Would You Pay to Upgrade Based on Location?

[EpcotPhoenician]

We have an upcoming stay (adults only) at Wilderness Lodge/Courtyard View the 2nd + 3rd week of January. We will be visiting MK, EPCOT, and 1 HS day this trip.

Researching these weeks further, our hope is that Festival of the Arts will begin Friday, January 7th. For an extra $450, we can switch resorts to BoardWalk Inn. I realize that "worth it" is very subjective, however, would you personally pay to change resorts to be closer to EPCOT during the festival? Is the convenience of walking to EPCOT in just a few minutes truly anything spectacular as opposed to just waiting for a bus from Wilderness Lodge?

We stayed at OKW in May, and the bus situation was absolutely horrendous (every bus stop at the resort packed with people, often having to wait 2-3 buses to get on), which is really making us second-guess staying at a resort with easier access to both parks.

Thanks, all!

 

[Schneewittchen37]

I do love staying at Epcot resorts. The dining options are so good and half the parks are so easy to get to....

 

[RookieLady]

I would pay that. You can (but don't have to) walk to Epcot and HS, which is great. The other poster is correct, too, in that food options become a lot easier. Having said that, the buses to MK are not great, so if you plan on spending the majority of time there, that is kind of annoying.

 

[patty57]

The Epcot area is my absolute favorite place to stay. We often end up at Epcot at night for food & drinks. I love WL, but mostly around Christmas. I would move for sure.

 

[hes122]

I dislike the bus depot at Epcot so I typically try to avoid it if at all possible. I do this by staying at a resort that has easy access to the International Gateway (Epcot or Skyliner resorts) or by taking a bus to one of the Epcot resorts if I'm park hopping. That being said, I really don't know that $450 is worth that convenience to me. $100- probably, but $450- I don't know.

 

[NicoleLarson]

We have an upcoming stay (adults only) at Wilderness Lodge/Courtyard View the 2nd + 3rd week of January. We will be visiting MK, EPCOT, and 1 HS day this trip.

Researching these weeks further, our hope is that Festival of the Arts will begin Friday, January 7th. For an extra $450, we can switch resorts to BoardWalk Inn. I realize that "worth it" is very subjective, however, would you personally pay to change resorts to be closer to EPCOT during the festival? Is the convenience of walking to EPCOT in just a few minutes truly anything spectacular as opposed to just waiting for a bus from Wilderness Lodge?

We stayed at OKW in May, and the bus situation was absolutely horrendous (every bus stop at the resort packed with people, often having to wait 2-3 buses to get on), which is really making us second-guess staying at a resort with easier access to both parks.

Thanks, all!

How many adults are we talking about in 1 room? You will get a larger room at BWI. Is the walk spectacular? Not really. It's still a 15 or so minute walk to EP, probably 20 to HS (this is walking at a leisurely pace). WL is one of the smallest resorts, we've never had bus issues there so you shouldn't run into anything like you saw at OKW. How many nights is the $450 spread over? If it's like 10 and it's only $45 more per night, then sure! If it's like 3 and it's like $150 more per night, I would probably say no.

 

[EpcotPhoenician]

How many adults are we talking about in 1 room? You will get a larger room at BWI. Is the walk spectacular? Not really. It's still a 15 or so minute walk to EP, probably 20 to HS (this is walking at a leisurely pace). WL is one of the smallest resorts, we've never had bus issues there so you shouldn't run into anything like you saw at OKW. How many nights is the $450 spread over? If it's like 10 and it's only $45 more per night, then sure! If it's like 3 and it's like $150 more per night, I would probably say no.

7 nights would be $450 total!

 

[MissionMouse]

... Is the convenience of walking to EPCOT in just a few minutes truly anything spectacular as opposed to just waiting for a bus from Wilderness Lodge?

When you walk to a park you are 100% in control of your time. When you are dependent on a bus you hope their not sending buses somewhere else. Our personal experience at WL regarding buses was not something you say is a great or spectacular. The boat to MK was superior. If budget is tight, go with the rate that fits. If you are expecting to spend the majority of time at EPCOT and dine the majority of time there too, then consider an EPCOT resort. Walking to MK, walking to EPCOT or Walking to DS always beats taking a bus. Others may think differently.

 

[Lewisc]

Price Dolphin. If eligible check senior, AAA and AP rates. Research opaque booking with Hotwire and Priceline

 

[starry_solo]

How many days at each park?

 

[EpcotPhoenician]

How many days at each park?

3 MK, 3 EPCOT, 1 HS.

That's why we are torn... WL has the boat to MK, but BWI has the walk to EPCOT.

 

[starry_solo]

Have you considered a split stay? 7 nights is usually not something that I would consider one at, but I'm doing that for the first time this year.

3/4 or 4/3? Luggage over to the next resort via Bell Services transfer while you go to the next park?

 

[RanDIZ]

$450 spread over 6 nights is worth it. It’s such an advantage to be able to walk back and forth to EP and HS. If it were Christmas time, I’d say stay at WL. I own at CCV and its amazing during the holidays. But with spending the majority of your time away from MK I’d go with Boardwalk. As PP suggested, split stay is an option as well. We do it all the time. Works wonders.

 

[Marthasor]

We have an upcoming stay (adults only) at Wilderness Lodge/Courtyard View the 2nd + 3rd week of January. We will be visiting MK, EPCOT, and 1 HS day this trip.

Researching these weeks further, our hope is that Festival of the Arts will begin Friday, January 7th. For an extra $450, we can switch resorts to BoardWalk Inn. I realize that "worth it" is very subjective, however, would you personally pay to change resorts to be closer to EPCOT during the festival? Is the convenience of walking to EPCOT in just a few minutes truly anything spectacular as opposed to just waiting for a bus from Wilderness Lodge?

We stayed at OKW in May, and the bus situation was absolutely horrendous (every bus stop at the resort packed with people, often having to wait 2-3 buses to get on), which is really making us second-guess staying at a resort with easier access to both parks.

Thanks, all!

Yes, walking straight to EP as opposed to waiting for a bus at WL is spectacular. After many, many onsite stays, I found it is worth it, for us, to spend the money to be as close to our most-frequented parks as possible. We spend most of our time in EP, so I find that we book EP resort 85% of the time. If you are equally splitting your time between EP and MK, you may want to consider a monorail resort instead, but BWI will definitely give you an advantage over WL for your EP days. We also love the fact that you can walk to so many restaurants in the EP resort area when staying over there.

 

[NicoleLarson]

3 MK, 3 EPCOT, 1 HS.

That's why we are torn... WL has the boat to MK, but BWI has the walk to EPCOT.

So you're going in January? It does get cold here in January, 40 degrees at night on a boat is not too fun. I asked my DH (he's a very neutral party and doesn't really care where we stay) would you pay $70 more/night to stay at BWI vs WL (we have stayed at both several times), he said definitely. Also just thinking if discounts are released you are way more likely to get them at BWI vs WL, so the difference will likely be even less.

 

[gottalovepluto]

3 MK, 3 EPCOT, 1 HS.

That's why we are torn... WL has the boat to MK, but BWI has the walk to EPCOT.

Split Stay! My favorite WDW trips are split stays between an EP Resort and an MK Resort (since Disney will transfer luggage ).

 

[GoingSince1990]

I was leaning towards switching until I saw 3 MK days. I would keep WL and instead use the $450 to Uber to and from Epcot (and BC for the IG) and HS, instead of using the buses.

 

[focusondisney]

Price Dolphin. If eligible check senior, AAA and AP rates. Research opaque booking with Hotwire and Priceline

Except Swan & Dolphin no longer use Disney bus service. Their buses go to the TTC now & you transfer to ferry or monorail. Not necessarily a good trade off for someone who is looking for a better bus experience. I guess it depends how much time OP is planning at MK.

 

[Rick195275]

Have you considered a split stay? 7 nights is usually not something that I would consider one at, but I'm doing that for the first time this year.

3/4 or 4/3? Luggage over to the next resort via Bell Services transfer while you go to the next park?

Curious what your cutoff for split stays are? We are considering 2 days and 2 days on a 4 day trip for this reason.
OP if it were yacht and beach I would say without a doubt, we love the resort, and location. We haven’t stayed at boardwalk so I’m not positive about the resort but the location is fantastic! Being able to walk, take a boat or the skyliner to 1/2 of the parks is a huge plus for us, we try to avoid the buses at all costs unless going to AK. We almost always do split stays like starry said and base our parks on which ones we can get to without a bus
boat, monorail, skyliner and walking are all preferred for us over the buses. There is nothing magical about the buses imo while we have been known to ride the other forms of transportation just for fun lol

 

[starry_solo]

Curious what your cutoff for split stays are? We are considering 2 days and 2 days on a 4 day trip for this reason.
OP if it were yacht and beach I would say without a doubt, we love the resort, and location. We haven’t stayed at boardwalk so I’m not positive about the resort but the location is fantastic! Being able to walk, take a boat or the skyliner to 1/2 of the parks is a huge plus for us, we try to avoid the buses at all costs unless going to AK. We almost always do split stays like starry said and base our parks on which ones we can get to without a bus
boat, monorail, skyliner and walking are all preferred for us over the buses. There is nothing magical about the buses imo while we have been known to ride the other forms of transportation just for fun lol

since we are from the west coast, we usually stay two weeks And split stay at three resorts