Which deluxe resort is the most convenient?

[missypie]

Strictly from a transportation standpoint, which deluxe resort is the most convenient if you want to visit all four parks? From looking at a map, it looks like Boardwalk Inn or Yacht Club would be the most convenient overall. Please give me your opinions!

 

[MJames41]

I would go with a monorail resort, especially the Contemporary. The monorail right there for MK and for Epcot is sooooo nice.

 

[Wendi]

Hands down based stickly on Transportation the Polynesian is the BEST Deluxe for that.

1. You can go out front to catch the Monorail to MK, or go out back and catch the one to Epcot (WITHOUT having to switch at the TTC) by going out back you go directly to the TTC and get the right Monorail to Epoct.

2. Going to the Studio's or Animal Kingdom the buses run fine for us. We never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus.

3. Going to Downtown Disney is fine unless you are going around 7 p.m.. Then you tend to have to wait for a couple of busses because most are full when they pull up or are standing room only.

Convenience for Transportation is the Polynesian. The GF is great but you do have to switch at the TTC for Epcot.

Hope this helped.
Wendi

 

[Pugsley]

I do agree with Wendi that the Poly is good because of the two monorail options. Contemporary is good too since you can walk to the MK, which is nice at closing time since the monorails and boats can be a ZOO. But if it were me I’d choose an Epcot resort (BW/BC/YC/S/D) since you can WALK to TWO parks. It kind of depends on at which parks you will spend the most time. The only deluxe resorts I would avoid based on transportation would be WL and AKL. But I would base my decision on the theming that appeals to you rather than transportation, since all Disney resorts get you where you want to go pretty efficiently.

 

[Greg K.]

If the Magic Kingdom is your thing, you can't beat the Grand Floridian. Roll outa bed, and 10 minutes later, you can be walking up Main Street.

It's also great at the end of the day, because you can hop the ferry home and be back in your room in a matter of minutes.

Another plus: the bus to MGM is direct. I don't believe it makes any other stops between the GF and the park, so it's a fairly quick bus ride.

Otherwise, for central location, the Polynesian is unbeatable, since you can walk to the TTC, which will take you right to Epcot.

Personally, I like either the Boardwalk or the Beach/Yacht Club, for their convenience to both Epcot and MGM. A 10 or 15 minute walk gets you to either park, pronto. Makes it easy to park hop, too!

 

[MELSMICE]

If you want to spend the majority of your time at MK & EPCOT do a monorail resort - probably Poly or Contemporary.

If you want to do EPCOT & MGM then stay at YC or BC - you can walk or take the boat to both.

 

[HairyAriel]

This is not even a close call. From a convenience standpoint the Yacht Club is the best choice. It is a 5 to 7 minute walk to Epcot from the Yacht Club Lobby. You can also walk to MGM from the Yacht Club. This routinely takes my daughter and me about 16 minutes from the YC Lobby.

Think about how great this is. You can walk to 2 of 4 theme parks. Your commute is 100% under YOUR control. How can you possibly do better than this????? As far as Magic Kingdom and AK it is a quick and painless bus ride from your front door.

As far as Transportation to the parks I challenge anyone to come up with a better scenario than what I have just described.

 

[Tjkane28]

OK HairyAriel, I take your challenge!

Your suggestion is fine if MGM and Epcot will be your primary parks, OR if the visiting party will visit all four parks equally.

If MK is in the plan to be the primary park (and this is mostly true for families with very young children) then the Contemporary is the place, followed by the Polynesian as a close second. The GF is good for getting to MK, but the boat or monorail ride can be a long trip getting home later in the day.

Your point is a good one regarding the ability to walk to TWO parks from the BW/YC/BC area; however, any answer to this question must contain numerous qualifiers.

In a nutshell, there is only one right answer, and each must find it for one's self!

OR, we can always stay a few days at each one and test our theories. Any takers?

 

[susy]

As much complaining as there is on these boards about walking distances and all the faxes we send in, I prefer not to walk to the park. At AKL we just hopped on the bus and were at AK in 5 min, MGM or Epcot in 10, MK in 15. With NO walking and no other stops. Even the monorail has to load ad unload passengers. I'm not saying that AKL is THE most convenient, but it is not as inconvenient as you might think. Once we took a bus from the CR. It stopped at the Poly and then the GF. All I could think was "enough already!"

 

[Eeyore2003]

Personally, I think it's 6 of one and 1/2 dozen of the other. The Magic Kingdom resorts (I think except WL) are all extremely convenient to MK and Epcot, but you must take the bus or car to AK, MGM, waterparks or DD. The Epcot resorts are all extremely convenient to Epcot and MGM, but you have to take the buses to MK, AKL, the waterparks and DD. I really don't think you could go wrong with any of the MK or Epcot resorts, but I'll be able to know first hand after staying at the Boardwalk in December. I know we always liked the conveniences of the Contemporary.

 

[Liv2CdWorld]

OK. It all depends on the parks you'll be spending the most time in (as stated in the above posts).

On another note, I feel I need to stick up for the WL. I noticed a couple posts above about the transportation. We just got back and I must say, there were NO problems for our family with transportation to and from the WL.

The boat ride to the MK is 10 minutes - and the kids love the boat ride in itself. The busses to MGM and Epcot were also fine. On the way to both destinations, we needed to stop at Ft. Wilderness but that really didn't add on much more time.

There's also the boat to Contemporary - which is also nice.

One of the days we took the Monorail from Epcot to MK and then took the boat to WL. Nice change.

OK, that's my 2 cents

 

[epcotfan]

I would go for the Contemporary since you can walk to the Magic Kingdom or take the monorail to Epcot. If you want easy access to other resorts all you have to do is walk to the Magic Kingdom bus stops and get on the bus of your choice. I go there when I want to go to World Showcase without having to walk all the way through Epcot. I take the Beach Club bus and walk in through International Gateway.

 

[HairyAriel]

Susy,

If you are vacationing at DisneyWorld wouldn't you consider that to be an "active" location? Unless a person is planning to just lay out by the pool for 12 hours a day,wouldn't you expect a pretty good amount of walking/touring the various parks?

That being the case how can you object to a 5 minute walk from your hotel lobby (YC) to a theme park (EPCOT)? It takes more than 5 minutes just to load/unload a bus or boat. Same with MGM-from YC lobby just a 15 minute walk. Physical limitations aside how does anyone who is about to tour a theme park make out a 5 minute walk to be a hardship? Avoidance of as much physical activity as possible seems to be your main goal.

 

[TerriBelle]

I think it also depends when you go! During the off season, Epcot is usually the only park open late. This is when we usually go so we prefer the EPCOT resorts. We do the other parks early in the morning, head back to the hotel to swim in the afternoon and then quickly walk or boat over to EPCOT every night. It is never as crowded leaving the park from the WS exit at night.

We also have enjoyed taking the monorail back from the MK and walking thru EPCOT to our hotel. We can jump on a few rides, grab a fastpass for later, or have a snack while we walk back.(beavertails yum) We do have young children but we still have enjoyed the EPCOT resorts!

We have stayed at the Cont. and enjoyed this location but when the MK closes early, taking the monorail to EPCOT at night takes a while, walking is much faster.

Everyone has their own plan that works best for them.

 

[tampafan]

I think it really depends on where you want to spend the majority of your time. We thought the Poly was very convienient to the MK (monorail or boat), and also the monorail to Epcot was really nice. If the MK is your thing, though, we thought that the Contemporary was better because you could easliy walk in and out. The Yacht Club was very convenient to Epcot and MGM, boat or walking, but the bus service to MK was crowded. We loved the AKL, but it was really not anymore convenient to AK that any other hotel, just a shorter ride, and not that much shorter than the All Stars.

In my opinion, if you are going to want to spend a lot of time in and out of the MK, then the Contemporary is great. If you are going to want to spend a lot of time in and out of Epcot and MGM, then YC/BC/BWI/Dol/Swan are good choices.

 

[Disneydenise]

Our family always has enjoyed the Poly for the location. You are within walking distance off the T&TC which is one of the quickest ways around without a car. We always have a car and we do use it to go to The market place and the water parks and AK. We use the monorail for everything else. We never seem to get a bus except to the water parks occasionally.
The reason we have enjoyed the Poly so often is also for the beach. I know that the beach at the GF is very nice also but I love the Palm trees. I think that there are good things about all the deluxe resorts but my pick is always the Poly.

 

[jaysue]

Wow, this thread is getting pretty hot n heavy....

Some of this has been said - here is my opinion

It all depends on which parks are key and whether you have a preferred method of transporation - i.e. Monorail, Boat or Bus

If Epcot is #1 and you can walk distance because before 11am you will have to walk through part of the World Showcase to get to anything that is open then go BCV/BC/YC

If MGM is #1 and you can walk then go BWI/BWV - there is a boat as well that goes there (and to Epcot as well) but to Epcot you will still be on the WS side as opposed to FW side (main entrance)

If MK is #1 and you can walk then pick CR - from North Wing or Tower about a 10 minute walk to the MK at a moderate pace

If MK is #1 and you like the monorail then GF or Poly works great followed by CR

If MK is #1 and you like boats then go with WL and stay in the North Wing near the boat launch, and use bus for the rest of the parks

If Epcot and MK are tied then go with the Poly for easiest access

Finally you can have a stay at AKL and use the bus system which is very easy and reasonably timely

My goodness, seems like we shold do a spreadsheet matrix with all the possible combinations!!!



Thanks
Jason

 

[Liv2CdWorld]

Originally posted by jaysue
My goodness, seems like we shold do a spreadsheet matrix with all the possible combinations!!!