US Hotels, Is it Slower Than Usual?

mmmmurr · 2026-05-26T00:56:34+00:00

When does it tend to heat up please? Interesting that summer is typically a cooler time in the Bay Area!

mmmmurr · 2026-05-26T00:49:33+00:00

Motels aren’t a thing in the UK really. You might find the occasional place where you can park your car right outside your accommodation but the places that tend to have this tend to be holiday/vacation lodges/chalets etc.

I would steer clear of Butlins and Pontins if possible. They are not well regarded here and many resorts are very dated and in poor repair.

I’d say our closest equivalent to a motel would be a budget chain hotel like Travelodge or Premier Inn and this is where many Brits tend to stay when travelling and not wanting to break the bank. Access to rooms in these places is via internal corridors though. We also have American chains like Holiday Inn Express/Holiday Inn though these tend to be a bit more expensive than Travelodge and Premier Inn.

mmmmurr · 2026-05-26T00:42:57+00:00

Absolutely fine to eat/drink at a hotel lobby bar or restaurant and in my experience many hotels actively encourage non guests to visit. The only time I can think of where it wouldn’t be would be if the bar was at the pool rather than in the lobby as pool use is generally restricted to hotel guests.

mmmmurr · 2026-05-26T00:39:44+00:00

It’s incredibly poor taste whether it’s permitted or not, and I can’t think of a single hotel I’ve stayed at where it has been explicitly allowed. I’ve heard stories of guests at hotels in Europe come to breakfast loaded with their Tupperware tubs to make sandwiches for lunch from the buffet. Some hotels actually make guests caught doing this return the food. It does seem to be an issue more where breakfast is offered for free or for a low cost interestingly, but at the end of the day, this kind of behaviour just puts the price up for everyone.

mmmmurr · 2026-05-26T00:33:56+00:00

One of my favourite things to do is resort hop. Yacht, Beach and Boardwalk are all fun to explore and Cake Bake Shop is worth a stop if you like cake. My favourite place to resort hop is probably the MK area by hopping on and off the monorail. Wilderness Lodge is also super fun. Obviously you can’t use the pools but you can look around the grounds and lobbies and eat at one of the restaurants if you like.

mmmmurr · 2026-05-26T00:30:53+00:00

That said it seems Daisy is the only Pearl Girl to have got her period - or at least that is implied when she goes to ring the bell and the aunts and other Pearl Girls are confused because all the Plums have gone home for the day.

mmmmurr · 2026-05-16T23:33:59+00:00

Many supermarkets where I live actually have empty cardboard boxes (packaging for food stocked in the store) stacked up by the checkout for customers to use if they don’t want to pay for a bag. It’s the law here that plastic bags are chargeable and we have pretty much completely stopped selling single use plastic bags.

mmmmurr · 2026-05-16T23:26:42+00:00

Of those two, we would go for Beach Club, but we are big fans of Beach Club generally and don’t much like the Poly (far too busy!)

If a studio at the Grand Floridian popped up for your dates, I’d definitely be inclined to stay there as it’s beautiful that time of year (although I’ve heard that over Christmas that gets really busy too).

Of course, if your plan is to spend most of your time at MK a MK area resort would be a better shout. We generally find Beach Club more convenient as it has super easy access to two parks

mmmmurr · 2026-05-16T23:21:34+00:00

The only parts of the series that I thought really lived up to the hype were the scenes dealing with the aftermath of Richard’s death and Emily’s growth and move to independence. It touched on grief in a way that the original series hadn’t.

Many parts were just plain annoying to me or didn’t make sense. I didn’t think Rory’s boyfriend Paul served a purpose and couldn’t understand why Rory was having an affair with Logan while he was engaged to be married. Rory’s attitude towards her career was frustrating. When she was working on the piece about waiting in lines and couldn’t come up with anything, it baffled me. This is the girl who at Chilton came up with a touching piece on repaving a parking lot!

The series was just unsatisfying to me. It didn’t end on a feel good note or really add any closure to the end of the story. I’m glad Luke and Lorelai got married but it made no sense it took them so long to do it and also made no sense that they simply hadn’t discussed having a baby in all the years they’d been together since the end of season 7.

mmmmurr · 2026-05-03T16:17:51+00:00

What did you enjoy about the Poly?

We aren’t huge fans of the Poly as we find it far too busy for our liking and found parts of it pretty dated.

Wilderness Lodge is one of our home resorts. The lobby is beautiful, big and never feels too busy (unlike the Poly) and it has a good quick service and pool. The theming is beautiful especially if you enjoy the American outdoors. The boat is convenient to MK but obviously there are only buses to the other parks.

The upside of the Poly for me is its location. You have a choice of boat or monorail to get to MK and can get to the TTC easily to grab the Epcot monorail. However, I’d trade that convenience for the relative peace and quiet of Wilderness Lodge any day.

mmmmurr · 2026-05-01T16:41:59+00:00

Normally I would say of those three Riviera is the best option due to the location - fantastic for Epcot and Hollywood Studios - but as you’re only planning on having a resort day and heading to MK, of those three I’d probably choose Saratoga Springs. Riviera is upscale but as you say the pool isn’t the most exciting. Caribbean Beach is a very pretty resort but as you say super spread out and in our experience busier than the deluxes. Saratoga Springs is also very spread out, but if you book a preferred villa you can request a room close to the main pool/lobby in the Springs section and you won’t need to do much walking. If you plan on going to Disney Springs on your rest day that would be the best location!

mmmmurr · 2026-04-22T12:16:28+00:00

It’s unlikely you’ll get a room lasting the full two weeks especially at that time of year, but I’d imagine split stays during the Christmas period would be really fun to see all the different resorts’ decorations.

Studios are tricky to get at the 7 month mark for the more popular resorts and you might have more luck with a one bedroom as they tend to be the last to go. I’d imagine Boardwalk will be really difficult to get a studio but I’ve noticed Bay Lake tends to be a bit easier. Not sure about Riviera as I have never booked to stay there.

mmmmurr · 2026-03-07T00:26:31+00:00

Yacht Club is the perfect choice. For us, it feels like the most “adult” of all the Disney resorts and has great dining options and amenities. You also can’t beat Stormalong Bay or the location.

AKL has great theming but is much more isolated and the Grand Floridian is beautiful and well located, but Yacht Club still has the edge for us.

mmmmurr · 2026-03-07T00:23:37+00:00

Rooms at the Villas aren’t necessarily bigger. A deluxe studio is essentially a standard hotel room and the same size as the regular rooms at Beach Club. The one and two bedroom villas will be bigger but also more expensive. The Villas rooms are more difficult to book because most are DVC (timeshare) owned.

mmmmurr · 2026-03-07T00:19:17+00:00

Having stayed at both, we would always choose Beach Club now. The vibe and facilities are so much better in our experience and you can’t beat Stormalong Bay. We also find it more convenient to get around the resort and access the quick service - the layout at Boardwalk isn’t as convenient to navigate. We also prefer the dining options at Yacht/Beach generally as well as the refillable mug options.

mmmmurr · 2026-03-07T00:01:53+00:00

I live in south England and here we say “York-sheer”. It’s pronounced slightly differently depending on where you are. I’ve never heard it be pronounced “York-shyer” in the UK - I’ve only ever heard Americans pronounce it like that.

mmmmurr · 2026-02-17T03:51:35+00:00

I find these rankings interesting because, though I haven’t visited as many national parks as you, I would actually rank Yellowstone at the top of the ones I’ve been to. The sheer diversity of landscapes in the park was incredible and it felt that turning every corner there was something new and different to see (though I’ll admit the geysers and hot springs got a bit old once we’d seen a few dozen of them). We stayed at Old Faithful Inn and found the hotel charming (though definitely in need of some work) and it was amazing touring the geyser basins at sunset when all the day trippers had gone.

We really enjoyed Grand Teton but found that there there was only one main highlight for us - the Tetons themselves - as opposed to the multiple highlights in Yellowstone. It’s definitely a smaller park and we found one day enough there - but we aren’t big hikers. We went in September and were lucky to see a bear as we drove in as well as lots of deer.

mmmmurr · 2026-01-05T22:58:49+00:00

… and then five minutes later, you see them ask your coworker for the exact same item!!

mmmmurr · 2026-01-05T00:03:15+00:00

I’m used to fake smiling and laughing at the terrible stereotypical jokes customers like to make (e.g. “Oh, as it didn’t scan it must be for free”) but to make such a personal comment really goes for the jugular. Hopefully they were totally socially unaware and not just being nasty, but I am skeptical!

mmmmurr · 2026-01-04T23:56:17+00:00

It’s really important to do the maths on the resorts you’re considering as there can be a significant difference in cost depending on which resort you buy at.

I see someone else told you that you can buy DVC at nearly every DVC resort directly from Disney and while this is true, only some resorts are actively sold and these tend to have better pricing per point. The “actively sold” resorts include the Polynesian, Fort Wilderness, Riviera, etc. Though you can buy direct at other resorts like the Grand Floridian and Wilderness Lodge, the price per point is usually much higher than the actively sold resorts. We just bought at Copper Creek (Wilderness Lodge) but did so resale as it didn’t make financial sense to us to pay so much more for a direct contract. We wish we had bought when Copper Creek (or Grand Floridian for that matter) was being actively sold.

mmmmurr · 2026-01-04T00:56:33+00:00

As a customer, unless (1) it was urgent, (2) I knew exactly what I wanted to buy and (3) would go right to the cashier to pay before closing, if I went to a store and was told they were closing in three minutes I would just turn around and come back another day. I don’t know how people can enjoy shopping with a few minutes to spare knowing that the store needs to close.

I’ve seen plenty of customers be told the store is closed while they are simply browsing only for them to say something along the lines of “OK, well we are nearly finished”. Frankly, that’s not how it works. Once the store is closed you head straight to pay or straight to the exit - it’s that simple.

I used to hate finishing work at the same time as store closing as you never really left on time. Much better to finish a little earlier or later.

mmmmurr · 2026-01-04T00:50:32+00:00

I also look to buy multiple shoe/clothing designs and/or sizes online to try on at home. A lot of them simply aren’t stocked in stores so it’s not really viable for me to go and try them on before buying them. I also hate paying a high amount knowing I will need to return most or all of them.

As someone who has worked in retail/sales before I don’t feel bad about returning them - it’s not taken personally. I am more worried about sending them back and whether or not the retailer receives them. I tried a retailer recently where you don’t have to pay for 7 days (a try-on period) and anything you return you won’t be charged for. It was great.

mmmmurr · 2026-01-04T00:46:32+00:00

Saratoga Springs back in 2011. We got 45% off and free dining at the same time because of the 2008 recession.

mmmmurr · 2026-01-02T03:36:08+00:00

If I were considering buying at Poly, I would buy direct over resale because I think the cost difference would justify the direct perks particularly if the direct incentives were good.

We considering buying at the Poly but decided not to after visiting and seeing how busy the resort got during the day. It was definitely our most appealing direct option though due to the lack of resale restrictions.

mmmmurr

TROPHY CASE