Newbie/first WDW Trip- Which villa?

[Raivyn]

Hello! I'm in the process of planning our first family trip to WDW. We plan on being there from June 20 through June 28th. Our hope is to hit Epcot, MGM Studio and MK during our trip.

Part of why we're able to go is because I have a work conference at the Swan & Dolphin from the Tuesday - Thursday. We will stay at that hotel during those days.

We'd like to rent points for the remainder of our stay. Because our Swan & Dolphin stay is in the middle of our trip, we have fantasies about staying in one villa for the beginning of our trip, switching to Swan and Dolphin, and then moving to another villa at the end of our trip.

Am I crazy? Which villas should we stay at, given the fact that we'd like to hit the three major parks during our stay? Thanks in advance!

 

[disneynutz]

BWV or BCV are your best bet and closest to Epcot and DHS.

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Hello! I'm in the process of planning our first family trip to WDW. We plan on being there from June 20 through June 28th. Our hope is to hit Epcot, MGM Studio and MK during our trip.

Part of why we're able to go is because I have a work conference at the Swan & Dolphin from the Tuesday - Thursday. We will stay at that hotel during those days.

We'd like to rent points for the remainder of our stay. Because our Swan & Dolphin stay is in the middle of our trip, we have fantasies about staying in one villa for the beginning of our trip, switching to Swan and Dolphin, and then moving to another villa at the end of our trip.

Am I crazy? Which villas should we stay at, given the fact that we'd like to hit the three major parks during our stay? Thanks in advance!

No AK!!
That's a shame. Although it often gets knocked, I love this park and it is DS's favourite (he has chosen to go to this park above the others on his birthday when we go 'home' at the end of the month). If you haven't been before, give AK a try. You may not like it, but you may LOVE it!!!

 

[dallasdisneymommy]

The area that the Swan and Dolphin are in is the Epcot resorts area -- in my opinion, this is the best area to stay in while you're visiting Epcot and Hollywood Studios, it's just a quick walk or boat ride away. Boardwalk Villas and Beach Club Villas are also in this area, and although they are among my favorite places to stay, you will already have reaped the benefit of staying in this area by virtue of your Swan/Dolphin stay.

I would recommend trying to stay at Villas at Wilderness Lodge. It's a beautiful, beautiful resort, a stone's throw away from Magic Kingdom, and will give you a completely different feel than the Epcot Resorts area.

If you want to tack another stay on at the beginning or end, for variety's sake I would recommend Animal Kingdom Villas (you didn't mention a visit to Animal Kingdom Park, but if you have time, I'd highly recommend it). If you are ready for some down time, I would recommend Saratoga Springs. They have a great spa, are a little removed from the chaos, and have the proximity to Downtown Disney going for it to give your trip another dimension.

You can't go wrong anywhere. Have a great time!

 

[Raivyn]

We have AK at the bottom of our list because we live in San Diego, and so I'm concerned that AK will be very similar to the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Wild Animal Park. I'm not knocking it, but since we have world famous animal parks here locally, we didn't put AK on our list of must-dos. But if we have spare time (how likely is that?), then we'll definitely check it out.

That being said, we LOVE the decor of the AK villas! Even though its so far from everything, based on the photos, it looks very very cool, and the kids would enjoy it. Is traveling from AK to the other theme parks a big hassle? I thought I read there were dedicated bus lines, so they end up not taking as long as the other bus lines with multiple stops.

I haven't been given the pricing for extending our stay at Swan and Dolphin, but I like the idea of moving to the Wilderness Lodge for a change of pace. But if BW and BC will give us the same feel as Swan and Dolphin, then I don't know there is any real benefit from a "different resort" standpoint.

I like SSR, too but we're traveling with small kids, so I'm concerned that I won't be able to really enjoy the quiet and relaxation.

Maybe a good plan would be Wilderness Lodge, Swan & Dolphin, and then end at AK?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

AK has some great attractions beyond the animals and my favorite show, Festival of the Lion King (Finding Nemo is excellent also). It's been a long time since I've been to the San Diego Zoo but unless that has changed a lot I think you would find AK is definitely different enough to still be very interesting.

And AKV would be very different from anything else, esp if you have a Savannah view. Just open the curtains in the morning and step out and see the animals!

I've always had good transportation from AK. I think that the ride to MK just seems longer than from other places because there are no stops. But timewise I've experienced longer rides from the Swan/Dolphin b/c of the stops.

 

[msteddom]

We have AK at the bottom of our list because we live in San Diego, and so I'm concerned that AK will be very similar to the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Wild Animal Park. I'm not knocking it, but since we have world famous animal parks here locally, we didn't put AK on our list of must-dos. But if we have spare time (how likely is that?), then we'll definitely check it out.

That being said, we LOVE the decor of the AK villas! Even though its so far from everything, based on the photos, it looks very very cool, and the kids would enjoy it. Is traveling from AK to the other theme parks a big hassle? I thought I read there were dedicated bus lines, so they end up not taking as long as the other bus lines with multiple stops.

I haven't been given the pricing for extending our stay at Swan and Dolphin, but I like the idea of moving to the Wilderness Lodge for a change of pace. But if BW and BC will give us the same feel as Swan and Dolphin, then I don't know there is any real benefit from a "different resort" standpoint.

I like SSR, too but we're traveling with small kids, so I'm concerned that I won't be able to really enjoy the quiet and relaxation.

Maybe a good plan would be Wilderness Lodge, Swan & Dolphin, and then end at AK?

Please don't discount Animal Kingdom! I grew up in San Diego and I LOVE the "World Famous" San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park, but Animal Kingdom is a completely different, and I say better, experience. If you skip it you will be missing out on a very unique Disney experience.

Having said that, I think your resort plan of attack is a good one. You will be experiencing different resorts in different parts of the World. Have fun planing!

Melissa

 

[Raivyn]

We are sooo excited about planning this trip!

You guys convinced us....we'll definitely put AK on our to-do list!

Our focus will be to hit the water parks on the days I'm at the conference, and hit the theme parks on the other days. Since we'll try to stay at WL at the beginning of our trip, we'll hit MK and Epcot then. Then while we're at Swan/Dolphin, visit the water parks and DHS, and then at the end of the trip, stay at the AK Villas and hit AK and likely DHS again.

 

[crisi]

I'd recommend doing your whole stay at the Swan/Dolphin. You are going to find that there is plenty to fill your time at WDW - and on top of a WDW trip you have a conference to attend. Moving on top of that is going to add time and complexity to your vacation. Time you may regret spending in the move with your limited travel time.

The exception is if you are a super organized traveler for whom packing up a room and being without a room for a day is no big deal.

 

[Tara]

I'd recommend doing your whole stay at the Swan/Dolphin. You are going to find that there is plenty to fill your time at WDW - and on top of a WDW trip you have a conference to attend. Moving on top of that is going to add time and complexity to your vacation. Time you may regret spending in the move with your limited travel time.

The exception is if you are a super organized traveler for whom packing up a room and being without a room for a day is no big deal.

I totally second this. Having switched resorts, it is a bit of a hassle...and Disney does everything they can to make it easy! At most I would stay at the Swan/Dolphin for the days prior to the trip and then switch to a villa for the end of the trip, "saving" it, in essence.

But whatever you decide, I hope you have a great time!

 

[Scott]

AK is great, do not miss it. The theming is unique and quite unlike what you have at the zoo and animal park in SD...I'm originally from So. Cal. Plus, Expedition Everest is a must see attraction, even waiting in line is interesting!However, we find that we can hit our favorite attractions at AK in a half-day. This might be especially true for you if you want to skip the animal attractions such as the safari. We usually reserve two afternoons of our 5 day trips for some pool time or other non-park fun. Disney Studios is also something you can do in a shortened day. Our kids are young, so this may not apply to families with older/teenage children.

 

[Raivyn]

I am seriously considering not switching resorts 3 times for this trip, and maybe not at all. We had originally thought to do so because we thought we would save money by using the villas since it has a full kitchen, or if the studios were less expensive than my corporate rate at Swan/Dolphin. I am still finding out from family if they will join us. If not, then we would likely stay at Swan/Dolphin for the entire trip since it is so central.

I just didn't want to see work cronies on vacation.

I'll post this in the dining board, but does anyone know if you can get the dining plan if you book your stay at Swan/Dolphin?

 

[crisi]

I am seriously considering not switching resorts 3 times for this trip, and maybe not at all. We had originally thought to do so because we thought we would save money by using the villas since it has a full kitchen, or if the studios were less expensive than my corporate rate at Swan/Dolphin. I am still finding out from family if they will join us. If not, then we would likely stay at Swan/Dolphin for the entire trip since it is so central.

I just didn't want to see work cronies on vacation.

I'll post this in the dining board, but does anyone know if you can get the dining plan if you book your stay at Swan/Dolphin?

Full kitchens are only available in DVC one bedrooms and larger. Usually the per point cost difference will take a lot of the savings away from eating in the room - we've also discovered that when we intend to eat in the room we often discover we don't want to take time to do so - we end up grabbing something in the parks because getting back to the room, cooking, eating, and returning to the parks takes way too long. (Which means we've had negative savings from that experiment, since we ended up tossing our groceries.)