over 2 weeks (2 nights at each of POR, CR, BWI, WL, Poly, BC, and AKL).
I'll report by each resort stay:
POR - we stayed in a Royal Room and had our opening night dinner at Boatwright's. The next morning, we slept in and took an Uber to Olivia's at OKW for a late breakfast. After this, we took the boat to DS, spent some time there, and then took the boat back to POR in the early afternoon for pool/R&R time. That evening, we took the boat back to DS to Art Smith's Homecomin' for dinner and then took the boat back to POR. The next morning bell services picked up our luggage, we had a quick breakfast at Riverside Mill, and then took an Uber to Typhoon Lagoon.
Additional notes: we stayed in a Royal Room 3 years ago and felt that, since then, these rooms are starting to look a bit worn around the edges. Boatwright's, Olivia's and Art Smith's were all new restaurants for us. Of these, Boatwright's most exceeded our expectations (I actually enjoyed it more than a few of our signature dinners), especially given the mixed reviews it gets. Art Smith’s was also solid. Olivia’s was serviceable for breakfast and more relaxing than a food court, but otherwise nothing special. The new family raft ride at TL was really fun and we were able to ride it 5 times in a row with very short waits as the park was very uncrowded (highs were only in the mid-70s).
CR - we took an Uber from Typhoon Lagoon to CR and when we arrived, couldn't get the elevator to go to our Bay Lake view room on the 12th floor. So we went to the main level concierge desk where we were informed that we'd been upgraded to club level as family of the day! This was easily the biggest pleasant surprise of our trip. After exploring the club level lounge, we took the boat over to FW for dinner at HDDR then went back to the resort and watched Wishes from the lounge. The next morning, we had breakfast at Chef Mickey's then went to MK until early afternoon after which we went back to the resort for pool/R&R time after a few snacks in the lounge. In the evening, we took the Monorail over to the GF for dinner at Narcoossee's, then went from there to the MK for Wishes. After Wishes, we walked back to the CR. The next morning, we had breakfast in the lounge, had bell services pick up our luggage, then took the Monorail to EP.
Additional notes: The CR was a new resort for us and I'd always been hesitant to stay there in the past because of how sterile and boring it seemed. But it was way more magical than I expected and, other than the weird bathroom sinks, had easily the nicest rooms of any of the 7 resorts. It was probably our favorite overall resort stay of the trip (of course, being upgraded to club level helped). HDDR was a repeat for us and just as fun as always. Narcoossee's was also a repeat and somewhat of a disappointment this time (but probably because I ordered the tuna dish, which was a bit too spicy for my tastes).
BWI - after lunch at San Angel Inn and visiting the new Frozen ride, we took the boat from EP IG to BWI, where we had a standard view room facing an interior garden area. That night, we went back to EP and had dinner at Monsieur Paul. The next morning, we walked to HS before RD, visited attractions throughout the morning, had lunch at 50's PT, and then took the boat to the resort for afternoon swimming/R&R. Later that afternoon, we took the boat back to HS for a Fantasmic dinner at Brown Derby, saw Fantasmic, then walked back to BWI. The next morning, we checked our bags with bell services and went to EP.
Additional notes: BWI was also a new resort for us and, while not as magical as CR, was still better than expected. Even though the theming is somewhat similar to BC or YC, I liked it better because it felt more distinctive along the lines of a nice resort in the Northeast. I'll also note that the resort seemed the most "adult" of all of those we stayed (relatively fewer families with young kids), even more so than CR. Our room was relatively close to the lobby and elevators, which after exploring the sprawling resort, I really appreciated. The Clown Pool wasn't all that freaky and the waterslide was the best of all 7 resorts. Monsieur Paul, which was a new restaurant for us, absolutely blew us away. While it ended up being the most expensive meal of our trip, it was also the best, being truly fantastic in every respect (and this is coming from someone who frequents resort signatures and generally considers them to be better than park signatures).
WL – after lunch at Teppan Edo, we took the Monorails and boat here after leaving EP. We had dinner at Artist Point and the next morning went to MK, starting with a pre-park opening breakfast at Crystal Palace. Early in the afternoon, we went back to the resort for swimming/R&R, followed by a boat ride over to CR for dinner at Cali Grill. The next morning, we had breakfast at Whispering Canyon, then checked our bags with bell services before a rest day that was partially spent at FW before heading over to the Poly.
Additional notes: WL, along with Poly and AKL, are probably my favorite resorts theme-wise and, given that we've stayed at the Poly during construction and didn't think it greatly affected our trip, didn't expect the WL construction to bother us much. But it did (for whatever reason, seeing construction scaffolding around the resort was a real negative for me). I also thought the north wing of the resort (the only wing available during construction) looked a bit worn around the edges. Cali Grill, which has always been sort of hit and miss for us, was excellent this time. Artist Point, on the other hand, which we've previously considered a favorite, was somewhat disappointing (the menu has taken somewhat of a rustic turn since our last vist, which I didn’t care for) but perhaps this was because we'd had a really enjoyable lunch at Teppan Edo earlier in the day and weren’t super hungry.
Poly – when we arrived, our room wasn't quite ready so we hit Captain Cooks for some nachos then spent the afternoon at the pool, during which time we received a text that our 3rd floor Monorail-facing Rarotonga room was ready. That evening, we had dinner at 'Ohana and the next day, took the bus into MK for a pre-park opening breakfast at CRT, as the Resort Monorail was not running that early. Early in the afternoon, we went back to the resort for swimming/R&R, followed by a short Monorail ride over to GF for dinner at Citricos. The following morning we had breakfast at Kona and then took an Uber with our bags over to BC (this was the only transfer where we did not check our bags with bell services).
Additional notes: as with the Royal Rooms at POR and the rooms at WL, our Poly room was starting to look a bit worn around the edges. The other negative was that we could not get a straight answer from anyone about getting to the MK for our pre-park opening breakfast with the Monorail being down (we would have preferred taking a boat over a bus, but received inconsistent information about when the boats would start running). We ended up taking a bus that said "Resort Monorail" and assumed this would drop us off at MK, but, after boarding, found out from the driver that it only went to the 3 Monorail resorts. So, after first stopping at GF and driving around the north side of MK, we had to get off at CR and walk to the MK. On the flip side, the Poly is still probably my favorite overall resort (all things considered) and we had great dining experiences at 'Ohana, Citricos, and Kona.
BC – when we arrived our room wasn't quite ready so we went over to Fantasia Gardens for a round of mini-golf during which time received a text that our garden view room was ready (our room was in a corner and the balcony was huge). That evening we had dinner at Yachtsman following some pool/R&R time and the next day, we went to EP, which included a lunch at Via Napoli. Following afternoon pool/R&R time, we had dinner at Flying Fish and then went back to EP for Illuminations. The next morning, we had breakfast at Cape May, after which we checked our bags with bell services and then took an Uber to Blizzard Beach.
Additional notes: this was our first time at BC since they refurbished the interior of the resort and while we appreciated the relatively pristine condition of the rooms and common areas, we sort of stylistically preferred the old décor, which we thought was cuter. It was also our first meal at Flying Fish since that refurbishment and I also preferred the previous, more whimsical décor of that restaurant. That being said, we had an excellent meal there. I also had my best ever meal at Yachtsman (but probably because I was hungrier than on previous visits). Via Napoli, as always, was also really good.
AKL – we took an Uber from Blizzard Beach and after settling in to our pool view room (I prefer these rooms at AKL because they tend to be close to the lobby and restaurants), we went down for dinner at Jiko followed by some time on the Savannah looking at animals. The next morning, we took a bus to AK for a pre-park breakfast at Tusker House. In the early afternoon, we went back to the resort for swimming/R&R time then went took the bus back to AK for dinner at Tiffins (it was a non-ROL night). The next morning, we had breakfast at Boma, followed by checking our bags at AKL airline check-in (I like that this check in is inside the lobby). After that, we hung around the resort for a few hours, after which it was time to board the DME to the airport.
Additional notes – AKL would probably be my favorite Disney resort if it had a better location and bigger rooms. Just love the theming and overall feel of this place. And somehow, it never seems to look worn around the edges (perhaps, because it's so dark). We also like to save it until last on split stays because the Boma breakfast buffet is just so much better (food and selection wise) than any of the character breakfasts (plus it has Krispy Kremes!). Jiko is also consistently one of the best signature restaurants. Tiffins was good but the portion sizes were small and, given that it was a non-ROL night and Pandora hasn’t yet opened, the restaurant was pretty dead.
Further overall notes:
Prior to arriving at WDW, we did online check in at all 7 resorts and never once stopped at the front desk to check in (just received an e-mail and text every time telling us our room number once it was ready). Once the new room was ready, we simply used our magic bands to get in. This went seamlessly, other than sometimes having to wait a bit for our room to be ready (which occurred at varying times between about 11:30 am and 2:30 pm).
Using bell services to move luggage also went seamlessly. We always called bell services and had them come to our room and the only place we had to wait more than about 5 minutes for them to pick up bags was at POR (they were super prompt at all of the deluxe resorts). Delivery sometimes took a bit longer but we almost always had bags in our room within 10-15 minutes of calling and the bags were always at the new resort by 4 pm.
This was the first trip that we used Uber and, although we didn't need it that much (due to usually staying close to the parks and restaurants we were visiting at a given point of our trip), it was a dramatic time-saver as compared to buses (especially to and from water parks where Disney transportation now requires transferring between 2 buses). We never waited more than about 5 minutes for an Uber and the drive time usually took less than 10 minutes.
Another bit of luck we had was that we never once experienced an attraction being down during our FP return time (we did, however, experience about a 30 minute wait in the FP line for Enchanted Tales with Belle). We also had generally very good weather (it never rained except for a few sprinkles on the morning of our last full day) and most days, the high was somewhere between the mid-70’sand mid-80’s with relatively low humidity.
We paid OOP for all of our meals as opposed to using a dining plan. Overall, based on our eating style, I think we saved money paying OOP but there were a few restaurants where we would have been better off with the DxDP, most notably, Monsieur Paul, Narcoossee’s, and Teppan Edo.
Finally, if could go back in time and re-do the trip, I’d probably order the resorts somewhat differently. Specifically, I’d move WL up in the rotation and move CR back. After staying at CR and BWI, WL just felt somewhat disappointing. But a lot of this was due to the construction at WL bothering me more than I anticipated. When in its normal state of operation, it's still one of my favorite Disney resorts. In addition, had we stayed at WL second (instead of CR), we may not have been family of the day at CR and the experience of staying there on the club level floor was truly magical (although staying in the CR tower still would have been way more magical than I anticipated had we not been upgraded).
I'll report by each resort stay:
POR - we stayed in a Royal Room and had our opening night dinner at Boatwright's. The next morning, we slept in and took an Uber to Olivia's at OKW for a late breakfast. After this, we took the boat to DS, spent some time there, and then took the boat back to POR in the early afternoon for pool/R&R time. That evening, we took the boat back to DS to Art Smith's Homecomin' for dinner and then took the boat back to POR. The next morning bell services picked up our luggage, we had a quick breakfast at Riverside Mill, and then took an Uber to Typhoon Lagoon.
Additional notes: we stayed in a Royal Room 3 years ago and felt that, since then, these rooms are starting to look a bit worn around the edges. Boatwright's, Olivia's and Art Smith's were all new restaurants for us. Of these, Boatwright's most exceeded our expectations (I actually enjoyed it more than a few of our signature dinners), especially given the mixed reviews it gets. Art Smith’s was also solid. Olivia’s was serviceable for breakfast and more relaxing than a food court, but otherwise nothing special. The new family raft ride at TL was really fun and we were able to ride it 5 times in a row with very short waits as the park was very uncrowded (highs were only in the mid-70s).
CR - we took an Uber from Typhoon Lagoon to CR and when we arrived, couldn't get the elevator to go to our Bay Lake view room on the 12th floor. So we went to the main level concierge desk where we were informed that we'd been upgraded to club level as family of the day! This was easily the biggest pleasant surprise of our trip. After exploring the club level lounge, we took the boat over to FW for dinner at HDDR then went back to the resort and watched Wishes from the lounge. The next morning, we had breakfast at Chef Mickey's then went to MK until early afternoon after which we went back to the resort for pool/R&R time after a few snacks in the lounge. In the evening, we took the Monorail over to the GF for dinner at Narcoossee's, then went from there to the MK for Wishes. After Wishes, we walked back to the CR. The next morning, we had breakfast in the lounge, had bell services pick up our luggage, then took the Monorail to EP.
Additional notes: The CR was a new resort for us and I'd always been hesitant to stay there in the past because of how sterile and boring it seemed. But it was way more magical than I expected and, other than the weird bathroom sinks, had easily the nicest rooms of any of the 7 resorts. It was probably our favorite overall resort stay of the trip (of course, being upgraded to club level helped). HDDR was a repeat for us and just as fun as always. Narcoossee's was also a repeat and somewhat of a disappointment this time (but probably because I ordered the tuna dish, which was a bit too spicy for my tastes).
BWI - after lunch at San Angel Inn and visiting the new Frozen ride, we took the boat from EP IG to BWI, where we had a standard view room facing an interior garden area. That night, we went back to EP and had dinner at Monsieur Paul. The next morning, we walked to HS before RD, visited attractions throughout the morning, had lunch at 50's PT, and then took the boat to the resort for afternoon swimming/R&R. Later that afternoon, we took the boat back to HS for a Fantasmic dinner at Brown Derby, saw Fantasmic, then walked back to BWI. The next morning, we checked our bags with bell services and went to EP.
Additional notes: BWI was also a new resort for us and, while not as magical as CR, was still better than expected. Even though the theming is somewhat similar to BC or YC, I liked it better because it felt more distinctive along the lines of a nice resort in the Northeast. I'll also note that the resort seemed the most "adult" of all of those we stayed (relatively fewer families with young kids), even more so than CR. Our room was relatively close to the lobby and elevators, which after exploring the sprawling resort, I really appreciated. The Clown Pool wasn't all that freaky and the waterslide was the best of all 7 resorts. Monsieur Paul, which was a new restaurant for us, absolutely blew us away. While it ended up being the most expensive meal of our trip, it was also the best, being truly fantastic in every respect (and this is coming from someone who frequents resort signatures and generally considers them to be better than park signatures).
WL – after lunch at Teppan Edo, we took the Monorails and boat here after leaving EP. We had dinner at Artist Point and the next morning went to MK, starting with a pre-park opening breakfast at Crystal Palace. Early in the afternoon, we went back to the resort for swimming/R&R, followed by a boat ride over to CR for dinner at Cali Grill. The next morning, we had breakfast at Whispering Canyon, then checked our bags with bell services before a rest day that was partially spent at FW before heading over to the Poly.
Additional notes: WL, along with Poly and AKL, are probably my favorite resorts theme-wise and, given that we've stayed at the Poly during construction and didn't think it greatly affected our trip, didn't expect the WL construction to bother us much. But it did (for whatever reason, seeing construction scaffolding around the resort was a real negative for me). I also thought the north wing of the resort (the only wing available during construction) looked a bit worn around the edges. Cali Grill, which has always been sort of hit and miss for us, was excellent this time. Artist Point, on the other hand, which we've previously considered a favorite, was somewhat disappointing (the menu has taken somewhat of a rustic turn since our last vist, which I didn’t care for) but perhaps this was because we'd had a really enjoyable lunch at Teppan Edo earlier in the day and weren’t super hungry.
Poly – when we arrived, our room wasn't quite ready so we hit Captain Cooks for some nachos then spent the afternoon at the pool, during which time we received a text that our 3rd floor Monorail-facing Rarotonga room was ready. That evening, we had dinner at 'Ohana and the next day, took the bus into MK for a pre-park opening breakfast at CRT, as the Resort Monorail was not running that early. Early in the afternoon, we went back to the resort for swimming/R&R, followed by a short Monorail ride over to GF for dinner at Citricos. The following morning we had breakfast at Kona and then took an Uber with our bags over to BC (this was the only transfer where we did not check our bags with bell services).
Additional notes: as with the Royal Rooms at POR and the rooms at WL, our Poly room was starting to look a bit worn around the edges. The other negative was that we could not get a straight answer from anyone about getting to the MK for our pre-park opening breakfast with the Monorail being down (we would have preferred taking a boat over a bus, but received inconsistent information about when the boats would start running). We ended up taking a bus that said "Resort Monorail" and assumed this would drop us off at MK, but, after boarding, found out from the driver that it only went to the 3 Monorail resorts. So, after first stopping at GF and driving around the north side of MK, we had to get off at CR and walk to the MK. On the flip side, the Poly is still probably my favorite overall resort (all things considered) and we had great dining experiences at 'Ohana, Citricos, and Kona.
BC – when we arrived our room wasn't quite ready so we went over to Fantasia Gardens for a round of mini-golf during which time received a text that our garden view room was ready (our room was in a corner and the balcony was huge). That evening we had dinner at Yachtsman following some pool/R&R time and the next day, we went to EP, which included a lunch at Via Napoli. Following afternoon pool/R&R time, we had dinner at Flying Fish and then went back to EP for Illuminations. The next morning, we had breakfast at Cape May, after which we checked our bags with bell services and then took an Uber to Blizzard Beach.
Additional notes: this was our first time at BC since they refurbished the interior of the resort and while we appreciated the relatively pristine condition of the rooms and common areas, we sort of stylistically preferred the old décor, which we thought was cuter. It was also our first meal at Flying Fish since that refurbishment and I also preferred the previous, more whimsical décor of that restaurant. That being said, we had an excellent meal there. I also had my best ever meal at Yachtsman (but probably because I was hungrier than on previous visits). Via Napoli, as always, was also really good.
AKL – we took an Uber from Blizzard Beach and after settling in to our pool view room (I prefer these rooms at AKL because they tend to be close to the lobby and restaurants), we went down for dinner at Jiko followed by some time on the Savannah looking at animals. The next morning, we took a bus to AK for a pre-park breakfast at Tusker House. In the early afternoon, we went back to the resort for swimming/R&R time then went took the bus back to AK for dinner at Tiffins (it was a non-ROL night). The next morning, we had breakfast at Boma, followed by checking our bags at AKL airline check-in (I like that this check in is inside the lobby). After that, we hung around the resort for a few hours, after which it was time to board the DME to the airport.
Additional notes – AKL would probably be my favorite Disney resort if it had a better location and bigger rooms. Just love the theming and overall feel of this place. And somehow, it never seems to look worn around the edges (perhaps, because it's so dark). We also like to save it until last on split stays because the Boma breakfast buffet is just so much better (food and selection wise) than any of the character breakfasts (plus it has Krispy Kremes!). Jiko is also consistently one of the best signature restaurants. Tiffins was good but the portion sizes were small and, given that it was a non-ROL night and Pandora hasn’t yet opened, the restaurant was pretty dead.
Further overall notes:
Prior to arriving at WDW, we did online check in at all 7 resorts and never once stopped at the front desk to check in (just received an e-mail and text every time telling us our room number once it was ready). Once the new room was ready, we simply used our magic bands to get in. This went seamlessly, other than sometimes having to wait a bit for our room to be ready (which occurred at varying times between about 11:30 am and 2:30 pm).
Using bell services to move luggage also went seamlessly. We always called bell services and had them come to our room and the only place we had to wait more than about 5 minutes for them to pick up bags was at POR (they were super prompt at all of the deluxe resorts). Delivery sometimes took a bit longer but we almost always had bags in our room within 10-15 minutes of calling and the bags were always at the new resort by 4 pm.
This was the first trip that we used Uber and, although we didn't need it that much (due to usually staying close to the parks and restaurants we were visiting at a given point of our trip), it was a dramatic time-saver as compared to buses (especially to and from water parks where Disney transportation now requires transferring between 2 buses). We never waited more than about 5 minutes for an Uber and the drive time usually took less than 10 minutes.
Another bit of luck we had was that we never once experienced an attraction being down during our FP return time (we did, however, experience about a 30 minute wait in the FP line for Enchanted Tales with Belle). We also had generally very good weather (it never rained except for a few sprinkles on the morning of our last full day) and most days, the high was somewhere between the mid-70’sand mid-80’s with relatively low humidity.
We paid OOP for all of our meals as opposed to using a dining plan. Overall, based on our eating style, I think we saved money paying OOP but there were a few restaurants where we would have been better off with the DxDP, most notably, Monsieur Paul, Narcoossee’s, and Teppan Edo.
Finally, if could go back in time and re-do the trip, I’d probably order the resorts somewhat differently. Specifically, I’d move WL up in the rotation and move CR back. After staying at CR and BWI, WL just felt somewhat disappointing. But a lot of this was due to the construction at WL bothering me more than I anticipated. When in its normal state of operation, it's still one of my favorite Disney resorts. In addition, had we stayed at WL second (instead of CR), we may not have been family of the day at CR and the experience of staying there on the club level floor was truly magical (although staying in the CR tower still would have been way more magical than I anticipated had we not been upgraded).