Where Not to Stay
By Dave Shute
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Where to Stay Resort Features by Price Resort Kid Appeal Large Families
OVERVIEW
This site recommends you stay in the Deluxe resort Disney’s Polynesian Resort if you can afford it, or at the Value resort Disney’s Pop Century Resort if you cannot.
Three other resort categories exist
- Disney Vacation Club Resorts
- The Campgrounds at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
- Moderate Resorts
and while wonderful for trips after your first, none of these categories is recommended for your first family trip.
DISNEY VACATION CLUB
Disney Vacation Club (DVC) resorts are expensive, and neither as convenient nor, with the exception of the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge and at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, as kid-appealing as the Polynesian, their price comparitor.
They do make sense for large families seeking deluxe accommodations. See this for large families; see this for more on the DVC resorts.
FORT WILDERNESS
Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground is neither as convenient nor as kid-appealing as the Pop Century Resort, its appropriate price comparitor.
THE MODERATES
The moderates unquestionably are much more appealing to adults than Pop Century (and the All-Star Resorts).
However, they have very little visual kid appeal.
The rooms of the “traditional” moderates (that is, excluding the Cabins at Fort Wilderness Resort) are almost 2 feet longer and a foot wider than those at the values (this is a huge difference, as the values are about as small as a hotel room can reasonably be…), and their bedroom spaces are actually larger than those at some Disney deluxe resorts: see this.
However, the beds at the moderates are mostly only full-sized, (Coronado Springs is the exception, with queens), as they are at the values; other than Coronado Springs you need to stay in a Deluxe resort to get two queen beds.
The moderates have more amenities than the values, and, to an adult’s eyes, much better landscaping and exterior design.
Even so, the moderate resorts are not a better choice for your first family trip than the values, even if you could easily afford them:
If you could afford the moderates, a more kid-appealing and convenient itinerary would be to spend the first 5 nights of your trip at Pop Century, and the last 3 at Disney’s stunningly kid-appealing deluxe resort the Wilderness Lodge.
This approach costs you ~$30 more (total!) than staying at the moderates for 8 nights, but is much more convenient and kid-appealing.
You could even (for a total of less than $200 more) spend 4 nights at Pop, and 4 at the Wilderness Lodge!
(Note: do not reverse the order here–don’t go to the Wilderness Lodge first, and then to the Pop Century Resort–or you will hear no end of complaining from your family…!)
The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness (designated moderates in 2008) do sleep six–but so also do the Family Suites at All-Star Music. The Family Suites are cheaper, more kid appealing, more convenient, and have a better layout for parent privacy.
Last updated October 09
LINKS FOR WHERE TO STAY
- For where to stay, see this
- For your next best choices, in order, see this
- For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
- For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
- For what you get in each resort price category, see this
- For where not to stay, see this
- For differences among deluxe resorts, see this
- For differences among moderate resorts, see this
- For differences among value resorts, see this
- For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this
- Large families should look at this
- Military/DOD families should look at this
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