Best resort for toddlers?

[webcreatrix]

I am planning to take my daughter and two grandbabies to Disney World next year. The kids will be 2 and 3 years old at that time. I was considering the monorail resorts due to ease of transportation with strollers to Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. We do also plan to visit Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, so I was thinking maybe the Skyliner would provide similar benefits for DHS. And toddlers may love AKL. So, I am all over the board! Would love to know your experience with toddlers and your favorite resort.

 

[kariyava]

You are wise to consider convenience with kids that age. No one resort will be convenient to all four parks. I would go with either a monorail resort (convenient for MK and EPCOT) or a skyliner resort (convenient to HS and EPCOT). I like Art of Animation for their suite layout (nice for your group) and theming/splash pad/playground for the littles.

 

[MomOTwins]

Not sure what your stroller setup is, but the monorail and Crescent lake (Epcot area) boat launches can accommodate a side-by-side double stroller, whereas the skyliner can only accommodate single-width strollers. If you're planning on a front-back double stroller or two single strollers though, could possibly fit on the skyliner, but might be tight and not leave room for the rest of the party, so you may have to split up between two gondolas. Note the skyliner does not stop--you have to board it while moving, which meant I also didn't feel safe pushing in a stroller with the child in it (my DH carried the kids and I rolled it on empty), but I am a worrier.

 

[webcreatrix]

Not sure what your stroller setup is, but the monorail and Crescent lake (Epcot area) boat launches can accommodate a side-by-side double stroller, whereas the skyliner can only accommodate single-width strollers. If you're planning on a front-back double stroller or two single strollers though, could possibly fit on the skyliner, but might be tight and not leave room for the rest of the party, so you may have to split up between two gondolas. Note the skyliner does not stop--you have to board it while moving, which meant I also didn't feel safe pushing in a stroller with the child in it (my DH carried the kids and I rolled it on empty), but I am a worrier.

Thank you! I did not know this about the Skyliner. That honestly sounds pretty tricky with two strollers.

 

[Kjbbach1]

We loved Bay Lake Tower when ours were younger. They loved MK the best and we could walk over from there. My hubby refused to deadlift the double stroller again on the bus after the first time we stayed at AoA. It's easier to drive to the other parks from MK resorts. MK is the only one it's hard to drive to, that's why we picked to stay with in walking distance there. Now that they are older we do Beach Club or Boardwalk so we can walk to Epcot and HS.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Thank you! I did not know this about the Skyliner. That honestly sounds pretty tricky with two strollers.

Not really. The cars move so slowly through any station, this hasn't been reported as an actual issue.

 

[ChanaC]

Agree with the user above who said that there is no one resort that's convenient for all four parks. Personally, at that age I suggest one of the value resorts. They will love all the big sculptures and colors. Also the pools are all very kid and toddler friendly. Personally, I say save the money now and upgrade to a nicer resort on a return visit when they are a little older and will appreciate it/remember it better.

As for AKL, you can always visit! Get an early dinner reservation at Boma on your Animal Kingdom day, take a quick bus over, eat dinner and walk to the back to look at all the animals!

 

[sponica]

I took my 20 month old to POFQ. I like the small footprint (she could walk from the bus stop to our room if she wanted), she loved the splash pad and it's pretty equidistant to all 4 parks.
Pick whatever resort is in your budget that YOU want to stay at. Toddlers will want a pool and they want snacks.

 

[Gingerfun1]

We took our two toddlers to the Wilderness Lodge. It's not heavy on Disney theme-ing so if you're looking for that experience, WL isn't for you. We loved the splash pad, how easy the resort is to get around (1 bus stop, easy dining, lots of good food options for adults and kids).

The boats to MK are fun rides in themselves, you can push strollers onto the larger boats and when you enter MK, you enter through a tiny security line of just your fellow boat riders. The buses are easy for WL, too. One stop for the whole resort and we never had to to wait for a second bus because of crowds even with two strollers.

We did ride the skyliner and you can push two strollers onto it just fine. It's a little awkward the first time but totally do-able. A side by side stroller won't fit though.

For us, having good transportation with toddlers was important not only for convenience but length of each trip. AKL is pretty far from everything except for AK, IMO. Also - kiddos need downtime so a resort that was easy to get back to and had things we liked too since we spent so much time there was a consideration.

 

[webcreatrix]

We loved Bay Lake Tower when ours were younger. They loved MK the best and we could walk over from there.

I am leaning heavily towards the Contemporary for that walk!

Agree with the user above who said that there is no one resort that's convenient for all four parks. Personally, at that age I suggest one of the value resorts. They will love all the big sculptures and colors. Also the pools are all very kid and toddler friendly. Personally, I say save the money now and upgrade to a nicer resort on a return visit when they are a little older and will appreciate it/remember it better.

As for AKL, you can always visit! Get an early dinner reservation at Boma on your Animal Kingdom day, take a quick bus over, eat dinner and walk to the back to look at all the animals!

Great suggestions. My son's first visit was for his fourth birthday and we stayed at All Star Movies for the sculptures. Art of Animation looks awesome for the same reason! The pool is pretty cute, too!

 

[Shellyred8]

We did a split stay between WL and BWV so we only had to bus to AK. Yes, it meant we had to pack up the two toddlers and move, but the benefit of not having to deal with the double stroller on the bus far out weighed that one time move process. Split stays aren't for everyone, but it worked well for us. We took the approach of going to AK on our move day (and we only had 1 AK day), so that was the only day of our trip that we had to take the bus.