Which resort is a never or never again for you?

[maryj11]

My impression exactly! DH loves it and wants to stay there for an arrival one-nighter sometime.

We only roamed about lobby and gift shop while waiting to go up for dinner at Topolino's, so I've no idea of the rooms other than from watching video tours. I was unimpressed by the lobby decor--stark, boringly neutral colors and surprisingly uncomfortable sofas. And one measly gift shop for a resort suggesting the Riviera? Ya gotta be kidding me.

To be fair, maybe I'm simply spoiled by the multiple GF shops. After all, the other DVC resorts have only one gift shop, even WL with 2 DVC associations, BRV and CCV.

That's not it entirely, though. As attractive as Riviera's exterior is, I can't figure why the halls and public areas are done mostly in grays and black. Screams "convention center" to me, too.

Same here. My adult granddaughter wants to stay there so bad. We went there for a Topolino’s breakfast and looked around. It did not appeal to me at all. No thanks I’m not paying for something that I’m uninterested in.

 

[Magical2017]

Grand Floridian. I thought I would love it but I hated it. It was like being a fish in a fish bowl with all the people that go there to see it. The pool was just odd with people not staying at the hotel outside watching us swim. The monorail was always packed and having to change monorails to go to Epcot seemed like more work than a bus. I really want to try the Poly but I think I will feel the same way.

Yikes--they watched you swim? That would put me off, as well.

 

[Beachmom0317]

Kidani village...those hallways!

 

[DPgrlz]

I would never book Fort Wilderness because camping is not a vacation for me. Not even a cabin. Its just not my style.

Never again is POR- Riverside. I always book a second room for my snoring husband. And I could hear him snoring through the walls. They were adjoining rooms and I think that both rooms had headboards on the wall that they shared.

 

[Dumbos Ears]

I wouldn't stay at POR again. I can't imagine having a non-preferred room. The walk to get coffee in the morning would have been a half mile. And the multiple bus stops made the trips to the parks take forever. It was gorgeous though.
I've stayed at Contemporary twice and while I love the proximity to MK, the blandness of the theming puts me off. So that would be a no go as well.

 

[tinks624]

Riviera! Glorified Marriott!

 

[MillauFr]

Riviera! Glorified Marriott!

Correction. A non glorified Marriott.

 

[fabfemmeboy]

SSR. We stayed there for a night last spring when there was a line of storms blowing in overnight that turned the airport into a madhouse. Because everyone had the same though we did ("let's stay at Disney until the storms pass!"), the only rooms on-property were at SSR or a club-level something that cost more than my car. The proximity to DS was nice, but we felt like we just didn't "get" it. It reminded me of a condo/retail center near our home. Really big, I constantly felt lost, and just super bland. Definitely not somewhere we would choose to be.

CSR, though gorgeous, is sadly not for us either. We don't drink and have dietary restrictions, so the myriad of bars/restaurants are wasted on us, which leaves a mess of a bus system and a QS that's even more expensive than most QS places. We stayed there twice and wanted really badly to like it, but it doesn't work for us. Great for other people though.

 

[AnnaS]

One of the reasons we enjoy being in the Disney bubble - so many choices within 10-15 minutes of each other (give or take a few minutes). (& we have stayed off site too - Before DVC and after DVC for a 1 nighter when arriving early).

There is a resort for everyone. Price wise, location wise, theme wise . Each resort gives us a different experience. Some of us are set on our choices and some of us love to experience others. Enough rooms to go around for everyone.

Similar to restaurants - some love one and some hate it/negative experience, etc.

Great thread - loved reading many of the responses. The positives/negatives, strong and weak points.

 

[CapeCodTenor]

Caribbean Beach. The multiple bus stops are too much. In the morning the buses often arrived full at our stop, so we had to wait for the next bus. Always seemed to result in standing room only on the bus. At night, it seemed to take forever and at each stop the bus turns on the interior lights so people can exit. Really upsetting to a tired, cranky toddler you are holding on your hip.

I haven't read all of the posts, but I came to this one and though, "Yep, too spread out for me." Won't stay there.

 

[val1234]

In my 30 years of going to WDW only stayed once at a value in AOA little mermaid rooms. Never ever again! The walk to the buses and main lobby was so long. But my main reason for never again to the values is the resort is a big part of a Disney vacation for me. I like to feel like I’m on a vacation and I need amenities/luxuries-not just bare bones basics at Disney World. If just going to parks are your main focus then I guess the values are great, but for me and my family it’s a No. CBR is a Never again also as previous poster stated the many bus stops are too much…

 

[aerxo17]

- Standard rooms at any Value resort. They're so far away from everything.
- Kidani. The hallway is terribly long and the lobby is underwhelming compared to Jambo.
- PORiverside. The rooms are too far away from the lobby but I did LOVE the Royal Room aesthetic.
- Bay Lake Tower. Are you seeing a trend yet? Too far away from the lobby.
- Carribean Beach Resort. I stayed in a pirate room with 3 other people and it was waaaay too small for that. Also the resort is very spread out, but we never had to wait long for a bus. Cool feature pool though!
- Moorea building in the Poly. Beautiful views in our Lake view studio, but a long walk to...everything!
- Boulder Ridge Villas at WL. These are WAY outdated.
- TBH any DVC villa that I would have to sleep on a pullout sofa and not a murphy bed. Those sofa beds are SO uncomfy.

I'm not a total debbie downer though! I loved Pop Century (even before the skyliner was open!), the Polynesian, and POFQ and would def stay at any of those again. I would love to stay at Gran Destino Tower (maybe club level!!) and AKL Jambo, and the BoardWalk once it's been refurbished. And ASMu was lovely for the price, I would just get a preferred room or family suite next time

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

Caribbean Beach, my reasons are kinda odd but whatever. When I was like 8-10 range we were staying there when our neighbor called and said our cat was hit by a car and died, so that ruined it for me. A few years ago we had a free stay there (I won a contest) so I was hoping it would be a redemption trip. The walls were super thin and the man next to us was snoring like a freight train, it was LOUD (and thanks to the wonderful people here we requested a box fan to override his snoring). In the middle of the next night he was outside the room smoking up a storm and the smoke smell filled our room, waking the kids (coughing, crying it was fun ). They moved our room but it was in the second floor and my poor husband had to carry both of our 1/2 asleep, 1/2 awake confused miserable kids to the new room. So the no elevator situation sucks.

 

[kimmar067]

Yikes--they watched you swim? That would put me off, as well.

....I'm sure, with the proper bathing suit.....

 

[kimmar067]

....I would love to stay at Gran Destino Tower (maybe club level!!) and AKL...

...stayed there twice and it was really nice! Only downside, it was so far from the main pool area....no quiet pool at the tower.

 

[kimmar067]

Same here. My adult granddaughter wants to stay there so bad. We went there for a Topolino’s breakfast and looked around. It did not appeal to me at all. No thanks I’m not paying for something that I’m uninterested in.

....we'll be staying there in March, but we are DVC....the $$ per night OOP is really not worth it.

 

[Magical2017]

....I'm sure, with the proper bathing suit.....

Okay.

 

[Dizzy Lizzie]

POP. It was my first resort I stayed at as adult.

Pros:
For the money it was fine.
The skyliner was great! I really enjoyed riding it despite being afarid of heights.
Food court was decent. I like how there were enough tables. The highlight of one of my meals was watching a mother and daughter eating outside. A squirrel came to the table and the daugheter was freaking out. The mother just sat there until the squirrel tried to get on the table. She stood up and scared it off with a bubble wand.
We stayed in the 70s section so it was nice being near the lobby and the bus stop.
I used the 90s pool which was nice because not many people were there.
The theme was charming. It reminded me of a 1960s beach motel.

Cons:
The room themseleves were okay. It was just my boyfriend and I so we had enough space. We didn't pull down the extra bed so it was nice having a table. The bed was okay. My biggest gripe with the room was the AC fan was on the wall by the coffee bar. So at night you couldn't feel the AC while sleeping. I kept waking up hot. The walls were super thin so we can hear our neighboors flush toilets and take showers. Also didn't help one of our neighboors were super loud and returned their rooms late at night. Slamming their door and one of their kids was shouting. I know you can have crappy neighboors at any hotel, but I shouldn't be able to hear toilets and showers.

I know listed more pros than cons, but the room itself is the reason I wouldn't stay there again. It's fine for what it is, but I can't imagine staying in that room with two other people. The walls being thin.

 

[maryj11]

Earlier in this thread I posted I would never stay at Pop again. Well we stayed there this past December for 2 nights to save on some money.
My second take on Pop. It wasn’t as bad as our first stay. The skyliner made it much better! First trip we had standing room only on the buses several times so the skyliner makes it way better. The beds the first time we stayed were uncomfortable and the room seemed small. With the new renovations I loved the bed and the pull down bed was just as comfortable. With being able to push the bed back up the room had plenty of space. I really like the new rooms.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Earlier in this thread I posted I would never stay at Pop again. Well we stayed there this past December for 2 nights to save on some money.
My second take on Pop. It wasn’t as bad as our first stay. The skyliner made it much better! First trip we had standing room only on the buses several times so the skyliner makes it way better. The beds the first time we stayed were uncomfortable and the room seemed small. With the new renovations I loved the bed and the pull down bed was just as comfortable. With being able to push the bed back up the room had plenty of space. I really like the new rooms.

Pop is my favorite of the values. With the Skyliner and the renovations, I think it's the best bang for the buck!