N00B needs help getting the best deal

[Lisha1979]

I've been working on our trip and I'm just stinkin confused! =)

What we're planning is 7days / 6nights at POP
I ran the numbers with the $300 gift card then I ran it with the 30% off deal.
When running the exact same items for both discounts I'm saving $50 doing the Giftcard. But I'm wondering if there's anyway to work the deal any better?
Here's what we're looking at

7days/6nights
POP Preferred Room (is this really worth it?)
7 day tickets (we're staying off site the first night and will be going straight to the park in the am of our first arrival day at POP.)
DDP (1CS, 1TS, and 1Snack)

It's pretty easy but I didn't know if I'd do better dropping the 7day park tickets and purchasing them with the card we'll earn from the stay (If this is possible, I haven't checked yet)

Also is it better not to book through disney? I've been reading the boards but I'm confuzzeled

Thanks in advance for any help given! =)

Lisha

 

[CowboyCO]

Book 5 nights using GC and then 1 night room only with the 30% off. You should save another $40 or so. Get park hoppers for the entire stay on the 5-night package.

 

[julluvsdisney]

the preferred rooms at pop are not worth it in MHO. Your are closer to the pool and the main building but it is louder. I paid for a reg room and we were in the 70's building over looking the lake and at night we could see the fire works (we were on the 4th floor) i dont think preferred rooms are worth the extra $$ with the mod and values. youll love pop tho! best of the values!

 

[CowboyCO]

I personally don't think preferred room is worth it at POP. The resort is laid out well, and it's not that far from all but the furthest buildings. I do fax a room request for the backside of the preferred buildings, which are still close and have beautiful water views.

The preferred rooms are too close to the pool and can be LOUD. IMHO

 

[danceintherain]

If you drop the tickets, you'll have to drop both the tickets and the Dining Plan. I would say a better option would be to drop just the Dining Plan, unless you've crunched the numbers and it looks like you'll be saving a lot with the DP.

Either way, what are you planning on using the Gift Card for?
The only way I see this deal being worth it is if I don't get the Dining Plan and spend the Gift Card on food. Otherwise I'd end up spending money on items that I don't usually spend money on, which really kind of takes away the savings. I think that's why Disney likes this promotion (they offered something similar last year), with a Gift Card you're still actually spending the money. It just feels like savings, because they're giving it back to you to spend on something else. Free Dining is a similar concept.

 

[Shmily1]

I would drop the preferred too. At some of the resort and in some instances, it is worth it but for the most part, the walk isn't bad so you're not spending that much time or energy walking. Do look over the park map and know approximately where you want to be. When you call WDW to make your reservation, ask them if they can put in your request then (they ALWAYS do it when I ask), and you don't have to call back to do it or fax anything in.

Unless you are planning on park hopping, I wouldn't get that option. We only use the PH option if we are staying right at one of the parks, like when we stay at BC so we can run over to EPCOT whenever we want to and have a snack there. YUM! If you're not within walking distance or quick hop the monorail distance, you will spend most of your time getting between the parks. The best bet is to try to plan as many of your meals as you can in the park you will be in that day. With over 100 stays, we've only done PH a couple of times.

I always book our reservations myself so I know I have what I want and if it turns out differently, I only have myself to blame. The price is not different either way, but if you book with a TA, then you don't "own" the reservation and if you call WDW, they can't tell you anything about it. I've never not gotten what I expected when I've booked it myself.

Have a great time!!!

 

[Priorityonecb]

I would drop preferred. We've done both, and didn't miss a thing when we didn't have it. It's not a huge resort, and the food court is centrally located and lots of pools scattered around.

 

[kwhite1022]

I see alot recommending droping the Park hoppers, for me, that would be a deal breaker. I suppose it depends on the ages of the people going. For us, we had younger kids (3 and 6) and we went to one park first thing in the morning, then left there about 2, let the kids nap (we did too!) and then were back out by 4, headed to another park, where we planned to do dinner and the fireworks for that particular park.....we avoided EMH, too many people! Also we found, some of the parks didnt have as many rides our kids wanted to do, so if we would have had to spend a whole day there, it just wouldnt have worked. I will say, we went in Feb, so swimming wasnt an option, so if we could have headed back and let the kids swim, that may have been a nice option....but still for me, I dont want to feel "trapped" in one park, if I dont have to be.

 

[Lisha1979]

Thanks so much for the help everyone!!

We may need to leave the park for a nap but might want to go back for the night activities.
If I don't get the park hopper and we leave the park, can we re-enter the same park later in the afternoon? We have a 4 year old and honestly I think we'd be better off with out the hopper. Plus with being there 7 full days we'll have enough time to visit some parks twice if needed. If we go to a park and don't like it we can always head to a water park or hang out at the pool for the remainder of the day. I decided against the waterpark hopper b/c I think one visit to a water park is a maybe and it might be better money wise on us not to buy the pkg.
Since it seems like everyone says to drop the prefered room I believe I'll do that. I'm not sure what made me add it but I thought it would be a good idea =) Guess it's not the best and I can save $100 dropping it. =)

Again, thanks so much for the suggestions everyone! I really appreciate it!! =)

 

[Lisha1979]

I forgot to mention that I was planning on using the GC to pay for Water Park tickets and any extra food/ souvinears or other items we may want to do while at Disney.

 

[Lisha1979]

Book 5 nights using GC and then 1 night room only with the 30% off. You should save another $40 or so. Get park hoppers for the entire stay on the 5-night package.

If I did this would we have to move rooms? Or could I request the same room?

 

[Shmily1]

If you did the split stay, you will probably have to move rooms. There's no guarantee they can keep you in the same one.

Without the park hopper, you can re-enter the same park on the same day, but you can't enter say the MK in the morning and EPCOT in the evening.

The water parks at WDW are like no other. They are awesome! If you get a chance to do them, you will love it!

I looked up the difference of tickets with and without a WP&M option. It is $52 to add this option to your 7 day tickets. It is $45 for one visit to a WP. For the extra $7, I would add this option on in case you want to hit one of these one day and one another, or even go to Disney Quest (which is fun if you have any video game history at all, especially DHs and kids). You can also add this option on after you get there so don't stress on that part too much right now.

The preferred room just means it is closer to the main building. The room is no more special. It's just a shorter walk to the bus and food court.

 

[Lisha1979]

Thanks so much Schmily1!

Can I add the WP&M when I get to the Resort using the giftcard? I had no clue the Water Parks were so much! So getting the package would be a much better deal =)

 

[Shmily1]

It says for play and dine so I would definitely think so. The water parks are so much fun!! We plan days around those when we have time so that we do the water park in the morning then go to the room to rest, shower, and change and off do dinner at DTD or a resort that evening. By the time we get to dinner, we're so hungry from all the fun at the waterparks!! Also, when you order the package, you will get some freebies that could be a lot of fun, like miniature golf and renting a little boat. Those are good for some quick fun, but not like the parks and water parks.

I hope you have a blast!!

 

[laurafergie]

I would consider dropping the dining plan down to counter service. There are some awesome places that only charge a CS and you get a ton of food. (Cosmic Rays, Pepper Market to name a few.Lot of discussion about this on the restaurant board)

We had the regular DP when we last went and we could NOT eat all the food (had 8 CS left and 12 snacks!!!) and said the next time we would definitely downgrade to CS. Especially since you have the $300 GC to supplement. Maybe to do a character meal.

Also agree that you do not need preferred and the park hoppers if you are staying at the Pop.

 

[clutter]

I would go through the menus at allears.net or here to see if you really want the dining plan. If you're only going to do a couple character meals, you may want CS. I have a friend going with two 9 year olds, and she opted for no meal plan. Her kids won't like much on the CS kids menus, and she can buy 2 adult meals for them all to share. They may or may not do a sit down meal. So you may find a better option to be the CS plan with a couple TS out of pocket, or even no plan at all. My dd and I go frequently, and eating TS is part of what we do. But having to take a break for a sit down meal daily may not be best for first timers who want to fit it all in.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Hi ~ another vote for a NO on the preffered room @ Pop! I requested a lake view room and that's what we got ~ our building was lavendar. It was nice and quiet. You don't need hoppers ~ we didn't hop at all for our visit last Oct. we did take mid day breaks most day but just went back to the same park in the evening. We had free dining *yay* and it was a lot of food. The counter service plan would be plenty I'm sure and if you want to do a character meal or 2 you could budget for those by pre purchasing Disney Gift Cards - *they ship for free *I'm pretty sure the WDW site ones don't ship for free.... ~ the Disneyland cards work fine at WDW - https://tickets.disney.go.com/buy/T...wtbjyX1JNqm2RYqU41yNIgAIeIiRK2oKPx3IWWxP2YrM= and there's a whole lot here - http://www.disneystore.com/gift-cards/c/305800/

 

[danceintherain]

I forgot to mention that I was planning on using the GC to pay for Water Park tickets and any extra food/ souvinears or other items we may want to do while at Disney.

Sounds good. We don't usually buy many souvenirs at Disney.

 

[Lisha1979]

Thanks so much everyone!!! =)
What I'm looking at now is,
7d/6n
POP Standard Room
7 Park Tickets (No PH)
QSD Pkg (With 2CS and 2 Snacks)

Then with the Gift Card I'll add on the water park (If possible) and maybe pay for a Character meal or a TS meal at some point.

Again, I really appreciate everyone's advice!! This board is the best!! :

 

[ceecee]

I would drop preferred. We've done both, and didn't miss a thing when we didn't have it. It's not a huge resort, and the food court is centrally located and lots of pools scattered around.

To me, it's huge! We stayed once and didn't get a preferred. ASMo we never did and so I fiqured we didn't need it. We were a good 10-15 minute walk from the bus stop and food court. We have stayed at POP 5 times and the last four were perferred. I agree it can get loud, we had a pool view and there were a couple drinking with 2 toddlers swimming and screaming in the baby pool until 1:30 when I finally called the front desk. We decided it was just too many little kids since we were going in June so we started staying at the moderates, which I have found much quieter! We like the main pool best and so we like being close to that one and the food court at Pop.