What are your all-time top favorite Disney resorts?

[Minnie1222]

Pre-Covid
GF
AKL
BWI

Right now
AKL
Waiting for construction to be done at the other two.

 

[cchevela1023]

I've had the privilege of staying onsite 6 times (#7 will be this year!). My 3 top favorites in no particular order are:

1. PO French Quarter - Our first onsite stay with kids. Theming through the roof and the dragon slide pool is awesome.
2. AKL
3. Caribbean Beach

 

[Jen81NYC]

Up until last week, I'd have said the Boardwalk because of that location and a lower sticker price, but the new park hopping restrictions have bumped it to spot #2.

What are the new park hopping restrictions? For boardwalk only??

 

[Princess Merida]

1. Grand Floridian - Beautiful resort and super close to the Magic Kingdom. Love the dining options, being on the monorail, and watching fireworks from the resort.

2. Boardwalk - Love the vibe especially at night. They have my favorite pool slide. Skyliner. Boat transportation is excellent. My home resort.

3. Animal Kingdom Lodge - Animals, best resort dining options, seems more relaxing.

4. Port Orleans Riverside - Favorite moderate resort, but have not stayed at French Quarter.

5. Art of Animation - Great theming. I love all of these movies! Skyliner.

6. All Star Sports - Theme is cool. Super clean and had great selections at the food court.

 

[roydavid7771]

Beach Club - it's our home resort. And we always stay at Port Orlenas Riverside for the first night or two so we can take the boat to Disney Springs for our first vacation dinner!

 

[ajlsjl]

My top three, in no particular order are:

1) POR - love the theming/vibe, food court, boat transportation to/from Disney Springs.

2) BWV/BWI - love the theming/vibe, the lobby is my "happy place," location; love being able to walk to/from two theme parks and other resorts. Also love food and entertainment options.

3) Pop - love the theming/vibe (notice a pattern here?), food court, price point; I feel like I'm getting a moderate resort for a value price (save for the size of the rooms). Haven't stayed there since the skyliner opened, so that's not a factor in my decision.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

We have been lucky enough to stay at a lot of the resorts and all 3 categories, see signature.
Value: We have stayed at POP on our last 4 trips, great resort, theme, FC, PRICE and the skyliner, to us, was a BIG factor. We have no issues with the room size.
Our favorite Deluxe is GF. We would have never guest that until we actually stayed there. Just visiting GF or for that matter any resort, you can not get the true vibe of a resort until you actually stay there.
MOD = POFQ/POR, CBR (made list because of the Skyliner)

 

[moonshadow]

My favorite depends on which park I want to be closer too.

1. MK - Wilderness Lodge
2. Epcot - Boardwalk

 

[Nabas]

As a stand-alone experience, Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House is the best. An incredible lobby, fantastic theming, two excellent table service restaurants, a great pool, a good food court, and giraffes.

For location? The Boardwalk. Easy walking distance to two theme parks. No dealing with Disney’s mass transportation nightmares at park opening or closing. Plus a really cool theme and a very nice pool. Makes it easy to take a pool break during the hottest part of the day.

For the money, go with any All Star. It gets you in the Disney bubble.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

For the money, go with any All Star. It gets you in the Disney bubble.

For a little more money, I'd choose POP to at least have skyliner access and the bus situation is better than at the All-Stars

 

[Nabas]

For a little more money, I'd choose POP to at least have skyliner access and the bus situation is better than at the All-Stars

I like POP over the All Stars.

However…

I’ve been left stranded by the Skyliner 4 times - 3 times due to weather and once due to a breakdown. IMO, it’s WDW’s least reliable transportation. I’m not a fan.

Disney needs to do a better job of reacting when the Skyliner shuts down.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I like POP over the All Stars.

However…

I’ve been left stranded by the Skyliner 4 times - 3 times due to weather and once due to a breakdown. IMO, it’s WDW’s least reliable transportation. I’m not a fan.

Disney needs to do a better job of reacting when the Skyliner shuts down.

Oh wow, that's never happened to me

 

[Nabas]

Oh wow, that's never happened to me

This is our worst experience with the Skyliner:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/g...-direct-is-a-no-brainer.3889922/post-64160092

 

[thanxfornoticin]

This is our worst experience with the Skyliner:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/g...-direct-is-a-no-brainer.3889922/post-64160092

Yea, we know Skyliner is a big plus for many. But it's also a potential negative for many. We'll use it seldom, and I certainly don't want to depend on it as my main transportation to/from parks.

 

[Lovetherodent]

No, this is Disney-wide. You can't park hop until 2pm

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

No, this is Disney-wide. You can't park hop until 2pm

In DL you can hop at 11 am. Wish that was the case at WDW

 

[wdw&sonny]

1. Poly: location, theme, monorail, spread out for walking around
2. Beach Club: location, pool, walk to EP, HS, boats, skyliner
3. Caribbean Beach: Skyliner, spread out, theme, price
4. Wilderness Lodge: Location, boats, theme, nostalgia
5. Animal Kingdom Lodge: Savanah, theme, seclusion
6. Port-Orleans Riverside: Price, seclusion, spread out, water taxi
7. Grand Cali: Walk to DL, theme, too pricey
8. Bay Lake Tower: Location, monorail; don't like the feel/theme.
9. Saratoga: spread out, golf, location to DS, water taxi
10. Coronado: spread out, central lake beautiful
11. POP Century: Price, skyliner
Need to go again to add a new resort to the list.

 

[jimmymc]

1. Wilderness Lodge. Between the lobby, pool area, geyser, and lake views, this resort is gorgeous and really feels like you're off in the woods somewhere and not around the corner from Magic Kingdom. The boat transportation is a life-saver if you're caught in the post-fireworks rush. The lobby at Christmas is why I bought my DVC points there.

2. POFQ. A lot of people are mentioning Riverside, but I prefer the old street design and smaller footprint FQ has. The resorts also share amenities, so if you want to do a full pool day you can still use the RS pool (which I admit is better).

3. Polynesian. Another gorgeous resort, has great food options, the rooms are huge and comfortable, and you can walk directly to the Epcot monorail rather than having to connect or take a bus. Downside is the pool and common areas do get crowded because of the location, so you have to go at odd times or deal with that.

4. Caribbean Beach. I actually rarely use the amenities at this resort, but requesting and getting a room close to the Skyliner is a complete game-changer. From walking out of my hotel room to in Studios in under 10 minutes, Epcot in 15 minutes, and during the morning the busses only service half the resort, meaning Jamaica and Aruba get their own bus to MK and AK. People seem to complain about the room decor and the size, but I think they look nice enough, and room requests are definitely important here.

5. AKL, but only savanna view rooms. The lobby is fantastic and the views of the savanna are like nothing else. I'm not a big fan of how these rooms are decorated, but I understand a lot of people love them. Also really good food options.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

All-time favorite is probably Grand Floridian. The convenience to MK, the dining/shopping options, the bar RIGHT NEXT to the splash pad, watching the monorail zipping around the resort, the beauty of the grounds and all around theming.... it just does it for me. Plus my parents took me there when a few times when I was a kid, and so it just feels CLASSIC Disney to me. Getting to go back as an adult feels so nostalgic for me.

Runners up are Boardwalk with a Boardwalk view room, and Wilderness Lodge.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Over the years, I've stayed at POR(2x), CBR, POP, POFQ, and AKL. I loved them all, and would stay at any again. AKL is probably favorite, though - for the animals.

WL and BWI are on my short list of resorts I'd like to try.