DL VS WDW Value for money

[Willow25]

Hello All

To give you a background I am originally from Portland Oregon but currently reside in Australia. I have been to DL over ten times and love the feel there it will always have a special place in my heart with many great memories of family vacations. Over the last five years my husband and I have had a few trips to DW and we really love it there. We now have two children of our own and we are planning a trip to the states this December. I have been pricing out DL thinking that it would have to be cheaper to go there vs DW. However I keep getting really frustrated at the cost of the accomodation in the area considering the level of hotel quality on offer. I realize that DL and DW are completely different in terms of the way you vacation there. But I can't help feeling like the value for money is really lacking. I can rent points via DVC and stay in a one bedroom villa at Old Key West for example for the same per night fee as staying in the Desert Inn and Suites.

Am I missing something??

 

[HydroGuy]

Hello All

To give you a background I am originally from Portland Oregon but currently reside in Australia. I have been to DL over ten times and love the feel there it will always have a special place in my heart with many great memories of family vacations. Over the last five years my husband and I have had a few trips to DW and we really love it there. We now have two children of our own and we are planning a trip to the states this December. I have been pricing out DL thinking that it would have to be cheaper to go there vs DW. However I keep getting really frustrated at the cost of the accomodation in the area considering the level of hotel quality on offer. I realize that DL and DW are completely different in terms of the way you vacation there. But I can't help feeling like the value for money is really lacking. I can rent points via DVC and stay in a one bedroom villa at Old Key West for example for the same per night fee as staying in the Desert Inn and Suites.

Am I missing something??

Well, WDW has moderate hotels like OKW and DLR really doesn't. Plus DLR is in a more major metro area than Orlando and that means more expensive lodging in general.

As far as lower costs, DLR trips are usually shorter than WDW trips so while the cost per day may be higher the overall cost is less. As I am sure you already know from previous trips. Hope that helps.

 

[Willow25]

Thanks Hydroguy! I do really get it I just find it frustrating to pay so much money for mediocre accomodation but at DL you do get similar to BLT accomodation or better in terms of location.

The other issue though is that at least at WDW the crowds are still pretty predictable. The whole passholder thing at DL does my head in.

 

[Eeee-va]

I'd never thought about it that way before, but you're quite right--if transportation is equal, an on-site trip to WDW MIGHT cost the same (or even be cheaper than) a trip to DL off-site! (I did price out a "what-if" for our current dates in June and staying at Pop Century would be significantly more than our stay at Hojo...though a PIN code would bring it closer to even.)

But hey! A one-day hopper is $97 at DL and $131 at WDW. So there's your value. (Admission is generally cheaper at DL, unless you're doing maybe 7+ days, or spring for the "No Expiration" option and spread it out over two trips. That's why you can redeem unused WDW days at DL for admission to DL--because WDW admission costs more money overall. The more days you stay, though, the better deal WDW's admission is.)

I'm partial to Disneyland because that's the park I've been going to since I was little, but they're both nice. I've got to say, if visiting WDW was significantly cheaper than visiting Disneyland, I'd probably make most of my trips to WDW. So really, I think they're both great and you should do whichever is best or easiest for you.

But in defense of DLR, even though Disneyland-area rooms cost more than renting points, there are some advantages. If you stay at Desert Inn and Suites, you can walk to both parks and Downtown Disney, whereas at most of the WDW hotels you would be taking a bus each way. Some people say that staying off-site (as we always do at DL) and walking down Harbor and maybe even seeing a few homeless people isn't magical. But I didn't find waiting 15+ minutes for a bus in the middle of the day to change parks to be particularly magical, and I've heard some stories that make it sound downright scary to catch a bus at WDW at the end of the evening. Even at Hojo, I could walk from the gate back to my room in about the same time it would take to walk from the gate to a bus stop and then actually get on the bus at WDW.

So in that regard, the hotels within walking distance are charging a premium not so much for atmosphere, but for a location that even the "monorail" hotels in WDW could in some ways envy.

One could ALMOST argue that it would be more accurate to compare the price of an off-site Disneyland-area hotel serviced by the local tram (ART), or with its own private shuttle, to a WDW hotel, since in both cases, you're likely to take a bus to get to the park at least some days. And there are much better deals on hotels that are a few miles away than those that are within walking distance, though I don't do much in the room, so I personally think the premium for staying walking distance is worth it.

Anyway, have a great trip, wherever you end up.

 

[CrazyDuck]

Am I missing something??

Make sure you factor in the airfare cost difference. Probably around +$800 per person to go to MCO rather than LAX

 

[Willow25]

Don't get me wrong I think DLR is a really great resort and have enjoyed my many trips there. I just find the accomodation frustrating as the perk of DLR is the walking distance but the closest hotels offsite are not very good quality. I think my situation is a little different though coming from Australia we plan on staying 8-9 nights and the cost is really high staying that length of time in comparison but I really don't want my little kids to spend 10 extra hours on plane flights getting to WDW. So DLR it is and I am sure we will be very happy in the mornings when we have a quick walk to the parks vs. WDW where we usually drive a rental car have to park and still walk at least 5 minutes to the entrance. Thanks

 

[ACDSNY]

DL does have DVC now. Have you looked into renting points for the DVC Villas at the Grand Californian to get a one bedroom villa?

 

[plutorules]

That's what I was going to say-- you can get 1 bedroom villas that are pretty similar to the vacation club offerings at WDW. We're WDW vacation club members, and have never been to DL (we will in May though!) But, from what I've experienced, you can spend up to 14 days at WDW and still not see everything on site. Yet, for DL, when we tell people we're staying for 8 days, they're like "It's so small. What are you going to do the whole time?"

I guess it's just how you plan on vacationing.
Shawn in AK

 

[poohnpigletCA]

Don't get me wrong I think DLR is a really great resort and have enjoyed my many trips there. I just find the accomodation frustrating as the perk of DLR is the walking distance but the closest hotels offsite are not very good quality. I think my situation is a little different though coming from Australia we plan on staying 8-9 nights and the cost is really high staying that length of time in comparison but I really don't want my little kids to spend 10 extra hours on plane flights getting to WDW. So DLR it is and I am sure we will be very happy in the mornings when we have a quick walk to the parks vs. WDW where we usually drive a rental car have to park and still walk at least 5 minutes to the entrance. Thanks

When are you planning on going? Most packages have the rack rate for the Disney hotels. If you are getting park tickets for that many days you may want to consider getting at least one person in your group an AP. With special AP rates you can get some good prices on the resort hotels.

 

[heatherleigh]

We are in the same position, and I realized WDW is actually less expensive that DL. We still plan on doing DL though, because my son desperately wants to go to LegoLand.

So the answer to your question, is DisneyWorld, in my opinion.

 

[KCmike]

For us DL is always cheaper probably because we stay fewer days. But we always and I stress always get a cheaper hotel rate because they usually offer a free night stay at one of the outside hotels.

I love both. DL probably more.

 

[drag n' fly]

I love WDW for the resort experience but love DL for the park experience. For us a DL holiday is way cheaper than WDW. Flights are much higher to MCO for us. Tickets are more costly. We have to spend at least 8-10 days to really enjoy ourselves which is costly. The time difference is brutal. To be at rope drop at WDW feels like we are eating breakfast at 4am. The flight is five hours direct. All the cheap flghts are connecting which usually turns it into a twelve hour day. We lose 2 whole days of vacation going there and back. We waste a tremendous amount of time travelling from point A-B. I still love the resort immersion though for longer trips.

OP you will find the best fit for you. Sometimes the bottom line is the deciding factor

 

[Amy and kids]

I actually found that we saved more money by going to DLR than to WDW. Park hoppers are more expensive at WDW and staying on propery was far more than getting a value resort off property at DLR. It was also cheaper for us to fly into San Diego and rent a car than it was to fly to Orlando.

 

[DSNY4ever]

I hear ya Willow25- lodging in WDW is so much better- nicer hotels with better prices. It is very frustrating. WDW is for our special, resort type long vacations. And DL is for our short quick trips. I love the parks at both, but we never relax at our hotel in DL...why would we? They are never anything to write home about.

 

[aprincess@mail.com]

We are 5 hours away from DL so we save LOTS of money not paying for flights to DL. But we have been to WDW twice and we loved both experiences.
I agree, your paying for the Resort experience at WDW. Honestly our vacation with a pin code costs us about $4K and that was pulling out all the stops at Saratoga. It was a once in a lifetime vacation and were glad we did it, but it probably wont be happening again. I cant justify the spending now.
Especially since we have Disney AP's and we try to get out to DL as often as we can.
If your coming from Australia, I think I would rather want to land in LAX and not opt for the extra 10 hours of airtime.
DL is not as big as WDW, but you can make it stretch and just go with the flow instead of having a set time schedule.
December will be filled with Christmas decorations and Santa! So maybe you can just soak in the ambiance.
We just spent a full week down there in December at the time share and we loved it! somedays we didnt make it to the park until 6pm. LOL so just have a good time with your family and no matter where you end up im sure it will be magical!

 

[SirtanJedua]

Not to sound ignorant or hijack the thread but what is a pin code?

 

[HydroGuy]

Not to sound ignorant or hijack the thread but what is a pin code?

A PIN code is a special discount code sent out by snail mail or e-mail to certain people in Disney's database. How Disney chooses the people to send PIN codes to is a mystery to most of us.

 

[BostonDisneyKid]

Well, WDW has moderate hotels like OKW and DLR really doesn't.

OKW at WDW is a DVC resort with studios, 1, 2 & 3 BRV's. It is definately not classified as a moderate. WDW has multiple categories for resorts but none of the DVC's are considered moderate.

Moderates at WDW are Port Orleans, Caribbean Beach & Corondo Springs which are all nice resorts.

The cheapest way to stay deluxe at WDW (or WDL) is to rent points from a DVC owner. Check out the DVC rental section on the board for more information.

 

[radius]

I wouldnt say I was in the same boat as you were planning our family vacation for this summer because I dont live in Australia. We live in the states, but due to a finnacial crunch we chose WDW over DL because of price. I am orginaly from the west coast and every christmas from age 4 on we spent it on vacation at disneyland. Disneyland will always be my favorite because I have so many family memories there its crazy. My wife is from the south and had been begging me to take her and our son to orlando this summer. I compared WDW to DL and WDW was A LOT cheaper. Everytime we go to DL we usually stay at one of the DL hotels. Well, WDW on property hotels are a lot cheaper this summer for some reason. Plus, flights to LAX, Ontario, Orange County were outrageous when I started looking at the begining of this month. Also, we like renting a car to go to beaches, etc. Orlando was cheaper on rental cars this year. In the past LAX is usually the cheapest! I dont know what caused the huge price difference between the two states, but I will sure miss DL. I know DL like the back of my hand and now I have to learn to navigate WDW.


I am sure we will return to DL once the price is right.

 

[DSNY4ever]

Yeah OKW (the price at least) is deluxe to me. But even the value resorts are way more fun than anything on Harbor Blvd, in my opinion. My husband and I calculated out a trip once for a week at both and WDW is way cheaper...but we usually only do about 2 days at Disneyland.

Yes we can drive to Disneyland, but being 6-7 hours away it doesn't save us that much money. If we had a car full of people it might, but there are only 2 of us. We do save money on food in DL because we can bring more with us...but I have also packed food to WDW . But we don't do as many sit down meals in DL.

I love trips to both parks, but WDW is the better bargain- Value resorts, magical express, free shuttles all over property, options to rent DVC points, better priced package options etc. The food prices are getting atrocious at both parks , I hate that.