Just stayed with my husband 1/29/18-2/3/18. This resort is beautiful. The lobby is amazing. It is a wonderful place to sit and enjoy morning coffee or a late night drink. The grounds are immaculate. The rooms are small for deluxe but the location and peace of the resort makes up for that. The transportation by bus or boat were both wonderful. Our room was courtyard view and we faced Bay Lake. Each day you could see the geyser go off and each night we saw fireworks and/or the electric parade in the lake. Having three children and going to Disney many many times. WL is a wonderful choice for all ages.
We (2 adults, 2 kids) stayed in a deluxe studio in October 2016. It’s been our best Disney hotel experience so far and is our home DVC resort. Check-in: On arrival with DME, we were greeted with many “Alohas” and a lei. When entering the lobby, we instantly felt at home. You might think this is weird to say, but I love the smell of this place! I don’t know what it is, but the POLY smells amazing. Room: Our deluxe suite was fantastic! It’s one of the biggest deluxe of all the DVC resorts. We especially loved the Murphy bed under the TV and the bathroom. The bathroom has two sides; one has a tub, sink, and toilet; the other side has a shower and sink. Perfect for families! Hurricane Matthew: Amazingly, this is where the POLY (and Disney in general) really shined. On the day that Hurricane Matthew made landfall, we were told to stay in our rooms until advised. A little before noon, we got a call that we could leave our room and go to the lobby for food and entertainment. I did not realize that entertainment included Pluto, Goofy, Cpt. Hook, and Mr. Smee having a dance party in the lobby!!! It was the best character interaction we’ve ever had! After partying with those guys a while, we went back to our room to rest (around 3:30.) There was still a lot of leaves and grass on the pathways due to the winds. After our rest, we left our room again for an ADR at Kona Café. It was around 6:30, and all of the leaves and grass had been cleared from the walkways! It looked as if it has only rained a bit. That left a huge impression on us. Pro tip: The DVC rooms are a very short walk to the TTC. If you’re going to Epcot, don’t bother with the monorail at the resort. Just walk to TTC and catch the Epcot monorail from there. Saves tons of time!
My wife and I stayed here on a last minute trip in March of 2016 with just the two of us. The best part about the Sports, besides the price, is that it is the first stop for the buses going to all the All Star resorts. The room was clean but not much else. The food court wasn’t very eclectic, but for the price, not bad. The pool sucked. Overall though, the resort was pretty good.
A great resort, with rooms that are large, and roomy. It had a quiet, laid back atmosphere is prime reason I love this resort. No hotel feel the look has a community feel. You can park right in front of your unit. Landscape is top notch beautiful place. You will not be disappointed. And as a side note extensive room refurbishment is underway for another great experience
This was our first stay on a Disney property and overall we were very happy with it! We stayed in the Broadway section which is a walk but it was fine! The only time it was annoying is if I wanted a coffee first thing in the morning, but it wasn't a huge problem. Loved the theme of it! You can hear the music faintly in our room but I actually enjoyed that! It wasn't loud or annoying. We never shared a bus with another resort but if we noticed a long time at our resort, we just hopped on Sports or Movies. It was fun to check out the other resorts anyway. Our experience waiting for buses really varied but I imagine that is typical no matter where you stay. Sometimes two came at once and sometimes we waited. The 4 stars was really due to the food court. It felt chaotic and we really didn't love the dinner options. Breakfast was great and my kids and I were able to share a meal which was nice to save some of our QS credits. I would definitely stay there again however we are excited to try different hotels.
This resort is my favorite moderate, and I have stayed here many times: It's a manageable size...even if you are given a 'far away' room from food court/bus stop area it can't be THAT far. I've stayed at Riverside too, but if you are given a far away room there, you could be REALLY far away from the main buildings. There is a simple and consistent beauty to the grounds at this resort. Connected to Port Orleans Riverside by a walking path along the river. Nice walk, and all the amenities at Riverside are available to French Quarter guests(and vice versa.) The boat to Disney Springs is an awesome perk. 20 minute relaxing ride. (The boat leaves from both the French Quarter and the Riverside dock.) In my experience, the usual wait for a bus to the parks is 15-20 minutes. The longest I have ever waited is 25 minutes but that has been rare. As opposed to value resorts I have stayed at, I have never been bothered by noise outside of my room here. Things to Considert: The food court is on the smaller size, heavy emphasis on Southern food, but you can always get the usual burger or pizza here too. The French Quarter store is also small. The Riverside side store has much more variety. Especially if you like to just grab a box of donuts for breakfast in your room, Riverside carries a lot more more items. The Table Service restaurant here closed years ago. However, sister resort Riverside still has one. Anytime I have taken Magical Express from the airport, this has been the third stop..after a drop off at Key West and Saratoga Springs. So just know that you will be on the bus for a while. I gave this 4.5 stars instead of 5 because when I was there a few weeks ago the amount of staff available at the front desk area seemed to be lacking. A VERY long line and very long wait to check in. We could have hit it at lunch break time--who knows. Also, compared to the rest of the resort the front desk area is pretty bland, not a lot of theming here! This isn't a huge deal of course, just noticeable. Highly recommend a stay at this resort!
I stayed at this resort this past July (2017), so I got a room that existed BEFORE the modern refurb. But it was still pleasantly nice. My only complaint would have to be that we had the room at the VERY FAR END of the last building on the right side of the resort. I STRONGLY recommend doing the online check in several days in advance, in hopes of getting a good location for a room you don't have to walk a half mile to get to.
I stayed at this resort for a senior trip when I graduated high school. Me and 4 other friends. It was also the first experience I've ever had staying onsite at Disney at the time. We had The Lion King Family Suite! It's a really nice resort! It is definitely one of the most popular out of the value resorts, despite the extra price. If you're on a tight budget, any of the all-star resorts can serve the exact same purpose as this resort. If you're able to spend the extra money, though, I'd highly recommend it! It is very nice. The staff was amazing. Perfect particularly for families, or high school/college groups! Also, I do personally recommend spending the extra bucks for the family suite! It is very spacious and really nice!