Another "which resort" thread! Help! I'm a WDW newbie

[VandVsmama]

The first and last time I went to WDW was back in the 1970s when it was just Magic Kingdom. We went for 2 days on a massive 2-week road trip from Texas to New Jersey to visit my grandparents and we camped in a pop-up trailer. I remember taking the monorail over to the Contemporary Resort and thinking how awesome that place was and my mom saying, "Some day it would be great to stay in a place like this."

Our family of 4 (me, DH, ODD, YDD) has been to Disneyland 3 times now. We live in a suburb of Tucson, AZ. So like a lot of WDW visitors, getting there will require a plane trip. DH wants to skip Disney vacation next year. WAAAH! So I'm looking far down the road to us going in 2017. In 2017, the kids will be 11 and 9.

When to go?

• don't want to brave crowds over Spring Break
• not interested in Florida summers. Tucson is hot enough!
• I'm thinking during our kids' fall break in October....usually 1st or 2nd week of October. We'd fly out on Saturday and return the following Saturday.

But where to stay?

• I don't want to stay off site. The idea of not having to rent a car is very attractive.
• Don't want to stay at a Value resort. From what I've seen, the beds are doubles and that will be a little cramped.
• Budget-wise, going to a Moderate would work best for us. But I'd really love to be able to stay in a Tower room at the Contemporary for 1-2 nights at the tail end of our stay. How difficult is it to arrange packages in which you stay at >1 resort during your visit?
• Coronado Springs Resort - living in Tucson, we have tons of Southwest & Mexican influences, so I don't want to stay here. It's too much like home.
• CBR - too spread out
• POR - this is a possibility
• POFQ - I like how this resort is quite compact. The one pool doesn't bother us. My favorite land in Disneyland is New Orleans Square and from the pictures of POFQ, it reminds me of NOQ at DL.
• AKL - on the other hand, it would be totally awesome to be able to stay a couple of nights here and drink coffee while watching the giraffes & zebras outside your window.
• CR - But above all else, I'd love to stay here for 1 or 2 nights. My mom passed away a few years ago from pancreatic cancer and we were never able to go back to WDW and stay here like she had talked about so many years ago. I think that it would be nice to wrap up a trip here.

I've also thought of Wilderness Lodge because I love the architecture of that resort and it would be nice to stay at a Deluxe that has a kids club in case DH & I would like a date night for one of our evenings. And being a tad closer to the Hoop Dee Doo Revue would be pretty cool. None of us have been to that.

I must admit...I am overwhelmed by all of the choices at WDW. Just the choices on dining alone is overwhelming. So since I've already got our approximate dates figured out, I figure that the next likely choice should be where to stay.

Does anyone happen to know where I could find info on what sorts of activities & such the resorts offer to their guests? It seems like some resorts show movies in the evenings on certain days of the week. Or other resorts have arts & crafts projects that kids can do.

 

[smiths02]

All of the resorts have a resort FAQ in this forum.
WDW Info also has a sheet about each resort.
There is also a split stay thread http://www.disboards.com/threads/the-ultimate-split-stay-thread.3322505/

 

[RustManFan]

You can't do a split stay on a single package. That would be 2 separate reservations as I understand it.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I've also thought of Wilderness Lodge because I love the architecture of that resort

If you're going for a splurge, WL is going to be under construction for all of 2016. The beach will be closed, which means some of the deluxe resort beach activities will be shut down (or moved). So I think if you're stretching, you want to stay away from WL.

I love WL, but if I were looking at blowing budget on a deluxe, I wouldn't want to have one with significant and unknown construction happening.

 

[VandVsmama]

This trip would be in 2017.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

This trip would be in 2017.

Right, but the construction is officially "through 2017." Based on the plans, the beach won't ever reopen (probably; hard to imagine how; maybe they're building a new one nearby in the construction zone). Based on similar work that happened at the Poly, they will be behind schedule. So definitely keep that in mind.

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

Have you thought about the Swan or Dolphin, The room I had last time I stayed was a good size and the beds were soooooo comfortable. I loved the easy access to the boardwalk and the price was less than the Disney properties that surround them and you get most of the Disney benefits like EMH and transportation.

 

[cantoine]

Welcome to the chaos known as Disney planning! I swear to you it gets easier and you will have fun every step of the way! I'll try to address some of your questions as best as I can. the first question you need to ask yourself is how long do you plan to be at your resort? If you plan on hitting the parks from morning to the late night, then your resort will be more for sleeping and therefore don't blow your budget on a resort you will not utilize a lot! Make sense? My family does a lot of split stays. My children love to stay at as many different resorts as they can in a week, my husband hates it lol! If you do a split stay it will be separate reservations and most people from my understand myself included get my package on my first reservation and just a room only on the next part of the stay. Ticket prices get cheaper as you add days once you reach the 4 day mark the ticket prices barley raise. So if you do the 2 packages on the split stay you can pay more for the 2 sets of tickets. However, without a ticket package on the reservation a dining plan is not possible unless you fall into one of the booking types that they allow you to add a dining plan without a ticket purchase through them. Examples are military, DVC, AP. etc.
resorts:
POR: great resort, beautiful theming, wonderful activities and pool. Boat to downtown.
PORFQ: our favorite resort. Peaceful, small, amazing scenery, amazing pool, boat to downtown, amazing food! We loved it here! Can't wait to go back

AKL: our home resort and we love it. Unique experience, great pool at kidani! Great food and amazing people all around you.

CR: we haven't stayed here but we stayed at BLT. We spent a lot of time at CR. we didn't care for it. Very crowed and the guest we encountered were pretty rude and demanding. I felt bad for the CM that had to deal with the rudeness. It was as if they thought they were better than everyone simply because they were staying there. But it was so nice to walk to MK with our children and to enjoy the time with our family! Once we were able to tune out all the negativity around us.

Information on the individual resorts and their activities can be found in each resorts web page on disneyworld.com. Kenny the pirate tries to keep the recreation calendars updated as well. When in doubt check the boards, Google and chat with a Disney agent online.

No matter what resort you choose I can guarantee you will have a blast and make tons of memories. Take a look at **************.net great starting point for selecting a resort!

 

[TsLoveMickey]

WL is amazing but it's under construction thru 2017 so I wouldn't go there now. We, like you, were on a moderate budget but wanted to stay deluxe ... So we rented points from a awesome rental agency. We stayed at WL's villas. Bay Lake Tower is somewhat reasonable too I think. PM me if you want the name of the company I used. Awesome response time/customer service and trustworthy!

 

[happymommy]

One piece of advice I can offer about the kids' clubs: My kids went once, so DH and I could go out to dinner without them. They were almost 7 and almost 5. My son, at almost 7, felt it was for younger kids and was a bit bored, while my daughter had fun playing with puppets. At your kids' ages, I wouldn't do it. It's great for much younger kids, but my kids wouldn't have wanted to go at 11 for sure. At that age, they were more independent, and could stay in the room if we wanted to go out for an hour (they were old enough to stay home alone so were comfortable with that). I know each family is different, but just wanted to throw that out there!

I agree that no matter what, I'm sure you'll have a great time!

Also, consider getting the Starwood American Express card if you are interested in the Swan (newly remodeled) or Dolphin (soon to be, but has double beds as of now instead of queen beds that the Swan has). All of my stays there have been free using Starpoints. Only downside is no Magical Express (you can book a town car service though) and no magic bands (not that big of a deal), plus you do have a small daily resort fee. The location is excellent though, short walk to Epcot or boat ride or walk to DHS.

 

[havoc315]

The first and last time I went to WDW was back in the 1970s when it was just Magic Kingdom. We went for 2 days on a massive 2-week road trip from Texas to New Jersey to visit my grandparents and we camped in a pop-up trailer. I remember taking the monorail over to the Contemporary Resort and thinking how awesome that place was and my mom saying, "Some day it would be great to stay in a place like this."

Our family of 4 (me, DH, ODD, YDD) has been to Disneyland 3 times now. We live in a suburb of Tucson, AZ. So like a lot of WDW visitors, getting there will require a plane trip. DH wants to skip Disney vacation next year. WAAAH! So I'm looking far down the road to us going in 2017. In 2017, the kids will be 11 and 9.

When to go?

• don't want to brave crowds over Spring Break
• not interested in Florida summers. Tucson is hot enough!
• I'm thinking during our kids' fall break in October....usually 1st or 2nd week of October. We'd fly out on Saturday and return the following Saturday.

But where to stay?

• I don't want to stay off site. The idea of not having to rent a car is very attractive.
• Don't want to stay at a Value resort. From what I've seen, the beds are doubles and that will be a little cramped.
• Budget-wise, going to a Moderate would work best for us. But I'd really love to be able to stay in a Tower room at the Contemporary for 1-2 nights at the tail end of our stay. How difficult is it to arrange packages in which you stay at >1 resort during your visit?
• Coronado Springs Resort - living in Tucson, we have tons of Southwest & Mexican influences, so I don't want to stay here. It's too much like home.
• CBR - too spread out
• POR - this is a possibility
• POFQ - I like how this resort is quite compact. The one pool doesn't bother us. My favorite land in Disneyland is New Orleans Square and from the pictures of POFQ, it reminds me of NOQ at DL.
• AKL - on the other hand, it would be totally awesome to be able to stay a couple of nights here and drink coffee while watching the giraffes & zebras outside your window.
• CR - But above all else, I'd love to stay here for 1 or 2 nights. My mom passed away a few years ago from pancreatic cancer and we were never able to go back to WDW and stay here like she had talked about so many years ago. I think that it would be nice to wrap up a trip here.

I've also thought of Wilderness Lodge because I love the architecture of that resort and it would be nice to stay at a Deluxe that has a kids club in case DH & I would like a date night for one of our evenings. And being a tad closer to the Hoop Dee Doo Revue would be pretty cool. None of us have been to that.

I must admit...I am overwhelmed by all of the choices at WDW. Just the choices on dining alone is overwhelming. So since I've already got our approximate dates figured out, I figure that the next likely choice should be where to stay.

Does anyone happen to know where I could find info on what sorts of activities & such the resorts offer to their guests? It seems like some resorts show movies in the evenings on certain days of the week. Or other resorts have arts & crafts projects that kids can do.

For about the price of a mod, you might be able to rent DVC points and stay at Bay Lake Tower. It connects to the Contemporary.

Also, look at the Contemporary Garden Wing. More expensive than a mod, but MUCH cheaper than the tower. You're not technically in the tower, so you don't have the great views from your window. But you're still really at the Contemporary, a quick walk to the monorail, to the boat to Wilderness lodge, etc, etc.

Unless it really breaks your bank, I'd try to find a way to make your Contemporary dream come true, and Bay Lake Tower and the Garden Wing may be 2 more affordable ways to do it. The garden wing is always on my short list as one of the best values at Disney. (Among the biggest rooms on property, best location, just giving up great room views).

Remember that Disney almost always eventually releases discounts -- so deluxe hotels will get 20-35% off the room, and moderates will get 15-20% off. Factor that into your budget.

Split-stays are not uncommon. Personally, I prefer not to unpack, re-pack, unpack again, in the middle of vacation, unless I really have to. I like that everything has become familiar by the end of the trip. But lots of people do split stays.

October crowds seem worse than they used to be, but it's still better than the really bad times of the year.

 

[loves to dive]

A few thoughts for you:

If you are planning on going in October, chances are F&W will be in Epcot, it's great and I go every year but not particularly kid friendly at night and a bit crowded on the weekends. Also, in October is the party at MK. This is a hard ticket party which basically means they shut the park down around 7 to people who have not paid the extra almost $80 pp for the ticket. You get trick or treating, different parades, stage shows and FWs. IMHO not worth the extra money but to each his own. I only mention it because if you don't get the tickets, you will have to leave MK earlier than usual on party nights.

I do split stays, it's a great way to experience a deluxe if you can't afford it for the entire stay. I usually do them since I know I'm arriving mid afternoon and don't want to pay deluxe for that first night or can't get a room in deluxe for my entire stay. If you are doing CR at the tail end of your stay, simply pack an extra bag and put everyone's things for those last two nights in that bag. The morning you move to the new resort, BS at the first resort will move your bags for you.

I recommend you look at all the resort threads here on the boards, there is just about everything you could ever want to know, including pictures. There are also Utube videos that will show a little better of the grounds.

I've stayed at POR and walked over to POFQ while there, I enjoyed POR. It isn't as big as you would think, the walk from the farthest bus stop to the front only took me about 12 minutes, the walk to POFQ is about 5. I would not pay for an upgrade to a preferred room at either of these resorts. The outside hallways pretty much mean the view doesn't matter since people are going to be walking outside your room. There are plenty of really nice places to sit and relax on the grounds and take in the view. Also, as I said, the resort isn't that big so paying extra just to be close to the main bus stop isn't worth it. Each section has a bus stop, yes you have to ride the bus around the resort if you are at the first one. I was in Magnolia Building, which has a stop right behind it but I walked to the main stop in the mornings, not even 5 min. and got off at my stop at night.

I've stayed at CR, it was years ago, I'm going to guess 20. We didn't enjoy it, it was just too contemporary and busy for us. We've stayed at all the MK resorts except WL, all the Disney Epcot resorts (not Swan/Dolphin) and AKV. If you can swing it and discounts are out, sometimes AKL can be just as inexpensive at a moderate but you do have to wait until the discounts come out and risk not getting anything. We loved it, but be aware unless you pay for an upgrade to a Savannah view you will not always see animals out your window. There are some standard rooms that have a view of parking lots or roofs.

 

[VandVsmama]

Thanks for all of your suggestions, everyone! My DH really likes the room layout, interior design, and architecture of the CR. We would definitely be going in October. Thanks for the heads up about the F&W festival! We will stay away from Epcot on the weekends in that case.

Everything is relative. I was LOL when I saw that it can take 12 minutes to walk at POR from the farthest bus stop to the front of the resort! When we were at DL, we stayed off site at a Best Western and 12 minutes was the maximum time it took us to get to the Disneyland main gates! Most mornings, it took us 8-10 minutes to get there. It appears that I have a lot to learn about WDW. Clearly, things are much more spread out!

How long do we plan on being at our resort?
When we've gone to DL, we get to the parks early for rope drop or soon afterwards. Usually are there within the first 30 minutes that the parks are open. Then we go back to the hotel for an afternoon break and head back late afternoon (4-5pm-ish) to have dinner, go on a few more rides, etc. We are definitely not open-to-close people! Once in awhile, we've stayed at the parks very late (11pm-ish), but we make sure that the following day is a "sleep in late" sort of day where we don't have to be anywhere at a certain time.

My DH gets theme park fatigue after a couple of days back to back. My kids get it, too. The afternoon crankies. So this method seems to work out much better for us. That being said, I know that I've been spoiled at DL with things being so close together. Transportation takes time at WDW from what I've read.

Dining plan:
I am interested in doing the Dining Plan, even if it's not included for free as part of a discount deal. The option of having most of our meals paid for ahead of time is appealing. We would probably just have to figure something out for breakfasts and that's not a big deal.

Tickets:
The ticket prices are much better at WDW compared to DL! At DL, the most you can get is a 5-day park hopper. I really like how at WDW, adding an extra day to your tickets doesn't cost that much more.

Split Stays:
Ok, so it sounds like if we want to do a split stay, it would make the most sense to do the first part of our trip on a package (room, dining plan, tickets). When you do a package, can you get tickets for longer than your package's length of stay? Same question re: the Dining Plan.

 

[Vernie822]

You can buy a ticket for more days than your package. For example, you get a 7 day hopper even though you're doing 5 nights at one and 3 nights at another. Or something like that. Your tickets are good for up to 14 days after first use so as long as you'd be doing that, no problem there.

You can add the dining plan to a room only reservation, but your room only reservation is not eligible for free dining (historically you are required to purchase a package including tickets to get the free dining promotion). So you can always add that on to your room only portion of your stay.

A second thought that has been mentioned before is renting DVC points. I know most first timers have no clue about it but you seem to be pretty in the loop. We are renting DVC points for our stay in November. Honestly it was pretty seamless and we rented them through a broker. You do have the option to add the dining plan which is nice! (Again, not eligible for free dining with DVC rental even if you do purchase tickets).

 

[athumann]

I was also going to suggest renting points. I've done this several times and its a great way to stay deluxe at a moderate price. I'm renting points in January for 3 nights at Saratoga Springs and 3 nights at Wilderness Lodge Villas for about $138 more than a 6 night stay at Pop Century was going to be.

If you are set on staying at the Contemporary for the last couple of nights maybe pick a resort in a different area then Magic Kingdom, like maybe one of the Epcot resorts. AKL is also a great option, it's a beautiful resort and renting points here is never very difficult and the points per night are among the lowest. PM me if you have questions about renting!!

 

[havoc315]

Thanks for all of your suggestions, everyone! My DH really likes the room layout, interior design, and architecture of the CR. We would definitely be going in October. Thanks for the heads up about the F&W festival! We will stay away from Epcot on the weekends in that case.

Everything is relative. I was LOL when I saw that it can take 12 minutes to walk at POR from the farthest bus stop to the front of the resort! When we were at DL, we stayed off site at a Best Western and 12 minutes was the maximum time it took us to get to the Disneyland main gates! Most mornings, it took us 8-10 minutes to get there. It appears that I have a lot to learn about WDW. Clearly, things are much more spread out!

How long do we plan on being at our resort?
When we've gone to DL, we get to the parks early for rope drop or soon afterwards. Usually are there within the first 30 minutes that the parks are open. Then we go back to the hotel for an afternoon break and head back late afternoon (4-5pm-ish) to have dinner, go on a few more rides, etc. We are definitely not open-to-close people! Once in awhile, we've stayed at the parks very late (11pm-ish), but we make sure that the following day is a "sleep in late" sort of day where we don't have to be anywhere at a certain time.

My DH gets theme park fatigue after a couple of days back to back. My kids get it, too. The afternoon crankies. So this method seems to work out much better for us. That being said, I know that I've been spoiled at DL with things being so close together. Transportation takes time at WDW from what I've read.

Dining plan:
I am interested in doing the Dining Plan, even if it's not included for free as part of a discount deal. The option of having most of our meals paid for ahead of time is appealing. We would probably just have to figure something out for breakfasts and that's not a big deal.

Tickets:
The ticket prices are much better at WDW compared to DL! At DL, the most you can get is a 5-day park hopper. I really like how at WDW, adding an extra day to your tickets doesn't cost that much more.

Split Stays:
Ok, so it sounds like if we want to do a split stay, it would make the most sense to do the first part of our trip on a package (room, dining plan, tickets). When you do a package, can you get tickets for longer than your package's length of stay? Same question re: the Dining Plan.

Read up on the dining plan. It's not really pre-paid -- it doesn't cover the tips. It may cover things you don't want, and fails to cover things that you do want. Partially depending on the ages of your kids, the dining plan could end up being much more expensive than just paying for your meals. On the other hand, if your kids are the right ages, AND you plan on doing a lot of character meals, the dining plan can be economical. For us, the dining plan ends up costing 20-30% more than just paying for what we want.

 

[Deb & Bill]

October means Food & Wine Festival. Loads of fun for Mom & Dad. The kids will like it, too, but you'll want to keep them away on Fri and Sat evening. It can get a bit rowdy with all the adults partaking in the beverages. It also means Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at the MK. So many nights will be shorter at the MK during that time, but if you get party tickets you can stay until midnight.

 

[Deb & Bill]

You might even check out the wing rooms at the CR. They tend to be a bit less expensive than the tower rooms. You don't have a MK view, but you are still a short walk to the MK. We stayed in the wing room once and really liked it. They were very large rooms with two queen beds and a day bed.

 

[VandVsmama]

I've heard about renting DVC points and read up on it a bit on another website. But the only thing that has me a tad nervous about that is that we would be locked into our dates. So for example, for this year's Fall Break at my kids' school, at the start of the school year, the fall break was to be one particular week and then two weeks into the school year, they changed it! That would be a huge pain in the neck!

 

[VandVsmama]

October means Food & Wine Festival. Loads of fun for Mom & Dad. The kids will like it, too, but you'll want to keep them away on Fri and Sat evening. It can get a bit rowdy with all the adults partaking in the beverages. It also means Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at the MK. So many nights will be shorter at the MK during that time, but if you get party tickets you can stay until midnight.

When we were at Disneyland two weeks ago, one of the evenings was a Halloween party night, so we left Disneyland at 6pm when it closed to regular park guests and we spent the rest of the evening at California Adventure. We all wished that we would have sprung for the Halloween party tickets because the costumes were so cool and it looked like a lot of fun!