I need help deciding...

[deltadawn2012]

hello Everyone...you all were very helpful with my last question so im hoping you can help me out with some opinions this time around.

we have booked our trip to Disney for Sept 15th-22nd and are super excited! the trip is paid for which included free dining and the flights are paid for already as well. The thing is our income has changed quite drastically and we are going to have a very hard time saving anymore spending money up...we have only saved $500 so far. So thinking about changing our resort to free up some spending $. we aren't big on souvenirs but don't want to be saying no no no all the time to balloons, other treats and would like to get the kids each ears and a little teddy or shirt. Oh, and there are 6 of us. 2 adults and kids ages 7, 5, 2 and 7 months. so some options im looking at...

Original information:

Contemporary resort, sept 15th (morning flight)-sept 22nd (evening flight) Free dining $6, 030.

Option 1) AOA resort sept 15th(morning flight)- Sept 22nd (morning flight)
Upgrade to regular dining plan total is $4, 821 SAVINGS $1,209

pros: free's up a good amount of spending $, new resort, separate bedroom. Cons: lose 1/2 day and not on the monorail.

Option 2) AOA resort sept 15th (morning flight) -sept 23 (evening flight)
Upgrade to regular dining plan Total is $5, 263 SAVINGS $767

Pros: free's up some spending $, new resort , separate bedroom, EXTRA FULL DAY

Cons: Not on the monorail line


m worried about giving up the ease of travel using the monorail and the luxury of the non-value hotel but starting to think it might be worth it. what do you think?I

Also, if i decided to change resorts am i going to have to start all over with my dining reservations??

Thanks for any opinions or help!

 

[deltadawn2012]

never mind it all...duuuh just realized that i cant just change my flights and everything since i already booked them. yup, im dumb.

 

[noahdove]

You can change a resort but, it may cost you and no you don't lose your dining reservations if you change resorts. If you stay at AOA you will want to check out the resort and not going to parks when you arrive. I think if everything is paid for then if you change resorts and free up money, that savings will be helpful with extra spending. However, I think that $500 is probably enough to spend for those 6-7 days. Take snacks from home to help save money for extra snacks..

 

[Sunshineglow68]

We are going in September, myself, DH & DD and we are only there for 4 full days and not on monorail and will get all 4 parks done with some time to rest. Good luck with it all. With FREE dining you really shouldn't have to spend but so much extra. Put all extra change every day you get home in a jar and that adds up fast.

 

[MMS1125]

I'd price a moderate too between the suite price and the extra upgrade for the dining plan you can probably stay @ POR (since you have a baby and a 2yr old I THINK you can stay in a standard 4 person resort room regardless you can put 5 + infant in the POR room) for about the same price if not cheaper than the suite at AoA.

Even if you change resorts with the same flight you could potentially save a good chunk of $$

 

[deltadawn2012]

Thanks for the replys and EVEN MORE options...man this is hard.

i can use the same flights and save $944 staying at AOA OR $1,245 staying at POR...

opinions?

can u put my mind at ease that traveling around isn't going to be WAY WAY harder without the monorail and my bunch of kiddos?

 

[connie1042]

I would first call Disney and see what is available for your dates with free dinning. Not all resorts will still have rooms open for that promotion. I think you would be more comfortable with the extra room at AOA. As far as the monorail is concerned, it is nice, but not worth a 1000. Remember your tips for the table service restaurants. Go to the creative board on the DIS and print out tip envelopes for mousekeeping and dinning. Fill them now, or one each week, then that is out of the way. Go to the dollar store and buy glow sticks and other disney stuff, or at Target dollar aisle. Go online at disneystore.com and order some stuff off of there that is on sale. Wait for free shipping. I bought my granddaughter a sweatshirt for 19.99, and I saw it at Disney in May for 39.99. I left it for her from Tinkerbelle. They make really cute gift tags on the creative boards,too. Pack fruit snacks, pretzels, and other stuff your kids will eat. We used one carry on for food, and then that is what we brought our souvenirs home in. Eat breakfast in the room. You may want to think about an order from Garden Grocer. Then you can get water, milk and juice delivered to you room. Good luck Have a great trip.

 

[danceintherain]

I think the biggest issue you'll run into is being able to transfer you Free Dining reservation to another resort. If you can, then great.

When I was growing up, my parents gave us each around $50 for souvenirs and incidentals at Disney. That was plenty...when we were teenagers! Your $500 should be more than enough to cover that and then some.

We also hardly ever ate table service on the property (at most one for the whole trip), so your kids are getting a treat in that respect.

If you want to free up some funds for another reason or get some extra space, then fine, but your kids won't lose anything by not getting everything they set their eyes on in the parks. It seems that you have in your mind what you want to get them rather than waiting to see what they actually want. T-shirts mean nothing to kids, and half the time you can't get them to wear hats, even if they have Mickey ears on them (you may not be able to find some that fit your 7 month old).

The Disney Store has deals on Disney tees sometimes, so you may be able to get a whole weeks worth for less than what you'd pay for one in the parks.

Even when you calculate out all the things you've listed:
$20 for the t-shirt
$15 for the ears
$30 for the Duffy
Total: $65 x 4 = $260 (which leaves $240 for everything else)

 

[Disneyfreak616]

If you did a moderate resort and the regular DDP instead of Contemporary, you would have spending money leftover. It would be a LOT cheaper than a monorail resort!

 

[MMS1125]

i can use the same flights and save $944 staying at AOA OR $1,245 staying at POR...

opinions?

I'd choose POR personally for the savings and the resort is beautiful. There's a Murphy type bed your oldest would probably love and the others can share a bed? You get queen beds at POR vs a double at AoA

The bus system is good at POR and you get the boat to downtown disney that's fun too. If you can change your free dining to POR I'd go for it!

Not sure I'd risk going to WDW with just $500 extra personally. My luck something would come up

 

[mouseketeerwannabe]

Oh my! No, no, no. Do not even think about changing resorts with four littles that are so young. It's all paid for and seriously $500 is plenty of spending money. You will find that the convenience of being right on the monorail is worth every penny, especially with a baby and a toddler. You are minutes from Magic Kingdom where I imagine you will spend a large chunk of your time. If one of the kids gets tired or cranky, but the others want to stay at the park, it will be easy for one adult to just hop on the monorail and be in the hotel room in minutes. It's so easy to go back to the room for naps and a swim and then head back out again in the evening. On one trip when our daughter was 6 we were already in our pajamas, but decided at the last minute to hop over to the MK to see the parade. In five minutes we were standing on Main Street. Trust me, right now saving some money is very tempting, but you will be soooooo glad once you are there that you stayed at the CR.

 

[Harmony]

If I understand it correctly, you will be saving over $1000 by moving to a moderate or value resort? If that is the case, a monorail resort is not worth it! I've stayed at all three levels and even stayed at a value and moderate with a baby in a stroller and it wasn't a big deal. (esp at the time of year you are visiting)

A monorail resort is nice but it certainly wouldn't be worth a $1000 difference, at least not to me. Travel from the other resorts is pretty hassle free.

 

[Sue M]

I agree, phone WDW to see what resorts are still avail with your free dining promo.
At CR are you booked tower or garden wing? If you booked tower, you can check to see if anything is avail in the Garden Wing, the rooms are the same, price is lower.

WL is another great resort in the MK area, also cheaper then CR. They have bunk bed rooms too (bunk beds + Queen)! Or rooms with 2 queens. They have a boat to MK.

Animal Kingdom Lodge is the other resort with bunk bed option.

POR is our fav moderate resort. They have rooms with 2 queens in the Mansion section, or in Alligator Bayou section, they have 2 queens + murphy bed. The AB rooms would be better for you at POR. It's a beautiful resort.

Because you have 2 kids, under 3 they don't count for room occup. so you can still stay in a room for 4. As mentioned maybe 3 kids can share a bed, then have a pack & play for the baby.

Another option is to get 2 adjoining rooms at a value resort, like Pop. I think it's cheaper then the family suites.