Room Block- which 3 did you choose?

[SRUAlmn]

We are trying to set up our room block and we're having a hard time making a choice as to which 3 resorts to choose. We think we'll do the Poly for our Deluxe because we'll be using the WP and the Napa room for our events. However, we don't know much about the Grand Floridian and would love to hear opinions. We also wanted Pop Century for our Value, but we're not allowed so we don't know which All Stars to choose. Help!! What did you choose??

 

[JDMasso]

We choose the GF, Coronado Springs and the All Star Music. (We r staying at the Contemporary and the Animal Kingdom Lodge). I LOVE THE GF. I figured not too many guests would book the GF, (since it's the most expensive), but I've had to rearrange my room nights twice, since I've run out of room nights. A lot of guests have booked the All Star Music, but only one guest as booked Coronado Springs so far.

I would have loved to reserve the All Star Movie for my guests, but BEWARE, the All Star Movie is always booked up and the last thing I wanted was to get my guests hopes up, and then have them moved to another All Star because All Star Movie is overbooked.

 

[KT27]

We chose Beach Club (our reception was at Ariel's; I rented points & we stayed at Beach Club Villas)
Port Orleans Riverside
All Star Movies (we had a few that booked late & they got All Stars Music after the room block was not available anymore, they did however get the discount)

 

[princessbride6205]

We didn't think we'd have any guests staying Value, so our resorts were Boardwalk, Yacht Club, and POFQ.

I've stayed at ASMo 2x now. The first time was a good visit (Feb 2005) but this past trip (July 2006) made me think I didn't want to stay there again - so noisy and crowded with an insane amount of tour groups. I really like the theming of ASMusic. I've never been to ASSports.

 

[Laurafoster]

We just chose the Caribbean beach and the Yacht Club - our wedding is at the YachtClub , Reception at the Boardwalk and DP at Epcot!

 

[ead79]

Originally we chose the Grand Floridian, Port Orleans French Quarter, and All Star Movies. Then Disney decided to rehab POFQ (this was back in 2003), so we switched to Caribbean Beach for our moderate.

Basically I made the decision based on location of the resorts and the discounted rates. The deluxe resorts with convention facilities tend to have better wedding discounts than those without (i.e. the GF and YC had a larger discount than the Poly or AKL). I really wanted POFQ instead of Caribbean Beach, but due to the rehab we switched.

We were surprised that our guest were really split pretty evenly between the 3 resorts, with slightly more guests staying at the moderate. To try to make the room block as accurate as possible, we went through the guest list and guessed where everyone would stay. This really worked pretty well for estimation purposes. Plus, you can typically adjust your room block later if you see that one of the resorts you choose is more popular with your guests than the others.

Also, it's a bummer that you can't choose Pop Century for your value. I wonder if Disney will change this in the future or not.

 

[wendy46001]

We actually didnt think anyone would choose the value either
So we went GF, Boardwalk and Carb Beach
75% did the Carb Beach, and the others where split between GF/BW... worked out really well

 

[twojo21]

we blocked allstar movies for our guests (we paid for their rooms) & the yacht club for us.

i think a good choice is one value, one moderate & one deluxe so theres something for everyones budget & taste.

 

[hmgolden]

We picked the Boardwalk, CBR, and the All Star Movies. We actually expected most of our guests would stay at the value resorts and we were shocked when 90% of them stayed at the Boardwalk. I would select a resort from each category, unless you have done a survey of your guests. As others have said, you can always adjust the room blocks (assuming there are rooms available) as your guests start booking rooms if there is more of a trend towards one resort rather than others.

 

[Codie]

Yacht Club
Coronado
All Star Music

but the majority of our guests rented DVC rooms from a DVC friend of mine and stayed at Boardwalk or Beachclub villas...and then a bunch found cheap government rates at the Swan and stayed there!

 

[mindystar]

I made up fact sheets about all of the resorts and categorized them. We made packets and Kammie (bride) gave them out to everyone who was planning on coming. Then I think it was last Labor Day asked them which ones they would be most interested in staying in. She was then going to go by majority and choose those three resorts. However, the rest of our extended family and all of Eric's (groom) side didn't really know what would be best. They thought since we'd been down there many times before we'd know the best, and just told Kammie what price range they were looking at. So since all but one reservation by guests were in the Value--she chose ASMu and Coronado for the Moderate. Then she and Eric and my family worked with the SM to get us in GF and CR for our time down there.
HTH (and made sense )

 

[SRUAlmn]

Thanks everyone!! I've heard so many things back and forth about the All Stars that it's hard to decide. I was thinking maybe we should do Music since it has the option for the suites? It's Music, right? As for the moderate, we really like POFQ so I think we'll choose that. Now here is the dilemma for the Deluxe. My mom LOVES LOVES LOVES the Poly. She has already said she wants to stay there. I like it, but we've stayed there once before and I might like to try the GF or the Contemporary (we would actually love the Boardwalk or Y&B Club the most if we could switch to that after the wedding.) My fiance and I are going to stay for 5 nights after the wedding for a little mini honeymoon (long story) in which we can use parts of our room block and still get the discount. However, if we choose the Poly as our 'deluxe' resort, then we are stuck with the Poly for the 5 nights after (not that the Poly is bad or anything!) Any ideas?

ETA: Does that make any sense? Let me know if you need me to clarify

 

[ljhayes]

We actually chose 4...

Grand Floridian
Wilderness Lodge
Port Orleans Riverside
Pop Century

We chose GF over Poly simply because of the better discount at GF making it cheaper. Also, I know some people haven't been able to use Pop, but we didn't have any problems adding it to our block. Good luck with your decisions!

 

[SRUAlmn]

We actually chose 4...

Grand Floridian
Wilderness Lodge
Port Orleans Riverside
Pop Century

We chose GF over Poly simply because of the better discount at GF making it cheaper. Also, I know some people haven't been able to use Pop, but we didn't have any problems adding it to our block. Good luck with your decisions!

Thanks! That's a good idea to use 4. I didn't know we could do that. I'm going to check again about Pop because it's our total favorite and if you've been able to use it then I know it can't be an across the board rule that you can't use Pop. Thanks!!

 

[ItGirl753]

SRU -
Not sure what you meant...many brides stay at two resorts during their stay. You wouldn't be "stuck" at the Poly the whole time. You could certainly switch to another one...

 

[SRUAlmn]

SRU -
Not sure what you meant...many brides stay at two resorts during their stay. You wouldn't be "stuck" at the Poly the whole time. You could certainly switch to another one...

I know we can, but can we still get the discount? The email I got sounded like we had to pick 3 and those would be the ONLY ones anyone could get the discount at.

 

[pixie08]

Only thing about the suites at Asmusic is I don't believe it is part of the wedding discount...only standard rooms but you can double check. Pop century is not considered part of the convention list for some reason we have also been told no.

We are also choosing four:

All Stars Movies
Port Orleans Riverside
Wilderness Lodge
Boardwalk

We are staying at the Boardwalk the week before the wedding and then switching to the gf for a couple of days. Most of our guests have chosen AsMo or Wilderness lodge and a few at POR I think only one couple chose Boardwalk, probably because we are offering wilderness also.

 

[SRUAlmn]

Basically I made the decision based on location of the resorts and the discounted rates. The deluxe resorts with convention facilities tend to have better wedding discounts than those without (i.e. the GF and YC had a larger discount than the Poly or AKL).

Which other deluxe hotels have convention facilities that would cause a better discount? Thanks!!!

 

[pixie08]

Which other deluxe hotels have convention facilities that would cause a better discount? Thanks!!!

For example the Poly is usually comparable in price rack rate to the GF but with the wedding rate the gf is cheaper. In my case the wilderness is usually much less than the Boardwalk but because the Boardwalk is a convention hotel it is only $25 more a night than the wilderness!

So to answer your question the best wedding rates are for the Gf, Beach/Yacht and Boardwalk. Also FYI the wedding rate at the AKL is no longer on a standard room only savannah so it is close to the same price as the GF!

 

[ItGirl753]

For example the Poly is usually comparable in price rack rate to the GF but with the wedding rate the gf is cheaper. In my case the wilderness is usually much less than the Boardwalk but because the Boardwalk is a convention hotel it is only $25 more a night than the wilderness!

So to answer your question the best wedding rates are for the Gf, Beach/Yacht and Boardwalk. Also FYI the wedding rate at the AKL is no longer on a standard room only savannah so it is close to the same price as the GF!

Thanks for the info. I am trying to absorb all of it so I'll remember things (or remember to check on things) when our time comes!

I know we can, but can we still get the discount? The email I got sounded like we had to pick 3 and those would be the ONLY ones anyone could get the discount at.

And, do guests get discounts ONLY at the hotels in the room blocks?