Our March trip to WDW was great! We had to change the dates from our original plans because we were able earn an extension on our Southwest Companion Pass and we wanted to take advantage of that. This meant that we had to rebook our hotel and ended up with quite a bit of a downgrade from our original reservation at Yacht Club to All Star Sports. I really don't have a problem with the All Stars, and although the transportation to and from the parks is less than ideal, I'm willing to stay there because being at a WDW hotel is better than not being at one!
When we checked in, it was immediately obvious that there were some high school and college student groups staying there. And by some, I mean A LOT. The food court and the outdoor areas were filled with large noisy groups. Listen. I get it. The All Stars are the most economical option for school groups and I'm really glad the students could experience such a cool trip. I myself went to WDW in high school on a band trip and have very fond memories all these years later. That being said, I wasn't particularly interested in remaining at All Star Sports for our trip. We decided to see if there was availability at any other resorts so we could move to a different hotel, and fortunately, we found that Animal Kingdom Lodge was available, so we calculated the difference in price for upgrading and went to the front desk to make arrangements to move the next morning.
The cast member we spoke with really had no idea what he was talking about. First, he told us that changing resorts was prohibited. Prohibited? What? We informed him that in fact, no, that was not true, and that we had done it before. At that point, he "went in the back" only to return to tell us that we could change resorts but there would be a $200 penalty fee. Again, incorrect. We told him we wanted to speak with a supervisor and ended up dealing with a manager who immediately said yes, of course we could change resorts! Before we could even get into the cost, she asked where we wanted to go, so we told her we'd found availability at Animal Kingdom Lodge. She said she needed to call over there to confirm, and when she returned, she informed us that we were all set for the next day, to drop off our luggage at bell services in the morning so they could transport it over to AKL for us, and to have a great stay. We were a bit confused and asked about the increase in price and she told us there was no additional cost to us! Pixie dust! What a wonderful surprise! If you know the difference between All Star Sports and AKL, you know how amazing this was!
The next morning, we checked out, dropped our bags off at bell services, and went about our day at the parks before checking in to AKL, where our luggage had been delivered. Disney service at its finest all the way around!
We made the most of our weekend and were able to pack in all four parks, as you'll see from the photo dump below! We've rented DVC points for the final three weekend trips of the school year, which we are very much looking forward to! I'm not looking forward to the impending Florida heat, but I digress!
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