Which Resort was One and Done for You?

[VH103428]

POR- Very beautiful, but it wasn't for us.

 

[DebbieDowner]

Saratoga Springs is a race track in the town of the same name in upstate New York. Themeing seems to fit pretty well.

I understand that the Saratoga Springs racetrack inspires the theme, but they miss the mark in execution. It just feels like a big condo complex with some horsey stuff here and there. Naming the quick serve Artist's Palette and adding some blown glass is the only nod to the Arts component of the theme that I have noticed. And as for the healing springs, the pool is ok but not very exciting.

 

[buckeyeguy1]

Contemporary Resort

Checked-in at AKL (pre-renovations) on the second half of a week long split stay (YC/AKL). We got a bunk bed room (didn't reserve that particular room) and that did not work for us. Went to the front desk and asked if there were any other rooms with 2 queens that we could move to. They were booked solid. The CM called and found what other resorts had availability and of them, CR garden view was one and we would just have to pay the difference. We have been working on staying at each Disney owned resort and thought it would be a good time to give it a try. The resort was a little too sterile for us and we didn't really care for it. The rooms were huge, but it just wasn't for us.

 

[A2DisneyMom]

For us, it’s the All-Stars and YC. Our family goes to Disney enough that we prioritize the room just as much as the parks. We stayed at ASMo and it just wasn’t for us. Same with YC. Stayed there once and got a horribly musty room with non-functional shower. Was promptly addressed by Disney, but we likely won’t go back. Thing is we absolutely love BWV and are DVC at RIV, so Yacht (and BC/BCV) are unlikely to make the cut for us anytime soon. As a somewhat controversial point, I’m sure, for our family, Luna pool is much better than SAB. Love to sit at the pool bar in the evening while the kids do endless loops on the slide. Can keep eyes on them the entire time, which is awesome!

 

[maryj11]

Pop for me. The beds were not comfortable, food court crowded with dirty tables and the buses were always packed. It also was really cold when we were there in December so that may have not helped us to enjoy it.
We have stayed at All Star Music, POR,POFQ,Coronado, BC,WL,GF, AKL, and the Poly. My favorites are the Poly,GF, and AKL.

 

[Devil13]

Pop. Never again. The only thing I liked about it was checking out.

 

[maryj11]

How long did it take to get to/from your room? I was thinking about renting DVC points at the Polynesian but I was surprised to see some negative reviews on here

We love the Poly. We stayed in Rarotonga and the walk was short to everything.Im not sure how long of walk it is from DVC rooms.

 

[marinejjh]

All Star Sports for us. We had nothing but issues, the AC didn't work for multiple days and they sent a tech out that was clueless about fixing anything. They didn't have anywhere to move us and credited us a few nights, but it was like staying in a cheap Motel 6.

 

[Starwarsfan2]

Wow, I think every resort got listed at least once. I guess that's what makes the world go round.

 

[westie55]

For me it is the Contemporary. The theming is very bland IMO and a lot of the decor is downright unattractive. I thought the walk to MK would be amazing but so many times it was either a massive downpour or sweltering hot and our 2 year old refused to go in the stroller, which made the walk pretty unbearable. We ended up taking the monorail instead more often than not. I missed the fun theming of the other resorts. I've stayed at most. I am in no rush to book at the Contemporary again. I like many of the less expensive deluxe resorts like WL and AKL, the moderates, and AoA much better. GF is my favorite monorail resort.

 

[supernova]

I understand that the Saratoga Springs racetrack inspires the theme, but they miss the mark in execution. It just feels like a big condo complex with some horsey stuff here and there. Naming the quick serve Artist's Palette and adding some blown glass is the only nod to the Arts component of the theme that I have noticed. And as for the healing springs, the pool is ok but not very exciting.

Remember that these are not new buildings. That complex was part of the original Disney Institute. So we can't hold the layout against them.

 

[snappy]

Pop for me. Felt like I was in a sardine box. Too much Constant traffic outside the window. Too much noise from nearby rooms.

 

[LovingPooh]

All Stars and Pop

 

[DisneyJen0504]

For us it was Polynesian. I think our expectations of finally staying there may have been too high? Other than the pool, we weren't thrilled with anything. LOL
Here's why we won't stay Poly again:
-Quick service at Captain Cooks was downright gross every meal we tried.
-Rooms just didn't do it for us. We are always wowed by our stays and all the brown was underwhelming.
-The monorail was such a hassle in the evenings heading out because there are so many people visiting or dining at Poly but not staying there. Crowds in the lobby were a pain. Happy we heard about walking to TTC to catch the Epcot monorail. Preferred the boat whenever possible.

 

[lluv3971]

Our one and done so far is Port Orleans Riverside.

As someone stated, we felt totally isolated. We were in the Mansion section in one of the outlying buildings and I am pretty sure we were the only ones there. Maybe there are people who would enjoy that but it just seemed sad to us.

The main reason we will never stay there again is the bus system with multiple bus stops. It was awful. Traipsing through the parking lots to catch a bus isn’t very magical, and we were stop #3, so the seats were always taken by the time the bus arrived for us.

It IS a beautiful resort though. I would love to stay at POFQ in the future.

I echo everything you mentioned. I will never stay at POR again, nor will I recommend it to anyone. In my opinion/experience:

The food court was absolutely terrible.
I figured all food courts would be the same, but that was not true in my experience. The bread goods were stale, the dinner options were bland, and no matter what I had, it was like eating either a goopy mess or a hard piece of cardboard.

The internal busses were always crowded. We were packed into them like sardines at all hours of the day, even "slow" times.

While a perk, the boat to DS is SO SLOW. It was not a sustainable option for us.

The rooms and buildings were fine, but dated, which was disappointing (This was in 2017).

Just to note, POFQ, YC, POP are among my favorites.

 

[cluvsdisney]

Caribbean Beach Resort. We were there a long time ago and there have been renovations and refurbishments since then so maybe we'd feel differently if we were to return. But at the time, we felt here was nothing special about the room - we could have been in some random hotel along i-95. The resort is huge - it's weird because I don't feel that way about Riverside but it annoyed me there. There was something with all the stations at the food court but I can't recall what it was.

 

[Timothy02359]

CBR for me. Didn`t care for anything about it.

 

[The Sasquatch]

Polynesian - It feels like I will bump into Greg Brady at the volcano pool, find a cave with Vincent Price in it and wake up with a tarantula on my chest...

 

[Cajun23]

Port Orleans Riverside

 

[Rm4OneMore]

Coronado. Too much "business business business", not enough Disney.