Good the bad and the ugly 5 resort changes!

[jillianjewels]

Well we made our trip in mid December. Crowds were not bad, most days if you could avoid the afternoon.
Our stay began at Animal Kingdom Villas. We stayed in a studio and it had plenty of room. The noise was horrible we were right next to the elevator and the noise was horrible. Didn't sleep for 4 days. The resort was very nice. It was a hike to get to the rooms. A good 10 minute walk to the lobby from the zebra trail. We enjoyed the food at Mara. The pool was a little on the cold side. During the day and at night the animals were seen, but they stayed so far back that it wasn't all that neat. I wouldn' waste money on a view room. The resort is a drive to the parks. You must have a car, the busses take forever and the majority are full and we did have to wait on December 9th for 45 minutes.

Next we stayed off site at Lake Bunena Vista suite and spa.
We had a 2 bedroom and it was huge and in great shape. We spent 2 days here and enjoyed seeing fireworks from our balcony at night. Regarding the balcony our lock did not work and we called the front desk and the sent someone immediatly at 10 pm at night. We were on the 13 floor. It was a very nice. The pirate pool was cool and the slide was a huge hit with the kids. The have a pizza hut and a small store on site. If you like to shop they are right next to the outlet stores. It was a 10 minute drive to the parks.

Next we stayed in a one bedroom at Saratoga. We were able to check-in to our room at 8am. This room was huge and my favorite of all the resorts. We stayed in the Paddock. It had a small pool and hot tub close by. We used the boat service to downtown disney and it was only a five minute trip. We did do the DVC tour and enjoyed it. They gave us a $100 gift card and the kids got ice cream. It only took 90 minutes.

Next stop Beach Club Villas. We checked in at 8 am room was not ready. Came back 3 times and room was not ready until 5 pm. The staff here is very rude and the rooms are a hike to reach. We loved walking the boardwalk it was never busy and it only took 10 minutes to walk to epcot. We ate at the pub one night and loved it. The beer was very good too, they brew onsite.

Last stop Old key west. This was our last night and we had a studio. These rooms really need some updating. We were in builing 44. You needed to use your car or take the bus to get to the main pool. This room was very quite and clean. We spent alot of time at the main pool. The kids loved the sand and the activities at the pool including Bingo. The staff was great every where on property. We even asked for late check-out and they let us stay till 1pm for no charge so we could enjoy the pool.

We used the dinning plan and loved it. It saved us $50 or more per day.
I would be glad to answer any questions you might have. We hope to go back soon. Who knows we still have a few more deluxes to discover.

My only advice is not to take flights with lay overs in December. This made flying a nightmare with the snow all over the place. I would gladly pay to fly direct next year!

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

Wow! How come 5 resorts in one trip - did you want to try them all?

We had a room by the elevator at the Wilderness Lodge Villas last year and I concur about the noise! I never realized how much noise people make as they are exiting elevators ... kids yelling, grown ups laughing and yelling at the kids or people just talking in loud excited voices - even normal voices seem to carry so much. When you are further from the elevators, not everyone walks by your room so you "miss out" on a lot of the noise, but when you are right by the elevator you hear every last person (those heading down your hall, those going down another hall...) ... and often people travelling together separate at the elevator and spend time talking right there about their plans or yell "see you in the morning!"

 

[jillianjewels]

Wow! How come 5 resorts in one trip - did you want to try them all? We got great deals and wanted to stay on property. We had never stayed on property and we are thinking about becoming dvc members we thought this might be good way to check things out.

We had a room by the elevator at the Wilderness Lodge Villas last year and I concur about the noise! I never realized how much noise people make as they are exiting elevators ... kids yelling, grown ups laughing and yelling at the kids or people just talking in loud excited voices - even normal voices seem to carry so much. When you are further from the elevators, not everyone walks by your room so you "miss out" on a lot of the noise, but when you are right by the elevator you hear every last person (those heading down your hall, those going down another hall...) ... and often people travelling together separate at the elevator and spend time talking right there about their plans or yell "see you in the morning!"

Our problem wasn't the people leaving the elevator it was the elevator. It sounded like whales swimming above us. It was awful.
you live and learn..