Overwhelmed with Dis/Orlando resorts. Please help.

We are looking to spend about $200/night for a week in early December. We are going in non-pool weather so we probably won't be spending much time in the pool. Some afternoon kid entertainment and kid friendly food would be preferred.

Most of the chain hotels and the Disney moderate hotels seem to fit our budget. We originally planned to rent a car and we probably still will even if we stay on a disney resort.

We used starwood points and stayed at sheraton vistana villages in the spring. It was fine but I didn't like the lack of housekeeping. We only used the kitchen once to make pasta but the dishwasher and laundry in the unit were very convenient. We went in late april/early may so there werent extended hours so it was a non-factor. This time, there are 8am early magic hours so that is a huge positive for us as our kids wake up at 6:00am daily.

Which do you think is the best of these resorts?

A. Port Orleans - French Quarter (best bus service to the parks because there is only 1 bus stop)
B. Port Orleans - Riverside (better amenities than FQ but more spread out with multiple bus stops)
C. Coronado Springs - nicest moderate level resort but furthest away. We would probably drive everywhere but still benefit extra hours.
D. Reunion Resort - nice timeshare resort with kitchens (we can probably stay here for free/almost free as my friend offered it to us but that is a non-factor)
E. Westin Imagine Orlando (or any other Starwood hotel) - seems like a nicer timeshare than Sheraton Vistana. We have starwood points to burn and can stay at any of these hotels for free using points.

Overwhelmed with Dis/Orlando resorts. Please help.

I have never stayed a moderate, only value and deluxe. If I had to choose I would either pick Port Orleans FQ because of no internal bus stops, or Coronado Springs because it looks the nicest.

If you really want to utilize the extra magic hours, then I wouldn't even bother looking off site. Of course you get more space, nicer rooms, better amenities, but you loose the extra magic hour, which is important to you.

Overwhelmed with Dis/Orlando resorts. Please help.

I so totally LOOOOOOVE port orleans French quarter. Its the ONLY place I stay! They have a huge green area that at night they erect a large inflatable screen and show Disney Movies. Grab some food, settle in with some blankets and watch the show, get tired? Well go back to your room. The Boat Ride to Downtown Disney to see the Legos, rainforest Cafe etc is really nice and so easy. The bus system rocks. Always empty both ways. If you stay out super late then you have to share with Riverside. Its one of the smallest properties so no matter WHERE your room is you are a very short walk to the bus stop. Beignets are yummy (pastry with sugar).

It always gets my vote.

I once thought about staying at Riverside instead but they have several bus stops (i was once on their bus to get to french quarter) and they have a good long walk to the rooms, plus you have to push yoru way off the bus etc. Meh. I love the bus system for French Quarter. Only long trip is to Animal Kingdom.

Re: Overwhelmed with Dis/Orlando resorts. Please help.

Re: Overwhelmed with Dis/Orlando resorts. Please help.

Re: Overwhelmed with Dis/Orlando resorts. Please help.

Actually the boat I mentioned goes to both. Last time I went we ate mostly at sit down services in the parks, not the hotel. Honestly i rarely eat at the hotel and I'm NOT a fan of gumbo, jumbalya etc. haha hubby says it was all pretty good (he's a fan).

We normally only ate breakfast there. Never lunch and dinner. We did eat lunch on our last day there and it was DELICIOUS! but i think it was some fancy sandwich.

Re: Overwhelmed with Dis/Orlando resorts. Please help.

Overwhelmed with Dis/Orlando resorts. Please help.

yes there's a bus to every park. I never 'had' to use the transportation center. But i did use it anyway. It was faster. Plus AJ got a chance to ride the monorail and the ferry.

Re: Overwhelmed with Dis/Orlando resorts. Please help.

Overwhelmed with Dis/Orlando resorts. Please help.

If you are at one park and want to get to another it is sometimes faster depending on which park you are currently at and what park you want to go to, to take the transportation center. For us it was faster to go from MK to AK via transportation which is right there.

We had dinner reservations EVERYWHERE, so we took the monorail to the Polynesian? or was it the Cosmopolitian. LOL I had dinner at both! Took a ferry back to the transportation center to get home. It was so peaceful and nice on the Ferry, AJ loved seeing the Castle all lit up coming into view.

I have also gone without EVER going to the transportation center. Honestly we always ask the disney folks "I wanna go here, whats fastest/easiest" and they are generally spot on.

Only reason we pondered renting a car was we got groceries. We ended up having them delivered. For a family of 3 it was overkill but saved us time and rental. There's places that deliver your food directly to your hotel BEFORE you arrive then they delivered it up to my room. Orange Juice and Milk were must haves. Jim got some of his favorite instant coffee and late night snack stuff like yogurt, cookies, etc. applesauce for AJ, crackers and goldfish for trips to the parks. Saved money on snacks in the parks that way too.

We thought about renting a car for the grocery run but that's the ONLY trip we would have needed it for. Otherwise we were too busy in the parks to need a car, ever.



ETA: No the bus goes to the bus depot for MK or whatever park you are going to. I got to the transportation 'center' via monorail of ferry, walked over to the bus depot for our bus.

Message edited 9/14/2012 1:11:17 PM.

Re: Overwhelmed with Dis/Orlando resorts. Please help.