The first time, we stayed at a non-Disney hotel across from Downtown Disney (Buena Vista Palace, I think)... it was nice enough... nothing too fancy, but fancier than a Best Western, if that makes any sense.
When we went for our Honeymoon, we figured we'd splurge because, well, it was our HONEYMOON! ; So we stayed at the Contemporary in a Tower Club (partial concierge) room. ; LOVED it! ; lots of space, and so conveniently located with the monorail running right through the lobby!
This last time, we were originally going to stay in the Contemporary again, but their prices have skyrocketed, so it was a toss-up whether we'd stay at the Polynesian or the Animal Kingdom Lodge (those were our next top-two... we considered the Grand Floridian, but when we were there in '03 we checked out the public areas of a few other hotels... the Grand Floridian just seemed too 'proper' an atmosphere for us, personally)... with the Savannah's on-site, and our new-found love of photography, the Animal Kingdom Lodge (concierge level) made more sense this time. ; We still spent a little time at the Polynesian, though, since we attended the Spirit of Aloha dinner-show

; If we were golfers, the Polynesian probably would have won out. ; We absolutely LOVED AKL... can't say enough good things about it. ; I think our only issue (apart from flight times meaning we got to sit in the lobby for 4.5 hours until our room was ready) was when we tried to FedEX some stuff home... the concierge upstairs told us he could do it for us, but it'd probably be faster to do it at the front desk... unfortunately, DH ended up with one of the newest employees down there who didn't really know how to process the shipment *sigh* ; Still... even THAT wasn't that bad

; The rooms were a good size (not as big as the Tower Club at the Contemporary, but still plenty big enough for us), the savannah view was outstanding, the service was excellent, and for the biggest hotel on-site, it was amazingly quiet! ; The in-hotel dining options were all good, too
I'm trying to convince DH that next time we have to try Wilderness Lodge

; Although if there's more than just the two of us, we might need to reconsider... or try one of the cabins at that resort

; (eventually, I WILL get there *laugh*)