BG info: 2 adults, 2 kids ( 2 1/2 years and 10 months), 2 full resort days and 2 partial resort days (arrival and departure days), 6 park days (2 at MK and 2 at either EP or HS).
Walking to HS is a priority in order to do the whole rope drop thing. If we didn’t do YC, we would rent a car or Uber/Lyft so that we could eat at Boardwalk before walking over to HS. My 2 year old loves Cars so much, but if we stayed at Yacht Club we could still do a day trip over to Radiator Springs. The suite has a big area we could easily hang out in after the kids go to sleep. YC only has a small balcony/porch that we would be relegated to after bedtime. Is it worth giving up the restful space of the sitting area in the suite for all the other amenities that YC has to offer?
I love YC and the other Epcot area resorts and what they have to offer, but no way I would want to sleep in the same room for a week with a baby and a toddler, so the suite seems ideal to me. Also your 2.5 year old will love the theming at AOA.
I’d do YC in a heartbeat. I really value having the ability to walk rather than wait on buses. We were able to do a couple of days at BW last trip and it was SO nice to come and go at will. And the YC pool looks amazing.
I second what @PrincipalTinker said re car seats. Most Uber/Lyft cars have zero, but you can request one with one car seat. I don’t know of any with two. Would you do 2 cars each way? If you bring and use your own car seats instead, what will you do with them in the parks?
On other vacations I found that we used a living room area while the kids slept. At Disney, despite having access to an adjoining adult room we often ended up staying in our room and sleeping when the kids did. It was go go go so much, and we did so much walking. We were just tired and needed the rest as much as the kids! YMMV.
I’ve stayed at neither mind you, but I don’t love all one room. It’s why we normally stay in houses. While we tend to all go to bed at the same time, DH and I are normally awake hours before the kids and don’t like to tiptoe around a room with a flashlight.
yes, i’m sorry. correction. We would be traveling with car seats for the plane, but we would have to rent two cars and request a car seat. Honestly, it would be a gigantic PITA, but we could do it. Or rent a car and use our own car seats.
true story! While I think in general we’d probably nap when they nap and not stay up too late past when they stay up, we would DEFINITELY wake up before them and want to get all our park stuff together while they continue to sleep. Hmm…
he WILL love the theming! so much. and i know he won’t care at all for the theming at YC. But he would love being on the water. This kid could watch boats all day. We’ll already be sleeping in the same room at the suite- baby will be in a PnP in the bathroom, toddler will be in the bedroom with us. But that hang out space after bedtime would be gold…
I should also add that we always have a rental car regardless of whether we stay value, mod, or deluxe and don’t generally use Disney transportation. Driving from AOA is easy, and for your MK days make a breakfast reservation at the Wave or Chef Mickeys so you can drive, eat, and park there all day.
we are planning on using disney transportation- we would only do otherwise for HS. Too many non-negotiables there. So it would be a day rental only. Maybe two days, if we decide to keep it for a non-park day so we can do some resort-hopping for meals.
Then I have to change my vote to YC. If you won’t have a rental car daily, and will sleep in the same room anyway…then walking to 2 parks would be my priority.
@Jeff_AZ am i able to change the poll after making it so that it isn’t “results will be shown on vote”? That means I can’t see the results unless I vote myself.
If you’re planning to spend that much time at resorts, it’s hard not to give yourself access to Storm along Bay. What about a DVC booking at Beach Club villas? How much more is a 1BR that either YC or AOA? Last I saw a suite at AOA was running close to $600/night.
I’ve stayed at AoA and just returned from BCV and with the ages of your kids in mind, I voted for the AoA suite over a standard Yacht Club room for the reason of having the mini-kitchenette with microwave for kids meals etc and also the theme. However, if a BCV studio was in the mix, I would totally pick that option. A less savory option for getting to HS early from AoA using Disney transportation without having to wait on the Skyliner would be to take the bus to AK first thing in the morning since it opens earliest and then immediately jump back onto a bus from AK returning to BW, BC or Yacht Club. Then take the walking path to HS. I know this sounds like a cluster and I am not recommending this and would not have even thought of it except that when I ran into @SteveBloom earlier this week In line at 9 am at HS waiting for temp checks to open , he had mentioned that this is how he had gotten there from Pop and he was in front of us in line.
