Help wanted please- Family first time trip in Nov

[JB Smooth]

Going to WDW on Nov 2 with my wife and 2 girls- ages 6 and 8

right now im trying to book our hotel stay and we want to stay at one of the onsite resorts. I am going through Davids rentals and tried to get the Boardwalk, but its all sold out.

in our budget, here is what they have

Old Key West- Studio
Villas at Wilderness Lodge- Studio- $450 more for 6 nights($75/night)

My question is, of the two above which would you choose? Also, I read where the Villas at WL are not the same as the actual Wilderness Lodge, but its onsite. Is this a step down in quality and a pain to get to the buses and boat?

I see pros and cons of each. I love the look of the WL but im worried it might be too far from Disney Springs and Epcot/HS. We are getting the park hopper and spending two days at MK, so we were hoping to go to downtown and Epcot to eat at night since it will be during F&W festival. Is it a pain to get from WL to those?

 

[MimiOfTwo]

WL is under construction so I wouldn't want to stay there. Personally I'd rather stay at POFQ (moderate) than Old Key West. You'd have the boat to Disney Springs and a fairly quick bus ride to anywhere else.

 

[VAfamily1998]

You will be able to take the bus from Wilderness lodge to either Epcot or Disney Springs. It's actually very convenient.

Have you checked out the pricing for just a standard room at the Wilderness lodge, instead of renting points for a villas studio? If you rent points for the studio, you will not receive daily housekeeping (unless you want to pay an additional fee.) I feel like that is a deal breaker for me, which is why I've never looked into renting points--but maybe that's not a deal breaker for your family.

 

[shannonstar]

We ran into the same thing, but we choose VWL and then a move over to the BCV. I was willing to pay the extra.

We have stayed at OKW before and it was very nice. That being said, the bus waits were longer and the resort was enormous. We didn't really want to have to take a bus to get back and forth to the pool.

 

[loves to dive]

Have you tried just a regular room at BW? Or Swan/Dolphin?

 

[JB Smooth]

Boardwalk Villas and WL regular are out of budget. any other recommendations for better deals vs just going through disney website?

 

[Regan117]

WL is under construction so I wouldn't want to stay there. Personally I'd rather stay at POFQ (moderate) than Old Key West. You'd have the boat to Disney Springs and a fairly quick bus ride to anywhere else.

There probably won't be a ton of construction happening by November, so this may not be a deal breaker.

I'd choose VWL for sure. The resort is lovely, nice pool and restaurants. The boat ride to MK is great. You can also take the boat to the CR and then take the monorail to Epcot or MK, or just eat at one of the restaurants there. You aren't far from any of the parks, but you are closest to MK.

The villas are separate from the main lodge, but not vastly so. They share all of their amenities.

 

[JB Smooth]

i called and the construction is ending in April. said we will be good to go for November. ive never heard about the no housekeeping. can anyone else confirm>

 

[_auroraborealis_]

i called and the construction is ending in April.

FWIW, someone lied to you. The pool isn't even supposed to be open until summer.

When you rent DVC points, you do not get daily housekeeping. For a stay of 7 nights or less, you get Trash & Towel service on Day 4. That's also the only time you get toiletries, beds made or fresh coffee.

DVC is a timeshare. When you "rent points" you are actually renting a reservation at a DVC resort made for you by a DVC member. The member will control the reservation until you check in. Your booking is generally non-refundable and cannot be cancelled for refund due to the restrictions of a timeshare booking by the owner. You will often need to pay in full up front, versus the $200/first night's stay deposit on a booking with Disney. Any changes, special room requests or adding the dining plan have to be done through the owner. Dining plans must be paid in full at the time that they are added to the reservation because that's the way that DVC works.

It's also worth noting that beyond no housekeeping, you only get 1 real bed in a DVC studio anywhere but OKW. Otherwise, it;s a sofa bed and/or murphy bed.

 

[wilkeliza]

November will be very hard to get at DVC due to the Food and Wine Festival. The monorail resorts and Epcot area resorts pretty much book to capacity during that time.

WL is tough. I have always wanted to stay there but right now with construction I won't. Hard to tell what it will be like in November.

OKW is fine and the savings do make it seem like a better deal.

Just remember if you book through a DVC rental you have different terms and conditions then booking straight through Disney. So read over that to make sure you are good with those terms.

Yes if you are staying in a DVC booking then you only get housekeeping on a limited schedule. As silly as it is that is one reason we don't book DVC rentals as we like coming back to a clean room with fresh towels.

 

[JB Smooth]

well even if it says summer, im going in November. So you're saying in November i wont even be able to ride the monorail? i dont care about a limited schedule, if they come every other day or whatever. we dont care about daily service

 

[_auroraborealis_]

well even if it says summer, im going in November. So you're saying in November i wont even be able to ride the monorail? i dont care about a limited schedule, if they come every other day or whatever. we dont care about daily service

The monorail doesn't service Wilderness Lodge.

 

[JB Smooth]

i meant monorail from MK, if i take the boat from WL to monorail

 

[Regan117]

i called and the construction is ending in April. said we will be good to go for November. ive never heard about the no housekeeping. can anyone else confirm>

You won't get housekeeping if you rent points. You are also locked in, and if you cancel, you can't get a refund and you have to pay in full up front. If those terms don't work, you can reserve a villa directly through Disney, but it will be more expensive.

 

[JB Smooth]

ok good to know. Its $200 cheaper per night to do the points. IS booking through disney the only way to book one of the resorts on site?

 

[Regan117]

ok good to know. Its $200 cheaper per night to do the points. IS booking through disney the only way to book one of the resorts on site?

No. You can book through other places, websites, travel agents, etc. We usually book through Disney directly because we tend to get pretty good deals. But it just depends on the where and when. When you rent points, you don't control the reservation...so that is something to consider.

 

[jscottnc]

Sleeping arrangements is an issue no one has mentioned. OKW studio has two queen-size beds. VWL (BRV) has one queen size bed, one twin sofa sleeper and one pull down bunk. My daughter prefers a real bed. Your girls may prefer separate sleeping arrangements. If you can get a studio near the Hospitality house, the size of the OKW property will be less of an issue. OTOH, Wilderness Lodge!

 

[DisBuckMan]

WL is under construction so I wouldn't want to stay there. Personally I'd rather stay at POFQ (moderate) than Old Key West. You'd have the boat to Disney Springs and a fairly quick bus ride to anywhere else.

OKW also has boat service to Disney Springs.

 

[DisBuckMan]

Sleeping arrangements is an issue no one has mentioned. OKW studio has two queen-size beds. VWL (BRV) has one queen size bed, one twin sofa sleeper and one pull down bunk. My daughter prefers a real bed. Your girls may prefer separate sleeping arrangements. If you can get a studio near the Hospitality house, the size of the OKW property will be less of an issue. OTOH, Wilderness Lodge!

The sofa sleeper at VWL is full size, not twin.

 

[JB Smooth]

ive read where its a major pain in the butt to do the boat to Disney Springs from OKW. Said lines can take an hour plus