$6657.60 for Dining Pkg. Good Price?

[amwhitaker]

I just went online to Disney.com and got a quote for 4 adults, 7 nights at Saratoga Springs, 7 day park hopper & no expiration date tickets, dining plan. Any suggestions on where to go to get a cheaper price? I don't have any discount codes.

 

[amwhitaker]

Oh forgot to mention that this is a 2-bedroom villa for Nov. 12 - 19th.

 

[agotta]

Here are my thoughts. You could easily rent a 2-bedroom at SSR through a DVC Member = 2550.00. 4 adult 7 day MYW no exp. park hoppers w/tax would be 1184.28. That leaves 2923.60 from the price you were quoted. That would be $365 a day for 4 adults. The meal plan doesn't always make sense. Do you eat a lot of sit down? If so breaking it down to $91 a day per adult may not be enough. With Villas at DVC you are usually better off renting from a member.

Amanda

 

[DisFlan]

Ouch! You might look into renting points for the villa on the DVC rent and trade board. We've done this in the past and saved a LOT (almost $2000 saved on the villa alone). I'd check to see what that would cost plus separate park tickets, compared to your package cost. The difference may more than make up for what you'd spend on food without the dining part of the package.

Another important question is: Are you splitting the cost with the other members of your party? That would make a difference, too. If you are footing the whole bill, I'd seriously suggest looking into the cheaper route.

You might also look into to buying one AP and getting the Disney Dining Experience card for $75. That would give you a 20% discount at most Disney restaurants. We've found that 20% off meals makes a BIG difference.

As a rule, most packages aren't the cheapest way to go. Easy, yes, but not cheap.

DisFlan

 

[KristiKelly]

I would definitely look into renting points through a DVC member. I have rented before & it worked out really well, we saved $1100. on a studio for 6 nights vs. Disney's price. Go to the DVC Rent/Trade board and look to see who has points for rent or you can post that you are looking for points. They will be very helpful. If you don't know how many points you need, when you get to the rent/trade board, look at the very top (where the timeshare store has their ad), click onto "points chart" then click onto "points calculator". From there, you will need to type in your dates, resort & type of accom. (2BR), it will tell you the number of points you would need. Sometimes you may find someone in a bind that needs to get rid of points ASAP and will sell for $8-9 per point, but typically you can find them for $10-11 per point. This should be able to save you quite a bit.

I would then look into a DDE card (20% savings at many restaurants), I don't believe that you can get the dining add-on unless you're doing a package. The savings would be worth NOT doing the dining package, IMHO. I hope this makes sense.

 

[DznyDreams]

I must agree with those who've suggested renting from a DVC member. I've done this at least 5 times in the past, and it has always worked out great for me.

One thing to keep in mind: You will not get daily full maid service when renting points from a DVC member. This service is important to some folks -- no full maid service can leave some feeling like they've not really been on vacation. This is not the case for me. Even though I'm not renting points for my upcoming trip, it has actually been a big plus for me to NOT have daily full maid service in the past. I could always sleep in when I wanted, and come and go as I pleased without worrying about detaining the mousekeepers.

 

[KristiKelly]

One thing to keep in mind: You will not get daily full maid service when renting points from a DVC member. This service is important to some folks -- no full maid service can leave some feeling like they've not really been on vacation. This is not the case for me. Even though I'm not renting points for my upcoming trip, it's actually been a big plus for me to NOT have daily full maid service in the past. I could always sleep in when I wanted, and come and go as I pleased without worrying about detaining the mousekeepers.

The maid service is something to consider. If it is important to you, you can arrange for it. I believe it is $15-25 per day, otherwise I believe they come every 3-4 days (when staying through DVC), You can have all your questions answered over on the DVC forums. I really like NOT having the daily service. In 2002, we stayed @ AKL, mousekeeping came one morning at 8:00 am - our kids were still asleep.

 

[DznyDreams]

On one particular trip, we stayed in a 2-BR unit at the WLV and requested daily FULL mousekeeping. (My mother was along for this trip, and she's one of those who likes this service while on vacation.) Now don't hold me to this, but I swear the cost of the daily maid service (not just trash and towel, but FULL service) was $40/day for a 2-BR. The studios are not as much--more like the $25 KristiKelly mentioned (for FULL service).

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you are going for seven days and getting a seven day ticket, why do you need no expiration? Not much, but I'd drop that one, too.

 

[swilshire]

$6657? That's more than I paid for my last car! Or my last timeshare.

Maybe I spend that much total and just never see it in one lump sum, but I sure hope not. That's a ton of money! We spent six weeks total at WDW last year and I know we probably spent more than that with the Premium annual passes for six and all the other expenses, but gosh it looks like a big number when you see it like that.

In shock here.

Sheila

 

[fam4jc]

I agree with everyone else... that is WAY too much money. The first thing to do is to go over to the DVC rent/trade board and post your needed dates and pref location for a 2bd villa. See who has something available. Then I'd use the mousesavers link and get 7 day park hoppers, expiring (unless you think you will be back?) You can use a grocery shopping service and have it delivered to your villa. Not that you'd want to cook on vacation, but it's nice to have soda, juice, coffee, muffins, etc around. The villas are way cool. There are good pics of them all ove the boards. I would recommend staying at the boardwalk or beachclub. You will love the convenience to mgm and epcot.

 

[djm99]

I guess if ya got it spend it, but for that price you could do the Disney cruise Land and sea! Check ebay for owners selling their DVC points. This was only for one week? Wow!

 

[disneymom3]

Holy buckets! That is a lot of money! We went three times in 2003 and didn't spend that much on all trips combined for a family of 5 (Okay we stayed offsite and two of the 5 were under three, so they don't really count.) I definitely would look into renting points or even staying in one of the many many gorgeous resort villas in the area.

Even if I had the money, I couldn't imagine spending that much on a weeks vacation!