Help us select a second Disney resort

[Anonymous]

FYI the monorail is the worst. If you ever want to rally appreciate the efficiency, comfort and service of WMATA, spend some time on WDW monorail. I’m generally a disney fan and I just can’t explain how bad monorail is. So I would not let extra for a resort on monorail.

The only real I can see switching is if you wanted a night or two at AK for the animals but couldn’t afford a whole week there. AKL is one resort I think is worth the upcharge because it’s really unique in being able to just sit in your room and watch the zebra graze or roast s’mores with the giraffes, etc.

[Anonymous]

OP are you going over Christmas time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP are you going over Christmas time?

OP here. Yes, the last week of Dec. we know it would be super super crowded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP are you going over Christmas time?

OP here. Yes, the last week of Dec. we know it would be super super crowded.

dp. We looked into Universal last year at Christmas time calculating a stay at one of their deluxe hotels with express pass included along with also calculating a stay at their equivalent of a Disney value hotel and it is WILDY $$$$$$.

For example, we wanted to do all the Harry Potter stuff but in order to take the Hogwarts Express you need their equivalent to the park hopper. Then, if you aren't staying at their premium resort with the express included, you need to add on the express pass which has dynamic pricing and was multiple hundreds of dollars for that time of year. It was going to cost ~2k for three of us for ONE day without the deluxe stay. I can't remember exactly what the cost would have been for one night at their deluxe hotel but I know it was significant and for us, the cost benefit analysis of going through all that hassle and spending that kind of money wasn't worth it basically just for Harry Potter (since our son didn't meet the majority of the height requirements). We ultimately went with Disney and Lego Land which honestly, at your kids age (mine was six at the time) might be a way better fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Art of Animation is far from everything, and has no good meal options. I was not pleased at all when we stayed there. If you could swing it, I’d try something like Wilderness lodge where you at least have the boat to Magic Kingdom and the bus rides aren’t so long to other parks.

OP here. We choose Art Animation because it's one of the cheaper ones and it seems nice. Wilderness costs $826 per night vs Art Animation $335 per night. The difference is huge after taxes and multiplying the daily rate by 6. Unfortunately, we have a beer budget here.

NP. Art of Animation is perfectly fine. Plus you're on the Skyliner so you can easily go to different hotels if you want to just see something different or eat at Riviera or Caribbean. The extra space is so great, especially if you'll be there for 6 days, and you'll have the small fridge and microwave. I highly recommend getting groceries delivered from Garden Grocers so you have snacks and breakfast food in the room. We go to Disney about once a year. If it's a short trip, I'll stay in a regular hotel room (Polynesian, Contemporary), but anything over 2 nights I choose the extra space of AoA.

+1. Just got back from 4 nights at AoA and it exceeded my expectations! We chose AoA for the experience - DD is 8, it was her first WDW trip. We all loved the theming. The pools are basic but nice, and the food was better than average (plus it's so convenient to have an all day food court). We also did grocery delivery and brought breakfast bars and sandwiches with us to the parks so we wouldn't have to stop for meals. We had a Cars room and it had a wet bar, mini fridge, micro, and two full bathrooms.

Shuttle service to Disney Springs and the magic Kingdom is direct and takes around 20 minutes. The skyliner to Epcot and Hollywood is fun and easy.

I think most people will be very satisfied with staying at AoA with elementary aged kids (and less stressed from having to repack and move).

[Anonymous]

I've done split stays twice and would say it's good if you REALLY want to try out a deluxe hotel. When I did it, it was to have a couple of nights at Contemporary to be able to stay until park closing with the babies asleep in the stroller (you can walk to/from MK/Contemporary) and the second time was to take advantage of a really cheap 3 night DVC reservation at Animal Kingdom Lodge. AKL is a really good resort to just spend more time at the resort, so we tacked it onto several nights at Pop Century where we spent most of the time in the parks.

I absolutely wouldn't do a split stay between 2 value resorts or even between a value and a moderate.

[Anonymous]

One place, why waste the time moving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know this isn't what you were asking, but imo Swan and Dolphin very easily dominates all the "cheap" resorts. In fact I even prefer it to Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Contemporary for several reasons. That is to say, even if Animal Kingdom were the same price as Dolphin, I still would stay at Dolphin. AKL rooms grungy and old imo

Watching the zebra and giraffes amble as we woke up was the highlight of my stay at Disney.

[Anonymous]

And I thought Universal would be cheaper than Disney!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP are you going over Christmas time?

OP here. Yes, the last week of Dec. we know it would be super super crowded.

dp. We looked into Universal last year at Christmas time calculating a stay at one of their deluxe hotels with express pass included along with also calculating a stay at their equivalent of a Disney value hotel and it is WILDY $$$$$$.

For example, we wanted to do all the Harry Potter stuff but in order to take the Hogwarts Express you need their equivalent to the park hopper. Then, if you aren't staying at their premium resort with the express included, you need to add on the express pass which has dynamic pricing and was multiple hundreds of dollars for that time of year. It was going to cost ~2k for three of us for ONE day without the deluxe stay. I can't remember exactly what the cost would have been for one night at their deluxe hotel but I know it was significant and for us, the cost benefit analysis of going through all that hassle and spending that kind of money wasn't worth it basically just for Harry Potter (since our son didn't meet the majority of the height requirements). We ultimately went with Disney and Lego Land which honestly, at your kids age (mine was six at the time) might be a way better fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know this isn't what you were asking, but imo Swan and Dolphin very easily dominates all the "cheap" resorts. In fact I even prefer it to Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Contemporary for several reasons. That is to say, even if Animal Kingdom were the same price as Dolphin, I still would stay at Dolphin. AKL rooms grungy and old imo

Did you stay at Swan/Dolphin with a military rate or a regular rate?

Also, are the rooms at Swan/Dolphin really that nice? Asking because these are old hotels.

I agree that the AKL rooms were worn and not great (but the resort is fantastic).

[Anonymous]

We are "Disney people" (DVC and all that), we've done split stays but I would NEVER do one around Christmas/New Years. It's ridiculously busy and could take forever for your stuff to get to the next resort. Otherwise you'll need to move it yourself which then takes time away from a park day.

Pick one and just stay there. We actually loved AK (Kidani) when we stayed last year. It was a savannah room and the kids LOVED watching the animals. We were on the top floor and could also see a storm blowing in. It was very cool. To save some $$ check into renting DVC points. There's a number of websites you can through or Facebook groups to rent directly from a person.

If you want to hit Universal that may be a better splurge hotel room rise. Do Royal Pacific as it's the cheapest of the unlimited express passes one and a lovely boat ride to city walk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP are you going over Christmas time?

OP here. Yes, the last week of Dec. we know it would be super super crowded.

Unless you are a teacher, please change your plans. A 5 and 7 year old can miss school for a week during October, November, January, February or May and you will have a much better time. Please, I beseech you. - Longtime DVC member with four kids who have grown up going to WDW frequently. (We now have two in college and have to go during school breaks and I can't tell you how much worse it is.)