My first post. Need some help please

[amyrenek]

This is my first post allthough I have been lurking here since I started planning for our trip last June. I big thank you to everyone. I have learned so much by reading these boards.
Now on to my dilema. I'm planning a quick trip this Oct(19-23) for the ATA fall national tournament. Myself and my 3 children(6,5,2) will be traveling with my mother, sister(maybe her husband) and their one year old. Through disney sports I can get rooms at the all stars for $78/night. I would rather do this but I'm trying to make this trip a little cheaper for my sister(newly stay at home mom). I found a good deal through hotels com for air and hotel for $248/person, normaly air by itself is about 360 here. We had decided to stay at the hotel that came with the airfare, the econo lodge hawaiin resort. and rent a full size van for easier travel to and from Disney(about $250, still cheaper than getting to rooms at the all star sports and using the Disney busses). Well I just read some online reveiws about this hotel(econo lodge) and there were NOT GOOD AT ALL. More than one mentioned roaches. Now I wasn't expecting a top of the line hotel but clean rooms are an absolute must for me. At this point I would really like to just stay at the all star sports but will feel bad about increasing the cost for my sister. My mom isn't realy an issue because she can stay in our room, but my sister's family will have to pay the cost of a second room there self. I'm sorry this got so long, hopefully I explained my self well enough. Please any advice would be appreciated and if anyone has actualy stayed at this hotel I would love to hear about your experiences. Thanks,
amy

 

[ALostBoy]

Hi,
First of all welcome to the DIS.

I stayed at the Econo Lodge Hawaiian on a business trip
to Orlando(wife and kids stayed home) and would not
stay there again. There are to many other nicer places
out there. If you need to cut cost you could try Hotel Kingdom
for Cypress Point in a 3 bedroom condo not far from
Hotel plaza Blvd. and Downtown Disney. The shared expense
could help everyone. Do a search and you will see many
threads on the subject. Good Luck

 

[lovinmgm]

Not sure this applies, but you are spending $250 on a van. If you can go without the van, you can put $125 into each of the 2 rooms and come out even....that's about $30 per night taking the AllStars room down to $48 per night....and remember transportation to and from the airport is free if you stay on WDW property so that is not an issue.

Is it worth $48 per night per room to be in a hotel you know is well thought of by reviewers?

Hope it all works out!

 

[f7prez]

Have you thought about a rental home? You would all be able to share one house. you could cut down on food costs by eating at home. We have a timeshare and usually eat breakfast in the unit while everyone is getting ready. This cuts way down on time wasted at a restaurant in the morning and the cost of feeding six or more people. It is also nice having a refrigerator for additional snacks and beverages.
Plus the houses usually come with their own pool.

 

[kizmac]

Not sure this applies, but you are spending $250 on a van. If you can go without the van, you can put $125 into each of the 2 rooms and come out even....that's about $30 per night taking the AllStars room down to $48 per night....and remember transportation to and from the airport is free if you stay on WDW property so that is not an issue.

Is it worth $48 per night per room to be in a hotel you know is well thought of by reviewers?

Hope it all works out!

I agree with lovinmgm! I would ditch the van rental and stay on property if at all possible. I think the kids would LOVE it. Maybe you could get a better deal with a AAA discount or if you plan on another trip with in the year you could go the way of an AP and maybe get their rate for both rooms. How much is the Econo costing you once you take away the airfare? I've stayed offsite alot and could maybe give you another suggestion in that price range.

 

[f7prez]

I could never figure out why people think that waiting around for the Disney bus is a great idea. By renting your own car you save yourself HOURS of waiting around taking one bus after another to get to one destination. With small kids this is only going to be a source of irritation and frustration, adding to your stress level. Keep the van, besides, the free transportation to and from the airport has not gotten good reviews.
I have never been a big fan of Disney's Value Motels. The rooms are tiny and usually stuck way out away from anything. You would do better if you could find a discount rate at one of the DTD hotels. These hotels even offer bus service to the parks if you did want to cancel the rental car. Their buses are nicer, more comfortable than Disney buses and run every half hour. Disney does not ALWAYS mean better.

 

[momofthreekids]

We are planning our trip for June 2006 for 12 days for a family of five. We have chosen to stay off site a a 3 bedroom villa with a pool and even after the rental car still will have saved 700.00. We can eat breakfast at the home and swim anytime we want with no other people. I'm suring staying on site would be great but with a family of five you have to stay at a deluxe (POR trundle too small) or two rooms and much cheaper to stay off site.

 

[amyrenek]

Thanks so much for all your input. As it turns out my sister and her family will not be able to go so my mom will just stay with us at the all star sports. I looked into the offsite condo mentioned previously and it looked great. We were planning on a longer family trip next year with my mother in law(6 ppl total) and will be looking into staying offsite. It looked like the cost of renting an offsite condo even with a rental car would be cheaper than 2 rooms at any of the Disney resorts. Having our own kitchen would also be a huge plus. Thanks again, I really have learned so much by reading this site.