What would you do?

[bariww]

Cancelling our Christmas week ressie, rebooking for late January and trying to figure out where to stay. It'll be a Sat - Sun trip, we plan to do 1 day at MK, AK, DHS + a 2nd at either DHS or MK, park hop to Epcot for afternoon snacks/dinner, 2 days at Universal and one rest day mid-trip. We don't plan on renting a car.

Currently there's availability for a 1BR villa at the following resorts for our entire stay:

AKL - Jambo Savanna View, BWV, BRV and CCV
OR
we could split the trip and move on our rest day. Currently available:

1st 1/2 of trip - BWV, OKR, SSR, BRV, BLT, AKL - Jambo and Kidani Savanna
2nd 1/2 of trip - BWV, OKR, SSR, BRV, BLT, AKL - Jambo Savanna and Kidani Standard

We want a fun Disney resort experience, but also want to keep park transportation/all the changes and what's closed at various resorts due to Covid in mind. What would you do?

 

[Gehrig1B]

Huge fan of the serenity and beauty of Boulder Ridge but with your stated desires I would go with Boardwalk for the transportation options and walkability to Epcot. AKL just too remote with few current options for food as well.

 

[Marthasor]

Cancelling our Christmas week ressie, rebooking for late January and trying to figure out where to stay. It'll be a Sat - Sun trip, we plan to do 1 day at MK, AK, DHS + a 2nd at either DHS or MK, park hop to Epcot for afternoon snacks/dinner, 2 days at Universal and one rest day mid-trip. We don't plan on renting a car.

Currently there's availability for a 1BR villa at the following resorts for our entire stay:

AKL - Jambo Savanna View, BWV, BRV and CCV
OR
we could split the trip and move on our rest day. Currently available:

1st 1/2 of trip - BWV, OKR, SSR, BRV, BLT, AKL - Jambo and Kidani Savanna
2nd 1/2 of trip - BWV, OKR, SSR, BRV, BLT, AKL - Jambo Savanna and Kidani Standard

We want a fun Disney resort experience, but also want to keep park transportation/all the changes and what's closed at various resorts due to Covid in mind. What would you do?

If you are planning on spending multiple evenings in EP, I would either stay at BWV the entire time or split the trip between BWV and BLT (if you spend 2 days at MK).

 

[brockash]

Cancelling our Christmas week ressie, rebooking for late January and trying to figure out where to stay. It'll be a Sat - Sun trip, we plan to do 1 day at MK, AK, DHS + a 2nd at either DHS or MK, park hop to Epcot for afternoon snacks/dinner, 2 days at Universal and one rest day mid-trip. We don't plan on renting a car.

Currently there's availability for a 1BR villa at the following resorts for our entire stay:

AKL - Jambo Savanna View, BWV, BRV and CCV
OR
we could split the trip and move on our rest day. Currently available:

1st 1/2 of trip - BWV, OKR, SSR, BRV, BLT, AKL - Jambo and Kidani Savanna
2nd 1/2 of trip - BWV, OKR, SSR, BRV, BLT, AKL - Jambo Savanna and Kidani Standard

We want a fun Disney resort experience, but also want to keep park transportation/all the changes and what's closed at various resorts due to Covid in mind. What would you do?

We stayed at AKL this past Oct and definitely would not again. They're barely open. There's basically no cs food and the pool at Kidani was packed. All offerings just seemed too small for the amount of ppl there. We also had 2 big issues with getting groceries/food delivered, which we've never had at other resorts. Due to how far away AKL is to everything but AK, we were always very late for "rope drop." We always made sure we were on the first bus, but they don't start them early enough to get you to the parks for the actual rope drop...you'll consistently be about 30 mins behind the first ppl there, which really takes away from the benefits of rope drop.

 

[bariww]

We stayed at AKL this past Oct and definitely would not again. They're barely open. There's basically no cs food and the pool at Kidani was packed. All offerings just seemed too small for the amount of ppl there. We also had 2 big issues with getting groceries/food delivered, which we've never had at other resorts. Due to how far away AKL is to everything but AK, we were always very late for "rope drop." We always made sure we were on the first bus, but they don't start them early enough to get you to the parks for the actual rope drop...you'll consistently be about 30 mins behind the first ppl there, which really takes away from the benefits of rope drop.

Thank you so much for this. Doesn't sound like the appeal of a savanna view is worth the rest of the headache.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Kidani is completely open, but only the fifth floor at Jambo House is open. No dining, no shopping. The pool is open though.

 

[RanDIZ]

Finishing my stay at Kidani this week. Are the buses really still bad? Going to AK Thurs and MK Fri. Plan to rope drop both.

 

[JenBush]

I’d choose to stay at BWV the entire trip or split it between BWV and BLT. Cant beat being able to walk to parks, especially now with transportation being different because of covid.

 

[Tonberry]

I’d choose to stay at BWV the entire trip or split it between BWV and BLT. Cant beat being able to walk to parks, especially now with transportation being different because of covid.

This would be my choice too. Go for the 1BR if you can on both if you can. It's so worth it.

 

[ForEver2016]

I am not a fan of split stays. I would say BWV for sure out of all the ones available for the full time. But I noticed that BLT is available for both halves of a possible split stay, would that be available for the full time? If so, I would pick that. Both resorts are walking distance to parks - a huge plus, especially with more transportation hiccups during Covid.

 

[bariww]

I am not a fan of split stays. I would say BWV for sure out of all the ones available for the full time. But I noticed that BLT is available for both halves of a possible split stay, would that be available for the full time? If so, I would pick that. Both resorts are walking distance to parks - a huge plus, especially with more transportation hiccups during Covid.

I think the difference between the first and second half at BLT is the view so it'd be two separate ressies and we'd have to move mid-trip. I think we're going to pull the trigger on BWV and just stay there the whole time. Turns out it's cheaper to stay 1 night at a UO premium resort w/the included express passes than buying them 2 days of them separately, so we're going to pack a backpack and do that one night during the trip. Makes moving mid-trip really a non-issue and we've never stayed at an Epcot DVC resort and the proximity to EP and DHS will be nice. Thanks for your help!

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

I think it's important to call out that while Disney is doing an outstanding job during the pandemic and parks are closer to feeling normal, it's still not normal. Things are closed, park hours are reduced, etc. So your resort is gonna be a bit more important. It's gonna depend on your family's age and all, but when i was exploring Easter trips, I was looking at SSR, as it was close to Disney Springs and would give us something to do at night.

I also love the Boardwalk area, as there's so many restaurants in the area. You can walk into Epcot, you can go to Swan and Dolphin, you can eat at Beach Club or Yacht Club. Frees up things a bit. Also walking distance to DHS and Epcot, so that helps.

AK, IMO, is great if you plan on spending more time at the resort, since it's further away from things.