Deluxe Resort...what to do!

[workin4vacation]

Months ago, I made reservation for hubs and I - arriving 11/9/14 at Yacht Club, staying for 6 nights - rack rate, hoping for FD or R/O discount. (Air is booked; dates are firm.) I called at noon today - during my lunch hour - and was told that all of the Free Dining rooms had been booked. I asked about the Beach Club and was told that the FD rooms there have also been booked. The CM went on to say that "the Disney VISA offer has been out..." She was not surprised that this offer had been used up by noon on the day of the General Public announcement.

I haven't been to Disney, nor have I planned a Disney vacation in over ten years. FD is new to me. I thought...oh, geez, what do I do now?? So, I asked her to check availability of the Boardwalk Inn for Free Dining - since we really want to be at an Epcot resort - and she had a standard view room available w/FD @The Boardwalk Inn. Then I asked her "her professional opinion" - should I switch and get the F/D discount or should I hang with Yacht Club and hope for R/O discount. She said that she doubted there would be R/O discounts since this present discount for F/D is through December. With a tiny bit of reluctance, I switched our resort from the Yacht Club to the Boardwalk Inn, standard view w/FD. I hope I did the right thing!!

Thoughts?

 

[workin4vacation]

Also, I had a garden view room at the Yacht Club. The standard view room at the BI came out to the same price as the garden view room at the YC.

 

[Three cats]

I think if I were you I would have done the same thing. Taken the free dining at the Boardwalk and then just hope for a room only discount down the road and try to book back into the Yacht Club. Unfortunately, even if you kept your reservation for the Yacht Club there is no guarantee that it would qualify for the r/o discount if/when it comes out. The Boardwalk looks really nice though! You might end up loving it

 

[denman007]

Months ago, I made reservation for hubs and I - arriving 11/9/14 at Yacht Club, staying for 6 nights - rack rate, hoping for FD or R/O discount. (Air is booked; dates are firm.) I called at noon today - during my lunch hour - and was told that all of the Free Dining rooms had been booked. I asked about the Beach Club and was told that the FD rooms there have also been booked. The CM went on to say that "the Disney VISA offer has been out..." She was not surprised that this offer had been used up by noon on the day of the General Public announcement.

I haven't been to Disney, nor have I planned a Disney vacation in over ten years. FD is new to me. I thought...oh, geez, what do I do now?? So, I asked her to check availability of the Boardwalk Inn for Free Dining - since we really want to be at an Epcot resort - and she had a standard view room available w/FD @The Boardwalk Inn. Then I asked her "her professional opinion" - should I switch and get the F/D discount or should I hang with Yacht Club and hope for R/O discount. She said that she doubted there would be R/O discounts since this present discount for F/D is through December. With a tiny bit of reluctance, I switched our resort from the Yacht Club to the Boardwalk Inn, standard view w/FD. I hope I did the right thing!!

Thoughts?

My thoughts are you did the right thing! Nicely done.

 

[workin4vacation]

Thank you {very much} three cats & denman, for the reassurance!
It's hard to know - between RO, FD, pins, etc. what is the best move.

I appreciate your opinions!

 

[denman007]

YC is avail now at club level.

So are a bunch of other places that weren't last night.

 

[JenSop]

I haven't stayed at Yacht Club, since they don't have DVC there, but I've stayed at both Beach Club and Boardwalk. I think you'll really like Boardwalk. I'm going to be there again this November - and chose it purposely over all the other available resorts for that time.

 

[mickeynut1]

I agree with the others that you did the right thing. As a pp said, if you kept your YC reservation, there is no guarantee a room discount would come out for your dates and if one did come out, it's no guarantee the YC would be available. As you just experienced, having a reservation already in place does not guarantee a discount can be applied, so sometimes you have to be flexible with your resort and/or room type. You can always change discounts and resorts later if a room discount comes out and the YC is available. Also, keep checking for the YC under FD as sometimes availability does change and something might become available. With that said, I think BWI is a beautiful resort and I'm sure you'll have a great stay .

 

[Disuser]

You'll love Boardwalk. It's a beautiful hotel. We stayed there and had a wonderful vacation. Go with a positive attitude. You made the right choice.

 

[workin4vacation]

Thanks, people!

I am feeling good about the switch to the BWI now.

This was a learning experience for me, to be sure.
I did not realize that the Free Dining offer was so "limited".
Now I understand why people are advised to wait to book their resort.
That said, I still wouldn't have gotten the Yacht Club. It's a real cunundrum!

 

[Laurieannc]

Boardwalk is our favorite resort! Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

 

[Hitchhiking Ghost]

I think you did the right thing as well but here is my feeling with regards to "free" dining, especially at the deluxe level. Assuming by your post their is only two of you, the value of free dining for you is only about $120 p/day, which is fine, but not exactly a spectacular savings, especially considering it doesn't include tax/tip. So at the end of the day you can probably eat out of pocket cheaper than that, plus a room discount yields you a bigger savings.

You did the right thing, but if a room discount does become available, I'd drop free dining in a heart beat for that.

The other consideration is to see what any annual passholder discounts might end up being. It might be worth you paying a couple hundred more to get one annual pass, and then potentially get 30% or more of your room. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[workin4vacation]

You did the right thing, but if a room discount does become available, I'd drop free dining in a heart beat for that.

Thanks, Hitchhiking....I'll be keeping my eye out.