Which resort for us??

[BecBennett]

I'm trying to work out which resort DF and I will stay at prior to and after our wedding.

We're staying at an all inclusive resort in Mexico for our honeymoon after the wedding, so we don't really need to spend big at WDW, as lots of money is going into the honeymoon.

However we want it to be nice, easy to access the grand floridian for the wedding, but not too hard to access any where else either, coz we'll be first timers and would prefer not to spend too much time lost trying to get to the parks

I'm not too concerned with the size of the room, as I'll be spending the night before the wedding with my parents, who will hopefully be in a 2 bedroom villa, so there will be plenty of space there for getting ready.

I don't like swapping resorts halfway through a stay, so I don't really want to upgrade to a nicer property for our free night, so I'd sort of like the place we're staying at to be worth it... If that makes sense

So, what does everyone reccommend? I've browsed the resorts section, but I'm not too sure where everything is in relation to everything else... So any help would be much appreciated!!

 

[MainStMandy]

Have you checked rates for AP yet? You might be able to get a great rate at the Contemporary or the Polynesian!!

If not, none of the other resorts are "close"...so it wouldn't necessarily matter. I would also suggest renting DVC points. We are staying at the Boardwalk in a studio villa for only about $130 a night. Boardwalk or Yacht/Beach Club. would be a bit closer since they are EPCOT resorts.

 

[pezaddict231]

In terms of being close to the GF, the CR or Poly would be best. The rate will be better for your at the CR since it's a convention resort and the room block rate is 30% off, it will also be the cheapest of the deluxe resorts (garden wing) with this rate. You'll be a quick monorail ride from the GF and can walk to MK. You could even take the MK boat to the GF to change it up a little.

After that none of the other resorts are really close so I would just pick what you like and maybe allot a little extra money for cabs here and there if you're very worried about transportation or are running late or something.

Although we do prefer Deluxe resorts, we spent a night at CSR last June and it was really nice and I thought a great value for what you get. They have since redone the rooms, so they are much nicer now. So that could be another option to look into if you didn't want to spend as much.

 

[BecBennett]

Thanks everyone. I will be looking into DVC points for my parents so I'm definately going to be looking into them for me too. However, I'm still looking into locations and the like to get a feel for which resorts would suit.

Thanks for reminding me about the AP rates, I'd completely forgotten about those. When do they usually come out? Are they for the whole year, or only parts of the year?

Thanks.

 

[pinkcow]

We really liked Old Key West when we stayed there a couple of weeks ago. We'll definitely rent DVC points for our next stay. For you, you probably want to be on the monorail line as others have suggested, particularly if you are not renting a car. Maybe look into Bay Lake Tower? Wilderness Lodge Villas may not be all that far off either.

 

[MainStMandy]

Thanks everyone. I will be looking into DVC points for my parents so I'm definately going to be looking into them for me too. However, I'm still looking into locations and the like to get a feel for which resorts would suit.

Thanks for reminding me about the AP rates, I'd completely forgotten about those. When do they usually come out? Are they for the whole year, or only parts of the year?

Thanks.

I'm not sure because we are looking for them for our first night at Disney.

Oh wait...just saw this on Mousesavers!!

Annual Passholder Room-Only Discounts

Stay dates: 1/1/10 to 2/11/10. (Some dates may be blacked out.) Use code OTA. Get a substantial discount off regular "Rack" rates. Rates not available for all dates and resorts.

Save 40% at Select Disney Value and Disney Moderate Resorts
Save 45% at Select Disney Deluxe and Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts
Please note that if you would like the Dining Plan with these rates, there is a special Annual Passholders package.

 

[torsie24]

We re staying at the GF for the nights around our wedding. We're staying RPC Deluxe room, so certainly can't afford the whole 14 nights in there though.

I don't mind resort hopping though, as I love to experience new hotels. So we will be staying at AKL-GF-?-BLT.

The ? is yet to be decided. It could be we jsut make it a whole week at BLT, but I wouldn't mind staying at YC/BC/BW but Jack is an MK area fan!

 

[pezaddict231]

Oooh Torsie, you should definitely do an Epcot area resort because then you'll have experienced them all! It's the best of all worlds.

 

[*Nessa*]

Hey Bec,

We stayed Old Key West before the wedding & Wilderness Lodge & The Polynesian after the wedding.

I really liked OKW rooms were big & the bus ride to MK was quick.

We got really good AP rates for the Polynesian & Wilderness Lodge. I didn’t want to stay at the Poly initially, so I didn’t expect much, but it was great (much better than Wilderness Lodge) especially being on the monorail. We had to go to Franks a few times and it was a 10 min walk from the Poly, the monorail actually took longer than walking.

The only good thing about the Wilderness lodge was all buses (except Magic Kingdom ones) stopped at Grand Floridian first, so we hopped a ride there a few times on AK or HS buses, which was good and it saved lots of time to.

 

[BecBennett]

Thanks for all the info everyone! Our wedding isn't until March next year (wow, I can finally say that!) so I'm really just reasearching which hotel would be ideal.

I think I'm just going to have to keep looking to find the best discount as time goes on. How often can you change your reservation, and how late can you change it? Like if there's availability can it be changed a month before the wedding?

 

[PrincessShea]

I think I'm just going to have to keep looking to find the best discount as time goes on. How often can you change your reservation, and how late can you change it? Like if there's availability can it be changed a month before the wedding?

I changed mine many times. Went from Contemp, to GF, to Boardwalk, and finally settled on BC. If you get the room as part of a package, I think you need to cancel at least 45 days in advance. Not sure about room-only.

That said, I would never spend what we spent on Beach Club again. I found it to be like a 3 star hotel in any other city for an insane amount of money. I would have rather used the money for other things.

 

[ChocoKat]

Let's see, how about the Wilderness Lodge? It is very pretty and not too far away from the GF, also they tend to have a lot of discounts all the time and is just a boat trip away from MK. They also have villas there that fit a larger group.

You can book your room and then add on discount codes, or so I have done before with my Florida resident and AP discounts.

DH and I will be staying at the AKL, not close to the GF by any means, but we love it plus we have the advantage of having our own car while there.

 

[pezaddict231]

A room only rate can be cancelled up to six days before your reservation without any penalty. You pay one night's deposit at the time of booking and the rest when you check-in.

A package is paid in full 45 days in advance and there are fees to make changes after the fact but I have heard of the fee being waived if you were upgrading resorts. I don't think the fee was really that much since I know we have opted not to get trip insurance in the past because the Disney cancellation policies are actually pretty good.