Does your resort choice influence your park days (advice please)?

[twinsmomvj]

Background: we haven't been to WDW for about 5 years. We have previously stayed at AKL and Poly (and off site a couple of times). I am now planning a quick trip with my daughters (ages 19 and almost 7) from 5/30 to 6/3 (4nights); we are staying at Boardwalk We have never been at this time of year, but I know to expect hot! and therefore, I think we will plan to have more resort/pool time than we would otherwise do.

I am trying to plan my which park on which day (do crowd calendars even impact this decision anymore?) and trying to decide if hopping might work well for our location (having the ability to get to HS and Epcot more easily).

I would greatly appreciate any advice on how to plan our parks based on our resort (not sure if this topic is better for theme park board?). I think my girls will be most excited about MK and HS. I also want to do at least one character meal if anyone has suggestions regarding that too.

Day 1 (Monday) (should arrive at resort by 3:00)
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5 (Friday)- our flight is at 9pm

Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions!!

 

[Schneewittchen37]

Yes, my resort definitely affects the park choices.

I'm not really keen on staying at bus-only resorts anymore. So really, we only want to stay in MK area or Epcot area (Seven Seas Lagoon/Bay Lake or Crescent Lake).

So if we stay at Fort Wilderness/Wilderness Lodge/Contemporary, etc., we go to whatever park in the morning, but in the evenings, we'll hop to MK for dinner and nightlife, or one of the monorail hotels.

And if we stay at Boardwalk/Swan, etc., again whatever park in the morning, but then at night we always go to either HS or Epcot for dinner and nightlife. But, honestly, mostly Epcot.... and a little bit around the Boardwalk in the evenings.

Regarding crowds, I try to avoid MK on Saturday and Sunday, I have no idea if this is a legit concern, but MK is always a disaster. And then during Epcot festivals, the locals are all over the place all weekend being too drunk and crazy. So, yeah, I think weekends are bad. I don't even look at crowd calendars, I just expect chaos.

Character meals. We used to love them. Not great with the current lame modified interactions. (We had modified experiences at Disneyland last month ) And some that were barffets are now family style. And some don't have characters back yet.... In the before times:

1. We always did Crystal Palace because we all love Winnie and Friends. It's sentimental too, it's the first character meal we took DS to when he was a baby. He loved it. I knew I was the best mommy ever. But in practical terms, the AC is fantastic and the waitrons are good for refilling your sodas quickly. The barffet wasn't terrible. Think 1980s HoJo Thanksgiving spread. We're going again in about a month. We'll see. I'm going to miss Pooh if he's not back by then.

2. Garden Grill. Love the rotating. Chip n Dale are cute. For real, I wish my Thanksgiving dinners were this good.

3. Akershus. All the princesses. Cozy atmosphere. Nice cold cut barffet. Get the meatballs. Bring it back!

4. CRT. All the princesses, only it costs more. Actually, the food was good. And we still have the wands and swords. Quick, quick, run outside behind the castle to catch the fireworks. (Tears in my eyes.) I understand there's like zero princesses these days. Sad.

5. Hollywood & Vine (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy) or Chef Mickey's (Mickey, Mine, Donald, Pluto, Goofy). You know, more 1980s HoJo Thanksgiving spread. But it's fun. And you know, AC is a good thing.

Dishonorable mentions:
Tusker House - rice with puke sauce
Garden Grove - Low rent, dirty, used costume store Pluto and Goofy with Marriott food

 

[DisLiss]

Our resort choices affect our park days in terms of the amount of "extra" time we spend at each park. In other words, no matter what resort we choose, we'll always want to spend at least one day per park. But then after that, we're more likely to make return trips to the park(s) closest to us.

 

[Minniesgal]

Our park days influence our resort choice

We pick either AKV or an Epcot resort for our first 7 days to do AK and HS

Then we pick a monorail resort for the second 7 days to do MK and EPCOT although this year we have gone with Wilderness Lodge instead.

 

[hhisc16]

Background: we haven't been to WDW for about 5 years. We have previously stayed at AKL and Poly (and off site a couple of times). I am now planning a quick trip with my daughters (ages 19 and almost 7) from 5/30 to 6/3 (4nights); we are staying at Boardwalk We have never been at this time of year, but I know to expect hot! and therefore, I think we will plan to have more resort/pool time than we would otherwise do.

I am trying to plan my which park on which day (do crowd calendars even impact this decision anymore?) and trying to decide if hopping might work well for our location (having the ability to get to HS and Epcot more easily).

I would greatly appreciate any advice on how to plan our parks based on our resort (not sure if this topic is better for theme park board?). I think my girls will be most excited about MK and HS. I also want to do at least one character meal if anyone has suggestions regarding that too.

Day 1 (Monday) (should arrive at resort by 3:00)
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5 (Friday)- our flight is at 9pm

Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions!!

Are you staying at deluxe resorts this time? Boardwalk only?
As DVC members, we try to stay at deluxe resorts near whichever park we are going to that day.
We enjoy split stays though.

 

[Brett Wyman]

We usually stay at an Epcot area resort for our HS/Epcot days and then move to an MK area resort for MK days. AK can be done from anywhere since it's a long haul no matter what. For your length of trip, if budget allows, I do one of the Monorail resorts(or Wilderness Lodge) and bus to HS. Then either choose an Epcot day or an AK day(or a third MK day).

 

[twinsmomvj]

Are you staying at deluxe resorts this time? Boardwalk only?
As DVC members, we try to stay at deluxe resorts near whichever park we are going to that day.
We enjoy split stays though.

Yes, we are just staying at Boardwalk for this 4 night trip. I did contemplate a split stay, but I didn't know if that would be too crazy for just 4 nights.

 

[hhisc16]

Yes, we are just staying at Boardwalk for this 4 night trip. I did contemplate a split stay, but I didn't know if that would be too crazy for just 4 nights.

In Dec. 2021, we did a split stay for 2 nights at a deluxe resort near Epcot and 2 nights at a deluxe resort near MK.
If you enjoy being near the park you are going to that day, it is worth a split stay.
If anything, you get to visit 2 resorts!
Our luggage was moved from Resort 1 to Resort 2 by Disney and we got a text while in the park that Resort 2 room was ready.

 

[jesserina]

Yes! We ‘play where we stay’. Our split stays always involve a MK area resort and a skyliner resort. We do MK days when we are at the MK area resort and HS and Epcot days when on the skyliner. We stick our AK day in someplace.
Total game changer!

 

[Her Dotness]

I guess we're weird.

We plan where to stay for the majority of our trip and then stay somewhere else for arrival night or a night at the end of our trip.

For us, this is mostly because we use the bulk of our DVC points for our home resort and then tack on one night elsewhere when we've leftover points from the prior year. Occasionally, we pay cash for the single night DVC stay because it's discounted due to our being DVCers.

Once we've booked those, we decide which park when based on what ADRs we want where. We've never switched resorts because of park locations. We buy Park Hoppers to go to whichever park we want--and purely detest the current restrictions/reservations.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Yes, we are just staying at Boardwalk for this 4 night trip. I did contemplate a split stay, but I didn't know if that would be too crazy for just 4 nights.

Yeah, I wouldn’t want to split with only 4 nights. Since you’re staying in one place I say there’s no real game plan of which park on which day. I do love doing the park hopper option when staying EP area because I can hop into EP for dinner.

 

[_19disnA]

Only if you know you WON'T be doing certain parks would it matter where you stay. For example, if not planning to visit MK, then staying at a monorail resort would be of less benefit. Similarly, if not going to Epcot or HS, then staying in that area also has less advantage and will add to your daily transit time. No 3rd party has any better crystal ball on which parks will be crowded when, no one outside of Disney has any special knowledge of that.

If doing all of the parks, then where you stay is more a matter of budget, which theming you like best and personal preference. I would never plan where to stay based on a 3rd party estimate of future park attendance.

 

[bakerworld]

I would save Epcot for the evening. At that time of year, with the heat, Epcot can get really hot and the WS is hot. Evening Epcot gives a better chance at the 3 main rides (Test Track, Soarin' and Frozen) - IMO. I can't tell if you've Park Hoppers but even if you do not I'd still save an evening for Epcot. Easy walk from BW after a pool day.

HS is walkable from BW but in that heat you might want to take the Gondola ride. The trouble with the Gondola is the mornings are a scrum at the change station in the AM. Take the boats and hope they're running early for the AM early admission. Do the Gondola on the return.

Having a 9yo I would guess your focus would be MK and my BIL, who does that park a lot, says the early admission arrival is key and the best bet for the rides like Dwarf Mine. We avoid MK. AK isn't too big on our radar either but my youngest had a lot of luck arriving after 4p with the Pandora area.

 

[snikki]

Not really because we like to hop around to different parks during the week and mix it up. We don’t do the same parks multiple days in a row no matter where we stay. So it wouldn’t fit my style to do 4-5 days at a MK resort and only do MK and AK. Then go to an Epcot resort and only do Epcot and DHS for the next 4-5 days.

The only time I made that work was when we did 2 nights at POFQ and 7 at BWV. I did make our first two days MK and AK but when we did a Poly/Epcot split (5/5 nights) we didn’t condense our parks by where we were staying.

We choose our resort by the theming, amenities, price, pool complex, location, food options and if it’s somewhere we want to try. I don’t look at it as “these days I plan to focus on Epcot and DHS so I’m going to stay at BC.”

 

[kylenne]

It's the number one factor for me, because we have always been midday break people, and proximity to parks is critical to us. It's priceless being able to get back to the room to rest when we need to. Relatively stress-free return home at night without excessive waiting around is why I will always prioritize the MK resorts over Crescent Lake even on top of preferring the energy of the MK area, especially now that walking is an option at all three. Out of all the parks post-firework MK is by far the worst to me (Epcot at least splits exit crowds between IG and the front), and leaving MK is so much less obnoxious when you're staying on the lagoon, because even if the monorail lines are crazy you have multiple other options. Taking the resort launches home at night is so nice. The friendship boats are also my preferred way to get home from HS when staying at the Crescent Lake resorts.

We never go without hoppers/APs either so it's nice to just pop into the nearest park for the evening after our break regardless of which one we rope dropped. But time of year used to impact this a lot, pre-Covid--the sheer number of early MK closings during party season made it much more of a challenge to do that when staying at the monorail resorts. Nowadays it's not as big a deal.

Proximity is also one of the reasons why CSR is the only non-deluxe I'll stay at, despite being technically in the "AK resort area" it's actually really centrally located on property and bus rides are quick everywhere. But from a sheer practicality standpoint my ideal for longer trips is a split between MK area and Crescent Lake. It was fantastic walking to 3 of 4 parks and only taking the bus to AK when I did GF/YC last summer. Location, then which has AP discount availability if any, then theming/amenities/food etc. is what we look at.