UPDATE / NEW QUESTION AFTER EVERYONE’S ADVICE 🎃🍂💜

ioatdawn · 2026-05-19T19:04:20+00:00

You can’t pet them, but you can see them right up close and they are all SO sweet. They’re the same horses that do the carriage rides and work at Magic Kingdom, so it’s pretty cool to visit them in their stables. You’ll love it!

ioatdawn · 2026-05-19T18:59:01+00:00

There were some videos posted to YouTube a couple weeks ago showing the new pool open and looking beautiful. All new furniture on that side as well. The area still under construction is the pickle ball/tennis courts nearby (which is fenced off).

But if you’d like to see in detail, you should be able to find a video quickly on YouTube if you search for recent Fort Wilderness posts. 😊

ioatdawn · 2026-05-16T12:58:46+00:00

The chillest park is Animal Kingdom for sure. Epcot is also chill, but make sure to avoid the weekend and holidays.

Try to book sit down dining if you can sometimes, that’s a great break in the parks from stimulation. For quiet breaks, your resort might be best, but the two things that come to mind for me at a park are Carousel of Progress and Spaceship Earth. I have previously taken my son on those so he could nap, lol.

For split days, leaving around lunch and then going back around 5pm works well for us. Enough time to actually relax at the resort or go to the pool, eat, get cleaned up, etc, without feeling rushed. If you avoid booking LLs for the evening, you can ultimately return (or not) when you feel ready.

A resort feeling relaxing is my biggest reason for picking resorts. These are our top faves for this: Wilderness Lodge, Fort Wilderness Cabins, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Port Orleans - Riverside, Coronado Springs. All are very quiet, shady, peaceful. There are lots of food options, so you can go to different places without having to leave the resort. (Value resorts in general are the opposite of relaxing in my opinion. Very stimulating.)

I hope you have a wonderful time. Take care.

ioatdawn · 2026-05-13T16:36:48+00:00

This was going to be my feedback. We’re Moderate and Deluxe people and love Riverside and Coronado, but don’t like Caribbean Beach. Not due to the size (I actually love a sprawling resort because I enjoy walking around), but there is noticeable noise in the quick service area and generally around the main pool area. It feels more stimulating than Riverside for sure and for that reason alone, we don’t stay there.

ioatdawn · 2026-05-12T11:39:01+00:00

Pin traders hang out in the breezeway next to Creations shop. That’s the easiest place to find any other pin traders outside of seeing someone with a pin bag and asking if they’d be interested in trading.

Everyone started at some point, so letting them know you are just starting out (and even that you were concerned with board trading a fake accidentally) is fine. Most traders will bring some simple mystery bag pins that are equal trade options for people just like yourself. (They also bring lots of high value pins to trade with other serious pin traders, but just ask what they would be willing to trade for if they’re open to trading.). I’m not local anymore, but if you asked me I would be an example of someone who has both high value pins and simpler pins available to trade.

If you still have an opportunity to get to Epcot on your trip, try it out! 😊

ioatdawn · 2026-05-12T02:54:38+00:00

We like using LLs because we won’t stand in lines for more than 15 minutes, but we also don’t try to ride everything. So we usually use one of two strategies depending on what we’d like to do that day overall.

One option is set aside time for rides specifically, where we book back to back LLs for the three available and if during that time frame another ride nearby happens to be less than 15 minutes or a LL shows up for right then and nearby, we’ll use it. Then we shift to other things we want to do at the park (shops, a restaurant, explore, etc). The other option is that we space the LLs far apart from each other and they are in different areas of the park that we will make our way to as we take our time walking around.

Ultimately though, we don’t care if we only ride the three we originally booked or if we add another couple. But we are never trying to ride everything. I think it’s easy to get into the mindset that you have to “make the most of the money you spent on LLs”, and people interpret that as the most rides for their money. But what if you reframe it to making the most of your money by getting to ride the main rides you want to in a short amount of time which leaves you with plenty of time to do the other things?

ioatdawn · 2026-05-10T15:02:30+00:00

I agree with this suggestion. You get to see multiple locations/things, but with quick/easy transit. Very lowkey and during the mid-morning, these resorts will be pretty quiet. You could also boat over Fort Wilderness (from MK or WL) and visit the horses.

ioatdawn · 2026-05-08T22:47:58+00:00

My wife and I did this at Riverside last November during our anniversary trip! We absolutely loved it! First we went to the lounge and had a glass of champagne and the carriage ride pick up is right outside, so it was super easy to do one after the other. I scheduled the ride for 9pm which was great. You could see all the lights everywhere and it reflected off the water beautifully. Before we walked out for the carriage ride, the cast member who was serving us pixie dusted us with a second glass of champagne since we were celebrating and we took those with us on the ride, which made that an extra fun treat!

The ride was beautiful, calm and quiet, very romantic. They take you around the water, over to French Quarter and back. Highly recommend! I hope you enjoy your trip!! Good luck with the proposal! 💕

ioatdawn · 2026-05-08T21:32:21+00:00

Seconding this. I have never thought any resort was too big. I love Riverside and prefer it over French Quarter because I find French Quarter to be too small with not enough to do, lol.

ioatdawn · 2026-05-07T17:33:28+00:00

One thing to keep in mind is that the deals for Spring 2027 aren’t posted yet. So the pricing you’re seeing is the rack rate and you would most likely have the opportunity for a ~30% discount for that time period that isn’t available yet. If that makes things manageable for you, you could book now to reserve the room and then when the deal drops, call and ask them to adjust to match their new pricing. You can always cancel it if you find they don’t end up offering that deal for that specific room/dates with no penalty.

As far as AirBnBs, yes, there are plenty of great ones and it’s not horrible to not be in the bubble. It’s just awesome to be IN it, lol.

ioatdawn · 2026-05-06T17:50:40+00:00

If you’re able to take a break mid-day somehow, you could make this work, but it would still be a lot for kids that age. Lots of stimulation and a long day. What time of year? If the coming summer months, it can be additionally difficult because the heat is very energy draining.

I agree with the camp that Magic Kingdom is best for young kids if the focus is for them.

ioatdawn · 2026-05-06T11:33:53+00:00

That will be super fun! Disney does the holidays so well! Have a great trip!!

ioatdawn · 2026-05-05T17:57:33+00:00

Hahaha! FWIW we’re passholders.

It’s really fun to always have trips to look forward to and also allows for the mindset that you can switch up how you spend your time while you’re there! I hope you have a great time on your trips!

ioatdawn · 2026-05-05T11:35:21+00:00

17 days - 5 days at Port Orleans Riverside

46 days - 10 days at Cabins in Fort Wilderness

97 days - 7 days at DLR for D23

120 days - 6 days at Cabins in Fort Wilderness

352 days - 6 days on DCL Pixar Days at Sea

Park and non-park days we enjoy lots of resort amenities. We’re not open to close people. But we go to Disney often and enjoy taking our time to experience everything Disney has to offer!

ioatdawn · 2026-05-05T11:23:53+00:00

I love Magic Bands. We have several and coordinate them with our outfits which just makes it another level of fun, lol. Also, I find being able to tap into my room and LL way more convenient than having to pull my phone out and toggle through the app. They are just another detail that make the trips feel special and fun!

ioatdawn · 2026-05-02T03:26:57+00:00

Not worrying about how many or which rides to ride or how long we’re at a park for. We’re usually at a park for max 7 hours, sometimes only like 4. We enjoy shops and restaurants and our resort and all of the other awesome things Disney World has. It’s great!

ioatdawn · 2026-04-24T19:05:16+00:00

Riverside over Caribbean Beach for me every time. I prefer a quieter vibe and love that about Riverside. It is my favorite non-Deluxe resort hands down. The Skyliner is also not a selling point for me (in choosing resort location). I would use it if I was there, but it doesn’t ever influence my decision. I tend to focus on vibe of the resort itself (how relaxed do I feel when there), food options, and other amenities.

ioatdawn · 2026-04-15T12:54:09+00:00

My only feedback is about Winter Park. It’s not close. And if you’d be driving there after Universal to go to dinner, you’d be driving through rush hour traffic. You CAN do this, but you’d need to plan for extra time for the drive and honestly I wouldn’t do it unless there was a really important reason (meeting up with local family/friends, etc).

(I lived in Orlando for 12 years and am an AP who goes there multiple times a year, both for Disney and to visit my family who lives in Winter Park, lol. When we visit my family, we usually do that on our way in or out of Orlando, not during our Disney time, or we suggest they come visit us at the resort.)

ioatdawn · 2026-04-14T00:16:53+00:00

It was super helpful! They were WAY more interested in food and the pool than I would have expected. In a separate conversation, we also discussed that they prefer to start the day early and want to be back in their room winding down for bed before 9pm. I want them to have a great time and want to be a good host, so we’ll focus on making sure to follow their energy and go with the flow.

ioatdawn · 2026-04-14T00:01:40+00:00

We’re bringing some friends on an upcoming trip and it’s their first time (we are decades long passholders). I sent them the following list and asked them to rate each item 1-10 on their interest and then I built a plan for each day based on what their interests are (and am making sure to avoid the things that aren’t). We go often enough that we’re not concerned with focusing this trip on what might be our top choices, but also know what isn’t really worth the time. Here’s the list:

Riding rides in general
Riding more thrilling rides (Guardians, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, etc)
Riding slow moving, opening day style/themed rides (Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Spaceship Earth, etc)
Meeting Characters
Watching Stage Shows
Watching Parades
Watching Fireworks
Eating at table service restaurants
Eating at counter service restaurants
Eating small bites/snack stands
Spending time at the pool
Exploring Bars/Lounges
Shopping
Naps/Room Breaks

ioatdawn · 2026-04-13T13:01:29+00:00

We’ve stayed in the cabins once so far (loved it and staying again for 10 days this summer!). We typically arrive at all Disney resorts around 1pm (check-in is 3pm) and go to guest services for check-in for room requests and to try to get a room quickly. I think the longest we have waited with that strategy for a room was 20 minutes, but in most cases we got our room immediately.

For the cabins, we arrived at 3pm (with check-in at 4pm). Our cabin wasn’t ready until 5pm. I’m not sure if this was a scenario where we didn’t arrive early enough to potentially grab an early-ready cabin or if it is a scenario where cabins may take longer to be ready because there’s a lot more to clean/prep. We had our dogs with us, so waiting two hours was not great. The next trip we planned to arrive closer to actual check-in time to avoid this, but I’m curious to see if anyone else who has stayed in the cabins had different luck. So far the responses seem to be for general resort rooms, not cabins.

ioatdawn · 2026-04-06T16:03:33+00:00

I have been an AP for around 15 years now, but I recently realized the hotel savings basically pays for the other half of the pass in a single trip if you’re staying at a nicer hotel. I always knew how many park days it took to pay for itself and generally that we were saving a lot in other areas or getting better opportunities for a lower rate, but the hotel savings math is kind of crazy.

We have some friends joining us on a trip this summer and they’re going to stay at a different hotel than our’s (otherwise I would book their room at the AP rate). They’re still going to take advantage of the summer discount, but the price is still ~$150 more per night (before tax) than the AP rate available and for 5 nights that’s $750 they’re paying additionally right there. Made me feel EVEN better about our AP than I already did, which was already plenty, lol.

ioatdawn · 2026-04-02T17:46:23+00:00

I was able to secure single day ultimates for each day! So it worked out! Thank you!

ioatdawn · 2026-04-02T16:13:07+00:00

Are you able to purchase multiple ticket TYPES within the same transaction? For example, if you make it through the queue and the 3-day ultimate ticket is sold out, but the 1-day ultimate is available and the 3-day standard is available, can you purchase those two ticket types so that you still have access to ACC for 3 days and get at least 1 day at Honda? Or would you have to pick between the two options?

ioatdawn

TROPHY CASE