Help with Plans?

SarahC97

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 22, 2016
So, we're going to WDW this July and staying at POR. We're going to upgrade our tickets to APs when we arrive and have decided that from July 2019 to July 2020, we're going to have a ridiculous year of Disney before we take a break and branch out to other vacation destinations.

We plan to take 4 trips over the course of the year. This first one in July and then one at Thanksgiving, one in February, and then the last in June/July 2020. I'm putting together a loose plan so I can go ahead and book all of these but I'd like to run my plans by people who as Disney-obsessed as I am to see if they make sense. So, please, tell me what you think of:

  • Thanksgiving 2019 - Staying 5 days at Contemporary Garden Wing. We got a great deal on this room and we figure it'll be good to be near MK during such a busy time of the year.

  • February 2020 - I'm considering February 5-11 to try to go before people descend for President's Day, races, and Mardi Gras. We really want to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge and I think this may be the trip to do it since the parks won't be open as long so we can have time to enjoy the resort.

  • June 30 to July 6 2020 - For this trip, I'm thinking it'll be advantageous to be near the parks, so we're considering an Epcot-area resort. My girls (10&7) really want to do Boardwalk because they like that creepy clown pool. I'm not too picky about which resort, I'll probably just go for the one I can get at the best price. I want to be able to have good access to get back and forth to the resort in order to utilize the pool during breaks in the middle of the day.

Do you think these sound like good times to go and good places to stay at those times? My husband is just like "whatever" so any feedback is appreciated!
 
You will love the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We stayed there for the 1st time last June. I got about 200 pictures of a mother giraffe playing tag with her young one from our 3rd floor deck after a rain. I cannot comment on the Contemp because while I would dearly like to go there the girls have called it to cold and not Disney enough they want the Poly for the next trip and I like that Clown Pool. Your dates seem very doable
 
Can't comment on AKL as we've never stayed there before but having stayed at Boardwalk and Contemporary (but in the tower), we LOVED the ease of walking to/from the Contemporary especially after a party night you don't have to wait for transportation back and can just walk it. As for the BW we personally didn't care for it but if your going in June/July its at least a great location to both Epcot and DHS. :)
 
Can't comment on AKL as we've never stayed there before but having stayed at Boardwalk and Contemporary (but in the tower), we LOVED the ease of walking to/from the Contemporary especially after a party night you don't have to wait for transportation back and can just walk it. As for the BW we personally didn't care for it but if your going in June/July its at least a great location to both Epcot and DHS. :)
Have you stayed at Yacht or Beach Club? Preferred one of those?

My husband and I have stayed at Boardwalk, but only on the DVC side, not the Inn.
 


I think your plans make sense and sound good! For the February trip, keep in mind that it can be cool that time of year so time for the pool would be dicey. AKL has a nice pool, so you may want to switch out that resort if you want to take advantage of it.
 
I think your plans make sense and sound good! For the February trip, keep in mind that it can be cool that time of year so time for the pool would be dicey. AKL has a nice pool, so you may want to switch out that resort if you want to take advantage of it.

That is a good point, I'm just not sure about pushing it later in the month or to March because Mardi Gras is later in February this year and March crowds can start to get a little crazy, too. Of course, with Galaxy's Edge, who knows what the crowds will be like next year!
 
Have you stayed at Yacht or Beach Club? Preferred one of those?

My husband and I have stayed at Boardwalk, but only on the DVC side, not the Inn.

We haven't but have toured BC and loved everything about it -- daughter was determined to stay at BC for her December birthday trip, so we're going to stay at out YC in November for a few days before moving over to the Poly for the remainder. :)
 


Have you stayed at Yacht or Beach Club? Preferred one of those?

My husband and I have stayed at Boardwalk, but only on the DVC side, not the Inn.
I prefer Yacht club for an adult only trip, beach club for a family trip. Yacht club is quieter and the restaurants are a bit more upscale. Beach club has a quick service with mickey waffles!

That is a good point, I'm just not sure about pushing it later in the month or to March because Mardi Gras is later in February this year and March crowds can start to get a little crazy, too. Of course, with Galaxy's Edge, who knows what the crowds will be like next year!
Let's be realistic, your kids are 7 and 10 and its a heated pool. They will swim either way! I personally wouldn't push it any later because of those fun holiday crowds that will arrive in Feb and on.

It seems like you have pretty good choices and you've thought things through pretty well. Keep in mind esp for your feb trip, there may be some good AP rates that come out that may entice you to change you plans, you kind of have to wait and see as far as that goes. I was thinking I might stay at the contemporary longer in August if good AP rates came out, but when they were released, I got a fantastic deal on boardwalk and I decided to try that out instead.
 
I prefer Yacht club for an adult only trip, beach club for a family trip. Yacht club is quieter and the restaurants are a bit more upscale. Beach club has a quick service with mickey waffles!


Let's be realistic, your kids are 7 and 10 and its a heated pool. They will swim either way! I personally wouldn't push it any later because of those fun holiday crowds that will arrive in Feb and on.

It seems like you have pretty good choices and you've thought things through pretty well. Keep in mind esp for your feb trip, there may be some good AP rates that come out that may entice you to change you plans, you kind of have to wait and see as far as that goes. I was thinking I might stay at the contemporary longer in August if good AP rates came out, but when they were released, I got a fantastic deal on boardwalk and I decided to try that out instead.
I am really hoping to see some good AP rates next year, but I'm trying to keep my expectations low since SWGE may just blow the whole thing up!
 
You can't go wrong with either BC or BW. I find their prices are usually pretty similar with BC sometimes being a bit higher. For my daughter she prefers the quiet pools so clown or SAB are a non-factor. BW has become our favorite resort. Sounds like a great year. Enjoy!
 
That doesn’t sound too crazy to us! We have done the same thing you are planning and are right in the middle of it. We started for Thanksgiving last year and have went back for Valentines. We have one in August and another in November to wrap it up.

Your general times sound great, and for Presidents’ Day it does get busy but the parks were pretty empty before the weekend came upon us.

We started with AKL in November , that was a wonderful experience but we went into it worrying about distance to parks. It was unfounded, it’s the kids favorite resort now and we’re trying to find a way back. You’ll love that and the extra resort time you’re planning will pay off. If your kids like pin trading make sure you see King Pin, very inconvenient time (2 pm) but it’s worth it, he’s great. Also don’t know which side you’re staying on but the Kidani pool is warmer than Uzima and is more kid friendly, it’s worth the shuttle from Jambo.

February we did a split at Beach Club/Caribbean Beach. There were two days that were too cold to swim, but besides that it was fine. It takes a lot for my kids not to swim, even with heated pools those days didn’t work out. It could go either way for swimming during that time, just be prepared. Not like you have a shortage of options. The distance to Epcot and HS can’t be beat, we changed future plans just to get back into that area. I’m afraid what the sky liner is going to do to the international gateway because that was really a perk of those resorts and they just more than doubled that traffic.

August we’ll beheading to Poly/Yacht/POR, and November will be Boardwalk. Haven’t experienced a MK resort yet so can’t comment on that, but your planning looks sound. :)
 

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