Which hotel in Disney Florida?

[OutragedfromTunbridgeWells]

I like the look of the Polynesian one, or the Boardwalk. Anyone stayed at either of these?

The caribbean one also looks good but only 4 stars, do you think it makes much difference?

Or anyone recommend any of the others?

I think the 'value' ones look a bit iffy? Is this right or are they OK really?

Been to Florida but haven't stayed in hotels. Have you considered a villa? More space, less money, more freedom to cook whatever the cranky kids like to eat etc?

Just drawn to this because I'm in TW too!

Our plan is to have 1 week in disney and then drive to the coast and have a villa/apartment there for another week.

So thought we'd stay in disney to make the most of the week.

I think if we were only going to Orlando we'd stay in a villa so we could have disney detox days in between extreme theme park exposure. There are lovely villas around Florida and you're right they are HUGE!

We stayed on International Drive and the hotel was quite basic, we are planning to go back to Florida next year and are planning on staying in the animal kingdom lodge, a friend of mine stayed there and said it was expensive but well worth the money.

There are some nice hotels near Universal/Islands of Adventure. The advantages of those (eg Hard Rock hotel) are that you get a 'fastpass' type ticket to jump the queues on the rides in those parks.

Anyone stayed at the Disney hotels???

I've stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and Fort Wilderness, in one of the cabins.

PO Riverside was lovely and had a great pool.

We are going back and staying at the PO Riverside again and Wilderness Lodge (we ate there and it looked fab, plus there is the boat service to the Magic Kingdom).

HTH

We stayed at the Polynesian Resort several years ago.

It was excellent - and brilliant location for transport - ie. next to the bus depot and the monorail stops there.

HTH

Hi
We would second Port Orleans. Great themeing, boats to downtown Disney. Loads of extras like horse drawn carriage rides, butterfly house etc. Shares a bus service with French quarter, which can be a good or mbad thing, depends on how tired you are. lol.

We would go back there. It def makes a diff to stay at a disney hotel, bus service, charging stuff to the room, packages from parks sent back to the room, magic hour in the morning when you get to go before everyone else.

Enjoy.

We went at Easter and we stayed at the Polynesian and then at a villa. I have to say that I didn't really think that the Polynesian was value for money (our 3 nights there cost more than a villa for a week). I was also disappointed with the levels of service. The theming is nice, but you can get the benefit by going there for a drink or a meal (dining at the hotels isn't limited to Disney guests, and you can make a reservation up to 180 days ahead). The Polynesian is very convenient for the Magic Kingdom though as you bypass the TTC, but for the other parks it is still quite a hike.

When we go again we will probably spend a couple of days in one of the value resorts - ultimately the room is a place to sleep as you can eat at any resort. We also used our car to get around the parks instead of the Disney Transportation buses - much quicker in my opinion especially in peak hours. The main perks of Disney accomodation as far as I can see is that the Magic Hours (when the parks opens early or stays open later for Disnery resort guests), which is valuable to our family of early risers especially when suffering form jetlag in the first few days. The parcel service is very slow which disappointed the kids in particular - we bought something in the morning of our first day and didn't get it until the evening of the 2nd day. We found out later we could have just asked for it to be sent to the park gate and we could have picked it up when we left the park.

We have also stayed at the Caribbean. Rooms are nice enough, but food forecourt not up to much. Nice island to explore. Bus transport only and as there are a number of stops in the resort it can take some time to make a trip, so again would recommend car. And if you are a Disney guest then it is free to park at the themeparks.

There is loads and loads of info atwww.thedibb.co.uk

There is a forum there too, to post your questions on.

Yes, have stayed at one of the Disney hotels and it was fab. Like someone else said, you get early, complimentary bus transport to the park (which costs a good few dollars when parking a car each time) and the buses run so regularly.

The rooms are lovely. They have great pools, what more can I say.

If you are staying on site you get free parking at the theme parks- you don't need to rely on the buses.

Get yourself a book called The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2007 by Bob Sehlinger available from Amazon. All the room sizes are listed on here also some rooms have kitchenettes.

Grand Floridian and Polynesian and Contemporary all on monorail and v.close to Magic Kingdom.

We stayed at the Boardwalk at Easter we had a tiny room for the 4 of us and felt very confined. You can walk to Epcot from the Boardwalk though. Restaurants are quite expensive around it. Also stayed at Contemporary at Christmas that was nice.

Stayed at Polynesian years ago when it was having a refit but don't remember much.

For great room sizes and a boat service to Downtown Disney you could try Disney's Old Key West resort. This is part of Disney Vacation Club but they do rent rooms too and they are huge.

BUT villas are much cheaper and you get more for your money. Stay in Kissimmee around marker 5 on the 192 and you can't go wrong. Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms, Emerald Isle, Rolling Hills or Formosa Gardens.

I would love to be able to afford to stay in disney but as we are getting married while we are in Florida in September we can't afford both. We are staying at Quality Inn International and having our wedding at the Wyndham Orlando resort. I would love to stay in Animal Kingdon Lodge.

I would probably only stay in a Disney resort if I was able to get Free Disney Dining Plan for 14 days. I'm hoping that they offer it over here soon so I can book for next year.