Tacking on Disney to the end of a beach trip...

We are thinking of doing the Sandpearl Resort in Clearwater Beach. Because it is only a 90 min drive, we had the idea of doing 5 nights at Sandpearl, then driving to Disney, doing 2 nights there, and flying home from Orlando. We know we would do 1st day at MK, 2nd day at Epcot, 3rd morning at MK before we head to airport. My question is, should we do monorail resort since it is only a quick 2 night trip, and a bulk of our time will be spent at MK? We don't plan on going to Disney Springs or the Boardwalk either. Dinner both nights would be at the parks we are in.
Sandpearl is expensive, so DH thinks we should AOA. I would rather do connecting rooms at a monorail resort- one room for us and our youngest, the other kids in the connecting room. Thoughts?

Re: Tacking on Disney to the end of a beach trip...

You can, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Especially since it sounds like your kids are older, I’d choose a less expensive resort for such a short stay. It sounds like you’ll be in the parks all day during your couple of days there. Why spend twice as much when you’re just going to sleep in a bed? If it were a longer trip, if you were planning resort days, if you had very young children, maybe it would be worth it. With the circumstances you’re describing, I’d save the money and go with a moderate or value resort.

Edited for typo

Message edited 1/15/2018 10:54:03 PM.

Re: Tacking on Disney to the end of a beach trip...

That's a huge difference in price. I agree with the PP. But I'm not sure what your budget is. Only you know what else you would do with that money.

You didn't ask this, but can you do Disney before Sandpearl? You will need the break afterwards.

Re: Tacking on Disney to the end of a beach trip...

We usually go to Disney as a “tack on” to a beach trip. I think the kids get “Disneyed out” after 2 days.

We’ve done that from Sarasota, Naples and Ft Lauderdale.

We stay offsite and drive to the park to get the best hotel for our budget. We usually will spend a day at the hotel itself. It’s no big deal (I’ve done it solo w 3 young kids). Of course, staying at the monorail is great too (but you are going to pay more).

Tacking on Disney to the end of a beach trip...

Thank you for the advice. We will probably not have any time to do the pool or anything- and I don't find it necessary since we will be coming off of 6 days at a beach resort with pools. The more I think about it, everyone is right- it does make more sense for a cheaper hotel for just 2 nights and no resort hang out time.
What are everyone's feelings on AOA? We would probably try for a Lion King suite. Can we even do connecting rooms at POP or All stars?

Re: Tacking on Disney to the end of a beach trip...

Message edited 1/16/2018 10:13:57 PM.

Tacking on Disney to the end of a beach trip...

You could probably get a cheaper room offsite, especially since you’ll have the rental car.

Re: Tacking on Disney to the end of a beach trip...

I would try for the Contemporary or other monorail hotel, but I don't know the cost for the room size you need. It's convenience vs cost. For me, the short stay and mostly MK would make me more likely to stay in a monorail hotel than our usual stays. If not staying on the monorail, I prefer to drive to the parks because I don't like buses. But, the MK is the most inconvenient of the parks to drive to because you need to park at the Ticket and Transportation Center.

Re: Tacking on Disney to the end of a beach trip...

How many kids do you have? I would choose a monorail resort if I was only staying 3 days/2 nights however, I always choose monorail if I can afford it.

Re: Tacking on Disney to the end of a beach trip...

As someone else suggested I would try to do Disney before resort. I always feel like I need a vacation after Disney.

We recently stayed at Hilton Bonnet Creek in Orlando and I felt like definitely more luxury than Disney accommodations. They offer bus service to parks but when I missed bus one day I took a car to parks and it was really pretty reasonable. Now I would probably just uber back and forth to parks no matter where I was staying.

Also from our experience you are really spending very minimal time in the rooms so if you can save a substantial amount I would do cheaper room.