We’re a Disney family.
Having gone for the past 2 years, we are hooked & hope to make it a yearly tradition to visit the “happiest place on earth.”
Our first year we stayed at the Art of Animation Resort.
Pros: It’s a great resort with spacious suites, perfect for large families. There’s an awesome pool with a Finding Nemo themed zero entry pool & a splash pad area w/ Finding Nemo characters that is so much fun for toddlers. The entire resort was very clean & modern. Our daughter also loved the Lion King Boneyard “playground” (not really a playground at all but she enjoyed it anyhow).
Cons: The pull out couch as well as the murphy bed were NOT comfortable for the adults to sleep on… at all. Cell signal didn’t exist inside our room & wifi was barely existent despite repeated requests to the front desk. We’re a tech family & have to work even when on vacation… having no wifi is not an option in our lives.
This year, at the suggestion of our Disney Travel Agent, we stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside.
Port Orleans Riverside = a girls dream resort.
Pros: Charm galore. It is gorgeous throughout the resort. Inside the hotel room is just as fun… there are hidden aspects to Disney movies throughout the room to be found. From Aladdin’s magic carpet to Chip the teacup, it’s a fun game to find all the hidden characters that our daughter loves. The beds even had “fireworks” lighting as a headboard which our daughter was fascinated with and they helped her fall asleep every night. The room also had a convenient mini fridge.
Cons: The overcrowded buses. They stopped at several other resorts and on multiple occasions we were on very crowded buses. To me it is a safety hazard for young children to not have a seat on a bus & have to stand. There were a few bus rides when we were unable to get seats and our toddler had to cling to her father’s legs while he struggled to hold onto our stuff plus her & keep himself upright at the same time. In a perfect world Disney would have more buses with fewer resorts on their routes to help prevent overflowing buses. Nothing bad to say about the Port Orleans Riverside resort itself, just wish Port Orleans had buses devoted to only Riverside & French Quarters.