Decisions, Decisions: Choosing the Right Resort

Choosing the best Resort for clients is something we do well. Choosing the Resort for our own personal stays at Disney World is a whole ‘nother ball game. Take our upcoming spring trip — the decision making process looked something like this:

Where do you want to stay? Where haven’t we been? Where are our clients staying? Which Resorts have recently completed refurbishment? I know you like Wilderness Lodge but we stayed there 4x in 2010. We need to spread out some. We’ll be there during Flower & Garden, do we want an Epcot Resort? No, MiaMouse… we’ve been to Beach Club too often recently. I know, you love Stormalong Bay but not this trip. Are there Resorts where we need more room pictures to show clients? Gosh, I love French Quarter and we have a bunch of clients staying there in the next few months AND they recently refurb’ed AND I’ve been wanting to do a blog article on using the boat to visit Downtown Disney.

Okay, decision’s made. We’re staying at Port Orleans – French Quarter.

But wait… we’re not done

How about a split stay? Why? Well, our clients do it and we can try more Resorts. I know, I don’t mind, we’ve done it before. But WHERE? … and it starts all over again.

So we decide on the Polynesian Resort for a few days, then finishing up at French Quarter. Money’s paid, we’re good. Oh no, we’re not!

The Chief Mouse gets his calendar out and he’s justifying adding more days to the stay. I’m game! But then we back up into Easter and we need to flip the Deluxe and Moderate Resort stays to minimize the impact on our wallet. No biggie… except the Poly wasn’t available for those dates. Now we start all over again!

Long story somewhat shorter

We choose the Contemporary Resort – Tower Room, Bay Lake View – for our Deluxe stay. The Chief Mouse and I enjoyed that exact room combination on a trip without the MiaMouse several years ago and it was fabulous! I’ve always wondered if my feelings for the Contemporary were colored MickeyMouseHappy because of our pixie-dust-filled trip or if I really do enjoy staying at the Contemporary.

MiaMouse and I pick The Chief Mouse up for lunch and I tell him about our new Resort plans. He’s giving me that look-that’s-trying-hard-not-to-be-a-look and I cringe. Oh, please don’t make me call Disney Reservations again! For clients, no problem. For us? Ugh.

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Yes, another change is in order. We have more clients who are either interested in or choose to stay at the Polynesian Resort than the Contemporary Resort and we’ve never stayed at the Poly with MiaMouse before (I know, blasphemy!). Plus MiaMouse is pretty darn excited about the volcano pool – after being terrified of it for years, hence the reason we’ve not stayed there – and the pool at the Contemporary is eh. While we’re at it, we’re going to push the trip back a week so we arrive on Mother’s Day.

Stay tuned – we’ve only begun to choose our dining!
- Kimberly