More for Less: A Theme Park Planning Strategy

[Laketravis]

Have you taken into account resort and parking fees? I might have missed that in this long thread.

I'm scratching the Caribe Royale off my bucket list this year and one reason why I'm so interested in the place is because there are no added fees.

That's the one I got for $100 a night

 

[Laketravis]

They take forever and there seems to be an inordinately high number of people driving extra slowly.

Kinda like Slopac or 360?

 

[wisblue]

They take forever and there seems to be an inordinately high number of people driving extra slowly.

I think there are a lot of people who don't know where they're going driving rental cars they aren't familiar with.

On and around the Disney grounds you really have to be alert for the drivers who suddenly see the sign for their destination and then try to cross over 3 lanes at the last second to get there.

 

[WillAustin]

Kinda like Slopac or 360?

It's worse. I think it's what wisblue said. People don't know where they are going and may be driving an unfamiliar car.

 

[Monykalyn]

Entertaining and interesting thread! Frankly we have always stayed offsite (until our upcoming trip of 6 days on WDW property and 6 days at a timeshare --we are long long time owners of a timeshare week-- with possible one overnighter at Universal). Our trip we are going for SWW first week and Uni/visiting friends/other Orlando attractions 2nd week. With a family of 5 staying in a single room for 6 days should be interesting.
I'd be interested in
1)reviews of any offsite restaurants - always looking for good places.
2) real world drive time for you vs what google etc says
3) your experience with wait times/# of attractions you can see in 1/2 days at universal. If doable over several days to see most things, for our trip I'd consider upgrading to AP and skip the hotel cost...plus my kids tend to want breaks in the day anyway...

 

[Laketravis]

It's worse. I think it's what wisblue said. People don't know where they are going and may be driving an unfamiliar car.

I best start practicing my Texas wave then.....

 

[SeilerBird]

2) real world drive time for you vs what google etc says

My rule of thumb is to double the Google estimate.

 

[Laketravis]

Entertaining and interesting thread! Frankly we have always stayed offsite (until our upcoming trip of 6 days on WDW property and 6 days at a timeshare --we are long long time owners of a timeshare week-- with possible one overnighter at Universal). Our trip we are going for SWW first week and Uni/visiting friends/other Orlando attractions 2nd week. With a family of 5 staying in a single room for 6 days should be interesting.
I'd be interested in
1)reviews of any offsite restaurants - always looking for good places.
2) real world drive time for you vs what google etc says
3) your experience with wait times/# of attractions you can see in 1/2 days at universal. If doable over several days to see most things, for our trip I'd consider upgrading to AP and skip the hotel cost...plus my kids tend to want breaks in the day anyway...

I'm definitely going to be testing out #1 and #2. In regards to #3, we've only been there one time and we had EP but I made note of the standby wait times as it was over New Year's week and figured if there was ever a time to gauge how long wait times could be that would be one of the times.

EP doesn't help for the Harry Potter attractions anyway, but we were pleasantly surprised to see standby wait times for those to be in the 30-45 minute range most of the time with an occasional short lived bump to 60. I'm normally not one to consider a 30-45 minute wait a short wait by any stretch but when you are talking about those attractions it's a different story because the experience itself seems long enough and good enough to be worth the wait. Other attractions were in the 15-20-30 minute ranges with the exception of Despicable Me; I noticed it was over 100 minutes a lot. But an example - the first night we got there (12/30) we decided to go ahead and go to the parks just to check things out for the next day. Over the course of 2-3 hours, though, we got a lot done - including one of the Harry Potter attractions which we wouldn't have thought possible. I think they have a lot of high capacity attractions that can eat a lot of people every hour and that helps standby wait times from getting crazy.


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[SeilerBird]

with the exception of Despicable Me

I always head straight for Dispicable Me at rope drop. I never get the EP and DM is my favorite ride at USO.

 

[MrInfinity]

I think what is bugging me, is that you're trying really hard to make your offsite stay as cheap as possible, but aren't doing the same for the onsite comparison. In your initial thread you didn't even quote the spring offer, only rack rate (the standard room was still available at that time). Also, you're not quoting any AP discounts, only general public. If you have an AP why not use it to its full potential?

I did notice this. A few days ago I saw 1st week June avail on the discount. Today, not. But 2nd week June still is. So it's interesting that you're willing to get the place you want to make look good refined down to the penny... but for your Disney stay, you're willing to "just book whatever".

I learned a lot today. Was never a big Orbitz user. But I played around w it quite a bit. Neat site... For purely the absolutely lowest cost option, I do agree that booking a room for $35/nt is more or less possible. It's around the $230 w a $50 resort fee, so $300'ish was pretty easy to find on Orbitz in the 2-3 star region. For hotel and car combination, I was still finding about $100 over what you're saying is readily available.

Lt - it is not so much the traffic you have to worry about, it is the signal lights on the surface streets. They are long and crowded. Doesn't matter what time of day either. And traffic is a real bear close to WDW.

Yep. We stayed at the Sheraton LBV and the Vistana Villages... One is right across the street, the other is down the road, around a couple corners, across from SeaWorld. By the way the crow flies, it looks like a 5 min drive to Disney. But in practice, it's 20 min. I would just allow more time (around an hour a day, or 1.5 hours if doing both theme parks), then be pleasantly surprised if ahead of schedule.

 

[Laketravis]

Fuzzy, this is really getting old. You said:

Definitely confusing. Maybe a simple spreadsheet would help you express this better. Show what you'd pay in a week at CSR, and what you'd pay on this proposed week. Should be easy to compare.

Which is exactly what I did. I went online, got the best rate I could for CSR, and compared it to the condo rate for the same time period. The results are posted here for all to see, and it's very easy for anyone to verify them.

But you didn't like the results and go off on a rant accusing me of manipulating or cherry picking or foolery. Next time, go look them up yourself.

Also interesting is that you started at the Rosen, then downgraded to a general Condo, which you say you can get for $102/nt or whatever (ok fine) and now you're down to $35/night bare minimum "whatever Orbitz will give you".

You do understand that I have three separate, paid for reservations don't you? One for the Rosen, one for a condo, and one for the other resort. I'm not flip-flopping between any of them, I own them all. For the umpteenth time, the 3-Star condo was had for $242 a week and I posted a screen shot of the receipt for all to see. The 4-Star resort was had for $100 a night and I posted a screen shot of the receipt for all to see. The Rosen rate was (off the top of my head) $240 or something a night and the only reason I don't have a screen shot of that one for you is because I didn't pay for it. I even posted screen shots of both receipts for two different rental car reservations because you couldn't find the same deal yourself. And incidently, I don't use Orbitz.

You said in an earlier thread that you were "done" with this. One can only wish..............

 

[Cormoran]

Fuzzy, why do you continually pick at LT's resort plans, rental car budget and restaurant choices? He keeps telling you he will provide a cost comparison once his trip is completed. He has said he will price out off site dining for 3 meals/day vs. onsite for 3 meals/day. He is staying at Shingle Creek due to a speaking engagement, but his trip in June will be spent at an off-site condo. What more do you want? Do you honestly think he's trying to cheat someone? If so, who? It's his money and he's just sharing his plan with us.
You can choose to take his plan at face value, or not. It's up to you. Based on your incessant interrogations, I guess you find value in staying onsite at a WDW resort. But you don't need to justify your choices by proving that LT's choices are somehow flawed. Each person has a right to decide what works for them. LT is interested in reducing the amount he pays to Disney for his vacation, what's wrong with that?

 

[Laketravis]

For some reason I'm reminded of this.

TPS Report Cover Sheet



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[MrInfinity]

I guess you find value in staying onsite at a WDW resort. But you don't need to justify your choices by proving that LT's choices are somehow flawed. Each person has a right to decide what works for them.

I find value in staying onsite, as well as offsite, and do both regularly. His choices are not flawed. His comparison of a rack rate upgraded room at Disney to an offsite bare minimum hotel is. Why not use the actual amounts he would pay. If he is saving because he is downgrading from rack rate and lake view, great. Yes, you can save by downgrading from rack rate and lake view. But that's not his premise. So why quote prices for rack rate / upgraded room as your basis.

LT is interested in reducing the amount he pays to Disney for his vacation, what's wrong with that?

If that's what this thread is meant to demonstrate, then have the title be "A Strategy: Central Orlando Vacation Aimed at Giving as Little Money as Possible to Disney" instead of "More for Less".

 

[SeilerBird]

Lt - Give up on fuzzy, he is not comprehending anything you say. You are wasting your time.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I find value in staying onsite, as well as offsite, and do both regularly. His choices are not flawed. His comparison of a rack rate upgraded room at Disney to an offsite bare minimum hotel is. Why not use the actual amounts he would pay. If he is saving because he is downgrading from rack rate and lake view, great. Yes, you can save by downgrading from rack rate and lake view. But that's not his premise. So why quote prices for rack rate / upgraded room as your basis.

I'm late to this thread tonight, but I've already read at least two posts (at least one of which had screenshots) where LT details out that he did not use the rack rate, that he did use the Spring Discount, and that the reason that the water view room was used over a standard was because the standard option was not available for those dates when he went to get the numbers that you requested he get.

I'm honestly wondering what more explanation you want? Rack rate wasn't use, and if there was no standard room option available to choose from, what should he have done instead?

 

[SmithSmith]

I'm late to this thread tonight, but I've already read at least two posts (at least one of which had screenshots) where LT details out that he did not use the rack rate, that he did use the Spring Discount, and that the reason that the water view room was used over a standard was because the standard option was not available for those dates when he went to get the numbers that you requested he get.

I'm honestly wondering what more explanation you want? Rack rate wasn't use, and if there was no standard room option available to choose from, what should he have done instead?

Because... when he started this endeavor a week ago the standard room was still available and he chose not to quote it! Not to mention he's been ignoring any AP discount he's entitled to as an AP holder! Which, to some of us, seems like he's inflating the cost of the onsite stay to make his offsite stay look even more appealing. Why is this so hard to understand?!

 

[Luckybee]

I find value in staying onsite, as well as offsite, and do both regularly. His choices are not flawed. His comparison of a rack rate upgraded room at Disney to an offsite bare minimum hotel is. Why not use the actual amounts he would pay. If he is saving because he is downgrading from rack rate and lake view, great. Yes, you can save by downgrading from rack rate and lake view. But that's not his premise. So why quote prices for rack rate / upgraded room as your basis.



If that's what this thread is meant to demonstrate, then have the title be "A Strategy: Central Orlando Vacation Aimed at Giving as Little Money as Possible to Disney" instead of "More for Less".

Hmmm...Trip Advisor-CSR 3 1/2 stars 185 out of 327, Rosen 4 1/2 stars- 25 out of 327 , Carib Royale 4 stars and 128 /327
Expedia-CSR-3 1/2 stars and 4.0/5 rating, Rosen 4 stars and 4.6/5, Carib Royale 4 stars and 4.4/5
Orbitz-CSR 4 stars and 3.9/5 rating, Rosen 4 stars and 4.6/5,Caribe Royale 4 stars and 4.2/5
Oyster-CSR 3 1/2 stars, Rosen 4, Caribe Royale 4

Now which one was the "offsite bare minimum hotel" ?
On not one site could I find where CSR was rated higher or even equivalent to RSC . They were closer to Caribe Royale but still lower overall. As I said earlier LT is being more than generous with his comparison.

 

[Cormoran]

I find value in staying onsite, as well as offsite, and do both regularly. His choices are not flawed. His comparison of a rack rate upgraded room at Disney to an offsite bare minimum hotel is. Why not use the actual amounts he would pay. If he is saving because he is downgrading from rack rate and lake view, great. Yes, you can save by downgrading from rack rate and lake view. But that's not his premise. So why quote prices for rack rate / upgraded room as your basis.
If that's what this thread is meant to demonstrate, then have the title be "A Strategy: Central Orlando Vacation Aimed at Giving as Little Money as Possible to Disney" instead of "More for Less".

Obviously, you're never going to be satisfied with the information LT has provided. You also don't seem to be satisfied with his plan to post his actual expenses after his trips. If you have a problem with what LT is posting, why don't you start your own thread and pick onsite and off site rooms for comparison. You can do the same with your on and off site restaurants and you can pick any rental car that you want.
Also, you can make the title of the thread anything you want since you have a problem with the title of this one. I just don't understand why you keep demanding more information, as if LT is committing some type of criminal act. What are you trying to prove? Honestly, whatever it is, it's not working.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Fuzzy, why do you continually pick at LT's resort plans, rental car budget and restaurant choices?.......

It's not the choices so much as the comparison, which has always been LT's goal. LT frequently uses unrealistic worst case scenarios when presenting the expensive Disney option, while presenting unrealistic/unreplicable best case options for his cheaper off-site option. Case in point, CSR. Yeah, yeah.....go on today and the discount rate is not available for the standard view. Aww...gotta use the $400 more expensive water view. How convenient. When he booked the condo he certainly could have gotten the discounted standard view at CSR (it was available last week, no), so why on earth use the more expensive rate for the comparison? Forget the possibility that he might not be able to replicate condo rate if he tried today. It's stuff like that that comes off as a little disingenuous. Too much to ask to have a reasonable, objective discussion about what is actually an interesting (albeit not for me) plan I guess. No, we have to make a point....