Where to Stay? All Star Movies or Port Orleans, Riverside?

[Madi100]

Which would you pick? Group includes: 2 yr old, 6 yr. old, DH and myself (28-33), my parents early 50's. Why would you pick one over the other one?

 

[yecats]

Hi,

I am single and do not prefer to stay at the AS. Mostly because I have found them to be quite noisy with small rooms. As I don't have any children (although I like children, just not in large numbers) I am not overly found about staying at a hotel where I will be swimming with 50 at one time.

My next vacation is at PORS. To me it is a more adult themed resort with various pools, beautiful grounds and larger rooms.

My suggestion is if you intend to spend more time at the hotel, you might be happier with a larger room, several pools, two vanities and theming that you and your parents will enjoy. Your children will not be as happy but you will have a more adult vacation. However, if you are going there more for the kids and don't plan to spend a lot of time in the hotel than you will probably love the AS.

Either way have a great time.

 

[Madi100]

Thanks for your reply. I should add that we are taking my mom as our babysitter. We will only use her a couple nights. The rest is pretty much to take her along because she'll go be able to go on her own. My step dad is going along because he won't have to pay for a room. So, this will be my parent's only trip, and we will probably go back again. With that said, my parents are also cheap.

 

[goofy4tink]

My first trip to WDW was with my mother, then 70, my dd who celebrated her 6th b-day there and myself, 50. We stayed at POR and all loved it!! The pool was fantastic, the play ground area kept dd amused for quite awhile. The boat to DD was a lot of fun. We stayed there again 2 yrs ago with another family and all loved it then too. I would suggest getting two rooms at POR. Youb could even request connecting rooms. That way your mom could put the kids to bed and just leave her doorway open. It's very convenient. The AllStars look pretty cute but I think your mom and step dad will like POR much better. I know my dh doesn't ever want to stay in a value and my mom would rather just not go if that were the case. Only moderates or deluxes for her.

 

[CamColt]

Ive stayed at both twice and I would pick ASMO, especially with kids your age. We found everything(food court, bus service, CMs, etc...) the same or better at ASMO. I didnt not like POR, not at all. But to me there was nothing really special, it was a nice hotel. ASMO just yells "DISNEY!!!".
The only thing I preferred at POR over ASMO was the lounge with entertainment, but when travelling with children, thats not my top priority. If this trip is more for your parents and you, then maybe POR would be the best choice, being more adult. But if its for the kids, then ASMO all the way.
After staying at ASMO, I would have a hard time justifying going back to a moderate.

 

[sherry8253]

My vote is PO. I think that your mom and stepdad would be much happier there. You, your DH and kids will really like it too.

 

[KDawnLily]

ASMo. Defintely I would choose ASMo. (unless you are footing the bill and then perhaps 5 in a room plus a crib at PO makes better financial sense then 2 rooms at ASMo..although for the extra privacy it may not cost much more for 2 rooms).
If that doesn't matter and it's all about the WDW feel.. I agree with CamColt "ASMo just yells DISNEY"!!
Of course I think I have become the self appointed ASR Cheerleader.. heck Swan has 'em can't the ASR?
(now only if I knew how to get that fancy cheerleader into my posts )

 

[Karel]

You are getting two rooms right? If money is a problem, then do yourself a favor and get two rooms at All Star. Everyone will be very uncomfortable stuck in one room.

Otherwise, go with PO. I think your parents will be more comfortable there. They might enjoy the quiet pools, sit down restuarant and hot tub. Do they still have fishing there?

 

[dawgfan]

I took my kids to All Stars Music on their first trips to Disney a year ago. They were 7 and 4 years of age. We also took the grandparents as well. Why All Stars? The rate was good and the theming felt best for kids. The trip after all was centered around the kids. I too loved Disney and I guess I wanted the kids to love it as much as I did. It seemed to me that the cheapest resorts had the most fun/kid like theming. This proved to be true and the visual appeal at first arrival "got em" (the kids I mean). The resort is busy and sometimes loud. There can be large crowds of teens and groups all over the place. The pool is especially busy and boisterous. In the room, noise was never a problem. Everyone having fun! Is this a problem? No! The rooms are small, but we had no real problem there either. You don't stay at the room much. However, your grandparent types are going to probably stay at the room more especially if the trip is long. They also may not fully appreciate the theming. Let's face it, the only real reason we appreciate the theming is because we have kids and sort of see it through their eyes so to speak. Port Orleans would really be their(grandparents) cup of tea. You would like it as well. BUT...Those kids...if this is the first trip I would take AS over Port Orleans and maybe do another trip later at POR. I went back to WDW with my wife and stayed at all stars due to the rate. We went to POR to see it. We loved it and are going there next year.

 

[Madi100]

You guys aren't making this decision very easy for me. I just can't decide. The AS's are great. We are happy with them. I just really really want to stay at PO. My mom would love it. We are getting two rooms, and we are paying for both of them, so that's a big chunk of money either way. My parents will not go back again. We will. However, I can always stay in Port Orleans next time when we will only have to pay for one room.

 

[miche61]

Hey, Nicole, looks like we will be there the same time!!!! We leave in 175 days!

I am also having a hard time deciding. We have ressies at POR, but would like to have two rooms at all stars. I am trying to convince myself to go even bigger and stay at contemp. Hmmm...

 

[copper0426]

I would definetly chose POR. It will be a little more, but with a built in babby sitter it would be good to keep GM happy. The AS is nice enough, but it just does nothing to relax you. I know that WDW commandos don't need to relax but most people just have a better time if they are relaxed.My DS who is 7 now is lucky enough to have been going to WDW since he was 3 wks old(about 3 times a year). He calls POR his favorite resort we have stayed at the AS before but have never had a great trip. TOOO crowded or loud or over run with CHEERLEADERS. He has also stayed at WL and AKL. I think that both resorts scream Disney in completely differant ways the theme and attention to detail at POR is outstanding not in your face obvious but wonderful all the same. Just my 2 cents

 

[Madi100]

miche61

Will this be your first trip to WDW? We have gone twice before and stayed at the All Stars. I really liked them, but would like to try something else. I'm happy with the AS, but wonder how much different it would be at PO. I guess time will tell.

 

[miche61]

This will be the 6th trip for myself and DD10. It'll be the 5th for DH and for DD7 and DS6 it will be 2nd (adopted them from Russia three years ago so they are just starting the love affair with WDW)

We have stayed in a rental house, then off site, and at all three all stars, and once at CSR. I am so excited. The kids don't know when exactly we are going, just that we are going sometime this winter. If a good code comes out, I'm thinking I'll surprise DH with a stay at a different resort than POR- hopefully CR.

Maybe we'll see you there! We stayed last time at all stars with gramma and grandpa, two connecting rooms. That worked out great! The kids got to sleep with g-ma and g-pa sometimes too.

 

[miche61]

I just noticed you're from Iowa! I love Iowa! My grandmother lives near Cedar Rapids. And my DD7 is named Nicole. Ahh... the trivia....

 

[Madi100]

I just noticed you're from Iowa! I love Iowa! My grandmother lives near Cedar Rapids. And my DD7 is named Nicole. Ahh... the trivia....

That is so funny. I didn't know that anyone who wasn't from Iowa loved it I'm quite happy with it, and we dont' have any desire to live elsewhere. What a small world, though. We live not too far from Cedar Rapids, 20 minutes depending on where you are going. We live in Iowa City.

 

[arielfan]

We stayed at ASM our last visited and I really enjoyed it...We found the rooms to be nice and really you only use them to sleep and get ready to leave again...