Honeymoon 2.0

[Theactualdisneyprincess]

Based on current events, we are trying the whole honeymoon thing again for fall of 2021.

8 nights at WDW. Originally we had planned AKL Club Level, with CL’s most attractive feature being signature services and the CLFP program. If that goes away, we may just do without CL.

Since our stay will be around the 50th, we are not sure that it’s in our best interests to be far away from MK/Epcot. At least not for the later part of our stay.

Where would you recommend going that is closer to the action, but maybe not as pricey as the monorail resorts? I’m thinking Beach Club or Boardwalk?

 

[CastAStone]

Boardwalk is right in between DHS and Epcot. It's a really easy walk to Epcot and not too bad of one to DHS. Beach Club is walkable to DHS in the sense that there is a path from one to the other, but it's not that close, on the other hand, you can practically fall out the back door of Beach Club into Epcot (but it's an Exit only door!). I think both would be fantastic honeymoon options if you all are into restaurants; World Showcase is a 5 minute walk away and the Boardwalk and all it's restaurants are right there as well.

 

[Theactualdisneyprincess]

Boardwalk is right in between DHS and Epcot. It's a really easy walk to Epcot and not too bad of one to DHS. Beach Club is walkable to DHS in the sense that there is a path from one to the other, but it's not that close, on the other hand, you can practically fall out the back door of Beach Club into Epcot (but it's an Exit only door!). I think both would be fantastic honeymoon options if you all are into restaurants; World Showcase is a 5 minute walk away and the Boardwalk and all it's restaurants are right there as well.

Thinking Boardwalk or Wilderness Lodge or somewhere around there. I just feel overwhelmed with choices with all of the unknowns right now and wanting this to be a perfect trip with how much that we have had to change (wedding and otherwise).

 

[Theactualdisneyprincess]

Hello all!

Fiancé and I are trying another stab at a *hopefully less chaotic* honeymoon next fall, immediately following our postponed cruise.

We will be doing 8 nights at the resorts, surrounding MK’s 50th anniversary. We had planned AKL Club Level for our original honeymoon, but now we downgraded and saved the $ and will be calling it our “fake honeymoon.”

I’m leaving it up to my fiancé since I’m just happy to be in Disney, but I do want to do club level for at least part of the trip. However, if the CLFP program radically changes or drops, I am fine with not doing club level.

I am thinking to do Animal Kingdom Lodge Club Level for first 5 nights and Polynesian Theme-Park view (non-club level) for the final 3. Does that make the most sense price-wise? Should we save and do a different view in your opinion?

Our TA suggests booking all 8 nights right now with the hardest reservation (suggesting Poly- Theme Park Club Level) and downgrading as pricing changes and evolves over the next 18 months. She said AKL isn’t too difficult to book.

Any thoughts or recommendations are greatly appreciated!

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I’d rent DVC points to save money. They do have DVC club level rooms at AKV but they’re very hard to get since they’re the only DVC club level rooms on property. Even so, I think renting points you’d save so much money it may be worth it to forego the club level. You could even add a day or two with the savings. And Poly Tokelau DVC building has some nice lagoon/castle view rooms that are considered standard view, therefore less points. We love Tokelau for that reason and we’ve always gotten our requested room. Just a thought.

 

[Theactualdisneyprincess]

I’d rent DVC points to save money. They do have DVC club level rooms at AKV but they’re very hard to get since they’re the only DVC club level rooms on property. Even so, I think renting points you’d save so much money it may be worth it to forego the club level. You could even add a day or two with the savings. And Poly Tokelau DVC building has some nice lagoon/castle view rooms that are considered standard view, therefore less points. We love Tokelau for that reason and we’ve always gotten our requested room. Just a thought.

Thank you for the tip. We are pretty loyal to our TA and would want her to get credit after all of the work that she has done for us, but I’ve done DVC before and agree that it’s great to save $.

I’m just torn on which option to go with.

 

[Marionnette]

DVC rentals thru brokers are a mess right now. I would not recommend it to someone looking to stay next fall. The OP has a TA and should probably stick with them for guidance.

Personally, I would reverse the order of your resorts - Poly first for its proximity to the MK and easy access to the EPCOT monorail. And then AKL CL, if that’s where you want to stay. Going from CL to a regular room would be a bit of a letdown.

 

[Theactualdisneyprincess]

DVC rentals thru brokers are a mess right now. I would not recommend it to someone looking to stay next fall. The OP has a TA and should probably stick with them for guidance.

Personally, I would reverse the order of your resorts - Poly first for its proximity to the MK and easy access to the EPCOT monorail. And then AKL CL, if that’s where you want to stay. Going from CL to a regular room would be a bit of a letdown.

I was also thinking that renting secondhand seems like a mess right now and if this happened again, I’d be so sad.

 

[Theactualdisneyprincess]

DVC rentals thru brokers are a mess right now. I would not recommend it to someone looking to stay next fall. The OP has a TA and should probably stick with them for guidance.

Personally, I would reverse the order of your resorts - Poly first for its proximity to the MK and easy access to the EPCOT monorail. And then AKL CL, if that’s where you want to stay. Going from CL to a regular room would be a bit of a letdown.

Also, partially why we would do monorail stay for second part is because it’s closer to MK and the second part of the stay is the weekend of the anniversary.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Hello all!

Fiancé and I are trying another stab at a *hopefully less chaotic* honeymoon next fall, immediately following our postponed cruise.

We will be doing 8 nights at the resorts, surrounding MK’s 50th anniversary. We had planned AKL Club Level for our original honeymoon, but now we downgraded and saved the $ and will be calling it our “fake honeymoon.”

I’m leaving it up to my fiancé since I’m just happy to be in Disney, but I do want to do club level for at least part of the trip. However, if the CLFP program radically changes or drops, I am fine with not doing club level.

I am thinking to do Animal Kingdom Lodge Club Level for first 5 nights and Polynesian Theme-Park view (non-club level) for the final 3. Does that make the most sense price-wise? Should we save and do a different view in your opinion?

Our TA suggests booking all 8 nights right now with the hardest reservation (suggesting Poly- Theme Park Club Level) and downgrading as pricing changes and evolves over the next 18 months. She said AKL isn’t too difficult to book.

Any thoughts or recommendations are greatly appreciated!

I don't think doing AKL CL and Poly TPV, non CL is going to be much of a money-saver over the original 8 nights AKL, CL you had booked. Poly-TPV is quite expensive. It's usually cheaper to do Poly, Garden View, CL than it is to do non-CL Poly TPV, so you may want to check that out if you have any interest. I love the Hawaii building at Poly (the CL building) and particularly love the garden view as it's much more quiet than lagoon or TPV. You will also have a view of the lagoon, castle and fireworks in the Poly CL lounge. If noise bothers you at all, TPV at Poly is really loud (boats, fireworks, electric water pageant).

 

[Theactualdisneyprincess]

I don't think doing AKL CL and Poly TPV, non CL is going to be much of a money-saver over the original 8 nights AKL, CL you had booked. Poly-TPV is quite expensive. It's usually cheaper to do Poly, Garden View, CL than it is to do non-CL Poly TPV, so you may want to check that out if you have any interest. I love the Hawaii building at Poly (the CL building) and particularly love the garden view as it's much more quiet than lagoon or TPV. You will also have a view of the lagoon, castle and fireworks in the Poly CL lounge. If noise bothers you at all, TPV at Poly is really loud (boats, fireworks, electric water pageant).

That’s a great tip. My fiancé doesn’t sleep well where there is a lot of noise. My last stay at AKL was a DVC rental at Kidani which was pretty quiet, but I think CL is in Jambo and that seems nosier. Wonder if Poly CL GV is comparable price-wise?

 

[Lynne M]

I‘m going to merge the two “Honeymoon 2.0” threads.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

That’s a great tip. My fiancé doesn’t sleep well where there is a lot of noise. My last stay at AKL was a DVC rental at Kidani which was pretty quiet, but I think CL is in Jambo and that seems nosier. Wonder if Poly CL GV is comparable price-wise?

I would suggest going on the WDW site and pricing out your trip for the dates this year just to get a sense of what rack rate is for the resorts and room categories. From my own experience, AKL CL typically prices out around the same price as a regular lagoon view room at Poly with GV - CL being slightly more expensive (this is without discounts). You can also find 2019 rack rates for all resorts on Mousesavers if you want to see what current prices are based on dates. https://www.mousesavers.com/2020-disney-world-room-rates-season-dates/

I am also very sensitive to noise. Poly, in general, is not a very quiet resort with luau cove, the fireworks and the electric water pageant. AKL-CL may be a little better as there are no fireworks in the area, but with a regular hotel room, you always risk having people running down the hallways.

I have found the quietest rooms in WDW tend to be the 1-bedroom villas where there is no entrance door in the bedroom. If you can go without CL, perhaps consider doing a 1-bedroom at BCV or BWV? You would get a king bed, a separate living room and a full kitchen and washer/dryer. With the money you would save on CL, you could get a grocery delivery and stock your own fridge or even just get drinks and snacks in the QS. BCV is our absolute favorite - there is a lovely quiet pool right next to the building, you are literally steps from EP and the Skyliner and the QS and bus area are close by as well. BCV, in particular, I find to be very quiet. We always book directly through WDW (your TA can do this) as I am not keen on renting DVC points. Not cheap, but maybe consider doing a VIP tour on one of your days instead of the extra CL FP+?

Other options if you want a quieter room that includes CL would be the Outer Building-Garden Room at BWI (it looks like a little cottage) or a 1-bedroom suite at BC. They will probably price out more than AKL-CL, but I've found they are very often included in discounts, particularly the BWI Garden Room.

I know, it's a lot of choices and very overwhelming. If I were you, I would first choose the resort you really want to stay in and then pick a room category from there.

 

[Theactualdisneyprincess]

I would suggest going on the WDW site and pricing out your trip for the dates this year just to get a sense of what rack rate is for the resorts and room categories. From my own experience, AKL CL typically prices out around the same price as a regular lagoon view room at Poly with GV - CL being slightly more expensive (this is without discounts). You can also find 2019 rack rates for all resorts on Mousesavers if you want to see what current prices are based on dates. https://www.mousesavers.com/2020-disney-world-room-rates-season-dates/

I am also very sensitive to noise. Poly, in general, is not a very quiet resort with luau cove, the fireworks and the electric water pageant. AKL-CL may be a little better as there are no fireworks in the area, but with a regular hotel room, you always risk having people running down the hallways.

I have found the quietest rooms in WDW tend to be the 1-bedroom villas where there is no entrance door in the bedroom. If you can go without CL, perhaps consider doing a 1-bedroom at BCV or BWV? You would get a king bed, a separate living room and a full kitchen and washer/dryer. With the money you would save on CL, you could get a grocery delivery and stock your own fridge or even just get drinks and snacks in the QS. BCV is our absolute favorite - there is a lovely quiet pool right next to the building, you are literally steps from EP and the Skyliner and the QS and bus area are close by as well. BCV, in particular, I find to be very quiet. We always book directly through WDW (your TA can do this) as I am not keen on renting DVC points. Not cheap, but maybe consider doing a VIP tour on one of your days instead of the extra CL FP+?

Other options if you want a quieter room that includes CL would be the Outer Building-Garden Room at BWI (it looks like a little cottage) or a 1-bedroom suite at BC. They will probably price out more than AKL-CL, but I've found they are very often included in discounts, particularly the BWI Garden Room.

I know, it's a lot of choices and very overwhelming. If I were you, I would first choose the resort you really want to stay in and then pick a room category from there.

Does anybody have updated pricing for a vip tour? I want to say it was a few thousand for a small group last I remember.

 

[Theactualdisneyprincess]

I‘m going to merge the two “Honeymoon 2.0” threads.

Thank you

 

[nkereina]

Personally, I wouldn't want to do a split stay on an 8 night trip. You will need to dedicate time to packing/unpacking and getting between your new resorts with you luggage, unless you decide to have Disney transfer your luggage which can take the better part of a day. Also, to spend the money on Poly TPV, how much time will you be spending in your room and at the resort to enjoy it over 3 nights?

Your original post said you were considering Beach Club or Boardwalk, which would be my pick. For a honeymoon, there's a lot of great dining options and some evening entertainment around. You can easily walk or boat between DHS and Epcot or over to Swan/Dolphin, and you're close to the Skyliner if you want to check out Riviera. I like the look and feel of Beach Club better but you're wanting pool time, we prefer the calmer pool at Boardwalk.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Does anybody have updated pricing for a vip tour? I want to say it was a few thousand for a small group last I remember.

The price range is currently $425 - $750 per hour (depending on the date of the tour) with a 7 hour minimum. Some other good ways of getting more rides in without going the CL route is to do an After Hours party, Early Morning Magic or an Ultimate Day of Thrills tour - all of which are less expensive than doing a private VIP tour.

 

[Theactualdisneyprincess]

The price range is currently $425 - $750 per hour (depending on the date of the tour) with a 7 hour minimum. Some other good ways of getting more rides in without going the CL route is to do an After Hours party, Early Morning Magic or an Ultimate Day of Thrills tour - all of which are less expensive than doing a private VIP tour.

However, not all rides are available during those events.

 

[Theactualdisneyprincess]

Personally, I wouldn't want to do a split stay on an 8 night trip. You will need to dedicate time to packing/unpacking and getting between your new resorts with you luggage, unless you decide to have Disney transfer your luggage which can take the better part of a day. Also, to spend the money on Poly TPV, how much time will you be spending in your room and at the resort to enjoy it over 3 nights?

Your original post said you were considering Beach Club or Boardwalk, which would be my pick. For a honeymoon, there's a lot of great dining options and some evening entertainment around. You can easily walk or boat between DHS and Epcot or over to Swan/Dolphin, and you're close to the Skyliner if you want to check out Riviera. I like the look and feel of Beach Club better but you're wanting pool time, we prefer the calmer pool at Boardwalk.

Would you say overall that those resorts are quieter?

 

[CastAStone]

Would you say overall that those resorts are quieter?

Quieter in what sense? When you're in your room? Or when you're in public areas?