Do you stay at a Disney resort? Why or Why Not?

[Sleepy90]

We will be staying at the All Star Music. Shhhhh the kids still don't know.

All Star Music is the best of the three. We stayed in the Broadway section lovely and quite quiet.



We have stayed off property at villa's and they are great but I love being on property and after a couple of trips to All Stars have progressed to Port Orleans Riverside. What a beautiful resort that is very Gone with the Wind.

[Mr.ToadWildRider]

We almost always stay off property because we have a timeshare in Kissimmee. We like doing non-Disney stuff while there so we get a rental car anyway so it's way more affordable and we get a condo instead of a hotel room. I've stayed on property and it is really nice, though I wasn't all that thrilled when we stayed at All-Star Sports; I'd have rathered just stay at the timeshare- it wasn't very "magical." I'd love to stay at AKL or like the Yacht Club though.

[leblanan]

We almost always stay on a disney property. We like being close and all the ammenities like the buses extra magic hours. Plus the resorts themselves are always so much fun.

[Debbiedeb]

This is a P.S. to my post yesterday.
We are staying at the Wilderness Lodge (Deluxe hotel) for 6 nights seven days and we have one of the Summer Savings plans. This is a trip for 2 for $2100.00 and they are giving us a $750.00 gift card. So I look at it like the trip is costing us $1350.00. They are paying us to go there. WDW takes care of everything and all we have to do is have a good time. Another reason to stay inside the park.

[horizons1]

I have stayed off property, on property in Downtown Disney resort hotels, and in value, moderate and deluxe Disney resorts. Given a choice, I would opt for a Disney-run property over an offsite property - even if it meant I could not stay in my top choice (say, if it's too expensive). The level of detail, theming, attentiveness of the CMs, location, and so much more make it worth it.

What I would be curious to try is either the Swan or Dolphin. I'm wondering if I would be able to look past the non-Disney aspects in light of all the other things they have going for them.

[Len90]

I have stayed off property, on property in Downtown Disney resort hotels, and in value, moderate and deluxe Disney resorts. Given a choice, I would opt for a Disney-run property over an offsite property - even if it meant I could not stay in my top choice (say, if it's too expensive). The level of detail, theming, attentiveness of the CMs, location, and so much more make it worth it.

What I would be curious to try is either the Swan or Dolphin. I'm wondering if I would be able to look past the non-Disney aspects in light of all the other things they have going for them.

I have always wondered that about the Swan and Dolphin. My major concern is that I have heard that the Dolphin only has one sink in each room. Another think that I don't like is a lot of rooms at the Swan and Dolphin don't have terraces. My final issue with them is that they just come off looking a bit business.

[sandi]

We have stayed at the Dolphin but there were just 3 of us so we weren't concerned about the room size. We also just stayed there overnite until my sister and her family arrived and we moved to the Boardwalk for the rest of our vacation. I checked the rates there this summer and wasn't impressed, even with the teachers' discount.I could have stayed cheaper at the value resorts. They also charge a $10 resort fee. When they told me about this fee, I asked if I was spending $10 for the privilege of staying there. The operator responded it was for the use of pools, etc. They also change for parking your car. They don't do Magical Express from the airport. So when I looked into all those charges and the fact it wasn't very Disney like, we decided to stay somewhere else. On a side note, if you like sushi, the Swan has a great restaurant called Kimonos which we usually go to for an evening meal!!

[WVParkfan]

We always stay on-property, and do not go to any other parks (Seaworld, Universal, etc.). We love to be totally immersed in "Disney," and we love the Disney transportation. When we arrive, we never have to drive anywhere!

[boilerbabe]

DH and I walked into the lobbies of the Swan/Dolphin on our last trip, just to see what they looked like. They are very unDisney and all business. We would never stay at either resort. Why when you have the other wonderful Disney resorts at your finger tips?!?! And they don't include the Magical Express, that doesn't sound like a vacation, worrying about your luggage and getting to/from the airport. But, each their own.

There are other parks in Orlando WVParkfan??? We don't leave Disney either!

[Mousekedude]

DH and I walked into the lobbies of the Swan/Dolphin on our last trip, just to see what they looked like. They are very unDisney and all business. We would never stay at either resort. Why when you have the other wonderful Disney resorts at your finger tips?!?! And they don't include the Magical Express, that doesn't sound like a vacation, worrying about your luggage and getting to/from the airport...

I'd have to agree there. We attended a special Disney seminar there, and I felt like we had gone completely "off property." It didn't feel Disney-esque at all, and actually felt like we were in some kind of big business convention facility instead of a resort. Everything looked like it was entirely geared toward business conventions. There was almost nothing to identify it as even being connected to Disney, at least in the areas where we were.

[Amy]

DH and I walked into the lobbies of the Swan/Dolphin on our last trip, just to see what they looked like. They are very unDisney and all business. We would never stay at either resort. Why when you have the other wonderful Disney resorts at your finger tips?!?! And they don't include the Magical Express, that doesn't sound like a vacation, worrying about your luggage and getting to/from the airport. But, each their own.

There are other parks in Orlando WVParkfan??? We don't leave Disney either!

I'm surprised by this...I have never been to either of those hotels but would assume from looking at the fanciful outside that the inside would be fantastic too...how sad

[Jacca5660]

DH and I walked into the lobbies of the Swan/Dolphin on our last trip, just to see what they looked like. They are very unDisney and all business. We would never stay at either resort. Why when you have the other wonderful Disney resorts at your finger tips?!?! And they don't include the Magical Express, that doesn't sound like a vacation, worrying about your luggage and getting to/from the airport...

I'd have to agree there. We attended a special Disney seminar there, and I felt like we had gone completely "off property." It didn't feel Disney-esque at all, and actually felt like we were in some kind of big business convention facility instead of a resort. Everything looked like it was entirely geared toward business conventions. There was almost nothing to identify it as even being connected to Disney, at least in the areas where we were.

We've stayed at the Swan a bunch of times and it's very Disney! It was the total immersion just like any other resort on property!

[Mousekedude]

DH and I walked into the lobbies of the Swan/Dolphin on our last trip, just to see what they looked like. They are very unDisney and all business. We would never stay at either resort. Why when you have the other wonderful Disney resorts at your finger tips?!?! And they don't include the Magical Express, that doesn't sound like a vacation, worrying about your luggage and getting to/from the airport...

I'd have to agree there. We attended a special Disney seminar there, and I felt like we had gone completely "off property." It didn't feel Disney-esque at all, and actually felt like we were in some kind of big business convention facility instead of a resort. Everything looked like it was entirely geared toward business conventions. There was almost nothing to identify it as even being connected to Disney, at least in the areas where we were.

We've stayed at the Swan a bunch of times and it's very Disney! It was the total immersion just like any other resort on property!

We must have been in the Dolphin, then. Come to think of it, I seem to remember that was it. Of course, I was sick that day, so I was totally out of it anyway. Mouseoholic could probably provide better details.

[mindflipper]

I have stayed off property, on property in Downtown Disney resort hotels, and in value, moderate and deluxe Disney resorts. Given a choice, I would opt for a Disney-run property over an offsite property - even if it meant I could not stay in my top choice (say, if it's too expensive). The level of detail, theming, attentiveness of the CMs, location, and so much more make it worth it.

What I would be curious to try is either the Swan or Dolphin. I'm wondering if I would be able to look past the non-Disney aspects in light of all the other things they have going for them.

I have always wondered that about the Swan and Dolphin. My major concern is that I have heard that the Dolphin only has one sink in each room. Another think that I don't like is a lot of rooms at the Swan and Dolphin don't have terraces. My final issue with them is that they just come off looking a bit business.

Problem with the Swan and Dolphin was they were designed for looks, not efficicency. The designs do not allow the best for the heating/air-conditioning. While the air is not so bad in the summer, the heating sucks in the winter. The dolphin was worse than the swan, so we transferred from the Dolphin to Swan because to us the answer wasn't give us more blankets.

[Amy]

I have stayed off property, on property in Downtown Disney resort hotels, and in value, moderate and deluxe Disney resorts. Given a choice, I would opt for a Disney-run property over an offsite property - even if it meant I could not stay in my top choice (say, if it's too expensive). The level of detail, theming, attentiveness of the CMs, location, and so much more make it worth it.

What I would be curious to try is either the Swan or Dolphin. I'm wondering if I would be able to look past the non-Disney aspects in light of all the other things they have going for them.

I have always wondered that about the Swan and Dolphin. My major concern is that I have heard that the Dolphin only has one sink in each room. Another think that I don't like is a lot of rooms at the Swan and Dolphin don't have terraces. My final issue with them is that they just come off looking a bit business.

Problem with the Swan and Dolphin was they were designed for looks, not efficicency. The designs do not allow the best for the heating/air-conditioning. While the air is not so bad in the summer, the heating sucks in the winter. The dolphin was worse than the swan, so we transferred from the Dolphin to Swan because to us the answer wasn't give us more blankets.

Wow! I would never have guessed that those beautiful hotels on the outside would be not so lovely on the inside Good for you sticking up for yourselves. I probably would have accepted the blankets and thought...ooookkkkaayyy. And just not stayed there again.