Which deal would you take?

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

Even though I just got back from Disney on Sunday... I'm head first into planning my next trip this October! I'll be taking my two older sisters who haven't been since they were under 10 and now they are 26 & 29! I'm trying to decide which package is the better choice.

We were planning on 10/18 - 10/25 to celebrate my sister's birthday, but with free dining we were okay to push the trip back to 10/26 to 11/02. So I had really hoped for free dining at CSR but... after spending 3 - 4 hours each day of my vacation just trying to get through to Disney reservations, by Wednesday afternoon both CBR & CSR were sold out for the week I needed. So at 1am... yes, I finally talked to an agent at 1am! I booked a bounceback stay at POFQ for 10/26 - 11/02, thinking that since most people will be at CSR & CBR, POR & POFQ will be less crowded.
Well, I just returned from a week stay at POR and I know people love it there but... I can't stay I'd return, pretty much one and done for me. So now, I've been second guessing my stay at POFQ too.

Switching to a value resort with Deluxe Dining Plan would still save us about $200.
I thought of going back to CSR for 10/18 - 10/25 because its one of my favorite resorts and saves us $125. Then I thought.. maybe with people flocking to CBR & CSR my stay at POFQ wouldn't be as bad as POR. Finally after browsing the WDW website I realized that using my Target red card to buy discounted disney gift cards, I could stay at AKL for only $150 more than POFQ.

See.. confusing! Help!

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

Oh...now I get it. Well $1100 is a lot of cash...what about a split stay?

I would but we really wanted free dining for our entire stay.

 

[got2lovedisney]

Hmmm...so what about free dining for CBR and then pay for the dining at AKL for the last few days. (not sure how many days you're planning)Would that still get you under what your booked at now?

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

Hmmm...so what about free dining for CBR and then pay for the dining at AKL for the last few days. (not sure how many days you're planning)Would that still get you under what your booked at now?

Nope, because we would have to by two sets of tickets.

BUT! Thanks to disney magic, we were able to keep CSR! It said no rooms available if we booked 10/19 to 10/25 but if we booked 10/19 to 10/26 preferred rooms were available so the CM booked it for those dates then after confirming altered my dates back to 10/25 and so we saved $815 still!
Thanks for trying to help.

 

[Disnee4Me]

Even though I just got back from Disney on Sunday... I'm head first into planning my next trip this October! I'll be taking my two older sisters who haven't been since they were under 10 and now they are 26 & 29! I'm trying to decide which package is the better choice.

We were planning on 10/18 - 10/25 to celebrate my sister's birthday, but with free dining we were okay to push the trip back to 10/26 to 11/02. So I had really hoped for free dining at CSR but... after spending 3 - 4 hours each day of my vacation just trying to get through to Disney reservations, by Wednesday afternoon both CBR & CSR were sold out for the week I needed. So at 1am... yes, I finally talked to an agent at 1am! I booked a bounceback stay at POFQ for 10/26 - 11/02, thinking that since most people will be at CSR & CBR, POR & POFQ will be less crowded.
Well, I just returned from a week stay at POR and I know people love it there but... I can't stay I'd return, pretty much one and done for me. So now, I've been second guessing my stay at POFQ too.

Switching to a value resort with Deluxe Dining Plan would still save us about $200.
I thought of going back to CSR for 10/18 - 10/25 because its one of my favorite resorts and saves us $125. Then I thought.. maybe with people flocking to CBR & CSR my stay at POFQ wouldn't be as bad as POR. Finally after browsing the WDW website I realized that using my Target red card to buy discounted disney gift cards, I could stay at AKL for only $150 more than POFQ.

See.. confusing! Help!

How much of a discount do you get with a Target Red Card ... 5% ... therefore $5 off a 100 gift card?? If so, I'm trying to figure out if that's a better deal than BJ's Wholesale -- $4 off a $100 gift card, which I charged on my Discover card. However I then cash out my discover dollars to cover the cost of the gift card. So essentially, getting the gift card for free.

 

[KLeigh]

Nope, because we would have to by two sets of tickets.

BUT! Thanks to disney magic, we were able to keep CSR! It said no rooms available if we booked 10/19 to 10/25 but if we booked 10/19 to 10/26 preferred rooms were available so the CM booked it for those dates then after confirming altered my dates back to 10/25 and so we saved $815 still!
Thanks for trying to help.

So happy everything worked out for you!! Make sure you take lots of pictures and post a TR!

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

How much of a discount do you get with a Target Red Card ... 5% ... therefore $5 off a 100 gift card?? If so, I'm trying to figure out if that's a better deal than BJ's Wholesale -- $4 off a $100 gift card, which I charged on my Discover card. However I then cash out my discover dollars to cover the cost of the gift card. So essentially, getting the gift card for free.

Yup! 5%... you can get the red card debit card or credit card. That's smart to use Discover dollars... I might have to try that.