Guys, planning on doing a trip for the kids in December. Trying to figure out where to stay. We did Grand Floridian last time. Really enjoyed it and love the monorail, but I just don't know if I can justify the extra $ when we were in the parks from open until close, and basically did nothing but sleep there. Transportation is one of the biggest keys for us. My wife hates the buses for some reason, so we look for monorail or skyliner access. Trying to find a sweet spot of good transport without completely breaking the bank. (Doing 5 days--2 MK, 1 in each of the others)
My daughter has a dance competition at the Wide World of Sports facility this Monday. Anyone ever stayed at the hotel there?
I think those are the All Star resorts. They aren't bad at all especially for the budget. We've stayed at the Arts and animation suites a few times which is right in that same group of hotels
i get the nostalgia to the monorail and it is faster than the boats for sure, but I just don’t share the love. It’s down for maintenance as much as it is on line and it’s difficult to do if you have kids in a stroller. The views coming into MK from the boats are fantastic. We’ve seen deer swimming across the lagoon and the occasional gator from the boat. Just overall a more enjoyable experience for us.
Cannot recommend the Beach Club enough. Favorite part of our trip was ending the day eating/walking around Epcot and then walking home. You can also walk to Hollywood. Skyliner access at Epcot as well. For dining, very important to be on top of reservations. I think they open 90 days out. If you don't grab the reservations the minute the come online, you are pretty much screwed.
I've looked at BC. Was just thinking with the multiple MK days, for that price point, I'd rather be at the Poly.
We did MK multiple days. Just rode the bus. And because we got there before rope drop, we could leave relatively early and skyline to Epcot. But you won't go wrong either way.
You can't go wrong with either polly or beach club. Arguably 1 and 2 in terms of best hotels on property. Beach Club has one of the best resort pools period.
Honestly pools just don't matter to me. My kids swim all the time, and they'd rather be at the parks. I think we spent 1 hour in the pool on a 5 day trip last time. I was initially looking at Caribbean Beach, but the number of internal bus stops is a downside.
This is disneying the wrong way IMO. Pool time, especially at some of the deluxe pools is a key way to keep your body fresh so you don't feel absolutely exhausted when you go home from your trip.
I guess we're used to running. My kids were 6 and 2 last time, in the park at opening stay til closing, and were up roaring to go the next day. We were good. If I'm paying for Disney, I'm not paying it to spend time at a pool when we can do that at home. Just not for us.
I'm a big fan of Caribbean Beach with the ease of getting to HS and Epcot. If you want to avoid the buses then you could always Uber or Lyft to and from MK and AK.
it’s pretty annoying also if you are going back to the transportation center on the monorail just ride the rail to the resorts to the transportation center instead of the designated one so you don’t have to wait 30 mins
i usually go with people who want to stay until the park closes. I sure as fuck wouldn’t do that myself
I know that’s hard with kids but I cannot imagine ending my day in the hell hole that is the monorail wait right after fireworks
you would get dropped at TTC and still need to either take the monorail or boat to the park. Like AFB said, take the uber to Contemporary and walk.
I’m at the mercy of whoever I’m with I’d probably leave at least an hour before the park closes if i had my choice a few weeks ago i was there from the extra time in the morning until like 2am i wanted to kill myself
All of the transportation after Fireworks is ABSOLUTELY awful. The small boats seem to be the only ones that aren't completely miserable.
Oh and random firework gripe. POLY needs to trim the damn trees over the jacuzzi's at the pool. The tree branches are just low enough to block the view of the fireworks.
Beach club is my #1 resort for the reasons stated above. The epcot resort area is just so well done. Restaurants, views, things to do, you can walk to Epcot and HS without issue. For MK the shuttle is not bad from BC/YC. And, the BC pool area is without question the best pool area in WDW that I've seen. I think it gives you the most value of the delux resorts- unless you only want to go to MK- then Poly for sure. I've never been a Contemporary fan- I just don't think its worth the cost.
The Poly Pool is fantastic as well. But nothing beats the sand in the water at the beach club pool, lazy river, and that pirate slide.
no argument, the wife and I are looking to pick up some DVC points at Polly overrated in the sense that I prefer Polly to GF, but GF is a damn nice hotel. Especially during any holiday. Their decorations are top notch I stayed at the tree house recently. We really enjoyed it. Especially for Covid stuff. Nice and tucked away from people. I'm pretty meh on the hotel itself. Coronado is by far the best of the "Moderate" resorts
just not worth the $ to me unless it’s Christmas time imo but I’d always choose Polynesian first regardless
I really want to try and do the DVC point thing for AK lodge but I just can't commit to a Disney trip far enough in advance needed to make it work
I mean I'd say 90% of my DVC trips are booked 2-3 months in advance at most. The only time I really take advantage of the 18 month thing is for special events that I want to go to (Like opening weekend for Star Wars Land)
Haven't seen the rooms yet, but the grounds are really nice. Pool looked solid as well, but seemed more like a moderate resort pool than a deluxe. The quick service food was really good though.
maybe I need to try again in the future I tried it once and they didnt have any availability for what I wanted and it was no peak season so I just never tried again because our Disney trips are usually decided 2-3 months in advance and even then are subject to change. I had no interest in trying to book something a year in advance
the rooms look deluxe from what I’ve seen I spend most of my time at Epcot/hs than anywhere else as long as it’s not a holiday so i like the skyliner aspect too
These MF’ers It is being reported that Disney World has raised prices on almost all Food & Beverages at the Theme Parks, Resorts, and Disney Springs. Here is a sample of some of the price increases we are seeing while visiting the Magic Kingdom today: Dole Whip & Dole Whip Floats have increased by $1 Popcorn has jumped to $5.50 Soft Drinks have seen an increase to $5.00 Ice Cream including Mickey Bars have increased to $6.25
Just ashame. As I've stated before in here, we have season passes we haven't activated yet. Once that year is up, we're going be done with WDW. If we hadn't already bought them prior to COVID, I'd have given up already. Getting to gouging-level prices.