Animal Kingdom Lodge or Beach Club

[MichelinMan]

splt stay here but were dvc
Paul

Can't do a split stay because of the free DDP (only reason we will be able to afford a deluxe!).

I can do 2 separate bookings to get the free DDP, but then you have to buy tickets for both bookings too, which even if you use the US site and book a single day ticket, the prices still come out too expensive (the cheapest day ticket for the 3 of us would have been about $600 from memory, and the price of the rooms are more expensive than through the UK sites).

I am really struggling to make a decision here! If I could afford it, I would do 4 nights at RPR followed by 17 nights at the Beach Club, but that is just too expensive.

So the options I am considering are:

Option 1 : 4 nights at RPR, followed by 17 nights at POFQ on DDP

Only problem with this is doing Universal first - DS is a bit of a wimp, and we may need to build him up to the more exciting rides at Universal. Could do Universal at the end of the holiday instead, but I think staying at Disney last will be better overall. Has the advantage of DDP for 17 nights, and can do Disney any time we want.

Option 2 : 7 nights at Doubletree Hilton at Seaworld (you can get 7 nights for 6 there, so an extra night would be good, plus you can get some Seaworld perks there), 3 nights at RPR, 12 nights at Beach Club. I want to do Seaworld, Discovery Cove, Busch Gardens, Aquatica and the Space Centre, so a Seaworld hotel makes sense at the beginning of the holiday.

Wouldn't be able to 'do Disney' until 2nd half of holiday, and first hotel may not be great, but would be able to stay at the Beach Club (which really appeals).

Option 3 : 6 nights at Radisson Resort Celebration, 3 nights at RPR then 12 nights at BC.

Not in a Seaworld hotel, and a bit further out, but the Radisson looks a great hotel for the price.

I still might not be able to afford the Beach Club hotel, so I might end up booking POFQ instead. It all depends on whether I'm still doing the same job next year - thinking about moving back to England to be closer to family, but that would mean a lower salary. Not sure if you can upgrade a hotel once you've booked it (I will probably be using Complete Orlando for the Disney hotel).

 

[higgy66]

I still might not be able to afford the Beach Club hotel, so I might end up booking POFQ instead. It all depends on whether I'm still doing the same job next year - thinking about moving back to England to be closer to family, but that would mean a lower salary. Not sure if you can upgrade a hotel once you've booked it (I will probably be using Complete Orlando for the Disney hotel).

mmmmm- move back to be near family or beach club hotel?? Where do I press to book?

Only joking!!

 

[heatherbelle]

Thats a lot of packing and unpacking there. Maybe go for POR/FQ and save the extra money for spends, and do the whole trip in one place. If you want early access to Universal, just pay for one extra night with the money you would save staying here. We did that last year, when there was a glitch on at the Universal Hotels.

Have you considered OKW or SSR, as they cost the same as POR/FQ and have lovely theming?

I don't really care for the Radison Hotel at Celebration, the location is poor and not very much to around the hotel, we spent an afternoon there. Its very pretty looking, but that's it. Spend the extra on the Beach Club. I would go with option 2, if you get lots of SW perks.

 

[disneyholic family]

swimming is very important to us as well - and for that reason i vote for the Beach Club...
actually, i prefer the yacht club, but they're basically the same and both share the same pool!!

we've stayed at the AKL, but i would never stay there if i didn't have a savannah view..
and the pool at BC/YC is far superior!!

 

[MichelinMan]

mmmmm- move back to be near family or beach club hotel?? Where do I press to book?

Only joking!!

Forgot to say it is to be near the wife's family. Happy wife = easy life for me - priceless!

Yes, I looked at SSR and OKW, but they don't really appeal to me much (although they work out cheaper than POFQ when factoring in the DDP). SSR was more attractive, because of the new pool area and a CS restaurant, but didn't fancy the sofabed for DS. POFQ has everything we are looking for - decent reviews, good pool area(s), nice theming for kids, decent CS restaurant, and not bad location (quite like the idea of the boat to DTD).

Beach Club would be brilliant, but I am really struggling to make that work - perhaps another year when we won't be going for so long. Even going for 3 weeks I'm struggling to fit everything in!

Think I've decided to go with a few nights at Universal, then the rest of the stay at POFQ.

 

[amystevekai&bump]

hi - just wanted to say that Universal stays at the end of a vacation are awesome!!!

If you are just doing the 2 universal parks in those 4 days then you will have a really relaxing time and hopefully it will be much more laid back with plenty of pool time to bring a nice end to your holiday.

We have stayed at Hard Rock as part of our last 2 holidays - the first time we went there first and last time we ended there. Someone had recommended we finished at Universal and we ignored the advice the first time - but actually they were so right!!!

The Fotl access is awesome, but doing that first and then having to go to the queues at Disney is quite difficult - much nicer to end on the line free riding - makes you feel a bit like royalty bypassing all of the queues!!

Hope that helps a little

 

[MichelinMan]

hi - just wanted to say that Universal stays at the end of a vacation are awesome!!!

...

The Fotl access is awesome, but doing that first and then having to go to the queues at Disney is quite difficult - much nicer to end on the line free riding - makes you feel a bit like royalty bypassing all of the queues!!

Hope that helps a little

Thanks for that - I might take your advice and do it that way round. DS is more likely to go on some of the more intense rides at Universal if we do it at the end of the holiday. Plus if we do the 4 nights at the end of the holiday, we will get more time at Universal - if we did it at the start, we wouldn't really do anything the first day due to travelling. Just need to decide whether to spend just a bit extra on the Hard Rock hotel or not now.

 

[amystevekai&bump]

Thanks for that - I might take your advice and do it that way round. DS is more likely to go on some of the more intense rides at Universal if we do it at the end of the holiday. Plus if we do the 4 nights at the end of the holiday, we will get more time at Universal - if we did it at the start, we wouldn't really do anything the first day due to travelling. Just need to decide whether to spend just a bit extra on the Hard Rock hotel or not now.

You're welcome

The Hard Rock is an amazing hotel - our favourite - although next trip we are going to try to save a couple of dollars and try the Royal Pacific - TBH I have only ever really heard good things about any of the Universal hotels, so I am sure RPR will be great too!

 

[Claireybear]

Hi,
Beach Club would get our vote every time!! We love it there. We have done split stays both ways round with Disney/Universal - first time 21 nights Beach Club followed by 6 nights Portofino then this year 7 nights RPR, 7 nights in Sarasota then 21 nights Beach Club. I have to say we ended with Universal the first year on the advice of someone but it wasn;t for us - it doesn't have the special Disney feels and I really missed the Magic Kingdom and Wishes on the last night! Also the Beach Club is mo the best hotel and we missed it at Universal! This year was much better doing Disney last. Our ds (4) was actually worse at Disney for the rides (Tower of Terror and even Splash Mountain) but he went on all the rides up to 42" at Universal without a problem.
Any questions feel free to ask!