Which resort for stay without parks?

[Ashwen730]

We are taking a Disney Cruise in January and want to spend two nights at a Disney Resort before the cruise leaves. We don't plan on visiting any parks during this trip. We just want to spend a couple of days at a resort, Downtown Disney and do a few meals. Which resort would you recommend?

 

[pieface]

If money is not an issue I would stay at the poly. You have the monorail which you can visit two other resorts great restaurants. It is a quiet resort you can sit on the beach at night and watch wishes fireworks over the magic kingdom. Good swimming g pools and a wonderful place just to relax. You can catch a bus to downtown Disney.

 

[mickeynut1]

If money is not an issue I would stay at the poly. You have the monorail which you can visit two other resorts great restaurants. It is a quiet resort you can sit on the beach at night and watch wishes fireworks over the magic kingdom. Good swimming g pools and a wonderful place just to relax. You can catch a bus to downtown Disney.

I agree . Not only can you easily visit, shop, and dine at the GF and CR, but you can monorail to the CR and catch the boat and visit the WL. The Poly is our favorite resort for many reasons, with one being the relaxing tropical atmosphere which makes for a nice resort stay, IMO .

 

[Rose23]

Matters on cost and what you're looking for...here's a few suggestions:

With Kids and Moderate Cost -
Port Orleans Riverside or French Quarter (portorleans.org) - pool area alone will be enough to entertain them for two days, plus convenient and relaxing boat ride to Downtown Disney for additional entertainment options (Splitsville, DisneyQuest, etc.)

Art of Animation Resort - pool area and enormous food court

Without Kids and Moderate/High Cost -
Port Orleans Riverside or French Quarter (rear of properties) - very quiet, relaxing and romantic boat ride to Downtown Disney

Wilderness Lodge - relaxing if away from pool area. You can view nightly fireworks at Magic Kingdom by taking boat to Contemporary and watching from there or front of Magic Kingdom. You can also utilize balcony and watch Water Parade on the Lagoon

Swan or Dolphin (parking is not free), Boardwalk, Yacht or Beach Club Resort -there is enough entertainment on the Boardwalk to keep you busy for days. Good restaurants in the Dolphin and nice pool area or beach. You can take boat to rear entrance of EPCOT and see some of Illuminations (can be seen from Boardwalk area also).

Enjoy!

 

[Buddy18]

Coronado Springs for a moderate and the Beach Club for a deluxe.

 

[katrina1122]

I'd do POFQ. Beautiful resort, quiet, nice pool. PLUS no bus to DTD, just a nice quiet boat ride. So much more convenient.

 

[Marthasor]

In the value category, I would do AoA

Moderate - POR or POFQ - both great and boat to DTD

Deluxe - AKL! In my opinion, the best non-park touring resort. There is so much to do and see and will come in at a better price point than all other deluxes (except WL)

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

I would suggest one of these three:

Polynesian: for the transportation
or
Wilderness Lodge: for the theme
or
Port Orleans Riverside: of the moderates we have stayed at I like this one the most.

 

[SmallWorld71]

I would do:
Deluxe - AKL - Great theming, restaurants and plenty of activities. But most of all, it would drive me nuts to be within view of MK or Epcot and not be able to go.

Moderate - POR or POFQ - if you're going moderate, might as well have the boat transportation to DTD.

Value - I would try the Mermaid rooms at AoA just to check out the resort.

 

[sarah4770]

Saratoga Springs for the proximity to downtown disney and all the activities at the resort.
POR or Coronado if you are looking for a moderate.
Fort Wilderness cabins are also fun for a non park stay.
or finally,
One of the epcot resorts... beach/yacht or dolphin for the boardwalk and pools.

 

[keishashadow]

We are taking a Disney Cruise in January and want to spend two nights at a Disney Resort before the cruise leaves. We don't plan on visiting any parks during this trip. We just want to spend a couple of days at a resort, Downtown Disney and do a few meals. Which resort would you recommend?

there are many lovely deluxe 'non-disney' properties near DTD. One of our favorites is the Hyatt Grand Regency, which has an amazing poolscape.

 

[lucyem]

I would do:
Deluxe - AKL - Great theming, restaurants and plenty of activities. But most of all, it would drive me nuts to be within view of MK or Epcot and not be able to go.

Moderate - POR or POFQ - if you're going moderate, might as well have the boat transportation to DTD.

Value - I would try the Mermaid rooms at AoA just to check out the resort.

there are many lovely deluxe 'non-disney' properties near DTD. One of our favorites is the Hyatt Grand Regency, which has an amazing poolscape.

We stayed at AKL as a surprise for my DH before our last cruise. We were celebrating his birthday and our anniversary. AKL is his favorite place. We only had a day and took full advantage of all the activities available for the kids. Cookie decorating, pin trading with King Pin, s'mores, night vision animal watching, etc. We had a ball. I like that AKL is a world unto itself with no theme park in the background calling your name.

But honestly WDW is expensive and if it had not been for the special occasion we would have stayed off property. Either in Orlando or near Port Canaveral.
There are so many really nice hotels for much less money.

 

[pixieprincess72]

I would do:
Deluxe - AKL - Great theming, restaurants and plenty of activities. But most of all, it would drive me nuts to be within view of MK or Epcot and not be able to go.

Moderate - POR or POFQ - if you're going moderate, might as well have the boat transportation to DTD.

Value - I would try the Mermaid rooms at AoA just to check out the resort.

I second all of this!

 

[Kae]

AKL Savannah View. so much to see and do there. for a mod I would choose POFQ smallest of the mods & boat to DTD.

Kae

 

[Babsy]

If not going to the parks, I would stay outside. WDW hotels have high prices due to location and transportation to theme parks which you will not be using.

If you do decide to stay in WDW, AKL or POFQ are the best choices, as many others have suggested. POFQ is less expensive and does have the carriage ride and walk to POR as well as boat to DD.

 

[jperrot1]

Well, since you mention you want to do Downtown Disney (the market place), I suggest Saratoga Springs. Saratoga Springs has a path that connects it to Downtown Disney. But I thought I read somewhere that the walkway was being closed for some reason so you'll have to check that, or someone please post here if you know the status.

My second suggestion would be an Epcot resort (BC, YC, BW, Swan, or Dolphin). There's a lot of activity in that area including the boardwalk. Beaches and Cream, in my opinion, has the best ice cream in the world (located in BC/YC). The BC and YC has, arguably, the best pool in the world, and pool hopping is not allowed into this pool, so you'll have to book YC or BC for this one.

 

[clapton]

Either YC /BC or BW, great area and atmosphere !

 

[minniemomRN]

With kiddos -- Beach Club or Yacht Club. Kids love Stormalong Bay.

Without Kiddos -- Swan/Dolphin. Luxury. Great pool/bar.

I think the Epcot area resorts have a lot to offer, IMHO.

In the mod range -- POR or POFQ

 

[katiee37]

Definitely AKL if you intend on spending a good amount of time in your actual room. You can't beat seeing all of the animals from your room and AKL has a few great table service restaurants worth trying.
I'm a fan of Beach Club for its pool and you can see IllumiNations from the resort or the Boardwalk if you're into fireworks. I personally wouldn't want to be within walking distance of a park if I wasn't going though!