We have a 3 & 5 year old. We are DVC so always stay in villas but I can speak to location and resort amenities! Since my oldest turned 1 in 2016, we have stayed at AKL-Kidani, VGF, Poly, Boardwalk and BLT at Contemporary.
While we love the theming at AKL, it’s too far for us from everything except AK. Because we spend a lot of time at the other parks, we probably will not stay here again until the kids are older. We prefer to be closer to the other parks.
VGF and Poly are great. Love both, love being on the monorail line.
With little kids, my #1 favorite convenience is to be able to walk to a park. For that reason, BLT (Contemporary) and Boardwalk are my favorites. There is really nothing like being able to walk back to the resort rather than wait for transportation, ESPECIALLY with tired kids after night shows.
Next time, we are considering a split stay between BLT and Boardwalk for the walkability to then 3 parks. My kids love the Boardwalk (and we do too.)
Also, I have stayed at the Beach Club a few times (as a kid, and an adult before kids.) If swimming is important to your family, you can’t beat Stormalong Bay. We only haven’t stayed there because they don’t have the villa size we usually need for our group.