[kathione]

Hello all-
I am new to this site and to this forum but I've spent a few hours on here already (just today!!!). I am planning to go to the wonderful WDW for 8 nights in September 2003. I have been before and stayed at the All Star Sports but my fiance has never been so I was looking to maybe do it up a little and stay at a Deluxe resort.
After some research, I think I've narrowed it down to the Wilderness Lodge and the Boardwalk Inn. Does anyone have any suggestions, opinions etc on which one would be best for a couple in their mid 20s who are looking to see all that Disney has to offer but relax at the resort once in a while too? Also is it really worth it to get anything over a Standard room?
I know these resorts have Concierge rooms that cost a fortune more but you get free food, drink, etc. Is that worth it? We are overworked and stressed and this will be our first real vacation together so we want it to be as luxurious as we can get (within reason). Thanks in advance for any and all help!

:)
Kathi

[Tish]

Iam staying at the WL myself in 19 days, first time though so I cant help ya there. I am very partial to resorts with monorail access, Polynesian is our favorite.

Last visit I stayed concierge at the Polynesian. It was GREAT! But....I got a special offer to stay concierge at the same price as a regular room. In that case is was a huge benefit. We had breakfast in concierge twice and really took advantage of the free water and soda and late night cookies. The concierge staff is also excellent! They take extra special care of their guests, from booking hard to get dinner reservations to taking care of our transportation back to the airport (I forgot to do that! But when I told them, I had a limo waiting for me with very little notice!). The rooms are usually prime locatiions, you get turn down service with chocolates on your pillow and you cant forget those cozy bathrobes!

I checked into concierge again for our upcoming trip and at regular price we decided it wasn't worth it. But if youve got money to blow it is a nice little luxury.

[trishb]

First of all...Kathione, Welcome!

I must say that this is my type of question!! You have picked my two favorite resorts!:D

If you want to do the trip up right, explore all there is to see and do...then you must go with the BoardWalk Inn. DH and I took our honeymoon in September 2000 and stayed at the BoardWalk for 7 days in a standard room. It was perfect! The room overlooked the gardens, and we could see the Eiffel Tower from our balcony. Every morning we could hear the Tapestry of Nations song playing in World Showcase (very romantic). This resort is convenient to everything. But, best of all, it is just a short walk into Epcot (our favorite park).

We splurged on the Deluxe plan (Dreammaker Gold) and all of our meals and recreation were included, as well as the ultimate park hopper ticket. That was the most relaxing part of the vacation...no worries about money. We could eat wherever we wanted for any and all meals. No worries about the cost, because it was already paid for.

Keep an eye out for my upcoming trip report! DH and I are staying at the BWI in just a few days.

Oh, and since we love the Wilderness Lodge so much...we always spend a full evening there on every trip. We'll have a nice meal at Artist Point, then hang out in the lodge.

Happy Planning!

[mouseof4]

hi kathi! well i am new here as well , you can get lots of info from others here and the people seem really nice. anyhow on to your question---- i stayed at wilderness lodge before i loved it there it was so close to the mk take a water taxi and 5 mintues later your there. the food is really good there as well loved both restaurants highly recomend them !!! pool is really nice and hte beach is right there also, make sure you see the geiser even if you stay someplace else. the lodge is absolutly awesome to see a huge fireplace the pictures you have seen are exactly how the place looks. as far as a fancy room i can not say we got a standard oom and it was great for the four of us. as far as food etc. i would get the package that comes with your park tickets and 2 flex features!!! then you can dine anYplace you want anytime you want ,we lovoed the way it worked , plus you get to pick your own food indtead of only having what they serve. if you look for romance i would go to polynesian i hear its very romantic an great things about it as well.

[mickey]

Welcome to DisneyCentral! Wow, talk about polar opposites.

They are both great resorts, and either one, you will love it. If it were just me and the lovely wife, I would go for Boardwalk Inn. It is close to our two favorite parks, the rooms are nice, it is very romantic, there is a wide choice of restaurants within a 5 minutes walk and you just have to walk downstairs for your nighttime entertainment.

As far as the view, there is quite a price difference between the standard view and the water view at the BWI. I would say to stay with the standard. The gardens are beautiful and as Trish said, you can often see parts of EPCOT from your window. We had a waterview room overlooking the boardwalk when we were at the Boardwalk Villas, and it was nice to look out, much better than the parking lot, but it was a bit noisy at night, and the lights were on almost all the time, so you had to shut the door and close the curtains. At Wilderness Lodge, it isn't much of a price difference, so I would say upgrade. The standard view there is basically of the parking lot or other prep areas that aren't that appealing.

One option, since you are going for 8 nights is to stay at both,

[mattomouseman]

We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge for Thanksgiving 2001 and it was great! We had a first floor room right near the pool and we were real close to the shops. The transportation to the MAgic Kingdomn and Contemporary is by boat and it is wonderful! We've had dinner at the boarwalk and that was fantastic. Have a great time!:) The kids loved the fact that we had bunk beds in the room!

[ilvminnie]

You hit our 2 favorites, but right now our #1 is BWI. Our 2 favorite parks are EPCOT & MGM & they're both just a stroll (or boat ride) away. We love the feeling of the Boardwalk & like to just go get a latte & hang out on a bench at night...I love looking at the water & hearing the brass band in the background. It's just sooooo romantic. And there are nice clubs & restaurants right there, too. And just across the water (at Beach Club) is Beaches & Cream which is like an old fashioned soda shop, & Cape May Cafe which is a seafood buffet.

Now that I've raved about BWI, we love WL too. You feel a lot more secluded & the beach area is nice. MK is a nice little boat ride away, but everything else is a bus. We don't have any little kids anymore though, so that's why we prefer the proximity to EPCOT & MGM.

Personally, concierge is not our thing. We'd rather go find a nice latte somewhere & stroll in the mornings, & usually are way too tired to eat anything (& usually too full from eating all day!) when we get back to the room. We do upgrade our view though just 'cause I like to sit out at night.

Hope this helps.

[kathione]

Well, I cannot believe how many responses I've gotten and quality ones. Other boards I've been on for Aruba etc. are not nearly as active as this one and nowhere near as enthusiastic. I'm so glad I found this site! You have all provided me with great info, but I'm still undecided :whistle:

I'm trying to get my fiance to go up on the internet and look at the resorts and see which he likes better...you know, force him to make the decision! :p

Just to add to my confusion....I was at one point considering the Beach or Yacht Club as well but I read some rather negative things on another site and they were from recent visits. I think based on what I've read so far I've picked two good ones and I can't really go wrong with either.

Any comments on the DreamMaker Romance package? I was going to go with that one , wondering if anyone out there has used this package before and what they thought of it.

[mickey]

Beach and Yacht Club are both nice, and the pool can't be beat, but I would pick BWI everytime. It is a much smaller resort, and much more intimate. The rooms are basically the same, and the cost is the same, but I like BWI much better.

As far as the romance package, I haven't every used it, but I can tell you exactly what it is:

You get your resort room, Ultimate Park Hopper passes plus a couple of small things with the Dream Maker Package, plus the following:

Private 30-minute horse-drawn carriage ride with champagne
Choice of two (2) of the following Romance Plan Features per person:
* Dinner at a selected Signature Table Service Restaurant (includes applicable gratuities, excludes alcoholic beverages)
* Admission to La NoubaTM by Cirque du Soleil® (reservations can be made six months prior to arrival)
* Spa Treatment - 25-minute aromatherapy massage (one or two Guests per treatment, requires two Romance Plan Features for use)
* Professional Photography Session at the Magic Kingdom® Park (requires two Romance Plan Features for use)

The cost is $149 per person to add it onto your Dream Maker Package. It really isn't a bad deal, since you will be eating out at nice restaurants, and that can get pricey. So, you go to La Nouba ($80) and go to eat at a nice restaurant like Flying Fish or California Grill ($70) and you get the carriage ride and champagne for free. Not a bad deal at all.

[ilvminnie]

Keep in mind, too, that BWI is very Atlantic City-ish & WL is rustic, woodsy. If one of those appeal to either of you over the other...

BTW, it's been my experience that WL tends to cost a little less, too.

[kathione]

It seems that all you visit quite often ....

Who do you book your travel through? Do you go through Disney itself or do you use a travel agent?

Any in particular that are good?

I priced out just about every deluxe resort with the romance package and motorcoach transfers on the www.disney.com site. Then , I asked for a free quote from an online travel agency and they contacted me today with a rate that blew the ones from Disney out of the water. I'm always leery though of using travel agents that aren't local AND that haven't been recommended to me by someone who has used them before.

The only bad thing about the package the travel agent had was that the airfare they got me included a connection. I can get non-stop from Boston and cheaper than what that portion of the package was.

Also, how likely is it that if we request a King bed room in either BWI or WL we'll get it? The two queens isn't a big deal but we will only be using one so it's a waste of space!

Kathi:D

[mickey]

Well, actually I am a Disney only travel agent, though I don't want you to think that this is an advertisment. I suggest going with whomever you feel comfortable with. Also, if you use a travel agent, make sure that it is one that does Disney only or a major portion of their agency is based on Disney.

Right now, you can get about a 15% discount using AAA or DisneyClub for September, on room only. There will be discounts for September that are in the 35% range, though they won't be released for a couple of months. The package portion of the trip stays the same throughout the year, though it is possible to get some small discounts on this as well through the DisneyClub, but not usually more than about $50 total.

When pricing packages for clients, we almost always suggest that they get their own airfare. While every once and a while Disney is competetive, they usually are not. Most of the time they only have access to a portion of the flights coming into Orlando. Boston is particullarly difficult, and we never price out airfare from Boston (it is always twice as much and the flights are horrible). I would book the package separately, and then find your own air. Right now you can get great non-stop flights on Delta (great in that they leave Boston in the morning and leave Orlando in the evening) for under $200 per person for September. I have seen them a little lower, but that isn't a bad price.

As for the King bed, you will be more likely to get one at BWI. They have a fairly large number of rooms with King beds, you or your agent will need to ask when reserving and then again a couple of weeks before arrival.

Have a great trip!

[mattomouseman]

I use a private travel agent and the prices she gets for the packages are ALWAYS lower then what you get from the Disney sites. There is also a web site called www.mousesavers.com that usually has info about deals and savings for "The World".

On another note. If you REALLY want to have a romantic dinner book Victoria and Alberts at the Grand Floridian. You have to dress accordingly (Jacket tie for the men) and it is pricey but well worth it and you truly get the best BANG for you buck. It is a set menu and price fixed but the food is wonderful and the service is fist class. I would highly reccoment it for nayone looking for a romatic evening. My wife and I went there last July for our anniversary and we LOVED it!:)

[kathione]

Thanks mattomouseman!

How far in advance do we have to book that meal though? I can only imagine that it's one of the most popular!

:whistle:
Kathi

[mattomouseman]

I beleive that it is 120 days. If you want the Chef's table you have to make further in advance. Check out this site www.pscalculator.com , it has all kinds of neat stuff for PS arrangements.:)