I just can't decide!!! Help!

[jenjenmouse]

I have made 2 reservations. 1 at Caribe Royale, 2 bdroom villa and 1 at POR 2 rooms. I got the villa with the mousesavers.com rate and it will be about 1800 total for 7 nights. I book POR with the 40% off code a while back and both rooms are about 2000.....so not much difference in price.
There will be myself, my husband and my 5 yr old son along with my 13 yr old daughter and 13 yr old niece. We have always stayed on property. We love POR and like the dining plan. I just wonder if we can go cheaper, I mean saying the cost of the hotel is about the same, with staying off site this time and trying to cook and eat at the villa and offsite mostly. For all of us the dining plan is about 1500. My husband doen't think we can go cheaper for food. He thinks we will just want to eat in the parks and pay about that much if not more to have the few meals we will eat in the parks and then have the others in the villa, then we would have to be adding up our groceries. I just can't decide what is more important to me. I am leaning towards POR but wanted some of your off site wisdom to shine my way in order to make my decision.
I just wish the cost of the hotels were a bigger difference. Like if Caribe Royale was like 1200 or so there would be no question where I would stay and going with only one room at POR is out of the question.....I do value my sanity. So any advice?????? Thanks
Jen

 

[sympatico]

You could probably get somewhere like Bonnet Creek, Vistanna, Floridays for a cheaper rate than Caribe. If you had a bigger savings, it might sway you toward the off site deal more. $1800 for a week seems like a lot to me. You can get a pool home for a week for way less than that. (Unless you're going during a peak period, maybe that's why it's so high.)
Here's a link to a site that a lot of people use for Bonnet Creek. http://vacationupgrades.com/pricing.html Bonnet Creek is practically onsite, it's next to the Caribbean Beach Resort.

 

[jenjenmouse]

Thanks for the info.... I am going June16-23. I tried Vacation upgrades and it was 1400 at that time ( a couple of months ago) then tried again to see if being in the 60 day window would bring the price down and had no luck.... he was all booked up. Thanks again for the response.....it is what I was thinking. But now I think I might just cram us all into one room at POR and save 1043 dollars and perhaps loose my sanity! Or find it again! Haha.
Jen

 

[GingerJay]

Hi! If the price was about the same for both, I would go with POR. We stayed off-site with the intention of saving money by eating outside of the parks, but if you're planning on being in the park all day, you end up eating there anyway.

Plus, if you're offsite, you have to pay for parking too. We stayed offsite this year but our savings were much greater than what we would have paid staying onsite so it was worth it to us. Either way, I'm sure you'll have fun

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

Stay on-site as with two 13 year olds you will want to split up and you can on-site. Skip the dining plan and get groceries. You will have 2 fridges to use. Pack PB & J sandwiches for the parks for lunch and get a CS for dinner.
I'm sure doing that will come out so much less than the $1500 dining plan.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

Personally, I would stay at POR and do the dining plan. It just makes things so much easier and while on vacation the last thing I want to do is think about cooking or even trying to find some place to eat last minute. It just makes our vacation go more smoothly.

 

[BABY_EINSTEIN'S_MOM]

Have you looked into Windsor Hills? We paid a little over $700/week for our condo last summer. We paid around $800 the time before that (because we were right by the pool with a great view). That said, we are trying onsite for the 1st time in October. I just want to be able to compare the two.

 

[Upatnoon]

Have you looked into Windsor Hills? We paid a little over $700/week for our condo last summer. We paid around $800 the time before that (because we were right by the pool with a great view). That said, we are trying onsite for the 1st time in October. I just want to be able to compare the two.

Don't give up looking for a bargain! I would start contacting more Bonnet Creek and other timeshare renters on ebay, redweek and tugbbs.com. They may not be advertising your exact dates, but may be able to get you what you want. Cast a wide net and when something opens up, you can grab a deal.

 

[mjohnson96]

I have made 2 reservations. 1 at Caribe Royale, 2 bdroom villa and 1 at POR 2 rooms. I got the villa with the mousesavers.com rate and it will be about 1800 total for 7 nights. I book POR with the 40% off code a while back and both rooms are about 2000.....so not much difference in price.

Jen

I saw you said you got the mousesavers rate...did you also get the food promotion credit? They have that going on as well and for a villa it was $50 a night I think in food credits for your room. That might help you decide, I was looking at that resort for our next Disney Trip, looks very nice and has the transportation which is good. We usually don't take advantage of extra hours so unless free dining is around we might take advantage of staying offsite this time.

 

[jenjenmouse]

I saw you said you got the mousesavers rate...did you also get the food promotion credit? They have that going on as well and for a villa it was $50 a night I think in food credits for your room. That might help you decide, I was looking at that resort for our next Disney Trip, looks very nice and has the transportation which is good. We usually don't take advantage of extra hours so unless free dining is around we might take advantage of staying offsite this time.

Yes I booked it with that credit....that =$350 that will be dedeucted whatever we charge to the room as far as food goes. That is a plus...but we decided to go and spend the extra 1000 and stay in two rooms at POR unless we find a better deal on Ebay , etc for a villa. I am just learning how to search on timeshare websites. I am hunting for a deal but it has to be a really good deal like 700 or less for a 2 bedroom villa for the week to sway me to offsite. I doubt I will find that.
Jen

 

[lmountford]

I have stayed at the Blue Tree resort Lake Buena Vista http://hotels.monarch.co.uk/search-beach/UF/UFO/UFOLA/any/16-06-10/7/1/any/any/Hotel-Villa-Apartment/1-2-3-0-5-13-13 before, simple but pleasant with park shuttles, activities for the kids, within walking distance of a supermarket and a range of inexpensive restaurants.

I'm from the UK and I booked through this site but I suspect it's applicable to US visitors too. Your dates are coming in at about $630 which I think is a steal for two bedrooms, two bathrooms, full kitchen , screened balcony, washer drier etc. HTH

 

[Detailor]

Yes I booked it with that credit....that =$350 that will be dedeucted whatever we charge to the room as far as food goes. That is a plus...but we decided to go and spend the extra 1000 and stay in two rooms at POR unless we find a better deal on Ebay , etc for a villa. I am just learning how to search on timeshare websites. I am hunting for a deal but it has to be a really good deal like 700 or less for a 2 bedroom villa for the week to sway me to offsite. I doubt I will find that.
Jen

I think that the best timeshare "deals" are going to difficult to fit into your timeframe - Tuesday to Tuesday, June 16-23. Most timeshare owners will have Saturday to Saturday or Sunday to Sunday week but some resorts, like some of the Marriotts, will run weeks that are off the weekends. I've seen reservation time available at timeshare resorts through websites like hotelkingdom.com but those weeks are usually more expense - you might be able to get a 2 BR timeshare week from an owner through a site such as redweek.com for around $700 to $800 while the same hotelkingdom 2 BR villa might be around $1700. I know it's not always possible - and likely not at all for your June vacation, but the best way to do the best on a private timeshare rental is to be flexible on your dates and start looking and talking with owners early.

I'm happy for you that you decided to take two hotel rooms at POR - one room would have been tight for seven nights. Maybe not as nice accommodations, or nearly as spacious, as you'd have at a timeshare resort but you'll be on site and have those on site perks.

Have fun.

Dick Taylor

 

[KayR]

You can get a 4, 5 or even 6 bedroom house with private pool for under $1800 a week (including taxes). Townhomes or condos are even cheaper.

If you are interested, look at communities such as Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms and Emerald Island - close to the parks and an easy drive in.

-Kay