I am overwhelmed!!

[Tarpon]

I am planning a week long vacation to Disney & Universal, with my wife and 7-year old son. My head is spinning reading all this informaion.

We are planning to arrive on Saturday August 27th and stay at Disney for 4 nights and then move to Universal for 3 nights.

At Disney I am looking for the best Deluxe resort for us. I don't foresee us spending all day at the parks. My son loves water and we may spend some time at the pool and also one day at Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. Location is important for transportation sake. My son is also a picky eater, so availability of great variety of kids' food in the resort we stay in is important. This will be my son's first visit.

I am looking for recommendations on what could be best for us. I also have several questions.

1. Do we have to pay per person per night? For example, if AKL costs $199/night, do we have to pay 3 times that per night because we are three in the party? Or do we just pay $199/night?

2. Are tickets for Blizzard Beach & Typhoon Lagoon separate Disney tickets?
What is available in terms of drying up after playing in water in these two parks? DO they provide towels, hair dryer, etc?

3. Is it better to go directly through Disney Travel or outside agency?

I am sure I wil have a million other questions, but this is a start.

Thanks for your opinions and time.

 

[Denmark]

1. You pay per room per day.
2. You pay separate.
3. You could use: Dreamsunlimitedtravel.com (disboard sponsor) or yourmagicalyourneys.com.

Hope this helps a bit !

 

[HopperFan]

I would look into the Yacht & Beach Club resort. Deluxe with the best pool at Disney. Mini water park. Have a few restaurants including the Beaches & Cream which he might enjoy. Also a short hop to the Boardwalk, EPCOT and boat ride to MGM. If you have hopper tickets you could go to EPCOT just to eat even. It would be my first pick, especially if you will do pool time.

If you are looking to more of a food court at a Deluxe, consider the AKL, especially if you think he would enjoy the animals. The resort has TONS of kids activities and the set up there with the food court and arcade being right at the pool are nice. The pool is big but not exciting with a so-so slide, but they have games. It is all the activities in the hotel there that are nice.

Price is for the room per night (not person).

You can add options (water park) tickets to your ticket. You must bring your own towels or rent them at water parks. The rentals looked to be small white like the hotel and easily "lost". We always bring our own BUT have thought the beach towels they sell there were reasonable and possibly one time we will just buy them there and have a nice souvenier to bring home.

Can't answer your last as we always book on our own. I think the newer Disney packages have been a much better value than previous ones, but we always book our rooms, tickets etc all individually because we felt we got a better value.

 

[madelyn]

1. The price for room is per room, not per person.
2. Water park tickets can be purchased separately or as an option to your park admission tickets if you get a premium ticket with options. You can rent towels (at least as of last year when I was there last June). I don't think blow dryers are available but someone else might be able to help you on that one. Or we opted just to bring towels from our resort (but returned them there as well) so we didn't have to wait in the towel line at the water park.
3. It is probably better to go with an outside agency. There are several recommended on this board, like Small World Travel, Dreams Unlimited. You can also make arrangements yourself, without an agency's assistance and this board will be happy to help you.

Four days at WDW for a first trip is not very long, especially if you want to go to the water parks and spend time at your resort pool. There are 4 major theme parks and many of them can take more than 1 day to visit. You might consider delaying Universal Studios for a future trip when your son is older.

 

[helenk]

Welcome to the DIS...yes all this planning can be mind boggling.
The cost of the room, is just that the cost per night for up two adults (there is an additional cost per night for a third or fourth adult) children under 18 stay free. Now if you are doing a package with a meal plan then you add so much per day per person.
.
The one thing about the deluxe resorts is that their food courts are not very big and the selection is not as extensive as you may find in the moderates or values.

I think that out of the deluxes, the best pool is most likely Storm a long bay at the YC/BC. Your 7 year old would enjoy it I'm sure
They are so many options with the MYW tickets, in order for your tickets to include the water parks you must buy the tickets with the magic plus option.
.
I use to book my hotel etc on my own, but lately I have used Dreams Unlimited to book my resorts and then they keep a watch out for any discounts that may apply for my stay. Most of us book our room and tickets separately, but lately the dining plan seems to be a very popular package.

 

[clombardi]

I feel like I work for AAA because I talked about them so much today! But....we booked through AAA and found them to be very helpful and knowledgeable. They got us a great rate as well.

As far as picking a great resort, I think helenk is right about Yacht Club/Beach Club for the best pool experience as well as several dining options.

However, if you plan to spend most of your park days in the Magic Kingdom, you should consider the Polynesian since it is has the monorail to MK and has a great pool. (Granted, it can't compare to Stormalong Bay.) Poly does not have a food court but you are only a monrail ride away from the MK, Grand Floridian, and Contemporary Resort resaurants.

Good luck! Have fun choosing.

 

[Disnurse2B]

I have to vote for the Polynesian here. We just stayed there a couple of weeks ago and it was awsome!!!! We could have had a wonderful vacation just staying there without ever entering the parks! The pool is very nice and was never crowded (of course, neither were the parks that week either.) There is an incredible slide at the volcano pool. Also, the monorail transportation was worth the extra price. We did visit the AKL for dinner one evening and, while their pool was bigger, it was 10 times more crowded. Also, to me, AKL is really hot. It seemed there was very little shade. The poly hotel is like being in a rainforest. Beautiful foliage with ducks and rabbits all over the place. So that is my vote-although I have never visited BC/YC.

 

[eeyoresmountainpals]

I have to agree with "clombardi" ~ You may want to consider the Polynesian. You mentioned that transportation is a factor and the POLY is right on the monorail line. Plus, with only having four days the monorail transporation will save you quite a bit of time.

The pool at the POLY is not as big as the others mentioned, however, they do have two pools and the one has a volcano slide. My boys (10, 12 & 16) loved it!

The POLY has a game room, that a 7 year old would love. (The game room at the Contemporary is awesome and it's only a quick monorail ride away.)

Also at the POLY (and some of the other hotels) you can rent water sprites. Our boys really loved those!

The POLY doesn't have a food court, but they do have Captain Cooks, which is a 24 hour snack bar. During regular hours they do have a grill and you can get burgers, hot dogs, chicken tenders and such. (And they're pretty good, too.) They also have all kinds of convenience foods like pre-made sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, desserts, etc.

Good luck with all your planning!!!!

 

[minijeanie]

I would stay at the poly... good food choices, and great location.

you didnt mention if you were staying onsite when you were at Universal. If not, I would strongly recommend it. Onsite gives you FOTL access and you can get into either park within a few minute walk or by taking a small boat.

Would recommend HRH...Think it is the best location and great pool.

 

[oogieboogie]

I would recommend the Beach Club/Yacht Club. The two share a 3-acre water park complex called Stormalong Bay. It has a long huge slide, a small kiddie slide, a sandy bottom pool, and just across the walkway, there's a real sandy beach by the lake.

Just across the lake is the Boardwalk that also has a lot of things to do.

If you do BC/YC, maybe you won't have to go to Blizzard Beach/Typhoon Lagoon. I know my kids were just as happy at SAB as they were at TL.

Any resort on Disney property is going to have the quick service food, and usually you'll find pretty much the same things - chicken strips/nuggets, hamburger, hotdog, uncrustables PB & J. You'll find the same things for breakfast too, eggs, danish, bacon, apples, bananas, etc. My kids are picky eaters and we've never had a problem finding food for them.

As far as transportation goes, if you think you'll be spending the majority of your Disney portion at MK, then go for an MK resort. If you think you'll be spending it more around Epcot/MGM, then the Epcot resorts would be great as they are in between the 2 parks. AKL is far removed from all the parks, but Disney buses are pretty prompt and efficient, so it really isn't a hassle to go from one place to another.

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

Go to your local bookstore and buy a Passporter guidebook or the Unofficial Guide to WDW (personally, I prefer the PassPorter). It's filled with tons of info and will help you with planning before you go.

 

[pavil]

As someone else said trying to do all of that in 7 days is going to be stressful.
If you want to relax and hang out at the resorts or waterparks as well as going to the 4 main parks just do disney. With Magic plusses you could go to the waterparks and DisneyQuest which a seven year old (my son) thought was the coolest place on earth. Especially since it is a first visit there is just too much to do, even in a week. Save the hassle of packing up midweek and moving and just stay at one place. The Poly sure looked nice to me when we did dinner there, the pool is awesome , the Neverland Club is there for kids and you are right next to the Grand Floridian which has the pirate cruise for kids only. Book this!!!! A seven year old boy will absolutely love it!! Plus you get to have time to yourself and have a great breakfast/Brunch at the GF. It's the best of both worlds.
Hope this helps

 

[vanyel]

I love the Poly but based on the op's ds enjoying the pool, I would probably suggest the BC or YC so they could use SAB.

The Volcano Pool doesn't lend itself to swimming since it's not that deep.

I agree with those that said you're putting a lot into the 7 days. If this is your first trip, you have no clue how much there is to do. Get a guide book. The Unofficial Guide includes info about Universal too, not sure if the Passporter does.

 

[Ilovestitch]

I would skip Universal if I was the OP and spend the whole time at WDW. Don't get me wrong, I think Universal is cool, but there is SO much to do at WDW that 7 days isn't that much.

My bf and I just got back from a 10 day trip and we still felt kinda rushed and didn't get to see/do everything we wanted to do.

 

[Tarpon]

Thanks for the all the comments. I found a website that listed the distances from each resort to the main 4 parks. I added them up for each resort and BC/YC were the lowest after Swan/Dolphin. While my son would love the water sports and chracter rides such as Buzz Lightyear, etc, I doubt he would have a great deal of interest in what the MGM Studios has to offer. I would guess in Epcot, he would love the Illuminations and the place where we can taste soda from various countries. But his favorite characters at this time is Jimmy Neutron and Sponge Bob. I believe he can see/experience those at universal. That is why I would like to take him to Universal as well.

Today I saw on mousesavers.com that AP holders can get nice discounts on resorts such as BC. I am seriously considering getting AP for me. I am assuming everyone in the family doesn't need an AP. Just one AP is enough to get discounts. Has anyone seen better discounts available via non-AP rates?

How is the food is BC/YC/Poly, etc for kids? As long as I can get my son oatmeal, cereal, milk (for breakfast), Mac & Chese, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, fruit, etc (for lunch & dinner) he will not complain. Are these readily and easily available at these resorts? Thanks everybody.

 

[zurgswife]

Don't knock out MGM so quickly...my kids 8,11,12,14 LOVE MGM....we have been going for the last 7 years twice a year and they still love it...An Epcot resort such as YC/BC or Boardwalk are great pics. YC/BC has fantastic pool. Epcot also has tons of stuff that kids enjoy especially if you take your time and go slow. My boys recently have found fun stuff to do at Innovenetions East and West....

 

[eeyore45]

Well, I have a dd8, and we stayed at Polynesian, she loved the pool slide there, and there were a lot of kids her age - they all were having so much fun, I would lol and tease, "why did we come to Disney? Just find a pool with a great slide, and kids your age!!" Being on the monorail within walking distance to the Epcot Monorail, on the monorail to Magic Kingdom, was huge!!

As for what's available at Disney, I strongly suggest you do more reading, maybe here on the trip reports, definately have a book like Unofficial Guide or Passporter, hey even Birnbaum's Official Guide for Kids will help your son give input.

MGM- Star Tours, Star Wars Ride, awesome, Tower of Terror, and Rock N Roller coaster, not to be missed! IF your son is into art, drawing, cartooning, MGM has a great place that shows us the inner workings of how cartoons/movies are made, way back in the day they use to make the movies (Mulan) there,and you got to watch!! Also there is a stunt show there... Fantasmic, not to be missed!! plus more...

Epcot.... oh the misconceptions just abound here!! Test Track, Mission Space - your son will want to ride these over and over, oh, and the new Soar'n!! Around the world Mexico and Norway also have boat rides that were fun, interesting... if your son likes aquarium, sea animals, gotta stop in and see Crush... we have the Chicago Aquarium that we spend a whole day at, so I really dont like spending an hour here, but dd loves to spend 3 hours here!! It is her vacation tho! She also likes the 3D movies at both MGM and Epcot... well, its a beginning of the places you dont think are interesting...

you didnt mention Animal Kingdom, we spent the day there, and never did Dinosaur land!! We did Kali River Rapids twice, and the Safari Twice, and of course dd loves the animals, and conservation, so this park appeals to her in ways that are hard to explain

Notice I didnt even go into detail about some of the more wonderful shows Disney Parks have - Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, the Great Movie Ride, Tarzan, because I know they dont necessarily appeal to all ....

So I would reccomend a trip to the book store, or library!! (or even order online at Amazon dot com - they may have used books there too!!)

Best of luck to you, it is overwhelming! If you are wanting the Deluxe Experience it seems that Yc/BC are more expensive than say AKL, but you do have a bigger pool slide, theme... in which case you wouldnt need to go to Typhoon Lagoon, or Blizzard Beach, you may find even die hard 7 yeqar old boys may not get all that there is to these water parks, long lines, hot sun etc...

 

[PatsGirl]

It looks like your dates fall right into a special that starts tomorrow for FREE DINING at WDW with a 5-night package (two adults and one child would be $400 normally). Check www.mousesavers.com first thing in the a.m. for specifics. I would think the resorts are going to sell out very quickly once everyone learns about this, especially that last week of August where most of the Northeast is still out of school. Good luck. Wish I could change mine from Thanksgiving back but already have airfare and going with others. Maybe I'll just add a trip

 

[Disnurse2B]

I can't speak for YC/BC, but I do know that Captain Hooks at the POly does have chicken fingers, mac n cheese, assorted cereals, fruits, pizzas, burgers, etc. Tons of food for a picky eater!