Dirt cheap hotel?

[Allieloopy]

Oh wow, I totally forgot about the AAA discount option. I am calling my agent to see what kind of room discount is available. We might look into the AP option too if we can't get the AAA.

We really would prefer to stay onsite, and when I factor in the car rental costs it just seems to be around the same price. If I am going to spend the extra money I would rather it go towards being onsite than for a car.

Thanks for all the good advice. One of my best money saving tips if you don't have a car is to get groceries delivered. The dining plan last time gave us way too much food and we hated being tied to reservations. We will be way happier with eating in our room and once maybe doing the Hoop-de-doo.
We might even make our trip shorter. The kids don't want too but with not having to have long sit down meals we will have more time in the parks too.

 

[riaesq]

Discounted rates may not be out yet for February. You can get a rough idea of what they will be by looking at Mousesavers for current and past.

Last Feb we got POR for 99$/night at AP rate vs. around 139. Mods were either 30 or 40 more a night than values- just so you can start getting an idea to run some numbers.

An AP is great but be forewarned- it will make you want to go again within the year

 

[conniehar90]

We always stay offsite with this condo owner - www.disneyneighbor.com. You can get a 2 br in Feb for $90 a night. Not sure about shuttle service. I can vouch for these owners and the unit - awesome! We really enjoy having the extra room over crammed in a value resort. We also enjoy having our own car so that we can be on our own schedule.

 

[talicskai]

I am a TA and for most of the families I book that cannot afford to stay onsite or prefer offsite ~ I sell Bryan's Spanish Cove ~ it is a great small condo property right on SR535. You can't beat the location and the units are really really nice ~ recently renovated and the pool is super warm! I am not sure of your dates but for Feb 3 for 10 nights it is $1275 for a 2 bedroom condo. PM for more details if you are interested.
Teresa

 

[loriandmatt]

i highly recommend going with a rental condo or even a townhouse. i have found them to be much cheaper than WDW value rooms.

for example, this summer we rented a townhome in windsor hills (development that come with lots of recommendations) for about 1100 for a week. one room at a WDW value for the same time was about 1300. factor in that you want/need more than one standard hotel room and the offsite rental makes tons of logic.

of course that may mean you need a rental car, that will add to costs, but you can off set that by having some meals or snacks out of the house or at least offsite at a shoney's or something.

 

[Lindaon]

Just some ideas for saving some money. I have stayed on-site and also off site since 1989. If your main goal is saving money, off site is the way to go.
I stayed in July at a great place, Caribe Cove. It was amazing in terms of the size, washer, dryer, great closets, brand new everything and almost better than home. Check out the prices for your dates. I booked it through booking.com for the lowest rate. You can look at the rooms and decor on the caribecove.com site but check booking.com for a better price. You will need a car but it will still probably be cheaper than staying on property. Lately, I think the disney hotels are actually going down in quality so this new condo/resort was a nice alternative. Personally I would go crazy on site for 12 nights, eating nothing but disney food
Another idea is Cane Island for a dirt cheap price, somethng like 65 a night for a 2-3 room condo. It gets great reviews, is brand new, looks lovely and I think would make a great choice. You can check out the prices from individual owners if you goggle it and look at the individual units, apparently each is furnished by the indivdual ower so you don't get the same decor in each unit like in caribe cove. You can also check out fourseasonstraveltime.net and talk or e-mail a nice woman who will help you rent it directly. I almost booked it through her this summer from her but you need to pay upfront and if you cancel within so many days ahead you are committed to pay. I have a daugther with health issues and was afraid to do it so I went with caribe cove but it cost more 99.00 plus a 65 dollar cleaning fee(well worth it)
I hope this helps or gives you some ideas...enjoy your trip and new family addition.

 

[Allieloopy]

I am greatful for all of the help.

Two rooms at a Value resort is 1753.47 without tickets for 12 days.

I can't find a condo or resort that is under 1100.00 for the same amount of time. Including the ones listed here. A rental car for 12 days is between 400.00 and 500.00 dollars. So that doesn't really add up to be a great savings. Like I said, unless I'm missing something.

Food doesn't much matter, we would have groceries delivered to our room so that's not bad. Two coolers with free ice work great. Which is good because Disney doesn't do Pepsi!

Even the Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista for the family fun suite is 1117.89 and a single with a rollaway is 967.89 without taxes. That one's not too bad, with car rental that would be roundabout 1367.89. About 385 less than two value rooms. Of course we would have to pay for parking.

Unless our AAA has a free parking voucher, they did last time. We could save about 800.00 total if we just took the shuttle. If they have good shuttle times then this could be a valid option.
I read on Tripadvisor that they had roaches? Or Palmetto bugs, whatever. Has anyone experienced that?

 

[4Seasons]

I can't find a condo or resort that is under 1100.00 for the same amount of time. Including the ones listed here. A rental car for 12 days is between 400.00 and 500.00 dollars. So that doesn't really add up to be a great savings. Like I said, unless I'm missing something.

I'm showing a 2 bedroom at Cane Island for Feb. 1-13 for $773.64 total including tax for the 12 nights.

That's a considerable savings even when you factor in paying for parking.

 

[Allieloopy]

Wow that is a good savings. I will check into it further. See, I said I might have been missing something!

 

[Portugal1000]

Not sure how cheap you mean but we loved Quality Suites LBV and have stayed there twice (changed name from Palomino Suites). We paid $79 a night for a 1 bed which had 2 doubles and a sleeper sofa so can sleep 5 easily. Nice kitchen/living room and beds were lovely. the place was spotless and housekeeping excellent. Good breakfast and you really could each as much as you liked. Very handy for Disney. Excelent shuttle that ran 3 times each morning and evening. Used it all the time the first trip and then brave enough to hire a car the second trip (we are from England). Anyway, I would highly recommend.

 

[davinakb]

I have also seen a number of places that list low rates, suggesting that 12 nights could be $700-$1,000 for a 2 or 3 BR place in Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms or Emerald Island. Try sending a quote request to windsorhillsrent or lastminutevillas, troll through VRBO or VacationRentals again, you may find something. FWIW.

 

[pooh4me]

Check out the Fort Wilderness cabins. They hold 6 people and have a full kitchen. Dec AP rate until 23d is $175 per night. Go to www.allearsnet.com and check them out. The Fort is a great place for kids.

 

[Lindaon]

Just wanted you to know that I think the post from 4 seasons is the woman I wrote about in my previous post about Cane Island. If you check out her website you can find the amazing price yourself. I would email or call her. I know that the price is great and again the only reason I didn't book Cane Island was because of my daughters health issues which would have prevented the trip and a loss of alot of money. I hope you check it out, I wish I could go in Feb. it is a nice month to visit.
Linda.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

I just wanted to tell you--we're a family of 6, so I completely understand the hotel room issue. We do 2 hotel rooms when we visit my sister, because we're only in the room to sleep. For longer, vacation type stays, we've done hotel suites, and now own DVC. Let me tell you, it's like night and day! I could NOT do the 2-room thing for 12 days. We'd be killing each other. Not to mention the food issue, different sleep schedules (mine are more spread out, age-wise, than yours, but still...). We all do better on vacation when we can spread out a little more.

My suggestions, in no particular order, are:

Onsite: Fort Wilderness or rent DVC points. Please note, we did 6 (one under 3) in a 1BR at AKL in August. It's doable, but I wouldn't recommend it. For 5, it could work. If you get groceries delivered, consider wegoshop--they'll shop anywhere in the area. I chose Super Walmart, since I could price things her eand knew the specific brands/sizes to ask for . They could get non-grocery items as well.

Offsite: There are many inexpensive, nice condo places. We're looking at Sherton Vistana for an add-on for next year's trip (we're doing a week in DVC). All Ears has discount rates for readers--I think it was $99 per night for a 2BR.

Remember, if you have kitchen facilities, you can save a lot on food--not just poptart type breakfasts, but we made a couple quick dinners, lunches, had fruit and snacks delivered, even made cookies! Just slice and bake, but still! Also, the washer and dryer were very handy. And I'll tell you--we've been on the Premium meal plan before (3 TS per day), and our family actually liked it better when we had the quickie room meals, because we wasted so much less time. And they could have their favorites. Not saying I'd give up all TS meals, by any stretch, just I was surprised at how well-received the room-cooked meals were. Also, FW, DVC, and probably off-site places have things like a grill you could use--have burgers one night, then while the coals are there, grill up chicken to slice onto salad another night. Or, cheat and buy grilled chicken strips (that's what I did, but if you're daving money...).

I understand you want to stay on-site, and I get that you're pricing lodging costs only, but really, try to look bigger picture.

 

[Allieloopy]

Thanks for all of the advice. You all make staying offsite so nice. I have been looking into some prices and we could get some good deals even if we have to rent a car. I am softening my husband up on that idea. We really love not having to drive but...the standing room only on the Disney busses really fried me last time. And we went at a slow time of year.

We also decided that we didn't want the dining plan again even if we didn't need to save money. It took too much time and was too much food. We will probably do one meal like the Hoop de Doo and the rest of the time eat at home.
Cooking sounds fine to me. And they can have Mcdonalds without going to that madhouse in DTD.

It sounds like leaving for a rest midday would work out fine too, some of these places sound really close.

Not having maid service would stink but I guess I could bite the bullet!

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Actually, the lack of maid service didn't bother us at all. DH actually preferred it, because we had 2 nappers, so maid service can get messed up with that. We also had a washer/dryer, so if we had wet towels, I just dried them. You could, theoretically, do that with sheets as well--I wouldn't, unless a child had an accident, but you could.

I found that, by having fun snacks in the room, most days my kids weren't tempted by the carts for pretzels, popcorn, etc. We did have an occasional treat, of course, but they weren't constantly asking for them.

In addition to restaurants off-site being cheaper and having more variety, there are many places that will deliver, as well. It would only enhance the "specialness" of the few TS meals that you have. I'm all in favor of having special vacation things, but it's funny how the things that are important to kids are rarely the ones that have a big price tag.

 

[Allieloopy]

Your so right about kids remembering things. One of the only other times they talk about is when we had to stay at Holiday Inn for two nights because our plumbing needed replaced. It had a pool.
I hated it, got locked out of our room and had to go the lobby in my swimsuit and we ate junk for dinner. They want to do it again on vacation sometime!

I think off site would be just fine for them then.

 

[katied]

If you're staying offsite - look at Mousesavers.com for car rental advice and lots of discount codes. I can normally get a week rental through National using their tips for about $150 - in fact I have a week booked at this rate both the end of this month and in December. Sometimes the best car rental deals are a few months out from the trip, sometimes right up until the week before the trip - but I normally book it out at a price I'm willing to pay, and then rebook as it gets closer. Plus, if you're Emerald Club with National, you can rent a moderate and normally they have Minivans or larger cars in Emerald Aisle so you don't have to pay for a higher class of car.

I do have an AP though, which helps keep parking costs down. But probably still worth pricing the diference in the cost of an AP vs a 10 day ticket and 10 days of parking. Plus, the AP does give you some other discounts too.

 

[chrisann]

a condo with 2 bdrms is ideal. Everyone has a little space to themselves at the end of a ver long day!! Plus, their pool areas are way cooler than the value resorts, we always pick one with a cool waterslide. Just in case you have a day you just want to hang out at the hotel. You should check into the nick hotel, the kids would love it, it has free shuttles, and lots to do. Sometimes they have really good deals. I had a res for this Nov. for $99/night with no resort fee but cancelled because I was able to get one at BWV, keep checking travelzoo. As for the car rental , what we've done the last two years is rent points for a couple nights at a dvc, that way we get ME from the airport and it's 2 days that we don't have to get a car rental. It's a bit of a pain, moving but it gives us the experience of staying onsite for a bit and then move to a huge 2 bdrm for a week. It works out great and saves us some money too! Plus for the 2 days we're at dvc, we do the dining plan and eat at restaurants we normally wouldn't, that's exciting too. It's time consuming to play around with numbers but definately worth it. I just wanted to say good luck!!!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I have stayed at Cypress Pointe Grand Villas. It was a 2 br w/ full kitchen, 2 full baths, W/D, big screen tv and huge jacuzzi in the master bath. Ds was 3 then he still remembers it and he's 11 now. It's very close to DTD. Their sister resort, Cypress Pointe Resort, is right next door and had recently been completely refurbished. Photos look very nice. Many diser's report getting great prices there thru www.hotelkingdom.com.

No off site place will have good transportation to WDW. If you belong to BJ's or Costco, their websites offer good discounts for car rentals. We just paid $79.11 including all taxes for a week of a mid-size SUV thru Alamo. This was 2 weeks ago. Be sure to book at the cheapest rate you find and occasionally recheck your rates. Ours started off at $159 just to give you and idea of what perseverance can do for you. Mousesavers.com can give you lots of other rental discount codes and coupons. Without a car, you will really spend a lot of time wasted waiting for an infrequent shuttle that probably stops at many hotels.

We are always up front with our kids when we're on a really tight budget. I give them a set amt of $ for souv. and they know once it's spent, that's it.
I remind them to focus more on how lucky we are just to be in WDW and it's not about the shopping. Isn't having just a little spending $ still better than staying home? Then they lighten up on asking for so much.

Just to clarify, when booking thru Hotwire, you can state 2 adults, 3 kids but you must search for 2 rooms. Don't underestimate the great deals you can get. They are not for roach motels for also for beautiful Hyatts, Hiltons, Marriotts. If you want something nice, stick to 3.5 or 4* hotels. If you don't mind spending a little time and effort on betterbidding.com, they can help identify what hotel you'll likely get. They have been correct about 6/6 times for us in IDing hotels. We got the Hyatt inside MCO 3x for $59, $74 and $85 + tax. For my parents pre-cruise in Ft. Lauderdale we got them the Renaissance by Marriott for $113 + tax when reg price was $300/nt.

There are a lot of ways to save $ if you really want to. I would vote for the condo b/c you could always whip up a batch of sketties in a pinch and not have to eat out for every single meal, drink, etc. Make a pitcher of punch or ice tea, buy a box of popsicles, bring microwave popcorn from home, etc. Buy a box of cereal or oatmeal for breakfast. Buying all this stuff separately in resort areas really adds up. It also saves time getting ready in the am since your kids can eat while you shower. Much easier than waiting for everyone to get ready then all go out to breakfast.

Good luck and congrats with the new addition to your family.
sorry this is so long, hth

eta: Just for the heck of it, I did a quickie search on hotelkingdom for 2 weeks: the last week of Jan and the 1st week of Feb. You can get a 2br at either CP or CPGV for $113.68 per night or $158.60 for a 3 BR + tax. This would probably be cheaper than 2 hotel rooms, even thru Hotwire.

For the same price range, you could rent a single family home 3-4 br with its own pool. In Jan you would def. need the pool heated which is extra though.
Look on www.vrbo.com for these neighborhoods in Kissimmee that are closest to WDW: Formosa Gardens, Rolling Hills, Indian Creek, Emerald Island, Windsor Palms, Windsor Hills. This area is about 3 miles to WDW, esp. if you use the Sherberth Rd. shortcut off of Rt. 192. 5 min drive to AK (you could get more details on the Tranportation board if you decide on a pool home. Our kids loved it and still ask to do it again.)
good luck