Walt Disney World

[burn_baby_burn]

I'm planning on taking the family to Disney World in Florida some time over the winter. Probably in February (I hear Super Bowl week is the least busy time to visit the resort). I plan on going for 10 days and hopefully staying right on the resort.

I was just curios if anyone on CP has gone recently, if so what hotel did you stay at (on the resort) and what did you think (quality, price, etc. etc.). I would prefer a hotel with a beach, as well as a pool (I'm sure most hotels on the resort would have a pool with the exception of the budget ones). As far as what to do or see, we will be there for 8 days so we should be able to see everything.

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I'd say just check tripadvisor:

I put in the dates you want, and limited it to hotels with a pool

[cmyden]

Just be aware that Walt Disney World is a good 75km from the coast, if a real beach is what you're thinking of. Disney's 'Beach Club Resort' might be your best shot.

[CaptainCrunch]

IF you get into the deep areas under the Matterhorn, you will see the lab where they reviesed robo Walt Disney who needs to devour cuban children to survive.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Just be aware that Walt Disney World is a good 75km from the coast, if a real beach is what you're thinking of. Disney's 'Beach Club Resort' might be your best shot.

Yeah, I know a beach at the resort isn't on the ocean. I do know that a few of the hotels on the resort do have beaches on the lake. Just thought it would be something fun for the kids to do.

[saskflames69]

I went to Disneyland during Super Bowl XLII and literally, it was deserted. There was nobody there. They let us ride Space Mountain four times in a row before making us get off the ride for others. Probably the best time ever. Anyways, I went back to the hotel happy as hell, turned on the TV, saw the Patriots lost and that ruined my vacation. So there you have it. Seeing as how you are a Chiefs fan your vacation probably won't be affected by the outcome of the big game.

[Northendzone]

we went to WDW at christmas time back in 2007 so I'll only provide with a few thoughts:

1. the rides are 2 to 3 minutes long, and most of them end in the gift shop
2. if you stay at a DW resort the transit system to the park is pretty good - but the downside was the food - the grub on the resort tasted the same as in the park - it was hard to find variety

Also, they will do maintence on the rides in the jan to mar timeframe - so if there is a a specific ride you want to go on - you might wind up dissapointed.

All that being said, I wish I could have morphed into my 10 yr old self when I was there as he would have enjoyed the trip a lot more - given my kids were 3 and 6 months old when we went, we will likely go again.

Also WDW is much better that Disney in Cali. also, try and arrange for a direct flight if possible.

[Superflyer]

We went this summer for two weeks and had a blast. We stayed at the All Star Movies resort for the first bit and then transferred to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The ASM is one of the cheapest hotels on property to stay at and the AKL is one of the best. There is a HUGE difference in them. AKL was amazing and we went for the Savannah view so it was really cool to sit on the balcony in the morning and watch the giraffes and zebras having breakfast with me.

As for pools, every hotel on property has a pool if not two or three depending on the size. As for the hotels off property I cannot say but would be shocked if they did not have one.

As for a hotel on the lake, I would not touch the water with a 10 foot pole. We took the boats accross the lake to get to the other hotels for meals and the water was one one kid put it, "The colour of coke mixed with mud", in fact I believe they will not let you swim in the lakes around WDW anyways, I may be wrong but I remember seeing some signs saying that.

[mariners_fever]

I used to work there and have a lot of useless and useful knowledge. PM me if you need.

As for the beach question, to be honest, I never really liked any of the coastal beaches when I lived there. The sand was packed quite hard and I had to constantly avoid jellyfish when swimming in the ocean. I much preferred the 'beaches' that Disney had at their resorts because the sand was nicer, the water was more swimmable, and the heat was the same.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

IF you get into the deep areas under the Matterhorn, you will see the lab where they reviesed robo Walt Disney who needs to devour cuban children to survive.

Why must you lie to people? Disney World doesn't have a Matterhorn. The Robo-Walt lab is under Splash Mountain.


I don't know if I'd want to swim in any of the lakes around WDW, but every hotel (even the value resorts) have pools. I think at least one of them has a sand-bottom pool (but I don't remember which one).

All of the pools are themed to match the theme of the resort. If the kids are really young, they'd probably love the giant 3-story tall models of the different characters at the All-Star Resorts.

The rooms at the Value resorts are basic motel-style, but still nice and clean. The moderate and deluxe resorts let you get away from the Disney 24/7 overload aspect of things a little easier than the value resorts. Besides the specific theming of each resort, the room quality between resorts within the different price levels is relatively the same. Every one offers a slightly different theme, but the experience should generally be the same.

I've stayed at All-Star Music, Pop Century, and Port Orleans Riverside. All were nice. Port Orleans was much less Disney overload, which is good especially if you don't have a car and can't leave the Disney property.

The Boardwalk is the one I most want to stay at one day, but that's a personal preference.

[MissTeeks]

I went last March. We didn't stay on the WDW property, we stayed at the Comfort Suites Maingate Resort. It was a pretty basic motel but it was clean. They had a nice pool and free breakfast. We liked it because there was a shopping centre right next door that had an Outback steakhouse, a pizza place, a TGIFridays and a grocery store, because after a day of park food, it was nice to eat something different.

They also had a shuttle to take you to the parks. It was the first motel on the line for the shuttle, which was good for going to the parks but sucked for coming back as you were last to get home. And they only go to certain parks at certain times. We would usually take the 7:10 am shuttle to Epcot and then take Disney transit to the park we were going to that day. Our first day was the Magic Kingdom and we were there for like 15 hours. In hindsight, making your first day the longest was not a good idea, and it was just me and my sister, I couldn't imagine it with kids.

And this book was a great investment for Disney World, lots of hotel info, park info, food info. If you are into it, they have day plans for all the parks to help you get to everything you want to see. I have also used the Disneyland book and they were both really helpful for not having to stand in long lines all day.

http://www.amazon.ca/Unofficial-Guid...9488375&sr=1-2

And if your kids are Harry Potter fans at all, go the Universal! The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was my favorite part of our trip. It was also nice to take a day or two way from the Disney parks for a change of scenary.

[DownhillGoat]

Just got back last week.

Stayed at the Dolphin. Got a phenomenal price on itravel. It's an 'official disney resort' so we had access to all the Disney travel/amenities/etc, but it's actually managed by Sheraton, so it didn't have a Disney theme to it. It was nice, because when you get back to the hotel, you're usually overloaded on the mouse. Walking distance to Epcot, and Boardwalk. Had a small man-made beach at the pool that we didn't use. Looked nice though.

The fastpasses at Disney are fantastic for the more popular rides.

Are you sticking to Disney exclusively? Or doing Universal/Seaworld etc?.

Originally Posted by MissTeeks

And if your kids are Harry Potter fans at all, go the Universal! The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was my favorite part of our trip. It was also nice to take a day or two way from the Disney parks for a change of scenary.

Haha. I hated that ride. It broke down when we were on it and we were left upside-down for 20 minutes. This was right after we got stuck on the Hulk rollercoaster. Impressive staging area though.

[MissTeeks]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Haha. I hated that ride. It broke down when we were on it and we were left upside-down for 20 minutes. This was right after we got stuck on the Hulk rollercoaster. Impressive staging area though.

It broke down when we were there too but we weren't on it yet. We got to the park a half hour before opening that morning and ran all the way to the ride so we wouldn't have to wait in line for the whole day and we were half way through Hogwarts Castle when they came over the PA saying they were having technical difficulties. So we waiting in the line for like an hour until they said it was closed indefinitely and we had to leave. I was most heartbroken. So we did the rest of the park and came back to ride the Dragon Challenge at like 3 and when we were in Honeydukes they finally announced it was fixed so we had to run back there all over again. Once on it though, I loved it! But I'm a huge HP nerd. I still dream of the butterbeer!

[saskflames69]

We stayed at Port Orleans in August 2009 and I'd suggest trying that resort. A very nice, clean, well lit resort, it has two pools, and it's right on the river so you can rent paddle boats and fishing gear. The cafeteria didn't have much to rave about but the sit down restaurant was very good. Another cool thing was taking the riverboat to Downtown Disney. Quite an experience indeed.

[Vox]

I've stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge once, and Port Orleans / Riverside 3 times. Port Orleans / Riverside is outstanding for families. My 3 year old daughter loved taking the boat to Downtown Disney, there are great pools, and because you can walk between the two resorts quite a variety of food and things to do. I've been there for business and for pleasure, and found Riverside a bit better than Port Orleans with the family. Animal Kingdom was also terrific; as a previous poster mentioned you can eat breakfast/lunch with the wildlife right outside the window.

I have a few photos of Riverside if you'd like to have a look at it. Just PM me somewhere I can send them. I don't know if I'd be able to locate any from Animal Kingdom Lodge.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Just got back last week.

Stayed at the Dolphin. Got a phenomenal price on itravel. It's an 'official disney resort' so we had access to all the Disney travel/amenities/etc, but it's actually managed by Sheraton, so it didn't have a Disney theme to it. It was nice, because when you get back to the hotel, you're usually overloaded on the mouse. Walking distance to Epcot, and Boardwalk. Had a small man-made beach at the pool that we didn't use. Looked nice though.

The fastpasses at Disney are fantastic for the more popular rides.

Are you sticking to Disney exclusively? Or doing Universal/Seaworld etc?.


Haha. I hated that ride. It broke down when we were on it and we were left upside-down for 20 minutes. This was right after we got stuck on the Hulk rollercoaster. Impressive staging area though.

Dolphin is one of the hotel's we are most interested in. Centrally located and it looks like it has a few kids activities.

Anybody hit any of the water parks? The reason I ask, is I'm trying to decide to just get the park hopper pass, or the park hopper pass with water park included. The reason I hesitate, is because I'm unsure if the weather will be warm enough for spending a day at the water park.

[ericschand]

I received an email from Disney vacations about 30% off on select resorts down in WDW. I notice that if you go to www.westjetvacations.com they have more details about which resorts and so on.

Save up to 30% at select Disney Resort hotels.
For stays most nights 10/30–11/18/11 and 11/26–12/23/11.
While anytime is a great time to make a Disney memory, you'll find that there's a bit more magic in the air during the holiday season at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, including over 20 decorated Disney Resort hotels and even special holiday happenings beginning November 8. What's even better—you can stay in the middle of that magic and save!


For example, stay in a standard room at a select Disney Value Resort starting at just US$76 per night, plus tax, for stays most Sunday–Thursday nights
10/30–11/18/11 and 11/26–12/22/11.

[Vox]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

Dolphin is one of the hotel's we are most interested in. Centrally located and it looks like it has a few kids activities.

Anybody hit any of the water parks? The reason I ask, is I'm trying to decide to just get the park hopper pass, or the park hopper pass with water park included. The reason I hesitate, is because I'm unsure if the weather will be warm enough for spending a day at the water park.

Mornings can be cool in the winter (actually had to scrape the car windows with a credit card a couple of times) but it warms up quickly. We haven't done the water parks yet, but everyone I know that has taken kids there has loved them, and strongly recommended them for when my daughter is old enough. Maybe someone on CP has first hand knowledge.

One great thing about staying on the property with a park hopper pass is everyday there will be one theme park open an hour early and one open late for the exclusive benefit of those guests.

[DownhillGoat]

Both the Disney water parks are awesome. But it has been a lot of years since I've been to them.

The nice thing with the park hopper is that you can spend part of the day at the water park, and if it turns out to be too chilly, you can pack up and head to the park that's open late.

[Ironhorse]

My wife and I did Typhoon Lagoon a few years ago in early Dec. It was a nice day (about 21C), but according to the survey man at the front, everyone at the park that day was from Canada - it was too cold for the locals. Great waterpark too.