2020 Curious Constance Trip Preparation/Report

[Disney Irish]

I'm kinda of sad @Curious Constance might not get her family Disneyland trip in this year.

But a WDW trip sounds like a blast. Even in my mid-40s I've still never been. So may have to plan a trip myself in the next 12 months while crowds will be unbelievable low.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I'm more of a Universal guy. Before everything was locked down like the third class when Titanic was sinking, I was really wanting to go back there.

 

[Curious Constance]

I'm kinda of sad @Curious Constance might not get her family Disneyland trip in this year.

But a WDW trip sounds like a blast. Even in my mid-40s I've still never been. So may have to plan a trip myself in the next 12 months while crowds will be unbelievable low.

Plus my daughter is 16 so this could be the last chance we get to go in her childhood.

 

[Tinkwings]

I can see splurging for a moderate if you have tons of time to relax and break from the parks, but anything other than that is just waaayyyy too much for me to justify spending the money on. We spend most of our time at the parks too, and I don't think I would ever spend the price of braces for a week's hotel stay at WDW.

Fun fact, when I price hotel at POP, 6 day tickets, and flight to Orlando, it's exactly the same price as it was for flight to LA, hotel for a week, and tickets to DLR for 5 days.

I had to laugh Constance, I told my son that his braces were the price of a WDW vaca and he gave me a very odd look....actually I think I worded it as you have a Disneytrip IN your mouth..... . One of my girlfriends always stays at the Swan or Dolphin resorts, but not sure of their pricing, she always seemed to get a good deal though. WDW also gets historically frequent room discount codes, but who knows going forward...

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I've wanted to stay at the more expensive resorts at WDW, sure. I usually stay offsite near Universal since that's where I end up mainly going. I also love seeing UO from a room high up at the nearby hotels.

 

[PiratesMansion]

I just don't know who the Moderates are for at this point.

Who wants to pay a premium for rooms that aren't that different from the values, still have exterior doors, sprawling layouts that require internal bus transportation in many cases (!), aren't located near the parks, food is improved-ish at best from the values most of the time (this is slowly changing at least), but have nice grounds?

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I basically agree, but WDW guests would seem to support their business, yeah?

 

[PiratesMansion]

I basically agree, but WDW guests would seem to support their business, yeah?

WDW guests definitely have a history of supporting a LOT of questionable things, yes.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I've tended to gravitate toward hotels offsite that are close to businesses where I can get normal food and supplies. It's another reason I like the touristy area around Universal.

 

[cmwade77]

I used to dream of staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Then I realized that not only will I never make enough money to justify doing that, but I can do everything at AKL except for the whole "Look out at the Giraffes from your own balcony" thing without staying there.

The values are nothing great, but staying at them was helpful pragmatically because 1) 60 Day FP+ Window 2) Disney transportation. Which honestly I don't care for, but it was very helpful when my friend lost his car keys at Typhoon Lagoon and/or if we wanted to do different things, and 3) EMH at Magic Kingdom was dead because Pandora was brand new and everyone wanted to see it at night. Not so sure it would be the same now.

Though now that there are parking fees that definitely kills it a bit.

We bought into DVC because we would get to stay at places like AKL and when we bought into it, the cost worked out to be a little less than the cost of three of our trips to Pop Century at the time. So, for us, it made sense. But yes, if paying cash, AKL is a lot of money, but really is a ton of fun, especially if you are planning some nonpark days.

 

[DrAlice]

Years ago, we stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. We liked it a lot. It wasn't much more than the value resorts, but that was a long time ago. I haven't priced it out recently. It had the nifty boat ride to whatever they were calling Downtown Disney/Disney Springs at the time.

Friends of mine always stay at Beach Club because they can walk to Epcot (and if they want, from Epcot take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom). He hates the buses, so will pay for this added bonus. I like that idea, but it was more expensive than I was willing to pay.

I hope you find something you can afford and you enjoy!

 

[Kiwiduck]

I love staying at Pop, it's cute and high energy. The little mermaid rooms at AoA are garish and worn out, I definitely think Pop is the better deal between the two. In the negative column, my worst bus experiences have been between the Magic Kingdom and Pop, huge waits for buses to arrive and to load once they arrive. I would have been checking in there on Friday for a few days before moving on to the Polynesian (I love Pop, but not for 2 weeks!!!!). Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[mlayton144]

One thing to consider not mentioned , if you are going in summer you might appreciate more resort time and that’s where bumping up to a moderate or deluxe might make sense. . If you haven’t heard , it’s really hot and humid in the summer. The mods (all of them) have much nicer atmosphere , the pools have slides , and table service restaurants. 2 of them have water taxi to Disney springs. The rooms however are only marginally bigger and still motel style. You could probably get closer to value price if you ditch park hopper option and/or less park days. Caribbean beach has skyliner too. Just a thought

 

[DrAlice]

One thing to consider not mentioned , if you are going in summer you might appreciate more resort time and that’s where bumping up to a moderate or deluxe might make sense. . If you haven’t heard , it’s really hot and humid in the summer. The mods (all of them) have much nicer atmosphere , the pools have slides , and table service restaurants. 2 of them have water taxi to Disney springs. The rooms however are only marginally bigger and still motel style. You could probably get closer to value price if you ditch park hopper option and/or less park days. Caribbean beach has skyliner too. Just a thought

Good point about ditching the park hopper option. You probably aren't going to do that. WDW is just TOO big and spread out. Any "hopping" just means you are eating up your park time on transportation.

I'd second the point about atmosphere. Riverside has a nice, shady pool area (at least it did when we were there - again, a long time ago). There's a vlogger that walks through all of the WDW hotels to show you rooms and amenities that you could check out to compare atmosphere. (Resort TV or something like that?)

 

[mlayton144]

Yes highly recommend YouTube for resort walk throughs, there are thousands of them. Half of enjoying the WDW bubble is enjoying the resorts and their amenities. In fact , even if you don’t stay at a deluxe , make a point to carve out some hours exploring and grabbing a meal - AKL , WL, Poly, boardwalk, etc , it’s a nice break

 

[Curious Constance]

Thanks everyone for the advice! All good info that I appreciate very much!
I had pretty much ruled out park hopper because, as mentioned, I can’t see us running around between parks that require long bus transfers. I’d rather take a day to really explore each park and then a day to go back to our favorite and then maybe a water park day. Of course I don’t know if those will even open or if anything will open this summer! A planner’s nightmare this is!!!

 

[drizgirl]

Thanks everyone for the advice! All good info that I appreciate very much!
I had pretty much ruled out park hopper because, as mentioned, I can’t see us running around between parks that require long bus transfers. I’d rather take a day to really explore each park and then a day to go back to our favorite and then maybe a water park day. Of course I don’t know if those will even open or if anything will open this summer! A planner’s nightmare this is!!!

The biggest mistake I see newbies make is getting hoppers and scheduling all sorts of ADRs and extra add ons all over the resort. As a first timer, you really need time to focus on fully exploring the parks. Make ADRs in or near the parks you want to be in on a given day. Use them as time to get off your feet without having to leave.

 

[PiratesMansion]

It was easier to justify hoppers, IMO, when Studios had nothing going for it except TOT and Epcot was THE place for a nice meal. Now that DHS has a lot more to do that's high interest and Disney Springs has obliterated the old dining rules of WDW and doesn't require admission I don't know that it's worth it to get them. I like having hoppers, but they're hardly necessary.

And it's definitely not like DLR where you can hop to the castle park and do things without it being an enormous hassle.

Personally, even if you stay on site I would take my own car everywhere except Magic Kingdom. MK is a pain if you drive. However, it's not at all difficult to park or get around to the other parks/activities with your own car and then you're in control of your own destiny.

There are a lot of people that don't like to drive on vacation and just want to take the buses, and if that's what they want, good for them. I'd rather not be beholden to buses or other transportation that may or may not arrive when I need them to, especially when it's so important to be there on time.

Also, I found it helpful with the planning to have a down day every two days or so, especially for the summer. What you do is up to you-mini golf, exploring a resort, Disney Springs, a water park-but it definitely helped pace it all out and stay a little bit relaxed and sane.

 

[mlayton144]

It was easier to justify hoppers, IMO, when Studios had nothing going for it except TOT and Epcot was THE place for a nice meal. Now that DHS has a lot more to do that's high interest and Disney Springs has obliterated the old dining rules of WDW and doesn't require admission I don't know that it's worth it to get them. I like having hoppers, but they're hardly necessary.

And it's definitely not like DLR where you can hop to the castle park and do things without it being an enormous hassle.

Personally, even if you stay on site I would take my own car everywhere except Magic Kingdom. MK is a pain if you drive. However, it's not at all difficult to park or get around to the other parks/activities with your own car and then you're in control of your own destiny.

There are a lot of people that don't like to drive on vacation and just want to take the buses, and if that's what they want, good for them. I'd rather not be beholden to buses or other transportation that may or may not arrive when I need them to, especially when it's so important to be there on time.

solution = skyliner

 

[PiratesMansion]

solution = skyliner

Yes, but aren't there still some bizarre limitations on when the Skyliner is operating, especially near the beginning of the day, that might make it more difficult to arrive on time and/or might negate the advantage by making you take a blasted bus?