Which Resort was One and Done for You?

[canyoncam]

Poly for me too. I think I could be twisted to try it again but I wouldn’t choose it intentionally. I saved and splurged thinking it would be the best ever and I was let down. In my case it was the aging decor and the fact it was such a busy resort. We had just come from POFQ and had enjoyed it so much more than expected. FQ wasn’t our choice, in fact I’d visited once before while staying at Riverside and said I’d NEVER stay there, but we’d been booked at CBR (which I don’t care for but my friend wanted to try) and they announced the complete makeover of rooms and centertown dining. That led to a move To FQ at a discount off what we had originally booked at. Unheard of price for FQ so an obvious plus.

My goal is to stay at all resorts since I have found out you can’t judge a book by its cover! I’m only about half way there

 

[SamFaniam]

GF and Poly. We have stayed at both more than once, but I just don’t see ever paying those prices again when your room is not connected to dining and transportation. Paying $500+ a night to have to walk outside, it’s just not happening for us. As a side note, adjusted for inflation, if the Poly was charging the same rates they were in 1971, their rooms would be less than $200 a night.

 

[DisneyMommy77]

I feel like people either love it or they don't. I love Caribbean Beach and was really looking forward to staying there so maybe I was just sort of disappointed about missing out on my favorite resort. My 6 year old daughter loved Pop but it was her first trip so she had never seen another resort, she had nothing to compare it to. Also we were there during the renovations, maybe that took away some of the magic for me too.

I am staying at Caribbean Beach for the first time at the end of the month and I really hope I like it! It never appealed to me, but we got a great deal and having the SkyLiner really helps!

 

[SaintsManiac]

I am staying at Caribbean Beach for the first time at the end of the month and I really hope I like it! It never appealed to me, but we got a great deal and having the SkyLiner really helps!

The Skyliner really ups the value of those resorts. We love it.

 

[kylenne]

I hate to say it, but POFQ. I wanted to love it so much, and it’s not a bad resort by any means, but it had one too many dealbreakers for me. I gave up on the buses because of the truly wretched trips around POR every time I wanted to go back to a park after a break, and got to enjoy the DS boat all of twice because it was always down for storms. I ended up taking Lyft everywhere. I also didn’t realize how much having indoor hallways meant to me until I couldn’t open my curtains.

Makes me sad because I liked the theming a lot.

 

[VandVsmama]

Same reason why my husband doesn't want to stay there again. He said "we're from the south so it just didn't feel like we were getting away to stay there". We loved French Quarter though.

I totally understand! We've never stayed at Coronado, but we're from the southwestern US, so we are pretty steeped in that culture just living in this area. I don't need to stay in a Spanish mission-style accommodation...we can drive a little here at home and see the real thing in person. And the Mexican food here is way better than any Disney-fied version.

If I lived in the south, I wouldn't want to stay at POR either.

I'd love to stay in WL or the Contemporary!

 

[AliceIn]

GF is my least favorite. The rooms are nice, but to me it is the most boring of the themes of all the Deluxe resorts. I prefered CRs retro vibe over the Victorian/Old Florida theme.

I would rather be at any resort in WDW or DL than home in Illinois though!

 

[gopack]

I would never stay at PO again. I could not believe how unattractive the exterior of the Mansions were. They reminded me of something, but I could never put my finger on it. Maybe a Howard Johnsons in Williamsburg VA in the 70s. We have stayed at many of the Disney hotels and this was my least favorite by a mile. I do like FQ.

 

[tinabina919]

I am not a fan of the resorts with the internal bus systems. It takes SO much longer to get anywhere.
We stayed at OKW the first time we rented DVC points and never will again.
Also didn’t like SSR bc of the busses but we did get lucky with a room super close to DS so that made up for it a bit, still would not stay again.

 

[Lisa0620]

Pop century for us. We love Cabana Bay at Universal, which is retro but in a bright, fun, upbeat way. Pop felt dark and dingy by comparison. We went after the renovation, so we liked the rooms okay, but the food court, the lobby and all the painted concrete near the rooms were so blah. I think if we had gone in with lower or no expectations we might have done better, but we thought that we would love it from the theming and then we just really, really.... didn't. (Favorite resort is POFQ.)

 

[Spazz2k]

Our true 1 and done was GF about 20 years ago. I know it has totally changed since then, but at the time it was so "stuffy" and not meant for kids, so we felt out of place. I just remember the pool back then was like a quiet pool, literally everyone was quiet and at the time our 2 little girls were not...a few guests were irritated with them for being little and doing little things...lol. It is the only time we have ever felt out of place at a Disney Resort. We have stayed at all the resorts too many times to count, and that is the one resort that we have never been back to.

On another note, I think that there are many properties that depending on what section of the resort you are staying in, can affect your enjoyment tremendously. Examples...Mansions at POR make me feel like the previous poster stated, like I am staying at a howard johnsons...Staying at CBR in a building far from the main pool is a drag with kids...We don't like garden wing rooms at CR after staying in the tower...I could go on but location totally changes the feel for us as far as the resort goes, but the good thing is, you can request certain locations as long as there is no price difference they are happy to help.

 

[nekonekoneko]

OKW is my one and done. The theming has a chintzy Southern beach town feel with 80s Miami Vice style coloring scheme which felt a little off from the word "go" to me.

But the kicker was when I got "reverse pixie dusted" and had my near HH booking taken away. I had booked two rooms, and only one was near HH, the other was waitlisted and never came through. Even after telling them that we were perfectly fine with keeping the rooms split in two different areas, they still took it upon themselves to put us both in the same building, taking away the HH area for the one that was successful. We went to the front desk 3 times to change rooms in the first night, not happy with anything they were giving us. We finally settled for a room that they had "found" in the HH area, but the access panel in front of the kitchenette was open! Maintenance did fix that the next day, and we were given 3 Fastpasses and a free night for a future visit for the troubles.

What's ironic is what I love about POR (the serenity) is something quite a few of you don't like (feeling almost isolated, everything is so far away), and is the same thing I couldn't stand about OKW.

 

[stitchsnk]

Boardwalk for us. The location is amazing, but we missed the convenience of a quick service dining option without having to leave the resort.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Any resort with multiple bus stops is a no go for us.

BWV was our one and done. Although we are DVC and would stay there again if our points were low.

 

[LovesTimone]

POP - for sure a never again.... it was a girls trip, when we opened the door it hit the bed, the room was not cleaned, trash in the bins, the beds were not made up properly, sheet dragging on the floor, and the worst smell of damp wet dog, dirty socks and mold... It was so bad that I had to get out of the room... when they saw the room they just shut the door and helped us with our bags...then moved us to another resort...

CSR - terrible food court, and it was during a convention, the buses were terrible... It just did not feel like you were at Disney, no magic... The room itself was nice, and I like the barn doors to be able to close off the sink and bath area, and the room stayed nice and dark still.. In a pinch we would stay there maybe for a night to do a hard ticket event...

 

[CynBeth]

We try to stay at a different resort on our every few years trips usually around holiday time alternating between deluxe and mod and have really enjoyed every one. I am not going to say we would never stay there again but AKL was our least favorite. We were on the go early and came back late so never got to see the animals from our room. We did get to the viewing area once but was not the same. We found the hallways long and felt isolated from the other parks and did not like just having the bus as transportation. We love Boma so always have dinner there on one of our AK days so get to visit it and see the decorations.

 

[Richie248]

Contemporary for me. It just felt cold and stark and I didn't care for the pool (this was before they renovated the pool).

 

[doombuggy]

I have stayed at most of the resorts here at WDW. I think I can take a pass at All Stars. I stayed there in 2017 due to power loss at my home from Hurricane Irma. Food court was OK, but I just felt my room was out in left field. I didn't have the same feel when I stayed at AoA last year for a runDisney race for some reason.

I have not stayed at Yacht Club, Pop, CBR, Rivera or the FW Cabins as of yet.

 

[Rootskate]

Saratoga Springs was one and done for us. It was the 1st time we rented points and was all that was available.

 

[Eeyore daily]

Art of Animation. I hated how the bus and resort played different versions of "Under the Sea" and "I just can't wait to be king" over and over again which got old fast. The little mermaid rooms felt so far from the bus stop and the bathroom is just way too small. The only redeeming point is that they are dog friendly so at least I got to see some dogs while there.