whats worth it....

[disneydudette]

Is a disney resort worth it?!?!?

I'm intrested in going back to US, IOA, WDW, and SW...
no matter what were getting a car...

If we stay at a US hotel...we get front of the line access to there major rides at certain times....and service to their parks

If we stay at Disney We get the complimentary bus service...and experience...

If we stay off site we may get more for our money....

With the WDW discount of almost %40 off for the dates were looking at...is it best to just stay on property and wing it when we get to IOA and US.... :veryconfu

Were looking at Memorial Day week...so we were expecting large crowds with the locals out...

What would you guys do??

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Originally posted by disneydudette
Is a disney resort worth it?!?!?

I'm intrested in going back to US, IOA, WDW, and SW...
no matter what were getting a car...

If we stay at a US hotel...we get front of the line access to there major rides at certain times....and service to their parks

If we stay at Disney We get the complimentary bus service...and experience...

If we stay off site we may get more for our money....

With the WDW discount of almost %40 off for the dates were looking at...is it best to just stay on property and wing it when we get to IOA and US.... :veryconfu

Were looking at Memorial Day week...so we were expecting large crowds with the locals out...

What would you guys do??

(depending on how many are going...I believe it's $12-$16 round trip per person through Mears to get to USF from WDW)

It may be just beneficial to just grab a taxi for those couple of days and go to USF that way...and save on the everyday cost of a rental car.

 

[SpongeScott]

Personally, I'd stay at a Disney resort and kinda tough it out at IOA and US. If most of your trip is gonna be Disney oriented, I'd stay there and it looks like you're getting a pretty hefty discount. To me, there's nothing like staying at The Mouse for overall experience.

 

[Mission: SPACE]

I think that staying on at a Disney hotel is definately worth it... however I must say that when I stayed at Hard Rock I did like Universal's hotel form of FastPass...

 

[Disneynutcase]

We rented a car and stayed off property in a rent-a-house just a hiccup away from WDW and loved it. This was last year during the week after Easter.

We found that car rates aren't too pricey if you do some shopping. We used a company called Payless (via Orbitz.com) and ended up with a Caravan for a Mid-size price. All the cars in their lot were new and in great condition. And we encountered no delay coming and going to the airport with their shuttle service. Their lot is just outside the airport.

Got a huge 6 bedroom house that slept 10 people very comfortably in the Wyndam Palms Resort--5 mins from MGM and AK, 10 mins to MK and Epcot. The price was unbelievably cheaper than almost any decent place we looked into--$1200 for a week for all 10 of us.

We loved getting away from the crowds and having the freedom to not have to wait for busses. Why? Because we used this website and a few unofficial guides to determine how the bus situation would be during a crowded time of year. Almost everything we ran across said that you will encounter long waits to come and go to the parks, particularly heinous around park openings and closing. Just too many people and not enough transportation to go around.

And I've said this before, we were very happy to pass the unhappy-looking hoards at park bus stations and at large Disney hotels while we zoomed past them in the minivan.

My advice is to weigh everything and go with what you think matters most. We liked making our own breakfasts and loved not having to use the crowded busses. And the house we rented was so huge--like 2500 square foot with its own pool--that we weren't really on top of each other like we would be at a hotel. And having no one in the room above, beside, down the hall, or below you made for continual peaceful slumber.

Hope this helps.

 

[Dwarful]

if you stay onsite you can rent a vehicle (any size you need) right next to the Disney Car Care Center. They will pick you up at the resort, drive you to get the rental (not far from any resort) and then when you return the car they drop you off at the resort.

We did this on our last trip because we wanted a vehicle for 3 days out of our 2 week trip...US, IOA & the beach. So easy and affoardable. no hassle at the airport as we used Tiffany's, we normally drive in but we flew in and were amazed at how hassle free the whole thing was!

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Personally, I'd now skip the on site resorts and stay in a rented house - for the money that you save using this option you can really enjoy the holiday with loads of spare cash.
I'm sorry to say that I find the WDW resorts over-priced.

 

[agdbeanie]

It's always worth it to stay at a WDW resort. I will never go back to the other alternatives (which were not my choice to begin with). It's an experience like no other. The magic never stops.

 

[jaimjaim25]

It's definately worth it for your mental state of mind.. if you leave the park and go to a 'holiday inn', its just not the same!!.. Leave the park and go to say, Wilderness Lodge... the 'magic' never ends...

 

[jaimjaim25]

Originally posted by CAPTAIN HOOK
Personally, I'd now skip the on site resorts and stay in a rented house - for the money that you save using this option you can really enjoy the holiday with loads of spare cash.
I'm sorry to say that I find the WDW resorts over-priced.

"Overpriced"? Right now you can stay in a moderate for $94
(mousesavers.com)

It costs more to go to Wildwood (NJ) for the weekend, then to stay at a disney resort for a week!

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

The good captain is saying its overpriced because unless you book independently, none of the codes are available on this side of the puddle. The difference on my holiday would be approx $3000, you can see why he says its over priced. as a Brit you always have to pay full room rate.

 

[disneydudette]

Its definatley become a brawl in my group...

I agree with a house stay....we once stayed at the Vistana and loved it....
but we got to thinking of how beneifitial a house would be at this point...like Jamjam said...there is a nice discount a WDW...and one of us have not stayed on property before.....if we can...I'd rather be in the magic....
but then we got to thinking that we wanted to see IOA and SW...so we figured on getting a car....
But then we were like...well if we stay at a US hotel...we can get front of the line access....

So I'm not sure whats going to happen....but I definatley love the advice...
I'm not sure a rental home is needed....with the 4 of us...2 couples...we'll be content with a hotel room....
I'm definatley going to try to get th most for my money...like jamjam said...a holiday inn just isn't the same...

so thanks for all your advice....keep throwing out the suggestions....

 

[DCL]

No matter when I go to florida, I always make it a point to stay on property. The hotels are amazing... and the free transportation anywhere you want on the property is quite convienant.

When going off the property, I've never had to worry about lines at IOA or anything, but I go down in April... and it hasn't been too crowded at that time the past few years.

But, I would definately suggest staying on the property. You can't go wrong with a Disney resort!

 

[jaimjaim25]

Originally posted by happy snapper
The good captain is saying its overpriced because unless you book independently, none of the codes are available on this side of the puddle. The difference on my holiday would be approx $3000, you can see why he says its over priced. as a Brit you always have to pay full room rate.

Ohhhh... I was just thinking of US travel.. sorry.. though the funny thing is, there is this website here (www.chartwelltravel.com) and I've used it before. They have trips to Europe for 7 days for $799.. INCLUDING hotel (4 star) and airfare... Wierd how its cheaper to go to places in Europe than it is to go to Disneyworld

 

[Dwarful]

well, I do have to agree with Captain on the high prices. I would not pay full price to stay onsite..maybe I am just a cheapskate..or maybe I am always looking for a bargain. Once we stayed in a house, but I dont think we would do that again. We spent all of our time at the parks, so we didnt save any money on cooking our own meals, and we had the hassle of getting to and from the parks..etc.

I did mention on another thread that last May we paid $50 a room for All Star movies, we were there from memorial day into June..for 2 weeks time and had 2 rooms. It was definately worth it. Now I would not have the nerve to spend an entire months house payment on a hotel room for a 5 day trip, but thats just me. We aren't in the rooms except to shower, sleep, dress etc. so the size of the room, how fancy it is etc doesn't really matter to me.

right now our DD are young enough to believe that we can't stay at Contemporary until we have stayed at the all stars 10 times (although I don't know how much longer the 7yr old will believe that one)

 

[Disneynutcase]

disneydudette, I have a few questions to throw at you that might help your decision.

1) What are park hours going to be like during the time of your visit? At present, WDW park hours are pretty lame--not too many late nights and a lot of mid-morning openings. It's been this way for a while. When we went last April, we encountered a Thursday, Friday and Saturday after Easter with somewhat normal hours--MK open 'til 10:00pm, Epcot open 'til 9:00, MGM open 'til 8:30. Then once Sunday hit, everything but Epcot was closed way early. For some reason Epcot closes routinely at 9:00. But MK was done by 8:00, AK done by 5:00 and MGM was done by 7:30.

2) Are you guys the type who want to take breaks during the middle of the day back at the hotel, or are you park commandos? I guess this is my hotel access question...

3) What kind of things do you want to do and have access to during down time, especially when parks close early? As in, is it more important to have nightlife and activities around you, or do you guys just plan to chill out, re-energize, and rest tired feet?

4) Then there's the other factors like themed pools vs. generic pools, early entry mornings, Universal's Fast Pass advantage for US resort guests, and stuff like that.

Hope these help.

 

[disneydudette]

Originally posted by Disneynutcase
1) What are park hours going to be like during the time of your visit? At present, WDW park hours are pretty lame--not too many late nights and a lot of mid-morning openings. It's been this way for a while. When we went last April, we encountered a Thursday, Friday and Saturday after Easter with somewhat normal hours--MK open 'til 10:00pm, Epcot open 'til 9:00, MGM open 'til 8:30. Then once Sunday hit, everything but Epcot was closed way early. For some reason Epcot closes routinely at 9:00. But MK was done by 8:00, AK done by 5:00 and MGM was done by 7:30.

Well I'm not sure...we looked at last years hours at this time....they were decent...9-9...9-9....9-5...9-8....I think something like that...were definately expecting low hours though...especially with the recent events...

Originally posted by Disneynutcase
2) Are you guys the type who want to take breaks during the middle of the day back at the hotel, or are you park commandos? I guess this is my hotel access question...

We're not planning on doing the Disney Death March...we would like to have the oppurtunity to go back to the resort or hotel...or hit the Boardwalk or strip for lunch....we would like ot have easy access to the hotel....I always enjoy a swim in the pool during the mid-day as well....

Originally posted by Disneynutcase
3) What kind of things do you want to do and have access to during down time, especially when parks close early? As in, is it more important to have nightlife and activities around you, or do you guys just plan to chill out, re-energize, and rest tired feet?

Well we're definatley going to hit CITY WALK and PI...as well as the BOARDWALK....as far as the rest go...were not sure yet...we're not big club people...but we def. like the entertainment scene...also....we might plan a dinner or two at one of the WDW resorts...I here that the CSHOUSE is great....

Originally posted by Disneynutcase
4) Then there's the other factors like themed pools vs. generic pools, early entry mornings, Universal's Fast Pass advantage for US resort guests, and stuff like that...

We want convience....a nice pool would be great...one with slide...somewhat close to the parks...
as for early entry and FP for the US hotels...those are extras...to be honest I would like both....

We're now questioning whether it would be best to do a split vacation...2-3days at US...then book it to WDW for the rest...its going to be a pain...and I'd rather stay at one resort and see if we can get an upgrade for the week....but I would like to make the best of the vacation....

thanx for the questions...they were really helpful...