has anyone done this

[Pan's Dad]

my family, daughter 15, son 14 are going to WDW mid April and will have a minivan - planned on staying at the Dolphin 5 nites off my Starwood Pts, then considering staying at Universal's Royal Pacific for one or maybe two nites to get the FOTL benefit; and want to end the vacation at Poly, Contem or WL last 3 or 4 nites..is that too much moving? only reason to go to Univ Hotel is the FOTL benefit.

Any advice on best choice with respect to those Disney Resorts? Do any accept an AAA disct and if so, what is it usually...considering joining AAA if i can save enough - have not recd any sort of disct email (pin code) as have in previous yrs so those hotels are unaffordable at this time.

thanks.

 

[DizneyNutz]

Have you tried the rent/ trade board? Not sure about the AAA discounts because we are not members.

 

[Cee]

It sounds like alot of time spent packing/unpacking and moving from place to
place. Remember it's your vacation and you need to save time to relax and
enjoy everything. Have a wonderful time!

 

[Pan's Dad]

sorry - we are going April10-20 - only reason to stay at universal was the front of the line privileges. but it may not be worth moving hotels -we have never been to Universal so we were unsure if it was worth staying there for the privileges. thanks for your responses.

 

[septbaby]

If you did the Universal hotel, I'd make it my first night. Just pack one bag for everyone's first day in FL so you don't have to unload much of anything.

I think you are staying long enough at the Dolphin to make repacking no big deal and FREE is good. Ending at a Disney resort will be very nice and may make you rethink staying anywherelse when you come to Disney.

Finally, you say the Disney hotels are unaffordable, that Universal hotel isn't cheap. I would spend that $ on a Disney hotel in a heartbeat if I were you. Also the Universal tickets are usually multiday so you could simply go over toward the evening when many are leaving the park and jump in lines when they're shorter.

As for AAA rates, go to your local office and have them price it for you:
1. Room only
2. Room with park tickets
3. Room, tickets, dining plan

We enjoyed the dining plan immensely and would highly recommend it. It would be a nice treat at the end of your trip.

 

[Kimberle]

sorry - we are going April10-20 - only reason to stay at universal was the front of the line privileges. but it may not be worth moving hotels -we have never been to Universal so we were unsure if it was worth staying there for the privileges. thanks for your responses.

Staying on-site at US is 1000% worth it! The resorts are amazing and FOTL privlege ROCKS!!!

 

[karylrocks]

The AAA discount is only 10-15% so if those hotels are not affordable without it, they probably won't be affordable with it. You might want to consider a moderate resort. I do think staying on-site at Universal is worth it, but agree that you should do it first or maybe last rather than in the middle of your Disney days. For us moving resorts is no big deal; we do it all the time and would get bored if we stayed in the same room the whole trip.

 

[breebella]

We stayed at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort for 3 nights in August and then caught a cab over to Universals Royal Pacific for the other 3 nights. I was traveling alone with 3 kids and I still didn't have any problems. We loved it and I'd definitely do it again. I'm a huge Disney fan, but it was nice to try something different for a change. You can't beat the FOTL pass and the resorts are all gorgeous and the pools are huge!!! I'd definitely give it a try if I were you , although it may be a little much changing resort 3 times??

 

[Tinkerbell63]

It is worth staying at Universal for the privilages!!!!! Since the cost of these resorts are so high, we stay for 2 nights at Universal and the rest of our vacation is spent at the happiest place on earth. (DW)