Where did you stay at Walt Disney World?

[eliseb0323]

Planning a trip to Disney World for next January. Looking for recommendations on where to stay. We are leaning toward staying on a Disney property, probably at a Deluxe or Moderate level place.

My son will be 8 when we go.

Are pools something to consider in January? Is it warm enough to swim outside?

[stephm0188]

We stayed at the Swan in December and enjoyed it. My husband took my son swimming one afternoon while I slept off a headache. He said the pool was heated, and they were comfortable.

[miss1180]

DH and i went last year- no kids yet-- and stayed at Pop Century. its one of the "Value" resorts... but we really liked it.
the rooms were kind of small... but you're not really in there much. And your son is 8, so its not like you'll have a ton of "baby gear" taking up space.
it was a fun theme- each section was a different decade, and there were giant "things" from each decade around (like for the 70s there was a giant Big Wheels bike, in the 90s there was a giant laptop, 80's had a giant rubix cube- i think its fun for kids!
there were i think 3 different pools, which was nice if you are planning to take a day off from the parks. I also liked that there was a direct bus to each park right out front of the hotel. made it very easy to get where you wanted to go. There was also a big food court that made it easy to grab breakfast on your way out to the parks.
i also like wilderness lodge- never sayed there, but i love the theme of it, and they have a neat pool. i think you can take the ferry from there to the magic kingdom, which is a cool way to get there :-)

[basilosaurus]

We'd always stay outside of the park, in Kissimmee usually. But, we had these 5 year passes that used to be available to FL residents, so we went about twice a year.

Orlando in January could be very cold (like 30-40). It might also be nice and warm. There's no way to predict it.

[fluff]

I live within driving distance, so we haven't stayed there a lot. However, we have stayed at the cabins in Ft. Wilderness, which was really nice. We had a kitchen, living room, and plenty of sleeping areas. There is a fun cook out with Chip and Dale and a lot of stuff to do on property. You take a boat to the Magic Kingdom.

I've also stayed at the Pop Century Resort, which was one of the cheaper places. My only complaint was having to take a bus to the MK because the lines for that can get long.

The weather here is pretty unpredictable in January. DH & I got married in 1/09 and the weather was beautiful in the upper 70's. The following January was cold, rainy, and nasty.

The pools at Disney are heated, though.

[dragonfly08]

My kids actually love POP Century. The theme keeps them in a Disney mood, they enjoy the pools, and I don't have to spend much for what I just consider a place to sleep. There are plenty of things to do...we've been on hidden Mickey hunts, done some kid activities in the main building, walked around taking cute pictures with the decor. And I think POP has one of the best resort food courts at Disney. The bus can be a downside, but you can run into similar issues at a lot of the resorts (including the monorail ones because that only helps getting to MK and EPCOT...DAK and DHS still require riding the bus).

[Guest1]

We are going in Novemeber and stayng at the Art of Animation hotel. It's brand new -- not even open yet -- and a "value." This is our first time going as a family and everyone else I know who went said it's more than worth it to stay on property. Good luck!

[starlettedir]

I always feel like I'm in a cattle call when I stay at the value resorts. To me it's worth the extra $$ to stay at a moderate. We've enjoyed Port Orleans French Quarter. It's the smallest hotel on property. I've stayed there during Spring Break with my dance team and we never had a problem getting all 30 of us to or from any place on the same bus.
I ran into that issue a lot when we stayed at a value.

[alithebride]

our fave is the polynesian.

[alleinesein]

I've stayed at the Port Orleans twice (the one I stayed at was the French Quarter), the Contemporary, The Yacht Club and Saratoga Springs.

Saratoga Springs is my DVC home resort in Florida and I like it a lot but the Yacht Club is my favorite of all the properties I have stayed at. The Yacht Club has the best pool on property (Stormalong Bay).

[krystee]

I love Wildnerness Lodge. I like the fact that everything is in one building (as opposed to, for example Caribbean Beach, where you can be pretty far from the main building with the food courts and large pool) and that you can take the boat instead of the bus to Magic Kingdom.

[lishie]

I've stayed at Port Orleans, Caribbean Beach and Beach Club Villas. The beach/yacht club can't be beat for location and an amazing pool, but I really liked Port Orleans Riverside. The property was gorgeous and the cost was reasonable.

We were there in early January, and experienced weather that set a record for cold down there (30s the whole stay, with some snow). When we called to book our reservation, the people on the phone said there was an 85% chance we'd be able to use the pool, but we were not lucky during our trip.

[sunny]

We swam in January - I would absolutely recommend Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kidani Village. That's my favorite, followed by Contemporary Resort.

Wilderness Lodge was ok but the rooms were subpar IMO.

[Redpoppy]

I've stayed at Wilderness Lodge and Port Orleans French Quarter. I think I had hyped up Wilderness Lodge in my head and it was a let down. We liked Port Orleans a lot.

[niemand88f]

May 23, 2012 14:42:18 GMT -5 @tjenbell said:

We've stayed at Pop Century, the All Star Sports, Port Orleans, and Animal Kingdom Lodge. My favorite (obviously, since it was the most expensive!) was Animal Kingdom Lodge. However, Port Orleans was blissfully quiet and small and a welcome respite after a long day at the parks and I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again. I don't think I would stay at the lower end ones again just because of all the noise, which I don't want to deal with after being tired from the parks.

I like Port Orleans (stayed at French Quarter) for this reason too- it just feels a lot more relaxing and quiet there. I also liked the boat to Downtown Disney, it's a very nice ride in the evening especially.

[Deleted]

On property I've stayed at the yacht club and Coronado springs. IMHO Coronado springs is a terrible place. I'd avoid it at all costs. The yacht club is totally fine for a Disney property.

I also really like the Hilton on destination parkway that's close to there.

[countthestars]

We really liked Old Key West, Port Orleans/French Quarter, Boardwalk, Caribbean Beach. I also did not love Coronado Springs.

[krystalskitsch]

We stayed at Caribbean Beach and I loved the pool! It was so fun. Pirate ship, water slide, I just remember really liking the property.

[SuziSaysDa]

We stayed at the Polynesian and really enjoyed it - most parks are just a monorail ride away.

I was there in January of 2010, for the marathon, it was 32 and sleeting when we got there, but almost 70 a week later when we left.

[MissusTexas]

May 25, 2012 12:38:49 GMT -5 SuziSaysDa said:

We stayed at the Polynesian and really enjoyed it - most parks are just a monorail ride away.

I was there in January of 2010, for the marathon, it was 32 and sleeting when we got there, but almost 70 a week later when we left.

We must have been there at the same time! I loved it that way, though, and can't imagine going at a different time of year because even those last few days when it was in the 70s we were working up a sweat walking everywhere.

Also, the parks were still in Christmas mode so all the decorations were up and looked very nice.

We stayed at the embassy suites in Orlando, which I wouldnt recommend... But I'll never recommend a hotel whose rooms open up into the lobby. It was so loud!

[Lissa]

We just got back from WDW. We stayed at Coronado Springs and did not like it at all. Riverside and Caribbean Beach are ok, but the Riverside can be hit or miss, depending on room location.

Our favorite is the Yacht Club, but I would recommend the Beach Club for being more kid-friendly. It's very convenient to walk or hop on the boat to get to Epcot and DHS. Plus, we've always found the service to be excellent.

[pippa]

Port Orleans French Quarter. It was okay. Convenient and quiet but not the nicest resort. I think it's been updated since I visited.

[dulcemariamar]

We stayed at Hilton Hotel Bonnet Creek and it was great. The hotel was so pretty and clean. They have a huge lazy river. And they also had different buses that left every 20 to go to the parks.

[housegeek]

I really think you can't go wrong with any of the Disney hotels we stayed at value 2 times, which was fine for the amount of time in them, and at the Coronado springs last time wihich was awesome and my fav.