Need to sort accommodatiom, advice please!

[Claire Bear]

Hello again! (Sorry I have been posting rather a lot recently). Seen as we have all this snow in Leeds today my priority is going to be sorting out accommodation.
We paid £100 deposit for 9 nights at Yacht Club back when the free DDP and $200 gift card deal was available 21st-30th August. The plan was to do 5 nights prior at somewhere on International Drive (14 nights in total).
We booked our flights last week and we are flying direct from man to mco with Virgin but are new dates are 16th-29th August, so we now have 13 nights and I need to try and change my Disney booking. Do you know if Disney will let me amend my dates (I don't mind paying a fee) or will I have to cancel that and book again on the current deal? We also can't decide whether to do 4 nights International Drive instead of the 5 planned then still have 9 at Disney or whether to stay with 5 nights at International Drive and 8 at Disney?
Any advice would be appreciated.
I also have questions about where to stay on International Drive, we have been looking at Springhill Suites SeaWorld or Doubletree Hilton at Seaworld. Does anyone have any recommendations?
The best prices I have found are:
Springhill Suites- 4 nights = £235.44 with lastminute.com
5 nights = £294.30 " "
Doubletree Hilton- 4 nights = £190 with Travel Republic (Tower Rm £272)
5 nights = £236 " " (Tower Rm £340)

Do these prices seem reasonable?

Sorry for all the questions! Thank you in advance

 

[match]

I can give a vote for the Springfield at seaworld. .we stayed at the Fairfield next door which was a bit cheaper ( 2 doubles, microwave and fridge ), but they share the pool and with free wifi and free breakfast we loved it. Could walk to discovery cove and aquatica if needed ,but shuttle good to these and seaworld . We paid through a package so not sure about rates.

 

[Claire Bear]

Thank you. I've read that many reviews I'm driving myself bonkers!

 

[Disneynutinlondon]

Just a thought, if Disney want to charge you to change your booking and you lose your dining and $200 gift card, then maybe you should just keep the Disney booking as is to leave on the 30th. Just because you have the room booked till then doesn't mean you have to stay there on the night of the 29th. You may lose more than you gain by changing. Just a thought

 

[Claire Bear]

ooh good point. I guess I could use the extra ddp credits too.

 

[Disneynutinlondon]

ooh good point. I guess I could use the extra ddp credits too.

Yes defo .... Mmmmmm extra funnel cakes .... yum yum

 

[Claire Bear]

I keep getting carried away and end up researching into other things for hours on end. Just been searching about ADR's and think I can start making those end of February Haven't looked at snacks yet but I guess I need to try a funnel cake then!

 

[MichelinMan]

Are you planning on going to Universal? If so, I would suggest staying onsite at one of their hotels to get the front of line passes.

If you are looking more towards Seaworld, I am going to be staying at the Renaissance SeaWorld, literally right across the street from SeaWorld. Never stayed there before, but it gets great reviews, and has a good waterpark area for the kids. I got it free with my BA miles, but there were some good deals for it available with Complete Orlando a while back.

 

[Claire Bear]

Thanks for your reply. We wanted to keep the cost down on that part of the holiday because Yacht Club is costing so much. We want to do SeaWorld and WWOHP and eat a a few places on I drive. I have looked at Renaissance SeaWorld but it seems to be more expensive than the other 2 mentioned above. Do you do a split stay? And if so how do you split your time. Do you think 4 nights then 9 at Disney would work or 5 then 8?

 

[scoobydooby]

I would personally do four and nine. But then I much prefer Disney. Have stayed at the beach club next door to Yacht Club and you WILL want a day at the pool there so you could use the extra day for that. Sea World is a one day park and IOA is a one day park too, IMHO. MK and Epcot need two days to see it all properly and I think DHS needs two days to fit all the shows in easily. AK is a one day park unless you love it. That still leaves you a day for a water park and a pool day and a shopping day when off site

 

[Claire Bear]

Thank you, I like that answer! Plus from what I have just been searching, to move my 9 nights forward a day seems to be slightly more expensive and I read somewhere that Disney don't tend to charge an amendment fee if the cost is higher.
Can't wait to swim in storm along bay!

 

[BethEJo]

I read somewhere that Disney don't tend to charge an amendment fee if the cost is higher.

You're right - if you increase the cost of your reservation, the fee is waived I believe
We upgraded resorts in our reservation and were not charged any amendment fee. I think you only get charged, if the cost of your booking decreases.

 

[Claire Bear]

Thank you. It's good to hear from someone who has actually amended a booking. I haven't phoned yet because before today we were still considering down grading to a moderate resort for the full time but I think we both like the idea of a split stay and I have always wanted to stay at yacht or beach club.

 

[Claire Bear]

Quidco says 17% of hotels from lastminute.com but then in addition says something about top secret hotels. I'm not that clued up on quidco just wondered if anyone had used this offer or if anyone can tell if it includes normal hotel bookings as well?
Could be a big discount and sway my Seaworld hotel decision. Thanks x

 

[wayneg]

Only bought flights thru Quidco & LM.com but you should get the 17% on all hotel bookings.

Had a very quick look and found Hilton cheaper on Quickrooms via
16th-21st Aug £208.02 less 3% Quidco
They also have the Hilton Garden Inn @ Seaworld for £232.49 less 3%
(although site is down just now)

Loads of options around that price range

 

[Claire Bear]

Aww thanks Wayne, I've not heard of Quickrooms before. I'm going to make sure we book today. Going to ring Disney and try bring our 9 nights forward a day and stay on international drive for 4 nights 16th-20th August. I liked the look of the other Hilton but it was more expensive but that's a good price so I'll check it out. Thank you

 

[Claire Bear]

Just phoned Disney, the music while I was on hold made me feel excited! Changed my booking 20th -29th August, it cost £27 because the 20th is a higher rate than 30th but didn't have to pay the amendment fee because it was more as mentioned in previous replies. Woohoo! 205 days till Disney!

 

[BethEJo]

Just phoned Disney, the music while I was on hold made me feel excited! Changed my booking 20th -29th August, it cost £27 because the 20th is a higher rate than 30th but didn't have to pay the amendment fee because it was more as mentioned in previous replies. Woohoo! 205 days till Disney!

Glad to hear you got that sorted out I rang yesterday to pay some of my balance off and I also loved the music! Pretty much one of the only times that I don't mind being on hold!!

 

[Claire Bear]

I said the same thing to the lady, she told me to ring any time to listen! Ha!

 

[MrRomance]

Hello again! (Sorry I have been posting rather a lot recently). Seen as we have all this snow in Leeds today my priority is going to be sorting out accommodation.
We paid £100 deposit for 9 nights at Yacht Club back when the free DDP and $200 gift card deal was available 21st-30th August. The plan was to do 5 nights prior at somewhere on International Drive (14 nights in total).
We booked our flights last week and we are flying direct from man to mco with Virgin but are new dates are 16th-29th August, so we now have 13 nights and I need to try and change my Disney booking. Do you know if Disney will let me amend my dates (I don't mind paying a fee) or will I have to cancel that and book again on the current deal? We also can't decide whether to do 4 nights International Drive instead of the 5 planned then still have 9 at Disney or whether to stay with 5 nights at International Drive and 8 at Disney?
Any advice would be appreciated.
I also have questions about where to stay on International Drive, we have been looking at Springhill Suites SeaWorld or Doubletree Hilton at Seaworld. Does anyone have any recommendations?
The best prices I have found are:
Springhill Suites- 4 nights = £235.44 with lastminute.com
5 nights = £294.30 " "
Doubletree Hilton- 4 nights = £190 with Travel Republic (Tower Rm £272)
5 nights = £236 " " (Tower Rm £340)

Do these prices seem reasonable?

Sorry for all the questions! Thank you in advance

We booked our Oct '13 trip back in June last year and had to add flights later. We couldn't get the dates we had booked with Disney at a decent price so we shifted our dates by 3 days and got a better deal. Disney will let you shift your dates for free. They changed ours no problem and we kept the $200 gift card and Free Dining. I was told that as long as you are only shifting dates and there is no price difference it's not a problem. Where you will run into a problem is if you reduce the days at Disney. You will probably lose the original deal if you do that. My suggestion would be to stick with the 9 days at Disney or you could risk losing out.