Its sad but Disneyland has priced me back to the World

[ValpoCory]

Lets say you have a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 children ages 3-9. WDW parkhopper tickets for 8 days is $204 more then DLR parkhoppers for 8 days.

When you say DLR has 8-day parkhoppers, do you mean buying 5-day parkhoppers and then upgrading each one at the park?

Also, IMO park hopping at DLR is a definite must-do, while park hopping at WDW is not nearly as convenient and something I never buy until I know I will use it (heading to the ticket booth at the 2nd park of the day). Several families with young kids only go to the MK (or maybe one day at AK) while at WDW. I can't imagine going to DLR and not going to see Cars Land. But even comparing a 5-day One-park ticket at WDW ($285/$266) vs. DLR park hopper ($290/$270), it's very comparable.

The reason DLR is more for us is the lodging. We wanted to stay onsite for the immersion, so we are renting DVC points for the Grand Californian, costing us $178.33 per night for 6 nights ($1,070 total). In Florida, we rented a Studio at the BWV for $107.50 per night for 8 nights ($860 total). So we went 2 nights longer for $210 less. Most WDW DVC hotels I can get for under $130 per night. So WDW is a significant savings for DVC renters.

 

[Huff]

Which is why Free Dining is not really "free". In signing up for it, you forfeit any chance at other hotel and ticket discounts.

Free dining is almost always the better deal than Disney's discounts except for DLX resorts with a 40% off deal if you have a family of 4 and are staying a full week.

Yes you can sometimes find some bargains through DVC rentals etc. or other deals but not as easily for any given date. Is the free Disney Magic Express from MCO available to DVC renters and does it depend on which resort?

 

[ValpoCory]

Free dining is almost always the better deal than Disney's discounts except for DLX resorts with a 40% off deal if you have a family of 4 and are staying a full week.

Yes you can sometimes find some bargains through DVC rentals etc. or other deals but not as easily for any given date. Is the free Disney Magic Express from MCO available to DVC renters and does it depend on which resort?

Yes, DVC Renters get all the perks on WDW guests, including Magical Express.

 

[squirrel]

I think the biggest thing is just watching, and waiting! Sometimes waiting too long isn't always the best bet... I was watching airfare from Vancouver to L.A. starting months ago, probably in April or even March... and then one day in late May I saw the price drop from somewhere in the $900's for two people roundtrip, to somewhere in the $700's, so we booked our tickets. I just checked prices for the same flights today (10 days out from our departure) and the price is over $1000 for roundtrip for two now! So we really hit the sweetspot for pricing, but not by waiting tooo long!

If you can drive to Bellingham, you can get flights for $99 one way.

 

[Huff]

Yes, DVC Renters get all the perks on WDW guests, including Magical Express.

Are there any DVC rentals that do not have access to DME? I thought DME doesn't go to some resorts on property such as Dolphin/Swan but not sure exactly where.

 

[Califgirl]

Are there any DVC rentals that do not have access to DME? I thought DME doesn't go to some resorts on property such as Dolphin/Swan but not sure exactly where.

All DVC resorts on WDW property have access to DME. Swan & Dolphin are not Disney owned hotels, thus they don't offer DME. If you rent DVC you are able to use Magical Express, just like any other resort guest can.

 

[ValpoCory]

Are there any DVC rentals that do not have access to DME? I thought DME doesn't go to some resorts on property such as Dolphin/Swan but not sure exactly where.

As Califgirl hinted at, all WDW DVC hotels are on property.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Thank you ALL for clearing this up for me! I had a feeling this was the case, but I wanted to make sure. Now of course I'm hoping to score FREE dining, go during the Christmas holiday AND get DS in for the cheaper 3-9 prices.

There really isn't that much price difference between adult and kids tickets - in fact when we visited WDW in 10/09 DS was 9 but I put his age in as 10 so he could order off the adult menus *we had free dining!! Even at 9 he could out eat me and had a "mature" palette. It was maybe $20 more to change his ticket from a kid to an adult. When we visit WDW next Oct. they'll both be Disney adults and that's ok.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

When you say DLR has 8-day parkhoppers, do you mean buying 5-day parkhoppers and then upgrading each one at the park?

no, at wdw they have more than 8 day tickets...I myself prefer to do one park per day because its just too much going from park to park...the whole of wdw is just HUGE

 

[ValpoCory]

no, at wdw they have more than 8 day tickets...I myself prefer to do one park per day because its just too much going from park to park...the whole of wdw is just HUGE

I was asking about DLR, where they no longer sell anything more than 5-day passes. Stitch35 was doing a side-by-side comparison of 8-day passes for DLR and WDW. I was just clarifying how one would buy an 8-day pass at DLR.