I'm having troubles deciding on which resorts to stay at on our next trip on New Years, early January. Here are the details I'm working with
- family of four, kids 10 and 12
- want to stay at deluxe resort (need those queen size beds), also like daybeds, bunk beds, to separate the kids
- have Disney annual passes (and would try for AP discounts on resort)
- plan to go to Universal for two days, like the idea of staying on site and getting Front of the Line access
- willing to switch resorts once, but no more
- want to stay 8 nights
- want to minimize the number of days of school the kids miss, no more than 3, daughter's elementary school starts back on the Jan 7, son's junior high on Jan 8
- don't have airfare yet, so can change dates a bit (If we get the flights we like, we would arrive about 3:45pm and leave about 3 pm.)
- my birthday is Dec 31
- we currently have a reservation at the Swan at the AP rate of $175/night for Dec 31-Jan 8.
So we are thinking of 2 nights at the Hard Rock Hotel and 6 nights at the Swan or a Disney deluxe resort. Would you do HRH first (but have to pay full price ($235/night)) or last (HRH has 50% Entertainment rates, but they are blacked out Dec 31, Jan 1)? Would you move the dates forward or back a day? (Dec 30-Jan 7 or Jan 1-Jan 9) If we are at Disney on Dec 30 or 31, it means staying at the Swan as the Disney resorts will not have AP discounts and in fact will be at peak rates. Based on history, E ride nights are on Tuesdays in January, which means Jan 1 and Jan 8. Do you think they will do it on Jan 1? If not, do you think they will choose another night or just skip that week.
So what would you do? If you vote for a Disney resort over the Swan, which would you vote for? (We've stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and Polynesian in previous visits.)
Thanks for your help.
Karen
- family of four, kids 10 and 12
- want to stay at deluxe resort (need those queen size beds), also like daybeds, bunk beds, to separate the kids
- have Disney annual passes (and would try for AP discounts on resort)
- plan to go to Universal for two days, like the idea of staying on site and getting Front of the Line access
- willing to switch resorts once, but no more
- want to stay 8 nights
- want to minimize the number of days of school the kids miss, no more than 3, daughter's elementary school starts back on the Jan 7, son's junior high on Jan 8
- don't have airfare yet, so can change dates a bit (If we get the flights we like, we would arrive about 3:45pm and leave about 3 pm.)
- my birthday is Dec 31
- we currently have a reservation at the Swan at the AP rate of $175/night for Dec 31-Jan 8.
So we are thinking of 2 nights at the Hard Rock Hotel and 6 nights at the Swan or a Disney deluxe resort. Would you do HRH first (but have to pay full price ($235/night)) or last (HRH has 50% Entertainment rates, but they are blacked out Dec 31, Jan 1)? Would you move the dates forward or back a day? (Dec 30-Jan 7 or Jan 1-Jan 9) If we are at Disney on Dec 30 or 31, it means staying at the Swan as the Disney resorts will not have AP discounts and in fact will be at peak rates. Based on history, E ride nights are on Tuesdays in January, which means Jan 1 and Jan 8. Do you think they will do it on Jan 1? If not, do you think they will choose another night or just skip that week.
So what would you do? If you vote for a Disney resort over the Swan, which would you vote for? (We've stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and Polynesian in previous visits.)
Thanks for your help.
Karen
