Help me plan a new type of vacation for us!

[dizneefamily5]

Hi everyone. I have been lurking on these boards for over a month now and loving it! Now, I hope to get some much needed help! DH and I have decided to sell our DVC membership and really cut back on our spending so that I can stay home with the kids. This is really exciting for me but very bittersweet as I LOVED DVC resorts! We visited WDW every 8 - 9 months. We had a trip scheduled for August at SSR which we would still like to do. But, we will need to choose a different resort. I have never stayed at the All-Stars and I'm looking for advice! I assume we will need two rooms as we have three kids 10,9, and 3. I realize that we won't have the ability to cook at these resorts as well, so any advise on saving $$ with food would be great as well! This is a whole new lifestyle for us but I am really looking forward to it! Thanks in advance!

 

[crisi]

Have you thought about offsite? I think disneysteve will be in here shortly. He's gotten great deal on offsite condos - more room for the kids, more DVC like. Plus you can save a ton eating and/or cooking offsite. Mickey doesn't wake you up, but that's a small price to pay for SAHM-hood.

 

[speedyf]

I've only stayed at one value resort....Pop Century.

It was a great experience and I would recommend PC to anyone. It will probably be a drastic change from the DVC...but, staying home with the kids is well worth the sacrifice.

Since you have a total of 5 people in your family, you may also want to look into the rooms at Port Orleans with the trundle bed. They have special rooms that have 2 double beds with a small trundle type bed that rolls out. I've never been there before, but the trundle is supposed to be for someone 5'5" or shorter....which would work out great for one of your kids.

Of course, check the prices to make sure that the 1 room at Port Orleans is not more expensive than 2 rooms at a value resort.

For more suggestions, I would check out the resort board.

To make extra money if you are staying home, I would also check out the Rewards board. I joined a few survey and reward sites to help pay for our next trip. You won't make a fortune, but you can make a few hundred dollars extra for spending at WDW.

Since I'm an IT guy, I've been able to take many surveys including some surveys that have paid me up to $150 for a 45 minute survey. I've also done Reward TV's site where you answer trivia questions daily about shows that play on TV every night.

Hope I helped a little....
speedyf

 

[MEM]

I second the motion for POR. Although we are a family of 4, the kids ages 8 and 9 took turns on the trundle bed. My 9 year old is nearly 5 feet tall and he was very comfortable. Even though the trundle is close to the floor, neither child noticed any dustiness or mustiness that I had heard reported on these boards. The fridge in the room was free - we only had to call housekeeping to deliver it.

I was very pleasantly surprised by POR and with an $84 AP rate, its hard to beat. I have stayed at ASMu, POFQ, CSR, WL and AKL so I feel I have some basis for comparison.

In my family, I am the breadwinner and DH is the stay-at-home Dad, so I can appreciate the financial challenge you are facing.

 

[poohj80]

Sorry to hear about you needing to sell your DVC but some things are more important than WDW and you can always buy back in when it's better for you financially. May I ask where you own and how many points?

 

[dizneefamily5]

Thank you all SOOO much for your replies. We own 270 points at BWV

I think we will try Port Orleans - Sounds perfect for us! And close to DTD, which he love!! How's the transportation there?

I had not really thought of staying offsite so I will look into that as well! You all are so helpful!!!!