Many questions about best options for December 2010

[ADPiSpaz16]

I need help figure out what the best options for my trip will be. Here's the background:
We are going as a party of eight, two families. Our family will be 2 adults and 2 kids - 3.5 years old and 14 months. The other family will be 2 adults and 2 kids - 3.5 years old and 20 months old. We are going December 11-18, 2010.
Right now, we're thinking of getting two rooms (adjoining) at the Contemporary. We really like the monorail resorts but are wondering if something else might be more cost effective (like a villa) but still "deluxe like." We are interested in 5 day park hoppers and the dining.
Without airfare, the WDW site is saying $3970 per family. I know there's no codes available right now but would it be to our advantage to get an annual pass for this kind or trip? We're getting free passes to Sea World so should we get a rental car (van?) for the whole week or can we get it just for the day? Are there typically codes that come available at that time that I might look be more advantageous for us?
There's plenty of time, but we're just trying to get things figure out as early as we can. Any help would be GREAT!

 

[dkbnyc]

isnt there free dining any more? no room discount?

 

[brighteyes]

isnt there free dining any more? no room discount?

FD is for 2009. I believe the OP is looking for info regarding Dec 2010.

 

[marcielm]

The two rooms at the contemp are the cheapest way to go at a deluxe. The villas are always so much more expensive (which is sad, IMO) than renting two rooms somewhere. To get a 2 bedroom villa that would sleep 6-8, I was coming up with numbers around $14,000. I'm sure you saw that on the Contemp when you priced out those rooms.

If you are trying to save $$, I'd only rent the car/van for one day, especially if you don't think you'd need it for the entire trip. Be sure and have car seats for your little ones if you do rent a vehicle.

There have been codes the last few couple of years for your time frame, so hopefully you will get a little bit of a discount on the overall price.