Where should we stay?

[dizzyr]

We will be spending 2 days and 3 nights at WDW before our cruise. I'm buying 2 day park tickets (not park hopper) and we also have tickets to Mickeys very merry Christmas party.

I was thinking day 1 we'd go to animal kingdom and then the mvmcp and then day 2 would either be back to magic kingdom or if we felt we had gotten a good taste of it at the party the night before we'd try Hollywood studios.

So based on that where should we stay?

 

[Sue M]

Without knowing what level your looking at, deluxe, moderate or value .
And you may be in all areas, MK, AK, are at opposite ends of WDW. And DHS somewhere in the middle! But because of going to the party, I'd prob look at one of the MK resorts. So either poly, GF, CR or WL.

For a moderate I'd go with either Por Resorts. They are centrally located.

 

[dizzyr]

Since it's only going to be three days I would be fine with Moderate or Deluxe. If we were staying longer I'd probably need to do value so I may as well take advantage of this opportunity while I can!

I didn't know that AK and MK are at opposite ends - I originally wanted to stay at AKL but that probably wouldn't be the best plan then. How long would it take to get to AK from one of the MK hotels?

Or another question - what park would you recommend the most? We are 2 adults and 2 kids (7 & 10) and don't really care too much about rides - we like them but we don't have many OMG I have to ride that and we are go with the flow kind of people who really just like to take in the sites. Maybe we should just stick with MK for the 2 days? Or do MK the first day and stay there for the party that night and then go to AK the next day? It sounds like we may lose precious time travelling between the two?

 

[Sue M]

Wdwinfo.com has a map of wdw. So you can see the lay of the land. It's a little deceptive, but gives you an idea.
I like the idea of hitting 3 parks! MK for partyat night, and another park in the morning/afternoon. Then next day a diffrperent park.
Ak is one of our favorite parks.
Maybe you could do DHS on the MK party day as its less travel time, then AK the next day. I can easily spend a full day at ak, with 2 shows, the safari, the trails, the bird show, and we do the rides . But it's a great walking park, they put so much attention to detail in it.

To answer your question about time, from the MK resorts to Ak takes about 25 min once you're on the bus.

 

[stargazertechie]

My vote is for AKL- it's not a bad bus ride to MK (25 mins) and its truly one of a kind

 

[robinb]

Since it's only going to be three days I would be fine with Moderate or Deluxe. If we were staying longer I'd probably need to do value so I may as well take advantage of this opportunity while I can!

I didn't know that AK and MK are at opposite ends - I originally wanted to stay at AKL but that probably wouldn't be the best plan then. How long would it take to get to AK from one of the MK hotels?

Or another question - what park would you recommend the most? We are 2 adults and 2 kids (7 & 10) and don't really care too much about rides - we like them but we don't have many OMG I have to ride that and we are go with the flow kind of people who really just like to take in the sites. Maybe we should just stick with MK for the 2 days? Or do MK the first day and stay there for the party that night and then go to AK the next day? It sounds like we may lose precious time travelling between the two?

Are pools important? Do you spend a lot of time at your resort?

 

[bluejasmine]

I suggest Contemporary you can fit your party of 5 easily in the spacious rooms & your next door to MK & monorail is at your disposal. I say since you have a short stay before your cruise I'd cut the travel time by staying in MK area!

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[mickeynut1]

We will be spending 2 days and 3 nights at WDW before our cruise. I'm buying 2 day park tickets (not park hopper) and we also have tickets to Mickeys very merry Christmas party.

I was thinking day 1 we'd go to animal kingdom and then the mvmcp and then day 2 would either be back to magic kingdom or if we felt we had gotten a good taste of it at the party the night before we'd try Hollywood studios.

So based on that where should we stay?

My first choice would be the Poly, followed by the WL. The Poly is convenient to MK via the monorail, with the WL being just a short boat ride away. AKL is a beautiful resort and we didn't think the buses were bad at all, but for the Christmas party, I would want to be close to MK so its a short trip back to the resort once the party is over. Good luck and have a great trip.....Disney at Christmas time is amazing and the Christmas party is a lot of fun.

 

[rcraw45425]

echo the thoughts on a monorail resort. The convenience at night after watching Wishes cannot be beaten. Being able to walk to and from MK makes CR very desirable, rooms may already be booking up now. WL is a lovely property, especially at Christmastime but the rooms are smaller than the monorail properties, although WL may be a little bit cheaper if money is an issue. GF with the gingerbread house in the lobby is phenomenal but very crowded during this time.Good luck and happy planning!

 

[MKFan-PR]

Since this looks like a one-of-a-kind trip, I would suggest the Poly or CR if you want to stay close to MK. Another good alternative would be YC / BC, as you would roughly be "in between" MK and AK, plus DHS is just a nice boat ride away. AKL would be a somwehat longer bus ride to the parks, but it's a really unique resort, so that would be worth considering also. I think you can't lose with any of the alternatives. Have fun!

 

[dizzyr]

Are pools important? Do you spend a lot of time at your resort?

Usually pools are very important but with only two days I'm not sure we could fit it in more than once so in this case less important.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Since it's only going to be three days I would be fine with Moderate or Deluxe. If we were staying longer I'd probably need to do value so I may as well take advantage of this opportunity while I can!

I didn't know that AK and MK are at opposite ends - I originally wanted to stay at AKL but that probably wouldn't be the best plan then. How long would it take to get to AK from one of the MK hotels?

Or another question - what park would you recommend the most? We are 2 adults and 2 kids (7 & 10) and don't really care too much about rides - we like them but we don't have many OMG I have to ride that and we are go with the flow kind of people who really just like to take in the sites. Maybe we should just stick with MK for the 2 days? Or do MK the first day and stay there for the party that night and then go to AK the next day? It sounds like we may lose precious time travelling between the two?

You'd probably really enjoy Epcot. If I were you I'd do AK and MVMCP one day and then Epcot the next. As for which resort to choose that is really tough because different places appeal to different people. Look at all the photos and descriptions of each resort and maybe cut it down to your top 3 and then we can help you choose.

 

[fabulousfive]

I suggest Contemporary you can fit your party of 5 easily in the spacious rooms & your next door to MK & monorail is at your disposal. I say since you have a short stay before your cruise I'd cut the travel time by staying in MK area!

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This is exactly what I would do too! Although I am partial to the GF. But we love being on the monorail & enjoying the convenience of MK. I think you would feel like you got more out of your time & like it was more relaxing too! Have fun!!!!

 

[fabulousfive]

This is exactly what I would do too! Although I am partial to the GF. But we love being on the monorail & enjoying the convenience of MK. I think you would feel like you got more out of your time & like it was more relaxing too! Have fun!!!!

Just in case I didn't make it clear in my post, I like the idea of sticking close to MK.

 

[dizzyr]

Thanks for the tip about the map - that helped a lot!

I had no idea how expensive some of the hotels were! When do they start (or do they?) the promotions for November? We will be there Nov 14-17.

I do like the idea of being close to MK to get back quickly after the Christmas Party but unless the prices come down I don't think we'll be able to swing the Contemporary or the Poly. Right now the Contemporary is showing as $2394 for the three nights! That's Club Level but that's the lowest one that's showing, does that mean the rest are booked up or do they only do Club level? Poly is a bit better at $1631 but still more than I wanted to pay for 3 nights.

AKL is much less that the other two but its a Deluxe as well - is it because it's so far away from the other 3 parks? Based on the prices and the fact that it was my first choice (we just fell in love with it the first time we saw the photos - opinion is based solely on that!) I'm leaning towards AKL again.

I'm now thinking of these options

1. Stay at AKL and do MK the first day (Friday) all day and party in the evening and then AK the next day. That way we are only travelling out to one park and since we'll have spent all day at MK we might not mind coming back a bit earlier to miss some of the crowd and hopefully crankiness of our kids! AK closes early so we could do a nice dinner somewhere that night maybe at Downtown Disney since it will be my DH's birthday and then make it an early night so we can pack and get ready for the cruise the next day. I'm worried I might be trying to fit in too much especially if we add in a third park!

2. Throw caution to the wind about fitting in too much and stay at Caribbean Beach Resort and do AK on Friday and the Mickey party Friday night. Saturday decide between Hollywood Studios or Epcot.

3. Don't stay at WDW at all and go to Downtown Disney during the day and the Mickey party at night and go back to our Sea World hotel and add in an extra day at US instead (it would save us big $$ and we'd still get Disney because of the party)

ETA after two minutes of rethinking it I decided I don't like option 3 LOL!

 

[Sue M]

What about WL? It's just a boat ride away from MK. Less expensive then the monorail resorts but still in the MK resort area. And one if my fav resorts. Pricing is similar to AKL.
There us a chart of Historical Discounts on Mousesavers.com that will give you an idea of when Disney released past discounts for your dates, and what they were.

 

[robinb]

Thanks for the tip about the map - that helped a lot!

I had no idea how expensive some of the hotels were! When do they start (or do they?) the promotions for November? We will be there Nov 14-17.

I do like the idea of being close to MK to get back quickly after the Christmas Party but unless the prices come down I don't think we'll be able to swing the Contemporary or the Poly. Right now the Contemporary is showing as $2394 for the three nights! That's Club Level but that's the lowest one that's showing, does that mean the rest are booked up or do they only do Club level? Poly is a bit better at $1631 but still more than I wanted to pay for 3 nights.

My guess would be that yes, the Contemporary is booked solid.

Here is the link to the Historical discounts that Sue mentioned: http://www.mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/#codetrends

AKL is much less that the other two but its a Deluxe as well - is it because it's so far away from the other 3 parks? Based on the prices and the fact that it was my first choice (we just fell in love with it the first time we saw the photos - opinion is based solely on that!) I'm leaning towards AKL again.

I *loved* AKL so much that we bought into the Disney Vacation Club there! It can take a while to get to the parks but once you are back at the resort it's very relaxing. That being said, it doesn't seem that you really have the time to enjoy the resort.

I'm now thinking of these options

1. Stay at AKL and do MK the first day (Friday) all day and party in the evening and then AK the next day. That way we are only travelling out to one park and since we'll have spent all day at MK we might not mind coming back a bit earlier to miss some of the crowd and hopefully crankiness of our kids! AK closes early so we could do a nice dinner somewhere that night maybe at Downtown Disney since it will be my DH's birthday and then make it an early night so we can pack and get ready for the cruise the next day. I'm worried I might be trying to fit in too much especially if we add in a third park!

2. Throw caution to the wind about fitting in too much and stay at Caribbean Beach Resort and do AK on Friday and the Mickey party Friday night. Saturday decide between Hollywood Studios or Epcot.

3. Don't stay at WDW at all and go to Downtown Disney during the day and the Mickey party at night and go back to our Sea World hotel and add in an extra day at US instead (it would save us big $$ and we'd still get Disney because of the party)

ETA after two minutes of rethinking it I decided I don't like option 3 LOL!

I was originally leaning toward recommending that you stay in a deluxe resort because you are only there for a couple of days and you wanted to try one out. However. the more I think about it, I really don't think that you have set aside enough time to enjoy the amenities of a deluxe resort. Why pay for the bigger room, the nicer grounds & pool areas if you will only be there while sleeping in your room? I would choose #2. Another option would be to rent DVC points. The only resort that is currently available for your dates is Saratoga Springs, but you could get a studio (queen bed & pull out couch) for 48 points or $576 for your 3 days with no added taxes at the going rate of $12 per point. The room is slightly bigger than the one at CBR but feels bigger when the couch is folded away.

 

[fabulousfive]

I would do number 1 because I think you really had your heart set on AKL and because your plan sounds quite nice. The other change I would recommend is dinner at the lodge instead of DTD for your DH's bday as the restaurants are great there. That way you could enjoy AK that day and then enjoy the resort a little more that evening. I think it seems more relaxing than trying to squeeze in DTD.