Port Orleans French Quarter or Coronado Springs

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scarpiapiano

New Member
Hey Everyone,

We're planning a trip to WDW in October and wanted to stay at a moderate resort. We're leaving the kids at home on this trip and celebrating our 20th anniversary so we don't need kids activities but we'd like some romance. Back in '92 we went on our first trip and stayed at Port Orleans Riverside (Dixie Landings back then). We loved it and still think it's one of the nicest resorts we've stayed at.

We wanted to stay at a different resort this time. The reviews from the Unoffical Guide and online reviewers rank POFQ just as nice or nicer than Riverside. However, I was in the bookstore yesterday and started reading the the new Complete Walt Disney World by Julie and Mike Neal. Boy did they rake POFQ over the coals! According to them FQ is the resort to stay in when you can't get into any other moderate, the lobby looks like a warehouse for left over parade props and the whole resort looks like a cheap Disney Imitation. They gave FQ only one star ranking it below any other Disney Resort including the value resorts.

Now I have some misgivings. Coronado Springs looks more impressive (I realize that it's almost twice as big and that might have something to do with the wonderful pictures). The new renovated rooms at CS look awfully nice. According to the Unofficial Guide, the transit times to parks are better at Coronado Springs. I'm also reading that since it has convention facilities and thus lots of conventioneers, CS may not have as much "Disney Magic". Any opinions out there?
 
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scarpiapiano

New Member
Original Poster
Thanks everyone for the input. I think we've made up our minds (I don't want to be divisive so I won't tell which resort we're choosing) but all your opinions we're great and well received.
 
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Disney05

Disney05

Well-Known Member
Having only stayed at CS I can only comment on that moderate. We love it there! We've stayed there more than any other resort. People complain that it's too sprawled out. We don't care. The resort is absolutely beautiful! The newly renovated rooms are very nice. The gift shop is large. The food is good. I've never been there when it was crowded. Even though our last trip the resort was supposedly all booked up, you could never tell.
 
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Wakkie Nu Nu

Wakkie Nu Nu

New Member
CS's rooms are an upgrade in every way over POFQ. Upgraded linens, larger beds, upgraded furnishings, flat panel tvs, fitness center, wifi in the lobby, double the dining options, busses that don't share, nightclub, better shopping, less crowds, etc. All the rooms are refurbed now - just look at photos of the rooms, they don't even compare.

CS is a super-mod - Disney generally even prices it as such. Says it all.

If you like the boat to DTD and the lightly done mardi gras theme POFQ is for you... just about the only argument I can think of. I don't buy the "resort is too big" thing... stayed at CBR (huge!) many times, and the walk around the resort (especially with buses and parking lots) is far less than any walk within the parks you've done all day.
 
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SchultzFamily

SchultzFamily

New Member
We have stayed at the Coronado (CSR) eight times with number nine coming up this September. DH and I have celebrated both of our 50th birthdays there, my celebration of surviving breast cancer and our 25th wedding anniversary (and I chose the CSR over the Poly for our 25th--that's how much we love the CSR).

We've not stayed at any of the moderates, but we have visited them numerous times. We visited the POFQ while there this past September. We always thought if the CSR were not available that the order we would choose for a different moderate would be POFQ, POR and then the CBR. After our recent visit to the POFQ, our order would be POR (love the food court), POFQ and then CBR.

We found the pool to be way too crowded at the POFQ (no chairs to be found), the hot tub very tiny and no quiet pools. Quiet pools are a big deal to us; I know you can walk to the POR and use their facilities, but I don't want to be walking to another resort in my suit, lugging my stuff, etc.

The POFQ is undergoing a rehab...although they have not announced exactly what that rehab is. They are supposed to start some time in the Fall.

Back to the CSR; we love everything about it -- the new rooms, the queen beds, the food, the pool and slide (yes, even at 50+ we both still use it), the fitness center/spa (I always get a massage), the quiet pools and the very large hot tub. We love the courtyards and DH and I will often sit there at night to unwind and just enjoy the beauty of the resort (very romantic); we like the new night club and the fact that no children are allowed after 9 p.m. (I have nothing against children...I have two sons of my own; I just don't think kids belong in a bar). We love how beautiful the resort is and how the lights reflect off the lake after the sun has gone down.

We would pick CSR every time (and we do. :animwink:)
 
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