Most Convenient Resort

[rteetz]

Really depends on what you are looking for. BLT is incredibly convenient for an MK centric vacation. BC for an Epcot vacation. SSR for a Disney Springs vacation. AKL for an AK vacation.

 

[snappy]

From BLT/contemporary you can get to all the resorts via the busses at MK if you plan to eat meals at any of the resorts. Good view of MK fireworks from the lounge at the top of BLT and on the deck outside California Grill at the top of the Contemporary. Good boat service to MK from the MK area resorts besides BLT/Comtemporary. Good boat service to EPCOT and HS from BC, BW, YC, Swan and Dolphin. If you do a split stay at an MK resort and an Epcot resort you really make out except for AK. You can do bus to AK, or Minnie van or Uber/Lyft to AK for more convenience.

 

[fla4fun]

Convenient to what? Theme parks? Water parks? Disney Springs? Routes off property?

I haven’t found any of the resorts to be inconvenient overall. Some are closer to certain areas than others, and some are closer to the edge of property of you have off site plans for something like Universal. I tend to book based on budget and which parks I will be visiting most during any particular trip. It’s handy to be able to walk to Epcot from an Epcot resort, but I have had issues getting to MK from there. It’s great to be on the monorail for MK, but it’s a long bus ride to AK. But I have never said I wouldn’t go back to a resort because it was inconvenient.

Think about where you are spending your time and book accordingly.

 

[kaytieeldr]

From BLT/contemporary you can get to all the resorts via the busses at MK

Well, except Epcot. And the resorts on the monorail; plus, Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness are more easily and efficiently accessible by boat.

Good view of MK fireworks from the lounge at the top of BLT?

I know you have to be a DVC Member to access this lounge, hut do you have to be staying at BLT?

and on the deck outside California Grill at the top of the Contemporary

Now, this one I'm positive - you have to have eaten or be eating at California Grill that day to access the deck.

 

[buzznina]

We have absolutely no issues getting to where we need to go from any resort, from value to deluxe. Location and transportation options are the last things we look at when deciding on a resort, we will use them if we need a tiebreaker Also; we drive, and I cannot remember the last time we actually used our van to go to one of the parks.

 

[crvetter]

I know you have to be a DVC Member to access this lounge, hut do you have to be staying at BLT?

Correct, you have to be a DVC Owner staying on-site (cash or points) to use the lounge aside from the couple times a year the member must be staying at BLT. Staying in BLT alone does not grant you access.

Now, this one I'm positive - you have to have eaten or be eating at California Grill that day to access the deck.

You are correct this is only for those who have eaten at California Grill. Years ago anyone staying at the CR could get on the observation deck or that is what I was told when staying there. There is still the one on the 4th floor.

 

[fla4fun]

Well, except Epcot.

Well, for Epcot the park, you could take the BC bus and enter through IG, but it isn’t really more convenient than the monorail. We have done it a few times when going specifically to WS for ADRs when staying at CR or BLT.

But the bus hub at MK did come in very handy for resort dining, since we didn’t have to do the two bus shuffle we have to do from a lot of the other resorts. If we were dining at AKL, we just walked over and hopped on the AKL bus. We would do the same thing staying at BW, but by walking to DHS.

 

[snappy]

Yea, the bus hub at MK is a big plus of staying at BLT/Contemporary. Good access to a lot of nice restaurants at AK and Epcot area resorts.

 

[GoingSince1990]

I believe the walk from the Beach Club to Epcot is the shortest walk in WDW between a resort and a park. Having all those great WS restaurants a short stroll away is wonderful.

 

[snappy]

I believe the walk from the Beach Club to Epcot is the shortest walk in WDW between a resort and a park. Having all those great WS restaurants a short stroll away is wonderful.

Especially with the less congested access via the International Gateway.

 

[fla4fun]

Especially with the less congested access via the International Gateway.

Until the gondolas arrive . . .

 

[snappy]

Until the gondolas arrive . . .

Don’t remind me.

 

[snappy]

But speaking of the gondolas, some might add the “gondola resorts” to the list of convenient resorts.

So I guess that adds CB, Pop, and AA? Might be nice to add a moderate and a couple values to the list.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Well, CB or Riviera. Pop and AOA require transfers.

 

[TJA]

OP - it really depends on what convenience means to YOU. To us, convenience is being near a park or two and not having to take a bus/car to those park(s). So for us, the GF is convenient for MK (monorail/boat). The Poly is convenient for MK and Epcot (due to TTC and direct monorail to both parks). The CR is convenient for MK (due to walking path). The BC/YC/BWI are convenient for Epcot and HS (due to walking path). WL has a boat to MK, but the 3 times we've stayed at WL, we usually opted to just take the bus as it seemed to be more readily available at our particular times. Buses are our least favorite mode of transportation, so I didn't rank WL as high as the other resorts above.

Edit to add: very true about the gondolas and we are anxious to try them out! For now, though, I can only base my thoughts on the above resorts that I know to be convenient for my family's definition of convenience.

 

[snappy]

I agree about ranking WL lower. The bus between WL and MK consistently stopped at the campsite areas too, can’t remember if it was going or coming since we stayed there last in 2008. Maybe things have changed since, but I am not sure.

 

[snappy]

Some visitors rank Port Orleans French quarter high because it is a smallish resort and it is said that no building is too far from anything.

You can easily access the restaurants and activities etc. (by bus) between AKL and Kidani. You can easily access night time activities at the boardwalk or any restaurant at any Epcot resort by walking or taking the boat from BC, YC, and swan/dolphin. It makes evening activities convenient if you are not returning to a park in the evening or when parks close relatively early.

 

[ambellina]

My husband and I drive down. Having a vehicle available makes things pretty convenient. We really enjoyed the convenience of our stay at Contemporary, though. It was easy to hop the monorail and get to other resorts and parks, and The Wave always had reservations open. The Contempo Cafe is easy to get to since it's right in the middle of the hotel, and so is Chef Mickey's. Our stays at other resorts (AKL, Poly, CS) had us doing more walking than we cared to do when just wanting to do something simple like refill our mugs.

 

[snappy]

My husband and I drive down. Having a vehicle available makes things pretty convenient. We really enjoyed the convenience of our stay at Contemporary, though. It was easy to hop the monorail and get to other resorts and parks, and The Wave always had reservations open. The Contempo Cafe is easy to get to since it's right in the middle of the hotel, and so is Chef Mickey's. Our stays at other resorts (AKL, Poly, CS) had us doing more walking than we cared to do when just wanting to do something simple like refill our mugs.

I found the walking from our Kidani 1 bedroom to the bus stops unacceptable. We had a really great savanna view though. Luckily we had a rental car and could park crazy close to the unit. So we drove to most parks except MK.

The walk to parking is much further at WL, Poly, BW, GF. Actually if we get the view we like at BWV, we are close to the stairs and have found lots of short cuts.

 

[gorkt]

Complicated question.

For me, AOA was actually the most convenient hotel I ever stayed in. We stayed in a preferred room in Nemo so it was just a 2 minute walk to the busses, the food court, the main pool. Also, it only had one bus stop, so coming and going was super easy and the resort is fairly centrally located so it was really no more than 10-12 minutes from anywhere. I loved being able to get up and grab breakfast and coffee quickly in the morning.

Boardwalk was the most convenient to Epcot, while Poly was best for MK.

The most inconvenient resort that I have probably stayed at was Wilderness cabins, since you had to walk to the bus stop (5 minutes) then take an internal bus and then a boat or another bus to get anywhere. You had to tack on an extra 20-25 minutes, and getting home at the end of the night was exhausting.