Suggestions?

[gr8tpanther]

First time WDW visitor. Not going till 9/05, so have plenty of time, BUT, I am researching.

I have 2 daughters who will be 11 and 12 years old when we go.

We are going to be visiting the following parks...

-MK
-Epcot
-MGM
-AK

Is there a resort that is equally close to all of these parks?

What would be the best?

We all love animals, my one daughter just LOVES dolphins, but I want a resort that provides activities for my children as well as relaxation for ME

So... now I ask the experts for their advice and opinions....

Oh and is there a map online of all the resorts and parks and such? So I can get a general idea of where everything is.

 

[fam4jc]

Hi. How many nights will you be staying? Would you like to split your stay? There are so many wonderful resorts!! I always have a hard time choosing that's why we end up splitting our stays so we can hit two resorts in one trip. What's your budet like? Can you do delux?

We have two girsl also. Ours are younger by a couple years, but I'll give you my impressions of what they've liked best.

1. The pool must be totaly cool
2. Transportation to the parks must be easy or they get cranky/bored, etc.
3. Boat rides are a treat
4. Balcony is a lifeboat for mom & dad late a night
5. The pool must be totally cool

So, if I were planning to take my girls at that age, I would do Boardwalk Inn or Beach Club and split it with Wilderness Lodge or Poly. (We love the Poly). I could slide AKL in there any old place! I would recommend a Magic Kingdom resort and an Epcot resort. Jmo. The girls love the change of two totally different environmnets!
Have a great time.

 

[eeyore45]

Good Luck with the planning!! I am having fun looking and researching!!

My 7 yr old loves everything dolphin!! I was excited when I saw there is a Disney Dolphin.but found out it is a Sheraton Resort, but very close to one of the parks... and of course DD wanted to stay there - then we did what you are asking, looking at maps and all the great pictures of the resorts posted here - in the end, I just let my dd look at the pics and let her decide - she wanted to stay "in Hawaii"!! So I booked us in the Polynesian, we're doing the 5 +2 and cant split our stay, or I would look into staying at the AKL for the animal atmosphere, but like many, many posters here is such a personal choice its almost impossible to take one over the other!!

Good Luck and have FUN!!

 

[gr8tpanther]

I am looking at 5-7 days on a shoe string budget (saw that somewhere and thought it was cute). I am not real sure what I have to work with actually, depends on Uncle Sam in January - He better be nice to me this year

I would like it to be a memorable thing though, waited 36 years to go there (that is just what my birth certificate says, I swear I am much MUCH younger! ), and will most likely be my NEXT lifetime till I get back there, so you KNOW that if I have anything to say about it, I won't care about the money

 

[marksor]

Okay, the best you can do is to stay at one of the following resorts in the Epcot area. From any one of these you can walk to Epcot and MGM. From any one of these you can either take a bus to MK or walk into Epcot and take the monorail. You'll have to take the bus to AK. No other resorts can offer this.

Beach Club
Yacht Club
Swan/Dolphin
Boardwalk

 

[KathyTX]

The resorts closest to the parks are all deluxe resorts, so they don't really fit with the "shoestring budget" approach.

For the best bang for your buck, I'd look into staying at Pop Century. There are lots of photos at that link.

You'll have Disney transportation to all the parks direct from the resort. Pop Century's pretty close to Epcot, MGM and Animal Kingdom. Probably a 20-25 minute bus ride to the Magic Kingdom.

Here's a map of the WDW property. To find Pop Century, look for the Disney MGM Studios, then look a bit south east of that.

 

[fam4jc]

Are you by chance a teacher or work for the Government? The Dolphin has great rates for teachers, nurses or govt employees. We loved the dolphin. The location is terrific. You can also get a little discount with AAA on rooms and tickets.

You can have a magical stay in any of the disney resorts. Why don't you start your planning off by deciding how many nights, transportation, and ticket choice. Then you'll have a better idea of what you are looking at $$$ wise when you look at rack rates. They'll scare you, that's for sure! But discounts are available.

ie: 7 night stay = ??$$
Drive from = x$
Fly = x$
Tickets = 1 adult (or 2?) and 2 child 6 or 7 day park hoppers =x$
or 6 or 7 day park hopper plus' = x$
Food for 8 days = x$$
Misc = x$

You can go to ticketmania.com and get current prices for the different tickets offered with good descriptions of what they include.

Now you can see how costly it is BEFORE you include the hotel. That will help you decide if you can swing a delux or not. I believe it is worth every penny. You've got plenty of time to save, so if you want delux and you can make it fit - go for it!!

 

[gr8tpanther]

Transportation is easy, we are driving, probably staying 5 nights, and I am looking at POP, that seems to be something that we can all agree on, it has a little something for everyone.

Nope, not a teacher or a nurse. Just ordinary me.

I think that we are going to go for ONE AP and the rest hoppers.

How do I get more info on AP?

 

[disneyag]

Check out allears.net. Deb has great info and pictures on all the hotels. There is also a section on AP's. You might find that with an AP discount, a Deluxe hotel is doable.

Have a great time!!!!

 

[disneyag]

Check out allearsnet.com. Deb has great info and pictures on all the hotels. There is also a section on AP's. You might find that with an AP discount, a Deluxe hotel is doable.

Have a great time!!!!

 

[Imagineering or Bust]

Well I'm biased, but I'd say stay at POP. As far as CM say (not overwhelmingly researched) 9.5 out of 10 CM's love working at POP. That creates a great atmosphere, it really does and as always if you have any concerns, questions, or comments. The Front Desk is open 24 hours 7 days a week! I really think since you can see 3 of the 4 parks from certain buildings at POP that it's going to be your best choice, I have friends coming in Dec. who will be staying 7 nights at POP and 1 at WL they just want to have a feeling of severe upscale so one night at WL will do it for them the rest of the time they'd rather not worrie and just enjoy themselves immensely? Well hopefully that helps, not that I'm trying to sway the vote at all, lol!

 

[mmeb144]

Check out the pictures of the pools on allearsnet.com. The moderates have waterslides at their pools. When I take my DS, 12, and DD, 9, we have to stay at someplace with a cool waterslide. I haven't shown them pictures of Stormalong Bay at the Yacht and Beach Club resorts. I definitely can't afford to stay there! They are very content with the CBR. Our next trip is to POFQ in October. I'm hoping for codes for my trip.

Marie