We are in a similar boat. We are a family of 4. My daughter will be 17 (almost 18) when we go and my son will be 13 almost 14. No way the 4 of us can be in one room. We need a little more space. I have spent the last several weeks pricing everything. And I mean I don't think there is a scenario that I have not priced. I have decided on renting two Moderate rooms. Hoping for
free dining next September, but if not, we will still go. Here is the pricing that I figured for 4 (2 people in each room and with free dining so that is not figured in): 1 room value for 7 nights plus 4 day park tickets: 1554.72, Hopper pass and water park add on: $191.70, upgrading from QS to regular
DDP: $266.00. Total: $2012.42. Multiplied by two is: $4024.84 total for 2 rooms with the tickets and such. Now CBR (again same scenario) 1 room 7 nights plus 4 day park tickets: $2149.86 , Hopper pass with water park $191.70 add-on. Total: 2341.56. Multiplied by 2: $4683.12. Final pricing. AoA family suite: 7 nights plus 4 day park ticket: $3686.58, Hopper with water park: $383.40, and dining upgrade: $532.00. Total: $4601.98. I also priced out Beach Club which sleeps 5. It was around $4400ish for the 4 of us. We would all be in the same room. One bathroom etc. For the sake of everyone's sanity we are definitely looking at two (hopefully) connecting rooms. I did check out renting
DVC points, but it actually ends up being more when dining is factored in.
Now, I went back and forth with value and moderate since there is a $600ish difference. The difference is worth it to us. We want queen beds. Value has full size. We also want a little more comfort. The beds at values tend to be a little harder. We also want a coffee maker and a desk/table in the room. My kids will have a little bit of online work to do while we are there. Since this will be our 3rd trip since 2012, we know what we want to see and do. We will be taking breaks during the hottest parts of the day and going back to the room to nap or swim. Which is another reason we want moderate. As you can see, booking 2 rooms at a moderate is slightly more than 1 family suite at AoA.
These are all based on pricing right now. Things can change and do. But hopefully this gives you some idea.
And if not, they can pay the difference between the "free" QS plan and the regular plan if they want to stay in a suite (or 2 rooms) at a Value resort. For some families, squeezing into a moderate room just to get the "free" dining plan would ruin their vacation. Let me refer you to my sister's family who did that and ended up cutting their vacation short and losing the cost of 1 night's stay (actually almost 2 night's since they left at 4:00 a.m.) -- not to mention 2 days of park admission and numerous "free" meals -- because they were all fighting with each other due to too much "togetherness". It's great if squeezing in a room works for your family, but it doesn't work for every family.
