Asking for some guidance

[DisneyDreamer04]

We are a family of five. All teens. We are currently booked @ boardwalk. We had originally had 2 rooms at pop century, then I found out proximity to Epcot and to DHS, and the extended evening hours, and took the plunge there. Well, we are nearing our 45 day mark, and I have been researching the QS, refillable mugs, etc.. and while the location is enticing, the one bath, daybed, and lack of QS options, I am not sold considering the price. Looked into AoA, but the price is almost identical. It does seem to have great food options, for the trade off of EEMH..

If anyone is still reading at this point, we have never stayed offsite, first visit in 7 years, one kiddo doesn’t even remember WDW. just so y’all know our history, we aren’t people who go often..
Would y’all tell me where would be a good off-site to explore.. price wise for what these rooms cost per night @ WDW seems crazy to me, on what I can save offsite.. We are talking about 2-3k savings.. i know I am giving up ILl, but we are going 8-10 days, and figuring in genie + , so I figure it should be ok?
A breakfast would be good, but not require, not even needing a decent pool. We will be in the parks EVERY day, from morning to close..

also, we will have a car, but would like to have shuttle/bus option as back up, but not require.


thank you guys so much. the stress is getting to me.

 

[nw6675]

Just a thought, but you may want to look into private villas somewhere like Windsor Hills. You can rent a whole house with a private pool close to Disney for less than a deluxe. We have done that several times. But honestly, would rather be onsite.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I'm in a similar situation as you, and while we do go pretty often, we always end up onsite. We always do look offsite for larger/more flexible lodging options for less money, and we always have the best of intentions to book offsite, but the ETPE/EEH, iLL$, theming and easy transport/convenience keep us onsite.

Most of the offsite options we've considered have been airbnb/vrbo since we have our own car too. We've also looked at Town Place Flamingo Crossings. I think there are a few hotels there but Town Place are suites with kitchens. It also has a shuttle but I think you have to sign up to reserve it but the overall costs there are pretty low. At least when I looked at it last, it was not much, sub $200/nt for a 2 bedroom which was really cheap. It also had free breakfast.

For a more resort amenitized heavy option, there's the Wyndham Bonnet Creek which you can book on vrbo I believe. It's a timeshare resort. Definitely more money but has much more room, think of condos. I believe they have shuttles at no extra cost. No breakfast included.

Some other options for you onsite if you're interested that could work. Family suites at All Star Music could be an option. Those are usually less than Art of Animation suites. This is great for families with teens since you get two full baths. We also will do Swan or Dolphin, which is almost always less than a room at Boardwalk, and you can get a rollaway bed. They do charge extra for the bed but it's like $30/nt. And you can still walk to Epcot/DHS and you get the deluxe disney resort benefits of EEH. That's why we like it. It's not as disney themed as the other resorts but it's convenient and usually more affordable and you can use marriott points if you have them. And another option, if you are far enough out, is renting DVC points to get a larger DVC villa. We never go this route since we never book that far in advance and I don't like being locked in with little flexibility but I know a lot of people do this and it works great. Also, for as long as a trip you're taking, maybe look at doing a cheaper option on the front end and then keeping Boardwalk for the end of the trip. We've done this to save some money but it does add a layer of complication for booking ADRs since you essentially have 2 separate trips and can be a little logistically challenging but def not impossible. You can do your DHS/Epcot days on your BWI days and then MK/AK on the other resort days since you'd be taking a bus anyway from BWV.

We have done the BWV and I will say we liked it, however, my kids at that time didn't love walking to the parks. They actually preferred bus/boat so we'd try to catch the boat to DHS/Epcot when we could. But just having the various options is really nice and that's what keeps us on property. The studio at BWV is not bad space wise when the sofa bed is put away and so long as the one sleeping on the pull down bed under the TV isn't a larger kid. But even my youngest teenager said she's done with it and she's around 5' tall.

It's always annoying when everywhere else we travel, we can almost always find great flexible lodging options with two baths but at disney, where families of all sizes are enticed to vacation, you can only find that in the villa style rooms and they're so so overpriced. I get it, it's what keeps them selling DVC but I want no part of a time share ownership.

 

[Brian Noble]

For any WDW trip, there are three things one might want:

• To have a reasonable amount of space
• To spend a reasonable amount of money
• To be onsite

For most families, and for most definitions of "reasonable", you can have two of those three things. So, the first thing to figure out is which of those three is the most important. Once you've figured that out, you can decide which of the remaining two you can live without.

For example, for us space is non-negotiable. We never took vacations where all four of us stayed in a single hotel room. When we have to pay market rates, we will typically prefer to save the money and stay in a very nice offsite place rather than, e.g. get two Value rooms, or its equivalent. We are lucky that we don't always have to pay market rates thanks to our timeshares, but that's not an option for most people.

The evening magic hours are nice, but IMO they are not hundreds of dollars per night nice, nor are they cram-everyone-into-one-hotel-room nice. (They also typically only happen twice per week.) We've had excellent stays at Windsor Hills (a 3BR townhome by ourselves, and a 5BR pool home split with another family), Sheraton Vistana Resort, and Club Wyndham Bonnet Creek. We are Wyndham owners, which makes the latter very easy. I've had a perfectly fine stay at Vacation Village @ Parkway but I'm not sure I'd recommend it.

Note that none of the offsite places have shuttle service that is particularly convenient. But, Uber/Lyft/Taxi works just great and is only $10-$20 each way.

 

[DisneyDreamer04]

I'm in a similar situation as you, and while we do go pretty often, we always end up onsite. We always do look offsite for larger/more flexible lodging options for less money, and we always have the best of intentions to book offsite, but the ETPE/EEH, iLL$, theming and easy transport/convenience keep us onsite.

Most of the offsite options we've considered have been airbnb/vrbo since we have our own car too. We've also looked at Town Place Flamingo Crossings. I think there are a few hotels there but Town Place are suites with kitchens. It also has a shuttle but I think you have to sign up to reserve it but the overall costs there are pretty low. At least when I looked at it last, it was not much, sub $200/nt for a 2 bedroom which was really cheap. It also had free breakfast.

For a more resort amenitized heavy option, there's the Wyndham Bonnet Creek which you can book on vrbo I believe. It's a timeshare resort. Definitely more money but has much more room, think of condos. I believe they have shuttles at no extra cost. No breakfast included.

Some other options for you onsite if you're interested that could work. Family suites at All Star Music could be an option. Those are usually less than Art of Animation suites. This is great for families with teens since you get two full baths. We also will do Swan or Dolphin, which is almost always less than a room at Boardwalk, and you can get a rollaway bed. They do charge extra for the bed but it's like $30/nt. And you can still walk to Epcot/DHS and you get the deluxe disney resort benefits of EEH. That's why we like it. It's not as disney themed as the other resorts but it's convenient and usually more affordable and you can use marriott points if you have them. And another option, if you are far enough out, is renting DVC points to get a larger DVC villa. We never go this route since we never book that far in advance and I don't like being locked in with little flexibility but I know a lot of people do this and it works great. Also, for as long as a trip you're taking, maybe look at doing a cheaper option on the front end and then keeping Boardwalk for the end of the trip. We've done this to save some money but it does add a layer of complication for booking ADRs since you essentially have 2 separate trips and can be a little logistically challenging but def not impossible. You can do your DHS/Epcot days on your BWI days and then MK/AK on the other resort days since you'd be taking a bus anyway from BWV.

We have done the BWV and I will say we liked it, however, my kids at that time didn't love walking to the parks. They actually preferred bus/boat so we'd try to catch the boat to DHS/Epcot when we could. But just having the various options is really nice and that's what keeps us on property. The studio at BWV is not bad space wise when the sofa bed is put away and so long as the one sleeping on the pull down bed under the TV isn't a larger kid. But even my youngest teenager said she's done with it and she's around 5' tall.

It's always annoying when everywhere else we travel, we can almost always find great flexible lodging options with two baths but at disney, where families of all sizes are enticed to vacation, you can only find that in the villa style rooms and they're so so overpriced. I get it, it's what keeps them selling DVC but I want no part of a time share ownership.

Thank you for responding. I keep telling myself this seems so first world of a problem to have, but it just is a lot of money on a room. We literally aren’t going to spend a ton of time in any of the rooms we would be staying in, but I do want a comfortable place for everyone to get a good nights rest. This crew is all about the parks, and will more than likely shut the parks down, with no mid day breaks insight. Hopefully, everyone doesn’t hit the proverbial wall, and enjoys the time there, but I have a feeling the bed situation is going to be more important than I yet realize.

At the Boardwalk, we have 2 queens and a daybed.. at AoA it would be their pull out, Murphy bed, and a queen..

I have a hard time justifying in my head AoA prices for the same as what I can get Boardwalk for, with the EEMH & walking distance to Epcot & DH.

I am going now to check availability on dolphin&swan.. though if I remember correctly by the time you figure the rollaway fee and resort fee, I think it was the same as the two mentioned above. UGH!

 

[DisneyDreamer04]

For any WDW trip, there are three things one might want:

• To have a reasonable amount of space
• To spend a reasonable amount of money
• To be onsite

For most families, and for most definitions of "reasonable", you can have two of those three things. So, the first thing to figure out is which of those three is the most important. Once you've figured that out, you can decide which of the remaining two you can live without.

For example, for us space is non-negotiable. We never took vacations where all four of us stayed in a single hotel room. When we have to pay market rates, we will typically prefer to save the money and stay in a very nice offsite place rather than, e.g. get two Value rooms, or its equivalent. We are lucky that we don't always have to pay market rates thanks to our timeshares, but that's not an option for most people.

The evening magic hours are nice, but IMO they are not hundreds of dollars per night nice, nor are they cram-everyone-into-one-hotel-room nice. (They also typically only happen twice per week.) We've had excellent stays at Windsor Hills (a 3BR townhome by ourselves, and a 5BR pool home split with another family), Sheraton Vistana Resort, and Club Wyndham Bonnet Creek. We are Wyndham owners, which makes the latter very easy. I've had a perfectly fine stay at Vacation Village @ Parkway but I'm not sure I'd recommend it.

Note that none of the offsite places have shuttle service that is particularly convenient. But, Uber/Lyft/Taxi works just great and is only $10-$20 each way.

plus I also have to figure out availability. My indecisiveness is beginning to be a problem…
I also am trying to appease everyone in my crew, because it has been so long since any of us have gone… so, I am trying to check all the boxes, so to speak. Which is what is making it too hard. Like, I like to location of boardwalk, and the EMH…youngest wants AoA, middle child just wants to stay as long as can, so off-site, and add a day…and so on.

 

[Upatnoon]

You state "We will be in the parks EVERY day, from morning to close."

If you are doing this, the resort you stay at doesn't mean much. If anything, if you stay at a great resort you may find some of the members of your party want to spend time there and ruin your plans of going to the parks all day.

Why spend a lot of money on a Disney resort when you won't be at the resort?

With five people and teens I would just want plenty of space and bathrooms, I am used to staying in various timeshare resorts and would just rent one in your budget. The closest ones are Bonnet Creek and Silver Lake, but you can find many of them on Redweek and all the big rental sites. I would look for a two-bedroom or greater up to a house.

There are a lot of options. So many it can be overwhelming. Pick a budget and the amenities you want and you will find a good fit.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Thank you for responding. I keep telling myself this seems so first world of a problem to have, but it just is a lot of money on a room. We literally aren’t going to spend a ton of time in any of the rooms we would be staying in, but I do want a comfortable place for everyone to get a good nights rest. This crew is all about the parks, and will more than likely shut the parks down, with no mid day breaks insight. Hopefully, everyone doesn’t hit the proverbial wall, and enjoys the time there, but I have a feeling the bed situation is going to be more important than I yet realize.

At the Boardwalk, we have 2 queens and a daybed.. at AoA it would be their pull out, Murphy bed, and a queen..

I have a hard time justifying in my head AoA prices for the same as what I can get Boardwalk for, with the EEMH & walking distance to Epcot & DH.

I am going now to check availability on dolphin&swan.. though if I remember correctly by the time you figure the rollaway fee and resort fee, I think it was the same as the two mentioned above. UGH!

OK, in my head I thought ya'll were doing a studio and one of your kids would be on the tiny under tv pull down. 100% with you now and I'd stick with BWI too. That totally makes sense. I struggle with the family suites at the values also, the rooms are great and having a second bathroom is perfect but I just need that price and that room at a mod or deluxe resort. I also don't like giving up EEH and the amenities. Yes, it could be close on S&D hotels to Boardwalk especially now that the disney resorts don't charge for parking and S&D have the hefty resort fees and parking.

 

[auralia]

We are a family of five. All teens. We are currently booked @ boardwalk. We had originally had 2 rooms at pop century, then I found out proximity to Epcot and to DHS, and the extended evening hours, and took the plunge there. Well, we are nearing our 45 day mark, and I have been researching the QS, refillable mugs, etc.. and while the location is enticing, the one bath, daybed, and lack of QS options, I am not sold considering the price. Looked into AoA, but the price is almost identical. It does seem to have great food options, for the trade off of EEMH..

If anyone is still reading at this point, we have never stayed offsite, first visit in 7 years, one kiddo doesn’t even remember WDW. just so y’all know our history, we aren’t people who go often..
Would y’all tell me where would be a good off-site to explore.. price wise for what these rooms cost per night @ WDW seems crazy to me, on what I can save offsite.. We are talking about 2-3k savings.. i know I am giving up ILl, but we are going 8-10 days, and figuring in genie + , so I figure it should be ok?
A breakfast would be good, but not require, not even needing a decent pool. We will be in the parks EVERY day, from morning to close..

also, we will have a car, but would like to have shuttle/bus option as back up, but not require.


thank you guys so much. the stress is getting to me.

I can’t speak to value for convenience etc but the evening extra magic hours are AMAZING. We did more in one evening extra magic session at magic kingdom than we did all day with genie plus and rope dropping. I am very good at navigating Disney and avoiding lines and all my tricks just don’t cut it any more. It’s too busy to really avoid lines like I used to. Same with Epcot. Genie plus was worthless but those extra magic hours… test track, soarin, remmy, guardians of the galaxy with time to spare without heat and crowds… what is that value to you? How many extra magic hour days will you have? Maybe a split stay that would cover a couple of extra magic hour days but still reduce over all cost? I own Dvc so the expense to access the extra magic hours isn’t something I deal with. But it would be worth about 400$ per extra magic hour season to me personally

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

For any WDW trip, there are three things one might want:

• To have a reasonable amount of space
• To spend a reasonable amount of money
• To be onsite

For most families, and for most definitions of "reasonable", you can have two of those three things. So, the first thing to figure out is which of those three is the most important. Once you've figured that out, you can decide which of the remaining two you can live without.

This is one of the best posts I've seen on this site. It perfectly explains that lodging decision faced by the great majority of Disney travelers.

 

[loves to dive]

I stay at Swan/Dolphin just about every trip now days. I used to stay at YC or BWI but the price just got too high for me. If you go on the Mariott site you can search for prices with the resort fee added in, it's a little pull down. I have never had a room at Dolphin that was even close to BWI except the few times I've had an AP and managed to get a fairly decent AP discount.

 

[Skippyboo]

Extra Evening Hours are Monday-Epcot and Wed- MK. Could you do Boardwalk to cover those dates and switch to 2 rooms at Pop? Don’t know how it prices out w 1 AoA room but you still have Skyliner access to HS & Epcot, QS food court, you can walk over to AoA’s food court. If you’re all day park people, hotel refillable mugs aren’t going to get used. Since you have a car, you can hit a local target/Walmart/grocery store for room snacks/drinks. Pop would get you 2 Queens in each room.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

I would get a 2 bedroom at Wyndham Bonnet Creek which is right next to Caribbean Beach Resort. Two bathrooms, a full kitchen, washer & dryer, plenty of beds for everyone and the space to spread out cannot be beat, even if you don't plan on spending much time in the room. You will miss out on extra evening hours, but you will be there for 8-10 days so you should be able to get everything done that you want to do in that time. They have a paid shuttle to the parks and Uber would be great if someone in your party needs to head back to the room while the others stay at the parks.

 

[Genie+]

When are you going?

The 5th sleeper that you can pull down is not bad. It’s around 5’7” by 30” and comfortable for medium-small size people. My DS slept on it every trip, preferring not sharing bed, and even at 150lbs said it was still comfortable.

 

[snikki]

You know your kids best and how they will do for 8-10 days in one room. It’s a whole different ballgame compared to 2-3 nights.

I really only travel to WDW with DD right now. DS hasn’t wanted to go with us in a few years. Once he hit about 15/16 there was no way I was getting us all in one room without my kids getting on each others nerves or my nerves. Plus bathroom space?! And my kids stopped sharing a bed once DD hit about 9-10.

If we ever went back to Disney as a family of 4 we would do two rooms onsite or a 2-3 bedroom at Bonnet Creek. We enjoy the Wyndham resorts when we travel to other places. We recently did a 2 bedroom for a trip to DC. I used vacationstrategy.com (recommended on this board) and got a great rate.

 

[Trinity88]

We have done 2 rooms at pop, a single room at Beach Club, and offsite. For us, transportation is important, I don't like having to drive, tram to the entrance, ferry/monorail at MK, etc. But we take midday breaks so that factors in to my dislike of too much transportation. Because of that, we have moved to more on site. As for on site, we much prefer the 2 rooms at pop over one room in a deluxe. The 2 showers with teens is a must (we travel in the hot summer months) and I love that each kid gets their own bed as sleep is also a must. I also really like the Pop foodcourt. So Pop would win over Boardwalk in your situation for me. Have you looked at renting points and getting a 1 bedroom at a deluxe for a little more space? We've done that and really liked it. But many don't have a second shower, so watch for that.

 

[Mle8308]

Thank you for responding. I keep telling myself this seems so first world of a problem to have, but it just is a lot of money on a room. We literally aren’t going to spend a ton of time in any of the rooms we would be staying in, but I do want a comfortable place for everyone to get a good nights rest. This crew is all about the parks, and will more than likely shut the parks down, with no mid day breaks insight. Hopefully, everyone doesn’t hit the proverbial wall, and enjoys the time there, but I have a feeling the bed situation is going to be more important than I yet realize.

At the Boardwalk, we have 2 queens and a daybed.. at AoA it would be their pull out, Murphy bed, and a queen..

I have a hard time justifying in my head AoA prices for the same as what I can get Boardwalk for, with the EEMH & walking distance to Epcot & DH.

I am going now to check availability on dolphin&swan.. though if I remember correctly by the time you figure the rollaway fee and resort fee, I think it was the same as the two mentioned above. UGH!

Check the new Drury hotel on Hotel Plaza Boulevard. It has some of the benefits of a Disney hotel, a shuttle, and breakfast included. They also do a light dinner from about 5:30 to 7:30pm. I believe All Ears did a YouTube video on it recently. You can also walk to Disney Springs.

 

[Mle8308]

We have done 2 rooms at pop, a single room at Beach Club, and offsite. For us, transportation is important, I don't like having to drive, tram to the entrance, ferry/monorail at MK, etc. But we take midday breaks so that factors in to my dislike of too much transportation. Because of that, we have moved to more on site. As for on site, we much prefer the 2 rooms at pop over one room in a deluxe. The 2 showers with teens is a must (we travel in the hot summer months) and I love that each kid gets their own bed as sleep is also a must. I also really like the Pop foodcourt. So Pop would win over Boardwalk in your situation for me. Have you looked at renting points and getting a 1 bedroom at a deluxe for a little more space? We've done that and really liked it. But many don't have a second shower, so watch for that.

Most one bedrooms will only sleep 4 people. Two in the bedroom and two on a Murphy bed or sleep sofa. I do believe SSR may sleep 5 with 5 actual sleep surfaces and maybe AKL??? If you rent points, you can put 5 in a 1BR, but you need to provide your own bed and linens.

 

[Brian Noble]

I do believe SSR may sleep 5 with 5 actual sleep surfaces and maybe AKL???

SSR, OKW, BLT, GFV, RIV, and AKV (non-value) have sleeping surfaces for five. AKV-Kidani and BLT additionally have a 2nd bath.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

With the offsite savings you could purchase tickets for an after hours event or two and still be ahead. If dates fall during your trip.