Disneyland or WDW ????

Wow those pull out beds at POR are tiny, there's no way any of my children would fit on them. Oh well back to the drawing board :confused3

Yep, looks kind of like a cot mattress doesn't it?!! Such a shame....

Have you looked at renting points for a DVC villa? I'd loooove to stay at Beach Club but I know we could never afford the cost so my current dream if we can ever go back is to rent points to stay in a 1-Bedroom (we'd get an air mattress delivered from Amazon and get the girls to take turns sleeping on it) at Beach Club Villas. To be able to walk to EPCOT and DHS would be amazing :woohoo: However, I know it would mean losing the chance of having free dining so I'm in a bit of a dilemma in my dream :rotfl2:
 
Would it be easier for you to book direct with Disney yourself? I couldn't imagine not having that control over my plans and booking. I jumped online and on the phones when reservations opened and snapped them up myself. It gave me peace of mind because otherwise I'd be worrying if my travel agent was getting on to it as quickly.

Of course other people may not be as :eek: with their itinerary control issues. hehe.

Oh my goodness, I'm the opposite as I am so grateful for the wonderful service of our Dreams agent, Michelle! Last year I had booked our POR stay with a QS Dining plan. I had asked Michelle to look our for free dining for me. One morning I switched on my computer to find an email from Michelle saying free dining had been released (overnight our time) and, if I checked in two days earlier in order to catch the last applicable day, she could switch our booking over to a Free Dining one. So we certainly did that and ended up with a 9-night stay with Free Dining :thumbsup2 There is no way I would have known so quickly that free dining had been released if Michelle had not been watching for me and hadn't notified me right away.:woohoo:
 
Yep, looks kind of like a cot mattress doesn't it?!! Such a shame....

Have you looked at renting points for a DVC villa? I'd loooove to stay at Beach Club but I know we could never afford the cost so my current dream if we can ever go back is to rent points to stay in a 1-Bedroom (we'd get an air mattress delivered from Amazon and get the girls to take turns sleeping on it) at Beach Club Villas. To be able to walk to EPCOT and DHS would be amazing :woohoo: However, I know it would mean losing the chance of having free dining so I'm in a bit of a dilemma in my dream :rotfl2:

Maximum of 4 occupants in a studio or 1 bedroom Beach Club Villa

BLT, Old Key West and Kidani Village fit 5 in the 1 bedroom villas.
 
Maximum of 4 occupants in a studio or 1 bedroom villa.

I know that is the case if booking via Disney but I've read several posts on the DVC boards that say, if DVC members provide their own bedding/towels etc for the third child, they can have five in a BC or BCV 1-bedroom. Certainly only max 4 in a Studio though. Now I'm only a total newbie when it comes to DVC so I just believed what I read! :rotfl2:
 

I know that is the case if booking via Disney but I've read several posts on the DVC boards that say, if DVC members provide their own bedding/towels etc for the third child, they can have five in a BC or BCV 1-bedroom. Certainly only max 4 in a Studio though. Now I'm only a total newbie when it comes to DVC so I just believed what I read! :rotfl2:

Not legally, the names and ages go on the DVC reservation and need to match up if booking DME.
 
Colin, I agree that the official WDW ruling is a max of 4 in a One-Bed at BCV as you have said. However, so many places that I read say, for DVC members using their points to stay in a One-Bedroom villa that only has bedding for four people, Disney bends the rules and will allow five into the villa as long as they provide their own bedding for that fifth person. I went back through the emails that I've had with David's Vacation Rentals and I can see they told me:

"Bay Lake Towers, Animal Kingdom and Old Key West one bedroom villas will sleep up to five people. There is a master bedroom with a king size bed and a living room with a queen sleeper sofa and a pull out chair. All of the other DVC Resorts will allow up to 5 people in a one bedroom however, they will not supply the fifth person with towels or bedding."

I still really hope this is true - , even though going back is still a dream, I've even googled airbeds on Amazon :rotfl2:
 
I'm sorry but what's free dining? lol

At various time of the year, during low season times, Disney will release free dining packages. During these times, if you are staying onsite and buying magic-your-way passes through Disney, you can get free dining for your stay. If staying at a value, you get a free Quick Service dining plan and, if at a moderate like we were, we got a free regular dining plan during our 9-night stay. Was an awesome savings!!
 
razza1987 said:
I'm sorry but what's free dining? lol

It's a dining system that allows you to prepay ,or in the right promotional times have this included in your accommodation rate, for meals ranging from quick service ( counter meals) to table service meals.

You may want to check with your travel provider if this is covered in your stay you mentioned. You also need to make bookings for the table service outlets. There are good links on this forum under Disney dining.
 
It's a dining system that allows you to prepay ,or in the right promotional times have this included in your accommodation rate, for meals ranging from quick service ( counter meals) to table service meals.

You may want to check with your travel provider if this is covered in your stay you mentioned. You also need to make bookings for the table service outlets. There are good links on this forum under Disney dining.
We have a full service dining plan included in our package which is the one TS, one QS and one snack per person per day option. I just had never heard of free dining before lol
 
Apparently the murphy beds are 35" by 65", I have just measured this out on our couch and it will be heaps of room for our 5ft 2" daughter. I will wait and see what Kathy at Magical Journey's thinks and we will go from there.

I also have the upmost confidence in our travel agent that she will add free dining to our reservation when/if the time arises. She was wonderful last year with all our changes etc
 
razza1987 said:
We have a full service dining plan included in our package which is the one TS, one QS and one snack per person per day option. I just had never heard of free dining before lol

Make sure you read up ( there are lots of great anzac trip reports on this forum....some are even writing at the moment from wdw....tobget ideas from) on all the great table service locations and make a reservation ( you can book 6mths prior)..... When are you going?
 
Apparently the murphy beds are 35" by 65", I have just measured this out on our couch and it will be heaps of room for our 5ft 2" daughter. I will wait and see what Kathy at Magical Journey's thinks and we will go from there.

I also have the upmost confidence in our travel agent that she will add free dining to our reservation when/if the time arises. She was wonderful last year with all our changes etc
Can I ask an unrelated question? lol. When you created your signature on the distickers site where did you input the code and which code did you put to have it as your signature?

Never mind. I think I figured it out lol
 
Make sure you read up ( there are lots of great anzac trip reports on this forum....some are even writing at the moment from wdw....tobget ideas from) on all the great table service locations and make a reservation ( you can book 6mths prior)..... When are you going?
Trust me. I've been doing a LOT of research and will be doing more before making my reservations this week. It's amazing that I found this forum with a whole ANZAC section. It sounds stupid but I love to see a fellow ANZAC's perspectives on things lol
 
Apparently the murphy beds are 35" by 65", I have just measured this out on our couch and it will be heaps of room for our 5ft 2" daughter. I will wait and see what Kathy at Magical Journey's thinks and we will go from there.

I also have the upmost confidence in our travel agent that she will add free dining to our reservation when/if the time arises. She was wonderful last year with all our changes etc

That is great to know about the Murphy beds (they are longer than they look in the photos!) and that will mean our youngest DD (currently aged 7 1/2) will fit on it for a few years to come should we go back. We'd happily stay at POR again but the trouble is that I've now read all about the ease of walking to EPCOT from BCV and BWV........... :rolleyes1

Yep, I'm sure your specialist Disney travel agent will be totally on the ball for you :thumbsup2
 
Travelmum, would you consider AofA?

In my opinion, DVC doesnt work for family of five - especially as you are talking a few years away - your eldest will be ?? If you add on a dining package I dont think its the most economical option.

If it came to a choice between sharing a sofa bed with my sister or a blowup on the floor versus my own bed but a possible crowded food court and line for the bus I know what I would choose.

As I keep mentioning Pop was wonderful for our family - although we didnt use the food court - we did pay for upgraded dining and ate away from the resort everynight. Admittedly it was a bit crazy in the morning, my plan was to aim for rope drop and eat breakfast in the parks - but DH gets grumpy if he has to wait that long to eat. But they now have fridges in the rooms so I would get a grocery delivery and make our own breakfasts. My kids ate one dinner in the food court while we went to Narcoosees - and they claim it was the best meal of the stay! (teenagers :crazy2:)

I think if you plan on being at the resort a lot it might make the difference but if it is just a place to lay your head. My opinion is that these resorts run at a loss - (at least as Disney had already held the land for many years before they were built, it is not like comparing other budget hotels that have to cover the additional capital expense)

As for service, all the staff work for Disney, they have the same standards - although they may be a bit more stretched than at other resorts - we never had a problem. Similarly we never had any problems with buses. :confused3. I am not a hotel snob - but I am a people snob, and I only saw happy families at Pop.
I am assuming you would be going September /October again - it might be a different story in July / August.

You could also look at booking an additional separate "room only" booking, at one of the moderates with possible room discount and free dining for four in the other. (actually I wished I had priced out this option for our trip, because paying for upgraded dining for five adults for 9nights was $500)

I probably wouldnt stay at Pop without kids, and if I had only 2 I would go for a moderate - with QS beds and regular dining (although I think DH would still prefer seperate rooms) - but if you have to get two rooms- its great!

Like you, though, my dream would be an Epcot resort or Grand Floridian! (and to win the lottery!)
 
We have a full service dining plan included in our package which is the one TS, one QS and one snack per person per day option. I just had never heard of free dining before lol

Free dining is an offer that Disney puts out every now and again.

You would normally pay for the dining plan but when free dining is available, you would have the appropriate QS or DP depending on the resort you stay at. It does come at a price....you have to pay for your accommodation at full rack rate.

Usually when free dining is available, Disney normally might offer a room only discount.

It then comes down to what the Dis-sers call Disney Fuzzy Maths and you having to run the numbers to work out which offer is best for you.
 
Just a quick update - We have booked Port Orleans Riverside for 10nights from 23 September 2013. Fingers and toes crossed free dining will be offered for those dates or we will be staying offsite. Feel excited now we have firm plans in place.

We are looking at Embassy Suites in Hawaii for 4 nights on the way home. DH is very excited now and showing a lot more interest than he did last year when we went, already suggesting restaurants and checking out trip advisor which is great :lovestruc
 














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