If you've stayed in Villas, which resort is your favorite?

[jlt19]

I'm looking into buying points for a villa and wondering what sorts of things I should look for when choosing a resort, other than price. We'll probably get 5 day passes, though I don't plan on doing park hoppers. Definitely one day at each park and the 5th where everyone decides to go again. 

I'm not overly invested on which restaurants are nearby b/c we're not big eaters and 3 out of 4 of us would be perfectly happy with hot dogs or pizza for a week. 

I do want a fun pool for an 8 & 10 year old, and an easy commute to one or more parks would be helpful. Options I've narrowed it down to:

Old Key West
Saratoga Springs
Animal Kingdom
Bay Lake Tower
Beach Club
Board Walk
Riviera Resort

All standard studios, but if the "Savanna" villa at AK means random animals out the window, I would be open to that. 

I may be talked into a different one if it's OMG so amazing, but probably not. 

[countthestars]

For fun pool and easy commute to parks, I'd go with Beach Club or Boardwalk. We recently stayed at BLT and it was SO nice to be close to Magic Kingdom but the theming and pool are super blah. Beach and Boardwalk are both walkable to two parks, so that's appealing.

We love Old Key West because of the resort feel and the size of the rooms, but it's buses everywhere and the pools are pretty boring. Saratoga is nice if you are interested in Disney Springs, but again, buses to everywhere and somewhat boring pool. I personally have no desire to stay at AKL - based on feedback, it seems people either love or hate it and I don't want to risk hating it (ha!). I can't speak to Riviera but it looks pretty!

[TamiTaylor]

I agree with countthestars. For ease of access I would pick Beach, Boardwalk, or BLT. Beach has the best pool and is right next to Epcot. However, we have stayed Savanna view at ALK in a 2 bedroom and it was amazing. I love AKL except for how far it is from all of the parks.

[TamiTaylor]

How many people are going? Do you want a 1 bedroom. Can you do a studio? Otherwise my answer is a studio at the Poly. It’s my all time favorite resort on property.

[jlt19]

Aug 13, 2019 14:09:39 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

How many people are going? Do you want a 1 bedroom. Can you do a studio? Otherwise my answer is a studio at the Poly. It’s my all time favorite resort on property.

There are four of us going. Based on the recs above (and assuming $20/pt b/c the trip is over a year out) standard studios are:
BLT-$1102
BC-$1159
BW-$860
Poly-$1273
AK-Savanna-$1102

So, I'd probably lean towards the Beach Club. Is a standard studio there worth $400 more than at the beach club? 

This is only for 4 nights, btw. We're staying at a Hilton property for 3 nights b/c of a timeshare thing I'm doing. I haven't fully decided if we'll even do the villa route (PITA to switch hotels mid week) but I'm looking at the option since we're almost a year out-traveling Labor Day week 2020.

[curbsideprophet]

I am assuming you want to rent points for a one time vacation and are not talking about buying points to own.


I would definitely consider Riviera since it will have Gondola access to two resorts.

We did Beach Club last year and walking to Epcot was great. My kids are a little younger (3 and 6 at the time) and while the liked Stormalong Bay they were also happy going to the DVC pool because it was not crowded.

We were at BLT this year and being able to walk to MK is a huge plus.

[alleinesein]

I own at Saratoga. The resort is currently being refurbished so by 2020, all of the rooms should be finished. It is a quiet resort away from the chaos of the MK and it is close to Disney Springs, EPCOT and the studios.

[Mushe]

I’ve stayed only at BLT, and really liked it for the MK convenience. We went there every day, even when we spent the day at a different park. I know the pool is fairly blah, but my DS, then 5 (I think?) had a great time. He went on the slide roughly 10,000 times. We went to the Contemporary’s pool one day, and they have a few more slides. He didn’t like it, though, because of all the people.

We really wanted Beach Club at first, for the pools, but it was booked when we finally decided.