Yet another pick my resort for me thread!

[Meglen]

I'm pretty sure the Dolphin has only rooms with 2 double beds (not queen) or rooms with 1 king bed, You indicated earlier that double beds might be a deal breaker for CBR. Maybe the CSR tower room is really your only choice.

Swan has queens maybe see if that's a better options for op.same amenities as dolphin.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

I'm pretty sure the Dolphin has only rooms with 2 double beds (not queen) or rooms with 1 king bed, You indicated earlier that double beds might be a deal breaker for CBR. Maybe the CSR tower room is really your only choice.

Oh wow did not even realize that. Would have to see about getting the King if I went Dolphin route but yes that throws a kink in the chain.

 

[crazylady]

Not what you asked but keep checking Disney's site to see if they restart the Pirates and Pals fireworks cruise. Sounds like something your little guy would like.

 

[clapton]

Please DO NOT go to MK on July 4th !!!! It’s insanely crowded and not a pleasant experience at all!!

 

[parkbr]

The scale is definitely tipping towards Dolphin right now!



It may be that the shows are too late anyway for him being that his bedtime in the summer is before it's completely dark but yes great idea about trying out slowly and see if he can handle it. And the ear noise reducers! At age 4 was it ridiculously hard or did you take it slower? When me and my wife went all those years we would be go go go from morning till night but we are fully aware it's going to be a much slower pace this time around.

We have learned a lot of new things about our daughter when we first went. For example, she did not like dark rides AT ALL (probably the only exception was It's a small world and many of the disney rides are dark rides!) and LOVED characters (she used to cry when she sees the characters - rolling eyes). So we had to re-do all FP+ selections after the first day. It was crazy!
We have a 'I am horrified' picture of her riding Frozen at Epcot. It was hilarious.
Then when we went back when she was just before 4, she was super into Aurora, so we had to go to Epcot and meet her 3 times. This time, she started liking the rides.
When we went again at close to 5, she was all about the rides!

All three times, she enjoyed the parade a lot and some of the shows - like the musicals, the Lion King, Enchanted taels with Belle, and even the street dancing - I am not sure if they are all available.
She did not enjoy dark theatre type of rides, except the carousel of progress (we were like serious? LOL) AND one of her favourites were Tiki room!! (except for the thurnder part, but I think all the birds and trees seem very cool to her.)
Some interactive rides - Toy Story Mania or Buzzlightyear were kind of 'meh' for her, as she didn't really understand 'aim and shoot' or it was too fast for her.

We did not take it slow at all. We were there for the rope drop almost all the time (we decided waking up earlier and not having to wait in line is better than getting there later and dealing with crowds) and started the day early. This case, we were able to find out which one she liked and which she didn't, and we are thankful that we didn't wait for like 2 hours for something she didn't like.
For example, she did not like Peter Pan ride at all for the first 2 times (so when she was 3 and 4), but that was the first ride we did when we got to MK, so we knew not to line up again for it. (she finally liked it when she was 5.)

Although she dropped her naps around 2.5 years old, she was tired at the DIsney. So she had naps in her stroller, which she prefers anyways over her bed - and that was our 'quiet' and 'older kids rides' time. Sometimes she naps 3 hours or 2 naps, so it worked okay for her to stay a bit longer at the park. If I remember correctly, we stayed AK until like 7-8, DHS until 8 -9, MK until 10 and 11, EPCOT until 9:30-ish (after the firework).
We also either try to leave the park as soon as the firework finishes OR go very slow, stroll around, take 1000 night photos to avoid the massive crowd leaving the park. The only thing we didn't like was that we have to fold the stroller, but many times our DD just passed out by then, we were okay.
When we finish late (past 9), we then took a day off from the park the next day. So wake up later, rest, be lazy and check out mini-golf, pool, resort hopping, going to AK and see if we catch any animals, etc. One of the best parts was joining Chip and Dale Sing along at the campsite. It was really fun and felt like an extension of the Disney park experience.

We actually quickly learned that we cannot really change who 'we' are because of the child and the child will just become one of us (a crazy go-go-go person!) And she is a pro now.
Well, we know her personality that she can handle this and she naps quite well in the stroller. Like very well. So we know this worked for us. I know for some friends who returned back to the resort for afternoon break, etc. So go with the flow.

If your child is like mine, I will be happy to provide more tips that worked for us!

 

[Shibafam2011]

We took our three year old to Disney on July 4 last year. It was a wonderful experience. It was crowded but we expected that - just plan to be flexible with the crowds and the kiddo! Your family will have a great time!

Just a tip - if you don't have one already, get a fan that clips to the stroller. It kept our daughter cool and she loved having her own fan. We stayed at the Riviera, so the Skyliner was a huge plus, when it worked - we got "stuck" many times because the Skyliner was down. It just isn't a reliable mode of transportation during the summer with the storms.

As far as resorts - my vote goes to Dolphin for proximity to EPCOT and HS. I haven't stayed there but it looks beautiful from the outside.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

Please DO NOT go to MK on July 4th !!!! It’s insanely crowded and not a pleasant experience at all!!

Are you speaking from experience with kids or is this just a warning with or without kids it's miserable?

We took our three year old to Disney on July 4 last year. It was a wonderful experience. It was crowded but we expected that - just plan to be flexible with the crowds and the kiddo! Your family will have a great time!

Just a tip - if you don't have one already, get a fan that clips to the stroller. It kept our daughter cool and she loved having her own fan. We stayed at the Riviera, so the Skyliner was a huge plus, when it worked - we got "stuck" many times because the Skyliner was down. It just isn't a reliable mode of transportation during the summer with the storms.

As far as resorts - my vote goes to Dolphin for proximity to EPCOT and HS. I haven't stayed there but it looks beautiful from the outside.

Do you remember if any of the other parks were doing 4th of July fireworks that may be slightly less crowded? I also heard MK does the same show the day before as well.
When you say the skyliner got stuck you mean mid ride? How often percentage wise would you say it was down? One of the big draws for Caribbean beach would be skyliner but between the double beds and if you're saying it's down a lot maybe at this point I should officially be crossing CB off the list.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

She did not enjoy dark theatre type of rides, except the carousel of progress (we were like serious? LOL)

LOL I can see our little guy liking random attractions like that.

But yes your daughter sounds very similar to our kid. We actually went on a dark ride at Legoland NY not so long ago and he seemed to like it until the point where the whole ride went pitch black. Then he got nervous and scared. I really hope that didn't traumatize him for other dark rides. I'm thinking of POTC in particular when the boat goes down the tunnel and ramp in darkness. He's such a fan of pirates but do I dare try that ride with him!

Also unlike yours, mine isn't a napper. Now it's possible that Disney World would turn him into one for the trip which would actually probably help a lot. I know I want to nap when I'm there all day! But yeah we're a go go go type family as well and our kid will probably adapt to that style as well. But that's also why picking the right resort is so important. I'm heavily leaning Dolphin just to know that the two parks are in walking distance. My wife wants to throw Animal Kingdom into the mix but I feel like now you're just relying on busses too much.

 

[The WDW 3]

Red Roof Inn

 

[parkbr]

LOL I can see our little guy liking random attractions like that.

But yes your daughter sounds very similar to our kid. We actually went on a dark ride at Legoland NY not so long ago and he seemed to like it until the point where the whole ride went pitch black. Then he got nervous and scared. I really hope that didn't traumatize him for other dark rides. I'm thinking of POTC in particular when the boat goes down the tunnel and ramp in darkness. He's such a fan of pirates but do I dare try that ride with him!

Also unlike yours, mine isn't a napper. Now it's possible that Disney World would turn him into one for the trip which would actually probably help a lot. I know I want to nap when I'm there all day! But yeah we're a go go go type family as well and our kid will probably adapt to that style as well. But that's also why picking the right resort is so important. I'm heavily leaning Dolphin just to know that the two parks are in walking distance. My wife wants to throw Animal Kingdom into the mix but I feel like now you're just relying on busses too much.

Hahaha. I see some similarities here.

BTW, I thought my DD would be terrified of POTC, but she did not! (close to 5. - 4 years and 10 months to be exact). We actually had to go back to POTC AFTER the firework and we were on it twice before we were able to leave the park. So it's just REALLY weird considering how much she doesn't like dark, war, chase, fight, etc. She cannot even watch a movie without being scared multiple times! (that include Toy Story, Cars, Cinderella, etc) So we don't have such a luxury "Family Movie Night". We have to BEG her to watch a movie with us and then she will say "Okkkkaaayyy. Fiiinnnneee".

Mine is not a napper. But Disney made her nap! She was really tired and then after the nap, she was like 100% charged again to go until really late at night.
Now I think about it, when she was close to 5, she didn't nap or maybe a short one in the late afternoon. (because we were at the park from 7:30 AM)

Dolphin is great in terms of location. We didn't like CBR that much during the resort days as it was kind of far from the areas we liked - Poly/GF area and BC/YC/BWI area (which Dophin is located at).
But during the park days, we liked not spending extra $100-$200 because we were never 'home' and we treated ourselves with extra dolewhip and mickey pretzels and cupcakes, etc.

AK is not my favourite because it's pretty far. As much as I like the resort, I find it not very convenient.

Completely on a side note, we're going to Legoland NY this summer! Finally we get to utilize our annual passes we got in 2020!!

 

[TheDailyMoo]

Hahaha. I see some similarities here.

BTW, I thought my DD would be terrified of POTC, but she did not! (close to 5. - 4 years and 10 months to be exact). We actually had to go back to POTC AFTER the firework and we were on it twice before we were able to leave the park. So it's just REALLY weird considering how much she doesn't like dark, war, chase, fight, etc. She cannot even watch a movie without being scared multiple times! (that include Toy Story, Cars, Cinderella, etc) So we don't have such a luxury "Family Movie Night". We have to BEG her to watch a movie with us and then she will say "Okkkkaaayyy. Fiiinnnneee".

Mine is not a napper. But Disney made her nap! She was really tired and then after the nap, she was like 100% charged again to go until really late at night.
Now I think about it, when she was close to 5, she didn't nap or maybe a short one in the late afternoon. (because we were at the park from 7:30 AM)

Dolphin is great in terms of location. We didn't like CBR that much during the resort days as it was kind of far from the areas we liked - Poly/GF area and BC/YC/BWI area (which Dophin is located at).
But during the park days, we liked not spending extra $100-$200 because we were never 'home' and we treated ourselves with extra dolewhip and mickey pretzels and cupcakes, etc.

AK is not my favourite because it's pretty far. As much as I like the resort, I find it not very convenient.

Completely on a side note, we're going to Legoland NY this summer! Finally we get to utilize our annual passes we got in 2020!!

HA! I feel ya on the whole movie thing. He can take a lot of stuff but then all of a sudden he'll get scared of something random and that's it time to turn it off! Or fast forward to the point it's not even worth watching anymore lol. I think if we approached it slowly he'd be ok with a lot of the dark rides as long as it wasn't completely dark or only dark for a few seconds.

As for napping yeah I see no way that napping can be avoided if only just for what you said about staying out a little later without a huge crank on our hands. And extra dole whip sounds pretty good right about now!

I think push comes to shove Dolphin is going to probably be it. It's kind of a bummer that his first Disney hotel won't REALLY be a Disney hotel but eh the convenience is way more important at this point. And woohoooo for LLNY! Will you be staying at the hotel? It's SO nice! If you're able to spring for the fully themed rooms. We stayed in a pirate room and it was almost cooler for me than him lol. The park itself is very nice. It's not exactly Disney World but has a lot of great rides for your daughter's ages. They do have one new ride, like the Lego Experience or something like that that's a trackless system like Remy or M+MRR. Have fun!

 

[parkbr]

HA! I feel ya on the whole movie thing. He can take a lot of stuff but then all of a sudden he'll get scared of something random and that's it time to turn it off! Or fast forward to the point it's not even worth watching anymore lol. I think if we approached it slowly he'd be ok with a lot of the dark rides as long as it wasn't completely dark or only dark for a few seconds.

As for napping yeah I see no way that napping can be avoided if only just for what you said about staying out a little later without a huge crank on our hands. And extra dole whip sounds pretty good right about now!

I think push comes to shove Dolphin is going to probably be it. It's kind of a bummer that his first Disney hotel won't REALLY be a Disney hotel but eh the convenience is way more important at this point. And woohoooo for LLNY! Will you be staying at the hotel? It's SO nice! If you're able to spring for the fully themed rooms. We stayed in a pirate room and it was almost cooler for me than him lol. The park itself is very nice. It's not exactly Disney World but has a lot of great rides for your daughter's ages. They do have one new ride, like the Lego Experience or something like that that's a trackless system like Remy or M+MRR. Have fun!

Have you decided on Dolphin?
I think it will be nice.

We're excited about LLNY. I know it's not Disney and we have to lower the expectation, but still!
We are not staying at the hotel. It was like $500/night, which we thought was too much. That is more expensive than our annual passes! lol.
We'll be there for about 3 days (2 full days and 1 half day), hoping we can finish all the rides, etc.

 

[petrola]

I would go with Dolphin or Swan over either of those moderates. you really can't beat being able to walk to two parks plus you have the boardwalk, right there! Have fun!

 

[sugarkristals]

We got back this weekend from Disney with an 18 month old and 5 year old. We’ve stayed everywhere, both on property and off, and you just cannot beat the hotels in that Epcot area. This time we stayed at the Dolphin and although MK is a lot of work to get to, if you plan it out, it’s fine. We took the buses from BWI and YC/BC, but I don’t really know if they saved us any time. We had to walk, and then wait wait wait. (If you have a stroller, from Dolphin, I think it’s faster to walk to YC than to BWI due to extra stairs if you decide to take a different hotel bus.)

We got caught in the Epcot flood last week - all of the transportation was down, people were waiting 1+ hours for the bus, multiple hours for the boat and skyliner IN THE DOWNPOUR! And, while I don’t feel like it was safe, we were able to trudge through the downpour and flood and walk back to our hotel (everything was trashed, our stroller undercarriage was completely submerged!).

So, I would vote to stay somewhere within walking distance to a park (AK, MK area or Epcot/HS area). The 18month old and I were nauseous and hot one day, so we took the boat back to Dolphin to nap and 5 year old and Dad stayed at the park. Feeling nauseous, the skyliner would have made it worse for me. (But maybe some people feel that way with the boats.)

You can’t go wrong with any choice - it’s Disney! Have a great trip!

 

[GoBears79]

Sorry, but staying on property at WDW and not staying at a Disney resort is like going to a Las Vegas buffet and being limited to salad.

Go for the Coronado Springs.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

Definitely leaning hard toward Dolphin! The convenience factor trumps not having the theming.

As for LLNY yeah the hotel is way overpriced for upstate NY! We had managed to stay there during February break as a special where they partially opened the park just for guests of the hotel. It was fun and super private but cold! Yeah look it's definitely not Disney but you shouldn't go into thinking it is and you'll have a ton of fun! I hope you all enjoy it!

 

[TheDailyMoo]

We got back this weekend from Disney with an 18 month old and 5 year old. We’ve stayed everywhere, both on property and off, and you just cannot beat the hotels in that Epcot area. This time we stayed at the Dolphin and although MK is a lot of work to get to, if you plan it out, it’s fine. We took the buses from BWI and YC/BC, but I don’t really know if they saved us any time. We had to walk, and then wait wait wait. (If you have a stroller, from Dolphin, I think it’s faster to walk to YC than to BWI due to extra stairs if you decide to take a different hotel bus.)

We got caught in the Epcot flood last week - all of the transportation was down, people were waiting 1+ hours for the bus, multiple hours for the boat and skyliner IN THE DOWNPOUR! And, while I don’t feel like it was safe, we were able to trudge through the downpour and flood and walk back to our hotel (everything was trashed, our stroller undercarriage was completely submerged!).

So, I would vote to stay somewhere within walking distance to a park (AK, MK area or Epcot/HS area). The 18month old and I were nauseous and hot one day, so we took the boat back to Dolphin to nap and 5 year old and Dad stayed at the park. Feeling nauseous, the skyliner would have made it worse for me. (But maybe some people feel that way with the boats.)

You can’t go wrong with any choice - it’s Disney! Have a great trip!

First of all that's crazy with the flooding! Glad everyone was OK!

And yes as much as I think the GDT at Coronado would be so nice and classy for actually cheaper than Dolphin, for this first time going with a 4 year old I'm going to have to suck it up and say convenience beats out style and theming. Hard to say that as that's what I love so much about Disney resorts, and I've heard people say the rooms are very basic at Dolphin but I have to look at the bigger picture and know this will be a very different trip than the ones we used to take just as a couple with no kids.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

Sorry, but staying on property at WDW and not staying at a Disney resort is like going to a Las Vegas buffet and being limited to salad.

Go for the Coronado Springs.

Read your post after I typed the response above lol. Yes I would LOVE to stay at GDT but man oh man I think I have to put on the "responsible adult parent" pants on this one and go with the convenience of being able to walk or take the boat. I do love the dig site so much tho and I know my kid would too but I don't think it's the smart choice. I think I heard once that Coronado resort is a larger footprint in area than MK is...that's nuts!

 

[sugarkristals]

Read your post after I typed the response above lol. Yes I would LOVE to stay at GDT but man oh man I think I have to put on the "responsible adult parent" pants on this one and go with the convenience of being able to walk or take the boat. I do love the dig site so much tho and I know my kid would too but I don't think it's the smart choice. I think I heard once that Coronado resort is a larger footprint in area than MK is...that's nuts!

First of all that's crazy with the flooding! Glad everyone was OK!

And yes as much as I think the GDT at Coronado would be so nice and classy for actually cheaper than Dolphin, for this first time going with a 4 year old I'm going to have to suck it up and say convenience beats out style and theming. Hard to say that as that's what I love so much about Disney resorts, and I've heard people say the rooms are very basic at Dolphin but I have to look at the bigger picture and know this will be a very different trip than the ones we used to take just as a couple with no kids.

The pools are awesome at Swan & Dolphin, my 5 yr old had no wait for the water slide and kept going over & over again, there’s a beach and playground, your 4 year old would love the Swan paddle boats. The food is so kid friendly at Dolphin (Fountain for ice cream and kids meals, Fuel for frozen yogurt, Picaboo if you need a few grocery items like milk), you can walk the Boardwalk, you have access to all of the other restaurants in walking distance. Except for our one sick day, we were in the room to change into bathing suits mid day and to sleep at night. I brought toys & play mats and we didn’t even have time to use them - so I think it’s ok that they don’t have Mickey wallpaper, etc. There is still a Disney gift shop if you need your fix, Mickey waffles, etc.