Ahhh, TeenaS, you might have convinced me to upgrade to a club level room for late January. Knowing they might be done by that time and have a brand-new room, I was able to convince DH that club level would be better than
DDP.
Problem is, no more garden views for our dates with the SPD deal. Water view is over our budget. I'm going to keep checking!
If you've stayed club level, what did you love about it?!
My personal opinion about club level: If you are going to be at the resort a lot, then I love to have club level. I love waking up and having breakfast there. Then spending part of the day at the pool and every time I pass the lounge, I stop and get a drink, snacks, etc. If you are going to be at the resort before dinner, having appetizers and a nice beer or wine before dinner in the lounge is super. Then after dinner, around 9 PM, having a cordial and a few tiny desserts before bed is so nice. HOWEVER, if you plan on being at the parks all day, not coming back to the resort until bed time, then no way do I do club level. We prefer club level when we are spending time at the pool and at the resort. On the trips we did parks all day, it wasn't worth the money.
My personal opinion on the dining plan is there is no way you can break even on it since they have raised the price so much. You are forced to eat a dessert at every meal (which Bob and I rarely do ... and if we do, we share one). We like appetizers, not desserts. We can't eat a whole quick service lunch every day with dessert ... we split one. Think about it ...to even come close to breaking even, you'd have to eat the most expensive thing on the menu for your entrée every meal, whether you wanted it or not. You have to get a dessert twice a day whether you wanted it or not. At over $60 a person, it is almost impossible to break even.
If you like the fact that your meals are paid for ahead of time, I suggest you put the cost of the dining plan on a gift card. Then pay for your quick service lunch and your sit down dinner with the gift card. However, you can't use the gift card for tip. Remember, tip isn't included in the dining plan ... it's extra. So, you need to pay for the tip another way. Order what you want, not what you are forced to eat. In other words, maybe you don't want a dessert for lunch every day and for dinner. Maybe you actually want an appetizer.
You'll most likely find you will have money left over at the end of your vacation and you will have eaten what you wanted, not what you were forced to eat. Bob and I did this and we had over $150 on the gift card left over. When we are on the dining plan, I always had a cash envelope for tips and I did the same with the gift card. We had lunch almost every day at the pool (Hurricane Hannah's) and we split a burger and fries. We never had dessert. We sometimes shared a dessert for dinner. The refillable mug never is a good deal unless you are at the resort all day (at the pool). You can't refill your mug at the parks. We are big water drinkers and get free water and ice at all our meals.
So my personal advice to you is to skip the dining plan whether or not you stay club level.
I'm a great supporter of the Tables in Wonderland. However, you need to be a Florida resident or annual passholder to get that.
I just could not pass up the magical deal....we decided after our trip this summer that it would be our last for at least a couple of years, the kids will be out of college and we have too much to do around the house, etc. and our money needs to go elsewhere. LOL, we should have known better. The price I was quoted was just plain crazy. I have no problem not staying Club Level..for the same dates as last summer, we are paying $1400 LESS, and I booked that room with an awesome PIN code. And, since I was going to renew my AP in March for our Spring Break trip to CBR and a potential work conference there next September, I'll just get DH an AP as well, so the tickets aren't really too much of a factor either. No brainer, right?
