The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

Soarin' Over Pgh

Well-Known Member
We stay at the Contemporary every trip we take. The rooms are quite upscale. The bathrooms are nice. The beds are extremely comfortable. The restaurants are all excellent. The views are great. The monorail saves us a crazy amount of time. And the location with regards to the MK is unbeatable. Is it worth the money that they ask? No, but I dont think any of their prices are reasonable. But I will tell you that this hotel makes my trip a million times more enjoyable than when I stayed at the All-Star. Do we spend too much? Yep. Would I go back to a value resort because of that? Only if my household income fell. But if that happened, I would be going to OCMD and not Disney anyway.

What's OCMD?

And I understand everything else you've said. Last year my Mom and I stayed at the Polynesian. First/last trip there. We could have stayed at AoA but chose Poly, knowing that another trip isn't coming anytime soon, and it was a celebration for a number of (personal) reasons. That said, it was only five days. (edit to add that we saved for YEARS for this trip)

Disney has become a "once every few years/decade" and bordering on "once in a lifetime" because of their prices. I hope they realize that soon.
 

Lord_Vader

Join me, together we can rule the galaxy.
His post did not deserve a reply. No one would believe that number. Look at the hotel occupancy for Orlando. The Lake Buena Vista area of Orange county had a year to date hotel occupancy ratge of 86.5% through April 2014. In fact Metro Orlando as a whole occupancy was 78.8% occupancy. If you could possibly believe a 60% rate for the week they would have to be crazy. Maybe on night in the summer but no way a whole week. The public numbers clearly show hotel occupancy is way up this year and so is price per room. Theme park attendance is also rising. The way to see if a park is hurting is are they cutting back park hours. In Disney's case every park except Epcot has longer hours this summer and in fact for the rest of the year. That indicates hotel occupancy is very strong through the end of the year. I am not sure but I would expect Universal also is increasing park hours since their attendance should be way up also.

I agree, and if room occupancy was that low, TDO would be offering great AP discounts across the board and not in the very limited quantities and in the least desirable rooms.
 

The Mom

Moderator
Premium Member
That got deleted? Because I stuck up for people who aren't around to defend themselves? Because I actually think its wrong to instigate and make fun of people from twitter?

I understand last nights hijinx - (If this status gets 30 likes, I will go ice skating at the studios today!) - but really, we should not be ripping on people from twitter. Even if they're an easy target.

And can we knock off the "Brian Singer sex debate?" Ive heard from professional media people outside these forums that our opinions are being laughed and dismissed at simply for that.....

The whole argument, screenshots, etc got deleted and I again reminded people that I don't appreciate twitters being posted here. I really don't appreciate any of the discussions about people from other sites, lifestylers, etc.

I really don't see a problem with discussing WDW related topics that have made the news. Seeking out private individuals for ridicule bothers me - it really lowers my opinion of a poster who does this. Just as making nasty comments and insults do, also.

Time to bring the anger/snark down a notch around here.
 

randyrut

Active Member
What's OCMD?

And I understand everything else you've said. Last year my Mom and I stayed at the Polynesian. First/last trip there. We could have stayed at AoA but chose Poly, knowing that another trip isn't coming anytime soon, and it was a celebration for a number of (personal) reasons. That said, it was only five days. (edit to add that we saved for YEARS for this trip)

Disney has become a "once every few years/decade" and bordering on "once in a lifetime" because of their prices. I hope they realize that soon.

OCMD is Ocean City, MD. Just meant we would be doing a cheaper beach vacation.
 

EpcoTim

Well-Known Member
Not many people are willing to fork over the hundreds of dollars per night.

If Disney were smart, they'd recognize this, and either lower room rates, or deeply discount them, or add on some 'bonuses' for staying at that resort, whether it's more FP+ options, free table service dinners, or something... something to get people to think that it's worth the huge upcharge.

The Waldorf is about 200 a night and that includes free golf, available poolside cabanas, a decent (by orlando standards) restaurant on site, a nice bar and a staff that is relatively acne free when compared to Disney. Plus legitimate quality rooms. Rooms where you can't hear the person in the room next to you taking a leak.

But.....you don't get the monorails, the theme, the "magic" and that's worth something too. I'm not sure about 500 + a night, but there is a value there. Of course the more they diminish and marginalize the hotels, the less value they carry, which seems to be their new MO.
 
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asianway

Well-Known Member
Legitimate question here... I see this a lot on these boards and always wonder if people just don't travel much and have no concept of how much decent hotels cost or if they stay at motels and that is their only comparison. For instance, I recently stayed at a hotel in Dallas and it was $279/night; I am booked for San Fran soon and it is going to run me $550/night. When you put that into perspective, I really don't understand the constant complaining about a deluxe hotel costing $325/night. I can't even stay at a best western for less that $120 and that certainly is not within walking distance of one of the largest amusement destinations of the world.

So what am I missing?
Where the hell are you staying in San Francisco? The Ritz? Is a city wide event going on?
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Really, when staying at BWI, YC/BC (even SW&D) it takes no more than 5-10 minutes to walk to EC and 15 to DHS from room to park. There is not an off-site hotel that could even come close to the convenience and time savings.
The Swan and Dolphin typically count as part of the non-Disney hotels that offer more and charge less. That cluster of hotels is the peak of transportation convenience at Walt Disney World.
 

LithiumBill

Well-Known Member
I don't miss the MAGICal hotel experiences... we have timeshare OFF PROPERTY, and get to move a round a bit in Orlando... I was given this timeshare from my grandparents, and have used it for the last 9 years with my family, and never had a bad experience... (save for the rushed christmas trip)

I have friends that have DVC, and we visit them sometimes on trips that overlap, and to me - while beautiful resorts, the rooms are always tiny and cramped. I spend pennies to the dollar, and get a suite with full kitchen 2 bedrooms and a pullout couch (the rooms sleeps 8-10) and the pools and locations are amazing.
 

randyrut

Active Member
Very true, and it's right in the middle of a few disney hotels. I have yet to hear anything bad about those hotels other than you can't get the dining plan.. whoopie!

We get the deluxe dining plan. I know everyone says this is the biggest waste of money, but I am curious if I am the only one who will admit to getting it. We are big eaters. But more importantly, it allows us to get out of the heat 3 times a day and sit down at nice restaurants. Those breaks are what keeps us going on our trips. Plus eating at places like Le Cellier, Be Our Guest, Cali Grill, etc are fun and interesting. Anyone else do this or are we the only nutbags?
 

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
We get the deluxe dining plan. I know everyone says this is the biggest waste of money, but I am curious if I am the only one who will admit to getting it. We are big eaters. But more importantly, it allows us to get out of the heat 3 times a day and sit down at nice restaurants. Those breaks are what keeps us going on our trips. Plus eating at places like Le Cellier, Be Our Guest, Cali Grill, etc are fun and interesting. Anyone else do this or are we the only nutbags?


...... You can make reservations without a dining plan....,
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
We get the deluxe dining plan. I know everyone says this is the biggest waste of money, but I am curious if I am the only one who will admit to getting it. We are big eaters. But more importantly, it allows us to get out of the heat 3 times a day and sit down at nice restaurants. Those breaks are what keeps us going on our trips. Plus eating at places like Le Cellier, Be Our Guest, Cali Grill, etc are fun and interesting. Anyone else do this or are we the only nutbags?

I'm kicking myself for wasting money on the regular dining plan last trip. We always wind up spending unused snack credits on the last day and come home with a sack of sweets we wouldn't have bought otherwise.
 

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