ASM or FW Cabin?

[rachael95]

Please Help! We've been to Disney a few times by ourselves, but we are going in September for the first time with our DS who will be 18 months. He still doesn't sleep through the night, so we wanted a room where we could shut the bedroom door so at least DH can get a good night sleep if I need to go take care of DS at 1a.m. and 3a.m...

I have a quote from Dreams Unlimited and we've narrowed it down to between Allstar Music and Fort Wilderness Cabins. We have never stayed at either of these places so have no idea which would be better for us. It's just the three of us.

1. Which has the best/easiest transportation to the parks?
2. Which would be the best experience for a toddler?
3. Is the dining plan worth it for DH and me since DS is free no matter what, we do want to do several sit down meals and I'd like to do at least one character meal?

This is for a 5 night stay. If we do the room only option, we can stay Sept. 1 - 7 which allows DH and I to only take 4 days off work. If we do the room + dining option, we have to stay Sept. 2 - 8 and that means DH and I have to take off 5 days from work which is doable but DH doesn't have a lot of leave time. We would also need to get another hotel for Sept. 1 because we want to spend at least a day with my sister and her husband who live in Orlando, probably not doing Disney stuff.

Sept. 1 - 7 Room Only, tickets bought at UnderCover Tourist
ASM: $1,160 (we'd buy tickets from Undercover Tourist so total would be $1,679 - $1,795 depending on type of tickets)

Fort Wilderness Cabin: $1,509 (same deal would buy tickets increasing total for room and tickets to $2,028 - $2,144)

Dining Plan + Tickets + Room: Sept. 2-8 requires us to stay in another hotel Sept. 1 and take an extra day of vacation leave each.

ASM - $2,279 - (for the Plus Dining plan so comparing apples to apples, though did not ASM plan was worth it.)

Fort Wilderness Cabin - $2,558.12

Thanks for all your help!

 

[summerrluvv]

I would pick the cabin since Sports is having their food court refurbished during that time period, so meal time at the other 2 values will be a nightmare.

 

[sharadoc]

Are you planning on Free Dining, because that is available for your dates.

Fort Wilderness requires taking a bus to the boat to MK or buses to other parks. ASMu will be easier as far as transportation goes.

Fort has better water feature for little ones at the main pool, plus activities, pony rides, petting zoo, playgrounds, Chip & Dale show, fireworks on the beach. ASMu has activities at the pool during the day and a movie at night. There is a kiddie pool too.

At the Fort, you will have no one running around over or under you, or in front of your door, or yelling outside your door. If your little one needs to sleep in quiet, the Fort is a much better choice. Plus you'll have a full kitchen, which would allow you to make him breakfast, snacks, store bottles or juices, and have space outside to run around too.

Both are good choices, I can't say one would be better over another in your situation. Just read, read, read about both choices - read the FAQs, ask specific questions here and hopefully that will help.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Resort choice is very individual, so you can see what you think would best suit your family and what you like. The cabins are somewhat remote, which is probably the best and worst thing about them. You don't have neighbors in the same building, but have to travel further. There are buses that run inside of FW, and they take you to either end of the mile long area where you can get on busses to HS, AK, or Epcot at one end or buses or boats to MK or CR/WL at the other end of FW. The marina area is very nice and has one of the best playgrounds at WDW, as well as the Hoop De Doo Revue dinner show and Trail's End restaurant. In a value suite you will be in a more crowded resort, but will have a shorter walk to the single bus stop to take you to any of the parks. Time on the buses will be comparable for most parks, except for MK which is much quicker from FW.

As for the dining plan, we do enjoy it and feel we get our money's worth out of it. There is a calculator here if you want to get into details, but we found that doing the Disney buffet meals with our child under 3 was a great deal, since their meal was free. If you can get the free dining that might be a deciding factor in where to stay and give you considerable savings. Good luck and enjoy your trip.

 

[rachael95]

Thanks everyone! If anyone else has opinions/tips would be happy to get as many as possible!

 

[rachael95]

Just made our reservations for AllStar Music Suite room only. With the room discount, it was $1160.

We decided to go with that rather than the cabins because we realized that the cabins only had a double bed - which meant one of us was sleeping on the bunk bed since we're used to a king bed at home. At least at AllStar, we get a queen and we know we can both sleep on that.