Chging from WL (Construction)-Please help pick our Thanksgiving split stay

[chocolateavocado]

We (myself, dh & ds8) are booked for the week of Thanksgiving at WL, but with the possibility of major construction / expansion at that time, and the fact that we really would like to be on the monorail for at least part of our stay, we decided to do a split stay and would love your opinions/thoughts/advice.

Looking at mousesavers historical discounts, which I know are not guaranteed / we're going either way, it looks like our trip *may* qualify for a r/o discount for the 1st part of the trip- then rack for the 3 days of Thanksgiving. We're thinking of 6 nights, maybe 7. Would like to do 3 and 3 or 3 and 4.

We've only been to Disney once- 2nd week Nov 2013 and stayed for 5 nts at the Poly. We chose Thanksgiving this year due to ds's school schedule and dh's work. I know it'll be busy, but we're ok with that. We'll take the crowds over the brutal summer heat- which were our 2 options to get a trip this year.

The options we're considering (and please feel free to throw in any ideas or suggestions you guys may have ):

BC and Poly
BC and GF
AK and Poly
AK and GF

I know there will still be some construction at the Poly with the quiet pool, but I think we'd be ok with that, since the main pool is open again.

So, what do you think? What would you pick / do? Thanks !!

 

[HairyChest]

Holiday decorations will be up by then and i think grand floridian will be extra special so id go with that. Id skip animal kingdom lodge and do beach club for the other half because that week will be super busy so walking distance to epcot will be really valuable plus the new rooms at beach club are gorgeous.

 

[mickeynut1]

We (myself, dh & ds8) are booked for the week of Thanksgiving at WL, but with the possibility of major construction / expansion at that time, and the fact that we really would like to be on the monorail for at least part of our stay, we decided to do a split stay and would love your opinions/thoughts/advice.

Looking at mousesavers historical discounts, which I know are not guaranteed / we're going either way, it looks like our trip *may* qualify for a r/o discount for the 1st part of the trip- then rack for the 3 days of Thanksgiving. We're thinking of 6 nights, maybe 7. Would like to do 3 and 3 or 3 and 4.

We've only been to Disney once- 2nd week Nov 2013 and stayed for 5 nts at the Poly. We chose Thanksgiving this year due to ds's school schedule and dh's work. I know it'll be busy, but we're ok with that. We'll take the crowds over the brutal summer heat- which were our 2 options to get a trip this year.

The options we're considering (and please feel free to throw in any ideas or suggestions you guys may have ):

BC and Poly
BC and GF
AK and Poly
AK and GF

I know there will still be some construction at the Poly with the quiet pool, but I think we'd be ok with that, since the main pool is open again.

So, what do you think? What would you pick / do? Thanks !!

We've stayed at all of your choices and I would choose AKL and GF. We enjoyed our BC stay, but we prefer the MK area (and AKL) over the BC/Epcot area. The Poly is our favorite overall, but since you've stayed there already, I'd go with 2 new resorts for something different. All of the resorts are beautifully decorated for the holidays, but the GF is just amazing (AKL is very nicely decorated, as well, IMO). With that said, you really can't go wrong with any of them as they are all great, just depends on which themes you like the most and which park(s) you want to be close to. Good luck.

 

[MaggiesMomNJ]

We switched to GF due to WL construction. I'm surprised we haven't heard any updates.

We considered the Poly and I think construction will mostly be done aside from the quiet pool.

 

[Ariel Wanna-be]

Uh oh…what construction? We are planning to stay at the WL again during our Christmas trip this year…we stayed there last year at Christmas, and it was beautiful.

I did a search, but nothing relevant came up for thread titles…can someone please fill me in?

OP - AKL is very similar to WL, so you may be happy with the AKL/Poly or AKL/GF combo. Can't comment on BC yet…but we are staying there in July.

.

 

[chocolateavocado]

Uh oh…what construction? We are planning to stay at the WL again during our Christmas trip this year…we stayed there last year at Christmas, and it was beautiful.

I did a search, but nothing relevant came up for thread titles…can someone please fill me in?

OP - AKL is very similar to WL, so you may be happy with the AKL/Poly or AKL/GF combo. Can't comment on BC yet…but we are staying there in July.

.

Check out WL thread on here and there's another WL thread that was started for just the construction info. Apparently, they have filed permits to build lake side dvc units, pool / restaurant construction, etc. There's a bunch of info on those 2 threads. They are estimating construction to start in Sept- so it made us a little nervous. Who knows if it would have an effect or not, but I'd rather save our 1st visit to WL for when the construction is done.

 

[chocolateavocado]

Holiday decorations will be up by then and i think grand floridian will be extra special so id go with that. Id skip animal kingdom lodge and do beach club for the other half because that week will be super busy so walking distance to epcot will be really valuable plus the new rooms at beach club are gorgeous.

Thanks for the suggestions! I read your trip reports & sounds like you had a wonderful time! Your pictures are beautiful. We ate at GFC and 1900 ParkFare in Nov 2013, the gingerbread house had just gone up and the resort was stunning. The AKL looks gorgeous, but am worried about travel time between parks- esp going at such a busy time/ that's why we were leaning towards BC. Thanks again!!

 

[chocolateavocado]

We've stayed at all of your choices and I would choose AKL and GF. We enjoyed our BC stay, but we prefer the MK area (and AKL) over the BC/Epcot area. The Poly is our favorite overall, but since you've stayed there already, I'd go with 2 new resorts for something different. All of the resorts are beautifully decorated for the holidays, but the GF is just amazing (AKL is very nicely decorated, as well, IMO). With that said, you really can't go wrong with any of them as they are all great, just depends on which themes you like the most and which park(s) you want to be close to. Good luck.

Thanks, Mickeynut1! All of those resorts look beautiful, that's what makes it such a hard decision...lol. We were really considering BC for it's location- it seems like it's in a great location for a split stay. Is there anything you didn't really like about BC? The only resorts we were at was the Poly, where we stayed and GF for 2 meals during our trip. Thanks again!

 

[chocolateavocado]

We switched to GF due to WL construction. I'm surprised we haven't heard any updates.

We considered the Poly and I think construction will mostly be done aside from the quiet pool.

We're definitely considering switching to GF, for at least part of the trip. We were there for 2 meals (1900 pf and gfc) during our trip in Nov 2013 and I must admit I feel in love with the look and feel of the resort. It is truly beautiful! I hope you have a great trip, too!

 

[justme0729]

For between the Poly and GF, I think I would pick the Poly because you can have the monorail to MK and Epcot (with ~5 min walk to TTC depending on room location) and I like the tropical theme, beaches etc. more than the GF. We stayed during construction in January and still thought the Poly was great and now, there is even more open. I have stayed at both.

For between AKL and BC... it would be a nice time to try AKL being more "out of the way" before/ after having monorail access to MK and Epcot at the Poly but I would maybe choose the BC to have the great pool and easy access to Epcot World Showcase and DHS. I have never stayed at either.

I think I would choose the Poly and AKL. Since my family would need only one day each at DHS and AK, I would plan to visit those while staying at AKL and plan to visit MK and Epcot while at the Poly. But... if you plan to spend more time at DHS or the pool intrigues you, then I would probably choose the BC.

 

[ErinsMommy]

I would pick YC/BC/BWV for your walk to/from Epcot and CR for your walk to/from MK

 

[Babsy]

I agree that the GF is the MK resort that you should go with. if you are giving up the WL you may want to try AKL as it is very similar in style and convenient to the AK. My personal favorite split stay is at MK and Epcot areas, however, so I like the GF and BC split the best.

Either way, you have great resorts chosen, so you can't really lose however you choose!

Enjoy!

 

[mickeynut1]

Thanks, Mickeynut1! All of those resorts look beautiful, that's what makes it such a hard decision...lol. We were really considering BC for it's location- it seems like it's in a great location for a split stay. Is there anything you didn't really like about BC? The only resorts we were at was the Poly, where we stayed and GF for 2 meals during our trip. Thanks again!

You're welcome .

I agree, it's very hard to choose as they are all great. As far as the BC, I'm glad we tried it as it is a nice resort, but the CS options are too limited for us. The Marketplace has grab-n-go items, but doesn't have the variety (IMO) like the CS places at other deluxe resorts. Some people enjoy walking over to Epcot, but we don't find that convenient just to eat, especially for breakfast when we want something quick before heading to a park. While the CS issue isn't a big deal to some, it's a deal breaker for us.