Touring The Resorts

[JustGottaGoDisney]

We plan to take some time on our trip to tour the resorts and see all the wonderful Christmas decorations.

Two questions please:

1. What is the best way to see most of the resorts with regards to transportation?

2. Which resorts would you say are a must see?

Thank you!

 

[bicker]

The best approach would be to rent a car. Disney transportation is structured to best get you from hotel to parks, and to a lesser extent from park to park. Getting from hotel to hotel is easiest by rental car.

Don't miss the holiday decorations at the Grand Floridian or at the Wilderness Lodge.

 

[Patty3]

We plan on doing the same thing and we did rent a car.

 

[iloveeeyore]

Car is best, but if you don't have one, it can be done. When you take breaks from each park, visit the resorts nearby. A great way to take a break from the MK, for example, is to hop on the monorail and do a resort tour, maybe have lunch or dinner at one. Wilderness Lodge is also easily accessible from MK by boat. From Epcot, take International Gateway (the back door), and walk to Yacht Club, Beach Club and Boardwalk (you can take a boat to these from the Studios). And Animal Kingdom Lodge is a very short bus ride from AK.

Of course, these are just the deluxes, which are most easily accessible from the parks. If you wish to tour mods and values, it would be much more complicated and you'd absolutely need a car.

We love visiting the resorts, but have never seen them during the holidays. Please give report of your tour when you return.

 

[johnvree]

Car is best, but if you don't have one, it can be done. When you take breaks from each park, visit the resorts nearby. A great way to take a break from the MK, for example, is to hop on the monorail and do a resort tour, maybe have lunch or dinner at one. Wilderness Lodge is also easily accessible from MK by boat. From Epcot, take International Gateway (the back door), and walk to Yacht Club, Beach Club and Boardwalk (you can take a boat to these from the Studios). And Animal Kingdom Lodge is a very short bus ride from AK.

Of course, these are just the deluxes, which are most easily accessible from the parks. If you wish to tour mods and values, it would be much more complicated and you'd absolutely need a car.

We love visiting the resorts, but have never seen them during the holidays. Please give report of your tour when you return.

Iloveeeyore beat me to it. This really is the best way to see the resorts. Relying on buses is time consuming and will usually require hopping on multiple buses.

I would hit the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian using the monorail. The Wilderness Lodge is also great for decorations. Never been to AKL during Christmastime, nor any of the Epcot resorts. But I have seen great pictures of the Y&BC.

 

[LoveMickey]

We have done this many times without a car.

When Not staying at an Epcot resort, we head over to Epcot and out the international gate way. We usually tour BW and have lunch or dinner over there and then see the Beach and Yacht Clubs.

We also go to WL, then take the boat to the Contemporary, see their decorations then take the monorail and see the Poly and GF. We did this one year when they had a lot of rain in December, nice way to stay dry and still do a lot.

The other thing is taking the monorail from MK to Epcot, you go right by the Christmas decorations in Epcot.

Enjoy.

 

[goofy4tink]

I have started at MK, walked over to CR, check it out, take the boat to WL, boat back to the CR, onto the monorail, go to Polynesian, GF, back to MK where I hop a bus for the Boardwalk Resort. Check out BW, YC/BC. Then either walk to MGM and take a bus back to my resort (if I'm not staying at BWV) or hop a bus back to MK and then a bus to my resort. I don't tend to stay too long in each resort. Sometimes I grab a bite to eat, sometimes not. But I have been able to do all those resorts in a decent amount of time.
You could also take the monorail from TTC to Epcot and walk through Epcot to the Epcot resorts, but that could use up a day of park entry for some.
Be sure to try and squeeze AKL in there....it is fantastic at Christmastime!!

 

[JustGottaGoDisney]

Thanks for all the great suggestions! I did not realize there were so many options in how to get around! I am definitely overwhelmed, but going to take my time and enjoy it.
I will definitely post about all I see!

 

[goin2disneyagain]

We go resort hopping on every trip. We always have either a rental car or our own car. Must sees would be AKL and the Boardwalk/YC/BC resorts.

 

[JerseyJ]

Has anyone resort hopped when they were not guests or were not using park passes?
We will be arriving in Fla on a fri but not checking into Disney untill Mon. Would like to tour the resorts on Fri & wondered if anyone has ever been stopped for a pass or resort ID.

 

[goin2disneyagain]

Has anyone resort hopped when they were not guests or were not using park passes?
We will be arriving in Fla on a fri but not checking into Disney untill Mon. Would like to tour the resorts on Fri & wondered if anyone has ever been stopped for a pass or resort ID.

Just tell the guard that you are just looking around and have a reservation for a few days later.

 

[mitushib]

Ok I am staying offsite for my whole stay but wanna see how the GF is like with decorations and all. I know we can take the monorail from MK but will they let us in to see it?

 

[goofy4tink]

Absolutely!!! Anyone is welcome to go into the resorts and check them out. They certainly won't mind if you spend a little cash there either!! So...go, explore and enjoy!!!