Jealousy Of The Deluxe Resorters...

[Shellieb1]

I agree staying at a Deluxe resort would be nice but come on be honest how long are you really planning on staying in the room? I look at it as a waste of money as I am usually out of the room by 8am and I don't get back to hit the hay until the last Park closes or I come back from Downtown. Except for the brief visit in the afternoon for a break and maybe a swim, why pay extra? POR is very nice and I have stayed there the past 5 times I have gone. Yes there is walking involved but the grounds are lovely and I don't mind. If you ask to stay at one of the bldgs near a bus stop the distance is really not as bad as you think. Plus you have the ability to take the boat to Downtown in the evening after a day in the Parks if you choose which is very relaxing. I LOVE it.

 

[stevehousse]

I agree staying at a Deluxe resort would be nice but come on be honest how long are you really planning on staying in the room? I look at it as a waste of money as I am usually out of the room by 8am and I don't get back to hit the hay until the last Park closes or I come back from Downtown. Except for the brief visit in the afternoon for a break and maybe a swim, why pay extra? POR is very nice and I have stayed there the past 5 times I have gone. Yes there is walking involved but the grounds are lovely and I don't mind. If you ask to stay at one of the bldgs near a bus stop the distance is really not as bad as you think. Plus you have the ability to take the boat to Downtown in the evening after a day in the Parks if you choose which is very relaxing. I LOVE it.

If u can afford to stay in a moderate resort, you can afford to rent points at a deluxe resort and it basically the same price!

 

[Shellieb1]

If u can afford to stay in a moderate resort, you can afford to rent points at a deluxe resort and it basically the same price!

Why would I want to rent points and be subject to the demands of the owner of the timeshare when I can book at a moderate without that constraint unless I am misunderstanding something. I find the whole timeshare thing confusing.

 

[stevehousse]

It seems more complicated than it really is...the only difference really is to treat it like you are using a travel agent. You don't book your room personally, a DVC owner does it for u. I wouldhighly recommend looking at David's dvc rental website! It explains everything and is a great money saver! I don't really understand any restrictions you are talking about?

 

[Shellieb1]

It seems more complicated than it really is...the only difference really is to treat it like you are using a travel agent. You don't book your room personally, a DVC owner does it for u. I wouldhighly recommend looking at David's dvc rental website! It explains everything and is a great money saver! I don't really understand any restrictions you are talking about?

Like assume there might be a problem trying to book for the time frame I would want to go as there might not be anything available or the pricing might be different that is what I am concerned with.

 

[stevehousse]

Like assume there might be a problem trying to book for the time frame I would want to go as there might not be anything available or the pricing might be different that is what I am concerned with.

Availability will always come into play wether a resort is available or not. And with the cost of renting points, most r typically 12-14 dollars a point. If u r intersted look at David's website. His is the most reputable and always costs 14 a point.

 

[Skibum1970]

We just came back. I checked WL prices two days before we left (we were booked for POR) and found that Disney discounted WL prices even further. We paid $250/night. So, with the assistance of those wonderful Disney Guest Services people, we moved our reservation on over to WL. It truly becomes magical at that point. I disagree with some. We stay at the resort and spend time there, meandering through the resort. At WL, I can literally just hang out and relax. That to us says something for the deluxe resort. We've done the parks and rode the rides so much that relaxing at the resort is now a part of our normal trip to WDW.

Staying at the deluxe makes going back to the moderates even more difficult. Regarding the Value resorts, my wife categorically refused to even consider one (said that they look like shopping centers).

 

[slappy magoo]

It seems more complicated than it really is...the only difference really is to treat it like you are using a travel agent. You don't book your room personally, a DVC owner does it for u. I wouldhighly recommend looking at David's dvc rental website! It explains everything and is a great money saver! I don't really understand any restrictions you are talking about?

I've never used David's but know people who had and speak highly of his services. I've written to him for questions when I was thinking about renting some points to complement our next trip where we didn't own enough points for the length of time we wanted; he was pleasant and not pushy at all. In my situation, renting those extra points didn't make sense because DVC members can get a discount for DVC rooms, and in my case, the room type I wanted with a ember discount was comparable to the cost of renting points. But for non-members, and especially for studios versus 1BR units, the savings can be striking.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Hmm, is that really true? As far as I can tell, renting DVC points can work out to about $200 a night at the lowest. Am I right or does is it possible to get it cheaper than that? Low-season moderates are ~$150 a night. And that's not counting "special offers", like room discount or free dining, which I presume you can't get with DVC point rental. I mean it's not a huge jump, but it still adds up to a chunk of change over a week or more stay.

The well-known DVC renters charge $14/point. That’s the high-end of the market.

DVC’s least expensive months are January and September. October, November (except for Thanksgiving week), and December (except for Christmas week) are only a few points more, barely noticeable over a week. Weekly point totals needs and average cost/night:

- Old Key West (OKW) Studio: 76 points, $152/night
- Animal Kingdom Villas (AKV) Value Studio: 69 points, $138/night
- AKV Standard View Studio: 81 points, $162/night
- Boardwalk Villas (BWV) Standard View Studio: 76 points, $152/night

During Magic Season (e.g. summer, spring break excluding Easter week, Thanksgiving week), DVC points and point rental costs are much higher:

- Old Key West (OKW) Studio: 108 points, $216/night
- Animal Kingdom Villas (AKV) Value Studio: 95 points, $190/night
- AKV Standard View Studio: 116 points, $232/night
- Boardwalk Villas (BWV) Standard View Studio: 108 points, $216/night

OKW and AKV Standard View rooms are pretty easy to book. There are only a few AKV Value rooms while BWV Standard View rooms are very popular. These are much more difficult to book.

For comparison, a standard room at Caribbean Beach Resort (CBR) this spring break (excluding Easter) is $183/night with 25% discount. Generally, CBR is the least expensive Moderate Resort and WDW has been offering “Room Only” discounts for a large chunk of the year.

DVC and cash rooms do not follow the same pricing seasons. As a result, price differentials vary greatly for specific dates.

There are times when DVC room rentals can be less expensive than Moderate Resort rooms. This especially is true during holiday periods when WDW does not offer cash room discounts.

If someone really wants to stay at a Deluxe Resort and can afford a Moderate Resort, then a DVC rental offers one way to bridge the price gap.

 

[Potter]

Jealous of someone who pays $400 a night to stay in a shoe box and subject to WDW's inefficient public transportation when you can have this for $180ish a night, onsite and only 5 to 10 minutes from all the parks? I don't think so.

Wyndham Bonnet Creek 3 BR Presidential Suite

 

[horizons82]

I can say I'm FINALLY going to "live the dream" and will be staying at the hotel I've always wanted to stay at--The Contemporary--as part as my 40th B-Day later this year.

I've never stayed on-site because there are other off-site options close-by where you get more bang for your buck, but the Contemporary is so iconic and it's awesome as heck with the monorail going through it, so it's going to be a 40th B-Day splurge. I have always wanted to stay there and I can't wait!

 

[Shellieb1]

I hope you have a great time andI hope the sound of the Monorails going through it though does not bother you to much. When I was waiting for the Monorail from the Contemporary last Oct I was speaking to guests who were staying there and they said the they could hear the comings and goings of the Monorail as well as the crowds of people that disembark and/or get on in their room. They said that they were not to happy and complained to the front desk but they were unable to get a room in a better location. Good luck. You might want to ask to be put on the top floor!

 

[rael ramone]

Jealous of someone who pays $400 a night to stay in a shoe box and subject to WDW's inefficient public transportation when you can have this for $180ish a night, onsite and only 5 to 10 minutes from all the parks? I don't think so.

Wyndham Bonnet Creek 3 BR Presidential Suite

Many who have stayed at "Deluxe Resorts" outside the bubble (whether in Orlando or in other areas) expect a certain level of amenities - amenities they feel the Mouses resorts do not offer. Many others enjoy the Deluxes, even at their price points. It's good to know what your expectations are before you take the plunge.

Personally, one that I *do* think is worth it is Animal Kingdom Lodge - Jambo House - Arusha Savanna view *IF* (and that is a very, very, big IF), it is of the 2-3 day variety - and you spend your time exclusively at the resort. There are many, many lookout points around the hotel besides the 3 'public' areas - all the external stairways at the wing tips, plus other windows. The hotel itself has tons of interesting African artifacts & displays (walk every corridor you have access to).

The others - you can get a 'taste' of them (w/o paying those price points) by going through them and touring their common public areas. And most of the 'good stuff' foodwise is found at the hotels restaurants. A good evening is a dinner at Citricos (get the veal shank and make sure you get a mini-fork for the marrow), then sitting down in the lobby and listening to the orchestra - then have the valet pick up your car and you drive back to your less expensive accomodations.

 

[horizons82]

I certainly do have different expectations for the WDW deluxe resorts compared to places like the nearby Ritz Carlton, Hyatt Grand Cypress, and Waldorf and the like, but it's just something I've always wanted to do. The time of year we are going will also be during a value season, so it's not like we'll be paying top-rate (which I wouldn't do no matter how much I've wanted to go).

Plus, we will be doing the MK and Epcot over the course of 3-4 days and want to be able to just leave our car and monorail everywhere, so I'm really excited. It's one of those things I'll probably be thrilled to do once, but wouldn't expect to do it again.

 

[Millerworld]

We have stayed at CSR and POR and were planning on going back to CSR this September. We thoroughly enjoyed both of those by the way. On the weekend, we upgraded to WL for 10 nights this September instead. We have a 35% off PIN for deluxes, so that helped. I 'fear' we will have now set the bar and there will be no going back. We are already talking about where we would like to stay next, and thinking about BC. We spend a fair amount of time at our resort on our vacation, not just at the parks, so the amenities and proximity to certain things makes a big difference to us. Otherwise I likely wouldn't care where I stayed on-site.

 

[Marijil]

Jealous of someone who pays $400 a night to stay in a shoe box and subject to WDW's inefficient public transportation when you can have this for $180ish a night, onsite and only 5 to 10 minutes from all the parks? I don't think so.

Wyndham Bonnet Creek 3 BR Presidential Suite

wow

 

[MOUSEGIRL]

We love staying at the contemporary. We have never had a problem with noise from the monorails, I was worried about that but never had a problem. We have stayed at all levels and will never go anyplace but a deluxe. Its not the room for me its the easy of getting to the parks quickly and not waiting for a bus all the time.

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

We will NEVER ever stay again at a WDW deluxe Resort. We stayed at the WL; the Poly, the AKL and the YC and with the exception of the WL we had bad experiences at all the other deluxes. WDW has a SERIOUS problem with housekeeping, especially the AKL was a major disapointment. we only stayed there for one night because our room was a dirty, filthy nightmare with cobwebs and the most dusty curtains I ever saw at a hotel. When you touched the curtains the dust fell of it like in some attic. The lamps above the beds looked quite similar to those in the HM but it was REAL. We only called the room the "Haunted Mansion Room" and it took some time for us to get the resort manager to finally come to uns personally to take a look at the room. We only stayed for one night and changed to the Yacht Club next morning for the remaining 6 days of our stay. And because the room and the stay at the YC was perfect we thought we had finally found a CLEAN WDW deluxe resort. Boy were we wrong. Next stay, 2012 we decided to stay there again but this time we experienced an odyssee trough the resort that took 3 rooms! until we finally found a clean room. After we got our room key cards we went to our first room to find it a mess, not even the table was clean, ist was still sticky and dirty, quite unappealing. So we called for the house keeping manager. He totally understood our complaints and we went to a different room. He went in for a minute to check the room and when he got out he said quote:"I cannot accept that any one should stay in this room". So our search continued, when we finally found a clean room it was unacceptable loud because the AC was malfunctioning so we finally got a fourth room for one night, because there was no other room available and the one we slept in was only vacant for this night. Next day we got a perfect room and we got complementary club level as a compensation but the perfect impression from our first YC stay was gone forever.
And at the Poly we had already in 2010 experienced a loud AC (unacceptable at this price level!), furniture with coffee creamer stains, a balcony full of cobwebs and dirty windows. We complained three times. On the first complaint they removed the cobwebs but didn't clean the windows. Second complaint, nothing happened, third complaint, this time at a considerable higher level of loudness, they nearly got it this time but a really clean window (and we had lagoon view!) looks still different. We got a complimentary night as compensation but I had waited for the day I could stay at Poly since childhood (childhood dream since 1982 when I saw the Polynesian Village Resort for the first time from the monorail as a day guest with my mother) and the magic was gone. And with the devastating informations about the planned "defurbishing" of the Poly GCH, I am definitely sure that I will never stay there ever again because the Poly is not the Poly without the waterfalls in the lobby (and Dole Whip at Captain Cooks). Shame on you TDO!
We had a perfect stay at the WL however but that was our first stay at a WDW resort ever and it was in 2007, I don't know if the WL has gone downhill too since then because the problems with the mousekeeping seem to be a general WDW problem. We would like to stay there again but we are quite anxious that a bad experience there today would finally even damage the good memories of the perfect stay there too.
After the last stay at the YC we so far decided to never stay at a deluxe resort again, it's just not worth the money. If we want to try out deluxe again we will go to the Swan or Dolphin but so far if we go the WDW again we prefer to stay at the AoA, it's our new favorite.

 

[Stevek]

We've stayed at AKL, Pop and are about to stay at Caribbean Beach. Based on the little amount of time we spent in the room, I would never pay what Disney charges for the deluxe resorts. When I can get a room at the Hilton on the beach in Hawaii for $179, I have a hard time rationalizing the cost Disney charges so I can see fireworks or have monorail access to the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Brickcity Pauly]

I would love to stay at a Deluxe at some point. Maybe I'll rent points on my next trip. I realyl want to stay at the Contemporary or Poly at some point. Maybe even Boardwalk.