Booking Hotel For Easter 2008

[kevankiki]

I am in a dilemma and need some help, please!

Need to book a hotel for next Easter, 21st - 24th March, room only. Not sure as yet whether to stay off site, or in a Disney hotel, I suspect that if I pick the latter the price will be double.

I've trawled the Internet and Holiday Inn seems to come out cheapest. This would probably have been okay for us, however, after last year I had some problems as a result of all the walking and/or standing in queues we did and ended up in hospital for a few days (myelitis). I am still suffering the after effects (seeing my neurologist in September for the results of a brain MRI) and this is making me nervous about our trip next Easter, I do have to get on with life though. Goodness, I sound like a whiner, and I really don't want to. I am just trying to justify reasons for opting for a Disney hotel, though we really aren't bothered about themes. I think it would save us a lot of lugging luggage about, and we could try and take a break during the day if it gets too much, DD is now 15 and leaving the decision up to me!

My preference would be the Sequoia Lodge, though I would compromise with Santa Fe. I have tried to find out what the room only rate would be, with discount, as we have Dream Passes. Disney don't have them yet and have advised me to try again in about a month. In desperation I even tried the 0033 1603 6053 number but without even speaking to anyone it seemed to me that I was taken through to Disney Direct anyway

I really don't want to leave it too late and miss the chance of getting a room at the Holiday Inn.

What would you do in my position?

 

[disneyangel]

Poor you Annette

I know through benotel you can reserve the Explorers without charge and Marriot let you do the same. The Holiday Inn official site needs instant payment though. It might be worth trying other sites to see if you can do the same for the holiday inn with them so you've got a fallback if Disney is too expensive.

I think though if you are at all worried about staying offsite you should stick with a Disney hotel.

 

[Ware Bears]

for you Annette. I thought the Holiday Inn could only be booked throught their own site??? but as Angela said, you can definitely reserve rooms at the Explorers (and the Dreamcastle but that's the most expensive of the off-sites) through Benotel with no advance payment and no penulty charges for cancellation.

To be honest, I think if I were you I would opt for the Sequoia Lodge as it is much closer in case you do feel yourself needing to go back for a rest.

 

[Ware Bears]

for you Annette. I thought the Holiday Inn could only be booked throught their own site??? but as Angela said, you can definitely reserve rooms at the Explorers (and the Dreamcastle but that's the most expensive of the off-sites) through Benotel with no advance payment and no penulty charges for cancellation.

To be honest, I think if I were you I would opt for the Sequoia Lodge as it is much closer in case you do feel yourself needing to go back for a rest.

 

[kevankiki]

Thanks both of you

I have priced the off site hotels and they seem to go up in stages, starting with the HI at around £200 (if you have breakfast), Kyriad is £272, Explorers £310, I haven't bothered with Dream Castle as I know it's more.

When I spoke to Disney Direct they were able to give me some idea of price, room only came out at £500, so with 10% discount one would hope it would be about £450, this was for SL. Just had a thought, if we booked a room only with Disney would be have to pay in full or would we just pay a deposit? This might swing it a little for me, not having to find the full amount in one go

I guess it depends how you look at it, SL would be more than double the price of the HI, whereas it would be little more than £100 in excess of Explorers.

I think I have said elsewhere that we also hope to go back in June 2008, if we can get an extension on the APs, and if we did we would go for much longer - almost a week in fact. If so, then this would definitely be HI to keep the cost down, we'd be pacing ourselves a lot more obviously.

This is another reason why I feel compelled to push the boat out for Easter, since it might be a rare chance to experience a Disney Hotel once again.

Okay, famous last words, no one ever stops going back to DLP do they? Who am I kidding?

Our previous two visits have been around the £400 mark in total, so I think I also feel guilty for spending more than this, and the tab is already up to £200 for transport

 

[A Small World]

You can book rooms at HI and pay when you leave. They are slightly more expensive than the ones where you have to pay on booking but it gives you the option to cancel (I think up to 24hrs before).

We have just got back from HI and would def stay there again. We went back to the room in the day but had the car so used this rather than the bus however you would probably find the shuttle bus not so busy during the day.

We have also stayed at Santa Fe and were happy with it as a budget Dis hotel.

Have you looked at Expedia for room only at Dis hotels?

 

[kevankiki]

Have you looked at Expedia for room only at Dis hotels?

All the time, I keep checking

They are saying no rooms available for these and some other hotels, I assume it's because they haven't been released yet. I would hope to get a cheaper rate booking through Disney themselves, as Dream Passes give us at least 10% off. Disney haven't released prices for Dream Pass holders yet, room only (without discount) is £508 for the Sequoia Lodge and I have been advised to try calling back around 15th August.

I'm guessing the rate where you don't pay it all up front at the HI is the 'Flexi rate' which would work out at about £80 a night.

Having talked this over with DH (who isn't coming BTW), he is encouraging me to go for SL, and I really don't need that much persuading