Disney Honeymoon

[Ozstriker]

Hi all, I'm new to the site and the forums so please be nice. Just hoping for some honest advice.

Next August 2018 we are getting married and having our honeymoon in Orlando. We went the other year and absolutely loved it and want to do it again but this time do all the parks,swim with dolphins,do Kennedy space etc. At the moment Disney have their free dining plans online and $200 gift card so it seems like a great time to book.

I have priced up Coronado and also the All star sports resort and the price difference is around £600 ($700). That includes the Disney dining with both deals. Was just wondering if it's worth the extra £600 staying in the moderate or could that money be used for other things that's more important.

Everything is telling me to go with the value however I don't want it to make the experience less special.

Any comments would be great.

 

[Minnie Mum]

Congratulations. I guess the selection of your resort package comes down to your budget and your priorities. Consider that the value resort rooms are small and only have double beds. Moderate resort rooms are bigger and have queen beds, or you have the option of upgrading to a room with a king bed. The resort grounds, IMO are significantly nicer at the mods, and the restaurant options are better. And they tend to feel quieter and more relaxing.

If dining packages are included, look closely at your entitlements between the 2. Will you be eating only at CS restaurants, or would you prefer more TS dining? Eating at WDW can be expensive, depending on your preferences. And don't forget that tips aren't included in the dining plans.

We've been going to WDW for decades, and for our family, the mod resorts are where we prefer to stay. We did not enjoy our value resort stay at all. Others find that the values are sufficient to their needs.

You might want to see if there is an offer that doesn't include dining, but offers a discount on your resort rate.

We never get the dining plans any more. They simply don't work for the way we want to eat. We don't eat many snacks. Sometimes we only want a couple of appetizers instead of an entree. We rarely eat desserts. And we usually prefer a glass of wine or beer with our dinner instead of sodas. We pay out of pocket for our food, eat at TS restaurants (including signature restaurants) almost every day, eat and drink what we want, where we want, and never pay as much as we would with a dining plan.

The dining part of the package isn't really "free" - it comes with paying full price for the resort component of your package. We actually save more staying at a mod with a resort only discount. But other families, especially those with children, can save more with the dining plan, if they use it wisely. You'll have to do the math to see which is better for you.

 

[dmatt87]

We did our honeymoon at CSR in 2011 and I don't regret it one bit. And even without free dining!

 

[belledream]

We honeymooned at Pop Century and didn't find it to ruin the honeymoon experience at all as we only use our room for sleep. I would say it depends on how much time you plan to spend there, and if you value resort experience over other things like dining or special events, etc. All are very worthy in my opinion. Other thing is you still have time and can see what other deals come your way. Good luck and enjoy whatever you choose!

 

[LeighM]

We honeymooned at Port Orleans Riverside and LOVED it! My husband and I both love the theme and atmosphere of the resort. Plus we really enjoy the boat ride to Disney Springs. Have you looked into renting DVC points at one of the deluxe villas? You can sometimes get a deluxe for the price of a moderate. If you would rather spend more money on experiences then go with the value if you won't be in the room that often. But like someone else mentioned, the values only have double beds and one sink. If you would like to spend more time at the resort and relax, then I would go with a moderate. Ultimately though, go with the resort you feel most comfortable with for your budget.

 

[Ozstriker]

Thanks for all the input and advice. I think that ultimately we are going to go with a value hotel. We are doing discovery cove with dolphin swim and all it's other parks then Universal and Disney. I want to hire a mustang so it's not going to be cheap,last time we literally used the hotel to sleep and have a shower so it seems silly spending the money on a moderate hotel when it would be more beneficial elsewhere

 

[Berry91]

Weve stayed at all star sports twice and it was comfy and clean which is all you want plus if you do use the buses it's first pick up which is a bonus

 

[Ozstriker]

So after speaking with a few travel companies and basically playing them off against each other Virgin have given us a really good deal (I think anyway):
2 people
V-ROOM lounge at Manchester
Direct Virgin Atlantic flight to and from Manchester Disney All Star's Sport Disney Dining Plan (the middle plan)
14 nights
14 day ultimate Disney ticket
3park Universal explorer ticket - there will be some new Virgin Holiday benefits to along side these tickets but the detail hasn't been released yet....
Discovery Cove ultimate swim ticket
Disney Springs check in
All for around £6,700

Only thing we need to get is the mustang (my treat as she wanted to swim with dolphins) and then spending money.

Thank you for all your input and help,we would have loved to stay in a fancier hotel but it didn't make any sense for the amount of time we will actually spend there.

 

[danlb_2000]

Hi all, I'm new to the site and the forums so please be nice. Just hoping for some honest advice.

Next August 2018 we are getting married and having our honeymoon in Orlando. We went the other year and absolutely loved it and want to do it again but this time do all the parks,swim with dolphins,do Kennedy space etc. At the moment Disney have their free dining plans online and $200 gift card so it seems like a great time to book.

I have priced up Coronado and also the All star sports resort and the price difference is around £600 ($700). That includes the Disney dining with both deals. Was just wondering if it's worth the extra £600 staying in the moderate or could that money be used for other things that's more important.

Everything is telling me to go with the value however I don't want it to make the experience less special.

Any comments would be great.

Remember that Coronado will be in the middle of a major expansion project at that time which may impact your decision to go to this specific moderate report. You may also want to avoid Caribbean Beach for the same reason.

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...coronado-springs-and-caribbean-beach-resorts/

 

[cmb5002]

I'll second lots of other comments above. If you plan on a romantic honeymoon I think Port Orleans is a much better option in the Moderate category, if you plan on only sleeping All Star is fine. We actually rented DVC points and stayed at Boardwalk for our honeymoon like someone mentioned. We loved being able to walk to two parks.

In our visits, we've found that we can save more money by getting the room discount vs the dinning plan, but your results may vary.

Taking another look at the original post, if you're not going until August of 2018 I don't believe Disney is even taking reservations yet, and all current discount offers expire this year. You'd have to wait until next year's discounts come out to book.

Oh, and the most important part: Congrats!!

 

[MickeyMomV]

I know you went with the All Star Sports but I just wanted to add my vote for CSR. We are partial to CSR as we honeymooned there back in 2001. I remember it was between CSR and Dixie Landing (POFQ) and for whatever reason we went with CSR and we loved it.

 

[BigRedDad]

We honeymooned at AKL shortly after it opened. Just remember that walls are thin at Value resorts.

 

[TiggerDad]

So after speaking with a few travel companies and basically playing them off against each other Virgin have given us a really good deal (I think anyway):
2 people
V-ROOM lounge at Manchester
Direct Virgin Atlantic flight to and from Manchester Disney All Star's Sport Disney Dining Plan (the middle plan)
14 nights
14 day ultimate Disney ticket
3park Universal explorer ticket - there will be some new Virgin Holiday benefits to along side these tickets but the detail hasn't been released yet....
Discovery Cove ultimate swim ticket
Disney Springs check in
All for around £6,700

Only thing we need to get is the mustang (my treat as she wanted to swim with dolphins) and then spending money.

Thank you for all your input and help,we would have loved to stay in a fancier hotel but it didn't make any sense for the amount of time we will actually spend there.

Think about getting the Mustang for only part of the time if you want to save money.

 

[MKgirl85]

hi, not sure how long you are going for, I might of missed that. we went on our honeymoon in sept 2008 to Disney, we did one week at a moderate( port Orleans riverside) and one week at a value( all star movies) Both were great. For us, I don't mind the value as we aren't in the room a lot at all, mainly to sleep and by then we are exhausted and it doesn't matter. Since our trips since 2008 we have done mainly value with moderate thrown in once or twice.

 

[jonabyte]

We stayed at the Caribbean for our honeymoon, which you may want to avoid now from what I read here?
I do not regret spending the money for this over a cheaper resort, you will only have one honeymoon, we had a great time there and lots of good memories.

 

[Dana223]

So after speaking with a few travel companies and basically playing them off against each other Virgin have given us a really good deal (I think anyway):
2 people
V-ROOM lounge at Manchester
Direct Virgin Atlantic flight to and from Manchester Disney All Star's Sport Disney Dining Plan (the middle plan)
14 nights
14 day ultimate Disney ticket
3park Universal explorer ticket - there will be some new Virgin Holiday benefits to along side these tickets but the detail hasn't been released yet....
Discovery Cove ultimate swim ticket
Disney Springs check in
All for around £6,700

Only thing we need to get is the mustang (my treat as she wanted to swim with dolphins) and then spending money.

Thank you for all your input and help,we would have loved to stay in a fancier hotel but it didn't make any sense for the amount of time we will actually spend there.

Do you need the 14 day pass for Disney? If you are planning on doing Universal, Discovery Cove, etc. while still staying on Disney property you may consider getting a less number of days for the disney ticket. I would also suggest doing the park hopper option so you can do 2 parks in one day (say you want to go to one park in the AM then dinner reservations somewhere else).

 

[Tuvalu]

Do you need the 14 day pass for Disney? If you are planning on doing Universal, Discovery Cove, etc. while still staying on Disney property you may consider getting a less number of days for the disney ticket. I would also suggest doing the park hopper option so you can do 2 parks in one day (say you want to go to one park in the AM then dinner reservations somewhere else).

The OP is from the U.K. and Disney offers them the 14 day ultimate (which includes park hopping) for much less than U.S. ticket prices. We Americans cannot buy a ticket longer than 10 days (with the exception of an annual pass.)

 

[Nickels5]

We honeymooned at AKL shortly after it opened. Just remember that walls are thin at Value resorts.

What are you getting at lol.

 

[correcaminos]

I'd go for the moderate. How we behaved on our honeymoon was not quite the same as we have on other trips. Granted this was our first Disney trip without any other family, but still... the idea of a moderate would be more than worth it to me. Don't skimp on the honeymoon.

While Mustangs are fun, they aren't always practical for FL if going in the summer. Often it is too hot to use them regularly. I wouldn't bother again with a Mustang and I just rented one a few weeks ago for my 40th. Granted we usually go in warmer months, but that is a bigger consideration than you might think of. We had 70s for our temps and it was perfect. Above 80 and the top would be up.

 

[Ozstriker]

Hey again all, we decided on the value because the cheapest moderate was almost £1200 more and we just couldn't justify that,I know it's our honeymoon but a long with saving for the wedding it's costing a fortune as it is lol. We managed to get the Discovery Cove ultimate tickets at 2017 prices and Disney ones where 14 days for the price of 7 and offer park hopping. We get early entry to Universal for the Harry Potter before others because it's with Virgin.

Thank you again for everyone's input.