Resort Hopping Suggestions

[blreinsel]

Hi all! I'm posting this thread in a couple of places so you may come across it elsewhere.

I recently posted my PTR for my upcoming June 2016 trip. We will be spending one day resort hopping and this will be a first for us! So I'm looking for some suggestions on the "must-do's" of your favorite resorts. We're going to try and hit as many of them as possible. I'm looking for QS dining spots, food/drink suggestions, gift shops, activities, photo opportunities, and anything else you can think of!

If you'd like to read my PTR, you can find it here:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/the-princesses-return.908683/

Thanks in advance!

 

[ToInfinityAndBeyond]

OH MAN. I have a game I like to play Planes, Trains, Boats, and Automobiles. My wife and I do this sometimes.

When we resort hop, we try to ride as many different types of Disney transportation as we can in one day. Usually, we get close to getting them all, but the "planes" part only works if it's the first or last day of the trip.

Here's an example. We park at GF. We ride the monorail, exploring the resorts. We take the monorail to the MK entrance, then ride a boat to WL. If we started REALLY EARLY in the day, we might then ride the boat to Fort Wilderness. Either way, we take a bus to Disney Springs. From there, you can do whatever, but when you're ready to move on, you take a boat to Port Orleans French Quarter. Now we like to walk, so we'll trek down to Riverside. Lunch is a good option either at DS, POFQ or PORS.

*Here's the part of the trip where pending time, you can explore some of the resorts that are more isolated (I'm looking at you AK Lodge, Coronado Springs, Caribbean beach, etc.) If you have any interest in those resorts, the best way to get there on Disney transport is to take the first bus Epcot or MK bus that comes at Port Orleans and then take a bus back to the respective resort.

We then take a bus to DHS. We take the friendship boat down to the "Swolphin" area and hoof it around the Boardwalk, Yacht & Beach. There are tons of dinner options on the Boardwalk loop, but unfortunately, quick service is lacking. You've got the pizza window and the little burger cart, but I recommend splurging a bit at the Crew's Cup. The Crew's Cup is a bar connected to the Yachtsman steakhouse. They serve what I consider to be the best bar menu at WDW, consisting of food made in the kitchen of the Yachtsman. Two words: truffle fries. Hopefully, it's early enough that you aren't getting caught up in the folks waiting for their table at The Yachtsman. If that's not interesting to you, see if you can make an ADR at Beaches and Creme. Now here's where the path gets interesting. If you're a passholder like us, you can walk through Epcot and take the Monorail back to WDW. This option also allows you to eat inside of Epcot. I am assuming you do not have this luxury. If you're not going to enter parks at all, you gotta bus is back to the Kingdom, then you can ride the boat (or monorail if you're sick of boats) back to the GF.

If you do all of that, you should have ridden on 4-5 different types of boats, the buses, and the monorail.

 

[Tinkerkelle]

Beignets at POFQ then the boat to Disney Springs.
Contempo cafe at Contemporary for a meal when on the "monorail tour". Dole whip and tonga toast at Poly.
Walk (could do Surrey bike hire) round Boardwalk, beach and yacht club.
Animals at AKL.
Love resort hopping. Factored in a good bit of time for this on our last trip but we arranged our resort visits round TS meals at the different resorts. So much to see and do and loads of photo ops. We wanted to get over to Wilderness Lodge and had no excuse as staying in Contemporary but just ran out of time.

 

[Schneewittchen]

We usually do the monorail resort hop with some boating as well. We stay at Fort Wilderness and take the boat to Contemporary. At Contemporary, we'll hit the gift shops - Bayview and Fantasia. Next stop Polynesian, maybe a meal like lunch at Kona Cafe, visit the Moana Mercantile gift shop, have a Dole whip for dessert at Pineapple Lanai. Next stop Grand Floridian, play outside on the walkways and enjoy the grounds, do some window shopping, basically goof around. Take a series of monorail and boat rides to Wilderness Lodge. Again play around outside because it's cool (I suppose the construction might interfere with that), hang out around the indoor water feature, visit the Wilderness Lodge mercantile, waste time in the lobby and then have dinner at Artist Point.

 

[NelleBelle]

If you do all of that, you should have ridden on 4-5 different types of boats, the buses, and the monorail.

But you forgot to do horse-drawn carriage rides at POR or Fort Wilderness You could also do the Segway tour at Fort Wilderness and add a new type of transportation (albeit you're "driving" it).

 

[Matt_Black]

Art of Animation is a good spot for both photo ops with the "set pieces" and, for my money, one of the best QS spots in WDW.

 

[ToInfinityAndBeyond]

But you forgot to do horse-drawn carriage rides at POR or Fort Wilderness You could also do the Segway tour at Fort Wilderness and add a new type of transportation (albeit you're "driving" it).

The missing qualifier is "free." Whoops.

 

[NelleBelle]

Missed the "fee" aspect Good game tho

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Here's is my last Resort Hopping experience.

Stayed at WL so, took boat to Contemporary, took Monorail to Poly (Breakfast with Stitch at Ohana). Took Monorail to GF. Took Monorail to TTC and the transfer to the EPCOT monorail. Walked through EPCOT to the International Gateway Entrance (stopping at the Rose and Crown for a Guinness and a Strongbow) and on to the BC, YC, Dolphin Swan, and then Boardwalk (assorted snacks on the Boardwalk). Took boat from Boardwalk to DHS, went straight to buses for a trip to AKL. Wandered around AKL and the savannah and caught a bus to DS. Caught the boat to OKW and had dinner at Olivia's before taking the boat back to DS. Spent some time shopping and caught the bus back to WL. Resort Hopping Day is one of my favorite days...for my 3 year old...not so much.

 

[blreinsel]

Thank you all so much for your suggestions! The transportation game sounds like a lot of fun and we'll definitely try to incorporate that into our day! Keep em coming!

 

[KaliSplash]

OH MAN. I have a game I like to play Planes, Trains, Boats, and Automobiles. My wife and I do this sometimes.

When we resort hop, we try to ride as many different types of Disney transportation as we can in one day. Usually, we get close to getting them all, but the "planes" part only works if it's the first or last day of the trip.

Here's an example. We park at GF. We ride the monorail, exploring the resorts. We take the monorail to the MK entrance, then ride a boat to WL. If we started REALLY EARLY in the day, we might then ride the boat to Fort Wilderness. Either way, we take a bus to Disney Springs. From there, you can do whatever, but when you're ready to move on, you take a boat to Port Orleans French Quarter. Now we like to walk, so we'll trek down to Riverside. Lunch is a good option either at DS, POFQ or PORS.

*Here's the part of the trip where pending time, you can explore some of the resorts that are more isolated (I'm looking at you AK Lodge, Coronado Springs, Caribbean beach, etc.) If you have any interest in those resorts, the best way to get there on Disney transport is to take the first bus Epcot or MK bus that comes at Port Orleans and then take a bus back to the respective resort.

We then take a bus to DHS. We take the friendship boat down to the "Swolphin" area and hoof it around the Boardwalk, Yacht & Beach. There are tons of dinner options on the Boardwalk loop, but unfortunately, quick service is lacking. You've got the pizza window and the little burger cart, but I recommend splurging a bit at the Crew's Cup. The Crew's Cup is a bar connected to the Yachtsman steakhouse. They serve what I consider to be the best bar menu at WDW, consisting of food made in the kitchen of the Yachtsman. Two words: truffle fries. Hopefully, it's early enough that you aren't getting caught up in the folks waiting for their table at The Yachtsman. If that's not interesting to you, see if you can make an ADR at Beaches and Creme. Now here's where the path gets interesting. If you're a passholder like us, you can walk through Epcot and take the Monorail back to WDW. This option also allows you to eat inside of Epcot. I am assuming you do not have this luxury. If you're not going to enter parks at all, you gotta bus is back to the Kingdom, then you can ride the boat (or monorail if you're sick of boats) back to the GF.

If you do all of that, you should have ridden on 4-5 different types of boats, the buses, and the monorail.

All I can do is bow and say "IMPRESSIVE!"

 

[surfsupdon]

Tip. Bring your bathing suit.

 

[fireworksandfairytales]

-Mimosas at Mizner's Lounge at the Grand Floridian.
-Check out the Wedding Pavilion at the Grand Floridian. I had no idea until my most recent trip that you could go in to the building unless you were part of a wedding, but there was a cast member there who said it was fine for us to go inside and walk around. It's really beautiful.
-Bungalow Hill at Polynesian (I'm 99 percent sure that's what it was called) is a really nice place to just sit and relax. It's overlooking the water with great views of MK and the Grand Floridian. My friends and I went there on our last resort hopping day and just sat there for nearly an hour just chatting. It's a very peaceful spot and it's fairly close to the pool.
-I haven't personally been yet, but I've heard great things about Trader Sam's and am hoping to check it out for myself very soon.
-Ride Surrey Bikes around the Boardwalk.
-Quick service meal at Art of Animation. Their food court is easily one of my favorite quick service options on property.
-Beaches & Cream at Beach Club is also a good quick service spot. They have ice cream (including the kitchen sink) so even if you don't want a full meal it's a nice place to stop in and get a snack.

I hope you have a great time!

 

[Jess G]

OH MAN. I have a game I like to play Planes, Trains, Boats, and Automobiles. My wife and I do this sometimes.

When we resort hop, we try to ride as many different types of Disney transportation as we can in one day. Usually, we get close to getting them all, but the "planes" part only works if it's the first or last day of the trip.

Here's an example. We park at GF. We ride the monorail, exploring the resorts. We take the monorail to the MK entrance, then ride a boat to WL. If we started REALLY EARLY in the day, we might then ride the boat to Fort Wilderness. Either way, we take a bus to Disney Springs. From there, you can do whatever, but when you're ready to move on, you take a boat to Port Orleans French Quarter. Now we like to walk, so we'll trek down to Riverside. Lunch is a good option either at DS, POFQ or PORS.

*Here's the part of the trip where pending time, you can explore some of the resorts that are more isolated (I'm looking at you AK Lodge, Coronado Springs, Caribbean beach, etc.) If you have any interest in those resorts, the best way to get there on Disney transport is to take the first bus Epcot or MK bus that comes at Port Orleans and then take a bus back to the respective resort.

We then take a bus to DHS. We take the friendship boat down to the "Swolphin" area and hoof it around the Boardwalk, Yacht & Beach. There are tons of dinner options on the Boardwalk loop, but unfortunately, quick service is lacking. You've got the pizza window and the little burger cart, but I recommend splurging a bit at the Crew's Cup. The Crew's Cup is a bar connected to the Yachtsman steakhouse. They serve what I consider to be the best bar menu at WDW, consisting of food made in the kitchen of the Yachtsman. Two words: truffle fries. Hopefully, it's early enough that you aren't getting caught up in the folks waiting for their table at The Yachtsman. If that's not interesting to you, see if you can make an ADR at Beaches and Creme. Now here's where the path gets interesting. If you're a passholder like us, you can walk through Epcot and take the Monorail back to WDW. This option also allows you to eat inside of Epcot. I am assuming you do not have this luxury. If you're not going to enter parks at all, you gotta bus is back to the Kingdom, then you can ride the boat (or monorail if you're sick of boats) back to the GF.

If you do all of that, you should have ridden on 4-5 different types of boats, the buses, and the monorail.

This is an amazing plan lol! totally gonna resort hop exactly like this in april

 

[Worldlover71]

A great way to end the day is watching the Electric Water Pageant from the Beach at the Polynesian. You can watch it from any of the resorts on Bay Lake or the Seven Seas Lagoon but I particularly like the Poly at night when the torches are lit.

 

[patch553]

sorry to piggy back this thread,we are staying at bay lake tower in a couple of weeks and have planned an afternoon of resort hopping all the monorail resorts,going anti clockwise we are hopeing to be at the beach of the grand Floridian for the electric water parade. is there any must do/see's at these resorts?

 

[Tuvalu]

sorry to piggy back this thread,we are staying at bay lake tower in a couple of weeks and have planned an afternoon of resort hopping all the monorail resorts,going anti clockwise we are hopeing to be at the beach of the grand Floridian for the electric water parade. is there any must do/see's at these resorts?

Can I ask why you want to visit the monorail resorts counter-clockwise? The resort monorail runs clockwise and it will be a bit of a challenge trying to do what you plan. You can take a boat from MK to the GF and then walk to the Poly from GF, but there is no direct way to get to the Contemporary/Bay Lake Tower from the Poly using Disney transport.

 

[patch553]

I hadn't considered which way the monorail runs we were thinking to do it that way so we could end at gf and visit the wedding pavilion at night

 

[Tuvalu]

I hadn't considered which way the monorail runs we were thinking to do it that way so we could end at gf and visit the wedding pavilion at night

Then you actually want to visit clockwise! Although there is really not enough to see/do at the 3 monorail resorts if you start your hopping in the afternoon and finish at the GF for the 9:15 pm electrical water pageant. You can explore the pools at Contemporary, maybe have a drink/snack at the pool bar; visit the two gift stores inside. At the Poly, you can walk through the grounds (easier to do before it gets dark), browse the gift stores in the Great Ceremonial House, have dinner at Kona Cafe or Captain Cooks (or 'Ohana if you get lucky and score a last-minute ADR), and have a drink inside at Trader Sam's or outside on Trader Sam's Tiki Terrace. I recommend walking the path between the Poly and GF, it is very pretty at night and you will pass the wedding chapel on the way (which you can peek into, don't think it is open for the public at night and you won't be able to even take a peek if a wedding is in progress.) The GF grounds are beautiful and easily navigated in the dark (unlike Poly.) There are a few gift stores to explore in the main building and drinks are available in Mizner's Lounge. You can also hang out in the lobby and listen to the band or the pianist. The best place to watch the water pageant at the GF is from the boat dock, not the beach.

 

[patch553]

that's great many thanks,we make a point of going to the wedding chapel each year as its where we got married but this year we'd like to go at sunset,it is beautiful, we were lucky enough to stay at gf a couple years back and chilling at the lobby with a drink listening to the piano was the perfect ending to the day