Also, I think Vero Beach is very Disney so if it’s anything like that but with a Hawaii flavor I’ll be a happy girl. Throw in Lilo & Stitch or Moana…yup!
Looking forward to your TR!
I was thinking about what we loved about Vero Beach and to me, what it has that’s Disney is what WDW is beginning to lose. The top-notch service and food, the little extras like the waitress giving the teens a Disney pin and telling them where the trading board is at dinner, the amount of activities to entertain some Disney like trivia and movies on the lawn and some the local flavor like a turtle nest walk. That’s the most Disney thing there is to me…not the characters in all honestly. So if Aulani has Disney quality service, food and entertainment, it’s gonna feel Disney to me!
I agree 100%. Those reviews might have defined Disney by amount of theming and number one of characters, maybe?
Yeah probably true. I mean the spirit of the Polynesian people is to take care of one another. In Polynesian culture there is no real such thing as individual families. Everyone is family. “Ohana means family….” Lol. I cannot imagine a Disney resort on an island that embodies the culture of taking care of one another could have non-Disney quality service.
I despise the term “bucket list”, but my WISH LIST is…
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Poly. Yes, I do stay in a studio pre-renovation, but…
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Aulani
And those are the only 2 I really definitely want to do.
I would love to do an ABD but they are SOOOOO expensive as a solo.
Yes, the Asian parks sound great, but I don’t eat fish (cooked or raw), and I’m gluten-free so that rules out most soy sauce making actually being able to eat while there iffy. Eating is important to, you know, live.
Disneyland Paris is something I would like to do, but I had a VERY bad experience with a French exchange student from Paris (she was assigned to us and it was a horrible match to put this girl from boarding school with a minister’s family - she refused to do chores, listen to my parents, etc.) and her whole attitude really turned me off of Paris period.
The thing that turned me off from the Poly bungalows was when a vlogger stayed there and noticed how many flying insects there were out on the balcony that effectively made the plunge pool not usable in the evening hours especially. Pivoted immediately to cabins with screened in area and scratched bungalow from my list at all
It isn’t clear to me what we mean by “bucket list”. Do we mean if money were no object, what would we want to do? Or do we mean what resorts, etc., would I eventually likely do that I want to do, but haven’t yet?
I didn’t realize that. Thanks for that info!
Thinking more about this thread I need to add wilderness lodge and boardwalk to my list. I always think of staying at one or the other but always pick something else. Maybe a split stay!
Oh, I’ll add I’d love to stay at Yacht or Beach Club sometime.
I just have such a hard time justifying the cost of a Deluxe when I’m not a “go back to the room and rest” or “chill at the resort/pool for a day” person. (Which, yes, I realize makes it slightly ironic that I love cruising since it’s not go-go-go, but I love the ocean, so just watching it is cool to me.)
This is what I had in mind. Things we want to do/ plan to do before we kick the bucket!
I cannot imagine ever being willing to pay for a deluxe hotel at WDW.
I definitely want to go to the Tokyo parks. Oh, and I hear there’s one in Los Angeles that I’d like to try.
As for the Chinese ones … I dunno. I’m troubled enough supporting the shitshow that is the USA by constantly visiting Florida. I’m really not keen on supporting the Chinese state by taking my tourism yuan there.
I regret switching my DCL cruise for the MSC one. I can’t imagine ever being willing to pay for a DCL cruise, though.
I see!
In that case, I’d still like to stay in BLT or The Contemporary Theme Park room for a night.
Also…Wilderness Lodge! That place is gorgeous.
I’d also like to experience AKL at some point.
If I were paying cash, I’d probably like to return to POR. We were there for our honeymoon, so it isn’t exactly bucket list, since we’ve done it…but I just think the grounds there are beautiful and relaxing.
Is DLP more budget friendly? Not a rhetorical question, I haven’t done the math.
I’m taking a different view for my upcoming DLP trip. I am staying at two of the deluxes, indeed at one I’m staying concierge level. But then my UK-France flight is trivially inexpensive compared with my UK-US flights, which cost ten times as much (in part because I won’t fly coach transatlantic).
Also, because my DLP trips are three nights and my WDW trips are typically seven nights, staying at deluxes is less insane. Total cost per night is actually more for my DLP trips. But less in total.
You have been making trips here so regularly, that you seem like a good candidate for buying DVC! (Actually, you should have bought DVC about 3 years ago! )
Makes sense.
I don’t know if that would (have) work(ed) for me. This calendar year I will be spending around 28 nights (!!!) in Florida over four trips. At WDW those are Pop and ASMo. At UOR they are all over the place: CB, Aventura, ESD and even PB.
In February I stayed only at UOR. In March I stayed off-property. Staying on-property at WDW is no longer the obviously right call that it used to be. It’s expensive and perks are minimal to zero. In June I switched from ASMu to Pop, a decision I regret because, looking at my plans, I will barely use the Skyliner to or from the resort.
The top thing on my bucket list is a month (or two) long world tour hitting all of the resorts, starting and ending of course at my Golden Oak house.
In real life I’d like to stay at the Poly and Aulani.
The reason we bought into DVC was b/c we figured out that we had already paid for it w/ our frequent trips to WDW, so it made sense.