Better Resort vs. More Park Days (at Christmas)

[pjweaver]

True Jes, and my favorite resort will always be the beach club villas because of the walk to Epcot (my favorite park) and boats to HS. That being said, we run on a budget that may give us 3-4 days at BCV or Poly, or 7-10 days at Pop. I will tolerate an hour of waiting for a bus and the ride to a park for 7 days over the 3 days of monorail or boat service.

God knows I want to stay at the Contemporary for the short walk and especially after watching Pete's review, but its not in the cards for me at this time. My nightmare was AKL, A deluxe that we would spend 30 minutes waiting for any bus. A great resort, but we wanted to get to the parks rather than spend the day watching zebras. Our stay at WLV was amazing, but had the same problems with transportation. the bus to TTC was faster than the ferry that only went to MK anyway, and we had to share with FW.

In short, my vote is to visit the deluxe resorts, but not pay to stay there unless it is on the monorail loop or in walking distance/boat loop for MGM and Epcot.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I have only stayed on Disney property a few times but I shut the parks down - then hang out in downtown Disney so I'm never at the resorts! I find offsite one of floridas great budget hotels which are clean and close to Disney and use that savings to enjoy more of what I love

 

[Cherinva]

One resort on my to do list was the Poly. So one year, before a cruise, we went down a few days early and stayed at the Poly. While I LOVED the resort, we didn't spend much time there to really enjoy it. It was awesome to catch the monorail and go to Magic Kingdom but I'm not sure now looking back that the extra money was worth it. I don't regret staying there and I would again if the money presented itself. With that said, I would opt for a longer trip and at less expensive resort.

 

[Tom P.]

Everyone is making us seriously lean toward just returning to Art of Animation. It is definitely going to be far cheaper, and I think it's true that the kids would look at the Wilderness Lodge and be amazed for a brief period of time and then be over it.

Plus, I really have nothing to complain about at Art of Animation. The kids loved the pool and the arcade. The family suite was very spacious and comfortable. The cast members were fantastic. The food court was outstanding. Yeah, they don't have a table service restaurant, but we're generally eating at the parks or doing character dining anyway.

I'm sure that the Christmas decorations at Art of Animation won't be quite as impressive as they will be at Wilderness Lodge. But, then again, there won't be massive construction going on and it will be half the price. The biggest thing in Wilderness Lodge's favor, in my mind, is convenience, in that Magic Kingdom is the park we're at most and it has the boat launch. The bus between AoA and MK was frustratingly long at times, particularly at night when it was packed. But whether that convenience is worth the price, I don't know.

We're still debating, but I think learning toward Art of Animation.

 

[RookieLady]

I will add the WL places you at club level. For my family, that means I am not buying breakfast because I am eating in the club lounge. You have seven kids. Are you bringing breakfast or were you going to buy it? Factor that into the equation. I also get free wine/beer at least half the days of my stay, and my children snack in the lounge during the mid day break, instead of buying park snacks. Club isn't always more expensive if you consider the costs of the trip and not just the hotel. Of course, when you consider balancing that cost, you need to consider how you vacation (as opposed to me or anyone else--how are you eating and will you make use of the lounge).