Recommendations for WDW

[SactoBill]

Hi everyone,

We are planning on our first trip to WDW this September and would appreciate recommendations on where to stay. We have two DD's, one is 3.5 and the other one is 1.5. Our girls love pools and beaches. We would like a place that has at least a refrigerator.

We initially thought the BC Villas would be nice but wasn't sure what people thought. Also, I noticed people mentioning free dining. Can anyone tell me how to get that option?

Thanks in advance.

Bill

 

[barkley]

if you can swing a rental through a dvc member you'de realy like it. the 1 bedrooms come with a full sized kitchen and washer/dryer (so nice not having to pack so much). you would also get "pool hopping" privledges that will allow the kids to try most of the best pools in the entire park.

you would have a large master bedroom (with 2 double beds) and a living room with a pull out bed (you can see layouts and photos of the rooms on the disney website).

you can rent these independant of a renting points from a dvc member, but september is a pretty low "point" month so you can probably get a much better deal than paying cash rack rate to disney.

 

[SactoBill]

Thanks Barkely!

How would we go about renting from a DVC member? Would we still get daily maid service? Can we still purchase park hopper tickets?

Sorry for all the newbie questions.

Thanks.

Bill

 

[barkley]

Thanks Barkely!

How would we go about renting from a DVC member? Would we still get daily maid service? Can we still purchase park hopper tickets?

Sorry for all the newbie questions.

Thanks.

you can go to the dvc rental board on the dis. you can still get park hoppers and do a dining program if desired. depending on the stay, you get maid service every couple of days (we toss the towels into the w/d with the soap they supply when we leave for the parks and then into the dryer when we get back-they have ones to use at the pools so no problem there).

if you p.m. me i can pass on the email address of someone i used to rent from once when i was short points of the vacation we wanted-and i also rented some points to him when i needed to use um or lose um (he realy educated me on the whole process and what to look for avoid in the whole renting process).

 

[Safari Queen]

A couple of clarifications on DVC:
1. The only place I've seen two doubles in the master BR is a studio in OKW. We've always had a queen.
2. You get trash and towel service on the 4th day. However, you can pay for daily service, if you need it. We actually like knowing that no one is coming in every day and we wash the towels ourselves.

Check the Rent/Trade Board on this forum. It's definitely worth it to have a home vs a room.

 

[eeyoregon]

I believe the deadline for booking the "free dining" package ended already, but there may be a day or two left?? Go to disneyworld.com ASAP to find out. I booked this deal for my friend and it's really a great deal.

Not sure what your budget is for the resorts?? We have stayed at both ends of the spectrum. All rooms have mini-fridges now - standard without having to request I believe. The Pop century is fun for the young ones and has good pools. Our room had a mini-fridge in it.

Port Orleans Riverside is nice because of the boat that connects to DT Disney. Animal Kingdom Lodge has a fantastic pool with gradual walk-in for the little ones. Caribbean Beach has great pools and a beach area with sand on a small lake, but this resort is very spread out and you can't just walk everywhere.

 

[SactoBill]

Thanks for the tips. We are having a hard time deciding between the Wilderness Lodge Villas and the Polynesian. I like the idea of having a kitchen and a washer/dryer in the room. Plus with a 1.5 year old and a 3.5 year old, the extra bedroom would come in handy. However, the Poly sounds awesome. We always loved Hawaii.

So decisions, decisions...

 

[disneyohana]

The Polynesian is a great hotel. My nephew who was 5 at the time we went liked the pool and the monorail. We then went to Caribbean Beach and he had a lot of fun there too. I too am having trouble deciding where to stay next time. I love all the Disney hotels I've been to.

 

[tcolbert]

We just stayed at the Poly in May, a lot of the rooms are newly refurbished and it's nice being on the Monorail loop. The thing I don't like about the Poly is how spread out it is. There is the main house, but all of the rooms are in flanking buildings. Depending upon where your room is, you could have a long walk.

For us, and especially our DS (5), we love the Wilderness Lodge's layout (& neighboring VWL). You have boat transportation, the pool is fantastic, and there is a lot of small wildlife (aka lots of bunnies) on the grounds.

Oh yeah, be sure to check out the nightly outdoor movie and S'Mores roast at the Fort Wilderness Campground. The movie is free and the S'Mores Kit is less than $10 and contains PLENTY of goodies for the whole family. I'd call Disney for the movie and times.

 

[ainmama2001]

Rent the points from a DVC member. We did it last year and it was the BEST. We rented at OKW and it was so comfortable and homey.

 

[Karel]

You might want to call and see what is available at this rather late date. Your choices may be some what limited.

ETA: Ok, I just put in some random Sept. dates at the Disney site and managed to get an assortment of rooms at the Poly.

 

[Karel]

I would try to get the Villas. Having the extra room with young ones would be nice.

 

[Deb & Bill]

A couple of clarifications on DVC:
1. The only place I've seen two doubles in the master BR is a studio in OKW. We've always had a queen.
2. You get trash and towel service on the 4th day. However, you can pay for daily service, if you need it. We actually like knowing that no one is coming in every day and we wash the towels ourselves.

Check the Rent/Trade Board on this forum. It's definitely worth it to have a home vs a room.

OKW has two queens in the studio. All other DVC WDW studios have a queen bed and a double sleeper sofa.

The one bedroom villas have a king in the master bedroom and a queen sleeper sofa in the living room.

The pool hopping perk mentioned by another poster is for DVC members and the guests staying with them only. Not for non-members renting a reservation from a member.

 

[DisneyDW]

We stayed at BC in a 2 br villa once and I highly recommend it. The pool is great and has a wonderful beach area for the little ones. It is so convenient to both Epcot and MGM... my kids love both of these parks, probably more than MK. You have a character breakfast option right there at the hotel. And a great ice cream parlor. We love the BC! The villa was great for little ones going to sleep early. I paid rack rate (couldn't coordinate the points purchase) but that was still much better than 2 connecting rooms at BC, esp w/AP rate. We paid for daily towel service and had groceries delivered to the room day 1 for breakfast, snacks and even a quick lunch or dinner.

I have always wanted to stay at Poly but haven't made it there yet. We really need 2 rooms to spread out and at Poly's price... ouch! One day, maybe!