More questions need answers and recommendations

[jwmccullough]

Hello all!
First off, thank you to all who responded to my first post with great insight on my upcoming vacation. Your input has helped me to frame in the pieces to this puzzle.

So this is my situation:
In late August, I am planning to take a large, by my standards, group of family to WDW. There will be 12 of us all together
8 adults
4 children (8 months - 5 years)

We will stay in a studio and 2 BR for 1 week, which will max out my point, or I may have to rent a few points. We want the 2BR to have kitchen and laundry at hand to minimize luggage and to cut food costs. I am planning to just use the Mears Shuttle service to get everyone to and from the resorts. Then just rent a small car for a couple days to make food/snack runs or maybe a trip to Seaworld or something.

So now my new questions are:

1. Which rental car company would offer the best deal? or would you recommend? I figure we will pick up and drop off at Downtown Disney

2. With the Kitchen features in the 2BR, what meals have you found are easiest to prepare? What time of day did you find yourself using the kitchen?

3. Are the washer and dryer regular size, or is it some compact thing? (I am not remembering from our tour)

4. If I was to rent points, what is the going rate for up to, say, 20 points? and would the home resort's points that I rent create problems for booking in my home resort?

5. We are figuring a midweek to midweek trip (Tues-Tues) and will likely not end up in the parks the first or last day of our trip, so that cuts us down to 6 days to spend in the parks. I read elsewhere on this board that at check-in, some CMs will let you cut the first and last days off of you length of stay park hopper, is this common or uncommon? because I understand that everyone in the group will have to have play or pass on this opportunity and money is more of an issue to some members of my group. OR would I be better off to just go to the local Disney Store and buy a 6 day park hopper plus ticket? Imput here is greatly appreciated.

6. Where is my thinking flawed? what can i do better or differently?


As always, your help is greatly appreciated and thank you in advance!

Jess

 

[spiceycat]

1) Mears is too expensive - I would go the towncar with your group - ask for a grocery stop and then you want need a rental car. with that many people I would not try to do WDW and SW - WDW will be more than enough

2) - the kitchen is complete - okay they don't always have a cookie sheet - but housekeeping will bring one if you ask - just make sure that you have oven mits - I didn't had to use a towel because housekeeping was so slow bring them.... So anything that you fix at home you can here.

I generally bring some frozen meals from home and just pop them in the mircowave.

3) - OKW has the regular size one - the other DVC resorts have the smaller on top of each other size. but if you need the big ones - remember that the laundry room (it is free to DVC members too) has the bigger ones - of course the guests in the studio might get mad of this one...

4) the going rate at present is $10 a point - just depends - you can probably find someone who owns at your resort that will be willing to rent to you.

5) - i don't do the UPH - I do the regular 4, 5, 6 or 7 day passes - if I don't feel like going to the park no problem - not punished - but everyone has to decide for themselves - most members have annual passes.

6) you are a very brave person to do this - I have problems with just 6 of us going....my brother and I fight alot!!!

 

[Chuck S]

If you still feel the need for a car rental, I'd go with Alamo or National. They probably won't be the most economical, but they are located on property. They will shuttle you from your resort to the Car Care Center and back.

 

[Doug Wolfe]

Car rental companies must frequently charge an airport surcharge if you rent at the airport. It seems to me this applies in Orlando, so try to rent closer to WDW.

I have used Mears before, but I would use Tiffany Towncar or one of the other towncar services. A tad cheaper.

Quick meal? Try pizza's. I also picked up a discount card via the internet for Winn Dixie and got some nice discounts from a nearby Winn Dixie store.

Have fun in the sun.

 

[Cruelladeville]

Don't do Mears, do Tiffany Towne cars, which is about $80 for 4 people(and maybe a small child if an adult is carrying it). That's cheaper than Mears, which charges $28 per adult round trip. Tiffany is cheaper and MUCH more comfortable and luxurious than Mears.

 

[momsully]

We used Happy Limo last year for 9 of us. We got a large van and all went together. I believe it was around $125 round trip and included a grocery stop on the way.

As for tickets I recommend the PH or PHP. We are using PHPs for our upcoming family reunion and got free character breakfast vouchers with them by ordering from Paramount.

We had to rent points for our trip this year. We needed a two bedroom and three studios. I rented from the rent/trade board and had the points transferred into my account. No problem with making a reservation.

Have fun!

 

[kcashner]

Generally the "break even" point on Mears vs. private limo is 3 adults...so you'll definitely do better with the limo. If you go to www.castawayclub.com, there is a discount coupon for Happy Limo service. They will even make a 15 minute stop for you on the way to WDW...so you can grab some groceries.

You really don't need a rental car. If you do a grocery run on the way, you can always take a cab if another trip is needed mid week. That would be far cheaper than a car rental. WDW has plenty to keep you busy for the week. Unless your heart is set on Sea World, I'd save that for another trip.

Will you have any points that you can borrow from next year, rather than renting? Current renting rate is about $10 per point if you have maxed out your borrowing also. Which resort are you looking at? Each has it's advantages and disadvantages...also it's own point chart!

Ditto that I don't do the UPH. A 7 day park hopper plus actually gives you 11 days of "stuff" and you have the advantage that any unused days never expire. You get 7 park days plus 4 water park/sports, etc. days. Again, it depends on what you will use and your personal preferences. We look at each year individually and decide based on how many trips we plan to make in that year....annual pass hits "break even" point at about 8 days. SO, for us, it is annual pass vs. park hopper. I find that sometimes we need to take a day and just hang at the hotel pool or go to Downtown Disney. With the park hoppers, I'm not wasting money that day.

 

[jsjohnso]

Check out www.mousesavers.com. They have recommendations for car rental (and discount codes) as well as for limo services.

Judy

 

[LIFERBABE]

with others about nixing the rental vehicle and using a limo service for your round trip transfer and grocery stop. You could probably hire a limo large enough for your entire group and come out cheaper and more comfortable than mears. Order your groceries before hand and have them waiting for you for quick pickup. (Albertons provides fax orders)

With such a large group you will have issues with a car that you otherwise would not have. There will be those that want to go all over town just because you have car. Everyone will be on different schedules depending on the ages of their children, and you definitely don't want to be offsite when the baby in the group needs a nap. Disney Transportation is the best soloution to the inevitable break ups of your qroup.

Group travel can be fun, but I have learned to lower my expecations of togetherness.

 

[jaysue]

FL Tours has a van that can hold 14 people and they are friendly and prompt plus they sponsor the Transportation board

As for the kitchen, I am not sure which resort you are staying at - the BCVBWV/VWL kitchens are shall we say "cozy" and in essence usuable by one person at a time whilst the OKW kitchens have more space and at least two people can prep dinner easily together. The kitchens have pretty much all you need.

We find ourselves using the kitchen in the morning (7:00am) for a quick breakfast of cereal and fruit, most days we come back from the early entry park for lunch and then a nap (so figure around 11:45am). Dinner we split 50/50 and usually have around 7:00pm

In essence we end up with a early breakfast, EE park for about 3-3 1/2 hours, lunch in the room followed by swim/nap and then a non EE park in the afternoon followed by dinner out at table or counter OR dinner back in the room and then sometimes a quick nip out to the Boardwalk and/or Epcot so we could see up to three different parks in a day.

thanks
jaysue