Deluxe Resort with Slides?

[MmeLeota]

The Poly has the largest rooms...The Grand Fl. are almost as large...Both of course great views of Kingdom and the wonderful Monorail you can ride from Hotel to Hotel if you are bored, we've done that when it rained. Eat a different meal at each Monorail Hotel! Beware, The Wilderness Lodge are the smaller rooms.
If I had my Mom back I would take her to the Grand Fl. !

 

[UNCgolf]

I think Boardwalk Inn would be my #1 choice overall in a vacuum, because it's a very nice hotel in a great location that also has some excellent dining options on both the Boardwalk and at the Swan/Dolphin nearby. It also has easy access to two of the parks.

Just as a hotel, Animal Kingdom Lodge is probably the best. It has the best on-site dining options of any resort with Jiko, Sanaa, and the excellent breakfast buffet at Boma (not counting Grand Floridian, only because V&A is out of many people's price range and also isn't really a place for children). And of course there are the animals you can see in the savanna, plus one of the pools has a big water slide. The only real issue is the bus wait and travel time to/from the parks (Animal Kingdom excluded) and Disney Springs is often significantly longer than any of the other resorts.

I love the aesthetic/ambiance of the Grand Floridian, though, and if your mom really wants to do it, I'd probably pick it.

All of this also depends on when you're going, of course -- right now the Boardwalk Inn probably wouldn't be the best because so much of the Boardwalk is closed.

 

[doctornick]

If you are looking for a top resort centric option, I’d vote for AKL. As mentioned, it has great pools and the animal experiences and is beautiful on its own. Great food options though a little more exotic (so depends on your tastes). I’d also add the splash area at Kidani is IMHO the best on property and might be perfect for your kids.

But staying at GF or Poly would certainly also be a great option to experience them

 

[NelleBelle]

Couple of things to add to your already long list of things to consider. AKL has a pool that is zero-entry, which was great when I took my sons when they were 4 and 2. They could sit and play in the VERY shallow area (with life-vests courtesy of Disney). Their slide was quite fun. Request a savannah-view room for great animal viewing from your room.

If you were to do stormalong bay, you could always make sure your kids are wearing life vests if they are confident swimmers yet (plus you have a year for them to work on their skills).

We have always liked the slide at Boardwalk (despite the creepy clown)!

 

[Disney4allseasons]

We aren't set for a date yet. I can use it anytime in the next year. I was tossing around October.

Mom does want to go to GF, but also wants Poly as well. She would be happy with either. I definitely want to make sure we go somewhere she wants to go, as she has beaten cancer twice in the last year. Even with all the crap of 2020, I can't complain, as the last year has been good to us. An adoption finalized in October, and twice now my mom has defied odds. Luckily she is very proactive and they caught both very early.

That’s great news. I went in March with my mum, she had two types of cancer in the last few years so we were definitely in a seize the moment kind of mood. We went with Grand Floridian because of the spa facilities that you can get into free with your room. Both pools are great even if your a so,so swimmer. The waterfall pool is the one with the water slide. its nice and windy but not too high up and even at it’s deepest your feet can still touch the bottom. The thing I liked about Grand Floridian was that it wasn’t too far to get to any of the rooms, some of the hotels like Port Orleans and the Caribbean can be miles to get to your room. The food was great and even quick service was to a very high standard. The bake case was one of the highlights for me and the new beauty and beast rose lounge is a great place to go to Disney spot Mrs Potts, Lumiere and Cogsworth lining the walls. It’s really bright and got quite a calm atmosphere. My mum still dreams about it.

I think both poly and Grand are great options as they both have the monorail and the boats to get to Magic Kingdom and you don’t have to walk for miles to get to your room plus I hear really good things about quick service food at Poly (aka banana bread french toast).

 

[BASS]

Not to lament COVID any further, but reading stories of folks who've beaten cancer and want to go to Disney to celebrate and can't, reminds me of how awful this is. Mask up, folks and let's put this past us!

 

[Mainahman]

Got back recently from Kidani Village. If i was doing a resort only id go there. Its far enough away from the hustle and bustle that i almost forgot i was near parks. The animals were amazing, plus Sanaa!! the pools is zero entry, and theres a smaller water slide for the little ones, as well as the larger one. They were doing tons of pool trivia etc as well. Water play area was also open.

 

[tabby1222]

Thanks everyone! We still haven't made our decision. School has started, as well as construction about to start on the house, so we are thinking we may wait until spring. We talked about it last night, and just can't find a weekend in October that works, although we may decide to use it on Halloween, since we already have a park reservation for MK that day.