay at AoA. I have stayed at CB-once and POFQ-many times. That being said, I prefer POFQ. I love that no matter where you stay, you are a short walk to food, pool, and transportation.

I am sure with your family size that you will need two rooms at either CB and POFQ. I think the AoA suites sleep six but with the ages of your children, that may be pretty tight and so you may need two rooms there also.

You may consider searching these boards or FB groups for renting DVC points for a 2 bedroom. We bought into DVC last year because Animal Kingdom lodge is our favorite resort (even though we have not used our new membership for it yet) If you are getting two rooms anyway, the cost difference would not be much and you would have so much space. Or, you could even rent two studios for less.

Happy Planning