It is true. I’m a waffle. No point in denying it any longer. You all thought I was a person, but it just isn’t true.
So, after several rounds of wrangling, my wife and I decided that when we book our December 2020 trip, we should do (or try to do) 3 nights at BLT and then 5 nights at BW. We were happy with this plan, because the shift from a stay entirely at BLT to split-stay at BW allowed us to increase our trip from 5 nights to 8 nights total. I get my “dream” of a stay at a monorail (Contemporary) resort, we get a romantic theme park view for our first 3 nights, and then we settle in at BW for the rest of our stay, which will focus more heavily on Epcot and HS.
But, here’s the thing. With the 2020 DVC point values published now, and me taking the time to calculate ACTUAL costs, I discovered that the 3 nights at BLT will cost MORE than the 5 nights at BW. And, well, I’m starting to doubt it is really worth it. That is, if we were to switch to an 8-night stay at BW, it would put $900 back in our pockets that we could use in other ways on our trip. For example, perhaps instead of having the romantic theme park view from our balcony, we take some of that $900 and schedule a dinner at California Grill to secure prime viewing of the fireworks. (We also plan to do the dessert party anyhow.)
Then I think, maybe just do 1 night at BLT with theme park view, and then switch. It still saves a lot (about $600)…but, I mean…is it worth the hassle to have the room for 1 night and have to move out the next morning? Just to see the theme park for 1 night? Probably not. Perhaps, then, 2 nights? Maybe two nights in a studio instead of a 1 bedroom?
Anyhow, just curious what you would do in the same situation.
(As a summary for those who haven’t followed along…this is a trip starting the first week in December of 2020 with just my wife and I celebrating our 25th anniversary.)
I can’t be doing with split stays. Not my bag at all. I also would pick almost any other onsite hotel over Contemporary. So I’d do BW the whole time and use the savings towards another trip.
It’s funny, but I actually have almost the same exact scenario for our June trip this year. I booked one night at BLT and then the next 4 at BW. I am hoping for DAH at MK the night we arrive (I know, at lot of negativity on here today about the extras, but I love it) and then we’ll do a cabana by the pool the following day, then head off to BW. I will pack separate packing cubes for this night so we’re not greatly inconvenienced by the move (and really, it’s pretty easy) and we can get the BLT out of our system with the monorail convenience and/or walk to MK. We did this in the reverse last June - we did Contemporary our last night (with the cabana by the pool the night before) and we loved it. We moved from AKL for that one.
I’m planning a trip later in 2019 that will include 4 nights at CR and then 4 nights at BW. With 3 little ones (1, 3, and 4) I’m a little nervous about the “move” but I think the convenience of walking to MK, HS, and Epcot will be worth it.
I’ve done split stays and I don’t mind them, but I don’t think I would do it for just one night. BW is in a great location and I think I would save the $900 and stay there the whole time.
Like you, I Would love one day in the contemporary! Without kids to wrangle I would be even more likely to do it. The cost savings is huge though! Tough call. CG would be a great dinner if you did choose BW for the entire time… if it’s a once in a lifetime dream thing maybe it’s worth it to you?
Thanks for the feedback so far. I’m trying to decide what I’ll MISS if I drop the BLT entirely, or just do a single night, etc. I don’t mean miss in terms of the obvious (no theme park view room to watch fireworks, and no ride on the monorail to get to MK or back). But in terms of “the feels”. I have a tentative plan for our stay in terms of what we’re doing each day, which I’ll revisit somewhat if I do change the stay.
I imagine myself arrive on Thursday, checking into our room in the afternoon/early evening after spending the afternoon at Epcot. We stand on the balcony in each other’s arms and watch the fireworks on our first night there. How sweet! Only, that’s it. That’s the moment. Next morning, we check out and head to MK? And with Contemporary/BLT we are probably more likely to WALK than ride the monorail.
If we were at BW instead, we’d do the Epcot on Thursday afternoon thing and then walk back to BW and check in, then maybe watch Illuminations instead from either the Boardwalk itself, or just go back into Epcot. Maybe that’s just as romantic. Next morning, we hop on a bus over to MK (or drive, since I’ll have my car).
If I was doing an adults only trip, I would stay at an Epcot resort, hands down. Especially in 2020 when I would want to try to RD SWGE on multiple days. It is so nice to be able to walk to HS and EP. With all the dining options in Epcot and at the Boardwalk area, it makes it an easy choice for me. $900 in the pocket to spend on food/drinks? Bonus!
Based on this, I think a dinner at CG would still give you the romantic fireworks feels and save money.
But when I run the numbers, I pretty much always choose to save money. If we had the budget to stay deluxe (not this time!), I would probably start at BW or AKL and progressively talk myself down to Pop because of all the money I’d save.
That’s generally my line of thinking. But since this is our 25th, and only second time we’ll have stayed on property, we are splurging. We stayed at Dixie Landings (aka POR) for our honeymoon. In an effort to “recreate” our honeymoon, I figured what made it special was that it was something complete new for us. So, by doing POR this time, for example, we’d just experience something old, not something new! So, to recreate something special, we have to NOT recreate it! (Hope that makes sense!)
We recently stayed at BW for our 17th anniversary. Had a “Garden/Pool view room” and ended up being able to see the lagoon. I think depending on the room, you could see Epcot fireworks or Hollywood fireworks. DH liked BW so much we upgraded from our usual family suite at AoA for Marathon (where he uses the room/shower when he wakes up at 2:30am). I’m trying out the DVC side for the first time in February. If it’s just the two, why not do a studio?
But, more importantly, with 8 nights, and the fact that my bedtime USUALLY before 10:00 pm, I will need some naps along the way. And, well, my wife can’t nap. So she’s looking forward to having access to a living area apart from the sleeping area while I nap! Similarly, I wake up early, so I can go out of the bedroom and just putz around while she snoozes.
I think it is very romantic of you to try to create a NEW experience for the 2 of you on your adults only 25 year anniversary trip!
2 words - packing cubes.
Use the packing cubes for the items you will need for your 1 night stay at BLT. Then hightail it over to BW and relax the rest of the trip! Or maybe do it in reverse. Do BW on the front end, and then move to BLT with the view for your last night… I might like that idea better actually!
Oh, my wife…the queen of organization…has been using packing cubes for years! We’ll have a separate bags, for example, for the hotel on the way down versus there, plus the brief stay at my parents in Ocala before heading to Orlando!
We toyed with that idea. In the end we settled on putting the stay at BLT up front rather at the end because we decided to do ONE thing the same as our honeymoon…eating in Mexico at Epcot on our last day. So, we’ll probably stay for Illuminations (or whatever it will be called by then) instead then walk back to BW to end the trip.
