Thinking about doing a 5 day trip next Feb with my husband and son. Son will be 3.5 years old then and after some research, I think we'll all be miserable doing the parks...but he loves the Cars franchise and riding the monorail, skyliner, and boats would be fun for him.
I have no idea if he'll still be napping then but am planning on a mid-day return to the hotel. So activity in the morning and then sticking close to the hotel for playground / relaxing time in the afternoon.
My preliminary plan was to stay at a suite in swan reserve or the drury at disney springs. I'm open to other suggestions too...I just picked these 2 based on location. The most likely scenario is that I'll balk at the price of swan and we'll book the drury. Having 2 separate sleeping areas is top priority for me in terms of hotel stay. Location is second, I would like to keep commute time between hotel and activity to be 30 minutes or less under ideal condition (1hr under worst conditions).
Being able to walk to skyliner/boat is the selling point for me on the swan.
Being able to catch a bus back to disney springs from any hotel is a selling point for me on the drury. Although I'm not thrilled by having to do the 15-20 minute walk back from the disney springs bus station to the hotel.
This is what I have so far for itinerary:
Day 1: Travel day and settle in/disney springs
Day 2: Bus + transfer to animal kingdom lodge and lunch
Day 3: Bus to magic kingdom TTC to get on monorail and stop at Poly for sandpit time and dole whip. Lunch at another monorail resort?
Day 4: Bus to epcot/HS to get on skyliner to Art of Animation to check out the Cars section + lunch
Day 5: Boat somewhere? Thinking Crescent Lake and visiting Boardwalk + lunch. Part of me wants to book a character meal at Cape May cafe but I'm not sure if my kid will be terrified. Probably a visit to beaches and cream instead.
Last random note - my husband thinks disney is lame. His only visit was as a jaded high schooler and he thinks of disney as a giant shopping mall. He's a huge star wars fan but I've not been able to convince him to do galaxy's edge. I have sold this trip to him as practice for travelling with our kid in the future. Pre-kid, we would fly to our destination, stay in a hotel, and use the public transportation in the city. This disney trip would mimic those same elements, in a kid-friendly destination. With our kid, we typically drive and stay in airbnbs and my husband is getting tired of having to navigate all the unfamiliar roads and I'm getting tired of all the extra packing you have to do with an airbnb. So I'm really looking for help to simplify my itinerary so that we're not dealing with a ton of logistics, while still giving my kid a taste of disney magic.
Any feedback welcome, thanks!
If you want to stay in the EP/Crescent Lake area, I would highly suggest pricing out suites or connecting rooms at Swan or Dolphin (not Swan Reserve) - Swan Reserve is located on a very busy street and you would have to cross that street to access the Friendship Boats, Skyliner, Swan/Dolphin main pool, playground and the majority of restaurants in that area.
As other PP's have noted, I would also price out a family suite at Art of Animation and All Star Music. It will give you the space you want and will make transportation much easier than staying at a DS resort.
If your plan is to just stay at your hotel post-lunchtime, I would definitely be looking for a hotel that offers its own activities - playground, arts/crafts, easy access to other areas. Especially if its cold and rainy, you may not want to get stuck in a hotel that offers nothing for your family to enjoy in the afternoon/evenings.
Keep in mind, February weather can be quite cold (sometimes 50's and raining), so you may want to consider making a list of alternate activities should the weather not cooperate.
On the day you are in the MK area, consider taking the boat to Ft. W to visit the stables and go on a pony ride if that would be of interest. They also have a nice playground very close to the boat dock.
I'm not sure what your budget is, but have you considered a
Disney cruise? You would get the Disney magic without the parks.
IMHO, you may want to consider using your vacation dollars toward a different trip this year and just wait to do WDW when you are ready to visit the parks. You are going to be paying a premium to stay anywhere in the vicinity of WDW parks - you might get a bigger bang for your buck if you travel elsewhere this year and go somewhere that won't require you to be on multiple modes of transportation just to get to resorts and playgrounds. I have been traveling with DS16 multiple times a year, all over the world, since he was 6 months old. Any travel is practice for future travel.