Where to stay in WDW

[JessNewbs]

We are off for our first O/S trip to USA next year. We are spending 10 days of our one month trip at WDW resort. We are wondering whether to stay at Port Orleans Riverside Royal Guest Rooms or the new Little Mermaid rooms?

 

[miss.potatohead]

I'm yet to stay at WDW but how many people are travelling with you, and what is your rough budget? If you wanted to save more money are were travelling with less than 5 people, POP seems to be a good place for kids but is said to be loud, but then PO Riverside is nice and quiet but I've heard it's not as good for children. If you wanted to splurge you could stay at a Deluxe but for 10 nights that would add up quite costly.

Have you read the Resort board in the WDW world section on DIS? There are some good reviews and reports there. Both POR and the Little Mermaid rooms look good although the Little Mermaid rooms would be more new.

 

[JessNewbs]

We are only coming once as we live in Australia. We have 2 kids 7 and 5. It will save us $1000 by staying at the little mermaid room but if POR is worth it I would be willing to spend the extra money. Just not sure if it will be worth the saving considering we are coming so far. We are staying for 9 nights and am not sure if we will get back there again.

 

[WAMUMOF4]

When are you going?

 

[JessNewbs]

May 27th to June 5th 2013.

 

[australiankaren]

I vote Art of Animation..the kids will love it, and we here at home have NOTHING like it .....POR is very adult, where as AoA is totally kiddy but great for big kids too.......wish I was staying there....

just my $1.03 worth......go you aussie dollar go

 

[australiankaren]

We are only coming once as we live in Australia. We have 2 kids 7 and 5. It will save us $1000 by staying at the little mermaid room but if POR is worth it I would be willing to spend the extra money. Just not sure if it will be worth the saving considering we are coming so far. We are staying for 9 nights and am not sure if we will get back there again.

I said back in 2003, that trip was a "once in a lifetime" trip.....we are going back for the 8th time

we are in syd

 

[battymum]

All Disney resorts are equally clean and have the same service - its location that differentiates them , the little mermaid room will be fine, if that is the decor you want.

 

[JessNewbs]

Hopefully it's not our first and only trip but you never know, just want to have as good as a trip as we can just in case we don't make it back. We are in Newcastle....we just can't wait NONE of us have ever even been O/S before! I just don't want to get there and regret where we stay. Do you have any suggestions where I can get a discounted rate on accommodation/tickets? I am assuming we wont be getting a free dining plan considering our stay is in May/June!

 

[JessNewbs]

just my $1.03 worth......go you aussie dollar go[/QUOTE]

We just exchanged some of our spending money, I'm not sure the dollar will get much better! It's hard to know how much money you would need for food and spending for a month though!

 

[Royal Consort]

We are only coming once as we live in Australia. We have 2 kids 7 and 5. It will save us $1000 by staying at the little mermaid room but if POR is worth it I would be willing to spend the extra money. Just not sure if it will be worth the saving considering we are coming so far. We are staying for 9 nights and am not sure if we will get back there again.

From my research, I think it depends what type of family you have and the temperament of your children. As a kid I really liked laid back hotels, but yours may love the busyness.

If you enjoy blinding primary colours and are happy to spend your entire holiday with sunglasses on within your room - Little Mermaid sounds great

I don't understand Art of Animation but I can see how kids would love it. Just take some kwells.

 

[Travel Mum]

We loved POR. For us coming from NZ, the feeling of being "down by the bayou" was extremely unique. Our girls were totally happy there, loved seeing the squirrels in the bushes outside our room, taking the boat to Downtown Disney, swimming in the main pool with the waterslide as well as the quiet pool behind our room etc. We were happy to experience the bright, in-your-face Disney theming at the parks but to have a calm, peaceful atmosphere back at our resort.

 

[Melbourne5]

From one novacastrian to another,

Go with what you can afford naturally, but watch the dis boards , Disney sites like a hawk for specials. Our 3 trips ( WDW once, dlr twice ) have always yielded a 30-40% off room rate special. Just be prepared to book quickly and not procrastinate in lieu of missing out as once those specials start they do sell quickly.

When we went to WDW we wanted to be next to the magic kingdom so looked at wilderness,Polynesian and grand Floridian .

Wilderness is beautiful, poly is ok, Floridian looked sensational and we didn't regret staying there at all. Wilderness would have been my next pick....

 

[WAMUMOF4]

My vote would be for AOA but that may be a little biased because that's where we are staying $1000 is a lot of money difference but only you know what you can afford.
Our once in a lifetime trip was in 2010 and we really didn't know if we would ever be able to go back I understand totally where you are coming from. If FD isn't available during your stay what about a split stay so you could enjoy both?

 

[alicia1506]

we want to try AoA when we go and for us the savings in accomodation is worth it as it means more for souvenirs/food/shopping etc. i guess it also depends on how much time you intend to spend in your room? are you going to sleep in and spend 1/2 the day around the resort/hotel room, or are you going to be in the parks & out exploring for the majority of the time? if you're going to be in your room a lot, then maybe the more $$$ accomodations would be best. if you intend to spend most of your times in the parks or just out of your room, then maybe it doesn't really matter where you stay as it will just be someplace to store your luggage & sleep

we usually have a set budget for spending money,and then approx $100/day per person for food -but we are all adults. if you have kids, you might want to adjust your expectations.

we based our budget on what we would spend if we were eating out here in the city (brisbane) for 3 meals a day. american food prices are less, but then there is tax + tip to add on, and theme park food is generally more pricey than regular food, so we found that $100/day more than covered it. if you intend on eating TS meals x 3, you might need to adjust upwards. if you are like us and typically only eat a small breakfast, a snack in the middle of the day and a light dinner, you might want to adjust downwards. i guess it's all up to how much your family likes to eat, whether you want QS or TS meals, and how often a day you want to eat/snack.

good luck with your planning