Moderate to Deluxe?

[sabrinadv1]

I just got a new job and we are going Sept 28 to Oct. 3. I thinking that maybe we can afford to upgrade to a deluxe now instead of POR. Which one and how much more money am I looking at. There will be three adults and three children. One of the children is two and one of them is one. The one year old is considered an infant leaving out total at actually five. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[montblanc]

You may consider Animal Kingdom Lodge or the Wilderness Lodge. Both have rooms at $199 and with the annual pass I got it for $124 a night in August/Sept.

 

[edingerc]

If you think that you can deal with a slightly smaller room, then the bunk beds in the WL are for you. BTW, if you intend to use an AP discount, that requires you to book 120 days in advance.

 

[montblanc]

You don't have to book 120 days in advance for an AP discount, I just got one and I only booked 15 days in advance. It all depends on the time of year.

 

[Whosemom]

Pre-camping days, we used to go to POR level resorts, but one time we went down on a whim and ended up in the Grand Floridian. For the extra $150/night, we got our beds turned down, a chocolate, and a newspaper. Restaurants instead of food courts, when food courts would have suited us better, and felt out of place in our play clothes.

On the other hand, when we stayed at the cabins at Fort Wilderness, it was great! Don't think camping. These are fully equipped little homes. Complete with kitchen if you'd like to cook breakfast, or a bed time snack. The best part uis, the kids are in the back in bed and the adults can converse, watch tv, play games...while wee people rest.

 

[unixadm]

You said 3 adults and 3 children, mention a 2 year and 1 year old.....what is the age of the third child?


The 2 year old is an infant according to Disney as well....you don't need a park ticket for a 2 year old and don't need to pay for them at a buffet.

You have to determine where you will spend most of your time. For kids that age, it will usually be Magic Kingdom. I would then recommend one of the "Monorail 3", Polynesian, Grand Floridian or Contemporary. I'm not a fan of the contemporary and think that for the money, the Poly or GF are much nicer. You can jump on the monorail and get right into the MK, or over to the Transportaton Center to get to Epcot. From Poly, you can even walk directly over to the TC to take the monorail directly to Epcot.

I would also price out the Beach Club, Boardwalk, Wilderness Lodge or Old Key West Villas. You can get Studio, 1 BR, 2 BR or 3 BR villas. The 2 or 3 might be too expensive, but you can get a Studio for about the price of a Deluxe and the 1 BR for a few hundred more. They are definitely nicer, and the 1BR has a separate BR, jacuzzi, full kitchen, DVD player, etc. The Studio has a kitchenette and DVD player.

Just for the milk, food, etc for the little kids, it makes in much nicer....plus the rooms are bigger and the resorts nicer.

 

[swilphil]

We upgraded from POR to the Contemporary North Wing room in March. I'm so glad we did though I would like to stay at POR someday. With two toddlers, you will love being so much closer to MK. You can walk there in 10 minutes from the Contemporary, and their rooms are huge. My sons also got a big kick out of the monorail going through the hotel. The arcade is tons of fun, too.

 

[sabrinadv1]

Sorry I left out the other child. It will be me, DH, Grandma, ds 6, ds2, ds 1. The cheapest deluxe room the cm found for us was at the contemporary. It is a $600 upgrade. Still talking it over that's alot of ice cream and Souveniers. We have stayed at POR before and it is a wonderful place. We have never been able to swing a deluxe and I would like to try it one time. Then again it may spoil me and I may never be able to go back to a mod.

 

[unixadm]

BTW....Congrats on the new job!


I did a couple of quick price lookups...not sure of your ticket options, so I picked 7 day hopper passes....but this should give you a comparison. This is going through the Free Dining Plan link, so the dining plan is included.

9/28 - 10/03

3 adults/2 children - 6, 2
(I didn't count the infant)

Disney's Port Orleans Resort - Riverside Package Total: $1,744.74

Disney's Contemporary Resort GARDEN WING Package Total: $2,614.44

Disney's Contemporary Resort TOWER ROOM Package Total: $2,976.84

Disney's Polynesian Resort Package Total: $2,748.24

Disney's Old Key West Resort STUDIO Package Total: $2,357.94

Disney's Old Key West Resort 1 B/R Package Total: $2,865.39

Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge STUDIO Package Total: $2,497.44

Disney's Beach Club Villas STUDIO Package Total: $2,553.09


As you can see the Studio villas come up cheaper than the Contemporary or Polynesian rooms. The 1 B/R at OLW is not much more. I personally did not like the Contemporary Garden rooms. For a Deluxe, they just weren't that nice and were far away from everything (They aren't in the main building so you still have to walk a distance to get to the main building to go to the monorail, etc.) The Tower rooms are more expensive than a villa. The Villas are MUCH nicer.

If you are going Deluxe, I would say Wilderness Lodge, Poly or GF, BC or BW. But also compare the prices to the villas.....it depends on how much you are able to spend.


You should be able to to price them out yourself on line:
Go to Disney's website HERE , then scroll down and click on the "STAY, PLAY AND DINE" box, then pick the days, number adults, children ,etc.