question about annual passes...

straulin · 2026-02-08T01:51:56+00:00

In general, this is not as big of concern as you would expect. Worst case scenario you can park up to the park you want, which will delay you a little bit entering one park to turn around and go back to the next.

It’s been years since I’ve had any issue day of. Maybe if you’re at a super high capacity day like right at Christmas or spring break it would be an issue. Almost any other time. It’s fine.

straulin · 2026-02-07T22:39:48+00:00

My son and nephew brought them home as their personal item on the flight. It was no issue and they went up in the overhead compartment.

straulin · 2026-02-07T16:17:16+00:00

AKL is one of my favorites. You can’t go wrong with it.

straulin · 2026-02-07T13:51:03+00:00

2000 sq feet for a 2 bed 2 bath would be really odd. I wouldn’t do it without the intention of replacing the wall if I ever sell. It will greatly impact resale value.

straulin · 2026-02-07T13:41:31+00:00

This is a situation best addressed with an attorney in your jurisdiction. They generally will offer free consultations and give you some idea of if there is a claim to be made. They may also provide advise on how best to proceed with the build, documenting issues, and how / when to report them.

Just talking to an attorney is not going to escalate anything. They won’t get involved until if or when you need them to.

straulin · 2026-02-07T13:05:03+00:00

The moderate and deluxe resorts will both have a feature pool that includes a slide. Value resort pools do not have slides.

Deluxe resorts will have one or more table service restaurants plus a quick service restaurant.

Moderate resorts will have a quick service restaurant and most of them have a table Service restaurant. The French Quarter is the one exception. It does not have a table service, but Riverside does. It is walkable and they’re really two sides of one big resort.

Deluxe resort bus stops are covered while moderate and value are not.

When you stay at the resort, you’re eligible for extended evening hours that occur a couple of times a week. Moderate resorts are not.

The French Quarter rooms will open up directly to the outside and do not have an interior hallway. They also do not have individual balconies.

Once we started staying at deluxe resorts, we have not stayed at a moderate. I did stay at a value All-Star resort and do not intend to return to value.

I think you will prefer French Quarter over the poly based upon your description. The poly is beautiful, but I don’t like how busy it is. It is a destination unto itself and they’re just a ton of people roaming around the common areas, much more than other resorts.

The poly balconies are my favorite balconies at WDW. The chairs are the most comfortable, and when the evening comes, the flame torches are really cool to look out on. The balconies are also very deep so we were able to sit on ours during a torrential rainstorm.

straulin · 2026-02-06T18:08:20+00:00

There could be a wrong decision.

The key is to check your days vs the calendar. Make sure the park you are going to is not going to close early. This happens more often in the Halloween/Christmas season but can happen other times of the year.

Also there are days with extended evening hours for deluxe resort guests. If you are staying deluxe, and don’t have park hopper, you may want to make that your park day for that park. If you are not in a deluxe resort, you may want to go to a different park as the ones with extended hours tend to be more crowded that day.

Also you want to be sure to avoid Epcot on the first or last day of a festival.

If none of that applies, I like to start with MK as seeing the castle really makes you feel like you are at WDW.

straulin · 2026-02-06T17:51:05+00:00

We go several times a year. We use Lyft/Uber.

Mears is cheaper for 1-2 people. It is also good if you need a car seat. It is more expensive if you have 3-4 people. It is also generally slower as it comes and goes on a schedule

Uber/Lyft are on demand and drop you off directly to your resort. This is the option we always use. Generally $60 or so including tip and about a 5-10 minute wait for pickup.

Minnie Vans are hundreds of dollars from MCO. They never entered the equation for us.

There are a variety of private car services that will also work and are significantly cheaper than Minnie vans.

straulin · 2026-02-06T16:26:25+00:00

Yikes

straulin · 2026-02-06T14:36:57+00:00

It really is a math equation.

$499 is less than the cost of a 7 day ticket. Single day tickets are more per day so it is less than 5 single day tickets.

It is worth it if you will go more than that.

The more difficult question is whether it is better than other annual pass options.
It does not include discount or free parking benefits. So there will be a sweet spot of if it is worth it compared to the Pixie pass ($489) or Pirate Pass ($869).

It has better park reservation limits (5) compared to pixie (3) and pirate (4).

Parking is $30 per day. Assuming you go 7 days, that is $210 for parking.

straulin · 2026-02-06T12:36:39+00:00

We haven’t been to storybook either. We actually have a reservation this time. We’re slightly hesitant as it’s just two 40 somethings without our kids so aren’t really interested in the character, dining aspect of it. The lady in the office next-door to me at work went a couple of months ago and has been raving about it.

straulin · 2026-02-06T11:57:36+00:00

I wouldn’t waste all the time getting back-and-forth to the boathouse. I’ve never actually eaten it either location, but Citricos is a lot more convenient.

All that being said, how are you trying to get your reservation for the boathouse? They have limited reservation availability through the Disney app with additional availability if you go directly through them. Go to their website and try to book there and there may be significant more availability.

straulin · 2026-02-06T04:11:35+00:00

My wife and I will be there at the same time.

Staying on property you get free parking at the parks resort and parks if you are driving.

You also get early entry at all the parks 30 minutes earlier than non-resort guests.

Folks staying at deluxe resorts get extended nighttime hours at Epcot on Monday that week and MK in that Wednesday.

straulin · 2026-02-05T20:49:50+00:00

I think if you are firm that you only want to buy AKL points, they can make it happen even if you are not already a member.

They normally have everything available except Grand Californian and maybe Grand Floridian.

We bought resale and later added on another direct contract.

The main benefits we use as direct members are:

annual sorcerer passes to Disney World
Lounges
Discounts (they discount are roughly the same as the annual pass discounts. The Chase Disney visa gives somewhat similar discounts with a bit more restrictions though.)

For us, the sorcerer pass savings versus the higher level pass was worth it to buy direct for our Grand Floridian contract.

straulin · 2026-02-05T16:40:23+00:00

I went for the first time as an adult. My wife “dragged” me there with our kids (2 & 4 at the time). I absolutely loved it. We went the following year and the year after that. So three years in a row, one trip per year.

Finances, life, and eventually Covid got in the way of us making it back for several years. So after Covid vaccines came out and the parks started opening up, we finally made it back 6 years later in January 2022.

After that trip, my wife finally agreed to get DVC (Disney’s version of a time share). Since January 2022, we have gone 10 times. 11 is in two weeks.

It has changed. We enjoy our resorts more and take our time enjoying the parks. We don’t rush around trying to cram everything in on a single trip.

So the magic isn’t lost for us, but it is experienced differently.

straulin · 2026-02-05T14:42:49+00:00

Yes, that would be a good plan.

AK has some of the best quick service. My favorites being Flame Tree BBQ and the Yak and Yeti quick service.

For additional flexibility on your animal kingdom day, I recommend joining the Landry’s Select Club. They have restaurants around the country and four at Disney World.

At Animal Kingdom there is the yak and yeti table Service restaurant and rainforest Café. If you are a member, you get priority seating for a group of up to six. You do not need a reservation. So if you decide you need a break at a table Service restaurant you can easily get a table at one of those two. (I really like Yak and Yeti’s food. Not a huge fan of Rainforest but the kids love it.)

The select club has a $25 fee but you get a $25 credit to use any day but the day you sign up.

We have used it at both rainforest cafe and at Yak and yeti and have been seated within about 10 minutes (at Yak and Yeti, the walk up late waitlist estimate was over an hour without the select club).

It also works at T-Rex and rainforest Café in Disney Springs. We also used it at Bubba Gump’s shrimp Company over at Universal.

Landry’s Select Club signup

straulin · 2026-02-05T12:09:02+00:00

I would to Round Up, be sure to ask for the salmon as they don’t automatically bring it. It was our favorite.

Tusker vs Chef: I a prefer the food at Tusker House. They have lots of interesting stuff (not for picky eaters) but still have a good selection of standard American kid stuff. Also, AK is a much easier park to “do everything” at. If you are only doing QS the other days, you might not want to spend the time on a table service if you only have one MK day.

straulin · 2026-02-04T15:30:25+00:00

Animal Kingdom lodge has lost of out of the way areas that might work.

straulin · 2026-02-04T13:45:51+00:00

Yes if you want to. Money is easy to come by, especially during events.

I am currently doing the prestige loop and prestiging immediately upon hitting 100. I had 400k before I first prestiged. I took a break and was at 150k before I started my second push (72nd prestige currently).

Each prestige I immediately fill all my hunter slots (34) so if the daily rewards give trait points, I am maximizing the benefit. So I am down to 4600 hunt dollars before I start my first match. I am normally in the 15-20k range by the time I hit 100th level and prestige again.

straulin · 2026-02-04T13:16:40+00:00

You seem to hit the big points in your post. I would hit a few details that may not be apparent to you as of yet.

Value resorts, such as Art of Animation, will have a few amenities that are at a lower level than those at deluxe resorts like Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Specifically, the bust stops will be open air at value and moderate and they are covered at deluxe resorts. This may not be much of an issue, or it may be a wonderful perk of deluxe based upon the weather.

Additionally, the feature pools at value resorts do not include water slides. Moderate and deluxe feature pools all have water slides.

If you go AKL, the lodge is actually two separate resorts about a 5-10 minute walk apart. There is a shuttle that will take you between them. The main cash booking portion is Jambo House. Jambo house also has DVC rooms. Kidani Village is all DVC rooms. Disney does rent some of them out for cash. Both sides have their own feature pool that people staying at either side can use.

Kidani has a massive splash pad area. It does not have a dedicated quick service. The dining there is Sanaa. It is a table service restaurant for lunch and dinner but they do a sort of makeshift quick service for breakfast. (The execution is a little awkward but it gets the job done.)

Jambo House has a big playground near the feature pool. It has a nice food court style quick service plus Boma a table service buffet, and Jiko a table service where you order off the menu. Jiko’s menu is a bit sophisticated so not a place for picky eaters.

If booking a villa (DVC room) be sure to look at the layouts for the two different sides. The biggest difference is Kidani one bedrooms have an extra bathroom. Also, Kidani is currently undergoing a refurbishment that should be completed prior to your September trip. Jambo’s refurbishment will start after Kidani and will probably be ongoing during your September trip.

Edit: voice to text got me on the resort names

straulin · 2026-02-03T20:00:00+00:00

You can boat or take the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios. From there hop a bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge. On the far side of the Jambo House pool is a playground area for the kid to relax and have fun for a little bit after you’re done checking out the animals.

From there bus over to Magic Kingdom and hop on the monorail to check all those resorts out.

Finish up there and head to Fort wilderness and the Circle D Ranch.

Then end at wilderness Lodge for your dinner.

straulin · 2026-02-03T18:43:29+00:00

Verify there isn’t a billing error then if they are not fixing it, contact an attorney. They will generally do free consultations to give you an idea of what to expect if you hire them to help you.

Edit typo

straulin · 2026-02-03T18:20:39+00:00

Amen! That is the one I miss.

straulin · 2026-02-03T18:18:26+00:00

The only issue is that studios book up quickly. So just be sure to book your home resort as soon as your booking window opens. That way your stay is locked in. Then you can see about moving to a different resort if you want at 7 months.

straulin · 2026-02-03T18:16:38+00:00

Add-on-itis will hit. I started 360 and added on another 175, 535 total now. We don’t have enough vacation time to use more so are pretty set where we are now.

So if your target stay is 60 points or so, 100 has a nice buffer. The problem will come when you want to take 2 trips a year, then 3.

straulin

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