What's a resort you swore you'd never stay at, but did and ended up loving?

[Silver saucer]

Coronado for me. When we finally stayed there I loved it. The bus service was awesome. I loved the hammocks. Fell asleep on them a couple times just relaxing. It was just really fun!!

 

[GeneralTso]

I never swore I wouldn't stay at Port Orleans/Riverside/Magnolia but I ended up there by accompanying my daughter on a work trip. It was fantastic. I love it there. We had a Princess room facing the river and wow, was it relaxing and wonderful. The entire property was fantastic. The food...oh my goodness. Brought me right back to New Orleans. Love it there and will return.

 

[DVCjj]

Aside from the fact I knew DVC studios were almost impossible unless you owned there, I thought it would be too Victorian. Boy, was I wrong. I got in for several nights and absolutely loved it. The DVC lobby is so lovely and intimate.
Felt like I was in a whole new DVC world. Even loved the Quick Serve a lot.

 

[nkereina]

Art of Animation for us. Nothing against the resort, but we never envisioned ourselves staying at a value resort. We'd exclusively stayed at the moderate level, and had rented points to try DVC in the past. We had a quick trip planning and wanted to try the Skyliner, so we booked a Little Mermaid room and we were very pleasantly surprised by the resort. Especially with the Skyliner, its hard to discern what advantages the moderates even have over it that would warrant the additional cost. Certainly nothing that's important to us. We're now booked at Pop in October and have no qualms about staying at either Pop or AOA going forward.

 

[Pmlocke]

Just curious, trying to open my mind a bit.

I think I would never want to stay at Saratoga Springs, but I watched a walk-through yesterday and it actually looks quite nice.

The grounds of CBR look amazing, but I don't think I like the rooms.

Tell me, did you think you'd hate somewhere and now you really like it?

All Star Music. Went screaming back in 2009 for a quick trip. Always heard bad things about the values and boy was I surprised and proven wrong. No screaming kids, no bus problems, clean rooms, great staff. We have been back to Music 10 additional stays. We love it there.

 

[ChanaC]

Animal Kingdom Lodge. For whatever reason, it was at the bottom of my deluxe hotel list. I think it was because I always saw the lobby as cold, dark, and uninviting as opposed to lobbies like Poly or Gran FL and it always seemed so separated from the rest of the property. We ended up finding a really, really good deal there for a pool view room (honestly too good to not take). I wasn't super excited, but I ended up falling in love with it. We only stayed for a few days and the entire time it was cool and rainy out (late Jan/early Feb) so we didn't get to use the pool we were looking at, but we found the lobby to be nice and cozy, especially sitting by the giant fireplace they had. In fact, it was nice to just sit in a quiet lobby and plan the following day, which honestly isn't an option at most Disney resorts. And because it's all one building, we weren't running in the rain between places. Although we didn't have a savanna view, it was cool to walk out to the overlook to catch a view at them. It did feel like we were on the bus forever to get some places (like then-Downtown Disney) but honestly there is no resort that's 100% close to anything, at at some point if you are staying on property you are looking at a long bus ride to get anywhere. I still think I would rather stay at other deluxe resorts before AKL again, but I wouldn't be opposed to it like before, especially if I was staying for longer and had a savanna view.

 

[Apeters430]

I never really was attracted to SSR until I walked the grounds one afternoon after visiting DS. I seemed really beautiful and after seeing the refurb we bought a resale contract there for DVC.

Flipping this for fun:
I was ecstatic to stay at Beach Club two years ago and it ended up being the most awful resort experience of all my visits. Its obviously beautiful but overall my week there was not a deluxe resort experience. Housekeeping was awful, transportation was awful and even some cast members at the front desk were awful. We visit about 3 times a year and had more issues and problems in this one week (all resort related) than in the 10 plus years combined.

 

[maryj11]

I never thought I would like AKL because of some reviews of the halls being long and dark. Also I read about complaints of it being far away from the parks and busing wasn’t that good.
I absolutely loved it! We didn’t book a savanna room, but went with a pool view. It didn’t seem like it was dark, but had so much detail throughout the resort and the lobby was awesome! We loved the pool, the amazing theming, the animals, and the restaurants. The buses did not take long at all and it did not seem any longer getting to the parks than the other resorts we have stayed at.
It is now my 3rd favorite after GF and the Poly.

 

[jlnten17]

I will echo several others and say SSR and BLT. My husband and I stayed at SSR once and I thought meh one and done - However, now that my daughter is older and loves DS we have an offer waiting ROFR for SSR. We also just stayed at BLT for the first time ever and while I still prefer The Poly I have to say I also really enjoyed BLT. I guess the takeaway is there is no such thing as a bad Disney resort.

 

[Hippomom]

Coronado Springs, I never wanted to stay there because people said it was too big and I’m from California and there is a SoCal/Sandiego feel to it.
But I stayed very close to the main pool it was a short walk across a bridge to the food court . We were by 1st bus stop. The staff was excellent and the grounds were beautiful. The pool was awesome too. I loved POFQ, but the Coronado had such a nice resort feel to it.

 

[paradesintherain]

Polynesian. I didn't necessarily think I'd never like it, rather, I just never thought about it, it wasn't high on my priority list. Ended up loving it, even though I didn't get my room requests. We ended up in Samoa with a ground floor room (I had wanted something overlooking the marina on 3rd floor) that had a view of the volcano pool and was super close to the lobby. The location was amaaaazing, and we used the patio so much. The whole resort has such a laid-back feel although it gets a lot of traffic for the restaurants.

 

[maryj11]

Contemporary. I was looking for a CL stay at 60 days out and this was the only resort available. We ended up loving it there. Have been back several times. Our last stay was TPV CL and that has ruined any other kind of stay for me, LOL.

I see a few who said Contemporary, but no one said why they ended up loving it. What did you love? I’m thinking about adding a couple of days on for it because right now the garden wing is one of the lowest priced deluxes.

 

[Lovinallthingsdisney]

I see a few who said Contemporary, but no one said why they ended up loving it. What did you love? I’m thinking about adding a couple of days on for it because right now the garden wing is one of the lowest priced deluxes.

I am really not sure what it is. Weird huh? The rooms are large and maybe it is the clean, basic design? Or maybe it’s the nostalgia of the resort itself. The CL staff was very kind and attentive and the walkway to MK can’t be beat, especially at the end of a day/night. The theme park view room is by far my favorite. Watching fireworks (during “normal” times)from the room and waking up with a castle view is second to none.

 

[RedOnion]

and their main restaurant was also great.

My wife and I ended up booking a last-minute trip at SSR a number of years ago, and while we never quite fell in love with the resort itself, we had an amazing experience at The Turf Club Bar and Grill our first night. We were caught in one of those infamous mid-p.m. rainstorms while walking over from our room, and arrived for our dinner reservation sopping wet. Our server--her name was Tobi; I still remember after all this time--took such excellent care of us, and make great recommendations for our meal. We were seated near the windows and just watched the rain pour down, and had a wonderful dinner. It's actually one of my fondest memories of any Disney meal anywhere. Tobi was personable, and funny, and caring, and attentive. She left a really amazing impression, and the food that night was excellent, especially the grilled romaine salad and the root beer pork chop. I'm not sure I'd stay at SSR again--although it was fine--but I'd definitely return to The Turf Club Bar and Grill.

 

[Chupaca bruh]

My first trip was in 1996 and I researched the resorts ( another story in itself ) and I did not care for the look of Old Key West or the Wilderness Cabins. OKW looked like condos. Nice Condos but it just didn’t I appeal to me. The Wilderness cabins seemed like something I could do in many, many places around the country. After 13 trips and marrying into DVC and staying in some of the DVC location we took a two week trip and I decided to try a couple of new places. I loved OKW. The studio was roomy and I love any room that isn’t a square shoebox. There were windows on one side of the room and a slider onto a patio on the other Making the room bright and airy. Out the front and back was lots of tropical foliage. The approach to the buildings is quaint with little picket fences. We happened to be fairly close to the main area and the walk over was quite enjoyable.
The Wilderness Cabin was awesome. It was spacious and updated and comfortable. It was also quiet and walking around the area was not like any other Disney locations. We were close to the pool too so that was an easy walk. I was right as it was like being at a nice campground anywhere and I suspect that I was able to appreciate both OKW and Fort Wilderness more after having stayed in the other, more themed resorts over the years.
Also ended up loving POR mansion home. I was not a huge fan of the architecture but they are beautiful ans it really seems like you are staying on someone’s estate.

 

[PPFlight75]

Mine is the CR. I didn't think I would like it but my DD wanted to stay there. We have stayed in the Garden Wing and the main. building. I did not like the GW due to the view, the longer walk, and we felt isolated. However, we love the main building-watching the monorail, views of the lake or MK, and the walk to MK.

 

[PittFanEsq]

Coronado Springs - Grand Destino Tower. Typically stay at Moderates unless a really good discount for Deluxe. Never really considered staying here until a great offer last year, and now it's a favorite. The tower is beautiful; inside corridors and great rooms with minimal walking to your room at the end of the night. It's really more like a deluxe at a moderate price.

 

[Jmar2009]

The All Star resorts always had a bad reputation, from what I read with heavy crowds and horrible bus stories and I never considered it until my trips became more frequent. After staying at All Star Music twice now, I can honestly say I love it there and would gladly stay again in the future. I’ve never had an issue with crowds or busses, course I normally travel while schools are in session. Another one is the Fort Wilderness property. In my mind I always thought it would be less than desirable due to campers but after staying in the cabins last month and driving around the property in a golf cart I can say it was a great experience. I probably wouldn’t stay again since we had price protection and at almost 500 dollars a night for a cabin, I can’t justify it.

Same. Stayed at all star movies last year and loved it. Was our 1st on site stay. I was expecting the bus experience would be based on people 's negative reviews but we didn't find any issues.

 

[Jmar2009]

For us, it was the Boardwalk Inn.. we were nervous w/ the Clown pool and lack of places to eat and the whole Carnival vibe... what we found was that it was charming, the staff was wonderful and we fell in love! The green was a great place to watch movies in the evening and the kids enjoyed the different activities there as well.. all in all it has now become one of our favorites.

Lack of places to eat at the resort or in general? Sorry I've never been and am curious. I've read that with BC and BW there were so many options to choose from due to the location and close proximity to Epcot.

 

[got15]

Lack of places to eat at the resort or in general? Sorry I've never been and am curious. I've read that with BC and BW there were so many options to choose from due to the location and close proximity to Epcot.

Yes, I read a lot prior to my stay there, that the food was limited- we didnt find that to be true.. Bakery, Ice Cream, Flying Fish plus proximity to walk to 2 parks was awesome.