Anyway Staying More than 10 Nights End of August? How Did You Book your Trip?

[SELLINGINNJ]

Hello,
We are a family of 5 traveling to Disney for our annual end of August trip. We are staying 15 nights at POR. I have booked our trip with 2 reservations.

1. 10 nights with free dining and 10 day MYW Plus Tickets (inlcudes 5 options)

2. 5 nights room only with AAA discount. Paying for food out of pocket.


I am curious to see how other families handle longer trips! Please share your plans!

 

[newholidayx2]

Aug 13-19 VWL our DVC points
Aug 19-21 VWL member cash discount
Aug 21-27 BCV points

 

[SELLINGINNJ]

Just Bumping......Anyone else?

 

[Letsbgoofy]

Did you get enough of an AAA discount that it was worth not getting the free dining?

 

[drusso]

8 nts. POR
8 nts. AKL
with AP discount on rooms & DDE for dining

 

[SELLINGINNJ]

Did you get enough of an AAA discount that it was worth not getting the free dining?

To make the 5 nights a package would cost us about $450.00 more. Of this, $290.00 would be for one day MYW tickets.
I have been tossing this option around. I guess it comes down to, "Do I want to give my money to Disney ahead of time by buying the additional 1 day tickets now to be used in the future?"

 

[pumpkinboy]

I'd recommend going room-only (whether AAA rate, DVC points or whatever room-only rate you can get) and getting the AP for admission, and the DDE card for dining. WIth the DDE you are free to choose to eat in a restaurant or not; but when you do eat at a sit-down restaurant, you get 20% off of everything (including adult beverages), and there is no hassle with the class of restaurant vs number of credits and all that stuff. You just choose your restaurants ahead of time, buy only what you want (no urge to overconsume as with the dining plans) and get a nice 20% discount of the bill.

On the Park Admission front I suppose you could do the MYW Premium 10 day ticket with 5 plusses for about $300 per adult ($255 per child under 10); or for $548 per adult ($466 per child under 10) you could get the PAP. Or instead you could go for the regular APs and pay as you go on the "pluses"; APs would run you $421 per adult ($358 per child).

One last thought is if you might be doing long trips to WDW every few years would be to think about buying into DVC. This would entitle you to the DVC discount on APs (adult: $314; child: $267) and PAPs (adult: $415; child: $354), plus you could get a 2BR with full kitchen and laundry, which will come in handy for your family of 5 (we brought grandparents this last time, putting 7 in the 2BR quite comfortably). And you can bank and borrow points to give you 3 years worth of points every third year; a 15 day stay from say August 14-29 would run 611 points at SSR or 559 pts at OKW since they include weekend nights, a level that would have you buying about 200 points. You could buy fewer points if you wanted to pay cash for some weekend nights (often a good option) or rent extra points from other DVC member to make up whatever points you need to make you next ressie. A 200 point contract will run you$19,600 at DVC prices, most of which can be financed. And now with the Disney Visa you can finance the downpayment at 0% for a good long period. It's worth investigating in any case.

Good luck!

 

[Letsbgoofy]

So your AAA discount is $160 for the 5 days? (I didn't know they gave such a good discount) If that's the case, you need to decide whether or not you will eat more than $160 in food for 5 days (not sure how old your kids are) and whether you want to pay for tickets that you won't use until next year.

Personally, if I had the money, I would go for the package. The price you are paying for a one day pass will go a long way towards your tickets next year. I can't imagine being able to feed a family of 5 for less than $35 day.

 

[SELLINGINNJ]

So your AAA discount is $160 for the 5 days? (I didn't know they gave such a good discount) If that's the case, you need to decide whether or not you will eat more than $160 in food for 5 days (not sure how old your kids are) and whether you want to pay for tickets that you won't use until next year.

Personally, if I had the money, I would go for the package. The price you are paying for a one day pass will go a long way towards your tickets next year. I can't imagine being able to feed a family of 5 for less than $35 day.

Thanks for the reply!

5 nights AAA discount $597.00
5 night package, free dining, 1 day basic ticket is $1044.00

Difference is $427.00. - $293 for advanced tickets = $134.00 more for the package with free dining.

The package sounds like the way to go! Now I have to see if I can budget the extra cash.

 

[NHBelle]

We are doing 14 days at POP. I also had to make two ressies. My first ressie is August 14-21 with 10 day premium tickets and we are paying for dining. Week 2 is August 21-28 with 1 days base tickets and free dining. The total is 3345.00 for both weeks. ( oh its 2 adults and 2 children.) I think thats pretty good with all our food and tickets included.

 

[SELLINGINNJ]

I'd recommend going room-only (whether AAA rate, DVC points or whatever room-only rate you can get) and getting the AP for admission, and the DDE card for dining. WIth the DDE you are free to choose to eat in a restaurant or not; but when you do eat at a sit-down restaurant, you get 20% off of everything (including adult beverages), and there is no hassle with the class of restaurant vs number of credits and all that stuff. You just choose your restaurants ahead of time, buy only what you want (no urge to overconsume as with the dining plans) and get a nice 20% discount of the bill.

On the Park Admission front I suppose you could do the MYW Premium 10 day ticket with 5 plusses for about $300 per adult ($255 per child under 10); or for $548 per adult ($466 per child under 10) you could get the PAP. Or instead you could go for the regular APs and pay as you go on the "pluses"; APs would run you $421 per adult ($358 per child).

One last thought is if you might be doing long trips to WDW every few years would be to think about buying into DVC. This would entitle you to the DVC discount on APs (adult: $314; child: $267) and PAPs (adult: $415; child: $354), plus you could get a 2BR with full kitchen and laundry, which will come in handy for your family of 5 (we brought grandparents this last time, putting 7 in the 2BR quite comfortably). And you can bank and borrow points to give you 3 years worth of points every third year; a 15 day stay from say August 14-29 would run 611 points at SSR or 559 pts at OKW since they include weekend nights, a level that would have you buying about 200 points. You could buy fewer points if you wanted to pay cash for some weekend nights (often a good option) or rent extra points from other DVC member to make up whatever points you need to make you next ressie. A 200 point contract will run you$19,600 at DVC prices, most of which can be financed. And now with the Disney Visa you can finance the downpayment at 0% for a good long period. It's worth investigating in any case.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice! I appreciate it.

I have considered buying AP's but the problem is we like to go the same time each year. Having to travel 2 weeks earlier next year might not be doable.

As far as DVC, I really need to read up on it!

 

[Letsbgoofy]

It will help knowing that you will spend $293 less next year anyways!

Did you call to see if the package was still available?

I love POR, but we are only spending 5 days this year and are staying at the ASMU since we won't be spending any time at the resort.

 

[pooh2001]

We have WL - AAA rate on bith ressies for 2006
10 nights and then 4 nights - both same rate

I am hoping to stay in the same room.
I was told to check out at 7 AM the morning of the 10th night
and request the same room when checking in for my next 4 nights.

It is also on my resevation - that we have another ressie right after the first.
I will also call WL 7 days before our 14 night magical adventure - and have the room assigner make a note of it (I hope)

 

[tortoni]

We are also 5 traveling from August 13 to 28. We are doing 15 nights altogether. The first and last we do at Marriott at the Airport thru priceline. Then Marriott Cypress Harbour for some space and then the Yacht Club with the free dining plan. We move around a lot but that's part of the fun for us.

 

[SELLINGINNJ]

It will help knowing that you will spend $293 less next year anyways!

That's true!

Did you call to see if the package was still available?

No, I haven't called Disney yet. But the package is available online, so I assume it would be available calling.

I love POR, but we are only spending 5 days this year and are staying at the ASMU since we won't be spending any time at the resort.

We stayed at POR 2 years ago. We really enjoyed it! 3 years ago we stayed at ASMO. Also enjoyed it! Disney 24 hours, in your face!

 

[SELLINGINNJ]

We have WL - AAA rate on bith ressies for 2006
10 nights and then 4 nights - both same rate

I am hoping to stay in the same room.
I was told to check out at 7 AM the morning of the 10th night
and request the same room when checking in for my next 4 nights.

It is also on my resevation - that we have another ressie right after the first.
I will also call WL 7 days before our 14 night magical adventure - and have the room assigner make a note of it (I hope)

I also have my second reservation noted on my first. I really hope we can keep the same room!

 

[SELLINGINNJ]

We are also 5 traveling from August 13 to 28. We are doing 15 nights altogether. The first and last we do at Marriott at the Airport thru priceline. Then Marriott Cypress Harbour for some space and then the Yacht Club with the free dining plan. We move around a lot but that's part of the fun for us.

We stayed offsite last year for two weeks in a 3 bedroom condo in Windsor Hills. Really can't beat the space! We really liked it. However, this year, with free dining we felt we had to stay onsight. My 12 year old, who loves to eat, can't wait! After going to Disney the last 3 years in a row, this will seem like a different vacation since we will visit lots of restaurants we haven't tried before!

 

[SELLINGINNJ]

Final bump.......just checking to see if anyone else wants to post their plans!