Please help me choose a resort: CBR, POFQ, or AoA suites?!

[noodle73]

Dear WDW experts, I need your help! We are a Disneyland family starting to plan our first trip to WDW. DH and I have both to WDW before - I lived in Orlando from 2004-2007 and we also honeymooned there in 2010 – but it’s been a while, obviously, and this will be our first trip with the kids (DD7 and DS5). First of all, I’m trying to decide on a hotel.

Options:

• Caribbean Beach
  • PROs: Skyliner. The pool looks super fun.
  • CONS: It looks really big. I don’t like having to take an internal bus. If I get a preferred room will I be close enough to walk to the main pool / dining / Skyliner?
• 
  
• Port Orleans French Quarter. This is where DH and I stayed on our honeymoon and we loved it.
  • PROs: Smaller and quieter. The pool is not as cool but at least there’s a waterslide, and we can use the one at POR as well.
  • CONs: Have to take the bus everywhere.
• 
  
• Art of Animation Suites
  • PROs: We always stay in a suite (offsite) at DLR and like having the extra room. Skyliner.
  • CONs: The pool looks a little boring. My kids really like a good waterslide…

What do you think? Anywhere else I should consider? We are trying to stay on the lower moderate end of price spectrum.

 

[KayaWildfire]

I would do POFQ or AoA. CBR is just too big, hence why we haven't ever stayed there. The Skyliner station and the main pool/food aren't that close together. I don't love the multiple bus stops either, takes forever leaving and coming back from the parks.
A finding Nemo suite places you right between the Skyliner station and the food court/bus stops. Do you plan to spend a lot of time at the pool? We always plan to swim and then either never get there at all or swim maybe once. Since the pool isn't terribly exciting at AoA, maybe consider some time at the waterparks? We tried out typhoon lagoon last trip and enjoyed it very much.
You pretty much covered pros and cons of POFQ. Both the PO resorts are very pretty. I don't find the buses to be a big deal, but everyone's tolerance is different.

 

[Riss]

I can’t comment on the other choices, but my family and I loved staying at the AoA suites. The very big seller on my family was the theming. It’s definitely over the top, but if your children are fans of Finding Nemo, The Little Mermaid, Cars, or The Lion King, then they’d surely love it. The characters are quite large and they have quite a few details like a statue of Price Eric and probably almost all of the cars from Cars that are big enough to get some good pictures with. When I was walking around the resort I saw a little girl taking a picture while sitting on top of the car, I think.

We stayed in a Finding Nemo Suite, the Crush building, back in Sept. 2018, so before the refurb and the skyliner being completed, but we loved the short distance to the main building and the pool wasn’t too bad. It is true that they don’t have a water slide but I believe they play music through the speakers underwater and to get into the pool is like the ocean. On one side the ground just slopes in until you’re in the water, so it’s not like a typical pool where you just kinda jump in. There’s also a splash pad close by and behind that there is a very small “playground” but more like some things where kids can climb and a singular slide. I thought I read somewhere they might be doing work on that pool at some point, but I’m not entirely sure. But there are 2 more pools, the one in Cars that has traffic cone shaped cabana type areas and one in The Little Mermaid area.

In terms of rooms with the suites, I thought it was a lot of room and we had 6 adults and 1 toddler, under 3, in the same room and had plenty of space.

You do get the skyliner with AoA as well and the bus rides never seemed too far away from the other parks or Disney Springs.

I can’t comment on the other places as my only other experience was the All Stars in high school with the band, but I do have a coworker that is a DVC member, I’m pretty sure in Port Orleans, and absolutely loves it there with his wife and son, who is one and a half

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

What do you think? Anywhere else I should consider? We are trying to stay on the lower moderate end of price spectrum.
[/QUOTE]

I've stayed at all 3!

I think you have to ask yourself, what are your priorities? Are you going to all 4 parks. Do you have non-park days?
Your Pros/Cons list, looks like mine! This is based on, we go in January over MLK weekend. We've gone 5 years in a row. We don't do the dining plan. We don't rent a car.

Let me add a couple of items

POFQ

• Pros: ONE bus stop, this is awesome. They do sometimes share a bus with POR
• Resort is compact, less walking to the pool/main building
• Boat to Disney Springs
• Centrally located - you don't feel like you are on the bus forever when going to the parks
• I would stay here again is going to all 4 parks was on my priority list
• Cons: Food options. No onsite restaurant. Somewhat limited options.

AoA

• Pros: Very Disney feel - your kids are the perfect age for this resort
• My son was 7 when we stayed here. Cars Suite. He LOVED the movie Cars. It was a very special trip
• The Suites have 2 bath rooms
• The Suites are 1 bedroom with a queen, in the main area is a pull out sofa and a murphy bed that covers up your table.
• Bus (single stop)
• Skyliner to HS and EPCOT
• We took a bus to Pop Century and walked across the bridge to AoA
• Cons: no slide, (but we go in January, so this wouldn't be a deciding factor us)
• Food Court only

we were just at CBR over MLK weekend:

• The ease of going to HS and EPCOT is unbelievable.
• On our RotR day, we didn't take a bag, needed it later in the day to go to AK. My husband took the Skyliner back over to CBR, got the bag, came back to HS and met us for our lunch reservation at SciFi. Walking from SciFi to the station, to our room in Barbados 31, back to the station, to HS, through security and back to SciFi - 40 minutes. NO WAY a bus could get you there that fast.
• My son wanted to go to AoA to see the Cars movie section, hopped on the Skyliner.
• We went to EPCOT, it was super busy (Festival of the Arts), we left mid afternoon to head back to CBR to swim. So easy. No wait.
• We actually took the Skyliner to HS to get a bus to MK. It was 1000% better than the CBR buses.
• CONS: THE BUSES
• Believe every horror story you hear about the CBR buses. They take forever, too many stops and don't come often enough.
• Depending on my park priorities for our next trip, CBR might not make the cut because of the buses, yes, they are that bad.

 

[Lumpy1106]

I would rank them POFQ, AoA, CBR
POFQ buses are not that big of a deal. The pool is great, although I like the one at POR better. LOVE the theming, and it's really nice and laid back. Rooms are a good size for your family -but- not a suite.
AoA suites are awesome! Would rank this one first but no waterslide, and we found the pool to be over crowded - REALLY hard to get a deck chair. Buses and Skyliner are easy to get to. We last stayed there while Skyliner was under construction so I can't speak for the current wait for the buses, though it was great when we were there. I would guess that hasn't changed for MK and AK.
CBR internal buses are a real drag. Yes, it's on the skyliner but there is a good chance you will need to take an internal bus to the Skyliner end of the resort. We liked the pool but didn't love it, POR pool was better by a mile, POFQ pool is about equal. Rooms are a bit dated, otherwise very sililar to POFQ. The resort itself has been recently renovated so that's nice, but again - could be a fair distance from your room putting you on an internal bus.

 

[5kidsmommy]

I've only stayed at CBR. I love the resort. I love the pool. I love the food options. The rooms are really good sized for a standard room. I will admit we have never stayed with more than two people. The buses didn't bug me. We have stayed in Jamaica before a few times. it's a nice section, not too far from the pool or dining and close to a bus stop. Admittedly we haven't stayed since the Skyliner was operational. It was in the testing phase our last trip. The station didn't look too far. I know some people hate the buses but I didn't mind them at all.

Honestly though two bathrooms at AoA would be nice plus you have the skyliner. You could always add on a day at the waterparks if water activities are a must.

 

[rkstocke5609]

I’ll throw a wrench in the works. Did you know that you could stay at Wilderness Lodge in a room with a queen bed and a bunk bed (perfect!) for a negligible difference from the cost of a suite at AoA? The resort amenities are really worth the extra $30/ night.

Especially the calming boat ride back from MK when the kiddo’s are tired. Or, for that matter to take a midday break back at the pool.

 

[kylenne]

POFQ buses are not that big of a deal.

I’m gonna be the lone dissenter here and say that it depends on your touring style because one stay at POFQ was enough to swear me off it because of the buses.

If you are a rope drop to fireworks type of park commando family then yeah the buses will be fine at POFQ. They don’t share in the early am and on the way back at night you’re the first stop back. But if you at all plan to travel at off hours, coming back to the resort for breaks, etc. the bus situation sucks way worse than people typically report. Going back to parks after my midday breaks, every single time it took upwards of 15 minutes to get on the road because we had to drive around POR to pick up guests. As a result I saw no advantage to POFQ’s smaller size except when trying to get food or refill my mug.

It got so old so quickly on my stay last August that I gave up and just took Lyft everywhere.

 

[Haley R]

I would order them like this: POFQ, AoA (in a suite), CBR

 

[lilsonicfan]

Personally, we are choosing CBR due primarily to cost AND proximity to Skyliner. We figured the savings per night compared to some of the other resorts, even AoA, will pay for an uber to/from MK or AK on the days we are there if the bus system is too crazy. I believe the preferred rooms at CBR are located in Martinique or Barbados.

 

[brockash]

Dear WDW experts, I need your help! We are a Disneyland family starting to plan our first trip to WDW. DH and I have both to WDW before - I lived in Orlando from 2004-2007 and we also honeymooned there in 2010 – but it’s been a while, obviously, and this will be our first trip with the kids (DD7 and DS5). First of all, I’m trying to decide on a hotel.

Options:

• Caribbean Beach
  • PROs: Skyliner. The pool looks super fun.
  • CONS: It looks really big. I don’t like having to take an internal bus. If I get a preferred room will I be close enough to walk to the main pool / dining / Skyliner?
• 
  
• Port Orleans French Quarter. This is where DH and I stayed on our honeymoon and we loved it.
  • PROs: Smaller and quieter. The pool is not as cool but at least there’s a waterslide, and we can use the one at POR as well.
  • CONs: Have to take the bus everywhere.
• 
  
• Art of Animation Suites
  • PROs: We always stay in a suite (offsite) at DLR and like having the extra room. Skyliner.
  • CONs: The pool looks a little boring. My kids really like a good waterslide…

What do you think? Anywhere else I should consider? We are trying to stay on the lower moderate end of price spectrum.

POFQ would be our first choice. and then AoA. CBR would be our last choice out of ALL Disney resorts we've stayed at. For us it's just a pain of a resort logistically...and we stayed in preferred room.

 

[DisSurfer878]

I would do POFQ or AoA. CBR is just too big, hence why we haven't ever stayed there. The Skyliner station and the main pool/food aren't that close together. I don't love the multiple bus stops either, takes forever leaving and coming back from the parks.
A finding Nemo suite places you right between the Skyliner station and the food court/bus stops. Do you plan to spend a lot of time at the pool? We always plan to swim and then either never get there at all or swim maybe once. Since the pool isn't terribly exciting at AoA, maybe consider some time at the waterparks? We tried out typhoon lagoon last trip and enjoyed it very much.
You pretty much covered pros and cons of POFQ. Both the PO resorts are very pretty. I don't find the buses to be a big deal, but everyone's tolerance is different.

It's weird to say a resort is too big for your taste...if you've never even stayed at it to experience it's size.

 

[KayaWildfire]

It's weird to say a resort is too big for your taste...if you've never even stayed at it to experience it's size.

When I found the resort too large when we visited, it's pretty safe to assume I wouldn't like staying there.

 

[lorenae]

When I found the resort too large when we visited, it's pretty safe to assume I wouldn't like staying there.

And from the skyliner, you can see how huge it is! I guess some people love it, and others like me wouldn’t even try it because of that. I do love PO-FQ, but there are others that I like as well, CBR is so far down on my list right now that it’s off my radar. I will probably be much more interested if I was visiting with teenagers or a group so we could go to Epcot and do our thing.

 

[lorenae]

I’m gonna be the lone dissenter here and say that it depends on your touring style because one stay at POFQ was enough to swear me off it because of the buses.

If you are a rope drop to fireworks type of park commando family then yeah the buses will be fine at POFQ. They don’t share in the early am and on the way back at night you’re the first stop back. But if you at all plan to travel at off hours, coming back to the resort for breaks, etc. the bus situation sucks way worse than people typically report. Going back to parks after my midday breaks, every single time it took upwards of 15 minutes to get on the road because we had to drive around POR to pick up guests. As a result I saw no advantage to POFQ’s smaller size except when trying to get food or refill my mug.

It got so old so quickly on my stay last August that I gave up and just took Lyft everywhere.

And for me, in mid January, we never shared busses at all. Just one night after MK After Hours, but then we were the first stop so it was still great for us. We came and went often, from early AM to very late nights and early nights back to our room, and never once had to go to PO-Riverside. The busses came frequently, and we went right to the park.

 

[noodle73]

Thank you all so much for your sharing your thoughts and experiences! It's been really helpful.

• CONS: THE BUSES
• Believe every horror story you hear about the CBR buses. They take forever, too many stops and don't come often enough.
• Depending on my park priorities for our next trip, CBR might not make the cut because of the buses, yes, they are that bad.

I think I have eliminated CBR. I know our family and I'm pretty sure the internal buses would be the death of us.

I'm leaning towards POFQ. Which is funny because I know I looked at all the options for our honeymoon and settled on POFQ then as well!

• Centrally located - you don't feel like you are on the bus forever when going to the parks
• I would stay here again is going to all 4 parks was on my priority list

We are planning to do all four parks so the central location is a good point. We will probably do one park per day, from rope drop to early-to-late afternoon, except for one day I want to go back for a dessert party & fireworks. So one bus back-and-forth per day isn't too bad. I imagine that we'll do the pool 2-3 days that we get back earlier.

I like the boat to Disney Springs. DS isn't worth a bus ride to me but the boat ride is so pleasant.

I’ll throw a wrench in the works. Did you know that you could stay at Wilderness Lodge in a room with a queen bed and a bunk bed (perfect!) for a negligible difference from the cost of a suite at AoA? The resort amenities are really worth the extra $30/ night.

Last week I was seriously considering Wilderness Lodge. It looks so beautiful! But I just can't bring myself the spend that much! The only reason we would is to have a suite. It's so much easier to put the kids to bed in a separate room. If DH and I are still up they want to stay up too! Maybe we'll do a suite this time and POFQ when they're older. 8 & 10 will prob be the next trip.

Do you plan to spend a lot of time at the pool? We always plan to swim and then either never get there at all or swim maybe once. Since the pool isn't terribly exciting at AoA, maybe consider some time at the waterparks? We tried out typhoon lagoon last trip and enjoyed it very much.

Another good point! I'm not sure how much time we'll spend at the pool. If we're having fun at the parks we'll stay at the parks. So I don't want to pick based on pool and we don't end up there much.

 

[kylenne]

And for me, in mid January, we never shared busses at all. Just one night after MK After Hours, but then we were the first stop so it was still great for us. We came and went often, from early AM to very late nights and early nights back to our room, and never once had to go to PO-Riverside. The busses came frequently, and we went right to the park.

I went in early August and I’m not kidding when I say every time I got on a bus we did the POR loop first. Then the DS boat was down constantly due to inclement weather. It was by far the most miserable transportation experience I’ve had staying on property.

I don’t disbelieve you though, and that’s why I ultimately can’t with that resort. It’s too much of a crapshoot to me. I’d never stay there again without relying on Lyft (which is what I ended up doing after 3 days of frustration), and at that point I may as well just stay closer to a park in a Deluxe or at a Skyliner resort

 

[MarBee]

One note about the pools- my kids looooove water slides, too. We recently stayed in a value for the first time, and I thought they’d be bored without it. However, Disney resorts have entertainment for the family at the pool all afternoon. My kids were so occupied during it that they never missed the slide.

 

[Dug720]

I'm in the vast minority that would rank them CBR, AoA, and then POFQ (and yes, I've stayed at them all, though AoA in a Little Mermaid room). Granted I have not been to CBR since all the reconstruction, but I have always loved it - and never used an "internal shuttle". And granted, I live in NYC so walking is a part of my everyday life - no cars for this girl - but it has never seemed that bad. In fact I just changed from AKL to CBR for my birthday trip in July.

AoA is ok...the themeing is very large and very obvious, but it's well done (honestly I'd be there for my birthday trip if they had queen beds in the Little Mermaid rooms rather than doubles or had Kings as a bookable category), so as long as you're prepared it's fine.

POFQ...meh. I think I'm the only person on earth who does not get the obsession with New Orleans. I've been there once (no, not during Mardi Gras, so it's not that) and hated it. No desire to go back. I tried the resort for a 5-night stay before and just not a fan.

 

[Disneylover99]

It's weird to say a resort is too big for your taste...if you've never even stayed at it to experience it's size.

I like to visit resorts and walk around before I book to get a feel for them and see if I might want to stay there. We’ve visited CBR a few times. It’s not somewhere we’d like to stay, mostly due to it’s size.