First timers here, coming for 8/9 nights in October 23. 2 kids who will be 4.5 and nearly 3.
I am stuck on whether to choose CR, BC or to do 4 nights in each. Youngest is Princess mad so I suspect MK will be a big hit. But they both LOVE swimming so I could envisage spending a few hours each day at the BC pool.
I don’t expect this will be our last trip to WDW so we will probably not be feeling the need to tick every single box - priority is that the kids experience the magic and have an amazing time.
Can anyone give advice on what you would do in our situation? If you did split, which resort would you do first? We are coming from Europe so will have jetlag to contend with for the first few days of the trip.
Welcome!
That would be a really nice split giving you easy access to 3/4 parks, with AK just a quick bus ride away as the fourth. If don’t think your group will mind switching resorts - re-packing and unpacking - I would really consider the split! Just remember you’re kind of homeless on switch day, checking out of one resort but not into the other until 3pm or 4pm if DVC. I tend to plan a later start - to allow for stress-free repacking - on switch day and expect to be in a park til dinner time since we are without a room.
Enjoy!!
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Does a split sound exciting, not a big deal or a pain for you? I think you’ll find MK to be the best park for the kids at that age so CR makes a lot of sense if you’d prefer not to split. My experience is that while better pool areas are a bit better, my kids found fun at any okay pool at that age. We’ve never split and like the idea of being settled in, but I can see the merits of a split stay.
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I’ve not stayed at Beach Club, but I have heard reviews that the pool area can be chaotic and tough for little ones. Personally, I probably would t stay there until I had kids that were strong swimmers.
I’d love to hear others opinions on the BC pool with ages 4.5 and 3.
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Wow amazing quick replies already, thank you!
Honestly, the thought of moving doesn’t fill me horror because I’m hopeful if something did go wrong like we had a poorly child, that one or other of the hotels would be able to find somewhere we could hunker down. Maybe that’s wishful thinking!
Neither my husband nor I are huge sunlounger people so we would be man marking the children in the pool at all times - not sure if that makes any difference for BC pool.
I’m a little torn as I don’t want to miss out on anything, but equally don’t want to move resort and wish we had stayed put!
Then I would just stay at the one place, especially as you mention this will NOT be one and done. Do the other next go!
My choice would be CR. I would not under estimate the convenience of CR or any resort that is 1 stop away, be it boat or monorail or walking. The bus, in my opinion, is the toughest form of transportation. I’d perhaps consider Polynesian, because the pool is fantastic and MK is one stop away, as well as Epcot, because at Polynesian you can actually walk to transportation center and not have to transfer to another monorail. Direct to 2 different parks, and with little ones that can make a huge difference. Bottom line, I think beach club to MK is tough because you rely on the bus. We’ve had 2 hour commutes with the bus for a 15 minute drive. With Contemporary or Polynesian you have easy transportation options and that is everything. Enjoy !
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We did a BC WL spilt last November. My kids are a little older 5/9. We loved BC! One of us is always in the pool with them, so found it manageable. Convenience in getting to parks was just the best. For our switch day, we had breakfast at cape May then our AK day, so by the time we were done our room was ready. It was really easy.
You can’t go wrong with your choice!
When I’ve taken my kids by myself (once when DD was 2 and once when she was 4.5 and her brother was almost 2), I stayed at contemporary. There’s a splash area that they enjoyed well enough and the pool was fine for our needs. My kids also loved riding the escalators in that hotel. I liked the ease of access back to MK in the evenings - even on days we started elsewhere (like AK). Plus they LOVED watching the monorail go through the hotel. Lots of fun things for kids your age there!
We stayed at BC when they were 5 and 2.5. They liked it fine enough. Grown ups loved walkability and access to the skyliner. Kids were less impressed. We did go to the pool and they liked the sand bottom but wasn’t worth the hassle of a switch in my opinion.
The kids are 7 and 4 now and we’ll stay at Boardwalk this year, which I feel will be a good compromise at this age.
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I personally would not want to deal with moving around with kids that age and just stay out.
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