Struggling to decide on a resort

[WrenNCuckoos]

We've been twice before and stayed at Wilderness Lodge and Beach Club. The kids were a lot younger then. They'll be 12 and 14 on the next trip, which is getting pretty old for a brother and sister (especially a sister who tosses and turns all night) to share a bed. We're in the UK and looking at a 14 night stay just before Easter.

We're currently trying to decide between:
Beach Club: extra bed plus walking to Epcot and HS. But, we've stayed here before and it's not cheap.
Old Key West: 1 bedroom villa is coming out £1000 cheaper than Beach Club (which is coming out cheaper than Yacht Club or Boardwalk) but it's not really walkable to any parks and my husband is not a fan of the buses.
Caribbean Beach: The Skyliner seems interesting and currently my daughter could sleep in the child's bed as she's small enough, but she could grow by then
Animal Kingdom Lodge: Some rooms have bunk beds and we've never spent a lot of time there or really at AK. It's not got great transport links though.

Any input that might be helpful?

 

[holden]

I'd go for the OKW 1BR villa. You'll have plenty of room. Use the savings to take Minnie Vans or Uber/Lyft instead of the bus.

You might also consider renting DVC points. You could try to stay in a 1BR or 2BR at Bay Lake Towers (walking distance to MK) or another DVC resort.

 

[SwanVT2]

Wilderness Lodge also has bunk beds.

 

[PPFlight75]

If you really do not like bus transportation, BC is a great choice. Since you've been before you know the walk to 2 parks is an awesome benefit. We love walking to EP in the evenings!! There is plenty of sleeping space and the pool is great there especially for older kids.

I've never stayed there, but OKW sounds like a great choice, especially for a longer stay. You will have more room to spread out.

Personally, I would not want to spend that long at Carribean Beach. We stayed at POR for only a few nights, and while I loved the resort, it was too crowded for us in the room.

Have you considered a split stay, maybe to try a new place but not commit your whole time there?

 

[gillep]

OKW, I would find the other options too cramped given the number of people and length of stay. I agree with the pp to use Uber/Lyft or Minnie vans to supplement the bus transportation.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Wilderness Lodge also has bunk beds.

I thought I read they were getting rid of the bunk beds at WL

 

[Nancyg56]

My family just had a 9 day stay at OKW in a 2 bedroom villa. First, it was lovely, spacious and spotless. Bright and airy. The service was stellar. The grounds gorgeous. The CM's friendly and professional. The place is exceptional if you are lookign for a home away from home, and with 7 people, 2 of whom never traveled with us before, we needed the space and the ability for folks to get way from each other. There is a lot to do all over the resort. Thats the good.

Now for the deficits, at least for us. This is a large sprawling resort, and it is set up for those folks who use it as their home. You cannot just plan to hop to the QS for a snack or breakfast or coffee. It can be a hike. The QS restaurant is an afterthought, and that is deliberate as well. The folks who own here want it that way. The bus route can be tedious. Again, it is a large resort.

For a longer stay, this is an ideal resort if you temper your expectations, because it will NOT mirror a BC or WL stay. It simply is not designed like those resorts, so you should plan ahead. We should have made a larger grocery order, and though we thought we had plenty, (we did) it was an order made for snacking, and not really for manageing breakfast and coffee in the villa before heading out. We did use Lyft a lot. It was more efficient than busses for heading out to a different resort for dinner or for an early morning tour. You can buy a lot of rides for what we saved on that resort.

My nieces joined us on that trip and they really loved the secluded feeling that you can have at OKW, so it was worth any inconveniences the rest of us had. One is a State trooper and the other a game warden, and they have foind they like to decompress on vacation, so this was perfect. (My DH, fondly referred to as "The Princess" by my DD, was positive we were not in Disney! LOL!!!) but I feel strongly that you need to be honest if this is how you want ot vacation. If you want all the conveniences of a BC stay, this one is not going to be the resort for you. If you want space, rolling grounds, and an escape from the controlled chaos WDW parks can bring along, this one is perfect.

 

[Deb & Bill]

My family just had a 9 day stay at OKW in a 2 bedroom villa. First, it was lovely, spacious and spotless. Bright and airy. The service was stellar. The grounds gorgeous. The CM's friendly and professional. The place is exceptional if you are lookign for a home away from home, and with 7 people, 2 of whom never traveled with us before, we needed the space and the ability for folks to get way from each other. There is a lot to do all over the resort. Thats the good.

Now for the deficits, at least for us. This is a large sprawling resort, and it is set up for those folks who use it as their home. You cannot just plan to hop to the QS for a snack or breakfast or coffee. It can be a hike. The QS restaurant is an afterthought, and that is deliberate as well. The folks who own here want it that way. The bus route can be tedious. Again, it is a large resort.

For a longer stay, this is an ideal resort if you temper your expectations, because it will NOT mirror a BC or WL stay. It simply is not designed like those resorts, so you should plan ahead. We should have made a larger grocery order, and though we thought we had plenty, (we did) it was an order made for snacking, and not really for manageing breakfast and coffee in the villa before heading out. We did use Lyft a lot. It was more efficient than busses for heading out to a different resort for dinner or for an early morning tour. You can buy a lot of rides for what we saved on that resort.

My nieces joined us on that trip and they really loved the secluded feeling that you can have at OKW, so it was worth any inconveniences the rest of us had. One is a State trooper and the other a game warden, and they have foind they like to decompress on vacation, so this was perfect. (My DH, fondly referred to as "The Princess" by my DD, was positive we were not in Disney! LOL!!!) but I feel strongly that you need to be honest if this is how you want ot vacation. If you want all the conveniences of a BC stay, this one is not going to be the resort for you. If you want space, rolling grounds, and an escape from the controlled chaos WDW parks can bring along, this one is perfect.

Just adding on to Nancy's statement. OKW is not a hotel. It's a timeshare community. If you expect a hotel or need a hotel, you won't get it at OKW. Goods to Go was never meant as a food court, but as a place to grab something while you were at the pool. We've stayed there maybe twenty times since 1997 and never had a problem with the buses. We've found the buses to be really efficient at OKW, but we do always have our own vehicle when we are there (we normally drive to WDW). But it is also an easy walk to the Hospitality House from anywhere in the resort.

 

[gillep]

I thought I read they were getting rid of the bunk beds at WL

The refurbishment that was rumored to include removal of the bunk beds at WL seems to have been put on an indefinite hold. Definitely something to keep an eye on though.

 

[epcotobsessed]

My kids are the same age and BC is our favorite resort and we are trying BC Villas this time for the guaranteed three sleeping surfaces - we booked a studio and it was a little less than the cheapest BC room.

 

[lmhall2000]

I would stay at Poly or Contemporary- monorail and walking to MK is awesome..there are five in our family- most these rooms have spacious daybed my 6’4 son sleeps on. Won’t go back to OKW- convenience at Poly/Cont is awesome- plus fireworks every night with music piped in...worth it!

 

[roydavid7771]

If staying off the bus is the ultimate priority, you can't beat staying at an EPCOT resort. Walking distance between two parks is sooooo nice.

Have you looked at the Swan/Dolphin? They sometimes have pretty good promotional rates....

 

[starry_solo]

If you want to stay on property and want at least three sleeping surfaces (one for the couple, one each for the two kids), and be within walking distance to two parks (EPCOT and HS), I would suggest Beach Club Villas (DVC portion of the resort) which has one queen bed, one sofa bed, and one pull-down Murphy twin/kid bed.

If you go to OKW (studio), it's two queen beds, but if you upgrade to a 1 BD, it's one queen, one sofa bed, and one sleeper chair (twin-size-ish).

If your husband doesn't like buses, there is always the option to Uber or Lyft.

But possibly one of the Disney Springs hotels might be good as well.

 

[cinnaminny]

If you stay at a monorail resort especially CR or Poly you have easy access to TTC, making it very easy to get to MK or Epcot. Plus when you monorail to MK you bag check in your resort. It’s a breeze. My husband doesn’t like buses either so we kept a car for our trip. It was very easy at CR as they have pretty good parking.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you want to stay on property and want at least three sleeping surfaces (one for the couple, one each for the two kids), and be within walking distance to two parks (EPCOT and HS), I would suggest Beach Club Villas (DVC portion of the resort) which has one queen bed, one sofa bed, and one pull-down Murphy twin/kid bed.

If you go to OKW (studio), it's two queen beds, but if you upgrade to a 1 BD, it's one queen, one sofa bed, and one sleeper chair (twin-size-ish).

If your husband doesn't like buses, there is always the option to Uber or Lyft.

But possibly one of the Disney Springs hotels might be good as well.

The OKW one bedroom has one king bed in the master bedroom, one queen sleeper sofa in the living room and a twin sized sleeper chair in the living room. It is twin sized, not the smaller bunk sized like the murphy beds (those are not as long or as wide as a twin).

 

[MomOTwins]

I think getting a 5-person room in Caribbean (to guarantee the pull down choice) is the best option for you. Not all of the rooms in Beach club have extra beds--we booked this when my son was two hoping he could have the separate bed as he had outgrown pack n plays, but since they do not "count" kids under three they viewed us as a party of four and just gave us a room with 2 queens. That was a very uncomfortable stay with my two year old sleeping on the queen wedged between my DH and me...ooogh.

The Caribbean will give you gondola access to two parks, at a much lower cost than deluxe. I am right there with your DH--I really do not care for the bus transportation. Nor do I find lyft/uber/Minnie van to be an adequate substitute. That works well if you are going at off hours, but near park opening or park closing it has taken up to 40 minutes for one to arrive for us.

That said, I really did LOVE animal kingdom lodge--the ambiance is gorgeous and really special to see animals wandering around, and the bunk beds were fun for our kids. For me, it was worth having to take buses, especially since it had pretty efficient bus transport with only two stops (Jambo House and Kidani).

 

[Deb & Bill]

Don't forget that OKW has a boat to Disney Springs that runs from later on in the morning to late in the evening.

 

[WrenNCuckoos]

Thanks all. I think we've decided on the more room option of OKW.

We're worried my daughter might grow enough that the 5th bed at CBR would be too small. She's at that growing quickly stage. The kids would want both bunkbeds and a savannah view at AKL, increasing the cost there by a lot. BC is still £1000 more than OKW 1 br and we figure over 2 week trip we could use the ability to spread out a bit more.

My husband is still trying to find a way to walk to a park from OKW, but I think we'll manage the buses ok.

I would stay at Poly or Contemporary- monorail and walking to MK is awesome..there are five in our family- most these rooms have spacious daybed my 6’4 son sleeps on. Won’t go back to OKW- convenience at Poly/Cont is awesome- plus fireworks every night with music piped in...worth it!

We considered those, but neither is available with the free dining from the UK, which makes them far, far more than OKW for the 2 weeks we will be there. Between the difference in cost of the rooms on the UK site and the dining, it's about a £6,000 difference. That would cover a lot of ubers.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Thanks all. I think we've decided on the more room option of OKW.

We're worried my daughter might grow enough that the 5th bed at CBR would be too small. She's at that growing quickly stage. The kids would want both bunkbeds and a savannah view at AKL, increasing the cost there by a lot. BC is still £1000 more than OKW 1 br and we figure over 2 week trip we could use the ability to spread out a bit more.

My husband is still trying to find a way to walk to a park from OKW, but I think we'll manage the buses ok.



We considered those, but neither is available with the free dining from the UK, which makes them far, far more than OKW for the 2 weeks we will be there. Between the difference in cost of the rooms on the UK site and the dining, it's about a £6,000 difference. That would cover a lot of ubers.

Your husband cannot walk to any of the four major parks from OKW. Its just not possible. But he could walk to Disney Springs on the unlit path that starts between Bldg 54 and 55. You'd have to boat or bus back to OKW if you decided to return to OKW after dark. You also have to stay off the cart paths and the golf course.

 

[crzy4dsny]

On a long trip like that split your stay. Its almost like two vacations in one. They will move your luggage from one resort to the other for you. You can check out of one go to the parks and at the end of the day go to your new resort.