Which resort is a never or never again for you?

[MomOfDisneyPrincess]

This is such an interesting thread! I have only stayed at POR and POP for park vacations and AOA, ASMo and AS(sports) for extra, non-park days. I wanted to try them out in case they worked for full vacations in the future. So, that's what I have to go by. The deluxe resorts are simply out of my price range, period end of story. The moderates are pricey, as well, and tend to be so big that the walking around the resort adds insult to injury on my poor feet after a day at the parks, based on my POR experience. DD loves POP and that is her WDW happy place memory. Maybe if we travel together as adults, she would want to try other resorts, but I'm sure if Grandma is travelling with her and her children someday, we will be staying at POP! If someone else were paying for the trip, I'd be agreeable to stay anywhere except the tent camping. I must have air conditioning and a private bathroom or it is not a vacation, it's pure torture!

 

[Her Dotness]

This is such an interesting thread!

Glad you're enjoying it.

Never guessed when I began it that it would draw so many thoughtful posts.

I really appreciate those which give reasons why. Helps me decide which resorts I may not care for on a future split.

And makes me feel smug when others agree with why I didn't like some resorts. (Like "fake Hawaii Poly" for instance. With apologies to any who love it. Enjoy my share with yours, please.)

 

[fla4fun]

I like resorts with a water feature (lake, river, pond, etc.) so my first choice is a resort that has one. I really missed having a water feature when I stayed at AKL, and that would be one of my last choices of resort. I also drive, and like having easy access to my car, so having the self parking across the street at GF is a huge reason why I don’t like to stay there.

I like all of the Epcot resorts, because Epcot is my favorite park, and I like the Skyliner resorts because access to Epcot is easy (and I prefer entering at IG instead of the front of the park where the buses are). For easy MK access I like WL. I like taking the boat to MK, while also having the option to use a bus as well. CR is my second favorite in the MK area.

I am not a resort snob, and will stay value as much or more than deluxe. But when choosing a value resort, I would give the edge to Pop because of the lake and Skyliner over any of the All Stars, with AoA coming in second.

 

[FSU Girl]

Any values or moderates. If I want to save money I’ll stay off property at a nicer room for less than those rooms.

 

[Dug720]

Never Again:
POR and POFQ - I tried it and it's a hard pass for me...I have never liked or seen the fascination with New Orleans, and Riverside either looks/feels too stuffy (mansions) or trashy (bayou)
SSR - IF I wanted to stay at a golf resort I'm sure it would be fine, but I don't (my dad made the selection out of the list of options my CM sister had access to when we were going)

Never:
OKW - just looks WAY too spread out and isolated
Contemporary - I might have considered it before the remodel, but I'm not a big Incredibles fan, and honestly the reno just looks cheap
Wilderness Lodge - I'm just not a woods-nature girl (edit to add: the Campgrounds/Cabins fall under this for the same reason. Plus I always forget that they even exist. They just don't seem "Disney" to me.)
Grand Floridian - I'm just not that fancy

And in the Has Been Never But Could Be...
Boardwalk - as it is now, it's a hard pass, clown pool or no; depending on what it looks like when it's redone I might consider it

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We didn't love Boardwalk (bus issues and lack of dining options without PH) or CSR (so big to walk around). We did love AKL and Poly. There are too many options we haven't tried for us to return to something we didn't love the first time. I'm not going to say that I will never stay in a value, but I don't particularly want to due to the tiny rooms.

 

[RNRMOM]

We've stayed in every category but we would never stay at:

-The campgrounds/Fort Wilderness Cabins. It doesn't work for the needs in our family and I'm not an outdoors type of woman.

-Art of Animation. My kid refuses to return to this hotel. He hated it, especially the bad WiFi and all of the cast members seemed very confused by the simplest questions.

-Wilderness Lodge. I love the theme but we've stayed there 3 or 4 times and customer service has been bad every single time, so much so that we had to call guest services the last time and it became a "thing" which involved a higher up.

These are places I would never stay at again but not for anything bad like customer service:

-Poly. I was very disappointed because I thought I would love it but I didn't connect with the resort and we asked to be moved to Grand Floridian. Poly was just a little too dark, dated and crowded (it is an absolute wreck during the fireworks show). The Grand is much more peaceful.

-Animal Kingdom. The wait times for a bus were really bad and although some say it isn't secluded the ride from the resort to Magic Kingdom felt very long.

-Value resorts, especially Pop. These were fine when my kiddo was young but now that we're both older we like to rope drop and relax at the hotel after lunch for an extended period of time. Values aren't very relaxing to us.

-Moderates/SSR, Old Key West. They're very spread out and the internal bus system is too much but we really do like and miss SSR.

Our favorite resorts are Grand Floridian and Yacht Club. The other resorts are fine but just not first or last choices. We would like to try Riviera one day but this year we booked Grand.

 

[Her Dotness]

-Poly. I was very disappointed because I thought I would love it but I didn't connect with the resort and we asked to be moved to Grand Floridian. Poly was just a little too dark, dated and crowded (it is an absolute wreck during the fireworks show). The Grand is much more peaceful.

I can really relate to this.

We're neither of us fond of the Poly theming but thought we'd try a studio there for a single night a month or two after the refurb reopening. That was an adventure we won't repeat for various reasons, service and maintenance both.

The studio was pleasant enough, but the only elevator was terribly cramped and beat up. Looked in serious need of refinishing, numerous wall gouges and dings, very worn flooring. It obviously got no refurb which we thought weird.

We found the grounds too poorly illuminated to feel confident we could walk without tripping at night. Some areas seemed rather spooky to us, they were so dark.

We've rarely been so grateful to arrive next day at our beloved Disney's "Red Roof Inn." Thankfully as Grand as ever!

 

[Jennasis]

Boardwalk. The staff was incredibly rude.

 

[bookgirl]

There is probably no resort I would say never to. I mean if the price was right I could overlook a lot of annoying things. LOL

That being said, I don't like Carribean Beach or Coranado Springs. I just don't like the huge footprint.

I also loathe Art of Animation. Hated the food, it was noisy, worst bus service I ever had and honestly it just seemed like an overpriced Value and I'd rather pay a little more and stay at a Mod. (I was in the Mermaid Rooms, maybe I'd have felt different in a suite????).

 

[kc51570]

We rented DVC points at the Boardwalk Villas (studio) in January and the room was so run down my mood plummeted. We had just transferred over from the Poly. I went to the front desk and they were so sweet. They made a couple calls and got us a savannah room (also a studio) at AKL Kidani, so we packed up and drove over right away. We were so grateful and we loved our room. The animals were the highlight of my vacation.

We own DVC and stayed at Boardwalk in a 1br for 3 nights at the end of our trip. Never again unless they do a complete overhaul. Our room was so musty smelling-I am sure it was mold, because I was sick from the moment I entered until I left. I felt better by the time I was on a plane home. You could see old water damage and lots of mismatched paint along with it being completely run down.

 

[Disneylover99]

I also loathe Art of Animation. Hated the food, it was noisy, worst bus service I ever had and honestly it just seemed like an overpriced Value and I'd rather pay a little more and stay at a Mod. (I was in the Mermaid Rooms, maybe I'd have felt different in a suite????).

Well if you hated the food, the buses and the noise, you probably would have felt worse after staying in the Suite since you would have been paying more then double the price per night.

 

[akayek31]

Due to my allergic reaction to the fragrances that are piped in at the All Star Music resort (I asked and they confirmed when I had to check out early) I will never stay here again. I loved the resort and the theming but my allergies just can't handle it.

 

[MomOTwins]

This thread reminds me why I should never say never. We thought “never again” after a disaster of a club level Poly stay that involved never eating in the club lounge because all the food was picked clean within seconds and not replaced, and a burst pipe in the ceiling in the middle of the night that flooded the room (the carpet was soaked and freezing and we weren’t moved to a dry room for over 24 hours after calling literally dozens of times to beg for repairs or a new room, no compensation or even apology provided). Then we gave it a shot again a couple years ago in a much cheaper standard DVC studio and it was paradise. Which I guess is a good reminder that (1) sometimes a bad experience is not typical, and (2) DVC and resort are not always the same.

Boardwalk is one that I have not yet stayed more than once. Our only stay was 2019 and it was sooo in need of a refurb even then, must be even worse now. Plus despite requesting close to lobby, we got literally the last door at the end of the world’s longest hallway. And as others have observed quick service dining there is a joke. But I might check it out if they do a refurb.

One thing I can say for sure: I will never again stay at a resort big enough to have an internal bus loop unless we have a rental car. OKW snd POR are the two we tried and the bus hassle is just not worth it.

 

[_19disnA]

Have ZERO interest in that new Star Wars hotel. Too expensive for 2-days of live theatre in a window-less hotel, think you really need to be into Star Wars to be part of their target market. Even Las Vegas casinos have windows in their hotel rooms...........LOL.

Really like the Contemporary in the times we have stayed there. The monorail through the hotel still looks futuristic after all these years. Also liked Shades of Green but it was called something else when we stayed there several years ago. Mostly your opinion of the various hotels seems to depend on your budget, which parks you plan to visit and what you think of the theming. Have also stayed at various off-site resorts we liked just as much over the years.

Have been shopping/eating at Poly and Grand Floridian. Poly seems one of the most expensive properties now (not really sure why) and Floridian just seemed to have a stuffy atmosphere and not at all inviting compared to other Disney hotels.

 

[bookgirl]

Well if you hated the food, the buses and the noise, you probably would have felt worse after staying in the Suite since you would have been paying more then double the price per night.

True.

 

[dez1978]

I’ve never stayed at these and don’t think I’d want to:

Riviera - rooms just look too white and sterile to me lol
Saratoga Springs - I’m local to Saratoga and I think things would just annoy me lol
Boardwalk - doesn’t appeal to me and the clown thing creeps me out (and I’m not someone normally bothered by clowns)

I feel this way about the Grand Floridian, but I love Riviera lol

 

[Bahamontes]

Let's be honest--some resorts just don't appeal, whether theme, location, level of stay (Value, Moderate, Deluxe), whatever that's not a matter of price.

This thread is GOLD!! It’s amazing to hear everyone’s reasons for avoiding certain spots be so varied. Some really good insight that I couldn’t glean elsewhere, and way more useful information than a “my favorite resort” thread.

Mine is Contemporary. My folks took me to meet some friends of theirs on my first trip. I was BLOWN AWAY - what luxury! And when I finally got back, I had the impression of a very tired Sheraton in Des Moines. When I heard about the planned Incredibles-themed renovation, I was super excited, but the photos I’ve seen leave me wanting - like they wanted Edna Mode to design it, but ended up going with the cheaper bid!

It could have been BRILLIANT like the TWA hotel at JFK, but they missed.
https://www.twahotel.com/

 

[_19disnA]

It’s amazing to hear everyone’s reasons for avoiding certain spots be so varied. Some really good insight that I couldn’t glean elsewhere, and way more useful information than a “my favorite resort” thread.

I agree, when we share our likes/dislikes we can all make more informed decisions. Everyone might like/see different things in the places they stay and it is helpful when they share those with us. Threads where people just gush about how amazing/wonderful everything is provides little meaningful input.

 

[bookgirl]

This has been a great thread. What works for one person might not work for others. It really helps to get specifics. Like. was the clown pool the only reason I never looked at the Boardwalk, No, but it didn't help. LOLOLOL The fact that eating there is a little more complicated than somewhere with a food court is more important.