The nice thing about all the Deluxes - except Animal Kingdom is that you have very easy access to the Parks - meaning no busses. We always stay in the Epcot area my favorite by far is the Boardwalk. 5 min walk to Epcot. 15-20 min walk to Hollywood Studios or a quick boat ride. Monorail from Epcot to MK. Great restaurants (flying fish) and the boardwalk is fun at night. Beach club is there too and has an amazing pool. I have stayed in every Deluxe except Yacht Club and Boardwalk is my favorite. Animal Kingdom Lodge is really well done and the Savannah view is great if animals are your thing. The restaurant Jiko is very good. You do lose easy access to the parks (even AK) but you do get some benefits open to only those staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge like Sunrise safari which is really cool, If you can swing the cost of a suite. It is well worth the $$.
That being said the Deluxe hotels are very nice but the rooms and amenities are MUCH better, bigger and cheaper at the Waldorf.
What do you want to do at Disney? What priorities? These might impact your choices.
As George mentions above, boardwalk ( and yacht club) are very convenient to the world showcase part of Epcot, a bit less so to the front of Epcot, much less so to magic kingdom and the studios. In both of these cases, you really need to take the bus which takes about 18 minutes plus any waiting time. The animal kingdom is a bit quicker; maybe 13 minutes. Subtract 2 minutes during daily slack times, add 2+ during peak times.
Sometime the fastest route isn’t very intuitive during peak times. You can actually sometimes take an indirect route faster than standing in the monorail, bus or boat queues. Do a bit of research.
You can walk to Hollywood studios from the Epcot area resorts - Boardwalk, Yacht/Beach club or there is a nice boat they maybe takes 5-10 min.
Chris makes a good point. If you are going to spend a lot of time in the Magic Kingdom stay at one of those 4 resorts. The 3 on the monorail are the most convenient but Wilderness lodge is pretty easy by boat. We like Epcot so we stay in that area. Animal Kingdom is only accessed by bus no matter where you stay.
We went during the middle of Feb and it was high 60s to high 70s. First day or two were a bit cooler but every other day it was warm enough for pool/water park. Just need to look at the forecast and try to plan which days look the best for those.
Nights were very pleasant which made for nice walks to/from restaurants.
When I went to Universal I stayed at the Hard Rock park hotel with my 10-year-old. We went pretty much for the Harry Potter rides and stayed on park for the early morning access, which was nice. You can get on a few rides before before lines form and the next couple rides have limited lines.
It was also nice to be able to just walk back to our room during the hot part of the day or when it rained to hit the pool or have lunch. Then we went back later for rides, and went back a third time for dinner and hitting some rides again when the lines shrink at night.
I don’t remember the price of the hotel being that bad either. At the end of the day, even though the time from an offsite hotel isn’t that much, it is just enough of a barrier that I wouldn’t have gone back and forth as much. I valued the convenience and early morning access before the park opened.
We stayed at the yacht club several times and like the location. Love being able to come back to hotel, have dinner, then stroll over to Epcot for the fireworks.
The yachtsman restaurant had decent steaks and I had a nice Schrader off the list to go with it.
Finally nailed down the hotels.
We’ll be staying at the Boardwalk for WDW, then over to Loew’s Royal at Universal.
Initially I really wanted to be smart about expenses and keeping hotel costs ‘reasonable’, since I already know we would be spending a ton for food, but at the end of the day, I think this will be our first and possible my last trip there, so why not go big.
Putting the deposit down now and paying the rest later actually softens the blow…
The real incentive for the deluxe hotel at Universal was the Express Pass.
Is there any such advantage at WDW?
Chris,
No specific priorities, just have a blast, and maybe catch a decent meal once or twice.
Karring,
I like the idea of coming and going without hassle. That really is the reason for the choices I made. And if you think about it, the cost isn’t that much more to have the convenience.
Dan,
I’m cool with those kind of temps.
I assume people wear shorts and t shirt during the day.
Paul,
Schrader off the list…sounds painful, but I’m game…sort of…maybe…
George,
Glad to hear Boardwalk is your favorite.
It was simply the location that sold me.
If you are staying at the Boardwalk make sure to hit up Flying Fish. I haven’t been for a few years but they had reasonable corkage. One of my favorites. Also there is a lot of entertainment directly on the Boardwalk at night that my kids just loved. The Bar in the Boardwalk is usually very nice and quiet. Has some good scotch etc (at Disney prices). Enjoy.
We were here a month ago. We had Domaine Weinbach Pinot Gris Cuvee Lawrence by the glass. Nice wine list and great meal. And as George said “…at Disney prices.” ;-D
I have, numerous times. I believe Disney has a corkage policy that covers all their fine dining restaurants. (Those not in a park). It was $20 a few years ago.
I’ve found putting 2 bottles (per bag) wrapped in jeans, etc. in your checked luggage works very well. Never had any issue with this and have done it many, many times.
Depends on where you go. I was at the bar at Wilderness lodge a few years ago. It was very quiet and I think the regular bartender was on break or something. I ordered a nice scotch - neat - forget which one but a decent one. The guy covering the bar took a rocks glass and filled it up to almost the rim, I could barely walk without spilling it. I felt bad as it was probably 1/3 of a bottle but took it back to my room and had plenty of scotch for the next couple of days. Guy got a nice tip.
Bluezoo by Todd English - Swan and Dolphin resorts
Rose and Crown Pub - Epcot book a table during fireworks (hard to do but worth it)
French restaurants - Epcot
Yak and Yeti - Animal Kingdo
For good steaks go to Bull and Bear in the Waldorf - you can take a cab for less than $10
You will here people talk about California Grill it is an absolute madhouse as people go to watch the fireworks. If you go after it is very nice. No way would I go during…ever. Did it once. Don’t go to the Cape May buffet in the Beachclub it is also very popular and just sucks.
Victoria and Albert’s is Disney’s high end restaurant. I have never been but have heard good things.
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I was at the bar at Wilderness lodge a few years ago. It was very quiet and I think the regular bartender was on break or something. I ordered a nice scotch - neat - forget which one but a decent one. The guy covering the bar took a rocks glass and filled it up to almost the rim, I could barely walk without spilling it. I felt bad as it was probably 1/3 of a bottle but took it back to my room and had plenty of scotch for the next couple of days. Guy got a nice tip.