Which resort to choose?

[jack'smom]

We are planning on using our DVC for the first time in the middle of October (7 nights; Saturday to Saturday), so our 7 month window is approaching. The traveling party will be myself, DH, our 4 kids (9, 6, 3, 1) and my parents. We are looking at a 2 bedroom. Ideally, we wanted to stay at Bay Lake Tower for the ease of Magic Kingdom but there is no availability on the Thursday for any of the views; Lake view is missing the Saturday and Sunday before; TPV is missing the Sunday before.

Would you:
1. Stay at Animal Kingdom Kidani the entire time (our last trip was in Jambo house last year, non DVC)?

2. Stay at Wilderness Lodge the entire time? (we stayed at WL 2 years ago, non DVC and felt fine with it but weren't impressed with the pool and we love to spend time at the pool in the afternoon)

3. Stay at Grand Floridian Saturday-Wednesday and then change to Kidani or Wilderness? (don't know how much of a hassle it will be for us to do a split stay). Grand Floridian does not have availability on that Thursday either

4. Some other resort/combination?

We will be spending a few days at the beach before the Disney portion of our trip, so we will have a car.

 

[Anal Annie]

I personally would not bother with a split stay for only a 7 night trip if I could get all 7 nights at one resort (I despise packing and that's a lot of people to pack for). You only mentioned a small sampling of the DVC resorts…have you checked the availability of SSR & the Ttreehouses or the Boardwalk or Beach Club or OKW?

 

[MAO]

I would expect Boardwalk and Beach Club to be difficult to get during Food & Wine in mid-October. I don't particularly like animals, but I found Kidani to be very interesting when I stayed there last year. I never used the pool, though, so I'm not sure if that would be up to your standards/requirements.

 

[jack'smom]

I personally would not bother with a split stay for only a 7 night trip if I could get all 7 nights at one resort (I despise packing and that's a lot of people to pack for). You only mentioned a small sampling of the DVC resorts…have you checked the availability of SSR & the Ttreehouses or the Boardwalk or Beach Club or OKW?

Beach Club and the Boardwalk have very little availability during that time. We can stay at SSR, but my parents stayed there in January, so hoping for something different.

 

[jack'smom]

I would expect Boardwalk and Beach Club to be difficult to get during Food & Wine in mid-October. I don't particularly like animals, but I found Kidani to be very interesting when I stayed there last year. I never used the pool, though, so I'm not sure if that would be up to your standards/requirements.

We really enjoy the pool at Jambo house. My husband took the older two kids to the pool at Kidani last year and they liked it, but thought it was a little crowded.

 

[mel&me]

I would not do a split stay either. We would make a list where we like the most to the least and make res for first one on list with all days available.

 

[jdkdorn]

I would not split stay with GFV as your first resort. We did this our last trip and the other resort was a let down after the GFV. They are so elegant and the service was so great that it was hard changing resorts. If you are really going for F & W then I would stay at BLT if possible becasue you can take the Monorail to EPCOT. We are BCV owners and we have issues getting a 2bdr at 11 months for certain fall weeks. You can always waitlist for BCV & BWV and book BLT and see what happens. We are going May 14-18, Star Wars weekend and the last weekend of F & G, and we were changing resorts daily due to booking 90 days out but we put in a waitlist for BCV 1 bdr for the whole stay and it cam through last week. Anything is possible

Good luck and remember the time withthe family is what is important so if chaging reosrt would take away from that take the resort that best fits and waitlist your hopes

Judy

 

[Anal Annie]

Beach Club and the Boardwalk have very little availability during that time. We can stay at SSR, but my parents stayed there in January, so hoping for something different.

Then what about the Treehouses or OKW?

 

[Mflaherty]

How many nights are missing for BLT? If it's just one I woukd book the available nights and waitlist the one missing. This has worked for me. I know it's risky but 7 months for a waitlist to come thru for 1 night is good.

 

[jack'smom]

I would not split stay with GFV as your first resort. We did this our last trip and the other resort was a let down after the GFV. They are so elegant and the service was so great that it was hard changing resorts. If you are really going for F & W then I would stay at BLT if possible becasue you can take the Monorail to EPCOT. We are BCV owners and we have issues getting a 2bdr at 11 months for certain fall weeks. You can always waitlist for BCV & BWV and book BLT and see what happens. We are going May 14-18, Star Wars weekend and the last weekend of F & G, and we were changing resorts daily due to booking 90 days out but we put in a waitlist for BCV 1 bdr for the whole stay and it cam through last week. Anything is possible

Good luck and remember the time withthe family is what is important so if chaging reosrt would take away from that take the resort that best fits and waitlist your hopes

Judy

Good thoughts. I didn't really think about anything after Grand Floridian being a let down...

BLT was our first choice because of the walk to Magic Kingdom, however a few days are missing so I don't think it will work.

 

[jack'smom]

How many nights are missing for BLT? If it's just one I woukd book the available nights and waitlist the one missing. This has worked for me. I know it's risky but 7 months for a waitlist to come thru for 1 night is good.

We will be going from Saturday to Saturday. Lakeview is missing Saturday, Sunday, and then Thursday. TPV is missing Sunday and then Thursday. I guess we could start somewhere different and then move to BLT and waitlist Thursday, but that seems risky.

 

[Dawn68PA]

I would not do the split stay. I would do VWL for the whole trip. Since you did AKV the last time. It'll be something totally new for you to try!

 

[Simba's Mom]

If you "end up" at OKW, don't despair. We stayed there last October with our DGDs, 4yo and 2 yo, and loved it. We didn't have a car, so we were "bussing it" every other day to the MK, with alternate days at another park. Excellent trip, transportation, kids loved the pool, plenty of offerings at Goods to Go or the gift shop, highly recommended.

 

[senadler]

I would keep checking availability for BLT. I was going to split our stay for 10/24 - 10/30 since I was not able to book Saturday night at BCV (our home resort). I have continued checking and availability opened up yesterday. There can always be changes as you get closer to 7 months and owners that have booked at BLT may move elsewhere.

 

[jack'smom]

If you "end up" at OKW, don't despair. We stayed there last October with our DGDs, 4yo and 2 yo, and loved it. We didn't have a car, so we were "bussing it" every other day to the MK, with alternate days at another park. Excellent trip, transportation, kids loved the pool, plenty of offerings at Goods to Go or the gift shop, highly recommended.

We definitely want to try OKW at some point, but this trip doesn't seem like the right time. But good to know your grandkids loved it!

 

[jack'smom]

I would keep checking availability for BLT. I was going to split our stay for 10/24 - 10/30 since I was not able to book Saturday night at BCV (our home resort). I have continued checking and availability opened up yesterday. There can always be changes as you get closer to 7 months and owners that have booked at BLT may move elsewhere.

I will keep checking (or stalking); thanks for the encouragement.

 

[com_op_2000]

IMHO, AKL-Kidani is the choice for you.
Your younger kids will love the splash area (largest of any at WDW with the most to do) of the pool, our DGS(3) would stay there all day without eating. Agree, with PP about not moving that size of group by doing a split stay. Even though Bell Services makes it very easy.

 

[minniemouseforever]

My favorite is still OKW. With a large party like that the extra is space is very appriciated. Last trip there was only 5 of us. Other than that there is usually at least 7 adults. My youngest is now 19 and my next one is 26 now. Even with that many adults we have never felt crowded there. We even like the sandcastle slide. Don't know if the sauna is still in the lighthouse though. My daughter loved the giant pail and shovel in the sand play area.

 

[jack'smom]

My favorite is still OKW. With a large party like that the extra is space is very appriciated. Last trip there was only 5 of us. Other than that there is usually at least 7 adults. My youngest is now 19 and my next one is 26 now. Even with that many adults we have never felt crowded there. We even like the sandcastle slide. Don't know if the sauna is still in the lighthouse though. My daughter loved the giant pail and shovel in the sand play area.

Everyone is making OKW sound really great, but...it just doesn't have the right "feel" for us this trip. We are celebrating my youngest's fist birthday, so I kind of want something a little more special. Plus I know we'll be at MK a few days, along with the Halloween party. Such a hard decision...

 

[minniemouseforever]

Most kids really like the animals at AKV and they can be very calming especially after an exciting day at the parks, but it can be a bit far from everything else. BCV and BWV are hard to get in the fall. BLT is a bit condo like for my own tastes, but it might be just right for you as it is right next to the magic kingdom. Can't beat that. To me Wilderness Lodge has to much pine trees for me. We have enough of them here in NH. Don't want that on my vacation. My sister stays there frequently. But she says the bus service is spotty and she complained last time that she didn't like sharing it with so many other resorts. The resort itself is still her favorite. We love the poly but not during construction. My boys loved Fort Wilderness when they were younger. Don't know if any of this helps.