AoA, CSR, CBR, or POFQ?

[KathyTbell]

We have our next stay, for 2020, narrowed down to four choices:

Art of Animation - Little Mermaid
Coronado Springs Resort
Caribbean Beach Resort
Port Orleans French Quarter

We have been discussing the pros and cons of each but are no closer to making a decision. We'd love some feedback regarding any/all of these resorts. Thank you!

 

[unrequited23]

How many people are going on the next trip? Are you looking at 1 or two rooms? Looking at your signature it seems like you have two adult children.

 

[marchingstar]

i think it really depends on your party. how many people/rooms would you get at each? do you need space for a pack and play? are you going to be at the parks as much as possible, or take some down time to enjoy the resort? do you need to minimize walking time at the resort, want a nice view, a great feature pool...

to me, it’s hard to make a definitive list of the “best” or “worst” resorts. it depends so much on who you are/who you travel with, and what you plan to do

 

[KathyTbell]

i think it really depends on your party. how many people/rooms would you get at each? do you need space for a pack and play? are you going to be at the parks as much as possible, or take some down time to enjoy the resort? do you need to minimize walking time at the resort, want a nice view, a great feature pool...

to me, it’s hard to make a definitive list of the “best” or “worst” resorts. it depends so much on who you are/who you travel with, and what you plan to do

That's true, but I'm looking for any/all input to help form our decision. We are a family of 4 adults for one room. We spend most of our time in the parks, but love going back to the resort for a midday swim. Walking is not an issue. We use the buses to/from parks.

 

[KathyTbell]

How many people are going on the next trip? Are you looking at 1 or two rooms? Looking at your signature it seems like you have two adult children.

All four are going on this trip - all adults. Any information about any of the mentioned resorts would be helpful.
We stayed at CBR a long time ago. We've stayed at PO Riverside but not FQ. We've never stayed at the other two resorts.
Thanks!

 

[unrequited23]

The little mermaid rooms have two full size beds vs. queen size beds at the other resorts you are considering. Also, the little mermaid rooms have 260 sq ft while the other resorts on you list have about 314 sq ft. The little mermaid rooms are frequently not included in Disney offered discounts.

By the time of your 2020 trip CBR and CSR will be fully renovated and the gondola system will be operational. Both have a main feature pool and additional 'quiet pools'. FQ has a boat to Disney Springs vs a bus, but only 1 pool which has all of the afternoon hullabaloo with the CMs. FQ had a soft goods remodel this summer but is also frequently not included in discounts.

If costs were about the same, I would focus my research on CSR and CBR. I would see which one had food options and room décor I liked better. I feel like the larger beds, more square footage and numerous pool options would fit your group well.

 

[KathyTbell]

The little mermaid rooms have two full size beds vs. queen size beds at the other resorts you are considering. Also, the little mermaid rooms have 260 sq ft while the other resorts on you list have about 314 sq ft. The little mermaid rooms are frequently not included in Disney offered discounts.

By the time of your 2020 trip CBR and CSR will be fully renovated and the gondola system will be operational. Both have a main feature pool and additional 'quiet pools'. FQ has a boat to Disney Springs vs a bus, but only 1 pool which has all of the afternoon hullabaloo with the CMs. FQ had a soft goods remodel this summer but is also frequently not included in discounts.

If costs were about the same, I would focus my research on CSR and CBR. I would see which one had food options and room décor I liked better. I feel like the larger beds, more square footage and numerous pool options would fit your group well.

 

[KathyTbell]

Oops, I can't seem to reply directly to that post. Unrequited23, thank you very much for your reply. It's perfect information for us to consider and very helpful!

 

[Krystal659]

Coronado Springs Resort has Junior Suites too. This may be helpful if four adult are going and not all are awake at the same time, etc. There appears to be more of a living room setup?

 

[poooh]

I absolutely love the Little Mermaid rooms in AoA and that resort in general but I think it would be a tight squeeze with 4 adults. It was a good size for just my sister and I though. It would be lovely if you could book one LM room for you and one for your kids but, as someone already mentioned, these rooms are usually excluded from discounts so that could be pricey compared to one larger room at a moderate level. I would just be worried about the size of the beds/room at AoA.

 

[Shellyb84]

We've stayed at all of those except AoA. For 4 adults I would choose a moderate for the larger rooms and queen beds.

We love both CSR and POFQ. You can't go wrong with either of them. The grounds are lovely, pools are nice, and both have good food options. POFQ has the boat to DS. I think the pool/hot tub area at CSR is a bit nicer and there will be more dining options by the time you go. We've only stayed one night at POFQ, and didn't use the bus transportation so I can't speak to that.

We weren't huge fans of CBR. I didn't hate it, but it is my least favorite of all the resorts we've stayed at.

Good luck deciding! If you haven't yet, maybe try watching some YouTube videos of resort tours to help.

 

[SolNest]

AoA rooms are small, but the resort is so fun and lovely, and the food court is the best.

 

[Babsy]

With 4 adults, I would choose CSR.

Here's why:
Great pool and hot tub
lots of adult oriented amenities (salon, fitness centre, hammocks on beach)
Good dining options
beautiful grounds, three distinct areas
queen beds
4 bus stops mean that you aren't far from one, but not a lot of stops
centralized location
Love the theming there, more adult atmosphere

CBR cons:
nice too, but the themed pool seems better suited to small children to me
more bus stops
not sure if the gondola is a pro or con yet

POFQ cons
our least favourite theme/moderate
fewer amenities
no TS restaurant

AoA LM cons
full beds
guaranteed 'long' walk
unlikely to get a discount
no slide at pool
no TS restaurant
lots of children

 

[nkereina]

I'd likely choose POFQ. Someone up-thread mentioned that there's only one pool at POFQ which is true, but you're free to use the pools and amenities at POR as well. One of the quiet pools at POR isn't far from the walking path between the two resorts. We also love the boat to Disney Springs.

We love CSR, but it remains to be seen how the resort will be impacted when the large tower opens next summer. They are not adding an additional pool or quick service, so I worry that it will make spaces we enjoy now considerably more crowded. I'd hesitate to recommend CSR for a trip after the new additions open until we see how everything goes for a while. Same could be said for CBR - we're not sure yet what impact the gondola will have either. It could very well be a benefit, but if people are reporting long waits, too hot, breakdowns, etc. then it may not be something you don't utilize often, thus losing the benefit.

AoA would likely be my last choice. The long walk and full beds would not be worth the cost savings to me.

 

[KathyTbell]

I can't thank you all enough for your advice and expertise. Thanks to your advice, I have taken AoA out of the running. We'll try to stay there someday, but not for this trip. We have stayed at PO Riverside before and walked through FQ areas; loving everything about it. It's only the lack of discount possibilities that may take that one out of the running. So - between CSR and CBR.... We had booked CSR a few years ago and I was getting super excited about it until we heard about all of the construction taking place. We ended up switching to PO Riverside that year. Now my only worry about it is the impact the tower/more guests will have on the resort/pool/restaurant areas. For CBR, we stayed there many years ago (my kids barely remember it). I know that in recent years they had gotten some poor reviews, but it sounds like the latest updates have fixed a lot of those issues. We won't know what kind of impact the gondola will have on that resort until it opens. All that said, I have it "narrowed" down to 3 now...haha. Before reading these last comments, I was leaning towards CBR, but I'll be looking more into CSR and POFQ. Thank you!

 

[nkereina]

So - between CSR and CBR

Between these two with a stay in 2020, I'd choose CBR. The tower and additional rooms at CSR have more of a potential to negatively impact the resort than the gondolas at CBR will. I'm not saying both things are a negative, but we just don't know what to expect yet. CBR will still be the same size with the gondolas, so not much should change when it comes to amenities, capacity, etc. CBR used to be my least favorite resort because I hated the 7 bus stops and the fact that Custom House was so far away. The resort has since remedied both, with centralizing check-in with the quick service and store in the former Old Port Royale area, which makes for a much better layout IMO. The new restaurant and outdoor bar are appealing as well. And the bus system is now set-up so that the same buses don't service all 7 stops. That means if you get on at stop 1, you may only go through 3 more stops rather than 6 more like it used to be.

 

[magicalcouple]

Oh good! I've been trying to find that information about the busses no longer going all the way around. I knew I had read that somewhere but couldn't find it again. Thank you for sharing that.

 

[maxiesmom]

I'd go with CSR. It is a large resort, but not as huge as CBR. I also found the bus service at CSR to be better than that at CBR. And CSR has a more adult feel to it.

I like POFQ but I would steer away from it as it only has one pool, and that pool has a very young feeling theme to it.

 

[KathyTbell]

That's great information about the bus system at CBR! The centralized check-in/restaurant info is helpful, too.

maxiesmom, are you comparing the new bus system at CBR to CSR? The more adult feel is definitely a consideration for our group.

If it weren't for the tower at CSR, I think it would be my clear winner. I'm just nervous about the crowding impact it will have on the resort and transportation.
Does anyone know when the tower opens?

Thanks for all of the valuable input!

 

[Pmm_]

POFQ. It's incredibly themed, you get access to two resorts (Riverside and FQ) and the boat takes you right over to disney springs. You can't beat it.