Never Been to Disney! Needing Help on which Resort to Stay at.

[tpah92]

Hi everyone! I am new to this site and the whole Disney experience. Just some quick information. We are planning a trip to DW June 23-June 30. It will be Dh and I and 2 daughters, ages 4 & 7. My daughters love the Princesses and Playhouse Disney. I'm sure we will be spending at least a couple of days at Magic Kingdom as well as one day each MGM, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom.

Right now we are thinking of Wilderness Lodge, Port Orleans French Quarter, or Port Orleans Riverside. From pricing packages on the Disney website, Wilderness Lodge is about $800.00 more that POFQ and POR. Is it worth it? I know WL is close to Magic Kingdom, so that would be a plus but all the choices are overwhelming :brick:. We do plan on purchasing the dining plan, which sounds like a great deal.

So, if anyone can offer suggestions or tips on choosing it would be greatly appreciated! Or if there is another resort that I may not have though of, that someone can suggest.

Thanks for your help!

Tracy

 

[tpah92]

Bus Service

Thanks again for all your help and great suggestions and tips! I really appreciate it! I think we are pretty set on POR or POFQ.

Can anyone tell me how the bus service is at POR and POFQ? Is one better than the other? Do they share buses? I'm just wondering how patient a 4 and 7 year old will be if we have to wait awhile or if the buses are full.

Thanks!

Tracy

 

[wannabeBelle]

Define waiting a while?? Are you traveling when everyone else is as in early in the morning and then again at park closings?? If so there is definitely going to be some kind of a wait. There just isnt getting around that. will it be hours? no probably not. I have waited 45 minutes or more getting out of Magic Kingdom at closing time. Once you are on the bus, the rides are pretty reasonable times. FQ & Riverside share busses but only usually in the middle of the day when traffic on the bus is light. Riverside has four stops as the resort is much bigger than FQ which only has one bus stop. Hope this helps! Belle

 

[tpah92]

Thanks Belle! You are a great source of information! I figured we would have somewhat of a wait in the morning and when we leave the park, because it will be busy. But your information definitely helps. I guess my biggest concern is on Saturday June 24, at 9:00 a.m. we have reservations at Magic Kingdom to have breakfast at Cinderella's castle. And I don't want to be late for that, my girls would be devastated if we missed it, so I want to make sure I allot enough time to get there. What time would you suggest leaving to get there in time for our reservation?

Thanks again for your help! I know I will get the hang of all this, and stop obsessing and have a great time. I can't wait! I know it will be a magical time for all of us.

Tracy

 

[wannabeBelle]

aaaaaaah yes Cinderella's Castle!!! The bus for any given park begin to run one hour prior to that park's opening. I would say leave your resort by no later than 8:15 am that day!!! It will be a magical experience on that one. I have eaten there several times both breakfast and dinner and every time anyone I have brought there has been blown away. As far as me being a good source of information, even befre I became a Disney Specialist travel agent, I was going multiple times a year. Eventually you learn a trick or two!!! Belle

 

[Laura]

The Wilderness Lodge is definitely worth it, especially when you have kids. Being able to use the boats to get around instead of walking everyone out to the bus stop or parking lot is SO much easier. Plus its a gorgeous resort, and they have organized kids activities all day long. A moderate resort just won't compare.

 

[wannabeBelle]

I Agree Wilderness lodge is pretty amazing, but if cost is also a factor?? I think Riverside is a good balance between atmosphere and price Belle

 

[Kadee]

Bus service and your reservations: I'd drive that day to be sure you get there in time. Keep in mind that I HATE driving anywhere in WDW and use the busses 99% of the time, but for early reservations, I'd drive.

Bed size and a solution: In my opinion, a ful size bed is just way too small for two people of any size. My very thin, 5'5" 17yo daughter has a full size bed and takes up the whole thing. When we go to WDW, we take our full size air mattress (under $20) and a very small air compressor (also under$20). We air it up our first day there and push it under one of the full size beds in the room during the day. It fits perfectly and is out of the way. As far as comfort goes, it is much more comfortable that the beds in the room and we usually rotate nights on the air mattress.

 

[pinkrose]

we prefer POFQ or POR. They are both very relaxing, and beautiful. The reason we don't pay the extra for a deluxe is becasue we are never in the room and have never taken advantage of the different activites at the resorts. We are on the go from early in the day until late at night, so we've never had time.

 

[bullitt05]

Can anyone tell me how the bus service is at POR and POFQ? Is one better than the other? Do they share buses? I'm just wondering how patient a 4 and 7 year old will be if we have to wait awhile or if the buses are full.

Tracy

I found the bus service at POFQ to be MUCH better. It's usually the first to pick up and there's only one stop, as opposed to the 4-5 stops at POR. By the time we go to the last stop at POR, it was sometimes so crowded, but since we were at POFQ we usually had seats, etc. AND POFQ is smaller, less walking and absolutely charming. Great pool for the kids...Loved it.

Have a great time.

 

[pinkrose]

I found the bus service at POFQ to be MUCH better. It's usually the first to pick up and there's only one stop, as opposed to the 4-5 stops at POR. By the time we go to the last stop at POR, it was sometimes so crowded, but since we were at POFQ we usually had seats, etc. AND POFQ is smaller, less walking and absolutely charming. Great pool for the kids...Loved it.

Have a great time.

I totally agree!

 

[William Marsden]

Welcome to the boards Tracy,

I agree with the other posters that you've made some great choices and you won't go wrong with the Port Orleans Resorts or the Wilderness Lodge. One thing that I would add - if you want to grab a quick bite for breakfast, both the Riverside Mill Foodcourt at PO Riverside and the Sassagoula Foodcourt at POFQ have a much better selection of foods than the Roaring Forks Foodcourt at WL. (If you like beignets, Sassagoula serves the best I've eaten.) My family found this to be a major plus because we all wanted to enter the parks having had something to eat but didn't want to take the time for a table service restaurant because we wanted to hit the parks when they opened.
When it comes to dinner I'd stay clear of the Port Orleans Resorts. They're not terrible mind you, but there are just so many other great options at WDW. The greatest thing about the WL is the incredible lobby. You can still see that lobby without staying at the resort. We love to go to the WL after a day at the Magic Kingdom and eat at the Whispering Canyon Cafe. We've never eaten at Artist Point but I've read wonderful things about that restaurant. There are also some nice dinner options that are close to the Port Orleans Resorts at Downtown Disney. We really like the Wolfgang Puck restaurants and I've read great things about the new Raglin Road. If you opt for any of these restaurants either at the WL or Downtown Disney, you'll want to take the boatride back from WL to the monorail (if you don't choose to stay at WL), or from DD to your resort (if you do choose to stay at POR.) One other thing, if swimming is important, the facilities at the WL are drop dead gorgeous! Now I don't know if you did this intentionally but in my opinion you chose the two most romantic resorts at WDW (you old honeydripper!). Whatever you chose, enjoy you vacation!

 

[tpah92]

Thanks William for the advice on the restaurants and the food courts! You gave me some great tips.

I booked Port Orleans Riverside today and am very excited. The Wilderness Lodge looks beautiful as well, but I was just having a hard time justifying spending so much extra to stay there. But we definitely will go check it out and see the lobby. We hope to make Disney a yearly vacation, so I hope to try many different resorts in the future.

And yes, it does look like a very romantic resort! I can't wait to take a stroll with Dh and the kids of course too! And I think we will definitely take a carriage ride.

Thanks again!

Tracy

 

[William Marsden]

Thanks William for the advice on the restaurants and the food courts! You gave me some great tips.

I booked Port Orleans Riverside today and am very excited. The Wilderness Lodge looks beautiful as well, but I was just having a hard time justifying spending so much extra to stay there. But we definitely will go check it out and see the lobby. We hope to make Disney a yearly vacation, so I hope to try many different resorts in the future.

And yes, it does look like a very romantic resort! I can't wait to take a stroll with Dh and the kids of course too! And I think we will definitely take a carriage ride.

Thanks again!

Tracy

PO Riverside was the first resort my wife and I stayed at when we took our first WDW excursion '93 (it was called Dixie Landings back then). I hope your family enjoys it as much as we did. All the best.

 

[jim1051]

opinion

With the little ones, we always prefer convenience to MK such as polynesian or WL, we felt it worth the extra $$$ for a quick monorail or boat ride from MK for nap or afternoon swim. If the $$$ are a hardship, you'll do fine with the other options.