Need help deciding on resort

[mrtoad]

We are in the process of getting ready to book our next WDW trip with Pam at Kingdom Konsultants and just wanted to get some opinions to help us choose.

This will be the 6th trip for me and my wife together and 2nd with our daughter. We have stayed at either Port Orleans French Qtr or Dixie Landings/POR on every trip. We have always loved staying there but on our last trip which was in Jan/Feb of this year we had a little trouble with the bus travel with our daughter. She would get to fidgity waiting and frankly it was a sore spot on our trip.

Because of this we have decided to stay at either one of the monorail resorts or the Wilderness Lodge on our next trip. We know that we will spend 65 to 70% of our time at the MK so the rest of the bus travel we will deal with.

We are staying 9 nights and had a few choices we are thinking of and would like some input.

We were thinking of one of the following scenarios:

6 nights Wilderness Lodge 3 nights Polynesian Resort with a lagoon view
9 nights Contemporary Resort
9 nights Wilderness Lodge (this last one we only thought about for the whole trip after reading the latest Disney magazine to find it was voted in the people's choice awards as their favorite resort on the property).

As a child I always stayed at the Polynesian with a castle view so I would really want to do that but I am open to other ideas.

If it were you what would you do?

Thanks for your advice.

 

[mrtoad]

I am so happy for you!!! That is awesome!! Make a PS for O'hanas for dinner one night. it is something to see!! Oh and make sure you go there VERY hungry because the "cousins" will feed you well!!!!! Belle

Is O'hanas upstairs in the main building or is it the Luau?

 

[tigsmom]

Is O'hanas upstairs in the main building or is it the Luau?

Its in the main building. A little pricy (its WDW right?) but well worth the money.

'Ohana

They have a nice Character Breakfast too. :wave:

 

[mrtoad]

Thanks, Is it the one up on the second level? I am not even sure if there are others but if it is the one on the second level, I have eaten there and it is very good. I am sure it will be one of many PS we will need to make. We are currently planning it out. We want try to hit some new things (new for us anyway). We always seem to stick to the same stuff and we need to expand our horizons so to speak. So any suggestions are welcome for sure.

Thanks again,
Mike

Its in the main building. A little pricy (its WDW right?) but well worth the money.

'Ohana

They have a nice Character Breakfast too. :wave:

 

[tigsmom]

Its the one on the second floor...towards the back.

Do you like seafood? We really liked the seafood buffet at the Cape May Cafe in the Beach Club.

We try to do new things too. Last month we ate at the Liberty Tree Tavern for the first time ( :slurp: ), but we always have to have a meal at the Concourse Steakhouse in the Contemporary. :wave:

 

[lkubinec]

My suggestion is to stay at the Polynesian for the entire stay. If cost is a factor then I would suggest a garden view room vs lagoon view. You can save approx. $70/night and still experience all the perks that the resort has to offer. We have stayed at both resorts and the Polynesian far outweighs the Wilderness lodge when cost is eliminated from the decision. We found that the rooms at the Wilderness lodge were poorly laid out and quite small in comparison to the spacious Polynesian rooms.

 

[wannabeBelle]

Hey Mr Toad!!!! Where have you been?? Any particular things that you guys like or dont?? I have been to quite a few of the restaurants on property and could probably give some ideas, but I need a bit more info!!! Belle

 

[mrtoad]

Its the one on the second floor...towards the back.

Do you like seafood? We really liked the seafood buffet at the Cape May Cafe in the Beach Club.

We try to do new things too. Last month we ate at the Liberty Tree Tavern for the first time ( :slurp: ), but we always have to have a meal at the Concourse Steakhouse in the Contemporary. :wave:

I have heard their seafood buffet is great, do they have stuff for non seafood eating people? My wife is not a seafood eater but both myself and my daughter are.

Liberty Tree is one of our musts on every trip. We alwasy have lunch there but on our last trip we did the character dinner and the food was not so good. I am unsure if it was a bad night or the character meals just are not as good, or maybe they went down hill.

Did you enjoy it and did you go for lunch or dinner?

Thanks.
Mike

 

[mrtoad]

Hey Mr Toad!!!! Where have you been?? Any particular things that you guys like or dont?? I have been to quite a few of the restaurants on property and could probably give some ideas, but I need a bit more info!!! Belle

Hi Belle,

Well our usual places we try to hit are:
Boatwrights at Dixie Landings (still prefer that name)
Liberty Tree for lunch
Tony's Town Square
California Grill
Ekersus (spelling?)

Off the top of my head those are the ones we try to make sure we get to and the rest just falls into place. It is hard to plan every meal as things don't always move at the speed you expect.

Anything you can think of, I am all ears...

 

[tigsmom]

We did the Character Dinner & really enjoyed it. Flank steak, roasted turkey & roast pork...all done perfectly. Salad, veggies, potatoes, mac & cheese rounded out the meal. It wasn't very crowded & the staff was very attentive. Will definately go again.

They have non seafood items at Cape May also...

Cape May menu

 

[mrtoad]

We did the Character Dinner & really enjoyed it. Flank steak, roasted turkey & roast pork...all done perfectly. Salad, veggies, potatoes, mac & cheese rounded out the meal. It wasn't very crowded & the staff was very attentive. Will definately go again.

They have non seafood items at Cape May also...

Cape May menu

Cape May looks good, and there are things for my wife. I think I am going to add that to my list.

As for the character meal, we must have just gotten a bad batch. Our steak was way dry, not sure why. We usually love it there, in fact I would say it is our favorite on the property. For me it is extra special as when I was a kid it was a must for our family as well. We are going to do a lunch there this time.

Thanks for the info.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

Dining alternatives

Hi Belle,

Well our usual places we try to hit are:
Boatwrights at Dixie Landings (still prefer that name)
Liberty Tree for lunch
Tony's Town Square
California Grill
Ekersus (spelling?)

Off the top of my head those are the ones we try to make sure we get to and the rest just falls into place. It is hard to plan every meal as things don't always move at the speed you expect.

Anything you can think of, I am all ears...

My favorite in the MK is Liberty tree as well..have you tried to get an 11:30 reservation...if you get there first, you can be the town crier and call everyone to lunch.

I personally have had bad experiences with California Grill...but I won't go down that rant. In place of it (or as an alternate selection), We just love Artist Point at WL. Boma and Jiko at AKL. Narcoossee's at GF is nice for seafood and steaks.

Belle will be along shortly to suggest Ohana at the Poly (as it is a favorite of many)

You didn't mention any at MGM. We just love 50's Prime Time Cafe. SciFi Drive in is fun for lunch. Brown Derby is nice for upscale dinner.

There are a bunch at Epcot. Depending on what your personal tastes are. For a difference try San Angel (inside the Mexican pyramid).

Check www.allearsnet.com for sample menu's. I'm getting hungry. :slurp:

 

[wannabeBelle]

Hey there!!!!! You are correct Belle is going to recommend O'hanas. Definitely a great choice for an all you can eat meal served to your table. Clemson Tigger is absolutely correct about the 50's Prime Time Cafe. I adore that place and it is the most popular restaurant for me. I dont miss that place on just about any of my trips. great food, decent prices, and quite entertaining interaction with the CMs there. I havent really been back to Liberty Tree for dinner since they discontinued the ham!! I loved the ham but I promise Ill spare you from my diatribe on that. World Showcase has some amazing restaurants. Le Cellier in Canada has become a personal favorite as well as Teppanyaki Grill in Japan. Boatwrights is truly an outstanding restaurant, but for a great breakfast buffett, try Boma. I wasnt thrilled there for dinner as too many of the dishes were a tad exotic for me, but breakfast was more mainstream and excellent. That is all I can think of at the moment. Ill give it some more thought though. Belle

 

[tigsmom]

Hey there!!!!! You are correct Belle is going to recommend O'hanas. Definitely a great choice for an all you can eat meal served to your table. Clemson Tigger is absolutely correct about the 50's Prime Time Cafe. I adore that place and it is the most popular restaurant for me. I dont miss that place on just about any of my trips. great food, decent prices, and quite entertaining interaction with the CMs there. I havent really been back to Liberty Tree for dinner since they discontinued the ham!! I loved the ham but I promise Ill spare you from my diatribe on that. World Showcase has some amazing restaurants. Le Cellier in Canada has become a personal favorite as well as Teppanyaki Grill in Japan. Boatwrights is truly an outstanding restaurant, but for a great breakfast buffett, try Boma. I wasnt thrilled there for dinner as too many of the dishes were a tad exotic for me, but breakfast was more mainstream and excellent. That is all I can think of at the moment. Ill give it some more thought though. Belle

I'll throw in my vote for Marrakesh in Morocco at EPCOT. We've only had lunch there but it was delicious.

 

[HauntedPirate]

How can anyone mention Cape May Cafe and *not* recommend their character breakfast? It's the best one I've been to, but we haven't done Cinderella yet. :wave: