help me make a decision

[PJean710]

I am planning on coming to WDW in september. My original pan is drive and stay at the Pop Century. My wife and I like it a lot. We don't think the moderates are worth the extra money. I am expecting a quarterly bonus in July of about 1000.00 post tax. Should I spend the bonus on Airfare or spend it upgrading the hotel to the Wilderness Lodge? I live just north of New Orleans so driving would take 10.5 hours and by time I take into account driving to the airport, lay over, and waiting for transportation flying would only save me maybe 3-4 hours.
:shrug:

 

[maggiegrace1]

Stay at POP and fly and use the extra for whatever...Flights should not be that much ..

I Live in metairie...HI!

 

[PJean710]

Flights have been running about $200.00 a piece.

 

[maryt01]

we are from lacombe. we love wilderness lodge. we are trying to decide if we will drive or fly for our dec trip. we are not in the rooms that much. if we have spare time we love to resort hop for half a day. so, it's a hard to decide or you. if you haven't been to disney for christmas season; you should try it. the atmosphere is amazing. oh! by the way, we will be at pop. enjoy your trip whatever you decide.:wave:

 

[maggiegrace1]

So fly and spend the extra money on whatever.
Considering you like POP anway and probably wont spend that much time in the room anyway.I would love to fly also..the drive is soo long..bvut I have so much stuff with my daughter that its easier to drive..

 

[happymom52003]

I think it depends on how much time you spend at your hotel. We have small children, so we spend alot of time at our hotel. We LOVE the Wilderness Lodge. I have heard many people make the comment that Deluxe Resorts are not worth the extra money. But I think it depends on what you want out of your hotel. For my family, it is worth the money. We love the theming, we love the nice restaurants (Whispering Canyon and Artist Point) and the nice bar, and the scenery is AMAZING. It is right on Bay Lake which is beautiful. We LOVE the easy access to MK and the Contemporary (for the monorail), and to Ft. Wilderness (for Hoop de doo and lots of other activities) by boat because we do not like the buses. We just love the "feeling" that we get when we are there....it is so peacful. If it were me, I would use the money to try out the Wilderness Lodge.
For us, a huge part of the enjoyment we get while vacationing at WDW comes from the little things that make Wilderness Lodge special to us....sitting on the balcony drinking coffee at sunrise overlooking baylake, taking walks around the resort and seeing tons of bunnies and birds, listening to the peacful music in the lobby or out by the pool, watching the Electric Water Pagent from the beach with sleepy kids in their jammies ,renting bikes and riding through the wooded trails, sitting by the huge firelace in the lobby, I could go on and on! And don't get me started on how wonderful the Christmas decorations are there! (I know you are going in September, but I had to throw that in)

 

[happymom52003]

I'd also like to point out that travel days are hard whether you fly or drive, and like you said....flying would only save you a few hours. So I think you would get alot more happy vacation memories out of upgrading to the Wilderness Lodge than you would out of flying. Personally, I think flying is stressful and I hate it. Plus, it is nice to have a car while you are there...makes it much faster and easier to get to some of the parks. The only reason we fly is because we live more than 24 hours away and I can't handle spending that much time in the car with my two year old! So again, I say take a chance on the Wilderness Lodge. And if for some reason you do not like it, at least you will know for next time. But I'd say chances are pretty good you would love it!

 

[ThinkTink721]

FLY...definitely FLY!
The drive is too long & gas prices are too high!
Driving can also make some people tired.
Plus, the time you spend driving could be spent having fun at WDW!
We have stayed at POR & are planning to stay at Pop this Sept.
I have heard more good things about Pop than bad.
Anyway, how much time do you spend at the resort?
We only shower & sleep there...the rest of our time is spent at the parks.

 

[sophie_the_pooh]

I would say fly and use the extra money left for dinner in a special restaurant, like the California Grill or Bistro de Paris!

 

[doop]

My vote is to fly. Hopefully you won't be spending too much time in your room anyway so why not save yourself the hassle of driving. Spend the extra money on a fancy dinner or something.

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

Upgrade!!!

Flying will cost you $200 per person (as per your statement) and you will not have your car there (unless you rent - but there is something nice about having your own car on property). If you live 10 and a half hours from Orlando, that should be about 650 miles. If you have a crossover with borderline crap gas mileage (like I do) you should be able to get AT LEAST 20 miles per gallon. That works out to about 33 gallons, and at $2.85 a gallon (at least, that's what it is in Orlando, and seems like a fair median) that's $94 in gas plus a bit of wear and tear on your car. That's a savings of $306 for three or four extra hours. And a ten hour car ride can be fun, especially if you do it right.

Two options: upgrade the heck out of your room (may I suggest a Savannah View room at Animal Kingdom Lodge? And remember that AKL and WL are the 'cheapest' Deluxe resorts) and enjoy the luxury, or keep the room at Pop, which you guys seem to like, and spend the cash on shopping and dining: California Grill, Le Cellier, Biergarten (sorry, I had to put it in there), and Downtown Disney (FULTONS!!!)

Honestly, I've stayed at both Pop and AKL, using the Disney Bus system. It was just the two of us, but the buses at Pop were waaaaay worse than at AKL (but you WILL have your own car), plus I loved the theming and everything at AKL - that is easily our fave resort.

 

[tink68]

I live in Dallas and for the 2 of us to go in Aug the flight was only 400. I have stayed at Pop and it is a great hotel. I would suggest you fly, stay at Pop and use the buses. Save your money to shop, eat and enjoy.

 

[Teenchy]

I think it depends on how much time you spend at your hotel. We have small children, so we spend alot of time at our hotel. We LOVE the Wilderness Lodge. I have heard many people make the comment that Deluxe Resorts are not worth the extra money. But I think it depends on what you want out of your hotel. For my family, it is worth the money. We love the theming, we love the nice restaurants (Whispering Canyon and Artist Point) and the nice bar, and the scenery is AMAZING. It is right on Bay Lake which is beautiful. We LOVE the easy access to MK and the Contemporary (for the monorail), and to Ft. Wilderness (for Hoop de doo and lots of other activities) by boat because we do not like the buses. We just love the "feeling" that we get when we are there....it is so peacful. If it were me, I would use the money to try out the Wilderness Lodge.
For us, a huge part of the enjoyment we get while vacationing at WDW comes from the little things that make Wilderness Lodge special to us....sitting on the balcony drinking coffee at sunrise overlooking baylake, taking walks around the resort and seeing tons of bunnies and birds, listening to the peacful music in the lobby or out by the pool, watching the Electric Water Pagent from the beach with sleepy kids in their jammies ,renting bikes and riding through the wooded trails, sitting by the huge firelace in the lobby, I could go on and on! And don't get me started on how wonderful the Christmas decorations are there! (I know you are going in September, but I had to throw that in)

Could not have said it better.

In most cases I always say fly (But thats because were coming from Wash.D.C.) because it saves us so much extra time, but if you really think it will only save you a couple of hours. I would splurg on the resort.

The only down side...once you stay in a deluxe its hard to go back!
We also spend extra time at our resorts as we go so often that we dont need to spend all our time in the parks. So theming, pools, amenities in general are a plus in the moderates and especially the deluxes. I vote for WL or Poly!

Its so fun spending other peoples money!:sohappy:

 

[hiddenmickey75]

I'd upgrade but for me it would be Poly.

 

[figmentmom]

Upgrade your resort!!! Pop Century is a nice resort, but even the "moderates" offer WAY more in terms of full-service restaurants, amenities, atmosphere, etc. Our favorite moderate resort is Port Orleans Riverside, and I'd choose that over a deluxe resort any time.

Whatever you decide, have a great trip! :wave:

 

[WaltzingMatilda]

I would definitely upgrade the resort...it's a dream of mine to stay at the Poly. I know for a lot of people the deluxe resorts are a once in a lifetime thing, so I wouldn't pass up the opportunity. And if I lived that close to WDW I would never fly...I only fly because we live in PA.

Congrats on the bonus and whatever you decide, have a great trip!!

 

[wdwmomof3]

Another vote for the upgrade. We love having our car there and we drive about 8-9 hours from Alabama. We have stayed at both and I had rather stay at POR if I had a choice. Good luck!

 

[Craig & Lisa]

For the first time in 15 visits we will be driving. Only because the airfare is more than we care to pay. And in the long run I feel we will be spending less to drive. Yes we won't be there as soon as I would like, but this will be a different adventure for us. We also don't have to be picked up to go to the airport 3 hours before the plane takes off. We leave when we like, and not feel as if we're being rushed to get somewhere.

 

[Cinderella1976]

I also say go for the upgrade!! The WL is a beautiful resort and only a short boat ride away from the MK. We stayed there twice and had a great time. I hate to fly and if we lived closer I would much rather drive. Be sure to make reservations for the Whispering Canyon if you decide to stay at the lodge. Have fun! :wave:

 

[jesserin]

I vote for flying. If you're going in September... get the free dining plan (book soon)

My suggestion? Book a longer stay at Pop. Now that you're flying you can add 2 days easily and take that extra time you'd have been on the road - enjoying the parks!

Any left over after airfare and a couple extra nights at Pop? Book yourself some Cirque tickets and have a fantastic night out!

Whatever you do - I hope y'all have a great time! :sohappy: