WDW on a budget hotel and transportation questions

[Jennyshore]

Hi everyone! My family (6 adults) is planning a trip to WDW next year in January for the value season. We're trying to get the most bang for our buck when it comes to hotels. Last time we stayed off property in an airbnb with a rental car and that was a nightmare! We got so lost trying to get around the property! We vowed next time we would definitely stay on property. But, I've been doing some research and it sounds like the Disney transportation buses aren't very reliable and sometimes have very long waits (granted- we will be there in the less crowded season so I'm not sure it will be much of an issue). So, we were looking into the Epcot area hotels so that we could walk into Epcot, Hollywood Studios and take the monorail to MK. BUT the prices for those hotels are crazy! Cheapest was $300/night in the off season! And we'd probably need three rooms between all of us. So I'm wondering, would it be best to rent a car and stay off property again, stay on property in a moderate hotel and deal with the bus system or bite the bullet and just pay for the Epcot resort hotels and not have to deal with the transportation issue too much? Is there another cost effective option that still has decent transportation that I haven't thought of? Thanks in advance!

 

[Shanti]

Hi everyone! My family (6 adults) is planning a trip to WDW next year in January for the value season. We're trying to get the most bang for our buck when it comes to hotels. Last time we stayed off property in an airbnb with a rental car and that was a nightmare! We got so lost trying to get around the property! We vowed next time we would definitely stay on property. But, I've been doing some research and it sounds like the Disney transportation buses aren't very reliable and sometimes have very long waits (granted- we will be there in the less crowded season so I'm not sure it will be much of an issue). So, we were looking into the Epcot area hotels so that we could walk into Epcot, Hollywood Studios and take the monorail to MK. BUT the prices for those hotels are crazy! Cheapest was $300/night in the off season! And we'd probably need three rooms between all of us. So I'm wondering, would it be best to rent a car and stay off property again, stay on property in a moderate hotel and deal with the bus system or bite the bullet and just pay for the Epcot resort hotels and not have to deal with the transportation issue too much? Is there another cost effective option that still has decent transportation that I haven't thought of? Thanks in advance!

In your shoes, wanting Disney transportation & immersion without spending too much, I would probably get a few rooms at Art of Animation resort or Pop Century resort. AOA is the nicest of the value resorts, followed by Pop, which is completing room refurbishments as we speak. Both AOA and Pop will have faster bus transportation than the moderates, because they do not have internal bus systems as the moderates do, and neither of them ever shares buses with any other resorts. There is one bus stop at the front of the resort, and the bus will take you directly to the park and back every time. That's pretty good as far as WDW transportation goes. (WDW buses aren't terrible, btw. People like to share their horror stories online, but they're typically reliable & efficient.)

The values aren't the most comfortable places to stay, but AOA's rooms have really cute theming, meant to appeal to the kid at heart. If you want more comfort, moderate will be a little better & deluxe a lot better, but don't confuse "Disney deluxe" with true luxury. They are not one and the same. The high deluxe price tags are much more for location, Disney perks & theming than for the size, amenities, or luxuriousness of the rooms.

Offsite, Swan and Dolphin are a popular set of hotels in walking distance to Epcot & Hollywood Studios. You get some (but not all) Disney perks when staying at them

The Hilton at Bonnet Creek (not the one at Disney Springs) is also located within the WDW gates, is reasonably priced and offers a complimentary shuttle bus to and from the theme parks. Be sure when pricing it out to add on the $30 nightly resort fee they charge.

When comparing onsite to offsite charges, be sure to include the difference of having to pay for transportation to & from the airport if you do not stay at a Disney resort. Guests staying at Disney resorts get complimentary Magical Express transfers to & from the airport.

 

[SaraVee]

I've stayed in every category of Disney resort multiple times and have felt that Pop Century has the most reliable bus transport, in my experience. Too many deluxe resorts share bus routes (because the deluxe resorts have fewer rooms at them) and I have experienced very long transit times to get to a park.

Pop Century has a ton of rooms, therefore lots of people. But, Disney knows this and they keep the buses coming. Pop has dedicated bus routes, so for almost every journey you'll head straight to your destination once you're on the bus. At a park's closing time, there can be a crazy long line in the bus stop queue for Pop. But it's not uncommon to see one bus fill up and have a second waiting behind it to accommodate everyone. Overall, I think Pop is run very efficiently, including transportation.

The only other thing I'd add is we've done a couple of trips when our kids were very small and good transportation was very important to us. We found the best of both worlds by doing a split stay. We stayed at Bay Lake Tower/Contemporary at the beginning of our stay and focused on Magic Kingdom and Epcot on those days. The walk into the Magic Kingdom is about 5 minutes, and you can easily monorail to Epcot. Then we switched to a value resort for the second half to get efficient bus transport to the other parks, and to help offset the cost of the deluxe resort for the first few days.

 

[ColoradoMom12]

I echo what the other posters have said. I'd also suggest you take at a look at Pop Century. Pop Century is a great resort with perhaps the best bus transportation of all the resorts. I've heard AoA has similarly good bus transportation but the only time we stayed there we rented a car (and also got impossibly lost trying to navigate Disney!). One of our favorite ways to "do Disney" is to do a split stay. We'll stay for the first 3 nights at Pop Century and take the bus to HS and AK. Then we switch to the CR and spend another 3 days visiting MK and Epcot. Keep in mind, too, that if you stay at an Epcot resort, your best (fastest, and for pre-park openings, only) way to MK is on the bus. You can enter through the International Gateway and walk to the front of the park and then take the monorail and take the other monorail, but that takes up A LOT of time and involves a lot of walking. If you are needing to get to MK for a pre-park opening breakfast or want to be there for RD or AM EMH, your only way will be the bus from your resort. So Epcot resorts are great for walking to Epcot and HS but just like any other non-MK area resort for getting to MK.

We also frequently stay 5 nights all at Pop Century and use the bus to get to all of the parks. We find it about 100% more convenient than staying at the moderates. At the moderates, the bus picks up from several stops within the resort, which can feel like it takes forever. The deluxe buses frequently share routes as well (AKL aside, although Jambo and Kidani share bus service so it's kind of the same thing). Pop is one stop, and you're on your way to the parks. The longest we've ever waited for a bus is right around 15 minutes, and that's in the early afternoon when fewer people are going to/from the parks. We do travel at times when the parks at their most crowded (Easter, Thanksgiving, Columbus/fall break week) so that might make a difference.

I suppose it all depends what you're looking for from your vacation. The moderates and deluxes have more amenities than Pop/AoA. They are subdued with more landscaping, pools are fancier, TS dining option, among other things. The theming at Pop and AoA is really fun, though, and kids (many grown-ups too!) really love it. Despite not having water slides, the pools are still really fun, and we've always been very content with the options in the food court.

The other option you might want to consider is renting DVC points. This can be a much less expensive way to stay at a deluxe resort. We haven't tried it yet but are planning to at least once in 2018.

 

[deakam]

Have you considered renting Disney vacation club points? We go about 3 times a year and we only really have a problem with transportation at the end of the day and really only from the Magic Kingdom. Though last time we did have a bit of an issue at Hollywood Studios but that was a CM's fault. Like previous posters said POP has the best service from the value resorts and several times we hopped onto empty Art of Animation buses and just walked across the bridge to our POP room. As far as the EPCOT resorts in order to get the monorail from EPCOT to the Magic Kingdom you will need to enter EPCOT walk all the way through and then get on the monorail. This requires a park hopper pass. Plus the walk to Hollywood studios is really quite a distance. There is a boat but that little boat ride can take 30-40 minutes and at the end of the night there is quite a line waiting for that boat. On our last trip I was talking to a man that said he had used UBER to get to his breakfast reservation because the bus was running late. POP to Animal Kingdom cost him six dollars. I was not aware of UBER running at Disney but I guess it does. Disney transportation works if you allow yourself enough time. Linger at park closing, walk slowly, enjoy the time with family and friends. It is way more relaxing to slowly stroll down main street and wander in the shoppes than it is to stand in a line for a bus you will probably not get a seat on. We either leave before the crowds or wait till the crowd thins.

 

[Jennyshore]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Just to add a few details: We'll be traveling with my parents who are older-ish and probably less likely to be super patient waiting for transportation at the end of a long day. Also, we're not too concerned with getting to MK as we are from southern California and frequent Disneyland (I know there are plenty of differences and we do plan to spend at least a half day Mk) so the annoying commute wouldn't bother us too much. We're mostly looking forward to spending time at Epcot and Hollywood studios, thus the Epcot area hotel idea. And does anyone have any experience with the bus transportation during the value (ie less crowded) season? Thank you guys so much for all your help!

 

[Westcoastwild]

Just my two cents...
I really didn't have much trouble with the bus system. I think the longest I waited was at one of the deluxe hotels- I don't remember which one, sorry- but that was a really strange long wait, like 30+ minutes in the middle of the day. Everywhere else, I didn't wait longer than 10-15 at most. The one exception was taking boat or monorail at park closing- both were mobbed, and you'll probably have to wait for the second to come along.

 

[SaraVee]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Just to add a few details: We'll be traveling with my parents who are older-ish and probably less likely to be super patient waiting for transportation at the end of a long day. Also, we're not too concerned with getting to MK as we are from southern California and frequent Disneyland (I know there are plenty of differences and we do plan to spend at least a half day Mk) so the annoying commute wouldn't bother us too much. We're mostly looking forward to spending time at Epcot and Hollywood studios, thus the Epcot area hotel idea. And does anyone have any experience with the bus transportation during the value (ie less crowded) season? Thank you guys so much for all your help!

We take our family trips during the summer, but I often do a solo trip in late October to attend the Epcot Food & Wine Festival. I'm not sure that October is considered value season anymore, but I didn't see much difference in the bus transportation. I would imagine Disney adjusts it based on crowds, but I haven't found it to mean that buses come less often; it may just be there's fewer buses overall, but with fewer people it all adjusts accordingly.

I have stayed at the Beach Club before, and the walk into Epcot is wonderful, especially at the end of the day. You enter into the World Showcase side of the park, so it is a hike to get the the Future World side. But, you mentioned traveling with your parents, and I find a lot of grandparents love World Showcase and exploring the counties, so being able to stroll over there easily may be a big plus for them. Hollywood Studios is walkable, but it's not a short walk. There is a boat, which can be pleasant during slow hours, but at busy times it can take awhile.

Beach Club does share buses with some other deluxe resorts, so it can feel like you're taking a bit of a tour before you reach your destination. However, overall I didn't find there to be huge crowds using those buses, so while it was a long ride to get places, it wasn't unpleasant. And I'm not sure if you'll have kids in your party, but the pool at Beach Club is by far the best at Disney.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Just to add a few details: We'll be traveling with my parents who are older-ish and probably less likely to be super patient waiting for transportation at the end of a long day. Also, we're not too concerned with getting to MK as we are from southern California and frequent Disneyland (I know there are plenty of differences and we do plan to spend at least a half day Mk) so the annoying commute wouldn't bother us too much. We're mostly looking forward to spending time at Epcot and Hollywood studios, thus the Epcot area hotel idea. And does anyone have any experience with the bus transportation during the value (ie less crowded) season? Thank you guys so much for all your help!

At the end of a long day, everyone who didn't leave a bit earlier will be waiting for transportation. So plan on waiting. Another thing, you can't take the monorail from the Epcot resorts to the MK without walking through Epcot. That's means a park hopper ticket at the least and Epcot has to be open at the time you are trying to walk through it. At the end of the day, there are hundreds (thousands, possibly) of people waiting for the monorail from the MK and Epcot. Even if you stay at an Epcot resort, you will be better off walking back to your resort than waiting on the boat. You may have to wait for several turns before you actually get on the boat.

And while people are talking about renting DVC points for next January, you might already be too late for that. You are only six months out from January 2018 and that means anyone with DVC points has already used their points to book a month ago. Early January probably sold out a few months ago with the Marathon.

 

[ChristineOH]

I'm a teacher, and therefore travel in the summer. I honestly don't think it matters if you go during a "slow" or "busy" season, because Disney always keeps its resorts at a high occupancy.
We always stay on property and use ME. We have a rental car curse-- something always goes wrong-- and I love walking by all the long rental car lines and hopping on the ME bus. We also consider not driving around the parks to be part of our vacation. No worrying about how to get anywhere, parking, etc.
We have never had a problem with bus transportation. Sometimes it may take a little longer than you'd like, but sometimes you walk right up to a bus and hop on. We just got back from a stay at POR, and the monitors they have at the bus stops are great. You know exactly when the bus is coming. Usually it's 5-10 minutes. On our recent June trip, if it was a 12 minute wait, it meant we had JUST missed a bus.
If you try to leave the parks after the night time entertainment lets out, yes, it is a little crazy. However, Disney does its best to move people out. The longest we waited to board a bus is 20 minutes. Yes, it was standing room only, but it was okay for us. I suppose you could look into Uber for leaving the parks, but we have never messed with that. Just don't freak out when you see the long line. It's never as bad as it looks.
Both CBR and POR are pretty close to Epcot/DHS, as are Pop and AoA. For POR, it was about 30 minutes from arriving at the bus stop to walking into Epcot or DHS, and that includes bag check and scanning in admission. It was about 45 minutes for MK or AK. I think that's pretty good. And POR is a resort with multiple bus stops. Those times include picking up at two different stops after we got on, and it was still that quick!
If you want less crowded buses, look at POFQ. Because the resort is small, the bus usually isn't full. It sometimes shares with POR, but not often, in my experience.
I think on property is especially good if you are traveling with others, such as grandparents, because you have the freedom to leave or arrive at the parks at different times.

 

[MarBee]

Try the Swan and Dolphin if you're looking for Epcot area resorts that aren't too costly. You can walk to Epcot and the Boardwalk very easily. (You can also walk to HS but it's more significant of a walk.) Or you can take the boats to Epcot and HS. The boats run about every ten minutes. You can also use the buses to AK and MK.
Because they are not owned by Disney but are on Disney property, you enjoy the transportation parks and Extra Magic Hoursat (usually) a much lower price than Boardwalk and Yacht/Beach Club, but they're all essentially in the same place.
However, because they're not Disney owned, you should note that you do not get free transportation to and from the airport, and you cannot charge things back to your room from the parks.

 

[bettybooplove]

Hi everyone! My family (6 adults) is planning a trip to WDW next year in January for the value season. We're trying to get the most bang for our buck when it comes to hotels. Last time we stayed off property in an airbnb with a rental car and that was a nightmare! We got so lost trying to get around the property! We vowed next time we would definitely stay on property. But, I've been doing some research and it sounds like the Disney transportation buses aren't very reliable and sometimes have very long waits (granted- we will be there in the less crowded season so I'm not sure it will be much of an issue). So, we were looking into the Epcot area hotels so that we could walk into Epcot, Hollywood Studios and take the monorail to MK. BUT the prices for those hotels are crazy! Cheapest was $300/night in the off season! And we'd probably need three rooms between all of us. So I'm wondering, would it be best to rent a car and stay off property again, stay on property in a moderate hotel and deal with the bus system or bite the bullet and just pay for the Epcot resort hotels and not have to deal with the transportation issue too much? Is there another cost effective option that still has decent transportation that I haven't thought of? Thanks in advance!

This won't be a cheap trip, especially if you want to stay at an Epcot resort with six people.

There are room discounts that come out and it would bring the price down but you're not going to pay $150 per night.

As far as renting points, yes it's less expensive, but it's also set in stone. Since you're a party of six there's a chance someone may have to change the dates around and when you rent points it isn't flexible. You would need at least a 2 bedroom villa or 3 studios.

I would stay at an Epcot resort but it sounds like that may not be in your budget. Three rooms at a moderate may be more realistic.

 

[Beer Me]

We've stayed at all levels and find the bus service pretty much the same no matter where you stay. It is great about 80% of the time. This means in a typical week you are likely to have a couple of bad bus experiences (30+ minute wait and/or jam packed standing room only) so I set my expectations accordingly.

That being said we always have a car which we try not to use it but it's there as a back up plan. Uber/taxi/etc is also an option of course.

Not needing buses as much is definitely a luxury you pay for at the monorail and epcot resorts. You might check Swan and Dolphin for the epcot area. They are usually a bit less than Beach Yacht and Boardwalk.

 

[Tigger's ally]

Buying one AP will help save $. The money you save booking direct with Disney on the AP rate for a 2 bedroom villa (the couch and the chair in the living room pull out too) will pay you back quickly. I got the two bedroom on the AP rate for right at $435 a night. Yes that is high, but we had a full kitchen, washer and dryer and easily could have fit 6 adults in there. Beat buying three rooms and had the kitchen and laundry to boot.

 

[Amanda999]

Lots of good info in prior posts. Just want to add:
*Pop's transportation is even better than PPs mention: if your room is anywhere near the lake (its a request you can choose, but not promised), you can easily take AoA bus from the park and walk across the bridge - its not far unless mobility issues (and no scooter - which I absolutely recommend if mobility issues). Pop has a great vibe for adults IMO, and its pretty centrally located so Uber prices are good and not a long ride to parks.
*Check out Old Key West and Saratoga Springs - perhaps 2 studios could work? You'll want a car but not necessary if not. Check out prices now using Disney's discounts for Sep - might be similar for Jan. trip.
*A rental car will be inexpensive in Jan., and really make your trip nicer IMO (with 6 people you'd need 2 Ubers). Yes, the Disney buses can be fine, but if a car would make some of you happier, see if 1 of you is willing to put in some time in advance to learn some of the routes to drive to/from parks. It will really open up the options for off site dining too. Necessary? Not at all. But I have no sense of direction and have few problems driving around Disney, so if you want a rental car I think you can totally make it work. Check out Alamo discounts - Costco often has great prices, and there's always a board on Disboards under Transportation for rental car for your vacation month. People share codes for the discounts. HTH!!!
*I compare prices alot, including off season, and have never found Swan/Dolphin to be cheaper than Yacht or BWI once Disney releases its discounts. And S/D are oddly booked up pretty early - often you can't get all nights you want.

 

[loves to dive]

Most people have already given you some good advice but I'll add my 2 cents.
The buses are the buses are the buses. No one resort has better bus service than the other. If you stay at a value resort, the bus stops are uncovered but the do have an actual line, which is nice. The value resorts have smaller rooms, bigger food courts (which can mean louder) no quiet pools and no hot tubs. If you stay at a moderate, you are going to have covered bus stops, no actual lines and usually multiple stops. The moderate rooms are a little bigger, the food court also are big and can be loud, there are quiet pools and the main pools have hot tubs. If you stay at a deluxe, it depends on the resort, BW does not share buses with anyone, Swan/Dolphin share a bus, YC/BC share a bus. I think WL shares with someone but I don't know who. The monorail resorts don't offer buses to Epcot or MK, monorail to Epcot, monorail and boats to MK. AK has two buildings that share buses. The deluxe rooms are bigger, some of them have actual food courts, the Disney Epcot resorts do not, Swan/Dolphin kinda has. They all have quiet pools, have hot tubs at the quiet pools.

I always stay at the Epcot resorts, I drive and park my car and don't get in it again until I leave, I rely totally on Disney transportation. I tend to do split stays with the first two nights in a moderate where I go to MK and AK, then move over to an Epcot resort, whichever one is less. Sometimes, that is Swan/Dolphin, sometimes that is BW, BC or YC.

 

[Kaytie]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Just to add a few details: We'll be traveling with my parents who are older-ish and probably less likely to be super patient waiting for transportation at the end of a long day

Even [we] older-ish people understand the concept of waiting. We learned it long before you young whippersnappers were a glint in your daddy's eye.

 

[Sue M]

We always go in value season and have stayed at all resort levels. We never rent a car, I prefer Disney do the driving. The bus service is the same at all the resorts, most of the time it's pretty good, but there's always that one morning where 5 of every park bus goes by except yours!
If you stay till park closing you will have lines no mater what park. To use monorail from Epcot resort you have to use a park ticket to walk thru Epcot to get monorail to MK. So you'd need a hopper. But bus will be faster.

One of the perks of staying on site, especially with a large adult group of varying ages, stamina, is WDW transportation. People can go when they want, and leave park when they want. If they want to go back to resort for a mid day break (parents?) they can. You all aren't tied to the hip like you would be staying off site and having car rental.

We love the POR Riverside resort. Beautiful resort, love the mansions. My request is mansion section close to Old Man Island foot bridge. Resort is centrally located with some added perks like boat to D Springs, horse & carriage rides and fun evening entertainment.
January value season usually gets some decent discounts. Pofq is sometimes excluded from discounts.

You may want to go to MK more than you think. I always meet up with my LA friend in WDW and she loves MK. With the exception of Space Mtn, lol. She says DL version is much better!

 

[Magalex]

We just enjoyed a stay at All Star Music Resort. I would price 2 rooms at one of the values. Our stay at Music was lovely. All the resort cast members we encountered were all pleasant and helpful. The room was clean and no complaints about bus transportation. Excellent food court. You may find a deep discount for an All Star resort in January.

 

[bochnikm]

We have stayed and all levels of resorts and have gone during huge crowds in summer and very low crowds in September, and early December. And, yes low levels are not as low as they used to be.

I would suggest Pop Centaury or Art of Animation for the best bus service and lowest price. Especially during slower times. They always have dedicated buses. The deluxe will frequently share buses during the slower times, based on time of year or during the middle of the day. At Epcot resorts a bus may stop at Swan/Dolphin before heading to the Boardwalk, before heading to the Yacht/Beach Club. At the MK resorts we’ve had buses coming from the Wilderness Lodge to pick us up at the Contemporary, but then stopped at both the Grand Floridian and Polynesian. The deluxe will have dedicated buses early in the morning when the park are opening, and at park closing times.

And the values are a lot cheaper, but a lot more fun, fully immersed in Disney.