Big decision - in Disney or outside?

[kkleiner]

Well, we need to make a decision soon and was looking for some
advice. We have 2 adults and 3 kids in our group (ages 8/5/2) and
have reservations at both POR (with Disney Visa package) and the
FW cabins (room only res) for 4/26-5/4.

Since Disney hasn't announced room only discounts for that time yet,
we are paying top $$ for the cabins - yuch.

To make it more confusing, we now have the opportunity to stay
at the Mariott Grand Vista (been there - real easy to get the DW from
there), or a few other outside resorts for $300 for the whole week!
(it's my wife's Dad's timeshare week he is giving up for us).

With the 3 kids, it would be much nicer to have the bigger room
and kitchen, etc @ Mariott. If I knew I could get the discounted room
rate (I figure $120 per night hopefully) for cabins, I would probably
take it.

Just looking for some advice. I can't see us doing Disney for each of the
7 days, so it seems like a huge waste to spend that much $$.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Maybe you can split the week between the great deal you have on the timeshare and the great deal you have on the POR. Staying in-resort is a must for us if we are going to the parks or other Disney attractions, but we would have no problem staying offsite in a larger room if we were not planning on doing Disney. You can probably still save lots of money by splitting the week up.

Just my thoughts.

Have a great trip!!

 

[jennymouse]

That's a tough one. I guess I'd do the timeshare thing, if you know it and don't think it's a hassle to get around and all. The cabin would be fun though. I don't guess you can put your FIL off for the decision though so I guess I'd take the timeshare.

 

[scanmom]

I would do the timeshare. We have stayed at FW in a cabin. They are nice enough, but there isn't much disney themeing, and we felt that the cabins were a hassle with the Disney transportation. You have to catch an internal bus just to get to the edge of the resort, the change to another bus to get where you are going. If you are visiting another resort, there will be a third bus as well. Not that convienient, if you ask me. And we were at the Swan on another trip, it seemed ALOT more convienient, and w/o Disney themeing still had more "magic"because of the view. The cabins are clean, not REALLY big, but bigger than POR, and I think to save that amount of $$, it is not any better than offsite!

 

[kkleiner]

Well, we decided to go the timeshare route. Staying at
Amerisuites Calypso Cay - 2 bedrooms, sleeps 8, kitchen!!!

We will still need 2 nights stay after timeshare checkout, so we might
book the Contemporary now and hope that a discount will show
up!

Thanks for all the help!

 

[iluvflorida]

I think you made a wise decision. I don't specifically know the TS you are at but most have some sort of amenities or sports area for kids. The extra room and $saved is significant. Getting around is no problem

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

We always vowed never to stay off site. We love the hotels at the parks and try them all out. We did the cruise this December (7 day Magic) and added 3 days in the parks beforehand so we could enjoy the christmas theming. With so much money being spent on the cruise, I could not justify the $500+ we would be spending for just 3 days. We decided to stay at the Amerisuites Calypso Cay and boy were we glad! We loved it!! Granted, it's not Disney, and not very fancy, but for the price we paid ($112 total for 3 days through HotelKingdom.com!!), it was awesome. In fact, we might stay there next trip the whole time. It took us a shorter amount of time to get to the parks than it did when we stayed onsite. There was a mini golf course, pool was great (too cold to go swimming though), you can't beat the free breakfast (yogurt, cereal, waffles, bagels, fruit, pastries, etc). You can also venture over to the Country Inn and Suites and do their breakfast too. Oh, and the 24 hour free coffee, tea and hot choc. station was the best. They even had an old fashioned popcorn machine in the lobby at night which was full and free. The kitchen was a great thing to have also. You will be very happy there.

 

[kkleiner]

Thanks so much for the vote of confidence and great review of the
calypso cay! It's good to hear we made a good choice! It looks good on their web site too!

Our kids will love the pool. Amazing that it is quicker to get to dw from
there as opposed to dw resorts (other than contemporary, though,
I assume).

Have a nice weekend.

 

[Lisa P.]

By the positive overtones of reviews I've read, I would think you will enjoy yourselves at this resort. It even has a couple features less commonly found at timeshares... free breakfast and a pool slide.

We've also moved onsite for a night or two at the end of a timeshare week. Spending just 2 nights in a cramped hotel room (compared with a 2BR for 8) was fine and the better amenities at the onsite deluxe hotels are very nice. We've spent those days enjoying the resort and resting up at the end of our trips. IMHO, it's a really nice way to get the best of both worlds on your trip. Enjoy!!!

 

[stacy6552]

stay with disney. we learned this the hard way. AAA offers 25% off the FW cabins.

 

[flowerfairy]

I have a question for those who have stay at Country Inns and Suites at Calypso Cay. We stayed there one night before checking into Disney and everytime that we left and came back we had to pay the 50 cent toll. While not a problem for a day or two but if you planned an extended stay that would eventually add up. Does anyone know of a way around paying to toll? My husband came up with several ways but not quite legal.

Tina

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

We paid the toll every morning, but discovered by accident how not to pay on the way back. My husband missed the exit, and went to the next one - no toll booth! After that he "missed the exit the remaining times. LOL!