Comforts of Home or Comforts of the Monorail?

[264life]

I am in the early stages of planning a week at Disney for next June. Whenever we travel (2 adults, 2 kids 5 & 14)we stay in hotels that offer a kitchen or at least a kitchenette because the adults are on diets and the kids are just plain picky. My husband is saying he would like to give up the convenience of the kitchen in favor of staying at a monorail resort. I'm not so sure. The monorail resorts seem great for cutting down travel time to the parks, but I think the hassle of coordinating 3 meals a day will be worse.

What would you do? We definitely want to stay on site but are waffling between monorail resorts or villa type resorts.

Thanks for any input!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Take the monorail resorts! Plus half the fun of planning a Disney trip is figuring out where to eat - there are so many great places to choose from.

 

[alyssa810]

If you get a room with a fridge, you can easily have cereal or bagels for breakfast, or even pick up donuts and fruit...it can be done!

 

[MissionMouse]

You have plenty of time before your trip to research and plan but I would recommend a monorail resort for something new.

You can do a little research on special dietary dining at http://www.allearsnet.com/din/special.htm and if you have the budget you could consider concierge and let them plan everything, plus your ADR's coupled with your special diet requirements

 

[SB in KY]

Just to play the devils advocate here....I would consider a home away from home....for the price of a low end room at a monorail resort (or a little less) you could rent points from a DVC member and have a huge 1BR villa at OKW (or a slightly smaller one at VWL, BC, BW) with a jacuzzi tub, full kitchen, washer dryer, 2 TV's DVD player, etc. It is SOOO nice to come back to all that space and at home atmosphere for a break in the middle of a hot park day and at night.

Your kids are old enough that while being on the monorail is nice, it is no longer a necessity....and riding buses isn't bad. We love to eat out and my kids are certainly not picky eaters, but we still love the convienence of being able to do breakfast and 1 other meal in the room....just eating out once a day is plenty for us. Your kids might also enjoy some of the activities and free recreation at the DVC resorts also.

For less than the price of a view room at the Poly or CR tower or GF room you could even have a 2BR villa....a bed for each of the kids and another bath and TV. If it was just for a couple of nights I might be tempted to go with a resort room...but for a week I would opt for the space and the kitchen.

 

[patsal]

The monorail only provides true convienience to one park--MK. To go to Epcot you have to switch monorails to get there which loses some convienience. I resort hop for that very reason. A few days at WLV for the quick trip to MK, a few days at BCV for the quick trip to Epcot and MGM and/or a centrally located resort and a car for quick trips everywhere except MK--I refuse to deal with that parking lot! Now if the monorail really went everywhere--no contest on a monorail resort!

 

[264life]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Wow! I love that allearsnet web site! A perfect companion to this site. After viewing the photo slide shows of the resorts I do believe a villa is the way to go. The hotel rooms are just too small for our family (we don't like each other that much! )

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

You may want to go over to the Disney Vacation Club threads. You can rent points from someone over there and save a lot of money over the Disney rates.
I agree that staying in a Villa like the Boardwalk or Beach Club is the better choice. It is great to be able to walk or boat over to both Epcot and the Disney Studios.

 

[BCV23]

Just wanted to add that there is one resort with monorail convenience to two parks. That is the Polynesian. To get to Epcot you make the very short walk to the TTC which is adjacent to the Polynesian. Some longhouses are closer to the TTC than the GCH at the Polynesian.

We usually split our stays between the Polynesian and BCV these days. It is a very nice way to go for us.

Happy planning.

 

[webray]

It depends on what monorail resort you are looking at, the only one with a really great restaurant option is the Poly (Kona Cafe).

The contemporary has that fast food area and I wouldn't want to have to rely on that all week. Also, if you are looking at Contemporary, it is quicker to walk to MK than take the monorail.

Grand Floridian..ugh is all we can say there from our experience.

We love staying at the home away from home resorts. And the monorail never wins out for us. Your kids are big so any type of transportation is easy for you.

 

[BCV23]

Oh, Webray I so disagree with you about dining choices in monorail resorts. Well, I totally agree that Kona is wonderful for all three meals. And the new Captain Cooks is supposed to have many more selections once it opens.

But for dinner on the monorail circuit, there are GREAT choices. California Grill, Citricos, Narcoossee's, Contemporary Steakhouse, Grand Floridian Cafe are all excellent places to dine as well as Kona. And of course, Victoria & Alberts! For breakfast and lunch, Kona and GFCafe are great and the Contemprary Steakhouse is another option. Plus it is great fun to use the monorail for transportation to meals.

 

[HillPete]

The 'best of both worlds' idea I came up with is Villas at Wilderness Lodge. You can take a boat to the Contemp. and ride the monorail from there.
Just an idea...

--H