Change of Plans - Help!

[Raidra]

I called to book our Jan 2013 stay at the Contemporary and all the Garden Wing rooms are booked. Now I have to figure where else I might want to stay.

I have 4 kids, one of whom is under 3. I can't spend more than what the room at the Contemporary would have cost. I know we can do two rooms at a value or a family suite (we did two rooms at ASMu last year). Are there any other options? I was really looking forward to the ease of getting to/from MK and Epcot from the Contemporary. Is there anything else that's more convenient than the values without costing a fortune? We thought about the cabins at Fort Wilderness, but their transportation system looks like a pain. We won't have a car, and we'll be lugging a double stroller.

Thanks!

 

[mickeynut1]

I can't see how all of the garden wing rooms are already booked since the 2013 rates haven't even been released yet. You can book room only now by calling, but it's quoted at the highest rate for 2012 and adjusted once the 2013 rates are released. New rates usually come out in August, but the 2012 rates came out in early June 2011. My advice is to wait until the 2013 rates come out and try again as I'm sure there will be rooms available for your dates in January .

 

[Raidra]

Well, I called back and booked the first 5 nights in a Garden Wing room at the Contemporary, and the remainder of our stay at the Poly. So they have some rooms available, just not enough.

I'm looking at the Beach Club and Yacht Club now.. that might be a good compromise, and we could just try to organize our parks/ADRs by which hotel we're staying at.

 

[tinka-belle]

CR is a convention hotel, there may be a conference or event scheduled that rooms are blocked for. It's very unlikely that all of one category would be actually booked so far in advance, so the missing nights might be blocked by the event dept. They do release rooms when they have a better idea of what the event will use, so keep checking once your date is a few months out.

 

[Heather1979]

I can say this. I took my 2 year old and my 16 month old to the Hoop de Doo and got a taste of the campground. I would not want to stay there with a stroller to contend with. There's a bus within the resort area (seperate than say, the bus to Epcot), and I would hate to have to get on the bus and off the bus twice just to get somewhere. It looks like an awesome time in the cabins once the kiddos are old enough to ditch the stroller though.

 

[MMS1125]

I was going to suggest the Poly or BC You can put 5 + infant at either of those. Not 100% sure how they compare in price to the CR. You shouldn't have to change much if you stay at the Poly in terms or ADRs and dinner plans

FWIW..we love the poly

 

[Raidra]

I was going to suggest the Poly or BC You can put 5 + infant at either of those. Not 100% sure how they compare in price to the CR. You shouldn't have to change much if you stay at the Poly in terms or ADRs and dinner plans

FWIW..we love the poly

I'd love to stay at the Poly, but it's almost $100 more a night, compared with BC being $20 more a night.. at least, at 2012 rates. Who knows what it'll be for 2013. It wouldn't be a big deal if it was just a night or two, but we need 8 nights.

 

[Raidra]

CR is a convention hotel, there may be a conference or event scheduled that rooms are blocked for. It's very unlikely that all of one category would be actually booked so far in advance, so the missing nights might be blocked by the event dept. They do release rooms when they have a better idea of what the event will use, so keep checking once your date is a few months out.

That's interesting, I hadn't thought of that. I'll definitely keep checking.. although now that I've been looking at the BC/YC, I like what I see! Maybe we'd still do a split stay but just for more nights at the Contemporary.

 

[Qltrgrl2]

There should be discount codes available closer to the time as well. I stayed at the Poly in January for 4 nights ( during marathon weekend) and I got 40 percent off the room rate. It was a fabulous deal and I chose just the ordinary room with no view. By the way, the Poly is great with kids because you can see fireworks right from the beach and take either a monorail or boat to MK.

 

[pigletto]

To me, the convenience of the Epcot area resorts far outweighs the MK monorail resorts. I really liked the Poly but we LOVED being able to walk to two parks or catch the boat from the Boardwalk. Plus there's so many restaurants in walking distance! It was great

 

[Tltorrez]

Well, I called back and booked the first 5 nights in a Garden Wing room at the Contemporary, and the remainder of our stay at the Poly. So they have some rooms available, just not enough.

I'm looking at the Beach Club and Yacht Club now.. that might be a good compromise, and we could just try to organize our parks/ADRs by which hotel we're staying at.

We wanted the Contemporary on our first stay and couldn't get it. We ended up at BWV and loved it. Now it's our top choice every time. We love the resort and the location can't be beat.

Also, if you're concerned about price - the Swan and Dolphin are an option. We couldn't quite swing BWV on our last-minute Food & Wine trip. But we weren't willing to deal with buses when we were going to be in and out of Epcot every day. So we tried the Dolphin. I think if I went back I would prefer the (quieter) Swan but it was perfectly nice. Certainly better than trekking out to one of the Values.

 

[sharadoc]

If your trip is running into MLK weekend, that could be your problem. It does get very crowded then.