Disney or not Disney?... That is the Question

[tyke]

Hi Guys

Well, after deciding not to holiday in Florida this year, we have only gone and booked flights to Orlando, departing in 5 weeks time !!!

We have been offered a great deal on the villa we stayed in last year which takes care of most of our time there, however, we need to sort some accommodation for a few days at both the beginning and end of the holiday.

Ideally, we would love to stay on-site at both WDW and Universal, however, when comparing rates, we can book 5* hotels off-site at a fraction of the cost.

Our troop will be me, DW and DS (age 3).

So my questions are...

* Would the benefits of staying in a value/moderate WDW resort outweigh the significant cost savings of staying off site in superior accommodation? - we do have a car, so no issues with transportation.

* Does anyone know of any accommodation only discount codes/offers which are currently available for both WDW and Universal?

* Our DS is pirate mad has anyone stayed in one of the pirate rooms at the CBR?... how did you rate the room and resort?

* The main reason for staying at Universal would be the FOTL access, do you think we would benefit from this with a 3 year old considering that he would not be old/tall enough for the major attractions?

* We have seen a couple of great offers for the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek and the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in the LBV area - both hotels rank very highly on Tripadvisor, has anyone stayed at these before?... how did you rate the hotels for young children?

* Can you recommend other hotels/resorts which you think offer excellent value/facilities/service?

Sorry for all the questions, thought I would get them all in one hit, hope you can answer one or two of them.

tyke

 

[disneyholic family]

Hi Guys

Well, after deciding not to holiday in Florida this year, we have only gone and booked flights to Orlando, departing in 5 weeks time !!!

We have been offered a great deal on the villa we stayed in last year which takes care of most of our time there, however, we need to sort some accommodation for a few days at both the beginning and end of the holiday.

Ideally, we would love to stay on-site at both WDW and Universal, however, when comparing rates, we can book 5* hotels off-site at a fraction of the cost.

Our troop will be me, DW and DS (age 3).

So my questions are...

* Would the benefits of staying in a value/moderate WDW resort outweigh the significant cost savings of staying off site in superior accommodation? - we do have a car, so no issues with transportation.

* Does anyone know of any accommodation only discount codes/offers which are currently available for both WDW and Universal?

* Our DS is pirate mad has anyone stayed in one of the pirate rooms at the CBR?... how did you rate the room and resort?

* The main reason for staying at Universal would be the FOTL access, do you think we would benefit from this with a 3 year old considering that he would not be old/tall enough for the major attractions?

* We have seen a couple of great offers for the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek and the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in the LBV area - both hotels rank very highly on Tripadvisor, has anyone stayed at these before?... how did you rate the hotels for young children?

* Can you recommend other hotels/resorts which you think offer excellent value/facilities/service?

Sorry for all the questions, thought I would get them all in one hit, hope you can answer one or two of them.

tyke

be careful when you price offsite accomodations...many of the resorts quote you one price and then when you check in, they add on a "resort fee" of $15 a day...
of course, in the disney hotels you have to pay $10/day for the internet, but you don't have to use the internet..
but the "resort fees" are mandatory...you have to pay it...
it happened to us last year at the buena vista resort and it really pissed me off.....(i had to stay there for the conference i attended)...

regarding room only discount codes at WDW- i found the following on the mousesavers site, but it's only for deluxe:

Summer Savings of up to 30% Off
Stay dates: 5/29/11-8/13/11.
Get a 25%-30% discount off regular "Rack" rates at Disney's Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resorts. Use booking code N2E. Rates not available for all dates and resorts.

Save 25% at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Wilderness Lodge and Polynesian Resort
Save 30% at the other Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resorts
If you wish, you can add tickets and dining plans to these rates to make a vacation package, but this will cause the offer to fall under the package rules.

The number of rooms allocated for these offers is limited. Minimum length of stay requirements may apply for Friday or Saturday arrivals. Savings based on the non-discounted price for the same room. Additional per adult charges apply if more than two adults per room. Excludes suites and 3-bedroom villas. No group rates or other discounts apply.

About Booking

Book by 5/28/11.

For phone bookings, you pay a deposit of one night's room rate plus tax. No change or cancellation fee will be charged if you make your modification more than 5 days before arrival. Thanks to Small World Vacations for info.

To reserve a room with the Summer Savings, call the Disney Reservations Center at (407) W-DISNEY or contact a travel agent who specializes in Disney travel, and request this offer.

 

[disneyholic family]

do you have an Annual Pass?
there are AP room-only discounts available for the time you're going..

Annual Passholder Room-Only Discounts

Stay dates: 6/3/11-8/13/11. Get a discount of 15%-35% off regular "Rack" rates. Pricing and percent off will vary by resort type and date. Use code QT9. Rates not available for all dates and resorts, but generally the discounts run as follows:

Save 20% at select Disney Value Resorts
Save 20% at select Disney Moderate Resorts
Save 30% at select Disney Deluxe* Resorts
Save 35% at select Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts
*Excludes Disney's Animal Kingdom Resort and Disney's Polynesian Resort for travel 6/3/11-8/13/11 and excludes Disney's Wilderness Lodge for travel 6/3/11-6/14/11, 2011.

Please note that if you would like the Dining Plan with these rates, there is a special Annual Passholders package.

Book by 8/13/11.
-------------------------------------------
Stay dates: 4/25/11-6/2/11. Get a discount of 20%-40% off regular "Rack" rates. Pricing and percent off will vary by resort type and date. Use code L2H. Rates not available for all dates and resorts, but generally the discounts run as follows:

Save 20% at All Star Music
Save 25% at most Disney Value Resorts and Port Orleans - French Quarter
Save 30% at most Disney Moderate Resorts, Animal Kingdom Lodge and Polynesian Resort
Save 35% at most Disney Deluxe Resorts
Save 40% at Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts
Please note that if you would like the Dining Plan with these rates, there is a special Annual Passholders package.

Book by 6/2/11.

 

[MrsSparrow..]

* The main reason for staying at Universal would be the FOTL access, do you think we would benefit from this with a 3 year old considering that he would not be old/tall enough for the major attractions?

Hi there, just thought I'd give my opinion on this. My family have travelled to UO with my step-sister and on one trip she was 4 years old. We've never benefited from FOTL but from my knowledge, there aren't really enough attractions to benefit such a young age and I think some of the attractions for younger kids don't operate FOTL or simply have short lines anyway. So the FOTL would only be beneficial to you and your DW, in which case you will be using the single riders line most likely anyway - which is free! UO also offer a childswap option, which is effective but slightly differs from Disney's. I personally don't feel FOTL would be worth it considering for a lot of the rides, you may be on your own in addition to a lack of FOTL access for kiddie rides.

It would be a way of saving a few extra $$!

 

[tyke]

Thanks for the replies - I think we are favouring the off-site hotels and using the $$$ saved for other 'treats' while we are there.

Disneyholic: How did you rate the Buena Vista Resort?

 

[disneyholic family]

Thanks for the replies - I think we are favouring the off-site hotels and using the $$$ saved for other 'treats' while we are there.

Disneyholic: How did you rate the Buena Vista Resort?

there are many hotels that have buena vista in their name, so you have to be sure we're talking about the same place..
there is even more than one in the downtown disney area, so it can be very confusing..

i stayed at the Buena Vista Palace resort and spa.....it has big conference area (which is why i was there - for a conference)..

i'm not going to the conference this year (it's every june), but this year they're holding it at the hyatt grand cypress, which is a far superior hotel and for the same price..

anyway...getting back to the buena vista palace...
this is their website so you'll know what it is i'm talking about:
http://www.buenavistapalace.com/

it's a nice looking hotel, with nice rooms, BUT it's one of those places that charges a daily 'resort fee' of $15 or so....
that is so irritating...just tell me what the full price is, don't nickle and dime me....you have to pay the resort fee, so tell me the bottom line..

anyway, i thought the pool was awful.....not maintained well at all..

also, the little fast food area had such high prices, we were all in shock when we saw them....
to give you an idea - the prices were even higher than the disney resorts...and that's pretty hard to do..

suffice to say, for what we paid, i would much rather stay in a disney property....

and for the price we paid, you could do a lot better staying at the hyatt grand cypress or just about any place else..

also, the people at the desk were not at all on the level they should be at a convention resort.....

all in all, two thumbs down..

 

[tyke]

Thanks for the review... will give that one a miss !!!

The two hotels we are favouring are:

Hilton Orlando Bonnett Creek (£135 for 2 nights)

Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress (£159 for 2 nights)

They both add some sort of resort fee, but when added to these rates it still works out very economical when compared to the moderate Disney resorts.

Has anyone stayed at either of these hotels before?

 

[amacspad]

Hi, not sure how much it is per night but we booked 7 nights at the Disney all stars music for 2 adults and 1 teen through the Disney Uk site for £399 and that is for the school hol week in May! Benefits Inc the EMH, free parking at the Disney parks and free transport throughout WDW so worked out a better deal than staying off site!

Debs xxxx

 

[disneyholic family]

Thanks for the review... will give that one a miss !!!

The two hotels we are favouring are:

Hilton Orlando Bonnett Creek (£135 for 2 nights)

Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress (£159 for 2 nights)

They both add some sort of resort fee, but when added to these rates it still works out very economical when compared to the moderate Disney resorts.

Has anyone stayed at either of these hotels before?

the hilton bonnet creek is a newer property than the hyatt, so that may make a difference..

the hyatt has an amazing swimming pool, i don't know what the hilton's pool is like..

when i was there in june, i went into the hotel that's next door to the hilton - the waldorf...and the waldorf was AMAZING....but i didn't look at the hilton, so i don't know what it's like..but it's a hilton, so how bad could it be?

that price is remarkable for a hilton property...

have you looked at reviews on tripadvisor.com?

by the way, something to consider, the bonnet creek hilton is on property....
although the hyatt is just off property (and you can drive onto property through this 'secret' side door street)..

check trip advisor and also check the dis resort board to see what people's opinions are there...

i think if it were me, i'd go with the hilton bonnet creek - just to try something new..

 

[tyke]

I have checked Tripadvisor - the Hilton is ranked at #3 and the Hyatt at #22.

They both have great reviews, but the Hilton seems to have the edge, it is also slightly cheaper and the additional resort charge (for parking!!!) is $10 less per night than the Hyatt.

Looks like the Hilton is sorted for our first 2 nights, just need to sort the last 2 now... looking at the Animal Kingdom Lodge to finish off the holiday in style!!!

 

[disneyholic family]

I have checked Tripadvisor - the Hilton is ranked at #3 and the Hyatt at #22.

They both have great reviews, but the Hilton seems to have the edge, it is also slightly cheaper and the additional resort charge (for parking!!!) is $10 less per night than the Hyatt.

Looks like the Hilton is sorted for our first 2 nights, just need to sort the last 2 now... looking at the Animal Kingdom Lodge to finish off the holiday in style!!!

here's a post from the dis hotel board - sounds like you made an excellent choice booking the hilton bonnet creek!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2545331&highlight=hilton+bonnet+creek