Accommodation Help

[tapdancer]

Hi everyone

Just after some information if I may I will give you a bit of background on us. We are off to WDW next September for 10 days to celebrate my 40th

We are a family of 2 adults and 3 children. I have been liasing with an American travel agent who has recommended Port Orleans Riverside for our family.

What I am wondering is are the rooms big enough for 5 people, and will the trundle bed be ok for an 11 year old to sleep on? We have also been offered the free basic dining package - is this worthwhile? and can you upgrade it if needed??

Would there be an alternative hotel that you would recommend being our accommodation budget is not huge.

Thanks in advance


Tap dancer

 

[Travel Mum]

Hi there Tap Dancer, I'm not going to be of much help to you but just want to say that we are doing the same thing. We are a family of five (2 Ad, 3 Ch who will be aged 13, 10 and 6 at the time of travel) and we are booked into stay at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside with free dining for 9 nights from 29 September 2011. We have been dealing with Michelle at Dreams Unlimited who has been fantastic. I'm presuming our youngest will sleep on the trundle bed but, if the 13 and 10 year-olds don't get along sharing a bed, I'll have to put our 10 year old on it. I've read on other threads that it would probably be okay for her to fit on. I do worry about all being is such a small room for 9 nights but I'm banking on us being out all day at the parks or by the pool and only being in the room to sleep. I'm also presuming we will all be very exhausted so everyone will go to sleep quickly. Fingers crossed We are on a tight budget so this was the cheapest option for our family to stay onsite. The next least expensive option was a Family Suite at All-Stars Music I believe and then a Cabin at Fort Wilderness - however both were quite a bit more than POR. Now, with this new "preferred room" rate being introduced next year at POR, my new dilemma is whether, because we have not booked a preferred rate, we will automatically be allocated a room far away from everything

 

[Jade+3]

I was just about to post a reply, but Travel Mum beat me to it. We are also a family of five, and when I looked into staying onsite Port Orleans Riverside ended up being the cheapest option.

We have stayed at Windsor Hills, where we rented a 3 bedroom condo, for less than $100 a night. However you would need a car which bumps the costs up.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Welcome to the Boards TapDancer. How fantastic to spend your 40th birthday at WDW and what a way to celebrate!

I stayed at POR in May and my family is DH, myself and DS10. Because of our family size, we did not get a room in the Aligator Bayou section; we were placed in Magnolia Terrace. Therefore, I did not see the trundle beds.
But when I was booking, I did ask about the trundles and was advised that it would probably be okay for kids under 9 years of age. The beds are double sized beds so I hope your kids like to share!

You did not provide the ages of your kids other than to ask if the trundle was okay for an 11 year old. The answer to your question would depend on whether your 11 year old is the oldest or youngest in the family and whether your 11 yo is on the larger or smaller side of 11.

Unless you wish to look at DVC villas, the alternative to POR is a family room at ASMu, a cabin at WL, taking 2 rooms at a Value or to see if the new resort being built is potentially going to be ready in time. Depending on the age of your kids, you may want to consider the family room at ASMu because (I believe) it has 2 bathrooms.

From memory, basic dining would include 1 TS, 1 CS and 1 snack per night that you are staying, per person. Its currently valued at about $45 per adult per night. The TS and CS meals potentially could include drink and desert. Or you could use the TS for a buffet. To qualify for free dining, you are paying for accommodation at rack rate.
To see whether this would be worth it for your family; or whether you are better off with a % discount off the room, you would need to spend some time investigating the dining menus, which can be found on AllEars. I'm an Obsessive Compulsive Planner, so I tend to start a spreadsheet and choose what I think I would want to eat per meal per day (for me and the family), cost it out in full and then compare it to the DDP. Remember - there is a lot of food included in the DDP, when you add the desserts. If you don't eat dessert or don't want to sit down and eat at at least one restaurant per day, then it may not be the offer for you.
You'll also need to see if you are going to go to any of the buffets or character meals. I think for me the breakeven point was if I was planning on going to at least 5 meals where I was sitting down for TS, buffet/character meal in a 9 night stay.

In previous years, people on the free dining offer have been able to upgrade to another plan for extra $. Again, you need to work out what the difference is in terms of package and whether the Deluxe plan options is something that you would be using and getting value from a food perspective.

There are a number of accommodation options that are off resort. You would need to check out what is appropriate and then run the numbers, including transport costs e.g., car rental or otherwise; and if renting a car, the parking/entry fee.

Welcome to the world of Disney.Fuzzy.Maths!

For what it's worth, I took the % room discount and bought Quick Service dining. I knew I was only doing 1 character dining and possibly 1 Table service and it worked out better for me. I was also doing a split stay, so I was happy with QS/CS meals for the first half at a Moderate and then moved to a Deluxe and paid for meals OOP.

 

[Toy Story]

Hi Tapdancer,
I spent my 40th at POR this year - we were also in the Magnolia Section with a 17yo and 12yo (also celebrated her b'day at WDW) sharing the double bed. The room is ok if you don't plan on spending much time in there.

I am sure there is a photo of the trundle-bed on the main accommodation thread somewhere...

 

[tapdancer]

Thanks so much for the replies, it has certainly given me a lot to think about. My children are 16 yo daughter, 13yo son and 11 yo son so now that I think about it the 2 boys would probably have to share double bed (can't see my 16 yo daughter wanting to share ) but it would mean daughter would have to sleep on the trundle hmmm not sure about that.

We orginally booked Floridays resort off site which was 2 bedroom and was quoted $1700 for 10 nights which I thought was a good deal. All the extras with an onsite resort made me question this tho

xx

 

[tapdancer]

After a chat with Hubbie we have decided that POR is going to be too small so we will keep researching. Please keep any ideas coming they will be very appreciated.

xxx

 

[PrincessInOz]

TapDancer - My brother stayed off site in May. He took his girlfriend and his 12 year old twins (boy and girl).

He stayed at the Lake Buena Vista Resort and Spa, which is right at the LBV Outlets. He got a 2 bedroom, 2 bath place and paid about $1200 for 9 or 10 nights. He hired a car and drove in everyday. Didn't get the on-site perks that we got...but then the twins get a lot more tired than my DS. They wake up late and go to bed early; so EMH was of no benefit to them. My nephew didn't do half the rollercoasters that my son and niece went on.
They also went back to their resort for dinner most nights, cooked and saved money that way.
His girlfriend loves to shop; so being right next to the (smaller) outlet suited them just fine.

We visited them...it was nice. A lot more space than being on-site; but we were rarely in our room. The Pirate pool looked nice and there was an Irish pub right downstairs. They said the food was good there.

 

[tapdancer]

Princess, can I ask what ASMu stands for ??

 

[PrincessInOz]

Oops! Jargon! Sorry.

ASMu = All Star Music. I think it's a value resort and I understand that they have family rooms there....could be I'm mixing this up with POP century?

 

[tapdancer]

Looks like we are going to book All Star Movies with and interconnecting room which will solve our space problems.

It gives us free Quick Service Dining which we can upgrade to Basic Dining.

Thanks so much for all your help.

 

[cola]

Depending on dining plan/off season rates, I'm going to say off property time share. You can get ridiculously cheap rates on Endless Vacation Rentals by Wyndham (which is like the rental rates on RCI) 3 bedroom for less than $600US for 7 nights is pretty cheap! (that is for the whole unit, doesn't matter how many people are staying) and if you know anyone with an Interval International membership there are very similar rates for Marriott etc.

Since you're going for 10 nights, you could still have 3 night on property. It also means if you are going beyond Disney (Universal? Sea World? etc) you can do those when you're staying off property. Endless Vacation also has Disney Vacation Club timeshares on there, but they are usually smaller units, and expensive, though tehy sometimes have 3 or 4 night packages.

If the timeshare idea seems good, it's a good idea to join The TimeShare Users Group and read the reviews of the resort you are thinking off. All of them are OK for sleeping, but some will have better pools/locations/ activities for kids etc which you can get from the reviews.


I prefer staying off-property and having more money to spend than spend all the money on the hotel. I've stayed on property (DVC) and it was wonderful, but if finances are a concern, off property is sooooooooo much cheaper, even if you do have to pay for parking. (Hire cars in Orlando are very cheap compared to elsewher)

 

[MouseFan Down Under]

Looks like we are going to book All Star Movies with and interconnecting room which will solve our space problems.

It gives us free Quick Service Dining which we can upgrade to Basic Dining.

Thanks so much for all your help.

Tap Dancer - check out Pop instead of All Star Movies. Simply because Pop has it's own bus service (tha All Stars sometimes share) and it is in a different county, so the tax is slightly cheaper!!

It is still a value hotel, and you will get your free dining too!

I have stayed at Pop the last 2 years and LOVED it!!

Happy Planning!

 

[5ofus]

Did you end up checking out the All Star Music Family Suites? They are looking like they will be the front runner for my family (or the new Art of Animation Resort which will be open by the time we go) of five. At the moment I prefer them over connecting rooms at the values because you get a fridge and microwave included which will be handy for breakfast and snacks in the rooms. I haven't done a full cost comparison yet though so I don't know how they compare in cost to two connecting rooms.

 

[tapdancer]

Yep we ended up booking All Star Movies with the connecting rooms.

The thing that turned me off the family suite at All Star Music is that the kids beds were all Couch and Chair pullouts and I wanted them to have proper beds as my boys even tho only 13 and 11 are as tall as me. The two connecting rooms at AS Movies gave us that bit of extra space that we thought we would need.

 

[Caroline NZ]

Wow, Cola. Those prices on Endless Vacation Rentals are incredibly cheap compared to staying onsite. And there are some pertty luxurious places too.

 

[cola]

Yeah, staying off-site can save you a LOT, particularly if you want to do go beyond Disney. I'm back again next week, less than a year after my last trip, and it's affordable because the accommodation is so cheap! You just need to go outside any US public and school holidays.
You need to weigh up the free dining plan if it's available, and the car, and being on-property (most here would say on-property is worth too much) but the space and price of off site...... Plus if you do a split stay you can still have that on-property experience.