My family and I completed (yet) another Disney vacation yesterday, and the 5 days at WDW provided another treasure trove of do's and don'ts in the search for the "flawless" Disney vacation. Instead of a bunch of poorly written paragraphs, I'll try and keep my findings and potentially useful nuggets short and to the point. After a brief set-up. We flew down Wednesday afternoon, and stayed a Disney Springs adjacent Courtyard Marriott that night. Had a 4 day Hopper for Th-Su, and rented DVC points at the Beach Club for a Th-Su stay. It was a birthday weekend for my wife, who loves Disney, so we wanted to make sure she had a lot of fun with minimal planning on her end (other than her Halloween costume). It was myself, my wife, and our son (17). We've been to Disney a bunch, last going in Jan 2020 (with our first Monorail stay [Poly]). Some of the "findings" will draw from previous stays (compare/contrasts).
Without further adieu:
Without further adieu:
- Loved the late afternoon arrival and staying off Disney property; here's why. You get two Disney arrivals. The first to Orlando and the WDW area. We went into Disney Springs, walked around, had a nice dinner, enjoying the anticipation (cheaply - our Courtyard room was $105) and being there. Could get an early start on the first full day, and then check into a Disney resort mid-day...which was the second arrival.
- We ended up only "hopping" the first day (MK to HS). Don't pay the hopper fee unless you intend to hop majority of days. We would have hopped the second day, but had Boo Bash tickets. Ended up not hopping day three (all EPCOT, plus some different resort exploration) or day four (our resort pool, plus football and packing).
- In the future, we will use day three (or the second half of day two for shorter trips) as a resort/rest day. Two days of two parks (even with a nap pre-Boo Bash) is a grind. Besides, resort time is awesome to recharge a bit. We did EPCOT Food and Wine our third day, which was local, since we stayed at Beach Club. We loved it, and will probably look to do Food and Wine more often, but maybe not on Saturday. We prioritized the "rides" parks on Th-Fr, before weekend crowds. That worked out in those cases, though. We did okay on wait times.
- We love renting DVC points. We are still considering buying in ourselves, but renting points is a great way to try before you buy and learn firsthand the advantages of the Deluxe resorts. I'm sure bad experiences are to be had, but we use a third party broker to limit risk (to both sides).
- Beach Club has a very long list of pros and very few cons: close to the Boardwalk, the Skyliner (EPCOT point), and EPCOT World Showcase. That is the most variety and quality of food options from a single location (identical to Boardwalk and Yacht Club, Swan and Dolphin). The DVC Villa is slightly separate, and felt quiet (except for EPCOT fireworks) and peaceful. Theming is quite nice (I actually liked Yacht Club a little more from what I saw, which make sense - I love the ocean more than the beach). The pool is as advertised. Great view, great amenities, lots of sub-sections, lots of room. Theming was enough Disney without being overbearing. Being able to walk into EPCOT in five minutes and walk back from Hollywood Studios (in 15-20 min) was awesome.
- Do NOT walk back from HS if you are tired! We were, just did it anyway to do it. Made us sore the next morning. We should have taken a boat. In general, if you can walk TO a location, take advantage of it. Get a ride home after a long day!
- Our last day was a revisit to our favorite park (AK) and then our longest resort time. We really appreciated the calmer and slower end to the vacation. We sort of eased in and eased out this trip, and both felt the transitions were peaceful and pleasant.
- Three hours of Boo Bash is an hour too little. We made the mistake of not having dinner before we went, so I ended up having a corn dog for dinner. We liked the Maleficent Dragon quite a bit, enjoyed the fireworks, and some of the rides at night. But it was not worth the cost or time this year. I'm sure some of that is COVID-based. The park, frankly, felt dead in Tomorrowland and Main Street. All of the Halloween action was on the Frontierland to Fantasyland section.
- We visited both Riviera and Grand Floridian, as I wanted my wife to see them. The Skyliner is a pretty fantastic addition, giving Riviera quick access to both EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. We liked what we say of Riviera, but not enough to consider it as a home resort. I know it's a premium to stay near EPCOT or on the Monorail, but the whole thing is a premium anyway. That said, I'd definitely rent points there at some point for a short stay (or Food and Wine). I liked what I saw a lot, and the staff was exceptionally friendly. They were considerate enough to let us briefly wander through Topolinos and enjoy the Terrace for a few minutes, just as dinner started.
- Pre-Boo Bash, we walked around Grand Floridian a little. I liked it more than my wife and son, but again COVID may be dampening the vibe. She felt that it seemed like a place little kids would NOT enjoy. Because of Boo Bash and fireworks, the monorail wait was so large, we ended up walking from VGF to MK. It was also between 15-20 minutes, and was a pleasant enough walk in the early evening. On a hot day, the walk may be a bit tougher. I'm glad we tried it. It's definitely on our bucket list to stay there at some point, but may not be a potential DVC candidate.
- Wait times were okay, fall and COVID numbers in effect. Definitely shorter than we had seen in the past few visits. I'm sure it will skyrocket again in the mid-future. My wife enjoyed not having to be slaved to FastPass times, so we could be a little more flexible in our park movements. We visited MK twice, AK twice, and EPCOT and HS once. We wanted to hit HS again, but the wait times were a bit longer than I could stand. They weren't awful.
- Wait time seemed steady at AK, so we spent Friday morning bypassing FoP to ride everything else with short waits, and then just sucked up the FoP queue. Since the first time we rode it (2018, Spring Break week) was three hours, we scoff at FoP wait times under 70 minutes. That's a walk in the park. On Sunday, we started with FoP, then revisited a few favorites, before again finishing with one last FoP (my son's favorite ride, mine too). Always go out big.
- If you are a semi-frequent visitor, do at least three to four new things every time you go, if possible. For us, Skyliner, Frozen Ever After, Runaway Railway (really enjoyed this one), and staying at BCV fit that bill this visit.
- As your kids get older, take advantage of the lines. Lines are a huge irritant with little ones. With teenagers, they are a chance to have a conversation. My kid talks to me in those longer lines, and I try to enjoy those moments.
- We hit a good balance of planned activities and flexible audibles when we changed our minds.