Northern Lights
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2005
- Messages
- 114
We are addicted!!! We are new DVC members who used to love the monorail resorts, and the CR in particular. We just got back from our annual May trip about 2 weeks ago where we loved our first stay at the VWL. We have already planned a trip in early September to go to our home resort (BCV) for the first time ever.
However, we now have an opportunity to go again over July 4. We are junkies, please talk us out of it!!!!
My parents are taking a motorhome trip to Melbourne Beach, Florida in late June and early July. They said that they could drop us off (minus DH) at Disney on June 30 around noon. DH, wanting to minimize time off given the May vacation and the planned September vacation, could fly into Orlando late afternoon/early evening of June 30 and take the last flight back on July 4 (thus only missing 1 day of work). Parents said they would rent a car, play golf at Disney on July 4, drive us back to Melbourne Beach for 1-2 days before driving back home.
So there is the opportunity, but is it really feasible? Well, we decided that since we just got back 2 weeks ago and have another trip planned in less than 100 days, it seemed kind of "crazy" and "spoiled" to be taking another trip. Of course, the trip cost would only be food and lodging while at WDW (we are AP holders and DH can fly with miles, but we need to save our DVC points for the September trip and the trip planned for May 2006).
So here is the first issue: lodging. Well, we decided that if we could get a good AP rate then we might be able to swing it. We thought, and kind of were hoping, that at this late juncture there was no way AP rates would be available at our preferred hotels during July 4 weekend so that would be "our sign". As Gomer would say, "Soo-prize, Soo-prize, Soo-prize!!"
There are discounted rooms/studios available at CR (Tower and Garden), Poly, BWV, VWL and AKL. The only studio we could not get was BCV, but we could get a standard room. We love the studio b/c we have an infant, but we thought that since we would be staying only 4 nights we didn't have to have a studio. Plus, since we are DVCers, we thought this would be a chance to stay at the monorail resorts again. Even though we love CR, we thought about the Poly this time. We also thought about AKL b/c it is new, looks like fun, we plan to spend more time at the resort than the parks, and bottom line, would be between $300-$400 cheaper for the duration of the stay. Since we tend to average $100 per day for food (we eat cereal bars, etc. for breakfast), that would basically cover our food cost for the trip.
Second issue: crowds and heat. Are the crowds and heat as oppressive as you might expect? The crowds/temps in May and September are great. Since we go so often, we only plan to do the parks for about 3-4 hours in the morning and perhaps 2-3 hours after dinner. The rest of the time we just plan to relax in the wonderful pools that a Disney deluxe hotel has to offer, enjoy the resort's grounds (WL was great, and we think by the internet pics that the AKL could perhaps be better), and soak up the Disney atmosphere, enjoy late night fireworks, etc. We are hoping that this strategy will make for a wonderful trip and not one of regret for spending over $1000 unnecessarily.
So, is AKL Disney's best deluxe value or should we just spend the extra $3-400 to stay on the monorail? It looks like the pool/resort ambience would be as good as any, so the price difference seems to be entirely driven by location. But we really think we might like the relative remoteness of the AKL - are we just rationalizing here? We love the monorail resorts since they are so close to MK and have many transpo options, but the WL busses did not really bother us in May, and at least AKL does not share with other resorts. Also, it seemed like an AKL bus was always there on our May trip and the WL bus was always only about 5-10 minutes behind.
So, are we crazy? Is AKL transpo all that bad? Is AKL as nice and relaxing as it looks on the Internet? Is doing Disney in May/September v. late June/early July like night and day? I'm thinking the crowds can't be that bad since so many resorts still had AP discounts available less than 6 weeks out. Perhaps it is like Yogi Berra once said, "no one goes there anymore b/c it's too crowded."
Or am I just being crazy and rationalizing again. As you can tell, we are probably going to do it, and stay at AKL. Someone please talk us out it!!! We are starting to feel like junkies!
However, we now have an opportunity to go again over July 4. We are junkies, please talk us out of it!!!!
My parents are taking a motorhome trip to Melbourne Beach, Florida in late June and early July. They said that they could drop us off (minus DH) at Disney on June 30 around noon. DH, wanting to minimize time off given the May vacation and the planned September vacation, could fly into Orlando late afternoon/early evening of June 30 and take the last flight back on July 4 (thus only missing 1 day of work). Parents said they would rent a car, play golf at Disney on July 4, drive us back to Melbourne Beach for 1-2 days before driving back home.
So there is the opportunity, but is it really feasible? Well, we decided that since we just got back 2 weeks ago and have another trip planned in less than 100 days, it seemed kind of "crazy" and "spoiled" to be taking another trip. Of course, the trip cost would only be food and lodging while at WDW (we are AP holders and DH can fly with miles, but we need to save our DVC points for the September trip and the trip planned for May 2006).
So here is the first issue: lodging. Well, we decided that if we could get a good AP rate then we might be able to swing it. We thought, and kind of were hoping, that at this late juncture there was no way AP rates would be available at our preferred hotels during July 4 weekend so that would be "our sign". As Gomer would say, "Soo-prize, Soo-prize, Soo-prize!!"
There are discounted rooms/studios available at CR (Tower and Garden), Poly, BWV, VWL and AKL. The only studio we could not get was BCV, but we could get a standard room. We love the studio b/c we have an infant, but we thought that since we would be staying only 4 nights we didn't have to have a studio. Plus, since we are DVCers, we thought this would be a chance to stay at the monorail resorts again. Even though we love CR, we thought about the Poly this time. We also thought about AKL b/c it is new, looks like fun, we plan to spend more time at the resort than the parks, and bottom line, would be between $300-$400 cheaper for the duration of the stay. Since we tend to average $100 per day for food (we eat cereal bars, etc. for breakfast), that would basically cover our food cost for the trip.
Second issue: crowds and heat. Are the crowds and heat as oppressive as you might expect? The crowds/temps in May and September are great. Since we go so often, we only plan to do the parks for about 3-4 hours in the morning and perhaps 2-3 hours after dinner. The rest of the time we just plan to relax in the wonderful pools that a Disney deluxe hotel has to offer, enjoy the resort's grounds (WL was great, and we think by the internet pics that the AKL could perhaps be better), and soak up the Disney atmosphere, enjoy late night fireworks, etc. We are hoping that this strategy will make for a wonderful trip and not one of regret for spending over $1000 unnecessarily.
So, is AKL Disney's best deluxe value or should we just spend the extra $3-400 to stay on the monorail? It looks like the pool/resort ambience would be as good as any, so the price difference seems to be entirely driven by location. But we really think we might like the relative remoteness of the AKL - are we just rationalizing here? We love the monorail resorts since they are so close to MK and have many transpo options, but the WL busses did not really bother us in May, and at least AKL does not share with other resorts. Also, it seemed like an AKL bus was always there on our May trip and the WL bus was always only about 5-10 minutes behind.
So, are we crazy? Is AKL transpo all that bad? Is AKL as nice and relaxing as it looks on the Internet? Is doing Disney in May/September v. late June/early July like night and day? I'm thinking the crowds can't be that bad since so many resorts still had AP discounts available less than 6 weeks out. Perhaps it is like Yogi Berra once said, "no one goes there anymore b/c it's too crowded."
Or am I just being crazy and rationalizing again. As you can tell, we are probably going to do it, and stay at AKL. Someone please talk us out it!!! We are starting to feel like junkies!
We think alike!!
