Advice on resort location?

[hawaiiandisneymom]

I have reservations for OKW in Jan 08. Our family is planning to spend most of our time @ Epcot and MGM Studios. What DVC resorts are best to stay at with 2 toddlers? My main concern is transportation between hotel (OKW) and parks. How long does it take for shuttles/buses to pick up guests from OKW? I also need to budget reasonably on meals while at the resort. Which hotel (in and around) has most options for budget-friendly restaurants? Any help is very much appreciated. Thank you. Tanya W., CA

 

[Luxo]

If you are spending most of your time at Epcot/MGM and transportation with your toddlers in the biggest concern, Beach Club and Boardwalk are the best choices. You can walk to Epcot and boat (or long walk) to MGM. It would make trips back for naps easier!

 

[tamu91]

Luxo is correct. If you can change the reservation and get the units you need, I'd also suggest BWV or BCV if you're goign to spend most of your time at Epcot and MGM. From either location, you can certainly walk to Epcot or a short boat ride to MGM.
OKW is certainly not that far Epcot or MGM but bus ride can take as much as 15~20 minutes once you're on board depending on # of stops.
OKW is very laid back though and it takes less points than other resorts at WDW so I don't think you can't go wrong either way.

 

[Caskbill]

I also need to budget reasonably on meals while at the resort. Which hotel (in and around) has most options for budget-friendly restaurants? Any help is very much appreciated. Thank you. Tanya W., CA

If you're looking for restaurants, then I assume you're in a Studio. I think BCV would be a better choice than OKW. OKW studios have two beds and look very much like a regular hotel room. All the other resorts' studios have a couch that opens up. That at least gives you a place to sit down during the day.

There's really no such thing as "budget-friendly" restaurants actually on property. Even the McDonalds' prices are high. (There's two McDonalds on property).

I'd recommend BCV which is close to Beaches & Cream. It's a small 'ice cream' place, but has hamburgers and fries that aren't too bad. I'd guess most of your other fairly priced would be in the DD area.

Are you a DVC-Member? If so, there are selected restaurants with DVC-Member discounts of 10 - 20%. One of our favorites is Tony's, at MK.

If you'll have a car, there are all kinds of regular 'chain' restaurants around the area. Also if you self-park, getting back and forth to the parking lot at BCV is a lot easier than it is at BWV.

Have a great trip.

 

[hawaiiandisneymom]

Thank you to everyone for your advice. You all have made my job as "family vacation planner" so much easier. Thank you again, Tanya W.

 

[LisaS]

I have reservations for OKW in Jan 08. Our family is planning to spend most of our time @ Epcot and MGM Studios. What DVC resorts are best to stay at with 2 toddlers? My main concern is transportation between hotel (OKW) and parks. How long does it take for shuttles/buses to pick up guests from OKW? I also need to budget reasonably on meals while at the resort. Which hotel (in and around) has most options for budget-friendly restaurants? Any help is very much appreciated. Thank you. Tanya W., CA

I'm a bit confused. You say that you have reservations for OKW for this month but you have a post on the Rent/Trade board stating that you are looking for a reservation at OKW. I also see that you changed the text of your post very early this morning to ask about BCV or BWV instead. You should change the title of your post to reflect that because you have very little time to secure what you want and people with BWV or BCV reservations to rent may not even look at your post since it asks about OKW.

Good luck!

 

[mikesmom]

You might also want to get a backup hotel. This is late. It's sure been looking like DVC is pretty much full for January and even February. You are inside 30 days - any unused DVC rooms have already been given over to CRO. Unless someone has a current ressie that they can't use because of some emergency, I would say your chances aren't very good. Plan against the eventuality that there are no DVC ressies available.

 

[hawaiiandisneymom]

To LisaS: Sorry, new to the boards and our Jan. trip will be the 1st to WDW. We've been to DLR tons of times. I already have reservations for OKW through WD Travel Co., but am trying to see if I can make a reservation at a closer DVC resort to EPCOT, which is where we will be spending most of our time. That's why I have posted threads 'interested in BWV and BCV'. If I can't find anything available, then we still have our original res. Thanks for your advice.

 

[LisaS]

To LisaS: Sorry, new to the boards and our Jan. trip will be the 1st to WDW. We've been to DLR tons of times. I already have reservations for OKW through WD Travel Co., but am trying to see if I can make a reservation at a closer DVC resort to EPCOT, which is where we will be spending most of our time. That's why I have posted threads 'interested in BWV and BCV'. If I can't find anything available, then we still have our original res. Thanks for your advice.

No need to apologize! I was just having trouble figuring out whether you really did have a backup reservation or had nothing at all yet. With your time being so short, I wanted to be sure we had the full picture so that we can offer you the best advice.