So Your Staying at a Disney Resort.!

[real mad hatter]

Just wondering about this.How lucky do you consider yourself's to be staying at a Disney resort.? Do you take it for granted.At the end of the day it's all about money,some folk just splash the cash while others save frantically to make their dreams come true.The reason I ask is friends of ours own their own business and have one boy ( 8 ) and go to Florida every year since he was born.Up until this year they stayed in a villa,just the three of them,but when they heard we stayed onsite,they booked GF for three weeks,money being no object.So last week we met them at our supermarket and I asked their son if he enjoyed staying onsite at Disney's flagship resort?His answer.." Yeh,it was ok." Which got me thinking,what a spoilt child,the three weeks at GF must have cost them a small fortune.They even went by Virgin airlines,First Class. What are your thoughts about this. Does your children appreciate how much a WDW vacation costs in this day and age.I know my DS does as he is already saving in his Mickey bank for 2014.

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Just wondering about this.How lucky do you consider yourself's to be staying at a Disney resort.? Do you take it for granted.At the end of the day it's all about money,some folk just splash the cash while others save frantically to make their dreams come true.The reason I ask is friends of ours own their own business and have one boy ( 8 ) and go to Florida every year since he was born.Up until this year they stayed in a villa,just the three of them,but when they heard we stayed onsite,they booked GF for three weeks,money being no object.So last week we met them at our supermarket and I asked their son if he enjoyed staying onsite at Disney's flagship resort?His answer.." Yeh,it was ok." Which got me thinking,what a spoilt child,the three weeks at GF must have cost them a small fortune.They even went by Virgin airlines,First Class. What are your thoughts about this. Does your children appreciate how much a WDW vacation costs in this day and age.I know my DS does as he is already saving in his Mickey bank for 2014.

Did you ask about the Parks part of their vacation? If he responsed the same way, I would think he's either spoiled (and needs a swift kick in the bum) or burned out with WDW (it could happen). Maybe he just didn't like GF or needs a break. I wouldn't like staying at GF, but that's me.

Our boys understand that our WDW trips are few and far between because of cost, and they appreciate them.

 

[real mad hatter]

OMG I was just going to quote what I always said to my son when he was growing up ... "Just because you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, be careful you don't choke on it later on in life" I am proud to say, hes a realist, and whatever money he has now, he offers to give me towards vacations. IMHO, I raised a fine young man!

Love it.You can't beat a happy ever after ending.

 

[Skibum1970]

I personally considerer myself lucky just to get to go WDW as it is an expensive trip. Staying onsite makes it even more special. Having stayed at the Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge, and Port Orleans Riverside, I would have a hard time going offsite. The airplane ride down is spent in anticipation of seeing Disney's Magical Express pull up and knowing that I will be getting on to go to my hotel. I get pretty geek'd up by it all. My wife is now a Disney fan but only if we stay onsite. We had stayed at a few offsite hotels where her mold allergies went nuts. After staying at the Contemporary while I was at a convention, she fell in love with it. Then, Port Orleans and Wilderness just finished it off. I could go and not stay onsite but feel that I would have shortchanged myself by doing so.

Regarding a kid's point of view, I knew when my parents didn't have enough money to go places and also fully appreciated when they sacrificed for us. Even when I still in single digits, I recognized their efforts. I almost feel bad for those that don't appreciate things as their enjoyment level seems like it would be lessened. More of an expectation and less of a "Wow" moment.

 

[s&k'smom]

First I have never felt out of place at GF we work all year (or two) to stay, sure we could do something different but I love it there. My kids have never felt out of place and I can tell you there have been afternoons my son has paced back and forth, flapping his arms doing his autism thing by the pool and never ever have I had someone say anything to him, stare or point as they have in his school. When my daughter gets upset with my working I tell her if we want the things we have mom needs to work and we talk about money and it's a good life lesson for her. 2nd I love to walk into the lobby it smells so good. I feel very lucky to go to wdw and we use every discount we can.

As for the movie Taken, I would love for Liam Neeson to rescue me.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

The last time I stayed onsite was 2006. And I didn't consider myself lucky at all. $630/night at the Poly and we got REALLY old lumpy stained mattresses, moldy wallpaper, and bath towels we could see through. I refuse to stay with Disney again. Or I should say, WDW again. We have had wonderful hotel experiences at The Grand Californian at The Disneyland Resort.

Everytime I tell "Dusters" about our experience they inform me that I should give it another try since the Poly got a significant refurb in 2007. I say sure I'll give Disney a do-over as soon as they refund the money from that miserable trip.

I should add that I have REALLY bad Disney timing. Grew up going to WDW and it formed a great part of who I am. I grew up watching Walt tell me all about Diswneyland and at the age of 40, I finally made it to Disneyland after about a million trips to WDW. Unfortunately for me it was 2001-2002, the height of the Pressler Era. The place was falling apart at the seams. I was less than impressed. I wanted to regain my faith in Disney so in 2006 I traveled to WDW and had a horrible stay at the Poly. Now I live in Orlando and refuse to go down there because the condition of the place just es me off.

But as for where we have stayed after 2006 and the resort that I recommend is The Ritz Carlton and J. W. Marriott at Grande Lakes. Never had a disappointing stay there.

I know that this post will mostly be ignored. So you guys can continue paying $600+/night for "Disney Quality". I recommend paying $250/night at the frickin' Ritz Carlton.

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

For us, staying on site is a given for a few different reasons.
Yes were "spoiled" and used to it, it's convenient and we feel taken care of, and also our vacations are a priority in our life.
We do not spend money frivolously. We rarely buy clothes or shoes or spend a lot on whatever we do. We never go anywhere else on vacation, not even local few day trips. We save for our money for our trips so we can have it the way we want it and want it enjoy ourselves.

 

[Skibum1970]

The last time I stayed onsite was 2006. And I didn't consider myself lucky at all. $630/night at the Poly and we got REALLY old lumpy stained mattresses, moldy wallpaper, and bath towels we could see through. I refuse to stay with Disney again. Or I should say, WDW again. We have had wonderful hotel experiences at The Grand Californian at The Disneyland Resort.

Everytime I tell "Dusters" about our experience they inform me that I should give it another try since the Poly got a significant refurb in 2007. I say sure I'll give Disney a do-over as soon as they refund the money from that miserable trip.

I should add that I have REALLY bad Disney timing. Grew up going to WDW and it formed a great part of who I am. I grew up watching Walt tell me all about Diswneyland and at the age of 40, I finally made it to Disneyland after about a million trips to WDW. Unfortunately for me it was 2001-2002, the height of the Pressler Era. The place was falling apart at the seams. I was less than impressed. I wanted to regain my faith in Disney so in 2006 I traveled to WDW and had a horrible stay at the Poly. Now I live in Orlando and refuse to go down there because the condition of the place just es me off.

But as for where we have stayed after 2006 and the resort that I recommend is The Ritz Carlton and J. W. Marriott at Grande Lakes. Never had a disappointing stay there.

I know that this post will mostly be ignored. So you guys can continue paying $600+/night for "Disney Quality". I recommend paying $250/night at the frickin' Ritz Carlton.

Thankfully, I've never had to pay $600/night to stay anywhere. Timing can be everything. Imagine going to WDW only to find that New Fantasyland was going to open one week after your trip or just going when work walls dominate everywhere.

 

[ShookieJones]

. Exactly Shookie.I never ram the pound/dollar down my sons throat,but he has the understanding of how much things cost in this day and age.For example,his Christmas present this year is a gaming machine which cost us over $1000.00. But he put some of his pocket money in to the pot,so to speak,the wee angel.

Funny that you say that about the gaming machine. Earlier this year my son had been saving up for a gaming PC. He was about half way there. Around that time I ran into the need for a better video editing PC, so I told him if saved up another 100 bucks that I will put the rest and we could "share" a new PC. He was thrilled and saved the money up from his chores very quickly. Now we both have ourselves a sweet little alienware we can play on. The best part about it is he's more than happy to get off of it when I need to do some fiddling with video...."no problem dad..it's yours too you paid half" Funny he's not that agreeable about getting off the Xbox I footed the entire bill for Xmas a few years back.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Thankfully, I've never had to pay $600/night to stay anywhere. Timing can be everything. Imagine going to WDW only to find that New Fantasyland was going to open one week after your trip or just going when work walls dominate everywhere.

You are right. But after much research, we figured that going one month after the Grand Opening of a brand new theme park would be one of the better times to visit Disneyland for the first time. We were wrong. And our 2006 trip to WDW was for the opening of Everest. You would think that with the influx of guests to experience the newest offerings the resort would be spit shined to make the best impression.

 

[LambertLion]

I don't know ... I've stayed at deluxe, moderates, and I often stay at values. The Pop is my favorite, but I don't much care either way. I spend so little time in room. I recently went to London and stayed in a posh Hilton, went to the Savoy a few times, hung out at Selfridge's, and had a posh dinner at Rule's with two Peers. It was lovely, but I prefer a week at a value resort at WDW. I just don't get value out of cash-for-fancy, I guess.

That said, I don't think of myself as lucky as much as I think of it as priorities. I choose to spend my money on WDW trips, while other friends choose to spend theirs on cruises, frequent movies and nights out, or whatever.

 

[real mad hatter]

Funny that you say that about the gaming machine. Earlier this year my son had been saving up for a gaming PC. He was about half way there. Around that time I ran into the need for a better video editing PC, so I told him if saved up another 100 bucks that I will put the rest and we could "share" a new PC. He was thrilled and saved the money up from his chores very quickly. Now we both have ourselves a sweet little alienware we can play on. The best part about it is he's more than happy to get off of it when I need to do some fiddling with video...."no problem dad..it's yours too you paid half" Funny he's not that agreeable about getting off the Xbox I footed the entire bill for Xmas a few years back.

. There you go.We are separated by 3000 miles of Atlantic sea,yet my son is exactly the same.Loves his PC gaming machine,but the X box is glued to him at the hips.

 

[copcarguyp71]

The last time I stayed onsite was 2006. And I didn't consider myself lucky at all. $630/night at the Poly and we got REALLY old lumpy stained mattresses, moldy wallpaper, and bath towels we could see through. I refuse to stay with Disney again. Or I should say, WDW again. We have had wonderful hotel experiences at The Grand Californian at The Disneyland Resort.

Everytime I tell "Dusters" about our experience they inform me that I should give it another try since the Poly got a significant refurb in 2007. I say sure I'll give Disney a do-over as soon as they refund the money from that miserable trip.


I know that this post will mostly be ignored. So you guys can continue paying $600+/night for "Disney Quality". I recommend paying $250/night at the frickin' Ritz Carlton.

Are you waiting for a refund without having gone on an email, phone call, letter writing campaign? I just have to ask how and how many different ways you went about getting satisfaction. Also you do not go into any details of having made management aware of the conditions during your stay and if you did what was done or what they said. Although it would not surprise me to hear that they were unresponsive your post does not list ways in which you went about making them aware. I would HIGHLY doubt a full refund however a good discount on a future trip to get the opportunity to make it up to you would be reasonable.

I have to agree with another poster who said $600/night seems out of the realm of reason...I know I would never ever pay that for staying on site.

To the point of the actual thread. I do actually feel privileged to be able to afford to stay on site. We enjoy the total disconnect from the "real world" and it enables me to leave my business and customers at the airport gate in Phila and enjoy the illusion that is Disney with my family. I have to say the veil of Disney is getting thinner though and I believe our planned trip in 2014 will be our last for some time until I see better use of their resources towards upkeep and maintenance instead of the directions they have been throwing their greenbacks over the past five years or so.

 

[BenSmith]

I love the grand Floridian, but the rest of my family doesn't. My kids will know how much it costs us. For example, when I was little, My parents made sure I was very aware that Disney cost a lot of money. We usually stayed at a or deluxe, And if I didn't appreciate it, they said next time they'll go on their own vacation and I'd stay with a sitter. Needless to say I never considered myself spoiled.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Are you waiting for a refund without having gone on an email, phone call, letter writing campaign? I just have to ask how and how many different ways you went about getting satisfaction. Also you do not go into any details of having made management aware of the conditions during your stay and if you did what was done or what they said. Although it would not surprise me to hear that they were unresponsive your post does not list ways in which you went about making them aware. I would HIGHLY doubt a full refund however a good discount on a future trip to get the opportunity to make it up to you would be reasonable.

I have to agree with another poster who said $600/night seems out of the realm of reason...I know I would never ever pay that for staying on site.

To the point of the actual thread. I do actually feel privileged to be able to afford to stay on site. We enjoy the total disconnect from the "real world" and it enables me to leave my business and customers at the airport gate in Phila and enjoy the illusion that is Disney with my family. I have to say the veil of Disney is getting thinner though and I believe our planned trip in 2014 will be our last for some time until I see better use of their resources towards upkeep and maintenance instead of the directions they have been throwing their greenbacks over the past five years or so.

I did not complain to anyone or otherwise let them know of my disappointment. And I have absolutely no expectations of any sort of compensation. Especially since I didn't whine to management. Just like a restaurant where I have a bad experience. I just simply don't go back (oh, and and moan on Disney fan sites). I am not so into "Disney" that walking away is fine with me. I am sure that with Disney's already massive data mining program they are fully aware from my profile that I am spending less money with them.

And concerning a discount on a future visit, I see that as just another way to get even more of my money. I already ponied up a couple grand. I simply gauge the product offered and the value. If Disney is really concerned about their product they should NEVER offer inferior offerings. Period.

 

[copcarguyp71]

I did not complain to anyone or otherwise let them know of my disappointment. Just like a restaurant where I have a bad experience. I just simply don't go back (oh, and and moan on Disney fan sites). I am not so into "Disney" that walking away is fine with me. I am sure that with Disney's already massive data mining program they are fully aware from my profile that I am spending less money with them.

And concerning a discount on a future visit, I see that as just another way to get even more of my money. I already ponied up a couple grand. I simply gauge the product offered and the value. If Disney is really concerned about their product they should NEVER offer inferior offerings. Period.

Sorry to say then that you really don't have a leg to stand on here IMO. You will take the time to trash things on a forum but would not press zero on your phone while you were in your room?

There may have been a room or upgrade available if you had just approached them at the time. I am very sorry that your vacation went that way and I understand your feelings of being cheated but if you do not make anyone aware then there is no way they would know about your displeasure.

While I agree with the fact that they should not offer inferior lodgings it happens everywhere and perhaps you have just not experienced that but I can assure you it does. I think many times about how sad Walt would be if he was still alive and saw what his dream has become but it is what it is. Perhaps if more people felt like you do then a change may be in store as the attendance would continue to drop and for that I applaud your stance.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Sorry to say then that you really don't have a leg to stand on here IMO. You will take the time to trash things on a forum but would not press zero on your phone while you were in your room?

There may have been a room or upgrade available if you had just approached them at the time. I am very sorry that your vacation went that way and I understand your feelings of being cheated but if you do not make anyone aware then there is no way they would know about your displeasure.

While I agree with the fact that they should not offer inferior lodgings it happens everywhere and perhaps you have just not experienced that but I can assure you it does. I think many times about how sad Walt would be if he was still alive and saw what his dream has become but it is what it is. Perhaps if more people felt like you do then a change may be in store as the attendance would continue to drop and for that I applaud your stance.

Yeah, I was/am not expecting redress. As a consumer I just don't roll that way. And most consumers don't either. When you go to the grocery store and see a new brand of premium pasta. You buy it and are disappointed in it. Do you write a letter to the company? Or do you just choose a different brand of pasta next time? Do you really want the bad pasta company to send you a bunch of coupons for more bad pasta? And do you recommend that bad pasta to friends?

I have to agree with another poster who said $600/night seems out of the realm of reason...I know I would never ever pay that for staying on site.

And I also find it shocking that everytime I tell that story to experienced WDW travelers, EVERYONE ALWAYS questions the $630/night figure. They all say that that is insane. Well, I just ran the numbers for Wed. June 26, 2013. $659/night Lagoon View. Although I do agree that that is insane. That is why I stay at the Ritz Carlton.

 

[copcarguyp71]

Not quite computer savvy enough to do a screen shot (admittedly I am a dinosaur). I ran the following dates for lagoon view...

Date​

Rate per Night​

Fri, Jun 14

$ 586.00​

Sat, Jun 15

$ 586.00​

Sun, Jun 16

$ 586.00​

Mon, Jun 17

$ 586.00​

Tue, Jun 18

$ 586.00​

Wed, Jun 19

$ 586.00​

I think one night may be a higher rate but still not sure it is worth the money to me without any discounts off of rack rate though. We are happy enough at the mods but will do one more trip in 2014 at the CR and beyond that I think we may take a break for quite some time as the curtain is being pulled too far to the side and we are beginning to see the wizard so to speak

 

[Skibum1970]

Not quite computer savvy enough to do a screen shot (admittedly I am a dinosaur). I ran the following dates for lagoon view...

Date​

Rate per Night​

Fri, Jun 14

$ 586.00​

Sat, Jun 15

$ 586.00​

Sun, Jun 16

$ 586.00​

Mon, Jun 17

$ 586.00​

Tue, Jun 18

$ 586.00​

Wed, Jun 19

​

$ 586.00​

I think one night may be a higher rate but still not sure it is worth the money to me without any discounts off of rack rate though. We are happy enough at the mods but will do one more trip in 2014 at the CR and beyond that I think we may take a break for quite some time as the curtain is being pulled too far to the side and we are beginning to see the wizard so to speak

I wait until the room discounts are available and then book with the best that I can afford (based upon budget that we set aside for the trip). For a week (we don't have kids), I budget between $2,000 and $2,500 for the whole trip so that I am dropping so much into a vacation. If I paid $600/night, I could only stay three nights.

Now, I could stay offsite and wouldn't consider it a total loss but staying onsite to me is a major part of the trip. After reading all this, I now want to schedule a trip as soon as possible. Rats.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

On my 2006 trip, we stayed 2 nights, mid-June. I was actually in town for business and not going to the parks. But I grew up staying at the Poly so I just wanted to stay there to inject a little Disney Magic to an otherwise "dry" trip. I did room only since we weren't going to the parks. And only being there 2 days, going to the front desk and complaining just didn't really seem worth it. It is what it is, and I rolled with it. But this was my overall take away:

 

[copcarguyp71]

On my 2006 trip, we stayed 2 nights, mid-June. I was actually in town for business and not going to the parks. But I grew up staying at the Poly so I just wanted to stay there to inject a little Disney Magic to an otherwise "dry" trip. I did room only since we weren't going to the parks. And only being there 2 days, going to the front desk and complaining just didn't really seem worth it. It is what it is, and I rolled with it. But this was my overall take away:

You did in fact make me laugh!!!!