Moderate vs Deluxe - bus service

[Aliceacc]

Staying at any of the Epcot resorts means you can WALK to Epcot, and either WALK or take the BOAT to DHS. It's amazingly freeing, to be able to stroll back to your resort after Illuminations. If your kids are old enough to enjoy it, take a look at Stormalong Bay, the pool complex shared by the Beach and Yacht Clubs.

Staying at the Contemporary means you can WALK to the Magic Kingdom.

Staying at the Poly or Grand Floridian means a monorail to the MK. (From the Poly, you can walk to the TTC and grab the Epcot monorail.)

The transportation options are one of my big reasons for staying Deluxe.

For what it's worth, we're a family of 5 and fit just fine into the Deluxe rooms. My son, with a football player's physique, is comfortable on the daybed. We do request, and have always gotten, a full balcony (as opposed to the 6 inch "Juliet" balconies. ) That gives us extra living space... I tend to have my morning tea there while the kids are getting ready.

 

[Nancyg56]

Staying at any of the Epcot resorts means you can WALK to Epcot, and either WALK or take the BOAT to DHS. It's amazingly freeing, to be able to stroll back to your resort after Illuminations. If your kids are old enough to enjoy it, take a look at Stormalong Bay, the pool complex shared by the Beach and Yacht Clubs.

Staying at the Contemporary means you can WALK to the Magic Kingdom.

Staying at the Poly or Grand Floridian means a monorail to the MK. (From the Poly, you can walk to the TTC and grab the Epcot monorail.)

The transportation options are one of my big reasons for staying Deluxe.

For what it's worth, we're a family of 5 and fit just fine into the Deluxe rooms. My son, with a football player's physique, is comfortable on the daybed. We do request, and have always gotten, a full balcony (as opposed to the 6 inch "Juliet" balconies. ) That gives us extra living space... I tend to have my morning tea there while the kids are getting ready.

We manage with 5 as well, and have no space issues. That balcony is valuable space, yes?

At the Poly we found that the patio was really a gift that we did not knwo we woudl love. We requested a balcony, but really wanted connecting rooms as our primary. At checkin my DS was told it was one or the other we coudl have, so he chose connecting on teh first floor. Best space ever!

 

[Babsy]

I will check it out. Any idea if the walking distance is similar to that of BWI?

The Swan/Dolphin are located between the YC and the BWI on the same loop. It is further to Epcot but closer to DHS - walking distance or boat to either one. They are not owned by Disney but are on Disney property and offer some of the same perks, with a couple of notable exceptions. You cannot buy the Dining plan if staying here and there is no Magical Express so you have to take Mears shuttle or a taxi or Uber from the airport. You do get FP+ at 60 days and early or late entry to the parks. There is a resort fee and a parking fee. Add about $50/day to the price to cover this. Note that Disney now also has a parking fee.

You can book deluxe rooms and suites here as well.

The resorts offer many discounts like AAA, nurse or teacher discounts, and more. In the past they have often reduced the price to be significantly lower than that of the next door YC/BC or BWI. I like that you can book a balcony and that you can book the Epcot fireworks view so that you know what you are getting before you go. Also, the beds are much more comfortable than those at the Disney resorts. we stay at either the Swan or the Dolphin on most trips to WDW for at least part of the trip, usually the second half. If we book a split stay with the first half in the MK area, we still get DME going to WDW. Then we take a taxi back to the airport after our stay in the Swan/Dolphin. That works better for us a we don't like Disney's policy of sending us to the airport 4+ hours (Canadian) before our flight.

The Swan and Dolphin have a nice grotto pool as well as lap pools. The restaurants there are the best in the area, IMO.

 

[3gr8boys]

Staying at any of the Epcot resorts means you can WALK to Epcot, and either WALK or take the BOAT to DHS. It's amazingly freeing, to be able to stroll back to your resort after Illuminations. If your kids are old enough to enjoy it, take a look at Stormalong Bay, the pool complex shared by the Beach and Yacht Clubs.

Staying at the Contemporary means you can WALK to the Magic Kingdom.

Staying at the Poly or Grand Floridian means a monorail to the MK. (From the Poly, you can walk to the TTC and grab the Epcot monorail.)

The transportation options are one of my big reasons for staying Deluxe.

For what it's worth, we're a family of 5 and fit just fine into the Deluxe rooms. My son, with a football player's physique, is comfortable on the daybed. We do request, and have always gotten, a full balcony (as opposed to the 6 inch "Juliet" balconies. ) That gives us extra living space... I tend to have my morning tea there while the kids are getting ready.

Thanks for this....Having not stayed in one, wasn't sure about a teenage son on the daybed that I noticed on the Deluxe room descriptions.

 

[3gr8boys]

The Swan/Dolphin are located between the YC and the BWI on the same loop. It is further to Epcot but closer to DHS - walking distance or boat to either one. They are not owned by Disney but are on Disney property and offer some of the same perks, with a couple of notable exceptions. You cannot buy the Dining plan if staying here and there is no Magical Express so you have to take Mears shuttle or a taxi or Uber from the airport. You do get FP+ at 60 days and early or late entry to the parks. There is a resort fee and a parking fee. Add about $50/day to the price to cover this. Note that Disney now also has a parking fee.

You can book deluxe rooms and suites here as well.

The resorts offer many discounts like AAA, nurse or teacher discounts, and more. In the past they have often reduced the price to be significantly lower than that of the next door YC/BC or BWI. I like that you can book a balcony and that you can book the Epcot fireworks view so that you know what you are getting before you go. Also, the beds are much more comfortable than those at the Disney resorts. we stay at either the Swan or the Dolphin on most trips to WDW for at least part of the trip, usually the second half. If we book a split stay with the first half in the MK area, we still get DME going to WDW. Then we take a taxi back to the airport after our stay in the Swan/Dolphin. That works better for us a we don't like Disney's policy of sending us to the airport 4+ hours (Canadian) before our flight.

The Swan and Dolphin have a nice grotto pool as well as lap pools. The restaurants there are the best in the area, IMO.

Thank you ... I always prefer to learn from people's experiences.

 

[3gr8boys]

I really disagree with the posts that say bus service is the same at a deluxe and a moderate. The "catch" is the amount of time spent getting from the resort entrance to your room. When we were at POR, the bus went around the ENTIRE resort loop before it stopped at the main building. This meant (1) when we were waiting to be picked up at the main building, we often saw already-full buses whizzing by and leaving us behind, and (2) when returning tired late at night we had to wait, and wait, and wait again at each stop until we reached the one closest to our room (we once tried getting out at the first stop and walking -- bad idea; it was a 30 minute walk to our room! Deluxes are pretty much one and done: there is only one bus stop, and the rooms are all a VERY short walk from it.

This is one of the things I was trying to assess looking at resort maps and descriptions. I know it is all one big bus system....but resort layout and bus routes (not to mention the option of throwing -or not- more buses and certain routes) might make the user experience feel different at different resorts.

I went to sleep thinking I would just plan to stay at CSR (I really liked it there in April) and roll with the transportation situation we are accustomed to. Now I am starting to daydream about walking to parks. Time to go through the resort descriptions again (with your notes and PP info about sharing bus stops in mind...). First, more coffee.

 

[gharter]

Transportation is not more frequent or faster at a deluxe than a moderate resort. The deluxe often only have 1 stop instead of multiple and often you don't have to walk as far to the stop. The price difference IMHO is larger rooms, more detail and theming and more upscale restaurants, pool theming and amenities available. If those things are important to you, then the deluxe is worth it. If they don't matter, then its probably not worth the money.

 

[loves to dive]

This question gets asked a lot and the short answer is the buses are the buses are the buses. They have good and bad service at all levels, I've stayed at every resort at WDW except - ASMu (staying there in Sept) ASmov, AoA, SSS and WL. We even stayed at Shades of Green before it was military only. The bus service had good days and bad days at every single level. They have no control over the traffic or accidents, buses will break down, bus stops will get crowded at every single level. The only difference is that some resorts have multiple bus stops and the value resort have uncovered bus stops with actual ques.

As far as the monorails, the only direct no stops to the MK is from GF to MK and that is because it is the last stop. Other wise there is a resort monorail that will go to CR but will stop for people to get off and on, then to TTC (I think it still stops there but you don't have to get off, could be wrong about that stop) then to Poly, then to GF and back to MK. There is a monorail to Epcot from MK but it goes from MK to CR to TTC where you get off and on another train to Epcot. There are no buses to Epcot from the three monorail resorts unless the monorail is down, if you don't want to monorail to Epcot from those resorts, you have to Uber or go to MK and take a bus to the Epcot resorts and walk through the IG.

There is a boat from WL to MK, otherwise you bus.

You can walk to Epcot and HS (or take the slow boat) from the Epcot resorts.

You have to bus to AK no matter where you stay, even from AKL.

 

[Aliceacc]

This is one of the things I was trying to assess looking at resort maps and descriptions. I know it is all one big bus system....but resort layout and bus routes (not to mention the option of throwing -or not- more buses and certain routes) might make the user experience feel different at different resorts.

I went to sleep thinking I would just plan to stay at CSR (I really liked it there in April) and roll with the transportation situation we are accustomed to. Now I am starting to daydream about walking to parks. Time to go through the resort descriptions again (with your notes and PP info about sharing bus stops in mind...). First, more coffee.

Seriously, if you can swing the finances, consider staying at one of the Epcot resorts. If your kids tend to be water rats like mine, consider the Beach Club.

When we started planning this month's trip (LOVE saying that!!) I gave the kids the option-- we could do 2 rooms at a cheaper resort, with 2 bathrooms and the girls not sharing a bed, or one at one of the Deluxes. It was a no brainer. All 3-- including my 6'2" 20 year old fireman son-- immediately agreed on one of the Epcot Deluxes, hands down.

 

[3gr8boys]

We manage with 5 as well, and have no space issues. That balcony is valuable space, yes?

At the Poly we found that the patio was really a gift that we did not knwo we woudl love. We requested a balcony, but really wanted connecting rooms as our primary. At checkin my DS was told it was one or the other we coudl have, so he chose connecting on teh first floor. Best space ever!

Haven't found any concrete info online....do all ground floor rooms at the Poly have patios???

 

[Dave006]

Yes all first floor rooms at the Polynesian have a patio. Only the 2nd floor regular hotel rooms don't have a balcony / patio (just a railing). All the DVC rooms have a balcony or patio for 1st floor rooms.

Dave

 

[Woody412]

you could just use the mini vans or the more exclusive bus service or am I making things up again? or vip tours

You’re not exactly making things up. The VIP bus service was discontinued before they expanded the Minnie Van service.

 

[DJFan88]

The Epcot resorts is where it's at cause that basically covers the studios too if the boats going.
Last week at Allstars (value) bussing was actually great. Plus our location in homerun hotel in sports on the back, so basically music stop was just as close. We could check before departing.
Now we're at WL, and I feel I'm waiting longer to get back. One way back we shared with contemporary but got dropped off first. Just got back from a packed Epcot bus that shares with ft wilderness, WL is first off, but on way to that meant we had to stop there to pick up.
The boat was good, but it did go to ft wilderness before MK.