Whether you're going to the parks or not plays such a huge role in where you stay and whether you enjoy your experience (or not). We did our first no-parks trip this year, and the portion spent at AKL was pure bliss. We've always loved staying there, but staying there without the pressure to make it to the bus stop on time definitely kicked up our enjoyment a few notches.
Similarly, our touring strategy greatly impacts how much we're willing to pay to stay somewhere. When we lived in Florida, we tried a whole bunch of different resorts because getting to the parks at a particular time just wasn't all that urgent. Some of our favorite trips featured stays at POR where strolling the grounds and goofing off at Old Man Island were highlights. Living 1,000 miles away now, we really prioritize proximity to the parks and ease of getting there. Taking a boat to the MK from the Poly is both peaceful and efficient. It's tough to beat. Ditto walking from the Poly to the EP monorail. The BC and BW offer the same benefits for EP and DHS. On our best days, we're in the park at opening time and back at the resort pool by 11am, where we spend the next five or six hours before returning to a park for nighttime fun. That touring strategy is exhausting when staying in a more remote location, and, for us, it's unworkable when staying offsite.
It's a tale as old as time, but for us, it has proved true: getting into the parks early and then getting back out of them greatly increases our enjoyment of the trip. When we push things too hard, we all get tired and grumpy. We've all seen the families that are miserable by 3pm despite having eight hours of "vacation" ahead of them. I sympathize with those for whom a WDW trip is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. However, since we've been before and plan to return again, there's no better experience than acknowledging that we'll never do everything and instead choosing to enjoy our resort.