moooo

KristenBtobe

Did you stay at a Disney resort on your vacay? We're planning a trip.

salimoo

I did! I'm a brat and will not stay off-property. Which were you considering. I have stayed at Caribbean Beach, Port Orleans Riverside, Grand Floridian, Polynesian, and Contemporary. I've also visited a few others.

CB and PO are "moderate" and the other three are the priciest ones because they're on the monorail.

I wasn't too impressed with CB, but it could have been the particular building we stayed in because the other side of the resort was nicer. I loved PO and its sister/neighbor resort PO French Quarter.

The "value" resorts are also pretty awesome and not that much below the moderates, for the most part. 

So anyway! Where were you considering?

KristenBtobe

We are probably stupid, but are aiming for a June trip with my parents, inlaws, SIL, and her kids (age 6 and 8). So I need to get on the stick! I'm thinking a monorail resort (probably the Polynesian?) since we'll want to bop back and forth for naps etc. We stayed at the Caribbean when I was in HS and we liked it.

Think 4 nights is enough? Did you do the dining plan? I FEEL SO OVERWHELMED?

salimoo

Polynesian is probably the most fun for kids out of the monorail resorts. It's changed a bit since I was a kid but it still looked fun.

I think if you plan and accept that you won't see everything, 4 nights will be enough! We did 5 but our first and last day were a wash because we didn't land til 7pm and our shuttle back to the airport left at 11.

So for our four days, we did one full day at Magic Kingdom, one full day at Epcot, one day split between AK and HS (morning and evening, respectively), and then took the last day to go back and do stuff we missed/wanted to redo.

We didn't do the dining plan, but I kind of wish we had. I think there's a new plan, too, that's just counter service and is I think 2 quick-service (think, cafeteria-style. There are lists) meals and 2 snacks (ice cream, popcorn, churros) per day. I think it's around $30/day/adult and $10/day/kid and turns out to be a pretty good value. Then you can just pay for whatever more upscale dining you decide to do (like, the Epcot sit-down places).

We only did, I think, two fancy dinner type things (Japanese place at Epcot and Kona Cafe at Polynesian) and did a lot of counter service otherwise. Just about all of the Epcot places have counter service equivalents. Mexico's was particularly good. We spent about $20/day for breakfast for 2 adults and $25-30/day for lunch. Then the days we had snacks, we spent about $10/day on that.

I'm all disjointed but I hope this is at least helping! Oh! I highly recommend getting a CamelPak or Bak whatever it's called to carry through the parks. It's great to have consistent water access. We didn't do it this time but last time I went, we'd just stop by the ice machine every morning and fill up, then go to a water fountain or something and add the water and it'd last all day.

Irishgrl417

I stayed at Polynesian a few years ago and loved it. I enjoyed their character breakfast. Besides having the convenience of the monorail, they also had a boat that went to the Magic Kingdom.

I agree with Moo, 4 days is good as long as you plan for the stuff you really want to do and accept you might miss stuff.  Last time I was there, we didn't need too much time to do AK and I imagine with little ones Epcot wouldn't have to be a full day unless the adults are interested in all the countries.

Moo-Are they still doing the "extra hours" thing for resort guests?

KristenBtobe

Very helpful! Thank you! I've been reading Disney forums and getting myself entirely overwhelmed.

salimoo

It's VERY overwhelming! Are you planning yourself or going through an agency?

I had a great experience with Michelle Snoddy at http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/

They're a free service and they arrange everything but flights for you. They can even do itinerary planning.

I would definitely recommend the park hopper pass option, if that's one of the things you're overwhelmed about. 

heyemilina

We did four days last time, and IMO it was definitely not enough time. But it was also super-crowded (over Thanksgiving) and I love Disney, so I don't like to skip anything. 

If a monorail hotel doesn't work, my ILs love to stay at either the Beach Club or the Yacht Club. One (or both? I can't remember) is right next to Epcot, which means you can hop on the monorail there. It's also within super-close distance of HS, which means you would only have to take the bus to AK. 

We did the meal plan in 2007 when it first came out (when there was only 1 option). We really liked it, but I felt like it wasted a lot of food. I think the other options now make it less wasteful. It was a good value though.

We're planning a trip for next November, with a 6-month old. Should be interesting . . . 

samfish2bcrab

We're also planning a November trip.  Andy's neice is going to be in one of the parades with her dance troupe.   I know Lila will love it, but the excitement of a 3 year old at Disney plus the extra 5 month old has me a little anxious already.   We're staying off the resort, BIL's cousin has a house in Orlando.  we'll go back when the kids are older and stay at one of the Disney resorts.

SarahBethBR

Brett and I did the meal plan in 2007 and I would definitely recommend it if you like to eat at the fancier places.  We saved a lot of money using it because we like to eat our way through Epcot and the better resort restaurants.  With kids, it might not be as good, but since they have more options now, you might be able to find one.

We have stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter and the pool was great.  I think kids would love it (sea serpent waterslide).  It also has a boat that runs to Downtown Disney.  We've stayed at the Pop Century resorts too, and loved it.  Every resort on property is going to have bus transport to all of the parks, but the monorail will be quicker.  We also stayed at the other value ones before, but I was pretty young and don't remember much honestly.

After eating at Boma, we decided that we're not going back until we can afford to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge.  We hung out there for a while at the bar and around the grounds and the lobby and it was just beautiful.  If the kids like animals, they would love it.

BobLoblaw

Moo, do they still have those tiki mugs at the Polynesian? My grandma would always order a Mai Tai and take the glass home. I need one.

salimoo

Yacht & Beach Club are one resort, Hymen! They're pretty much attached. They're also right across from the Boardwalk, which is kind of cool, too. You get to Epcot and HS via boat. Or probably you can walking, but it was about 30 degrees when we were checking out Y&BC so we did not even investigate walking.

For some reason, the boat doesn't seem to go from Epcot to Y&BC. They tell you to take a bus to HS, then take the boat. I think the boat only goes one way around so to take it from Epcot, you'd have to get on, then make all the stops, to get back and it'd take forever.

I loved this blog: http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/ while I was planning. So much delicious food!

This site also rules: http://allears.net/index.html

You can find pretty much everything you need on All Ears so you don't have to look at the brazilian planning sites out there. They also have menus for all the restaurants, which is probably important with kids. Oh yeah, and make your dining reservations, especially for char breakfasts, as soon as you can. I think it's 90 days out.

Here's the AE page specifically on dining: http://allears.net/din/dining.htm

Bethie, you should have told me to order a Mai Tai BEFORE I left! I totally would have! But alas, I have no idea. I bet that Disney Food Blog up there would know, though.

CaliopeSpidrman

What is HS?  I am so out of date on Disney.  The last time I went, they were almost finished building Splash Mountain. 

salimoo

Hollywood Studios. It used to be Disney MGM Studios. I still call it MGM.

CaliopeSpidrman

It's not called MGM anymore?  Man, I am like Captain EmO.  It's been too long since I've Disneyed.  We need to plan a GTG so I can stop being so out of it.