Which Resort for daughter graduating Pre-school?

disnmooner2013

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 25, 2012
My wife and I are going to be bringing back our daughter who will be 4-1/2 during the 1st week of May 2020 for 5 days to celebrate her pre-school graduation. Which resort would you recommend of the 4 listed below and why? POFQ (river view) room, POR (preferred room or river view), AOA (finding nemo suite), or Pop Century (preferred room)? Does AOA suites or Pop Century have queen beds? Will the Gondolas be operational by May 2020? Do the preferred rooms at POR have river view? Thanks for all your help.
 
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With 2 adults and 1 child, I would look long and hard at POP. The room refurbs will be done by then (1 queen and a fold down queen) and the theming will be easily appreciated by a preschooler--also, I'm cheap. I would stay away from the riverview rooms at POFQ--the horns from the boats can be loud late at night. We stayed at POR and loved it. Some of the preferred rooms have river views, this site is pretty helpful, https://www.portorleans.org/room-locations.php . My boys liked the quiet pools so much more than the commotion at the main pool--it was nice to have options. It was only about a 12 minute walk to POFQ going at a 5 yr olds pace.

Honestly, if money were no option I would be all about the AOA suites.
 
We are planning to go next February when our daughter is that age, and we're leaning toward POFQ. I've gotten really great feedback on it from people on here, and in watching some of the Disney vlogs, the grounds look really gorgeous. I like that it's not super "kiddie" as well. If that's more your thing, then I'd maybe go AOA.
 
My kids always *needed* a pool slide so we have either done moderate or deluxe. So I would pick POFQ or POR.

Either way kids that age don't care where they stay. They're at WDW!
 


I'd probably go with AoA, second choice POR. We enjoyed both resorts- POR has a more relaxing/adult feel (but still plenty of fun), AoA feels much more Disney themed.
 
The only thing I am having trouble with is justifying paying Deluxe resort prices for AOA Finding Nemo Suites. Do the suites have a queen bed? Are the doors interior or exterior at AOA? Does any one know if the gondolas will be running by then? That will stay my decision immensely.
 
The only thing I am having trouble with is justifying paying Deluxe resort prices for AOA Finding Nemo Suites. Do the suites have a queen bed? Are the doors interior or exterior at AOA? Does any one know if the gondolas will be running by then? That will stay my decision immensely.

I wouldn't pay deluxe prices for a value resort, even if it's in a suite.
 
The only thing I am having trouble with is justifying paying Deluxe resort prices for AOA Finding Nemo Suites.

Do the suites have a queen bed?
Are the doors interior or exterior at AOA?
Does any one know if the gondolas will be running by then? That will stay my decision immensely.

Suite bedroom has queen bed, murphy and sofabeds are fulls.
AoA suite door is interior hallway.
All other rooms at values and all moderate rooms are exterior doors.
I would be shocked if gondolas aren't up way before then at the speed they are working.
 
Suite bedroom has queen bed, murphy and sofabeds are fulls.
AoA suite door is interior hallway.
All other rooms at values and all moderate rooms are exterior doors.
I would be shocked if gondolas aren't up way before then at the speed they are working.
Thanks HopperFan. This is helpful. What is your opinion about the high price for the AOA suites?
 
Thanks HopperFan. This is helpful. What is your opinion about the high price for the AOA suites?

I have toured them when the resort first opened. They are apples and oranges to the family suites at Allstar Music, bigger, nicer and the bathrooms are extremely nice. So they are worth way more if comparing those two. I personally would not pay to stay there at those rates unless I needed all those beds ..... and even then I can get a beautiful two bedroom condo at Wyndham Bonnet Creek (practically on property) for 7 nights for the cost of 2 nights at AoA. The resort is probably one of the best imagineered resorts, the pools minus slides/hot tubs are better than most moderates, food court is top notch ......... no shared buses. But it's still a value, with lots of people, can be crowded at main pool and food court, no table service ....

The gondola will be there for those who will use them, they are not a plus for me.

But if it is just 3 of you .... I would stay in a regular room at a resort that saves you money but gives you better experience (moderate) or a deluxe that would give you more for the same amount of money. I see you have stayed at WL, have you considered AKL? It is so unique and getting a savanna room would be incredible for your DD. We first stayed there when my DD was still fairly young and she was wowed by waking up to giraffes outside our room. The pool there is great, some of Disney's best dining and interior hallways. There are also lots of activities for DD to do during resort time. Or look into a monorail resort that gives you fast access to MK.

We spend most our time at the parks and would rather spend our extra cash on activities/events because they are more memorable than our room. So unless I get great discounts I stick to the values or offsite.
 
I have toured them when the resort first opened. They are apples and oranges to the family suites at Allstar Music, bigger, nicer and the bathrooms are extremely nice. So they are worth way more if comparing those two. I personally would not pay to stay there at those rates unless I needed all those beds ..... and even then I can get a beautiful two bedroom condo at Wyndham Bonnet Creek (practically on property) for 7 nights for the cost of 2 nights at AoA. The resort is probably one of the best imagineered resorts, the pools minus slides/hot tubs are better than most moderates, food court is top notch ......... no shared buses. But it's still a value, with lots of people, can be crowded at main pool and food court, no table service ....

The gondola will be there for those who will use them, they are not a plus for me.

But if it is just 3 of you .... I would stay in a regular room at a resort that saves you money but gives you better experience (moderate) or a deluxe that would give you more for the same amount of money. I see you have stayed at WL, have you considered AKL? It is so unique and getting a savanna room would be incredible for your DD. We first stayed there when my DD was still fairly young and she was wowed by waking up to giraffes outside our room. The pool there is great, some of Disney's best dining and interior hallways. There are also lots of activities for DD to do during resort time. Or look into a monorail resort that gives you fast access to MK.

We spend most our time at the parks and would rather spend our extra cash on activities/events because they are more memorable than our room. So unless I get great discounts I stick to the values or offsite.
We are staying at AKL Savannah View in a week for 7 nights for our daughters 1st trip. Every 5 years we take an 8 day long trip and stay at a deluxe resort. The trip in 2020 would be shorter only 5 days and want it to be less expensive but geared around our daughter and would still stay onsite.
 
We are staying at AKL Savannah View in a week for 7 nights for our daughters 1st trip. Every 5 years we take an 8 day long trip and stay at a deluxe resort. The trip in 2020 would be shorter only 5 days and want it to be less expensive but geared around our daughter and would still stay onsite.

Look at pictures of the Royal Guest Rooms at POR. She'll love the decor (assuming it doesn't change with the room renovations), the fireworks in the headboard and nice touches. The riverview rooms are a great location and nice to walk out to. You could book her a carriage ride at the resort and take the boat to Disney Springs. You'll get a more upscale peaceful feel than you would at the value resorts, and would cost less than staying at AoA. Lots of info at PortOrleans.org.
 
When we are at Disney next week we will let our daughter look at the 4 resorts and ask if we could possible see a room and let her help make the decision on which resort she wants to stay at.
 
The only thing I am having trouble with is justifying paying Deluxe resort prices for AOA Finding Nemo Suites. Do the suites have a queen bed? Are the doors interior or exterior at AOA? Does any one know if the gondolas will be running by then? That will stay my decision immensely.

I'd just save money and get two Mermaid rooms. You're going to need that money when you have to take her on her kindergarten graduation trip, her first grade graduation trip, her second grade graduation trip, etc ;)
 
We just took our three and five year old, and we stayed at Pop. While I love the theming at AOA, cost and bed size were the deciding factors. We didn’t want to pay for a family suite, which would have put us in the Little Mermaid section since that’s where AOA’s non-suite rooms are. But the Little Mermaid rooms have full beds, while Pop just did an update giving each room two queen beds (one regular, one Murphy.) I was happy with our decision and the kids really liked the hotel.
 
Myself and DS4 (he turns 5 next month) just returned from AoA Little Mermaid room. He and I stayed at POR on our trip last year.

I thought he would have enjoyed AoA more than he did. For him, the excitement of the theming wore off early. He actually told me he liked POR better because of the pool and waterslide there and the shorter walk at POR.

I really liked the food and options at Landscape of Flavors. This was a major plus. The CMs at AoA seemed to be more into the magic than what we had experienced at POR.

The biggest downside of AoA was the walk to the LM rooms. I didn't think it would be an issue, but it really was a pain after a long day in park. Also, longer bus ride to MK than compared to the ride from POR to MK. DS and I both liked the river boat to Disney Springs from POR.

All things considered, I would give the edge to POR.
 

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