Luxury on a budget

[kinsale]

Hi all,

We're planning a trip for either Feb or April of 2009. We've always stayed on Disney property before, usually at a moderate resort. We were toying with the idea of staying off site this time. So here's what we'd like

We both love staying in nice hotels so where could we stay that is somewhat convenient for the parks and also a great deal. i figure up to about $200 a night at the most.

Also please note if parking is included at the hotel. Is it a pain to drive to the parks? We have a six year old and want to make it memorable for him as well. Do you lose the magic by staying off site??

Sorry for all the questions!
Ian

 

[*disgal*]

As far as losing the magic, just see the other threads on staying offsite that are on this board right now.

Hotel:.............I've been to it but never stayed there......the Gaylord Palms. Absolutely beautiful but I wonder if it's more than $200 a night.

 

[calgarygary]

If you want to do luxury on a budget and aren't set on which resort, may I suggest using Priceline. You can first educate yourself as to which resort you would be likely to get by visiting sites like betterbidding.com

You are much more likely to get resorts on a budget in Feb. vs. April. I have always found that it is well signed in Orlando and area and also within WDW, so have never experienced difficulty in getting around. Chances are, if you get a resort with a great pool, your 6 year old will be thrilled and not notice any difference between an onsite vs. offsite stay.

By the way, the Omni Champions Gate is frequently found on Priceline for bids of 75-100.

 

[mama4]

As far as losing the magic, just see the other threads on staying offsite that are on this board right now.

Hotel:.............I've been to it but never stayed there......the Gaylord Palms. Absolutely beautiful but I wonder if it's more than $200 a night.

Dh and I took two of our sons (4 and 6) for weekend stay at this hotel and to attend P&PP. It actually was supposed to be a one night stay but we ended up booking another night so we could have a full day to enjoy the hotel. It really is amazing- like a mini vacation in itself. We spent most of our full day at the kids pool (very cool) and the next day we spent most of it walking around exploring. There are so many things to see -it's huge! Also, were were very surprised how close we were to Disney. Wasn't a bad drive at all. Seemed like maybe 5 minutes before we saw a Disney welcome gate. As for pricing- I think they have a special right now? $99 or something. Not sure if it's within your dates. That's whatwe paid so I think they do this rate often. Now there is a per day parking AND resort fee. Can't remember parking but the resort fee was like $15 a day- I think it covers daily newspaper, 2 bottles of water and some other amenities. but even with these charges if you get the $99 rate it'll fall below your budget.

 

[davinakb]

Given your budget you may also like the Hyatt Grand Cypress or one of the Marriott hotels or vacation club places (check Trip Advisor for some of the reviews) that have great pools; depending on the time of year you go, you may also want to see if you can get a deal at either the Swan or Dolphin.

Priceline is a good option, also check out biddingfortravel for bid history. Gaylord Palms also comes up often, but even with the resort fee and parking charge, you would come in under your budget.

We've never find driving difficult; in fact we prefer it finding it faster, more convenient than the buses, especially going from park to park, or resort for dinner, or to DTD. FWIW.

 

[TnTWalter]

If you are a family of 4 or less, you should consider renting points from a DVC member. You can stay in a Deluxe Disney Studio Sun - Fri [5 nights] for about $500-800total, depending on time of year, and what level etc. [based on # points required, usually 45-65 points depending on time of year and then you pay an owner a set amount per point, usually $10-12 per point. Animal Kingdom Village, Beach Club Villas [best pool on property], Boardwalk Villas, Saratoga Springs, Old Key West...

Check out the DVC board for lots of information.

I'm a family of 5 sadly so DVC is not an inexpensive option. Sigh.

You get all benefits of onsite...EMH. DDP available, ME, Disney Transporation. You just do not get daily housekeeping.

Trish

 

[kinsale]

The DVC option sounds intruiging! Where would I find out more about this?? Thanks for the tips!

 

[nicolem05]

We LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOVED staying at Bonnet Creek. It was right there in fact just a fence between us and Caribbean beach club. You can stay for $100 night or less if you shop around and watch rental boards. We took a 2 bedroom for $900 for a 10 days. It really is a great resort with high standards. And we are VERY picky!! For those of you who can do a studio with kids all the power to ya! But for us we HAVE to private kid free time so private bedrooms are a must for us as are king sized master bed (which they have as well as two bathrooms) We had a perfect view of the fireworks at epcot and could see the illuminations from our private balcony. Three Flat screen TVs, jetteed double tub, walk in shower, and washer and dryer (which came in soooo handy!) We only used the transportation to the parks (which comes very often and was quite reliable the whole time we stayed) on two occasions but thought it was great if you like to be driven we prefer to drive ourselves (except on epcot days . But IMHO staying on property is a MUST at Disneyland.. not the same in the world so staying the gates was the same thing with more room.. but thats just my opinion. Our Family or two adults and two children LOVED the pool and lazy river and the "Dive in Movie" night was really cool. If you are going on a budget or not I highly recommend this accommodation have fun!!

 

[kinsale]

oh my goodness so many options which boards should I look at for deals on Bonnet Creek? Would i be able to get a deal for Feb or would i have to wait until closer to the time?

 

[*disgal*]

The DVC option sounds intruiging! Where would I find out more about this?? Thanks for the tips!

I would go to the DVC board on this site. I'm not sure, but if I wanted to rent points for DVC, I would pick Feb. being that April next year has Easter in it so that's two weeks out of the month that are going to be very hard to get anything. And the price is peak. I haven't checked on what a studio is. You could fit into that. Now it doesn't have daily housekeeping.........hey DVC-ers, can you pay extra for housekeeping? I'm thinking you can.

 

[kinsale]

How do you figure out how many points you will need for any given resort?

 

[FayeW]

We LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOVED staying at Bonnet Creek. It was right there in fact just a fence between us and Caribbean beach club. You can stay for $100 night or less if you shop around and watch rental boards. We took a 2 bedroom for $900 for a 10 days. It really is a great resort with high standards. And we are VERY picky!! For those of you who can do a studio with kids all the power to ya! But for us we HAVE to private kid free time so private bedrooms are a must for us as are king sized master bed (which they have as well as two bathrooms) We had a perfect view of the fireworks at epcot and could see the illuminations from our private balcony. Three Flat screen TVs, jetteed double tub, walk in shower, and washer and dryer (which came in soooo handy!) We only used the transportation to the parks (which comes very often and was quite reliable the whole time we stayed) on two occasions but thought it was great if you like to be driven we prefer to drive ourselves (except on epcot days . But IMHO staying on property is a MUST at Disneyland.. not the same in the world so staying the gates was the same thing with more room.. but thats just my opinion. Our Family or two adults and two children LOVED the pool and lazy river and the "Dive in Movie" night was really cool. If you are going on a budget or not I highly recommend this accommodation have fun!!

What an amazing review! I would love to stay at Bonnet Creek but all the rentals I have seen have been $125+ per night. Where did you get that great rate? If I could get a rate like that I would be there in a heartbeat!

 

[dioxide45]

If you are looking for luxury, I wouldn't go for a timeshare. While many of the properties are nice. I wouldn't compare them to a luxury hotel. Very few restaurant choices on site, usually no room service except for pizza. If you want luxury you need to go for a luxury brand hotel. If you want comfortable accomodations with lots of room, then a timeshare unit is good for you.

 

[mama4]

If you are looking for luxury, I wouldn't go for a timeshare. While many of the properties are nice. I wouldn't compare them to a luxury hotel. Very few restaurant choices on site, usually no room service except for pizza. If you want luxury you need to go for a luxury brand hotel. If you want comfortable accomodations with lots of room, then a timeshare unit is good for you.

This is a good point op. How long are you staying? To me it makes a HUGE difference when it comes to how long we stay. We stayed in an off site condo -Hilton Grand Vacation Club which had the kind of amenities you described nicolem05 (and I totally agree- we need our own space when we are doing more than a couple of nights too-we had a 2 br and it was wonderful) but there were not many options for dining onsite-no room service just pizza delivery, no daily maid service- it was a condo. I don't knw if the Gaylord is considered a "luxury" hotel since that's not really my thing but it was much more hotel like - numerous dining options , wonderful room service (nice to wake up to when my dh orderd it one morning),daily maid service- and then there was that incredible lobby...

 

[TnTWalter]

Regarding DVC.
It's like renting a timeshare. People own 'points' at DVC. They have home resorts. You can reserve from your home resort at 11 months out. You can reserve at other resorts at 7 months out.

Here is a point calculator to determine how many points you need for the time you're going. Friday and Saturday are almost DOUBLE Sun through Thursday, so most do Sun - Fri stays.

http://tagrel.com/dvcCompChart.shtml

People rent points out for $10-$14 per point, most fall in the $10-12 range with holidays or busy times renting for higher. You can sometimes get last minute deals at around $8-9 per point. Here's the rent/trade board.

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=29

I tried at the 7 month window to rent points for October to no avail [during food and wine festival and MNSSHP]. So some dates you need to put request in before the 11 month windows so owners at the resort you want can get it.

IMPORTANT: read the stickies at top of page. You cannot post questions here. They are extrememly picky about the way you post a request. So read through the stickies.

You can ask questions probably in the Disney Resort forum.

Good luck.

Trish

 

[TnTWalter]

We LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOVED staying at Bonnet Creek. It was right there in fact just a fence between us and Caribbean beach club. You can stay for $100 night or less if you shop around and watch rental boards. We took a 2 bedroom for $900 for a 10 days. It really is a great resort with high standards. And we are VERY picky!! For those of you who can do a studio with kids all the power to ya! But for us we HAVE to private kid free time so private bedrooms are a must for us as are king sized master bed (which they have as well as two bathrooms) We had a perfect view of the fireworks at epcot and could see the illuminations from our private balcony. Three Flat screen TVs, jetteed double tub, walk in shower, and washer and dryer (which came in soooo handy!) We only used the transportation to the parks (which comes very often and was quite reliable the whole time we stayed) on two occasions but thought it was great if you like to be driven we prefer to drive ourselves (except on epcot days . But IMHO staying on property is a MUST at Disneyland.. not the same in the world so staying the gates was the same thing with more room.. but thats just my opinion. Our Family or two adults and two children LOVED the pool and lazy river and the "Dive in Movie" night was really cool. If you are going on a budget or not I highly recommend this accommodation have fun!!

I wanted to stay at BC...it was $840 for 2 bedroom in October but when we switched our trip to early June it was $1340!! Had to pass on that.

It depends on what time of year you go and if you're willing to do last minute.

It does sound fabulous!

Trish

 

[kinsale]

Trish,

Thank you so much for all the info and links. My DW is kind of nervous about the DVC option, she's scared we'll get ripped off. i'm going to use your links and read more about it. Would it be too late to request something in Feb 09?

thanks
Ian

 

[calgarygary]

I wanted to stay at BC...it was $840 for 2 bedroom in October but when we switched our trip to early June it was $1340!! Had to pass on that.

It depends on what time of year you go and if you're willing to do last minute.

It does sound fabulous!

Trish

I don't know who was going to rent you the points for your Oct. stay but BC requires 282 points for an Oct. stay so you would be paying $3/point vs. an annual maintenance fee of $4.80 (I think). The deal is so good, there is likely something fishy behind it. Typically, points are renting close to $10 so your Oct. stay looks like it was missing the 2 in front of the 8.

 

[TnTWalter]

Ummm....

I was referring to Bonnet Creek [BC] sorry NOT Beach Club. That would be an awesome deal!

 

[Southernswthrt1]

If you are looking for luxury, I wouldn't go for a timeshare. While many of the properties are nice. I wouldn't compare them to a luxury hotel. Very few restaurant choices on site, usually no room service except for pizza. If you want luxury you need to go for a luxury brand hotel. If you want comfortable accomodations with lots of room, then a timeshare unit is good for you.

You've obviously never been to BC...very luxurious! I'm very picky and it exceeded even my expectations.