Which is more important to you?

[jlsHouston]

OMG terrible to have to choose because they are both what make a happy content stay

Probably the room...because I consider that my space and I have to like it and where is is located within the resort first or I never am really happy. BC and AKL perfect example. Loved my BC room and loved the grounds of the BC/YC too but never been overly wowed about the lobby. Totally happy on property though, and count that visit as one of the best. At AKL, I HATED our room. There was no dresser/no drawers for clothes. I was miserable and here I had this beautiful lobby and really nice pool area and I just couldn't get happy with the resort.
Kind of the same thing with the BW. Did not like either room I was stayed in at BW. First on the Inn side then several months later did not care for the studio layout on the villa side. Wasn't as miserable as at AKL but was not happy like at the POLY and BC and WL.
BC, POLY and WL, loved my room, loved the location of my room, and loved the common areas of the resort.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

OMG terrible to have to choose because they are both what make a happy content stay

Probably the room...because I consider that my space and I have to like it and where is is located within the resort first or I never am really happy. BC and AKL perfect example. Loved my BC room and loved the grounds of the BC/YC too but never been overly wowed about the lobby. Totally happy on property though, and count that visit as one of the best. At AKL, I HATED our room. There was no dresser/no drawers for clothes. I was miserable and here I had this beautiful lobby and really nice pool area and I just couldn't get happy with the resort.
Kind of the same thing with the BW. Did not like either room I was stayed in at BW. First on the Inn side then several months later did not care for the studio layout on the villa side. Wasn't as miserable as at AKL but was not happy like at the POLY and BC and WL.
BC, POLY and WL, loved my room, loved the location of my room, and loved the common areas of the resort.

It's funny, your feelings on your stay at AKL remind me of how I felt about our stay at WL. I had this big beautiful lobby with some of the best holiday decorations on site, but I hated my room. I was afraid I'd feel the same way about AKL, but I think the bunk beds in that room gave us some more space and the colors were more appealing to me. Your BW feelings also remind me a bit of how I felt about YC. What's crazy...I see us giving WL a 2nd chance before we even consider another stay at YC. Oh well...I guess this is at least a nice dilemma to have...deciding between BC or BW or going a different route and going for the Contemporary- my fave so far.

 

[jlsHouston]

Ahhh.. I don't know why I fell in love with WL...I think being located on the ground floor literally around the corner from the front desk was part of it. I was afraid I wouldn't care for the resort much since it is kind of like AKL! Oh gosh I think we are the opposites of each other, you better just go and book BW, because if it were me I would book BC.
And I was willing to give AKL another chance, now that I know how to get the front desks to change my room location and book there for this trip but my DGD9 reminded me it smelled so WL it was and we are excited for a return.
However in keeping with the try every resort goal, I did snag BLT for the last weekend and REALLY excited about that stay.
I don't see anything wrong with booking a resort you know you love and forgoing trying someplace new though. WDW is expensive to visit and throw in the travel expense and I get pretty motivated to make sure I have things the way I can enjoy them. I would love to stay at the CONT at some point....

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Ahhh.. I don't know why I fell in love with WL...I think being located on the ground floor literally around the corner from the front desk was part of it. I was afraid I wouldn't care for the resort much since it is kind of like AKL! Oh gosh I think we are the opposites of each other, you better just go and book BW, because if it were me I would book BC.
And I was willing to give AKL another chance, now that I know how to get the front desks to change my room location and book there for this trip but my DGD9 reminded me it smelled so WL it was and we are excited for a return.
However in keeping with the try every resort goal, I did snag BLT for the last weekend and REALLY excited about that stay.
I don't see anything wrong with booking a resort you know you love and forgoing trying someplace new though. WDW is expensive to visit and throw in the travel expense and I get pretty motivated to make sure I have things the way I can enjoy them. I would love to stay at the CONT at some point....

Haha...we may just be the polar opposites on these things. And that's the beauty of WDW offering so many resort options...surely, there will be something that appeals to a little of everyone. The rooms at BW are definitely growing on me and have edged out BC. So, I think this is going to become a battle between the Contemporary and BW. I will likely be hitting MK in the mornings while DH sleeps in...so Contemporary would clearly be more convenient...but since this is a F&W trip...BW's location is better for those aspects. Well, I've got time. I can't wait to hear about your stay at BLT. We've thought about renting points for that next time we take the girls.

 

[jlsHouston]

Haha...we may just be the polar opposites on these things. And that's the beauty of WDW offering so many resort options...surely, there will be something that appeals to a little of everyone. The rooms at BW are definitely growing on me and have edged out BC. So, I think this is going to become a battle between the Contemporary and BW. I will likely be hitting MK in the mornings while DH sleeps in...so Contemporary would clearly be more convenient...but since this is a F&W trip...BW's location is better for those aspects. Well, I've got time. I can't wait to hear about your stay at BLT. We've thought about renting points for that next time we take the girls.

I know I was cracking up while reading your post about your feeling towards AKL and WL and YC....

Honestly if it is a short stay F&W oriented then I would say go for it do the BW, nothing more convenient than strolling into EPCOT thru the International Gateway. However can't you easily monoral into EPCOT from TTC and from CONT aren't you right on top of the TTC? Either resort is going to get you into EPCOT more rapidly than say AKL or WL or one of the mods.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I know I was cracking up while reading your post about your feeling towards AKL and WL and YC....

Honestly if it is a short stay F&W oriented then I would say go for it do the BW, nothing more convenient than strolling into EPCOT thru the International Gateway. However can't you easily monoral into EPCOT from TTC and from CONT aren't you right on top of the TTC? Either resort is going to get you into EPCOT more rapidly than say AKL or WL or one of the mods.

What's funny is DH likes WL and has asked to return at some point. Maybe I'll meet him halfway and try the villas at some point.

Epcot is pretty easy from the Contemporary when the monorail is running. Where I don't like it as much is EMH...since the monorail no longer runs during evening EMH. I have a gut feeling that BW is going to win this battle just because we might want the option of an easy walk "home" if we overdo it at F&W

 

[Britt]

Definitely the common areas/amenities....

Clean room, hot shower, comfy bed and thats all I ask of my room!

 

[Victor Kelly]

Clean room, hot water. The rest of the grounds should be clean, well kept, and well maintained. But the amenities and the common areas are extremely important.

 

[PHS79]

I would say amenities is more important.

We were only in our room to sleep and relax while our DD took her nap. We were staying in a family suite at AoA and the resort had only been open for about 8 months at the time, so we have plenty of space in the room and the room hadn't had time to get beat up yet.

 

[morningstar]

We stayed at YC a couple of years ago and Stormalong definitely has cool factor.



I will say that the savannah view definitely allowed me to forgive a few things that bugged me with our room at AKL. I may have had a barely functioning light in my bathroom, a footboard that "jumped out" at my knee every chance it got, and a few other cramped spots with the room size/layout...but in return, I woke up to this each morning.

(which was filled with animals shortly after this pic was taken)

Perhaps it's intentional. When you do real adventure travel, the "phones, lights, and motorcars" are there, but not always in good repair. Maybe they want to give you that vibe.

 

[Graham9]

My priorities are quiet, cleanliness, comfy bed, Room amenities (TV, Safe, Tea-facilities, etc), well maintained (freshly painted, maintained gardens etc), easy of access to room inc car parking, laundry, proximity to shop/reception, content of shops (Food, drinks, odds-and-ends), restaurant/bar.

To date, WDW has scored on all of these.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Perhaps it's intentional. When you do real adventure travel, the "phones, lights, and motorcars" are there, but not always in good repair. Maybe they want to give you that vibe.

I guess it does kind of remind me of some of our adventures in Europe and the big national parks. There were definitely a handful of rooms that had some "character."

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

To me, the amenities are more important. There are 2 resorts we have stayed at that I loved both the room and the amenities. One was the Poly, especially since the rooms were refurbished. And the second was Boardwalk Villas. The room was very spacious and nice and the amenities, well, it's the Boardwalk! You can't get much better than that! The only thing I don't like about the Boardwalk is there in no quick service place to get breakfast. I like the Poly a bit better since (for now) it's has Captain Cook's.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

To me, the amenities are more important. There are 2 resorts we have stayed at that I loved both the room and the amenities. One was the Poly, especially since the rooms were refurbished. And the second was Boardwalk Villas. The room was very spacious and nice and the amenities, well, it's the Boardwalk! You can't get much better than that! The only thing I don't like about the Boardwalk is there in no quick service place to get breakfast. I like the Poly a bit better since (for now) it's has Captain Cook's.

Part of me would really like to try the Poly for this next trip, but I'm so worried about the construction. Boardwalk is actually at the top of the list right now. While I may just dash over to a quick TS meal for just me while DH is sleeping in, I was thinking the Boardwalk Bakery would be the best quick service type option in the area.

 

[71dsp]

For us, it's a really tough call. My wife is very particular about the room, but also thinks the location is very important. For me, I'll say it's the room (really looking forward to trying a 1 bdrm at BLT this year!), but for my wife, it's probably the amenities (especially location). It was awesome to watch fireworks from BLT last year, and I'm looking forward to it this year. Walking to MK is a big plus too.

Another example is AKL. I *love* AKL because the savanna views are awesome and the rooms are quite nice. My wife likes it, but loathes the bus ride distance.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

For us, it's a really tough call. My wife is very particular about the room, but also thinks the location is very important. For me, I'll say it's the room (really looking forward to trying a 1 bdrm at BLT this year!), but for my wife, it's probably the amenities (especially location). It was awesome to watch fireworks from BLT last year, and I'm looking forward to it this year. Walking to MK is a big plus too.

Another example is AKL. I *love* AKL because the savanna views are awesome and the rooms are quite nice. My wife likes it, but loathes the bus ride distance.

Sounds like we are on the same page about a lot of things. I loved our stay at the Contemporary ... big comfy room, convenient to MK, monorail, and lots of great amenities. I think the pool was my only real gripe- if you want to even call it that. It wasn't bad, it's just not as well themed as other deluxe pools. We stayed at AKL this past fall and while I loved the resort itself, I never got used to the extra transport time due to the distance.

 

[jlsHouston]

Part of me would really like to try the Poly for this next trip, but I'm so worried about the construction. Boardwalk is actually at the top of the list right now. While I may just dash over to a quick TS meal for just me while DH is sleeping in, I was thinking the Boardwalk Bakery would be the best quick service type option in the area.

The BW bakery is good..the drawback of course is no inside seating and it can be a bit crowded at 8 am. They also set up a continental breakfast bar in the lounge on the lobby level every morning. I love the POLY. I am not planning on a return stay there though until 2015...I know I wouldn't like staying in the midst of the construction.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Part of me would really like to try the Poly for this next trip, but I'm so worried about the construction. Boardwalk is actually at the top of the list right now. While I may just dash over to a quick TS meal for just me while DH is sleeping in, I was thinking the Boardwalk Bakery would be the best quick service type option in the area.

The Boardwalk Bakery was REALLY good! I just wish they had a specific area to get Mickey waffles or breakfast platters like Roaring Fork at WL. I need me some Mickey waffles!! lol the breakfast sandwich I got at BB though... soooo good!

 

[Tuvalu]

Part of me would really like to try the Poly for this next trip, but I'm so worried about the construction. Boardwalk is actually at the top of the list right now. While I may just dash over to a quick TS meal for just me while DH is sleeping in, I was thinking the Boardwalk Bakery would be the best quick service type option in the area.

As a huge Poly fan (duh!) I would highly recommend postponing a stay until after the construction is complete. Especially if you are looking at this November for F&W...then Boardwalk is the way to go! The convenience to Epcot can't be beat and as others have said, the new Bakery is top notch.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

The BW bakery is good..the drawback of course is no inside seating and it can be a bit crowded at 8 am. They also set up a continental breakfast bar in the lounge on the lobby level every morning. I love the POLY. I am not planning on a return stay there though until 2015...I know I wouldn't like staying in the midst of the construction.

We'd probably be using it for grab and go...so we're good with the no seating. Good call with the Poly.

The Boardwalk Bakery was REALLY good! I just wish they had a specific area to get Mickey waffles or breakfast platters like Roaring Fork at WL. I need me some Mickey waffles!! lol the breakfast sandwich I got at BB though... soooo good!

Good point on the Mickey waffles.... I didn't even consider that.

As a huge Poly fan (duh!) I would highly recommend postponing a stay until after the construction is complete. Especially if you are looking at this November for F&W...then Boardwalk is the way to go! The convenience to Epcot can't be beat and as others have said, the new Bakery is top notch.

Yeah- I just can't see spending all that $ if it's a construction zone. BW would definitely offer the F&W convenience too.