Disney hotel premium

[Jukeboxs]

I am looking at booking 4 nights at the end of May for me, my wife and 2 daughters. As we live in Scotland, we fly rather than drive. Up til now, we have stayed off-site. But, I thought I would try a Disney hotel this time. But, I think I must be missing a trick, as the price differential is massive. For example, the Best Western comes in at £350 for 4 nights (incl breakfast), whereas the cheapest Disney hotel (via their website) comes in at £820 (no halfboard). Is it normal for there to be such a BIG difference in price? I suppose free Park entrance costs a fair bit - although we don't need this as we are Fantasy Pass holders. But I doubt there is any way to avoid this even if you don't need it.

Also, I notice the Halfboard Premium option comes in at £392 - roughly £100 per day, which is about the price of a 3-course dinner for 4 people. Does the voucher option include lunch as well as dinner? If so, then it makes financial sense.

Sorry for my novice questions. And thanks for your advice.

p.s. I am a Shareholder, so will probably get some discount off the Disney price.

 

[DLPdaft]

Hi,

Have you tried looking at various onsite hotels for your dates? The 40% off offer may be on some hotels, and not others.

Half board premium is for the more expensive restaurants, and is only for one meal per person in your party, per day. But, for example, half board premium vouchers cover the cost in total for the Princess meal, and that is 60ish euros per adult, and 20ish euros per child, if you pay on the day.

 

[ukstitch]

I suppose free Park entrance costs a fair bit - although we don't need this as we are Fantasy Pass holders. But I doubt there is any way to avoid this even if you don't need it.

There are a couple of ways of avoiding the included tickets, although it may nto work out cheaper for you.

DLP offer room only bookings if you phone them, though they have different offers for these and so the package with tickets often works out cheaper (not always though).

Expedia also offer room only bookings for the Disney hotels so it might be worth looking there as well - these are much cheaper than the Expedia rate with tickets, thoguh I don't know how that compares compared to the DLP package rate.

 

[Jukeboxs]

Thanks folks.

Just off the phone with Disney - their cheapest option was £823 (so the same as their website, even with the SH discount?). No 40% offer on the dates we are going (I assume as near the UK Bank Holiday).

I noticed the Disney hotels on Expedia, they were slightly cheaper, at about £650 for Santa Fe (although notice this one received poor reviews).

Guess I'll stick to off-site for now, and spent some of the savings in the shops instead.

Thanks again.

 

[Lisa_C]

Are you looking at staying at the Santa Fe when you are getting your quote? I'm sure I saw on here that someone got a quote for the Santa Fe and it worked out more expensive then the HNY??

We're staying in July at the Cheyenne, and for 2 adults and one child for 4 nights we paid £582 (booked out own Eurostar on top) so maybe you should just try a different hotel?? We booked through our TA as we wanted piece of mind if anything went wrong, so maybe you should could get them to do enquiries for you?

Good luck on your quest, I'm a sure you can get a better deal. Try browsing the website for your selected dates

Lisa x

 

[A Small World]

have you priced up the partner hotels - Explorers,Magic Circus (was Holiday Inn),Dream Castle, Kyriad which are very close by

We have had some good deals at these through their own websites, through Expedia or through Benotel

 

[scottishgirl87]

Yeah for my dates SF is dearer than HNY and NPB!!

 

[Jukeboxs]

Having read some reviews for the off-site hotel we were considering, and also noticing that 2 of the days we are there are excluded from our Fantasy passes , we think we will splash out a bit extra and book a Disney hotel after all . As it will be our last visit for a year or two (I'm only saying that as our passes expire in June, and we've been 3 times already since last June - but perhaps we won't be able to stay away!), we think it's worth it. No 40% offer for the dates we are considering (20-24 May), so prices seem quite high (to me anyway, as an off-siter!), as follows:

Sequoia £850
Newport £900
New York £980

Are we just as well going for Sequoia, or are the others significantly better that the small extra premium is worth it?! Sequoia seems to get good reviews including the pool, although not as highly regarded as the Newport pool. NY might be too formal for a family with 2 young girls (6 & 10).

As for Breakfast, is it adviseable to eat in the hotel or in the Park? The plan would be to fit breakfast in so that we could be at the Park for 8am sharp.

As we only need Passes for 2 days of our 5 days, is there anything useful we can do with the three sets of Passes we don't need? It seems a shame to waste them. I notice people selling Passes on Ebay, but I'm thinking these ones will be for the one day only. If I can't gain anything financially, I'll just hand them to some deserving looking folks at the gates I think.

I did call the Disney hotline (as I'm a shareholder), but their prices were significantly higher, even with discount. Rather disappointing really. But, perhaps the good prices have gone already?!

Despite not staying offsite, I still think it's probably worth hiring a car (£200), as the shuttle from Beauvais (if I remember correctly) comes to about the same price. Would you agree?

Thanks for your thoughts and advice!

p.s. The girls are climbing the walls already in anticipation (mainly my wife, as I'm letting the moths out my wallet at last )!

p.p.s. Explorers, Dream Castle and Circus off-site hotels are all within £200 of Sequoia (from Expedia anyway) - so, given that we need 1-2 days tickets, Disney seems worthwhile this time. This is the only time we can really go before our passes expire, so not flexible on dates (school holidays, dance exams, etc!). I reckon the prices are so steep simply because we've picked a busy 4-day period?!

 

[Jukeboxs]

UPDATE: Having read your replies with more care and checked the off-site hotel sites, Magic Circus is offering €540 for the 4 nights. It still brings it within distance of the Disney hotels if we were to buy 2-day Passes each. Is the Sequoia (or Newport) experience worth around £100 extra over 4 nights (e.g. meet and greet, walking distance to Parks so can wander home during day for a swim, more exciting pools, .etc, etc)?

Sore head now, looking at options for too long, off to bed!

Thanks everyone!!!

 

[eeyorefanuk]

UPDATE: Having read your replies with more care and checked the off-site hotel sites, Magic Circus is offering €540 for the 4 nights. It still brings it within distance of the Disney hotels if we were to buy 2-day Passes each. Is the Sequoia (or Newport) experience worth around £100 extra over 4 nights (e.g. meet and greet, walking distance to Parks so can wander home during day for a swim, more exciting pools, .etc, etc)?

Sore head now, looking at options for too long, off to bed!

Thanks everyone!!!

Hello,

If you are saying it would only cost you £100 more total then I think it is worth it.

As you say you can easily walk to your hotel rather than wait for the bus. Also easily nip back during the day for a snooze or swim etc. The characters will be in the hotel at certain times of the day to meet and greet and I always think it has more disney atmosphere.

As well if it is only £100 more you say you have never stayed on site before (I think you said that!!) so good time to try it.

 

[Jukeboxs]

Sequoia Lodge here we come! It was £100 cheaper today, so we signed up (although maybe if we'd waited til next weekend it would have been free?! ).

Can't wait!

 

[DLPdaft]

Great stuff - glad you got it sorted, at a price you liked