AoA vs POR

[~April~]

I guess I should have done more research. I just found out about AoA and the fact that they have suites that sleep up to 6 people.

I have a family of 5. my Dh and myself both in our 30's, and our children 12, 11, and 7.

last year I contacted our travel agent to set up our family trip to Disney, not once did she mention that we could get a suite at AoA, we were told POR or villas.

I just looked into AoA and it looks fun and perfect, POR is beautiful (I'm not complaining) I'm just wondering why they never gave us AoA as an option, is there a huge price difference between the two?

 

[goofyredraider]

The family suites are quite a bit more than POR

 

[Tekneek]

We recently booked and my recollection is that we saved nearly a thousand dollars by choosing POR over AOA (with family of 5).

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

There are also family suites at All Star Music, which would be less than the suites at AofA. They also have two full bathrooms, two separate rooms, kitchenette. I also think the Ft. Wilderness cabins would be an option.

If your travel agent is not giving you all of the options, maybe you should consider changing TA's!!

 

[mum2four]

The suites at AOA are quite a bit more expensive than one room at POR. We were originally booked at POR for our trip in May, but just switched over to an AOA suite instead. With the current spring promotion, we ended up paying $932 more to switch from POR to AOA (7 nights). It is a big chunk of money, but we ultimately decided the extra space and second bathroom were worth the cost for our family. Plus, our kids are over the moon about staying at AOA - it was what they initially wanted.

POR does look beautiful, though! Either way I'm sure you'll have a great trip.

 

[wdw4rfam]

We debated the two, and ended up with POR. The difference was $900 so we were able to get a preferred room and add 2 nights. Also, the suites have double beds for the kids, and at POR they have 2 queens and the Murphy bed. Our youngest is only 5, so then the 2 older kids can share a queen rather than two kids sharing a double at AOA.

 

[~April~]

There are also family suites at All Star Music, which would be less than the suites at AofA. They also have two full bathrooms, two separate rooms, kitchenette. I also think the Ft. Wilderness cabins would be an option.

If your travel agent is not giving you all of the options, maybe you should consider changing TA's!!

switching travel agents looks like my best option for later vacations. Never said anything to us about All Star Music either. We were told Villa's or POR, we didn't want Villa's because I figured they had the whole kitchen and everything, we are on the dining plan and have no plans whatsoever to cook the entire vacation. The other options would have been nice to know about.

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

AOA is more expensive than POR, but it's more space and has 2 bathrooms. If you are used to being all in one room in a hotel then POR would be fine. AOA, on the other hand, has 2 bathrooms and the kids would sleep in a different room for you, the parents.

We are staying at AOA in May and my SO and I will share the Queen Sized bed in the master. Two of my kids will share a full sized bed and 1 will sleep in the full sized sofa. For us, that will be more comfortable than ALL being in one small room. Also 2 bathrooms really cuts down on the time it takes to get ready.

AOA is definitely worth additional money compared to POR due to the increase in space. Because I am not doing DDP, I ended up booking through Orbitz, which was $340 cheaper than booking through Disney for 6 nights.

 

[dmoore718]

We had the same dilemma when planning ours. In the end, we decided to go with AOA and drive instead of fly. It is about $900 more but we saved $1500 by driving so that was my reasoning. We LOVED AOA!! I can't say enough great things about it. The family suite bldgs are all pretty close to the main lobby and food court. The food there was AMAZING! The bus service was great and the busses at POR can be a pain, sometimes, due to having so many stops on their property. POR has a great food court too and a great sit down, but I loved the suites at AOA. The theming was magical for my kids. The nemo pool was great. We loved having our own bedroom and the master bathroom is HUGE with an enormous shower. You have to crunch the numbers and it sounds like your TA is not a Disney expert, like you'll find here on the DIS! Good luck and let us know what you decide.

 

[lovesdumbo]

switching travel agents looks like my best option for later vacations. Never said anything to us about All Star Music either. We were told Villa's or POR, we didn't want Villa's because I figured they had the whole kitchen and everything, we are on the dining plan and have no plans whatsoever to cook the entire vacation. The other options would have been nice to know about.

You can also do 5 in deluxe rooms that have 2 queens & daybed. These would be CR, Poly, GF, YC, BC, & BWI.