Convince me...the bargain hunter...

[elizflynn]

Ok, I'm turning to my Dis friends because welp, I'm driving myself nuts and i'm only in the planning stages for an October 2011 trip!

Like some of you know, I am planning a surprise trip for my mom's 55th birthday and since this will be her first vacation in over 10 years and possibly my last trip to Disney for a few years (DBF wants to travel other places also while we're young!) I want to make this super special

Originally, I was thinking Moderate and then I did my taxes and realized I was getting a larger amount than expected, and decided maybe I would upgrade to a Deluxe! Now mom is not a fan of POLY at all although I love it, and I wanted to do a Monorail hotel and am not exactly thrilled with the theming of CR.

So I was thinking GF for me and mom....I am a AAA member so was thinking that would help on the room rate, but not sure how much of a discount AAA offers and then I was thinking maybe a package would be better...any advice? Also, do you think it's reasonable to splurge for this trip seeing as how it's special for mom's birthday, me graduating college, and last trip for awhile?! (The price difference from what I've been pricing out, isn't absolutely ridiculous, but it's not in my personality to splurge like this)

Any advice or opinions...good, bad , or indifferent would be helpful...i love my dis friends and appreciate any feedback!

 

[Sue M]

I think a mom/daughter trip would be very special for you both. I love the Poly too, and not crazy about CR, so GF would be very nice. Another cheaper option, but still a great resort in Deluxe Cat. is WL.

It has a boat to MK, and also runs a boat to CR. We've used that to get to dinners booked at CR, GF & Poly.
Beautiful resort. I love it.

I think you can book with WDW a AAA room only rate, it may be around 20%ish. Just tell them you would like the AAA room rate. When WDW comes out with discounts they are always better then the AAA rate, so watch for them, and when they come out, you can phone and have your reservation adjusted to the lower rate. Sometimes WDW comes out with room only discounts, I just stayed at the Poly for 45% off. Sometimes their discounts require a package, which is o.k. too. I love the dining plan.

Keep an eye on mousesavers.com for discounts. http://www.mousesavers.com/ And sign up for their newsletter.

 

[Sandisw]

I say go for it and splurge for the deluxe trip. With some of the discounts out now, there will probably be something out for your travel time that will be better than AAA (I believe it is around 20% for deluxe resorts).

GF is really nice and in this case, worth it! Have fun planning your trip!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I vote for WL too. It's a lovely deluxe resort with a wonderful theme. The moderates are nice but the WL is definite a big upgrade but not as expensive as the monorail resorts. It's a good happy middle ground as far as splurging goes, IMO.