How do I do Disney math?

[britfish]

I was reading a thread about the value of FD and I am trying to figure out what really is a good value for my family. We are 2 adults and a 6yo and want to stay at CBR in August. How do I figure if a 20/30/40 code or free dining would be a better value? We just want to do straight park tix for our 9 days, no PH or WP options. I tried to figure it out on Disney, but I wasn't sure how, like is the 30% off the total or just the room, etc.. I tried it a bunch of different ways and am getting more confused

 

[kdm0516]

The way I've been doing it is price out the hotel only. Like for me POR is 1159 then I deduct 30%. For dining just multiply the cost of dining x 8 nights and that would be your cost. Get someone else to comment on the dining. I think it is based on the number of nights not the days, 8 nights 9 days

 

[beth_cam]

as far as comparing for value, you have to be comparing 2 packages made up of exactly the same components - so if you are only getting ddp or qsdp if you get it free free, it is a little hard to compare.

So on that note, I will look at 1 room cbr, weeknight rates, after august 14 (149+tax), 2 adults, one child

30% discount, full price DDP - Savings about $50/night

rack rate room, DDP Free - Savings about 95/night

Rack Rate room, QSDP free - Savings about 70/night

btw - 30% is only off the room portion of your reservation

Now it's up to you to figure out what you will be eating if you don't get the dining plan and compare the costs.

 

[summerlady]

I was reading a thread about the value of FD and I am trying to figure out what really is a good value for my family. We are 2 adults and a 6yo and want to stay at CBR in August. How do I figure if a 20/30/40 code or free dining would be a better value? We just want to do straight park tix for our 9 days, no PH or WP options. I tried to figure it out on Disney, but I wasn't sure how, like is the 30% off the total or just the room, etc.. I tried it a bunch of different ways and am getting more confused

Go to the Disney site and price it out. First for the room discount:find price room only, at CBR the discount will be 30%, so, get the total number on nights you're staying. When they break it down by night, that's not inc. tax, the total number at the top IS inc. the 12.5% tax. Then multiply that number by .70, that's what your cost will be with the 30% off, then add park tickets for your total. Second, for the free dining price: just price out a vacation package including the number of tickets you'll need but don't add in the dining. That's the price you'll pay for park tickets and room with free dining.

 

[su_A_ve]

The way I've been doing it is price out the hotel only. Like for me POR is 1159 then I deduct 30%. For dining just multiply the cost of dining x 8 nights and that would be your cost. Get someone else to comment on the dining. I think it is based on the number of nights not the days, 8 nights 9 days

Correct - it's based on the number of NIGHTS.

To find out which one is a better deal discount vs. FD, yes, price out RACK RATE room-only for the dates you plan, then get the 30%.

For FD, simply multiply the number of nights times the type of meal you look at (ie basic dining or quick, depending on what the offer is), for each member of your travel party.

Then compare the room discount vs the cost of dining. The higher, wins.

In general, if you stay at a value, FD is always a much better option. If staying at a deluxe, room discount (specially when it's 35 or 40%) is much better. Mods is a toss up.

And all of this depends in the number of adults and the number of kids. The more adults, the better FD is.

 

[disneydaddy3]

That is true for most Deluxe Resorts unless you are able to get a Garden Wing-Garden View or even better a Garden Wing-Standard View at the CR.

Here are my figures. We are staying at CR-Garden Wing-Garden View. Still hoping to save a few $$ and get a Standard View if it becomes available ($545.00 to be exact). 2 adults, 3 children (just recently now considered adults at Disney!). Therefore, 5 adults on QSDP.

Resort at 35% for 9 nights was $4281.18. This included hotel w/sales tax, travel insurance, Base ticket with Water Fun.

Resort with FQSD was $5,682.81 for 9 nights with all other inclusions.

The cost of the QSD for my family for 9 nights is $1439.55. Therefore, I would save $38.55 by choosing the FQSD. At least I would not be losing money.

 

[britfish]

thank you so much for all your info.. It seems like free dining will be the best option for us, figuring out the pricing is not easy!

 

[jen42002]

With 2 adults and 1 kid, a moderate with free dining is a better deal (assuming you want to go to 1 TS per day) then the moderate 30% off. . With a deluxe, the % off and free dining are about the same amount at WL and AKL but a better deal at other deluxes. Depends where you want to stay - if deluxes above the WL/AKL pricing structure, the % off is a better deal.

 

[Kudrah]

Ok-
I am jumping in this thread with a few questions- we have a party of 5....2 'real' adults, 12 and 13 year old boys that count as adults, and a 4 year old.

If our kids didn't count as adults, this would be a no brainer, but for us, it's like paying for 4 adults every day for the dining plan. And we really do want the Dining Plan. I want to do meals like Cinderella's Royal Table and Hoop De Doo and to pay out of pocket for all of us with 4 adults and 1 child is pretty much $500 right there for 2 meals. And these boys eat like horses.

We are planning on 7 nights.

This room discount vs. Free Dining thing has me confused, because I am not sure what the room discount is? Is that assuming you get a PIN for 20/30/40 or 25/35/40? Or is that what people anticipate the discounts will be for the general public, etc?

Since we have a party of 5, we are limited. We could go for a Family Suite at ASM, connecting rooms at Pop, or move up to a Deluxe. I don't want to stay at either of the Mods that are available to parties of 5. POR is too cramped with the size of our kids (these boys are bigger than some adults and STINKY), and the Cabins are just not our thing, at least not for this trip. My husband and I both have some mobility issues, and there's a chance we may have to rent a scooter while we are there, and staying at ASM or Pop has me a little nervous with the bus situation etc. Plus, I really like having a little more service when I'm on Vacation, lol.

Which leaves Deluxes. If we're going to do a Deluxe, my preference would be for an Epcot/DHS or Monorail resort. DH really wants the Poly or CR (he's never been to WDW before), I wouldn't mind Boardwalk.

So how do I tell which is the better deal? I would like to go later in the fall vs. before October 3 but if FD is going to save us the most than we will find a way to make it happen during that window.

Please forgive me for how ignorant I must seem. I have really been reading a lot and trying to make sense of this all. But I just don't understand how you know that the room discounts people are all talking about are going to be available?

How in the world do I pick?

 

[beth_cam]

i think the above was comparing a pin code to what if there is free dining.
No one knows for sure just what public codes will be offered for this fall.

Some info that came to mind while reading your post:
Codes sometimes exclude suites
connecting rooms is simply a request - they absolutely do not guarantee it, however they do frequently manage to give it. Only so many rooms have connecting doors. And you will only have access to so many of them - they may already be taken by people who checked in in the days before you do.

typical discounts for deluxes are 30-40% but again we don't know what will come out for fall.

CR - Rack Rate = 330; 30% savings = 111; 40% savings = 148
Poly - Rack Rate = 425; 30% savings = 143; 40% savings = 191
Boardwalk - rack rate = 390; 30% savings = 130; 40% savings = 175

Free dining -rack rate = about 180.

So if you look at those numbers you can see that in most cases free DDP will do better for your party than a %discount would.

Since you brought up traveling earlier if it saved money - don't forget that the seasons change on October 1ish. So rack rates are cheaper before that.