Waldorf, Swan and Dolphin, on property and the 50th

[abuck75]

Disney has been a big part of our family the last decade. Our kids love Disney, and while we haven’t considered a vacation in a while, I think we have to commit to being there.

One if my son’s favorite treasures is a map we found at my grandma’s from 1971, and I know we’d regret being there.

Historically, I have travelled too much for work so I’ve taken advantage of hilton points (Waldorf), or Marriott (S&D) but also have been fortunate to stay at GF, YC or BLT.

i would like to stay at Waldorf, but I assume we wouldn’t get on property benefits and would need to stay on property to make sure we get in. If there are any articles that can catch someone up on the current state of confusion, I’d appreciate it.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Disney has been a big part of our family the last decade. Our kids love Disney, and while we haven’t considered a vacation in a while, I think we have to commit to being there.

One if my son’s favorite treasures is a map we found at my grandma’s from 1971, and I know we’d regret being there.

Historically, I have travelled too much for work so I’ve taken advantage of hilton points (Waldorf), or Marriott (S&D) but also have been fortunate to stay at GF, YC or BLT.

i would like to stay at Waldorf, but I assume we wouldn’t get on property benefits and would need to stay on property to make sure we get in. If there are any articles that can catch someone up on the current state of confusion, I’d appreciate it.

There are basically no onsite benefits now so imho this is the trip to Waldorf it. You guarantee park admission by making a park reservation when you buy your ticket, while on-site guests have a different bucket of passes than average guests it makes little difference this far out. Very close in it can still result in no park access if you fail to make a reservation before they are all gone.

Are you married to a specific date? At Disneyland the anniversary lasted like year. There is very high demand for the Anniversary date so that week might be one to avoid honestly.

 

[RoseGold]

Who knows what will be happening a year from now. I think that some form of FastPass has to come back, but that doesn't mean it will look the same or have the same friends it did before. Waldorf used to be included in that, but who knows.

If you are just worried about park admission, you can buy full price, non-refundable tickets and make park reservations right now.

 

[fla4fun]

If nothing changes, having a park reservation should guarantee you entry into that park. If you want to be at MK on October 1st, I suggest getting your tickets ASAP and booking a park reservation now. If you just want to be in one of the parks on Oct 1st, but don’t care which one, you don’t have to be in as much of a rush. I doubt there will be many discounts on Disney resorts a few days before and after the 1st anyway, because demand should be high and they should be able to meet any capacity level they set.

The key is we don’t know if things will be like they are now, if they will go back to the old normal, or be somewhere in between. We don’t know what is happening next week, let alone a year from now. So it is hard to give a definitive answer. Hilton properties generally have a very good cancellation policy and don’t require an up front deposit for cancelable rate types. If it were me, and I wanted to be there on Oct 1st, I would probably book both now and cancel one of them closer to the date when things are more clear. I would not count on availability being there if you wait. If you buy your tickets separately and book your park reservations using the regular ticket availability pool now, then your park reservations should not be affected by your resort choice, or changing that choice later.

If you just want to be there sometime during what should be at least a 12 month celebration, you have a lot more flexibility as far as when and where to book. I really want to be there on Oct 1st at MK, so I already have my room booked and park reservation made.