AoA or POR?

[PracticallyPerfectPoppins]

Hi Everyone! We are booked for our vacation November 2nd-6th (I'm running the W&D Half Marathon). We booked through a travel agent and I was torn between one of the AoA Family Suites (either Nemo or Cars) and one of the Royal Guest Suites at POR. I went with the POR suite, however am definitely having second thoughts and am considering switching. It's our first trip to WDW, so I know nothing about the resorts. It will be my husband, myself, and our 4 year old and 2 year old boys (almost 5 and 3 by then). They aren't big into princesses but love Nemo and Cars. We are mainly interested in convenience (food, transportation,etc.) as well as staying in an all around decent hotel. Is there a huge difference in quality between to AoA and POR? It seems to me from reading these boards that AoA might be better suited for young kids, but just wanted some input from the veterans to help sway me one way or another TIA!

 

[SW_matt]

I havent stayed at either but we are planning our next trip and will most likely go with AoA purely because of the seperate rooms (we are a family of four adults) and because of the ease with transportation and closeness of everything. I was a bit apprehensive about staying in a value but have heard that AoA is easily one of the best values and sort of bridges between value and moderate

 

[Tuvalu]

Understand that you have booked a Royal ROOM, not a suite. The room will have two queen beds and a very small table with two chairs. A suite at AoA will have a king bed in a separate bedroom and a Murphy bed and sofa bed in another room. Also two bathrooms, and a kitchenette.

The theming of AoA will be more fun for kids, while POR is more peaceful and beautiful. AoA has one bus stop while POR has four.

Both are great resorts .

 

[epcotisbest]

Understand that you have booked a Royal ROOM, not a suite. The room will have two queen beds and a very small table with two chairs. A suite at AoA will have a king bed in a separate bedroom and a Murphy bed and sofa bed in another room. Also two bathrooms, and a kitchenette.

The theming of AoA will be more fun for kids, while POR is more peaceful and beautiful. AoA has one bus stop while POR has four.

Both are great resorts .

Excellent advice and information.
We have been to both and agree, AoA will wow the kids, but POR is the more peaceful of the two. It seems there is a more relaxed, less hectic pace there.
The grounds at POR seem almost elegant for a moderate, and the added bonus of the boat ride to DS makes it a real winner. I think kids would enjoy the boat ride too, as this big kid does. Not having kids, we would, and have repeated POR, but AoA is more a been there, done that place we will probably not stay at again anytime soon.
Agree, both are great. I am saddened when people are stressing about resort choices, as they won't really go wrong with either one.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

Art of Animation

 

[Nathanael Bareham]

Me and my girlfriend (27yo and 29yo) have recently returned from our first trip to WDW and stayed in a Little Mermaid suite at AoA which is the most basic room and we loved it. The whole resort is amazing! Your kids will love the pool....from what I saw it cannot be beaten, especially if your boys love Finding Nemo. We couldn't fault the resort and thought it was great value for money. We didn't get chance to check out POR so I cant compare it to AoA but I just thought I would let you know how great AoA is!

 

[Jennifer Nolin]

Thank you for the advice everyone! I think we will be switching to AoA and possibly book POR for our next trip. I showed my son a picture of the Nemo suite this morning and his reaction pretty much sealed the deal

 

[ToTBellHop]

Thank you for the advice everyone! I think we will be switching to AoA and possibly book POR for our next trip. I showed my son a picture of the Nemo suite this morning and his reaction pretty much sealed the deal

I think you guys will enjoy it. Plus, the Nemo suites are by the main pool, food court, and bus stop.

Have a great time. When your kids are a bit older and would enjoy a more involved pool with waterslide, Riverside makes complete sense.

 

[BigRedDad]

POR is a nice resort. We stayed in the Princess room and will never spend that premium again. Its nice, but the little letter and the fiber option fireworks are not worth the premium. The bus system (for us) was at best horrible. I can only imagine how nice AoA is. I have stayed at Pop on several trips and absolutely love it there. AoA is very similar, just different theming. The buses at Pop are some of the best I have encountered. The only thing you will miss is at the pool. There is no slide at the Value resorts.

 

[mf1972]

AOA has some of the best theming for the resorts. we stayed at pop last year, & walked over to AOA to check it out. we were very impressed by how it looked.
food court was good for a value resort. lot of interesting choices. I heard bus service runs pretty well.
we've never stayed at riverside, but did stay at the French quarter & will again this fall. grounds are nice but spaced out at riverside. I'm sure your kids will like AOA more.
Hope this helps & hope u enjoy!