Please help with Hotel advice !!

[hockeyfan]

It's our first time at WDW and I am trying to decide on a Hotel. There will be 6 of us (my self, DH,DS and DSGF, DD and DDBF). The teenagers(18 and older) want to stay by DTD. Since my DH and I are paying for all of us I am trying to watch the budget. We like the 2 bedroom villa at OKW but at 625.00 anight for 9 nights I am not to sure I want to spent over 5000.00 for just the hotel. Has anyone stay at the DoubleTree suite in DTD or any another Hotel in DTD. We would have to get two suites at doubletree but the cost is only 169.00 per suite. I am hoping by getting a kitchette or kitchen we could save on snacks and some breakfast/lunch. Any info you could give would be helpful. We would be going October of 2005. Also, can you get the ultimate hopper,ENights and extra early hour if you stay at DTD Hotels. I think a suite would be better than just 2 rooms because teenager just seem to need so much space. I have over a year to save for this trip but it seem to be so expensive when you times anything by 6 I know we will have a great time and so looking forward to going. Thanks please give me your opinions

 

[outahere]

I don't believe you can get Ultimate Park Hopper passes when staying at a DTD hotel.

If you're looking for space, have you considered a condo? We have stayed at 3 of the Marriott timeshare resorts in Orlando and they were all very nice (Grande Vista, Royal Palms and Cypress Harbour). The Grande Vista Resort has one, two and three bedroom units, and is about a 15 minute drive to WDW. You get a full kitchen, washer and dryer, etc. You can check them out in the Marriott Vacation Club section at www.marriott.com

 

[jordanyosh]

Hey fellow Hockey fan and Californian,

I would think about renting points from a Disney Vacation Club Owner. There is a rent/trade board here. It would be much more inexpensive to stay at OKW or any other DVC resort as you rent by timeshare point rather than night....

Go to the rent/trade board for more info. It's kinda like ebay....

 

[puffkin]

I would also suggest renting points for Old Key West. Another option would be Port Orleans Riverside or French Quarter and get two adjoining rooms. This will also give you two bathrooms and be a quick boat ride from Downtown Disney.

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

Definitely, go to the rent/trade board and rent points for your stay. OKW runs from 22-30 points per night for a two bedroom villa depending on the season you want to go. At $10 a point, that's only $220-$300 per night.

or

Rent points for SSR (right across from DTD) for 27-36 points per night for a two bedroom. At $270-360 a night that's not bad split between two families.

 

[crazelion]

How about get couple rooms at a value resort and get 2 rooms. Or another option is rent a condo offsite for cheap. They have plenty condos for a good price. Check out Orlando and Attractions board on this site they glad to help out. That way you can decide if onsite or offsite is best for family.

 

[tar heel]

That hotel does not qualify for early entry. You can do e-night and I'm pretty sure you can get UMP. Also, if you decide to stay there, you can probably beat that price. There are often specials for it on mousesavers.com that are less than that or include something extra.

I don't know what kind of sleeping arrangements we're talking about -- would you need two or three regular rooms? You can often get three moderate on-site rooms for around $300.

At this point, just make absolutely sure that you book something that can be cancelled so you can take advantage of any specials that come up.

 

[diathoney]

I'll "fourth" the advice to try finding a rental from a DVC owner. You may need to stay at a DTD resort on the weekend night and then switch to the DIS hotel during the week when the rental points are cheaper.

I'd definitely recommend going with at least a value resort and several connecting rooms though. You just can't beat the Disney feel you get from a DIS resort. I've always been disappointed when we went with a non-Disney hotel. No matter how crabby the CM is they beat "regular" hotel employees any day!

There's the themeing of the Disney hotels also - you can't beat it and it really puts you in the magic mood. Three rooms at an All-Star value resort - $300/night. Getting that Disney feeling - priceless!

 

[hockeyfan]

thanks you all for your advice! I guess I will try renting points for the old key west 2bd villa. Now does anyone know how I go about doing this? And how soon do I rent the points if we are going in Sept. or Oct of 2005. Then I need to know how I go about getting the ultimate hopper since I am not going with a package deal. who do I call? As you can see I am new to this WDW planning.

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

hockeyfan,

First Welcome to the DIS

To rent from a DVC Member first go to the DVC Rent/Trade Board here on the DIS spend some time reading through the post then check out how many points you'll need for your stay...Then post a request for the points you need...most rent Sunday-Thursday night because of the higher points that are needed for Friday and Saturday Nights there is a DVC points calculator at the top of the board you can put your dates in and it will tell you how many points you will need to rent, for you stay. You need to start work on this as soon as your dates are firm, Please read all the warnings posted at the top of the pages on the Rent/Trade Board and rent from someone that has rented before and has a good track record.

If your stay at a DVC resort you will be able to purchase your park tickets there or you can check on Mousesavers.com for the best park tickets for your group. Just click on the link below it will take you to that web site: (There is even a section on renting DVC points)
MouseSavers.com Great deals on all things Disney!

 

[jordanyosh]

My cousin is a DVC owner and she says you cannot book a resort until 11 months out if it is your home resort and 7 months out if it another DVC resort. Since your trip isn't until September/October of next year, folks will not be able to book your trip at the very earliest Oct/Nov of this year. They may have the points to rent to you and may be able to get a deposit from you, but you would not have an actual confirmation (official DVC) until the owner of the points actually booked it for you and then sent you the confirmation letter.

The thing about renting points is there has to be trust involved on both sides. You really don't know if the person renting you the points is legit or not. So the best thing to do is try and do a little research on the person renting you the points. There are searches here that allow you to see how many posts a person has and you can actually see previous posts....do some homework before you commit any money and you should be ok...Again there is alot of info you can get from just watching the Rent/Trade Board for awhile...

Good luck and let us know if you have any more questions