Can't Decide

[KBarber]

My family and I will be staying in WDW for our first time. We visited once before last year and we stayed offsite. We currently have reservations for the BC (yet I am not totally sold on this resort), and I was thinking maybe about resort hopping. How does that sound? I really like the looks of WL, but I like the location of the BC. Some of the things we are intersted in doing are....

Fantasmic Dinner Package;
Illuminations Criuse;
California Grill to view Wishes;
BASS Fishing
Hoop Dee-Doo Musical Review (already have ressies )

Does anybody have any ideas or suggestions? I have been told to just stay at the BC because of the location, but I am not sure if that is the right place for us. We have two boys 9 and 7. We do not plan on spending a ton of time at one particular park because we love them all .

HELP me please make up my mind!

 

[palmtreegirl]

A split stay BC/WL could be a lot of fun because the theming is so different between the two!

When you're at the WL you can take a boat to the MK and over to the Contemporary to go to the California Grill. Then when you go to the Hoop de Doo just hop a boat or even walk over to Fort Wilderness. The Electric water parade also appears every night on the lake in front of the lodge, it's really cute and a great way to end the night.


Then when you're at the Beach Club you can split your time between Epcot & MGM since you can walk or take a boat to both parks. You can also do your bass fishing & Illuminations cruise while your there.

Between the two resorts of you time the stay right, the only time you'll have to take a bus is to get to AK or DTD.

Have fun planning!

 

[Ladyhawke10]

My family and I will be staying in WDW for our first time. We visited once before last year and we stayed offsite. We currently have reservations for the BC (yet I am not totally sold on this resort), and I was thinking maybe about resort hopping. How does that sound? I really like the looks of WL, but I like the location of the BC. Some of the things we are intersted in doing are....

Fantasmic Dinner Package;
Illuminations Criuse;
California Grill to view Wishes;
BASS Fishing
Hoop Dee-Doo Musical Review (already have ressies )

Does anybody have any ideas or suggestions? I have been told to just stay at the BC because of the location, but I am not sure if that is the right place for us. We have two boys 9 and 7. We do not plan on spending a ton of time at one particular park because we love them all .

HELP me please make up my mind!

I love to switch resorts during our WDW vacations. I like varying the distances between the parks and being close to different things. Our next trip we are going to AKL/ Poly/ BC villas. This way, we can be close to AK and spend time at the AKL restaurants and activities for a few days, then switch to the Poly for close access to MK and our favorite monorail resort restaurants and activities, and then switch to the BC villas for Epcot/ MGM time--plus we get to enjoy all the ambience each resort has to offer--it's like having three vacations in one!

I think staying between the Beach Club and WL would be a great combination

 

[My2Cinderellas]

split stays are much harder to do if you are interested in the dining plan. if you're not, then go for the split stay!

 

[robinb]

How long are you planning to stay? I would not recommend a resort switch with less than 3-4 days at each location.

The other thing I want to say, is that you have 4 BIG night-time events scheduled: Hoop dee Doo, the Cruise, California Grill and Fantasmic! All of them will take up you entire evening with no time left in the parks, plus all of them will result in late nights. Do you really want to do that?

BTW ... I read some of your other posts and you are very leery of BC. What would be your second choice? Be aware that every single resort (including the Grand Floridean) gets good and bad reviews here. We have been very happy with our Beach Club Villas stays (our last in August 2005). Have you looked into renting DVC points for a studio?

 

[KBarber]

split stays are much harder to do if you are interested in the dining plan. if you're not, then go for the split stay!

Why is a split more difficult with the dining plan?

 

[KBarber]

How long are you planning to stay? I would not recommend a resort switch with less than 3-4 days at each location.

The other thing I want to say, is that you have 4 BIG night-time events scheduled: Hoop dee Doo, the Cruise, California Grill and Fantasmic! All of them will take up you entire evening with no time left in the parks, plus all of them will result in late nights. Do you really want to do that?

BTW ... I read some of your other posts and you are very leery of BC. What would be your second choice? Be aware that every single resort (including the Grand Floridean) gets good and bad reviews here. We have been very happy with our Beach Club Villas stays (our last in August 2005). Have you looked into renting DVC points for a studio?

I am very leary of the BC and I am not sure why. We are staying for six nights. I do not know what my second choice would be probably AKL or WL. There are specific things I like about the BC, AKL and WL so it is difficult to say.

We do not plan doing any nights in the parks, so I thought special events would be cool. I do have one rest day planned - Thanksgiving day with dinner at California Grill.

 

[InstImpres]

Kim, I sent you a PM

 

[My2Cinderellas]

Why is a split more difficult with the dining plan?

here's how my TA explained it to me - the only way to get the dining credits is with a Magic Your Way with Dining package. 2 resorts means 2 different packages. You have to buy at least a 1 day ticket for each person with each package, and a 6-day plus a 1-day ticket is more expensive than a 7-day ticket. Plus you have to keep track of your dining credits more closely. All dining credits on the first package expire the day you check out of the first resort, they don't carry over to the rest of your stay.

In the interest of simplicity, I chose not to do a split stay this time since we will be using the dining plan.

 

[robinb]

I am very leary of the BC and I am not sure why. We are staying for six nights. I do not know what my second choice would be probably AKL or WL. There are specific things I like about the BC, AKL and WL so it is difficult to say.

One thing that happens to even the most seasoned DISer is what I call "Resort Creep". You start out just wanting to stay on-site and then *bam* you're signed up at the Polynesian in a Lagoon View Concierge room . It happens to a lot of new DISers too. Did you start out with the Deluxes, or did Resort Creep get to you?

What are your needs and requirements? Do you really need a Deluxe? Have you considered Coronado Springs? It's a moderate, with Deluxe leanings. What is it that you like about BC, AKL and WL that you like? What don't like about the other Deluxes? All three of your choices have pluses and minuses. What's most important? The *best* pool? Then go with the BC. Bunk beds? WL or AKL. Getting away from it all? AKL is the way to go. Easy access to the MK? Then WL. Easy access to Epcot? Then BC. Animals outside your room? AKL.

Also, is the dining plan important? You can rent a studio villa from a DVC member for your approximate dates (I checked 11/20 - 11/27 2006) at Boardwalk Villas for 89 points for a standard view (front of the resort) or 107 points for a preferred view (Boardwalk (if booked very early) or pool). At the "going rate" of $10 per point that's $890 or $1070 inclusive of all taxes. You can also book a Studio at Beach Club Villas for $1070.

The good (?) news is that you have many months to agonize over this, LOL. I know how you feel. I have been known to change my reservation a time or two along the way.

 

[iliketoby]

I don't like to resort hop, because of having to pack everything up to move(more wrinkles and having to seperate dirty/wet from clean/dry), then pack it all up again to go home. Also, we like the mid-day break, and if you check out of one place in the a.m. but can't check-in at the new place until late afternoon, there isn't anywhere to go. My humble advice is to pick a hotel and stick with it.

I love both hotels. If you'll be driving, I don't think it makes a whole lot of difference where you stay. If you're using WDW transportation, Beach Club has to get my nod. It has the shortest walk to Epcot anywhere, and you can take a boat to MGM. WL has a boat to the MK, the rest is busses.

 

[KBarber]

here's how my TA explained it to me - the only way to get the dining credits is with a Magic Your Way with Dining package. 2 resorts means 2 different packages. You have to buy at least a 1 day ticket for each person with each package, and a 6-day plus a 1-day ticket is more expensive than a 7-day ticket. Plus you have to keep track of your dining credits more closely. All dining credits on the first package expire the day you check out of the first resort, they don't carry over to the rest of your stay.

In the interest of simplicity, I chose not to do a split stay this time since we will be using the dining plan.

Wow! That is totally confusing I think after reading your post and others we will stay at one resort. I don't want to have to worry about credits and stuff while trying to have fun. Sounds a little to stressful and I add enough stress to myself as it is.

 

[pedro2112]

Wow! That is totally confusing I think after reading your post and others we will stay at one resort. I don't want to have to worry about credits and stuff while trying to have fun. Sounds a little to stressful and I add enough stress to myself as it is.

actually, keeping track of the credits should not be the main worry of a dining plan split stay, it really isn't that difficult at all. Your credits will be kept track of on your reciepts and in the resort front desk. However, the cost factor is significant. In your case, let's assume your family of four will be staying six nights and wants six days of park passes. If you stayed in one resort, you'd get a six day MYW ticket costing $706.00. If you split stay, you must have a MYW package to use the dining plan, so you would need to buy at least one days worth of tickets in order to get the dining plan. The cheapest way to do this would be to buy a five day MYW pass for everyone and a seperate one day MYW pass for everyone on the second plan. This costs $911.00, so you are spending over $200.00 just to be able to do the split stay.