My first disney vacation was about three weeks ago. On the 6 hour drive, we got upgraded from staying at all star movies, to staying at the Polynesian, for free. It was magical start to a magical trip. I cant wait to go back!!!
Kareena Larson it’s because they were redoing all the all star rooms. My boyfriend and I got upgraded to Port Orleans around Christmas. So you may not get the upgrade, but you should get a nice new room!
Former cast member here! I just finished my DCP Spring 2019 program. I was a bus greeter so I know quite a bit about the buses coming from resorts lol. Caribbean beach actually has two lines, one running Martinique-Old Port-Barbados-Trinidad and the other running Jamacia-Aruba. Trinidad is absolutely the WORST stop at Caribbean beach, it regularly gets hour waits or longer. If you're staying at Trinidad take the internal bus to Jamacia or Martinique. If you're at Aruba, don't worry, it almost never fills at Jamacia. At the All-Stars resorts the line runs Sports-Music-Movies at a certain time of day, usually around 11:00ish just depends on the dispatcher, so you might have a little bit of a wait if you're not out there bright and early when there are greeters to get buses in faster. Riverside South is incredibly hectic and busy so if you're a guest using a scooter or wheelchair you might have trouble at that stop as you have to get loaded first. If you can, try to go to one of the other stops (btw Disney Springs runs backwards there to act as an internal shuttle) or be out there as early as you can so the greeters can alert their coordinators if there isn't space to load you on the first bus that you see. Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand also share buses at a certain time of day, so be mindful of that. But for the most part that's it! The average wait for a bus is 20 to 25 minutes so just try to stay patient 🤗 Oh and Disney Springs buses dont start running until about 9:00 - 9:30 so if you have morning reservations at Bippity Boppity make sure you have transportation!
When I worked at the All Stars a bus would fill before it got to Movies. The next bus would not skip Sports/Music so it too would fill up. It usually only happened in the morning when we were at full occupancy, but guests had to walk to Music to get a bus. This was 12 years ago so I really hope they fixed that problem.
The last time I was at Disney Springs, when it was the older center, I tried to get a bus back to Caribbean Beach to get to my room before check out time and discovered there were no buses going back to that resort at 10 am! I was required to ride a Port Orleans bus to get to Caribbean Beach and had to follow their route. By the time I got to my room it was past check out time and the cleaning staff had been in and taken my carry-on, jacket, and a poster I had set out on the table. Trying to locate my belongings after that was a real nightmare. It turned out the cleaning girl was toting them around in her cart as she made her rounds, and not even the front desk knew where my stuff was! I finally tracked the right cleaning cart down myself by running around the building and asking all the girls, at about the same time a security person showed up who spoke Spanish. Needless to say, I grabbed my stuff and headed for the lobby for the rest of my time before departure!
@@maryvon8518 yeah, for the most part that has been rectified (at least in the morning) with the help of the bus greeters. It really depends on the coordinator and how they run the buses that day tbh🤷♀️
@@Hollstarr the buses run Kidani-Jambo at AKL, and they're usually smooth. Don't have to worry about it filling up too much there! Animal Kingdom buses run super quickly of course lol, about 8 minutes to 10 minutes in the morning. Your longest wait will most likely be Magic Kingdom, so defintely expect a 25 minute wait for that. AKL is beautiful, but pretty secluded so some of the buses might take a little longer depending on the time of day and what hub they're being dispatched from. It defintely was! I have a crazy farmer's tan but it was incredible lol!
I love the “hack” of getting a standard room in All Star movies and requesting the mighty duck section because you are closer to the All Star Music bus loop ! So it’s kinda a “preferred” room hahaha
We got a free upgrade at the Wilderness Lodge, and caught the MK fireworks right above the trees. !!! We were totally shocked. And all we did was ask. Room 3004!!!
We booked a Standard room at AKL but when we got there they upgraded us for free to a Savannah view room. Awesome Disney Magic to start off our trip!!🥰
When I stayed at Bay Lake Tower, we had a lake view but we ended up being pretty far off to the side, so when we looked to the right we saw the lake and when we looked to the left we saw the castle! It was so magical! ✨
We did a split stay between 3 resorts. The resorts transferring your baggage was lifesaver!! We would pack majority up the night before, wake up, get ready for the parks, and call bell services and tell them where we were moving. Within 15 minutes they were there to take it all away. Go to the parks and go back to your new resort, get your room, and call bell services to bring the bags. Went very smoothly all 3 times!
you should do a series where do you each video/episode would be a few resorts (ex. magic kingdom resorts) and talk about all sorts of tips for them like what type of rooms and everything else !!
Hi AJ do you have a video, explaining the renting DVC points a bit better? I know it had nothing to do with Food, but I just love your videos and the ease of how you explain things. ❤️
These are fantastic hacks for newbies! For those that want to really make sure you're getting the room you're wanting, there are several websites that are dedicated to specific resorts (or all resorts!) that have 'room maps' where guests have submitted pictures of their room and view so when you go to make special requests, you can actually request specific room numbers. We've only done this twice (Bay Lake Tower and Aulani) and it worked out for us both times!
Great video. I think you should do a video on the reality of the bus system at Disney. That the buses are often super crowded and not the magical experience you’d might expect. It would also be very helpful to know which resorts have better buses than others. We just stayed at the Coronado and the buses were the worst part of the trip. Can’t imagine what will be like when the resort adds 500+ more rooms.
Military family hack- dont forget the shades of green hotel. Can bus directly to animal kingdom and Hollywood studios. Can take monorail from transportation and ticket center to magic kingdom and epcot or it's just a 2 minute walk to polynesian and you can use the buses there.
We stayed at shades of green for our first trip to wdw and it was so worth it! Cheaper rooms with some Disney perks like sending our packages from the parks to the hotel for free! Check it out if you're a military family.
Highly recommend Shades of Green. The price is by rank, so you might be paying only $105 a night for getting to stay at what feels like a deluxe hotel. My family and I loved it and hope to return soon.
These tips are wonderful, thank you! We love the Twilight room service at Poly... and it works out as a decent deal because they give so much food we order for 2 but the kids can eat from there , there's more than enough
Another tip? for housekeeping - for my last two stays at Pop, the cleaners wouldn't come until around 5pm each day. I was travelling with my elderly mother who was done at the parks by 2pm each day. If you want housekeeping but you will take that kid day break, ask for early housekeeping. They do offer that and will put your room on a list to have cleaned by early afternoon.
I stayed at Pop Century twice this year and housekeeping only showed up 3 out of 9 days that I was there even though I didn't opt out. I complained and got a gift card but it was pretty annoying 😕
@@vickiassetta4288 totally understand. I had issues with housekeeping & they were like, oh you didn't opt out?? I had to complain 3x. The third time the Mngr for Housekeeping came directly to my room & inspect it & etc.
During my visit in March they tried to say that we were always in the room so they couldn't clean-we left around 730am every day and didn't return until after fireworks 🙄
My hack is to tip bell service, front desk workers, and housekeeping heavily. (More than $1 per bag!) They work really hard and deal with some difficult people, so a little bit of kindness will go a long way. They'll go above and beyond to give you a better room or engage your kiddos without you even having to ask if you tip them. I've even had a gift sent up to my room from when I tipped someone at the front desk.
If you are confined to a wheelchair/scooter, get a resort room close to the beginning bus loop. Later stops may not be able to accommodate you. Also, first on-first off.
A J, What term should I have used then? The statement is true for anyone who depends on Disney bus transportation to get them and their scooter/wheelchair to the parks. It is a bitch to arrive late to a reservation because every bus for an hour is too full to get you aboard.
@@niranthbanks3595 the term is wheelchair user. Many people who need to use a wheelchair don't necessarily need to use one all the time - there are ambulatory wheelchair users and non-ambulatory wheelchair users. It's a good tip though, so thank you.
Thanks Jeff! My Dad has great difficulty getting around and uses a scooter quite often now. I really want to take my parents to Disney (they’ve never been) and I’m researching better options for them. I appreciate your comment.
Great Hacks AJ! We pretty much utilize these already, as we visit WDW 5-6 times per year! Definitely great information for those new to the Disney Resort Bubble! One thing about DVC points rental is it's non refundable, so if you cancel your trip and don't purchase insurance - you can't get your money back. Happy Thursday from your friends on Mouse Street!
The only downside of living in orlando is it’s hard to justify staying in a resort, staying on property is a real treat for me so thank you for these hacks!!!!
I feel ya! Not directly in Orlando myself but close enough and I did do Coronado springs for my birthday this year as a treat and it was such a nice change! Didn't have to drive back and forth and while I dont normally enjoy swimming the pool there is fantastic!! I am sorely tempted by the passholder summer fun offer right now. 2 nights at Coronado again for $437, yes please!!
christina giangarra that is a great deal! I’ve never stayed there, isn’t it the one right by Disney Springs? I live right by the airport so even driving home is quick but staying on property makes it feel like a true mini vacation. One year I want to gather the energy to do New Year’s Eve at Epcot and stay somewhere on the sky liner loop!
Just a friendly heads up for anyone using Service Your Way: if you do opt out of housekeeping, they will still inspect the room daily for damages and other things of the sort.
@@blessyou5961 that unfortunally im not 100% sure on. My only guess would be to talk to the front desk when you arrive. I didn't think much of it until the 3rd day of my stay after they had left.
This is just my experience but i did not have a good experience with bell service. We stood 4 nights at the polynesian hotel and stood 1 night at sports resort. While they did move our bags from the poly to sports, after coming from the parks at 2am, exhausted ready for a shower, We found out when we got to sports that bell service somehow buried our bags all the way to the back of the of their baggage room. Our bags were blocked by scooters, bags, carts etc. We didnt get our bags til almost 4am. We were so frustrated and annoyed. I never did bell service again after that.
This is probably well known lol but good tip for anyone staying at Shades of Green (a resort for military members) it’s a really short walk like 6 mins tops to the Polynesian to catch the monorail rather than riding the bus since the bus is technically the only mode of transportation from shades to the parks. Plus if your lucky you can spot an alligator (or croc idk the difference) on the side where the small ponds are. The ones I’ve seen aren’t super big but I think they are cool to see while your walking.
Last year stayed at the Boardwalk Inn...Loved it. Loved being able to walk to Epcot and a really beautiful resort. Many years ago when the kids were little we stayed at the Contemporary to walk to Magic Kingdom. That was a wonderful experience too.
I just came back from Caribbean Beach and stayed in Martinique. Best bus stop of the whole Resort in my opinion. Worth the extra money for the preferred room.
MAJOR TIP- opt out of daily room service, we received 135 dollars gift card. You can request clean bedding and towels and change them yourself. This was a dfb tip, not mentioned in this video though.
She did mention you could opt out of housekeeping in exchange for a gift card.... and none of the prices listed in the video stated you'd get a $135 card, unless you were staying for more than 14 days. She also did mention that if you request linens or towels you'd have to do the work yourself. So, not sure where you missed that it was in fact in this video?
I stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge and we got upgraded to a savannah view room from a standard room when we checked in. It was so lovely of them and our view wasn’t even obstructed
Hi AJ! Can you please do a resort specific video that’s just about DVC rooms? Would love to hear about the perks and hacks, especially for Jambo House and Bay Lake Tower.
Call me paranoid, but I actually prefer to "load up my car" and move my own bags on split stays. But it's great that those who don't want to, don't have to! My favorite request is "first floor". No view, but also no stairs or elevators EVERY time you go to and from your room!
Speaking of multiple transportation.... to get from the Polynesian to Magic Kingdom, you can -- take the small boat near the volcano pool -- walk to TTC and take the ferry -- walk to TTC and take the express monorail -- walk to TTC and take the resort monorail -- walk to Grand Floridian and take the monorail (I know -- crazy, but it works!) -- walk to Grand Floridian and take their small boat!
You are correct Richard, we move are own luggage on split stays. We've never used the service, always prefer 1st floor but with a view if possible, def no elevator; its been the same for us for years.
AJ just wanted to let you know how much your videos have helped prepare my family for our trip in sixteen days! I have watched so many and learned the things. LOL plus reading the tips from other people and cast members, a pure treasure trove of information. Thank you all so much. 😊
Staying in the Royal Rooms the first week in March for my birthday week! First time ever...in 44 years that I will actually be at WDW on my birthday!! So excited!!
I've stayed with a friend in Old Key West. The buses make a stop at the bus stop just across the bridge from the main building. And the main building is the last stop before heading off to the parks. So you can ride the bus to the front to go to Olivia's. Then walk down the street a short distance across to the first bus stop to get back on to go back to where your rooms are.
Just got back from Disney world for our honeymoon. We stayed at animal kingdom lodge, the room we were assigned was right on the front next to check in, so there were cars coming and going constantly! This got really annoying and not what we wanted for our honeymoon. When we spoke to the front desk and explained they moved us the next day to an ‘obstructed view’ room but the ‘obstruction’ was an enclosure that we could see right over the top of! We also asked for a quiet room and I struggled to sleep with the noise from the cars. It was completely perfect and made our honeymoon even better
I had a similar room and just booked a standard room at Wilderness just a few weeks ago. Loved watching Happily Ever after on my non-park nights from my room!
Two weeks and counting till we are there! My wife and I are so excited! I can’t think of any other way I’d want to spend our 3 year wedding anniversary.
I love this idea! However I feel like there are SO many factors that go into choosing a resort that it would be pretty impossible! The best way to pick a resort is to work with a Travel Agent. If you want help picking a resort, I have some resort reviews on my channel that you can check out!
When staying at Old Key West, we look at a map with a list of blocks and check google earth for the view, to make a small list of possible blocks to request. We usually get our first or second choice and IMO, requesting is essential if you don’t want to risk a room next to the road.
My friend and I did “Service Your Way” during our stay in February. We used the gift card at a brunch at The Grand Floridian Cafe the next day 😋. You do miss out on the little Housekeeping touches if you do “Service Your Way” (ie. towels shaped like Mickey, etc.).
@Adam Efimoff Okay, between this comment and the Four Seasons comment, you're either really rich and living in a bit of a wealthy person's bubble, or you're just joking around.
As someone who works at a hotel where the presidential suite is $4000 a night- save your money for a great meal at those hotels, but don't stay there unless you are stinking rich or plan on spending most of your vacation in your room.
I've also learned that if you're staying at a resort you can use other resorts amenities!!! I'm staying at Port Orleans French Quarters and I'm looking into booking a massage at Saratoga Springs
Be careful with bell services moving your luggage to another hotel. Ours got lost and sent to the airport because someone put in as a checkout instead of a transfer. Took several hours before we finally got our luggage after a lot of complaining.
You mentioned tipping the people who bring your bags to the room. Could you make a video about common (or suggested) curtesy at Disney? (i.e. tipping certain people and how much, whether you should try to move against a crowd or not, etc.)
Thank you AJ for all these tips my family and I went on a trip 2 weeks ago to Disney world but we had about 2 days in the parks because we were there for a cheer competition. But next year we plan to go back and I am using all these tips !!
This is sort of a random idea but I’ll say it anyone, I know you don’t normally do series but I think it’ll be really helpful. A ‘Which Resort’ series, so one episode may be ‘Which resort has the best pools?’ or ‘Which resort had the best food?’, and then the final episode will be ‘Which resort is best for you?’ (taking into account all the past episodes), I think it will be really helpful because each family/group has different things looking for in a hotel, and there are sooooo many Disney Resort Hotels to pick from.
Not a hack, but some Disney magic.-- They overbooked us at the Beach Club next week so they upgraded us to the Grand AND we got TWO extra "floating" fast passes. I know you aren't too big of a fan of the GF but we are so excited! :) Thanks for the great video AJ!
We are a party of 13 travelling to Contemporary Resort Tower with DDP in 33 days time. All up, air fares, further stay at Universal, extra non DDP reservations, it's costing around US 70, 000. I agree that Disney should pay its cast members a decent living wage but I am always happy to tip for decent service, even after paying so much for our trip. What do you think our chances of getting an upgrade are as I have booked 5 rooms for 6 nights and we are having a big family reunion with family travelling from different countries to all meet at Contemporary Resort ? Love the dfb guides sooooooo much. Thank you AJ. 😘😘
The chances of anyone getting a free upgrade are VERY, VERY low unfortunately- and they are even lower for all 5 rooms to get upgraded. I don't mean to burst your bubble, but I don't want you to get your hopes up! The best way to get an upgraded room is to pay for it!
Adam Efimoff 12 nights in all Adam. 6 nights Contemporary Resort Tower x 5 rooms Plus Disney Dining Plan for 13 Plus 6 day park hopper tickets x 13 4 x Non Disney Dining package restaurant reservations for 13 people 6 nights at Universals Loews Sapphire Falls x 5 rooms 10 x flights from Australia to Orlando 3 flights from Manchester UK to Orlando. Flights alone were $US29,000 Park tickets for 13 people $US8,000 We also splashed out on Celebration at the Top at $US200 each x13 Hope its our holiday of a lifetime 😊😊
Last year in one of the nights we got back super late to our room (Extra magic hours at MK, was worth it!) So we ordered some Asian food using Uber Eats app and it totally saved us! Highly recommend it if u need a late night quick and cheap meal in WDW
Oh that's a good one. To add to that, are there any spa treatments such as full body massages? I'm especially in need of MFR (Myofascial Release) I suffer from Trigeminal Neuralgia pain, and it can get pretty bad if I'm under stress. I certainly do what I can to prevent any attacks, and one way to help me relax and decompress is through MFR. I used to practice as a Neuromuscular Massage Therapist, so I know how important it is for us to be relaxed and limber. We also need to smooth out all those kinks we get in the fascia just beneath our skin, because it gets al stuck together like Reynolds Wrap. I would really love to know if any of the spas have "room service"?
Just came back from Riverside, my suggestion is to also ASK which bus stop are you at. I did like the size of Riverside compared to Caribbean Beach. However, the food is much better at Caribbean Beach!
The problem with being at the last stop in the inner bus loops is that the buses can be full by the time they get to you, especially in the morning. I’d much rather be near an earlier stop to assure I don’t have to wait for a second bus.
My first disney vacation was about three weeks ago. On the 6 hour drive, we got upgraded from staying at all star movies, to staying at the Polynesian, for free. It was magical start to a magical trip. I cant wait to go back!!!
bridgettblaah how’d you get that upgrade?? I’m going to be staying at the All Star Music and would love to know!
how did you do it?😍
How?
Kareena Larson it’s because they were redoing all the all star rooms. My boyfriend and I got upgraded to Port Orleans around Christmas. So you may not get the upgrade, but you should get a nice new room!
bridgettblaah omg!!
Former cast member here! I just finished my DCP Spring 2019 program. I was a bus greeter so I know quite a bit about the buses coming from resorts lol. Caribbean beach actually has two lines, one running Martinique-Old Port-Barbados-Trinidad and the other running Jamacia-Aruba. Trinidad is absolutely the WORST stop at Caribbean beach, it regularly gets hour waits or longer. If you're staying at Trinidad take the internal bus to Jamacia or Martinique. If you're at Aruba, don't worry, it almost never fills at Jamacia. At the All-Stars resorts the line runs Sports-Music-Movies at a certain time of day, usually around 11:00ish just depends on the dispatcher, so you might have a little bit of a wait if you're not out there bright and early when there are greeters to get buses in faster. Riverside South is incredibly hectic and busy so if you're a guest using a scooter or wheelchair you might have trouble at that stop as you have to get loaded first. If you can, try to go to one of the other stops (btw Disney Springs runs backwards there to act as an internal shuttle) or be out there as early as you can so the greeters can alert their coordinators if there isn't space to load you on the first bus that you see. Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand also share buses at a certain time of day, so be mindful of that. But for the most part that's it! The average wait for a bus is 20 to 25 minutes so just try to stay patient 🤗 Oh and Disney Springs buses dont start running until about 9:00 - 9:30 so if you have morning reservations at Bippity Boppity make sure you have transportation!
When I worked at the All Stars a bus would fill before it got to Movies. The next bus would not skip Sports/Music so it too would fill up. It usually only happened in the morning when we were at full occupancy, but guests had to walk to Music to get a bus. This was 12 years ago so I really hope they fixed that problem.
The last time I was at Disney Springs, when it was the older center, I tried to get a bus back to Caribbean Beach to get to my room before check out time and discovered there were no buses going back to that resort at 10 am! I was required to ride a Port Orleans bus to get to Caribbean Beach and had to follow their route. By the time I got to my room it was past check out time and the cleaning staff had been in and taken my carry-on, jacket, and a poster I had set out on the table. Trying to locate my belongings after that was a real nightmare. It turned out the cleaning girl was toting them around in her cart as she made her rounds, and not even the front desk knew where my stuff was! I finally tracked the right cleaning cart down myself by running around the building and asking all the girls, at about the same time a security person showed up who spoke Spanish. Needless to say, I grabbed my stuff and headed for the lobby for the rest of my time before departure!
@@maryvon8518 yeah, for the most part that has been rectified (at least in the morning) with the help of the bus greeters. It really depends on the coordinator and how they run the buses that day tbh🤷♀️
taniawania thanks for the information! Any idea what the buses from AKL are like? I bet it was an incredible experience!
@@Hollstarr the buses run Kidani-Jambo at AKL, and they're usually smooth. Don't have to worry about it filling up too much there! Animal Kingdom buses run super quickly of course lol, about 8 minutes to 10 minutes in the morning. Your longest wait will most likely be Magic Kingdom, so defintely expect a 25 minute wait for that. AKL is beautiful, but pretty secluded so some of the buses might take a little longer depending on the time of day and what hub they're being dispatched from. It defintely was! I have a crazy farmer's tan but it was incredible lol!
When me and my family stayed at Caribbean Beach, it took us 45 minutes to find the fridge (It's in a barrel )
Same thing happened to us last year (pirate room) our 5 year old actually ended up finding it lol.
😂
Dang this is helpful haha def themed for sure !!
Alley Farley beach club, our fridge is in a cupboard in a corner
We’re staying at Caribbean Beach in December, so good to know!
I love the “hack” of getting a standard room in All Star movies and requesting the mighty duck section because you are closer to the All Star Music bus loop ! So it’s kinda a “preferred” room hahaha
Noted, I'm going to Disney and staying in All Star Movies, thank you so much
We got a free upgrade at the Wilderness Lodge, and caught the MK fireworks right above the trees. !!! We were totally shocked. And all we did was ask. Room 3004!!!
Michele Mccoy that’s amazing!
Michele Mccoy
😊 Short walk to Epcot one of best reasons to stay at Beach club ! But then again Epcot is my favorite park.
We booked a Standard room at AKL but when we got there they upgraded us for free to a Savannah view room. Awesome Disney Magic to start off our trip!!🥰
When I stayed at Bay Lake Tower, we had a lake view but we ended up being pretty far off to the side, so when we looked to the right we saw the lake and when we looked to the left we saw the castle! It was so magical! ✨
Katie Fox was it a corner room?? We are staying there at the end of March, and would love to be able to see the castle as well!
We did a split stay between 3 resorts. The resorts transferring your baggage was lifesaver!! We would pack majority up the night before, wake up, get ready for the parks, and call bell services and tell them where we were moving. Within 15 minutes they were there to take it all away. Go to the parks and go back to your new resort, get your room, and call bell services to bring the bags. Went very smoothly all 3 times!
you should do a series where do you each video/episode would be a few resorts (ex. magic kingdom resorts) and talk about all sorts of tips for them like what type of rooms and everything else !!
Hi AJ do you have a video, explaining the renting DVC points a bit better? I know it had nothing to do with Food, but I just love your videos and the ease of how you explain things. ❤️
These are fantastic hacks for newbies! For those that want to really make sure you're getting the room you're wanting, there are several websites that are dedicated to specific resorts (or all resorts!) that have 'room maps' where guests have submitted pictures of their room and view so when you go to make special requests, you can actually request specific room numbers. We've only done this twice (Bay Lake Tower and Aulani) and it worked out for us both times!
Great video. I think you should do a video on the reality of the bus system at Disney. That the buses are often super crowded and not the magical experience you’d might expect. It would also be very helpful to know which resorts have better buses than others. We just stayed at the Coronado and the buses were the worst part of the trip. Can’t imagine what will be like when the resort adds 500+ more rooms.
@Adam Efimoff I'm sure EVERYTHING at the Four Seasons is nice! 😁
Military family hack- dont forget the shades of green hotel. Can bus directly to animal kingdom and Hollywood studios. Can take monorail from transportation and ticket center to magic kingdom and epcot or it's just a 2 minute walk to polynesian and you can use the buses there.
We stayed at shades of green for our first trip to wdw and it was so worth it! Cheaper rooms with some Disney perks like sending our packages from the parks to the hotel for free! Check it out if you're a military family.
Highly recommend Shades of Green. The price is by rank, so you might be paying only $105 a night for getting to stay at what feels like a deluxe hotel. My family and I loved it and hope to return soon.
These tips are wonderful, thank you! We love the Twilight room service at Poly... and it works out as a decent deal because they give so much food we order for 2 but the kids can eat from there , there's more than enough
It's a beautiful thing to see DFB in the morning 😁
Caleb Nielson Agreed 🤣
Another tip? for housekeeping - for my last two stays at Pop, the cleaners wouldn't come until around 5pm each day. I was travelling with my elderly mother who was done at the parks by 2pm each day. If you want housekeeping but you will take that kid day break, ask for early housekeeping. They do offer that and will put your room on a list to have cleaned by early afternoon.
I stayed at Pop Century twice this year and housekeeping only showed up 3 out of 9 days that I was there even though I didn't opt out. I complained and got a gift card but it was pretty annoying 😕
@@vickiassetta4288 totally understand. I had issues with housekeeping & they were like, oh you didn't opt out?? I had to complain 3x. The third time the Mngr for Housekeeping came directly to my room & inspect it & etc.
During my visit in March they tried to say that we were always in the room so they couldn't clean-we left around 730am every day and didn't return until after fireworks 🙄
My hack is to tip bell service, front desk workers, and housekeeping heavily. (More than $1 per bag!) They work really hard and deal with some difficult people, so a little bit of kindness will go a long way. They'll go above and beyond to give you a better room or engage your kiddos without you even having to ask if you tip them. I've even had a gift sent up to my room from when I tipped someone at the front desk.
If you are confined to a wheelchair/scooter, get a resort room close to the beginning bus loop. Later stops may not be able to accommodate you. Also, first on-first off.
A J, how wonderful for you!
A J, What term should I have used then? The statement is true for anyone who depends on Disney bus transportation to get them and their scooter/wheelchair to the parks. It is a bitch to arrive late to a reservation because every bus for an hour is too full to get you aboard.
@@niranthbanks3595 the term is wheelchair user. Many people who need to use a wheelchair don't necessarily need to use one all the time - there are ambulatory wheelchair users and non-ambulatory wheelchair users. It's a good tip though, so thank you.
newcamomile, Thank you for educating me!
Thanks Jeff! My Dad has great difficulty getting around and uses a scooter quite often now. I really want to take my parents to Disney (they’ve never been) and I’m researching better options for them. I appreciate your comment.
Great Hacks AJ! We pretty much utilize these already, as we visit WDW 5-6 times per year! Definitely great information for those new to the Disney Resort Bubble! One thing about DVC points rental is it's non refundable, so if you cancel your trip and don't purchase insurance - you can't get your money back. Happy Thursday from your friends on Mouse Street!
@Adam Efimoff With a car and driver, no kids, VIP tour, yes.
30 Days till our stay at Caribbean Beach!
So excited for my sister's wedding at Beach Club Resort 😍
We stayed at the Beach Club in Nov. Fantastic place for a wedding.
Congratulations!
Gacha Cookie bbb gm n
We got married on the Boardwalk and stayed at the Beach Club... it’s beautiful. Have fun!
The only downside of living in orlando is it’s hard to justify staying in a resort, staying on property is a real treat for me so thank you for these hacks!!!!
I feel ya! Not directly in Orlando myself but close enough and I did do Coronado springs for my birthday this year as a treat and it was such a nice change! Didn't have to drive back and forth and while I dont normally enjoy swimming the pool there is fantastic!! I am sorely tempted by the passholder summer fun offer right now. 2 nights at Coronado again for $437, yes please!!
christina giangarra that is a great deal! I’ve never stayed there, isn’t it the one right by Disney Springs? I live right by the airport so even driving home is quick but staying on property makes it feel like a true mini vacation. One year I want to gather the energy to do New Year’s Eve at Epcot and stay somewhere on the sky liner loop!
Just a friendly heads up for anyone using Service Your Way: if you do opt out of housekeeping, they will still inspect the room daily for damages and other things of the sort.
@@blessyou5961 that unfortunally im not 100% sure on. My only guess would be to talk to the front desk when you arrive. I didn't think much of it until the 3rd day of my stay after they had left.
This is just my experience but i did not have a good experience with bell service. We stood 4 nights at the polynesian hotel and stood 1 night at sports resort. While they did move our bags from the poly to sports, after coming from the parks at 2am, exhausted ready for a shower, We found out when we got to sports that bell service somehow buried our bags all the way to the back of the of their baggage room.
Our bags were blocked by scooters, bags, carts etc. We didnt get our bags til almost 4am. We were so frustrated and annoyed. I never did bell service again after that.
I am stoked for the skyliner!
Why don't you guys ever talk about fort wilderness cabins at the campground
I had a nature view room at Wilderness Lodge and it is my favourite Disney rooms I have ever stayed in!!
Love that you included the great info on tipping the bell attendant :)
when we went to animal kingdom lodge we got an obstructed view room and we saw the animals perfectly and there was a LOT of animals
I need to go on vacation with you. I thought I knew a lot about the parks. You win hands down.
These videos help me stress less with planning Disney World for a possible honeymoon fingers crossed!
I’ve stayed at a royal room in PO Riverside. It was beautiful.
I’m watching this as I ride the magic express to my hotel!
This is probably well known lol but good tip for anyone staying at Shades of Green (a resort for military members) it’s a really short walk like 6 mins tops to the Polynesian to catch the monorail rather than riding the bus since the bus is technically the only mode of transportation from shades to the parks. Plus if your lucky you can spot an alligator (or croc idk the difference) on the side where the small ponds are. The ones I’ve seen aren’t super big but I think they are cool to see while your walking.
Last year stayed at the Boardwalk Inn...Loved it. Loved being able to walk to Epcot and a really beautiful resort. Many years ago when the kids were little we stayed at the Contemporary to walk to Magic Kingdom. That was a wonderful experience too.
So good to know they’ll move your bags! We’ve thought about that before.
Honeymooning there in January. Loving your videos I’ve already learned so much!!
josephz1103 congratulations!
Caroline Norton thank you!!
I just came back from Caribbean Beach and stayed in Martinique. Best bus stop of the whole Resort in my opinion. Worth the extra money for the preferred room.
MAJOR TIP- opt out of daily room service, we received 135 dollars gift card. You can request clean bedding and towels and change them yourself. This was a dfb tip, not mentioned in this video though.
She did mention you could opt out of housekeeping in exchange for a gift card.... and none of the prices listed in the video stated you'd get a $135 card, unless you were staying for more than 14 days. She also did mention that if you request linens or towels you'd have to do the work yourself. So, not sure where you missed that it was in fact in this video?
@Adam Efimoff But then you won't get a gift card.... ;-)
I stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge and we got upgraded to a savannah view room from a standard room when we checked in. It was so lovely of them and our view wasn’t even obstructed
Disney upgraded my room at the All Star Movies to a 2 bedroom villa at Saratoga Springs. It was so nice 😩
Almost made me join DVC
Now THAT'S magic!
Just out of curiosity, why did they throw the pixie dust your way? Were they trying to compensate for something?
Arlene Soriano I think they were trying to get us to join DVC. We went to a pitch a couple months before and almost joined
Saratoga is amazing!! We have stayed there 3 years in a row and going back for the 4th in March! We are spoiled with it. 😫
Hi AJ! Can you please do a resort specific video that’s just about DVC rooms? Would love to hear about the perks and hacks, especially for Jambo House and Bay Lake Tower.
Call me paranoid, but I actually prefer to "load up my car" and move my own bags on split stays. But it's great that those who don't want to, don't have to! My favorite request is "first floor". No view, but also no stairs or elevators EVERY time you go to and from your room!
Speaking of multiple transportation.... to get from the Polynesian to Magic Kingdom, you can
-- take the small boat near the volcano pool
-- walk to TTC and take the ferry
-- walk to TTC and take the express monorail
-- walk to TTC and take the resort monorail
-- walk to Grand Floridian and take the monorail (I know -- crazy, but it works!)
-- walk to Grand Floridian and take their small boat!
You are correct Richard, we move are own luggage on split stays. We've never used the service, always prefer 1st floor but with a view if possible, def no elevator; its been the same for us for years.
DFB videos are always helpful, but this almost felt custom made for me. Thank you, AJ!
70 days until my family and I are at All Star Sports starting our WDW vacation... these videos get me so hyped! Thx!
BigGurlGeek going to same resort but I’m going in 38 days
Connor North jelly lol have fun!!
BigGurlGeek in going but staying at all stars movies in exactly 13 hours
brendon urie's eyebrow lucky! Have fun!
AJ just wanted to let you know how much your videos have helped prepare my family for our trip in sixteen days! I have watched so many and learned the things. LOL plus reading the tips from other people and cast members, a pure treasure trove of information. Thank you all so much. 😊
8:40 I stay at beach club, but the buses go round to:
Swan and dolphin
Yacht club
Beach club
Boardwalk
we aren't staying at a disney hotel when we go this year, but i still love watching the resort videos :D
We stayed in a royal room at Port Orleans and it was amazing! Everything about it was magical
Megan Dakers We'd love to stay in one of those rooms one day!👑
$1 per bag is great tipping advice!! I always wondered what was acceptable
Staying at Boardwalk was amazing for me, the walk to Epcot was super short and the boat Hollywood studios was really convenient
Used the luggage transfer between All Star Sports and Coronado a few years back - super convenient!!
Staying in the Royal Rooms the first week in March for my birthday week! First time ever...in 44 years that I will actually be at WDW on my birthday!! So excited!!
I've stayed with a friend in Old Key West. The buses make a stop at the bus stop just across the bridge from the main building. And the main building is the last stop before heading off to the parks. So you can ride the bus to the front to go to Olivia's. Then walk down the street a short distance across to the first bus stop to get back on to go back to where your rooms are.
My 3 fav disney resorts
1 Beach club
2 Grandfloridian
3 Saratoga springs( guilty pleasure)
I love Beach Club.. That pool is unreal! Love swimming in it at night with the sand under my feet 😊
Spiderific! Absolutely, also the villas are amazing. Plus the 2 minute walk to Epcot and you got the best resort!
Tip $20 at the counter when you arrive and ask if theres any upgrade available for a better room. Works 95% of the time
@R K i feel like its not true...
@R K how do u know aj's husband???
@R K 😱😱😱
@R K sounds cheesy.... but ok
....
R K if this is a lie not okay. This is definitely not the appropriate way to handle this.
50 days until our Disney trip thank you so much for your videos !!!
Just got back from Disney world for our honeymoon. We stayed at animal kingdom lodge, the room we were assigned was right on the front next to check in, so there were cars coming and going constantly! This got really annoying and not what we wanted for our honeymoon. When we spoke to the front desk and explained they moved us the next day to an ‘obstructed view’ room but the ‘obstruction’ was an enclosure that we could see right over the top of! We also asked for a quiet room and I struggled to sleep with the noise from the cars. It was completely perfect and made our honeymoon even better
had no idea about the room service at the Poly!! that is a MUST try!!
My brain hurts! So much information! I need to watch again.
I knew about everything on here but the royal rooms... my mind is BLOWN.. thanks!
Headed to DIsney World and staying at Art if Animation in a few weeks. I’m SO excited. I need some Disney Magic desperately. 👒😎🥨🌴👑🐢🕌🎇🚝⛪️
I had a similar room and just booked a standard room at Wilderness just a few weeks ago. Loved watching Happily Ever after on my non-park nights from my room!
Thanks for the hacks! I’m still so lost when it comes to some of the resorts!
Two weeks and counting till we are there! My wife and I are so excited! I can’t think of any other way I’d want to spend our 3 year wedding anniversary.
I sooo needed this for my upcoming trip, thanks 💕
Wow I love these hacks! Thank you for sharing! I'm going on a trip in November and really needed this.
Would love to see a Disney resort flow chart to help decide where to stay! Or video :) love this channel!
I love this idea! However I feel like there are SO many factors that go into choosing a resort that it would be pretty impossible! The best way to pick a resort is to work with a Travel Agent. If you want help picking a resort, I have some resort reviews on my channel that you can check out!
That is so amazed!!!! Hotels are very nice. My dream to staying there lol I love Disney I haven’t been at Disney world for 20 years since 2000
When staying at Old Key West, we look at a map with a list of blocks and check google earth for the view, to make a small list of possible blocks to request.
We usually get our first or second choice and IMO, requesting is essential if you don’t want to risk a room next to the road.
Check out Touring plans also. They have a room finder tool that shows the view from each room
We stayed at the dolphin, there were no additional buses to the parks. Hollywood studios was a nightmare in particular to get back from.
Wow, I think I just found the most helpful Disneyplanning video on UA-cam!
what about Shanghai Disneyland and or Tokyo Disneyland... Will we get any guides to those parks as well?
My friend and I did “Service Your Way” during our stay in February. We used the gift card at a brunch at The Grand Floridian Cafe the next day 😋. You do miss out on the little Housekeeping touches if you do “Service Your Way” (ie. towels shaped like Mickey, etc.).
Love all your videos and helping me plan my trip in September 💕
Great Hacks. I would love to stay at The Polynesian one time, but who can afford $500+ a night! Haha.
Use Dave's Disney dvc rental. You can get poly for a lot less per night
@Adam Efimoff Okay, between this comment and the Four Seasons comment, you're either really rich and living in a bit of a wealthy person's bubble, or you're just joking around.
I’ve been saving last 2yrs for that $500 a night hotel
As someone who works at a hotel where the presidential suite is $4000 a night- save your money for a great meal at those hotels, but don't stay there unless you are stinking rich or plan on spending most of your vacation in your room.
I’m staying at the Polynesian DVC villas this summer, so excited!
Who else is gonna be there when galaxy edge is open? That hack was a great idea
MADY I am! I’m so excited to vlog the experience!
What a great video. The tips are really terrific. I've stayed at the resorts a lot and there were still a bunch of things I hadn't heard of.
I've also learned that if you're staying at a resort you can use other resorts amenities!!!
I'm staying at Port Orleans French Quarters and I'm looking into booking a massage at Saratoga Springs
Who puts thumbs down on these videos? They're always so full of fantastic information!
Be careful with bell services moving your luggage to another hotel. Ours got lost and sent to the airport because someone put in as a checkout instead of a transfer. Took several hours before we finally got our luggage after a lot of complaining.
You mentioned tipping the people who bring your bags to the room. Could you make a video about common (or suggested) curtesy at Disney? (i.e. tipping certain people and how much, whether you should try to move against a crowd or not, etc.)
Thank you AJ for all these tips my family and I went on a trip 2 weeks ago to Disney world but we had about 2 days in the parks because we were there for a cheer competition. But next year we plan to go back and I am using all these tips !!
Great job as always, AJ! Some of these II'e done, some I'd love to (like ordering Ohana room service!).
This is sort of a random idea but I’ll say it anyone, I know you don’t normally do series but I think it’ll be really helpful. A ‘Which Resort’ series, so one episode may be ‘Which resort has the best pools?’ or ‘Which resort had the best food?’, and then the final episode will be ‘Which resort is best for you?’ (taking into account all the past episodes), I think it will be really helpful because each family/group has different things looking for in a hotel, and there are sooooo many Disney Resort Hotels to pick from.
Service your way is a refreshing new edition to rising costs
Not a hack, but some Disney magic.-- They overbooked us at the Beach Club next week so they upgraded us to the Grand AND we got TWO extra "floating" fast passes. I know you aren't too big of a fan of the GF but we are so excited! :) Thanks for the great video AJ!
Just booked my trip for the 5th straight year, gonna start at animal kingdom lodge this time
Thanks for the POR bus info! Going in July to Alligator Bayou so knowing the stops can save us time and energy!
We are a party of 13 travelling to Contemporary Resort Tower with DDP in 33 days time.
All up, air fares, further stay at Universal, extra non DDP reservations, it's costing around US 70, 000.
I agree that Disney should pay its cast members a decent living wage but I am always happy to tip for decent service, even after paying so much for our trip.
What do you think our chances of getting an upgrade are as I have booked 5 rooms for 6 nights and we are having a big family reunion with family travelling from different countries to all meet at Contemporary Resort ?
Love the dfb guides sooooooo much. Thank you AJ. 😘😘
The chances of anyone getting a free upgrade are VERY, VERY low unfortunately- and they are even lower for all 5 rooms to get upgraded. I don't mean to burst your bubble, but I don't want you to get your hopes up! The best way to get an upgraded room is to pay for it!
Adam Efimoff
12 nights in all Adam.
6 nights Contemporary Resort Tower x 5 rooms
Plus Disney Dining Plan for 13
Plus 6 day park hopper tickets x 13
4 x Non Disney Dining package restaurant reservations for 13 people
6 nights at Universals Loews Sapphire Falls x 5 rooms
10 x flights from Australia to Orlando
3 flights from Manchester UK to Orlando.
Flights alone were $US29,000
Park tickets for 13 people $US8,000
We also splashed out on Celebration at the Top at $US200 each x13
Hope its our holiday of a lifetime
😊😊
Happily Ever Abby
Thanks.
I have upgraded from garden view to main tower
Fantastic video, thanks! Also, touring plans will automatically do room requests for you and they have room specific info.
Last year in one of the nights we
got back super late to our room (Extra magic hours at MK, was worth it!) So we ordered some Asian food using Uber Eats app and it totally saved us! Highly recommend it if u need a late night quick and cheap meal in WDW
So, is it Brian Hull that does your wake up call with one of his impressions? Haha.
Can we get a video on good neighbor hotels?
Hi! Love your videos! Do you know if Old Key West Resort has those special rooms that you were talking about?
Old Key West also has a bus loop (4 stops) and they have a boat shuttle to Disney Springs. It lets you off near Wine Bar George.😉👍🏼
Can you do a suggestions for an adult weekend ideas
Christine Lavallie this Video topic is on the calendar for my channel in the next month!
Oh that's a good one. To add to that, are there any spa treatments such as full body massages? I'm especially in need of MFR (Myofascial Release) I suffer from Trigeminal Neuralgia pain, and it can get pretty bad if I'm under stress. I certainly do what I can to prevent any attacks, and one way to help me relax and decompress is through MFR. I used to practice as a Neuromuscular Massage Therapist, so I know how important it is for us to be relaxed and limber. We also need to smooth out all those kinks we get in the fascia just beneath our skin, because it gets al stuck together like Reynolds Wrap. I would really love to know if any of the spas have "room service"?
@Adam Efimoff Will they actually come to your room? I know I can go to the spa, but sometimes, I would rather that the Therapist come to my room.
Just came back from Riverside, my suggestion is to also ASK which bus stop are you at. I did like the size of Riverside compared to Caribbean Beach. However, the food is much better at Caribbean Beach!
The problem with being at the last stop in the inner bus loops is that the buses can be full by the time they get to you, especially in the morning. I’d much rather be near an earlier stop to assure I don’t have to wait for a second bus.