Which resort w/ a 1 yr. old?

[lissawynn]

DH and I will be taking DS on his first trip to WDW for his 1st b-day. We're going in late January 2006 and staying for 5-6 nights. What resort would you recommend for us? I'd like to stay away from WL this time, as 2 out of my last 3 stays were there.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Depends on your price range. One of the monorail hotels would be good if you want to be close to MK. One of the BWK loop hotels would be good if you want to be close to Epcot/MGM. Being on the BWK loop means you can hop into Epcot or MGM or the BWK for dinner. Another option to consider is the Swan/Dolphin. They are both convenient and whimsical. They have three pools, a cute beach area, quiet rooms, and very nice beds. If you are looking at the Mods, I don't really know enough to suggest one over the other.

 

[justhat]

Really, any hotel is fine, it's just about your preferences. We stayed at the GF when my daughter was almost 3 months old, GF and AKL when she was almost 4 months old, ASMu when she was 9 months, and we'll be at AKL and CR in April, when she'll be almost 14 months.

When we stayed at ASMu, I was alone for 3 days of the trip (my husband could only come for the weekend) and I managed fine with the baby, stroller, and diaper bag by myself. And at ASMu you have to bus everywhere, so it was managable, not preferable by yourself, but doable. I wish we had the resources for me to have stayed at CR that trip cause it would have been much easier to just be in the building and be 'home' and walk or take the monorail to parks, but wasn't possible at that time and I was fine.

I will add though that the monorail resorts are especially nice with the stroller, as would the BW area be because of the ability to walk or take the boat. It's nice not having to fold the stroller! It can't be too bad though, or we wouldn't be back at AKL where it's buses only! Have a great 1st trip with your son!

 

[TinkerbellMama]

We are taking our ds for his first b'day in November and are going to stay in ASMo. To us, the room doesn't really matter so long as it's a resort with free transportation so we don't have to drive and we don't have to pay for car service. Maybe it just depends on the kid, but our son is very easygoing and we've already lugged him everywhere (including once to Florida last month) and he is just fine. We have not yet taken a stroller with us anywhere (he has never sat in one, lol) and use a sling instead...but for the Nov. trip we are taking a small umbrella stroller. The space in the room also does not matter for us since he sleeps in our bed at home and will do the same in the hotel. If you are worried about lugging stuff if you have a larger stroller you feel you must take or need room for a pack'n'play then it might make a difference, but for us "super light travelers" (only a backpack each for mom and dad and a small diaper bag for baby) it's no big deal. And yes we made it through our Florida trip with that amount of luggage and only 10 cloth diapers (washing every day or every other day) and STILL had too much stuff that we did not use, so it can be done! Just not by everyone. LOL Good luck!

 

[TJA]

My choice is CR, Poly, or GF ~ known as the monorail resorts. You can just roll your stroller right on the monorail (especially handy if your baby is sleeping!). From CR, you can walk back and forth to MK (also handy with strollers).

Epcot resorts ~ you can walk or boat to both Epcot and MGM. Both options are handy with strollers.

We did experience a "bus" resort when our twins were 7 months old. We stayed at AKL. We loved the resort, but didn't find it very handy constantly having to take the babies out of the stroller, remove all our bags from the stroller, fold it up, and carry everything onto the bus. I realize it is doable, and lots of people do it, but it just wasn't very convenient and relaxing for us -- perhaps because we had a double stroller and twins, the whole thing just seemed magnified. In any event, our next trip when our twins were 1 yr old, we stayed at CR and it made a world of difference for us not having to take the buses.

Good luck and enjoy that trip with your 1 yr old! We had a fantastic time at Disney at that age.

 

[rcraw45425]

Another vote for monorail/WL or the EPCOT ones! No buses for us!

 

[AmyTags]

We stayed at the AKL when my dd was 9 months old, stayed at BCV when she was 18 months old, the CBR when she was 2 and now the BCV and WL and she is 2 1/2. She really enjoyed the BCV because of Stormalong Bay (the pool).

 

[justhat]

Another vote for monorail/WL or the EPCOT ones! No buses for us!

I just have a question about this. Do you not go to AK? Or MGM if you stay at the MK resorts? Please don't take that in a bad way, I'm just genuinely curious. Like I said above, I love the convenience of the monorail resorts with a stroller, but we still had to use the buses for MGM and AK. In December we didn't reallyhave a choice where to stay since it was a spur of the moment trip and I didn't want to spend a lot since we're going for 8 nights in April at deluxes. But the April trip we decided on AKL again cause we love it and figured no matter where we stay we have to take a bus somewhere, so taking it everywhere isn't a huge deal. We are ending at the CR though, just to have that convenience for part of the trip!

Oh, we also don't use a pack n' play as Madison sleeps with us too (though we're transitioning her to the crib slowly cause she kicks me too much!). She also hated her stroller (sorta still does) but we have one that faces us, and she'll stay in that. We primarily used the Bjorn on our Disney trips and other vacations as we're both happier with that, but it is nice to have the stroller when we're doing lots of walking and not much riding (like in Epcot). We brought the Maclaren last time cause she'll use the stroller more now, but before that we used the Graco Coachrider cause it will face us, even though it was huge and cumbersome. For this April trip, we're debating between the Mac and our new Combi i-thru, which faces us also, but is much lighter than the Graco. Just thought I'd throw that out there for others with babies who dont' like strollers as we find it makes a huge difference in how long Madison will sit in one.

 

[Missus Toad]

The Poly was great with our 1 year old. You can't beat the monorail and boat transport convenience, and the zero entry pool was fun for her. Plus, it's the Poly! I wouldn't stay anywhere where the bus is the only means of transport. JMO, as I hate loading and unloading a stroller and the long waits.

 

[rcraw45425]

Sorry about that! My girls are almost 8 and almost 10 now, when they were stroller bound AK wasn't there. We always take the boat to MGM from either the hotel (when we stayed at the YC and Swan) or took the boat from EPCOT to MGM. Now that they are older the buses are fine, it's just that during peak times, when the buses are full, people tend to be rather rude about the larger strollers required when your children are 22 months apart as ours are. Back then, before 2000, our double stroller was one of those huge limo types, kids rode one in front of the other, hard to fold up but really easy to steer and comfy for napping babies. I do have to say that the last few times we have taken buses, they seem to be wider/mores spacious than they were back in the "old days" Baby wise, things have changed a lot since mine were tiny, but that never stopped us from having a great time! If you look at my signature you'll see that our girls have already been more times than both DH and I combined during our childhoods. I'm already hoping for AP codes for June because that's when DD9 has a birthday andwe can't do for one (DD&, trip next month for birthday) and not do for the other.

 

[ccgegg]

We just got back from a trip to Saratoga Springs with our DS (14 mos). If you can splurge for a 1br condo at a home-away-from-home, I HIGHLY recommend that. Sure, they cost more-- significantly more than a value or moderate-- but the luxury of putting the child to sleep in the bedroom and not having to tip-toe around was well worth it for us. That being said, our DS is a light sleeper so having a separate room was very important to us. There are also the many other conveniences like the extra space, the full kitchen (esp dishwasher and fridge), the washer/dryer in your room. We saved $$ by eating breakfast in our room every day and packing a cooler with sandwiches for lunch. That alone saved us about $40 per day. We didn't mind the bus rides at all and we even had a 4yo with us too. Staying at BCV would allow you to walk to Epcot.

 

[justhat]

Thanks! That makes much more sense. I was thinking maybe you monorailed to Epcot, then walked through to MGM (but it seemed like a lot of trouble to go through just to avoid the bus), but couldn't figure out the AK transportation, so I was guessing you just skipped it. But knowing it wasn't open explains all that!

 

[bytheblood]

I do not think it will really matter. Your child will be 1 and will not remember a thing.

If you want eye candy for your child, I might suggest either All-Stars or Pop Century.

If you are wanting to pick a resort that is enjoyable for you with ease of access to MK, I would choose a monorail resort.