Second guessing my hotel choice

[NJlauren]

Hmm interesting. I thought that hoppers weren't really suggested for people with small kids and/or 1st time visitors. I don't know if my boys will move fast enough to be hopping between parks but I might be wrong. I've never been so I don't know what to expect.

My daughter is 3 we always do hoppers. We tend to eat most dinners in Epcot after a mid day break.

 

[Djsbride]

"Moving fast?" I'm not following you. BUT, here's a scenario or two:
1. If your kids are early risers, Rope drop park A, beat the crowds, leave the park in mid afternoon, when the crowds are the worst, and the sun is the hottest, return to the resort to enjoy that pool you re paying for (when the sun is the hottest, and the crowds are the worst, and the hop to EP or DHS for a lazy "tour" and nighttime show. When you are only a few minutes away from two parks, hopping is pretty freekin simple. Also the International Gateway is a "chill" entrance for Epcot. If I stayed anywhere besides an Epcot area resort, I don't think I'd get hoppers.

2. Epcot or DHS am EMH? BREEZE. Absolute breeze. Ep opens at 8am for emh? You leave at 7:40am, and you'll be there before rope drop. Dhs - budget 25 minutes to walk. I'd budget something like 40 minutes for the boat (with wait time included.) You might get lucky and shave 15 minutes off if you don't have to wait for a boat. BUT, along with that, getting back to your room for a mid day break is nothing.

3. For the price you're paying, it might be wise to tag team the kids a few times at night. Again, 10 minute walk to World Showcase, 25 min walk to dhs. If the kids are dead asleep one night at 8pm, one of you could slip out and for a few hours and do some solo adulting at DHS or EP for a few hours and probably not be any worse for the wear. Especially if there's a pm emh at EP or DHS - again, your travel time is NOTHING.

Disney transportation can start weighing on your vacation time over the span of days. Epcot area resorts are pretty special because you can walk to two parks pretty easily. I mean Epcot Ig is just a breeze to get to DHS is about twice as far of a walk, but unless you catch a boat at the right time when you are leaving, walking back might be faster than the boat ride.

I guess I'd suggest to start thinking about what you'd like to do, and what's right for your family. Take recommendations of course, but, you don't have to go along with recommendations if it doesn't make sense for what you want to do. I know you probably already know this. For the price you are going to pay, make the choices that are right to you after thinking them through.

My opinion is that epcot are resort + kids that wake up early = hoppers.

Also, if you are a Costco member, take a look at their WDW packages.

You've given me plenty to think about and discuss with DH! Thank you for all this info.

 

[ChristineOH]

You'll be fine no matter where you stay. But if you really want WL, have your TA keep checking.

I'd get hoppers if staying at an Epcot or MK area resort. We almost always get hoppers, but if you've got a super convenient park, it's nice to do a park in the morning, and then do the "easy to get to" park in the evening. And in the summer, I highly recommend afternoon breaks.

 

[reluctantredhead]

The reason the hoppers are so great when staying at Beach Club is because you're literally a 8-10 minute walk from Epcot. When you're so close to a park like that, it's nice to have the option to pop over to that park whenever the mood strikes. Plus you've got Hollywood Studios nearby as well (longer walk, but a boat ride will get you there fairly quickly). Your young boys may get bored trying to spend a whole day at Epcot, and might really wish they could go back over to Hollywood Studios to ride something or visit Launch Bay again or watch Galactic Spectacular again. (FYI, the real Star Wars immersion will not take place until Star Wars Land opens in 2019. So go ahead and start planning, LOL!)

The other thing is, if you walk over to Epcot and spend some time, you can easily hop to Magic Kingdom via the monorail too.

It really opens up where you can go and what you can do.

This advice is spot on, and it's why we stay at one of the Epcot resorts nearly every time we visit WDW. And as several people have mentioned, the food choices at BC/YC/BW are fantastic...and Epcot in IMHO has the best food options in WDW, so I love that when I stay at one of the Epcot resorts I can easily eat dinner there every night if I want to.

For kids as young as yours I normally recommend the Poly, since it has the most hassle-free transportation to and from MK and EP...but since your kids particularly love what HS has to offer, I think BC is the perfect choice.

Have a fantastic trip!

 

[gharter]

We've stayed at POR in the past and its nice. BC is an entirely different level of nice. Awesome pool. It is great to walk to HS or EPCOT instead of taking a bus. At night, watching the entertainment on the Boardwalk is fun. Its even better walking back from HS or EPCOT instead of waiting for a bus at night.
I don't think you will be disappointed with BC.

 

[Sue M]

About hoppers, we always get them. We will often start in one park for rope drop. Take a mid day break then go to another park at night. Esp with a 5 & 8 yr old, you’ll want to give them a rest mid day. And if you’re staying at an Epcot resort or MK area resort you may appreciate the ability to pop into a nearby park, even if just for a meal or snack.
We just were in WDW late November - early Dec. loved all the Christmas decorations. Make a point of touring all the MK and Epcot resorts to check out their decorations esp GF, WL, and BC/YC.

 

[Animal]

BC is awesome! Boardwalk, Epcot, Studios... POR is great, too, but BC is on a whole other tier.

 

[Shellyb84]

I posted not long ago about being in the early stages of planning. We're going to WDW for the first time November 27- December 3rd. My sons are going to be 8 and 5 during our vacation. Originally I was set on staying at the POR in a preferred room because I didn't want to walk 15 mins to go to the main areas, but later I found a travel agent with the magical deal and she gave me a great quote for my dates for WL. I was very excited but when she tried to book the room, the hotel was sold out . My other options were the POR in a standard room (which I don't want to do), the Polynesian standard room/view or BC standard room/view. I decided to book BC based on its proximity to Epcot and HS. My boys are HUGE Star Wars fans. They don't really care about princesses, Mickey and friends, or anything too girly. My #1 must do is have them do the Jedi training and hopefully immerse in all things SW. My husband is more excited about Epcot and HS as well. I'm excited about all parks and we're planning on visiting them all with no park hopper and have a rest day in between. The fact that the pool at BC looks amazing and my boys are little swimmers was also a deciding factor.

The reason I'm second guessing is because the hotel doesn't really wow me and I'm thinking if I'm better off sticking to my original plan of staying at the POR in a preferred room. BC looks huge and I'm afraid I'll be also doing ton of walking. If you were in my situation and given my choices, which hotel would you choose?

When we went on our first family trip, we decided to go with BC because of recommendations from friends and family. I'll admit that looking at photos and all online it didn't "wow" me either and I second guessed our choice a lot. Once we arrived and pulled up to the entrance, that all changed! The moment we walked in we were in love, and it is still our favorite resort. When we're not staying there we miss it. My DD was just shy of 5 at the time, and she ended up wanting to spend more time at the pool than anything else. The kiddie pool and slide were her favorite. We loved being so close to Epcot and it became our favorite park.

If you're worried about the size of the resort, ask to be close to the lobby. We've been all the way out in the rooms closest to Epcot and it still wasn't a terrible walk, and you're walking inside so it's not like you're out in the heat anyway.

 

[Djsbride]

Thank you all for the feedback! Makes me feel like I made the right choice! As far as hoppers I’ll discuss it with DH but your arguments make a lot of sense. I still haven’t pen down our tentative itinerary because I’m waiting for Southwest to publish November/December dates. Once I know how early or late we’ll be getting into Orlando, I’ll be able to see realistically how to make better use of our time. My disadvantage is that DH hates having an agenda, and though he’s an early riser, he will use the bathroom for over an hour in the morning before going anywhere so I foresee meeting him at the parks with the boys more often than not!

 

[chicagoshannon]

Keep in mind you don't have to add park hoppers now. You can do it at the park if you decide you want to hop.

 

[SaintsManiac]

BC is soooooooo much better than POR.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We love the BC. I'm in love with the entire Epcot area and we are staying at BWV next trip. The walk to Epcot can't be beat. We never walked to DHS since it was August, very hot and we decided to save our steps for the parks. But the boat ride was nice. We went to Epcot everyday.

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

I agree with everything I'm reading here about why BC is an excellent choice! I have stayed at POR 4 or 5x and think it is one of the most beautiful resorts. I have also stayed at BC/YC 2x and love those resorts too, but between POR and BC, I would choose BC every time. One poster made a good point saying that at BC you are walking inside the hallways vs walking outside at POR, which can make a huge difference in heat, rain, possible cold in Nov/Dec or tired feet. While I love the grounds at POR and walking along the river is beautiful, I'd still choose the interior hallways of BC with many things being under one roof. I took my DGS to BC for his 10th bday and he fell in love with the pool (me, not so much, as I'm not fond of sandy bottoms, but the pool is quite unique). We also always get park hoppers no matter where we stay. That said, one of my all time favorite resorts is WL but since most of your activities seem to revolve around the Epcot area, I think BC will be amazing, should you decide to stay there. Good luck what ever you choose. And yes, get out to the parks early and have hubby meet you guys there.

 

[Shellyred8]

My kids only eat mac n cheese, grilled cheese, and pizza (rarely) lol. For breakfast we really like the Boardwalk Bakery. They have some yummy Mickey shaped chocolate chip muffins my kids love.

Just an FYI: they no longer have the Mickey shaped chocolate chip muffins. They were one of my favorites! I asked about them when I was there last week and they said they just had the normal shaped muffins now.

OP: Keep in mind the restaurants at the Swan and Dolphin too. There are a couple of good quick service places over there too.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We never buy hoppers (I’m cheap!), but even doing just two days at Epcot and one at HS we enjoyed how easy it was to take a midday break. We didn’t take breaks on our AK and MK days.

 

[scottmel]

I adore the Beach Club in the summer we get so much use out of the pool Storm Along Bay. However during our winter trips we stay at Port Orleans b/c the pool can be pretty chilly in the winter months...I have stayed at all the resorts in questions and I prefer POFQ over POR but would stay at either. My vote for a winter trip is POR or POFQ

 

[rkstocke5609]

I adore the Beach Club in the summer we get so much use out of the pool Storm Along Bay. However during our winter trips we stay at Port Orleans b/c the pool can be pretty chilly in the winter months...I have stayed at all the resorts in questions and I prefer POFQ over POR but would stay at either. My vote for a winter trip is POR or POFQ

Just can’t beat WL or AKL for winter trips. The lobby fireplaces are must do’s for us, and of course you are in a lodge so interior corridors abound. Having said that, I loved POFQ when we stayed there — but, moderate resorts are always a step behind a deluxe. I loved BC when we stayed there, the location is awesome and the pool is the best!