No August free dining... Unuversal here we come

[BUTTERHEAD1]

I waited and hoped that WDW would offer free dining in August ,that didn't happen. I then hoped and waited for a pin code, that didn't happen. I gave up and priced 3 nights at Royal Pacific and asked the family if they would be ok with heading back to US/IOA instead of Disney and surprisingly I got the ok. So we will be heading to Universal from 8/25-8/28. We will probably go to Seaworld for 1 day after Universal and then head down to visit family in Sarasota. Hopefully next year the free dining dates will work for us.

 

[reelmom]

I think this is becoming pretty common. We feel the same way. The way that Disney keeps raising prices while cutting services makes Universal a better deal. When you add in unlimited express pass, close proximity to the parks, and all the new attractions, Universal wins out in our family( and I am a diehard Disney fan). You are going to have an awesome time.

 

[kwhdmd]

No free dining/ no discounts for Oct.9-14 means our family is going to Universal for the first time. RPR for $1750 sounds better than $3600 ( with dining) at POFQ. Plan on doing MNSSHP one night

 

[puakinikini]

We are going to both next year, and the universal portion of the trip is a better value.

 

[RMulieri]

The last 2 yrs my Universal trips have been between $1000-almost $2000 LESS than Disney...I am not sad to be doing Universal again..Disney has pretty much gotten to the point where it is too expensive.

 

[macraven]

for a very long time, i have stayed yearly at the motherland and darkside resorts on a split vacation stay.
can't imagine going to orlando and not doing both resorts and theme parks.

in 1993 i did the day trips to the darkside until the hotels went up there in '99.



with the increase of the motherland hotels (and other items), i have increased my nights at the darkside.

have gone from 12 nights at the motherland and 5 at the darkside over past vacations.
when the prices started to rise at wdw, i switched my stays around.
think it has been the last 7, going on 8, stays i changed my pattern.

this upcoming trip it will be 7 days motherland and 11 darkside stays.

booked a value at wdw.
$135 for a value on the weekend.......
less for during the week though but i don't see the value there.

same time period the darkside room would be $145 with the AP rate.

i rush at the motherland and relax at the darkside for my stays.

without a room pin, disney is not a value for me.
i do better with universal.

the UO ap gives me more discounts throughout the darkside.

 

[rowan555]

This is very interesting to me. We went to Disney 7 years ago and bought 10 day park hoppers with 6 plus passes. At the end of our trip we'd only used 4 park days and 1 plus pass, so I paid about $700 to convert them to non-expiring. I was certain we'd be back within a few years.

7 years later, we're finally returning to Orlando - well, 2 of the 4 of us. And my daughter has NO interest in anything Disney except for hitting Downtown Disney to shop and do a little pin trading (I know it's very limited there). I was disappointed because, well, FREE TICKETS!

Then I priced Sea World/Aquatica with a vacation package they have going on now. It's actually about the same price for us to spend 5 days at a Sea World hotel (with free breakfast) and as much time as we want at the parks (with 2 full days of free dining) than to simply pay for a value Disney resort and use the tickets we already paid for. Now I know Sea World/Aquatica aren't on the level of Disney - but after looking online at the attractions, my daughter said she would much rather do that than Disney. So what a win/win situation for me!

I assume we'll use those 6 days at Disney and 5 water park/Disney Quest days at some point, lol. Maybe when we take our grandkids in 15 or so years! Til then, neither my kids nor my husband have any interest whatsoever in returning.