Stay, Play, Dine or Resort Discount only? Need help with the math!! :)

aj_steig

aj_steig

Member
Hi everyone -

I've been running the math in my head for a few days and it's starting to drive me crazy :) Anyone have some input on this....

We are going to Disney in January for 7 nights with 8 adults and 2 kids (under 3). We are booking 4 standard rooms at Pop Century. From what I concluded, the discounts ended up being about the same (I think resort only came out ahead by $9 savings per person). I liked the idea of doing resort only and getting rental cars so we can eat off site, but the more I look at the menu prices (not to mention the convenience with 2 kids!!) it looks like the discounted quick service dining plan might be a good offer too.
So which is it....room only discount (paying for food out of pocket and buying tickets through Undercover Tourist) or Stay, Play, Dine with the Quick Service Plan? Thanks so much for your help!!!!


Also, does anyone know if Wolfgang Puck express is going to be on the 2014 list? I know the list is modified up until the end of the year but I haven't found any updates as of today.
 
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ratherbeinwdw

ratherbeinwdw

Well-Known Member
aj_steig said:
Hi everyone -

I've been running the math in my head for a few days and it's starting to drive me crazy :) Anyone have some input on this....

We are going to Disney in January for 7 nights with 8 adults and 2 kids (under 3). We are booking 4 standard rooms at Pop Century. From what I concluded, the discounts ended up being about the same (I think resort only came out ahead by $9 savings per person). I liked the idea of doing resort only and getting rental cars so we can eat off site, but the more I look at the menu prices (not to mention the convenience with 2 kids!!) it looks like the discounted quick service dining plan might be a good offer too.
So which is it....room only discount (paying for food out of pocket and buying tickets through Undercover Tourist) or Stay, Play, Dine with the Quick Service Plan? Thanks so much for your help!!!!


Also, does anyone know if Wolfgang Puck express is going to be on the 2014 list? I know the list is modified up until the end of the year but I haven't found any updates as of today.
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We always come out much cheaper to do room only, especially with qs; ts is a different story. The prices at the table service restaurants has gotten so expensive, big eaters would probably come out a little better on the dining plan. We are light eaters. My daughter and I can even share some meals. Therefore, the room discount always wins for us.
 
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LucyK

LucyK

Well-Known Member
aj_steig said:
Also, does anyone know if Wolfgang Puck express is going to be on the 2014 list? I know the list is modified up until the end of the year but I haven't found any updates as of today.
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All restaurants listed this year ire 99.9% guaranteed to come back. The brochure will be updated around November or early December. Just use the 2013 brochure to plan your meals.
 
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Steve1005

Steve1005

Well-Known Member
My trip was booked in July for February of 2014 and I called yesterday to take advantage of the discount. Mine was 2 adults 1 child with a table service meal plan for 8 days 8 nights. Came out to 3130$
The rooom only discount would have taken me down to 2900$ and the play, stay, dine option took me to 2600$ so I obviously took the latter.
Hope that can shed a little light on what you can do for your trip. :)
 
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SDisney90

SDisney90

Well-Known Member
Steve1005 said:
My trip was booked in July for February of 2014 and I called yesterday to take advantage of the discount. Mine was 2 adults 1 child with a table service meal plan for 8 days 8 nights. Came out to 3130$
The rooom only discount would have taken me down to 2900$ and the play, stay, dine option took me to 2600$ so I obviously took the latter.
Hope that can shed a little light on what you can do for your trip. :)
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Waiting for tomorrow morning to see how much I can save! That's a good amount of savings you got there on your trip, where are you staying?
 
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Steve1005

Steve1005

Well-Known Member
SDisney90 said:
Waiting for tomorrow morning to see how much I can save! That's a good amount of savings you got there on your trip, where are you staying?
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The all star music resort. I know it's one of the cheap ones, but I look at it as it's only a bed. Lol. We're going to be in the parks till we get kicked out every day, so we just picked the cheapest available place on the grounds to take advantage of the bus system and meal plan. :)
 
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SDisney90

SDisney90

Well-Known Member
Steve1005 said:
The all star music resort. I know it's one of the cheap ones, but I look at it as it's only a bed. Lol. We're going to be in the parks till we get kicked out every day, so we just picked the cheapest available place on the grounds to take advantage of the bus system and meal plan. :)
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I'm with you on that my friend! Nice name, I'm Steve also hah. My girlfriend and I are staying at All Star Sports..we did this past January and loved it. Just like you said, it's just a bed and a shower for us. This past January we got up, ate breakfast hit the parks came back to shower and sleep and start all over again. I'd love to stay at a nicer resort (AKL) but it's really not worth it for a couple like us, we're always on the move.

I'm hoping to save a good amount this year. I saved roughly 381 but next year I am staying a little longer. Cannot wait for tomorrow to call!
 
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Steve1005

Steve1005

Well-Known Member
Oh it was completely worth the call. I still owed over 800$ and to be able to put an entire 500$ gift card in the "spending cash" box as opposed to paying for the trip is awesome.
As far as resorts go, I stayed at the art of animation in a mermaid room last year and the room and resort itself was beautiful, my brother and his gf stayed at Saratoga springs and we went to visit one day and they were the same beds that I had at AOA! I'm not spending an extra 200$-300$ a night to sleep. Lol. I'll always go the cheaper route to spend more time at the park.
 
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Dole Whip Happy Hour

Dole Whip Happy Hour

Active Member
Hi,

Friendly neighborhood lurker posting....pretty excited about our deal or maybe just excited about
going to Disney again! Sorry if turns out to be a TL;DR post

We are staying at Pop Century, preferred room for 11 nights in Feb next year, before Pres weekend prices hit. Family of 4, two adults, one 11 year old and one 8 year old. When I looked online for the full price of the package ,11 (preferred room) nights, 3 adult tickets, 1 child,(10 days with hopper) and QS dining, it came to $4570.00.

With the Disney Visa Stay,play and dine discount, it was brought down to $3393.00. But the tickets in the package do not come with hopper, and I only got 9 day tickets.

I was told the Stay, play and dine discount was different if it wasn't on the Disney Visa, it would have been more around the $3,800 -$3,900 range.

Once I add the hopper back in, it's up to $3629.00. Once I take out the full value of the ticket prices out, and the AAA discount price we had originally booked the room for, I would pay about $730.00 for the QS plan for 3 adult and one child for 10 days. We would also get a $72.00 value out of the $730 for the refill mugs as part of the QS dining plan, that we most likely would have bought anyway... so bringing it down to $658.00. I believe it comes to about $16.45 per person each day for the quick service plan....and that is almost like a buy one meal with drink and desert, get second meal free and a bonus snack deal...
 
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dannyboyindc

dannyboyindc

Well-Known Member
Ya'll want to know what the best deal out there is? Renting DVC points from a member. It's hands down the cheapest option if you want a deluxe resort. I rented a studio villa in Jambo house, Savannah view, for $1653. That's for 9 nights in February, at $10.50 a point. It's $3000 if going through Disney AFTER the Room discount. If I had gone with a standard view, it would of cost less than a room at POR after the RO discount.

If you've got the budget, you can rent a 1 or maybe even a 2 bedroom villa and it's still potentially less than going though Disney (and they are HUGE).
 
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Steve1005

Steve1005

Well-Known Member
dannyboydc said:
Ya'll want to know what the best deal out there is? Renting DVC points from a member. It's hands down the cheapest option if you want a deluxe resort. I rented a studio villa in Jambo house, Savannah view, for $1653. That's for 9 nights in February, at $10.50 a point. It's $3000 if going through Disney AFTER the Room discount. If you wanted standard view, it would cost less than a room at POR after the RO discount.

If you've got the budget, you can rent a 1 or maybe even a 2 bedroom villa and it's still potentially less than going though Disney (and they are HUGE).
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I never thought of that. I only know one person that is a DVC member, but I could always bring it up to them. :)
 
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Steve1005

Steve1005

Well-Known Member
dannyboyindc said:
Want me to refer someone to you that I use?
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I'm already going in February, and to tell you the truth, not sure when I'll be able to get back, but if its someone that does this pretty regularly and I could use them in a year or two (or more) sure! I'll never turn down a cheaper way to get to Disney!
 
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dannyboyindc

dannyboyindc

Well-Known Member
There's a rent/trade board on a few sites that has members renting their points out all the time. Generally you can expect to pay $10-$14 a point. The nice thing about it is you can get references from other members who have used them before. If you google for a points calculator, it'll tell you exactly how many points you need for each DVC resort to get the room category you want for the dates of your trip. Good luck!
 
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