Which Resort?

[BigRedDad]

We are money conscious and do not splurge for a place we do not spend much time in. We typically gravitate to Value resorts unless we find a deal on a Moderate or get a DVC rental. We are looking to take a 10-night trip Summer 2017. Our Summer is shortened due to a school and calendar change. We will only have a 3-week Summer vacation and one of those is over 4th of July that we will not travel.

Here are the options and these are without any discounts:
1. Art of Animation ($3,300): We have not been here. We would be in a Mermaid studio room. This is with 10-park tickers no Hopper. We can save $500 by going to the AS resorts.
2. Old Key West (~$1,800 + $1,200 tix): We may be able to get other DVC rental resorts at a similar price. We may be able to rent points for a studio at OKW. Never been here either and would enjoy it. Distance from parks is no big deal for us. We stayed at SSR and it was one of the best stays we had.
3. Wyndham Bonnet Creek ($1,400 + $1,200 tx): We can get a 2BR room with full kitchen, 2 bathes, luxury room for less than the cheapest AS resort.

If we went WBC, I would probably buy APs and make a 2nd trip within the use year. This would also cut down on the parking fee which would be almost $200 for the time we are there. Netting all of that out, it would only cost ~$300 to go to WBC with APs than it would be to go to AoA. If we went with the DVC points rental, we would just go with the 10-day tickets.

 

[Simba's Mom]

If you want the most room, I'd go with OKW. But we're prejudiced, as it's one of our home resorts and a favorite.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

We were seriously considering OKW for our last trip - until we got a great deal on two rooms at AKL

 

[CaptainAmerica]

With those prices and options, OKW and it's not even close.

My only complaint about OKW is the lack of robust quick service dining options. I normally wouldn't stay there unless I was in a one- or two-bedroom villa and thus had a kitchen. But it sounds like you don't spend much time / many meals at the resort anyways so that might not matter to you.

Have you looked at AKL? A standard view is usually cheaper than an OKW studio. AKL standard view is, in my opinion, the absolute best value on property.

 

[BigRedDad]

Have you looked at AKL? A standard view is usually cheaper than an OKW studio. AKL standard view is, in my opinion, the absolute best value on property.

Yes, we are considering that as well. I used OKW as an example. SSR, AKL, WL and OKW are all similar in points.

 

[patch553]

cant speak for the others but AoA is one of our favorites, we to rent dvc points and wer considering OKW but went with SSR

 

[TXDisney]

Okw is a good deal but AA might be great as well.

 

[MagicalMaci]

Art of Animation really has that true "Disney feeling" that I feel OKW somewhat lacks (I prefer SSR) but I think you can't go wrong with either because you're still on property!

 

[BigRedDad]

We still have a lot of time to think about our plans. I know there are no discounts out yet and Summer discounts are limited any way. Even if I got 20% off a moderate resort, I would still be looking at $200 per night which is what a Little Mermaid room is at AoA that won't get discounted.

I have a quote for 9 nights through the people I rent Wyndham points through. I can get a 2BR Deluxe for $1,150 for the 9 nights. That is a 2BR room that is better than any room on Disney property at half the price of AoA. That puts me at APs + a 2BR suite for the same price as 9 nights at AoA (or 20% discounted Mod) + 10 day tickets (~$3,300 for each give or take).

I am finding harder and harder to stay On Property at these price differences.

 

[Jess G]

We still have a lot of time to think about our plans. I know there are no discounts out yet and Summer discounts are limited any way. Even if I got 20% off a moderate resort, I would still be looking at $200 per night which is what a Little Mermaid room is at AoA that won't get discounted.

I have a quote for 9 nights through the people I rent Wyndham points through. I can get a 2BR Deluxe for $1,150 for the 9 nights. That is a 2BR room that is better than any room on Disney property at half the price of AoA. That puts me at APs + a 2BR suite for the same price as 9 nights at AoA (or 20% discounted Mod) + 10 day tickets (~$3,300 for each give or take).

I am finding harder and harder to stay On Property at these price differences.

I know many people will jump to say stay on Disney property for the "better" more "convenient" and more "magical" trip (which I agree in most cases)... but honestly if it meant getting an AP ... and just knowing how nice a room at wyndham would be.... I say do it... enjoy an amazing trip, get your AP and take many weekends at the values for the next year after!

 

[preludevtec01]

You truly can't beat AoA. The theming, especially the Cars area, is phenomenal!

 

[BigRedDad]

get your AP and take many weekends at the values for the next year after!

I spoke before looking at the new pricing. APs are not attractively priced anymore. It would be ~$2,250 for 3 APs. I would need to take 3 1-week trips to get value out of it. I simply won't be doing that in a 12 month period.

I am looking at renting through DVC renters...more specifically RCI exchange renters. They get the best rates. I can get a 1BR unit for less than a value resort. I think we are going to do 7-nights at SSR or OKW then 3 nights at AOA. It will come out to about the same price as 10-nights at AOA.

 

[Jess G]

I spoke before looking at the new pricing. APs are not attractively priced anymore. It would be ~$2,250 for 3 APs. I would need to take 3 1-week trips to get value out of it. I simply won't be doing that in a 12 month period.

I am looking at renting through DVC renters...more specifically RCI exchange renters. They get the best rates. I can get a 1BR unit for less than a value resort. I think we are going to do 7-nights at SSR or OKW then 3 nights at AOA. It will come out to about the same price as 10-nights at AOA.

Very nice! I'll be trying out AoA for the first time in 3 weeks I'm most excited about the pool. I've never rented DVC but I've been thinking next time around I'm going to give it a try.

 

[BigRedDad]

Try to find a reputable person. We "settled" for SSR Summer 2015. The person I usually rent timeshares through found SSR available for the week we wanted to go. It was a 1BR for $1,250. I was worried about being so far away. It wasn't. If you are not after a specific DVC resort, the RCI renters can get you into SSR for cheap. Disney has trouble selling them at $400+ a night, so they dump them to RCI to get people in. From my experience, you have to wait until about 4 months out before they open those floodgates. It is crazy how much less it is through RCI because those Platinum Wyndham members get such huge point reductions. For a high level example, the Summer 1BR exchange for 7-nights is about 105,000 Wyndham points for a Platinum VIP member. Maintenance for 105,000 points is only $611 in annual maintenance (roughly).

This is how I understand the exchange and briefly told by the person I normally rent through.

 

[Mickey5150]

One thing I like to point out when people look at the prices of the AP is that it now includes free downloads of all photopass pictures. With memory maker being $150-200 it can be a nice thing if you like pictures from your vacation. They even have photographers in Disney Springs now.

 

[BigRedDad]

@Mickey5150 I didn't see that the Photopass was included in APs now. I am seriously looking at buying APs. They are for 13 months now if bought by January 3. I am having a hard time swallowing that expensive on site pill.

I talked to my people that I rent Wyndham resorts through. They have a 7-night/8-day rental for a 2BR unit at Wyndham Bonnet Creek for $1,000-ish. AoA for 4 nights is almost $900. They told me if I am willing to wait until April there should still be availability and the rate could go as low as $500. They have a XMas through New Year's for $1200 for the 7 nights right now and quite a bit of availability for comparison sake. That is pretty insane pricing compared to on-site resorts.

 

[BigRedDad]

After looking into it more I think we are going to go with the following plan for next year. We won't be making a first trip until June 2017.

1. Buy APs prior to January 3, 2017 which gives an extra month, 13 instead of 12.
2. Spend 7-nights at a 2BR unit at Wyndham Bonnet Creek for about $1,000 a month
3. Spend 3-4 nights at AoA.

We are going to lose EMH. However, looking at the Summer hours, we can easily miss the morning hours. The rest of the hours are pretty late in the evening anyway. We get free parking, free Photopass, and discounts for meals and merchandise.

Add that we will be taking at least 1 more trip in that 13 month window and possibly 2 more, it makes the best sense. I simply can't get anything close in value to WBC for $1,000. If my people can come across a 1BR DVC for $1,200 like they have in the past, I will go that route.

 

[EvilQueen-T]

We've stayed at AoA in both the cars suites and the mermaid rooms. I loved the resort and would stay in the suites again but unless I had a die hard little mermaid fan in the family I'd save your money and stay at the allstars. The rooms are exactly the same size/layout but at AoA the mermaids are the farthest from the main pool, bus stop, and food court areas. For us the little mermaid rooms just wasn't worth the extra expense over say pop or the allstars (but I don't have a mermaid fanatic either so that might change things if you do). We've stayed at all levels of resorts and with the 3 options you've listed I'd go with OKW.

 

[BigRedDad]

Thanks. We are weighing our options. I am completely willing to stay offsite as well. We did book our room at WBC. We got 7-night s in a 1BR for $500. Just over $70 a night. I am having a hard time spending more than that on a room at Disney. The 1BR is 900sf and a studio at a Value is 260sf and almost 3x the price. For the price of AoA, I can get a room at Gaylord Palms.

Most likely we will stay offsite for the other 4 nights of the trip. With the AP, parking and MM are paid for. We won't go to a park with morning EMH. The second trip we take we may splurge on the room because that will be the only expense we will have. At that time frame, we could get a DVC room at AKL, BLT, OKW, SSR for about $1000 for the week if not less.

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

Are you factoring in the cost of a rental when staying offsite? If its over $300 OKW might make more sense.