I’m Baaack….torn choosing a resort

[zdad59]

Hello all. Been using DisBoards for years. Love everyone’s insights. Our last trip was in spring 2023. We stayed at Pop and loved the Skyliner. Trip before that was at Beach Club. Loved the location, Skyliner and pool there.

This trip will be in September. 2nd week. We’ve narrowed to three locations. All using the 5 day price promotion.
— Beach Club. ~$3925.
— Wilderness Lodge ~$3620
— Pop Century ~$2260

All are standard location, 5 day park hopper, 5 nights in the hotel. We have stayed in all of them before and like all 3 for different reasons.

If we chose Pop, we could add an extra day.
Location of Beach Club is prime.
Wilderness Lodge is so peaceful.

We are torn.

WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE.

TIA for your thoughts.

 

[Laura's Dad]

Beach Club

 

[eticketplease]

Is there one particular park you plan on visiting more often?

BC & Pop you can easily get to both HS & Epcot whereas WL will get you to MK easily.

Also you said 5 days you will be going on your trip.
Will you be going both Monday & Wednesday?

If you will be there on Mon & Wed I would pick BC or WL as they are deluxe resorts and they would offer you the Extra Evening hours that are not offered at POP.

I would personally pick WL unless I was doing a lot of Food & Wine over at Epcot in which case I would gravitate towards Beach Club.

 

[zdad59]

Is there one particular park you plan on visiting more often?

BC & Pop you can easily get to both HS & Epcot whereas WL will get you to MK easily.

Also you said 5 days you will be going on your trip.
Will you be going both Monday & Wednesday?

If you will be there on Mon & Wed I would pick BC or WL as they are deluxe resorts and they would offer you the Extra Evening hours that are not offered at POP.

I would personally pick WL unless I was doing a lot of Food & Wine over at Epcot in which case I would gravitate towards Beach Club.

We’re doing a Saturday-Thursday. So the extra evening hours are a real perk. Thanks.

 

[We’reAllMadHere]

With 5 nights and 5 park days it doesn’t seem like you’re planning much relaxing at the resort? If that’s the case, I’d take the money/extra day at Pop. If money isn’t a concern then BC. I think WL is lovely but I don’t see the appeal in being that far from most things unless you really love the resort and the ambiance and want to spend some time there.

 

[gottalovepluto]

My last couple Sept trips have had torrential downpours at different times in combo with T-Storms. T-Storms take down the Skyliner so if it's in the budget I'd rather not stay along the Skyliner in Sept even if it means one less day on the trip. So, that would narrow it down to Beach or WL. From there I prefer BC as EP World Showcase is my favorite place for dinner & the weather puts a damper on getting in/out of EP unless you're staying walking distance. But, you really can't go wrong! WL is lovely and if you're more MK focused than EP focused that would give it a leg up on BC!

 

[mort1331]

I would go for Pop,,,you know what it is like. Its actually close to Beach Club due to skyliner, just no access to the pool. It is a lot cheaper, and you can use that money towards nice dinner and drinks.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It seems like a lot of $$ to stay at either BC or WL if you’ll be in the parks every day.

An extra night at Pop would probably sell me on that.

 

[eticketplease]

We’re doing a Saturday-Thursday. So the extra evening hours are a real perk. Thanks.

Yes we think they are valuable.

We spend the first half of the day in a different park and then hop over to the park holding the extra hours later in the evening.

Unlike Early hours which allows all guests staying on WDW property to have 30 minutes extra in the morning these two hours are limited to deluxe resorts only.
This cuts down on the amount of people in the park significantly and you can walk on a lot of rides. If they are still doing the VQ then for Guardians you will also have another chance to get that at 6 PM.

For the most part the EEH are Epcot on Mon and MK on Wed but because you will be going during MNSSHP it will most likely be Epcot on Mon and HS on Wed.
With that being the case it might be better to book BC to walk back from Epcot and take skyliner from HS during EEH but I would rather save the $300 as if the bus is not fast enough I can grab 2 Minnie Vans/Ubers/lyfts and still save $$

 

[Karalee402]

I completely agree about making use of the EEHs. That plus the proximity to Epcot and HS would make me lean BC for sure. We always get SO much done in those hours!

 

[We’reAllMadHere]

I completely agree about making use of the EEHs. That plus the proximity to Epcot and HS would make me lean BC for sure. We always get SO much done in those hours!

EEHs are super valuable but for $1700 difference between Pop and BC, you could buy After Hours or Halloween party tickets and still have money to spare.

 

[zdad59]

EEHs are super valuable but for $1700 difference between Pop and BC, you could buy After Hours or Halloween party tickets and still have money to spare.

That’s the big dilemma. We tend to be park people. We do like to come back to the resort midday for a nap and to sit in the jacuzzi at the end of the day to relax a bit. The price differential allows us a whole extra day but the amenities at BC or WL are awesome. UGH

 

[We’reAllMadHere]

That’s the big dilemma. We tend to be park people. We do like to come back to the resort midday for a nap and to sit in the jacuzzi at the end of the day to relax a bit. The price differential allows us a whole extra day but the amenities at BC or WL are awesome. UGH

Have you looked at renting DVC? Beach Club might be hard during F&W, I’m not sure, but it might offset some of the cost difference.

 

[Mouse Tracker]

I've never stayed at WL (hope to some day). It does seem to be out of the way when thinking about a midday break. Not sure how long of a break you take but it might cut 3-4 hours out of the middle of the day due to the transportation part.

Since your "park people" I'd say it's between BC or Pop.

While the EEHs are a perk, they are in contrast to "Relaxing at the 'end' of the day" (end meaning park close).

I pick Pop. Splurge on some stuff with the extra cash. (fireworks viewing dessert party, nice TS meal, upgraded airline ticket)

 

[MICKIMINI]

WL is gorgeous and might be worth a try! Hop on a boat and head to MK and you can transfer to hop on the EPCOT monorail. If you love US National Parks, you will love it! Enjoy!

 

[ktink]

I would go w/ WL or BC. We love the extra hours for deluxe guests. We were there the first wk of September 2024 & had Epcot on Monday & MK on Wednesday.

 

[eticketplease]

That’s the big dilemma. We tend to be park people. We do like to come back to the resort midday for a nap and to sit in the jacuzzi at the end of the day to relax a bit. The price differential allows us a whole extra day but the amenities at BC or WL are awesome. UGH

You won't be doing that at POP.

You can get one at Caribbean beach that has the skyliner or of course the deluxe properties you are already looking at.

 

[brockash]

Hello all. Been using DisBoards for years. Love everyone’s insights. Our last trip was in spring 2023. We stayed at Pop and loved the Skyliner. Trip before that was at Beach Club. Loved the location, Skyliner and pool there.

This trip will be in September. 2nd week. We’ve narrowed to three locations. All using the 5 day price promotion.
— Beach Club. ~$3925.
— Wilderness Lodge ~$3620
— Pop Century ~$2260

All are standard location, 5 day park hopper, 5 nights in the hotel. We have stayed in all of them before and like all 3 for different reasons.

If we chose Pop, we could add an extra day.
Location of Beach Club is prime.
Wilderness Lodge is so peaceful.

We are torn.

WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE.

TIA for your thoughts.

We would not stay at a skyliner resort in Aug./September. We did it once and won't stay during rainier months. We love it when it's working, but it has a high likelihood of going down A LOT in Sept. due to storms (often daily) and unfortunately in our opinion Disney just does not have a great back up system yet in place. The communication about the status of skyliner is virtually nonexistent and it seems all CMs are confused and buses take quite a while to get rolling when it goes down. So, for us Pop would not be in the equation. - I'd rather just stay at an All Star. We love BC, but if you don't plan on having at least a pool day or two; may not be worth the money. WL is fine too, but again for a short park focused stay; I'd probably just do an All Star.

 

[elvispursley]

Given you’re going 2nd week in Sep (we’re looking at that same week), I’d lean towards BC or WL given those near-daily T-storms that can shut down the skyliner. Do you take afternoon rest breaks? If so, I’d likely do BC, just for all the transportation options.

 

[Genie+]

Pop or BC.

With all the money saved from Pop, you could use uber when convenient, stock up on all the LLs and maybe even add an After Hours ticket. You could get so much done. Save alot of time and energy.

BC is a great splurge. If you plan many pool breaks may be worth it.