what would you do?

[caribbeanme]

hey all!

i have made reservations for a split stay at the yacht club concierge (5/29-6/02) and the wilderness lodge concierge (6/2-6/5). the rationale for the split was that we (3 adults...but kinda kids at heart) wanted to see more than one resort. we put the yacht first because we wanted to catch the last two days of the epcot flower festival, which runs through 5/30.

my sister recently brought up that we may want to do the wilderness lodge first and the yacht club second. her reasoning: the wilderness lodge is more disney & themey, and it might be best to start with the most themey of the resorts before going to something more traditional. also, her real reason for wanting to stay at the yacht club is stormalong bay (she's 18, but she's still the baby of the family), which seems like something we may want to do towards the second half of the trip as we're petering out, along with the epcot type activities (boardwalk, restaurants, etc). she also pointed out that it seems that by staying at the yacht club first and the wl second, we'd want to do epcot/mgm first and mk second to take advantage of each resorts' proximity to the parks (and avoid bus transportation).

finally, and what i think is her top reason: she just finds doing epcot/mgm first and mk second plain old wrong and un-disney like. if it was up to her she'd go to the MK first and then do epcot, and if it weren't for the "pesky" flower show, we would do it her way. she's down for doing epcot the saturday we get there, but that's about it-- she wants to be immersed in the "traditional" disney magic as soon as she can. she subtly weaved in that it's her graduation trip.

she may be the youngest one, but she makes a good argument, and she's sneaky too, with that whole mini-guilt trip about it being her graduation trip! i'm surprised she didn't have a power point presentation and exhibits..geez!

after she finished with her argument, my head exploded and i curled up in a fetal position...

to all you disney experts out there (everybody here, it seems ): does it make sense to stay at the wilderness lodge first when we'll prob. be visiting epcot to catch at least one of the the last two days of the flower and garden show? we've also considered the fact that it's memorial day 5/31(ack), which means that we might actually want to avoid MK that third day too. this would mean that we've ended up trading peter for paul-- going to the wl and feasibly not doing the bulk of the days we're there at MK.

the only thing i can think of in order to stay at the wl AND get in some quality time at the epcot flower & garden show, while avoiding the crowds is (phew):

saturday 5/29- epcot

sunday 5/30-MK to take advantage of the wl's relative proximity

monday 5/31 (memorial day)- lazy around the wl, do a backstage type of tour, or, if we feel up to it, try and fight the crowds at MK. we didn't plan on a lazy day, but it seems that trying to brave the crowds at MK that memorial day might be too much.

now i know why people stay 8+ days! when you have a limited amount of time, any cogs thrown in your plan (or unscripted resort days) and you risk messing your trip up.

what do y'all think? should i pull the switcheroo and do the wl first and the yacht second? it's a complicated question, but we haven't been to wdw for 12 years, and may not go back for a looong time, so we second guess any decisions we make by wondering: what would dis'ers do?

any thoughts or comments (or heckling) are greatly appreciated!!

thanks!




(edited to reflect the suggestions by tar heel and kda below... )

 

[Kimberle]

Well, MK is usually the first park people "do", hense is busiest Sat/Sun/Mon. I think you'll find less crowds if you save MK for last. Plus, it's a nice way to end your vacation.

 

[webray]

It doesn't make sense to me...if you want to catch the flower fest...stay at the Yacht club. The WL is no more disney themed than the YC...not sure what she means there. The YC is beautiful, darks woods and blues..very relaxing.

If she wants to do MK first..let her go, she is obivously old enough. Catch up with her later, after you have checked out the flower fest.

The Yacht club is a little nicer than WL, so I would want to end up there last, and yes, we have stayed at both, multiple times.

 

[caribbeanme]

hey webray!

yeah-- i wondered what she meant by more "disney themed"! i asked the same question, and she just meant that it seemed a bit more "fantasy" than the yacht club, what with the geyser, the hot spring pool and the landscaping. we're from puerto rico, so i think that the pacific northwest just seems more other-worldly to her....

i suggested splitting up, but my mom and sister gave me "are you crazy" looks. they're adults, but no way are they doing anything alone, at least while they get comfortable with the place

i agree with you that it seems that the yacht club might be nicer, and therefore seems a bit more logical at the end.

kimberle- that's what i was thinking, but we may be petered out by the end of our trip, too.

re-reading my message, it seems ok to do wl first if we're just focusing on the epcot flower show, and not epcot itself (doing programs, tours, etc.) we're spending four days in each resort. if we do a full mk day on either saturday or sunday, we could certainly spend a half day on monday (memorial day) riding what interests us the most at mk and then run away to the wl pool.

honestly, i need to STEP AWAY from the guides...

(but i'll still check the boards..they're too addictive)

 

[>>^..^<<]

Hmmm... tough decision but either way it will work out.

I think I would stay at WL first.. simply because from what I have heard on these boards YC Concierge is better than WL Concierge... I would want to end the trip on the high note.

I think staying at WL first and doing the Magic Kingdom & Animal Kingdom... Maybe dropping by EPCOT for the pesky flower show

Then transferring to YC Concierge and enjoy the proximity of MGM & EPCOT and relaxing by that fabulous pool for the last few days.

Have fun either way and don't stress about this.

>>^..^<<

 

[tar heel]

Your way is fine. We usually do one park in the a.m. and another in the late afternoon/evening after a midday break. Yacht Club is our favorite resort -- if you do it first you may not want to leave!

Are you sure the Flower and Garden show ends 5/30? We've visited durng the show four of the past five years and have typically arrived around date.

Here's a tip to make you sound like a veteran: Do not call the Magic Kingdom "Disney World." It is ALL -- Epcot, MGM, MK and AK -- Disney World. You will be in Walt Disney World when you are lounging by the pool at your resort. The park with the castle is the Magic Kingdom only!

 

[kda]

I'm getting confused with your references to "wdw" --- do you mean Magic Kingdom? Saturday is always a very busy day for MK, so be aware of that. Perhaps an AM trip to MK on Saturday and then a switch to the flower show in the afternoon and eve (although Epcot might also be very busy that day, since it's a holiday weekend and the end of the flower show). You probably need to be prepared for the entire weekend being crowded.

Any plans for AK and MGM? Yacht Club is closer to those parks.

You've made a case for spending your "leisure/relaxing" days at the SAB, yet you're establishing Memorial Day as a pool day, when you'd be at WL. That said, you can do whichever you want! The key may be flexibility and what the family chooses to do. There's not necessarily a right or wrong way to do this, although it is more practical to do Epcot when staying at the Yacht Club and do MK when staying at WL. But who says it's important to be practical!

It kind of sounds as if this may come down to letting your sister make the decisions about how the family is going to divide their time. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[LoriZH]

I would do WL first and save YC for later. You can get to Epcot pretty easy from WL or any resort to any park is not that difficult. Disney transportation is pretty good especially at the deluxes. I agree with Cassie, end your stay on a high note and if stormalong bay is going to a big highlight your trip then definitely save the best for last.

I too heard that although WL is NICE, the rooms are smaller and darker. YC, judging by photo's is bright and cheerie and once again STORMALONGBAY! (my opinion is that if you try that first, then no other pool will do!)

 

[caribbeanme]

Hey all! I'll be doing the WL first and YC second. Seems like the best idea, and everything else will fall into place. It's WDW, after all!!

Thanks so much for all your help!!

off to change the reservations...

 

[Disney753]

Hello
First you are getting way to stressed out over this. I have been to WDW over 40 times but I can tell you that the magic does not begin for me until I visit the MK. I have tried it every way but find that I always try to get into Orlando before noon, leave my bags at the hotel then run off to the MK. Sometimes its just to walk down Main Street and take in the smells and the back ground noise. I usuall am back at the resort by 6 to unpack then go to dinner. What ever you decide will work out fine. If it was my sister she would have to have her way or we would all be miserable...lol...Enjoy the magic

 

[caribbeanme]

hey disney!

i know!! i was going a bit overboard with the "which one first" question. i ended up changing the reservation and should be putting down my deposit (AGAIN!) sometime next week.

and believe me, i completely understand about sisters the undiscovered disney world program on the travel channel added a couple of new activities that she wants to do. she's thankfully saving up...

 

[Tamickey]

I always try to do the least deluxe resort first and the fancier one 2nd. WL is great, yet I can't comment on YC since I haven't been (give me time). I've never really associated the hotel to which park I'd go to since we generally hop to 2 a day. If you are using day tickets then that's different, it probably requires more planning.
We have a tradition of getting checked into our room and heading directly to MK. In fact probably the only time we actually linger on Main Street is on our 1st day. You'll have a great time! And happy graduation to your sister.

 

[tammydel]

You have had so much good advice here, I almost don't need to add mine.

Disney is kind of like planning a wedding, it is so easy (and fun) to get wrapped up in the planning details. Believe me I know, I spend way to much of my time planning Disney trips even when I am not sure when the next one will be.

But then you arrive and (if your like me) you just get that ahh feeling. Enjoy planning like crazy now, and know that when you get there, each spot and experience is so wonderful and 'Disney" that you will enjoy it.

When you get there, don't stress over how you 'could' have done it. Enjoy where you are and what you are doing!

 

[FloridaCat]

As a local I advise you advoid MK on Saturday if you can. Sunday afternoons to closing would be better as would the middle of the week.

I think you are suffering Paralysis of analysis. I would lay out a daily park plan and see which resort would best serve for that time period. Saying one resort is better then another is a personal opinion. You only have to read the Resort thread to prove this point. WL is not “To Disney”, it represents the Great NW of our country which is an important part of our history and Mr. Disney’s great love of the area.

Having traveled to our NW National Parks, WL is authentic in every respect except no stuffed wildlife as in the real Lodges. Being Disney, that is understandable.

No matter what your final decision is, you will have th time of your life, enjoy the Magic and let us know how your trip turned out.

 

[timC]

Hogwash!

They are both great resorts. Epcot is every bit Disney-ish as MK. It was definately a Walt project...unfortunately he never got to see it. Doing MK on monday is crazy. Fighting the crowds is very un-disney in my book.

...just may sure you spend more time at WL. It's the best!