How Much Of Your Vacation Do You Spend At Resort Hotel? Poll

[Tinkerbella16]

This year more time is being spent at the resort, since we are staying at the Beach Club and going in September means hotter temps - so that fabulous pool will be used! Also since we are taking my niece who will be 18 months at the time, she will need her naps. But even when we go just as adults, we like to take a break each day to enjoy the resort before heading out for the evening.

 

[Stevek]

We stayed at Pop, CBR and AKL. We walked around all of them once, pretty much when we got there. Beyond that, the vast majority of our time at the hotel is spend sleeping, cleaning up and getting a meal before we head out. Ultimately why we decided to stay at POP on our second visit versus a more "luxurious" resort. Keep in mind that we go all out the entire trip...at park opening, stay until close.

 

[ShookieJones]

For us it's been dependent on time not the places we've stayed. Our first 5 or so years we're lucky if our heads dented the pillow for six hours of sleep. As the years have gone on we've spent more time at our hotels. It was nice to enjoy the pool and grounds at the Wilderness lodge last year. That's a pretty fantastic hotel and the more I think about it probably creeping up on the Poly as my fave.

 

[blueboxdoctor]

You guys are all so busy when you are there (or at least most of you are). I'm on vacation, so I don't really see a point in rope drop every day, especially considering the new fast pass system doesn't lend itself as much to that. I'd rather get a little later start and stay until closing each night. Granted, I'm also not a morning person. As for the hotel question, I do enjoy going back for a rest at some point during the day. Though, I have been there quite a few times, so I also don't feel like I'm missing out and I know my strategy/plan for when I go back into the parks. I do enjoy exploring the resort I'm staying at. They put so much effort into it it would be wasted not to see what's going on. And at Fort Wilderness they have the fireplaces on the higher levels in the main lobby, which I enjoy sitting next to and relaxing.

With all that said, I'm also in the parks a lot, just at a more casual pace. But hey, however you enjoy WDW doesn't matter, as long as you're having a good time.

 

[blueboxdoctor]

For us it's been dependent on time not the places we've stayed. Our first 5 or so years we're lucky if our heads dented the pillow for six hours of sleep. As the years have gone on we've spent more time at our hotels. It was nice to enjoy the pool and grounds at the Wilderness lodge last year. That's a pretty fantastic hotel and the more I think about it probably creeping up on the Poly as my fave.

The only thing bringing it down for me is that it isn't on the monorail loop, which is a very nice premium feature you get for the added cost of staying at the Polynesian (though, other than that I really like the Wilderness Lodge, and it still has the boats to Magic Kingdom, so that's still pretty cool, I prefer that much more over the buses).

 

[KaliSplash]

We are generally commandos in that we are there at opening and closing. However, we almost always come back to the hotel for 2-3 hours rest. Very seldom to swim or do anything else at the resort.

 

[ShookieJones]

The only thing bringing it down for me is that it isn't on the monorail loop, which is a very nice premium feature you get for the added cost of staying at the Polynesian (though, other than that I really like the Wilderness Lodge, and it still has the boats to Magic Kingdom, so that's still pretty cool, I prefer that much more over the buses).

I am big fan of the monorail resorts and the poly was always my dream resort. I was beside myself when we had the opportunity to stay there. I have always argued that if I am going to pay the extra coin for a deluxe it's going to be on the loop. With that being said we got a good deal and stayed at WL last year and I gotta say that we never waited for those boats very long and we were at MK in about 7-10 min. Dedicated transportation back forth to the MK - yeah man, sign me up!! At the price point vs what your paying at the monorail resorts, and WL started making a real strong argument. One draw back - rooms are tiny and felt a bit beat. Otherwise I have to say I became a huge fan after last years stay.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

Sometime-For eating, sleeping and relaxing. That's usually how we spend our arrival day.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Personally, I typically only sleep there - and maybe spend the in-between "off time" checking it out if I have enough days there. But with a family, that's all different now... A lot more time spend napping, etc.

 

[DisneyJunkie]

I'm in the "only for sleeping and eating" camp, as the majority of every day in WDW is spent in the parks. The resort may have a pool, which is nice and good......but so do I, at home. So I don't see much need to spend time in the pool at the resort, when there are the water parks which are far more fun than a plain ol' pool. On the other hand, when the day is just about over for the parks, I may spend a little time back at the resort wandering around and soaking it all in.

 

[Stevek]

You guys are all so busy when you are there (or at least most of you are). I'm on vacation, so I don't really see a point in rope drop every day, especially considering the new fast pass system doesn't lend itself as much to that. I'd rather get a little later start and stay until closing each night. Granted, I'm also not a morning person. As for the hotel question, I do enjoy going back for a rest at some point during the day. Though, I have been there quite a few times, so I also don't feel like I'm missing out and I know my strategy/plan for when I go back into the parks. I do enjoy exploring the resort I'm staying at. They put so much effort into it it would be wasted not to see what's going on. And at Fort Wilderness they have the fireplaces on the higher levels in the main lobby, which I enjoy sitting next to and relaxing.

With all that said, I'm also in the parks a lot, just at a more casual pace. But hey, however you enjoy WDW doesn't matter, as long as you're having a good time.

I think for some people like us, we've only been 3 times flying from Southern California so while it's a vacation, we try to maximize every dollar we plunked into Mickey's piggy bank. But there were times where we did say, let's relax a bit today...but no, we still end up going all out.

 

[Princess_AmyK]

As a child I remember barely spending any time in the resort. We were always going 100 mph trying to fit as much as we could into our vacation. Now as an adult, I spend more time in my resort. I like having some days out of the park to relax and take it easy. I enjoy spending a day shopping at downtown disney... or I guess disney springs now. I don't have the energy to go constantly like I used to. Fortunately, since I have been so many times, I don't feel that I have too either. I don't feel the need to do everything since I have done most of it numerous times already. I just get to relax, grab a good drink, and enjoy my time off!

 

[patch553]

We used to be just sleep and eat kinda people, to maximise our time in the parks but the last few trips we've cut our days in the parks and spent more time money and effort on better resorts and wer lucky enough to stay at bay lake for a few days which with the theme park view room simply blew us away

 

[surfsupdon]

We stay at the Epcot Deluxes so we spend a lot of vacation time swimming, sunning, and doing some recreation around the Resort, like bike riding, tennis, and volleyball - my family plays in volleyball leagues so we can play a 2 v 2 on the sand court and it's great.

We are never at the Parks in the afternoon, usually noon-5ish. This is when we hang at the Resort and have a great time.

 

[cdeev8690]

My primary uses are the same as everyone else, sleep and shower. I do always make time for at least one afternoon pool visit, depending on my length of stay. A few years back when the parks were quiet in early September, I would get through a park, come back to the resort for pool time and a drink for an hour or two, then get ready for an evening park visit. Now that there's really no slow-season, you're spending more time in queues so there's far less down time. It is a vacation so it definitely is ideal to do something that is a bit more relaxing instead of walking 8 miles every day for a week. I like to think that if I stayed at a Moderate or Deluxe, I might take advantage of some of the resort amenities.

 

[blueboxdoctor]

I think for some people like us, we've only been 3 times flying from Southern California so while it's a vacation, we try to maximize every dollar we plunked into Mickey's piggy bank. But there were times where we did say, let's relax a bit today...but no, we still end up going all out.

Makes sense, I guess I have been there enough that I pretty much know what I like more so I can work with a more casual schedule (except now that they're going to be rolling out new stuff at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios). But I can see how you'd want to maximize your time in the parks if you haven't been there as much, I know on senior trip back in high school most of the people I walked around with were flying around the parks, trying to see everything in a very limited time so I had to get back into that pace.

 

[Stevek]

Makes sense, I guess I have been there enough that I pretty much know what I like more so I can work with a more casual schedule (except now that they're going to be rolling out new stuff at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios). But I can see how you'd want to maximize your time in the parks if you haven't been there as much, I know on senior trip back in high school most of the people I walked around with were flying around the parks, trying to see everything in a very limited time so I had to get back into that pace.

Yeah, that was me...running back and forth from one side of the park to the other trying to get fastpasses, it was not relaxing at all and we did a poor job of "touring" for lack of a better term.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Before kids I would have easily voted "very little" but that has definitely changed. Our youngest still naps in the afternoon, though may not be the case on our next trip, so we tend to spend more time at the resort, in the room, exploring the grounds or hanging out at the pool. Very much looking forward to our first stay at the Poly Villas in August. Always wanted to stay at this resort. Looks like there is much to explore and enjoy when away from the parks.

 

[DizneyPryncess]

It's a big part of our stay. My kids are 4 & 1. They love water, they love exploring. They get tired from all day in the park (me and my husband do too to be honest), and really enjoy the days off at the resort. My 4 year old loves the marshmallows at the campfire & movies under the stars. We always try to make time to do those things.

 

[britdaw]

Last time we were there, I severely overbooked us. We had character meals or ADRs for every single day (sometimes two a day), so we really only spent time at our hotel to sleep or eat, and we did swim there a couple times. That was before we had a special needs child, though, and I've planned our trip a lot differently this time around. We aren't nearly as scheduled (only 3 ADRs for the entire week), so we will have plenty of time to "go with the flow" for him, in case he gets overstimulated and needs to escape the parks for a while. He loves to swim and he is in love with everything Cars, so I think we'll be spending a lot more time at our hotel exploring Radiator Springs and the pools.