a may 2014 10 day stay at wdw - hotel help

[alicia1506]

so i promised carlo in 2011 we would go to wdw for star wars weekend one year, and he picked 2014. so we will be going in may (hopefully slightly less hot than june, with slightly, slightly ever so slightly lower crowd levels) and we will be doing 10 days at wdw onsite.

at least 3-5 days will be for star wars weekend (we will be there from friday to the following saturday) and i know that sww is held at dhs, but i also want time to see the other parks and to go shopping etc. we will be combining this with a 7 night western caribbean too.

researching the hotels, i'm at first drawn to pop century... the proximity, the non-shared buses, the relative inexpensiveness of the accom, plus since it's only the 2 of us this trip, accom isn't really an issue space-wise... we just want at least a queen or a king.

but i keep finding my eye drawn to the mods and deluxe accoms (and occasionally to the dvc rental threads). 10 days is a long time. i'm not sure i really want to spend 10 days in pop century, funky and relatively inexpensive though it may be...

is it worth doing a split stay? or staying at a mod/deluxe? are there perks/benefits/nicer amenities etc to staying at the mods/deluxe resorts that justify the huge per night price increase? not sure if i can sell carlo on $4000 room only for a stay at BWI when we can do pop for 1300 room only.

i want this to be a really lovely, romantic (minus the geek fest part) trip for the 2 of us to make up for our missed trip this year...

all thoughts, opinions and sage advice welcome

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Hi Alicia!

I do hope there will be some good advice coming your way so I can follow along too. Having never been to WDW I am looking at reading up on as much info as possible for our trip in 2014.

The place is so big and there are so many choices.......where does one start???!!!

It sounds like you and Carlo will be having a great trip and I am sure wherever you stay it will be amazing!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Alicia - I have stayed at Pop Century and thought it was perfectly fine. I had originally booked it for the whole 11 days and 2 weeks out I got cold feet and booked a split stay so we did 5 nights Wilderness Lodge and 6 days Pop. We adored Wilderness Lodge, amazing but we also really enjoyed Pop and for the money it is a bargain in my opinion.

I could easily stay there for the whole time however I think split stays are so much fun. It's like having 2 holidays in one.

The buses were great at Pop too.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Alicia - If finances can swing it, a split stay works out great. I haven't taken a look at the current discounts at WDW nor when they go to; but in 2010, they did offer 40% off the deluxes; 45% off the deluxe Villas. From memory the moderates were 35% off. We did a split stay at POR/BCV during that trip. We loved the location of the Epcot resorts. But the moderate facilities were fantastic. If anything, the facilities at the moderate suited my family better because most of them seem to have food courts. I couldn't say the same for the Epcot resorts....most had restaurants.

The only thing about doing a split stay will be whether you want to go on a dining plan or not. We couldn't do the dining plan for the entire duration of the stay without buying two lots of tickets. And that didn't make economic sense. So, we did DD for half the time and OOP for the other half. If this makes a difference to you, then maybe split stay might not be the best option.

 

[alicia1506]

minnie sue --i went out and bought the birnbaum guides to wdw books and the unofficial guide to wdw (both from amazon, for approx $10-15 each) and just read through those to get me started. it gave me some great info as to what the options were, it broke some of the confusing stuff down into not so confusing parts and really helped me understand the monstrosity that is wdw. i would highly recommend them as a starting point.

shuttergirl -- thankyou for the recommendation. i was considering a split stay, but then i was worried about lugging our luggage around in the middle of our stay, potentially changing from a great location to a poorer location etc.

we overplanners tend to obsess a little much i think i might spend some time on the resorts thread here on the dis today for research. i think i am pretty much sold on pop, but maybe we'll spend a few days at a mod/deluxe towards the end of our stay

 

[PrincessInOz]

One other thing to consider.....The Flower and Garden festival will be on at Epcot in the May period. Check up on dates for the SWW and see if they coincide.

If it were me, I'd be investigating DVC rental and looking to stay in the Epcot area simply because that would be convenient to Ep and DHS.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

we overplanners tend to obsess a little much i think i might spend some time on the resorts thread here on the dis today for research. i think i am pretty much sold on pop, but maybe we'll spend a few days at a mod/deluxe towards the end of our stay

I too am a member of Overplanner's Anonymous. I'm obsessing over every little decision. Lol

I think that if you're pretty much sold on Pop, don't go onto the Resort forums. That's what I did, and now I'm having trouble getting re-excited about Pop. My heart is now set on a moderate. At present I'm thinking I'd like to book CSR. But if POR works out cheaper, we'd be happy with that also.

As for the Deluxes, I'm struggling to see the value in them. They clearly have a better location and amenities than the moderates, but nothing I think that quantifies them being hundreds of dollars per night more expensive than the moderates. When I win the lottery, I'll be booking a stay at the Beach Club, but until then, I'd rather spend those thousands of dollars extra on some nice dining experiences.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

minnie sue --i went out and bought the birnbaum guides to wdw books and the unofficial guide to wdw (both from amazon, for approx $10-15 each) and just read through those to get me started. it gave me some great info as to what the options were, it broke some of the confusing stuff down into not so confusing parts and really helped me understand the monstrosity that is wdw. i would highly recommend them as a starting point.

shuttergirl -- thankyou for the recommendation. i was considering a split stay, but then i was worried about lugging our luggage around in the middle of our stay, potentially changing from a great location to a poorer location etc.

we overplanners tend to obsess a little much i think i might spend some time on the resorts thread here on the dis today for research. i think i am pretty much sold on pop, but maybe we'll spend a few days at a mod/deluxe towards the end of our stay

You don't have to lug the luggage around, Disney pick it up and take it over to the next resort for you while you go to the parks and enjoy yourself. Other than having to repack, it is painless.

WL and AKL are the cheapest of the deluxes so if you are keen for deluxe perhaps consider them.

With the moderates, I would read some resort threads because for eg. POR gets a bad wrap for the bus system whereas POFQ gets a better write up for buses. Since you need the buses to get everywhere that's important.

That was one of the reasons why POP was the only value I would consider. There is no way I would've stayed at an Allstars where they all share buses.

 

[battymum]

Well I am always advocating Pop, it truly is a great resort! Would happily stay there again, we loved it, we needed two rooms so anything else was not an option.

But, if I wasn't needing two rooms and it was a free dining period, I would probably upgrade. Pop only offers the QS dining, we paid quite a bit to upgrade to regular, by staying in a mod, the regular dining is included in a free dining promo!

 

[alicia1506]

Not sure if they will have free dining... Spent majority of my day on trip advisor reading reviews.. Seems that every resort has had problems with bugs, roaches and various vermin/pests and bad experiences... Admittedly these are only a fraction of the overall experiences but they have me slightly concerned

 

[battymum]

Seriously, that's when you have been reading too much. Beg bugs can be anywhere, from the luggage bins on the planes, to the me express buses.

if your budget is tight, heck even if it isn't, pop is an excellent resort!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

The thing about Trip Advisor (and most other review sites for that matter), is people are more likely to write a review if they have a stay that stands out for some reason i.e. It was really really good, or really really bad. You'll probably never hear from the majority of hotel customers that found the stay 'perfectly adequate'.

I do use TA a lot, I think it's a great website, but as long as the bad reviews don't make up the majority, do take them with a pinch of salt. People with a bee in their bonnet do have a tendency to over-exaggerate. Also, as Battymum says, Bed Bugs can be carried to even the fanciest of hotels. They're like headlice, they can affect anyone. It's how the hotel responds to an infestation that is the sign of whether they are a good hotel or not.

In saying all this, I think our sub-conscience works in mysterious ways. If you find yourself drawn to the bad reviews, it's probably your brain telling you that that's not the place you want to stay, and you're looking for reasons to justify not staying there.

 

[alicia1506]

Oh i alwaus negative reviews with a grain of salt, especially if they are vague or just complaining of silly things ie room service food wasnt nice enough, room was too far away etc. And i totally appreciate that bed bugs can happen anywhere and with a park the size of wdw keeping rats and roaches out must be a full time job.

What bothers me are comments of theft from rooms, poor responses from management, ants and roaches in rooms, no housekeeping for days or rooms still having previous occupants trash in it etc.

I have worked hospitality. I know that no one is ever going to please everyone all of the time. And human error is for me acceptable. But there are still some circumstances, especially if i am paying $$$, that are unacceptable

 

[WickedDreamer]

Hi there,

From what I have read/heard May is a good time to go as it is just before schools break up for summer and the weather is just starting to heat up, how ever when we went in January 2012, the weather was between 25-31 degrees nearly everyday we were there. We spent three weeks at WDW for our first trip and we loved staying at the Hilton in DTD, it was less then a 5 minute walk to DTD, and we spent many nights going back after park closes to grab something to eat, and walk through the shops. There are many online coupons you can find to use for any of the DTD hotels and I have been sent emails by the DTD website for hotel deals. The Hilton is also the only hotel in DTD to offer EMH.Even though it is not Disney themed we didn't mind, as the hotel had other features we loved such as a 24 hour market place/cafe.

hope this helps

Shan

 

[5ofus]

Split stays are fun. I did an OKW/WL split back in 2002 and it was great! I love, love, love the WL. We are trying to work out a stay at either AKL or WL villas for a couple of nights in 2015, but well spend the majority of our stay at POR.

The problem is that there is too much choice!

 

[alicia1506]

Split stays are fun. I did an OKW/WL split back in 2002 and it was great! I love, love, love the WL. We are trying to work out a stay at either AKL or WL villas for a couple of nights in 2015, but well spend the majority of our stay at POR.

The problem is that there is too much choice!

yes. this. this exactly. too many places, too many options, too hard to narrow it down. just when i think i have found a resort to fit all my needs and wants, something else pops up in a higher/lower price point, with better transport options or better room options, or better restaurant options.

screw it. maybe i'll just go with my first choice -- pop -- and just spend one day resort hopping, seeing how the other 99% live.

 

[PrincessInOz]

yes. this. this exactly. too many places, too many options, too hard to narrow it down. just when i think i have found a resort to fit all my needs and wants, something else pops up in a higher/lower price point, with better transport options or better room options, or better restaurant options.

screw it. maybe i'll just go with my first choice -- pop -- and just spend one day resort hopping, seeing how the other 99% live.

Pick one.

There's ALWAYS NEXT time for the others.

 

[Toy Story]

Hi,

We have stayed at POR on both trips (both in April) - this year we stayed in the Royal Rooms, which were sweet.

We really liked POR, the food court was great, and being spring, there were lots of animals around the hotels (think ducks, squirrels etc). Both times we have been there has been an offer to get $500 back.

Next time (whenever that may be) we are going to stay at a different resort, just to try something different.

 

[marvel]

what price range did you get POR for may I ask?
It will be hard for us to stay elsewhere than the Sheraton Vistana, newly renovated two bedroom, two bathrooms, awesome location for $160 a night.

Although we do love onsite. Over a two week period, it is harder to justify an extra few thousand for a smaller room onsite.

 

[cola]

Don't forget about The Swan and The Dolphin are also 'onsite', have the Disney transport but are not Disney and have their own offers.


And don't forget Memorial Day, Mon May 26. I was at Disneyland once over that weekend - it was HELL!!!!!!!!!! Are you on the cruise then?