$$ Savings - What would you do?

[AspenLL]

We are going with DH's family at the end of August. We all decided to stay at the Beach Club as some of the family has only a select few resorts they will only stay at. This is a tough trip money wise for us as it is, but we are able to do it because his entire family is going. DH just found out that there may be a free dining plan promo going on when we are going. If we switched to a moderate and did the dining plan, we would be saving about $700 - $800. We are going back and forth about potentially switching to this deal if it does happen in the timeframe we are going. He is going to mention it to his family, but I know that his sisters will poo-poo it because it's a "moderate". I told DH that I am fine doing this since we'll be seeing his family at the parks and for some dinners anyway considering we won't be in the rooms all the time as it is.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

 

[Disneylover99]

If it means free dining, I would definitely make the switch.

 

[englishteacha]

$700-800 is a huge savings. I would totally switch.
Of course, I'm staying at Pop because it was almost $1000 cheaper than the cheapest moderate during our stay in August, and came with the "free" summer dining plan.

 

[kandb]

We are going with DH's family at the end of August. We all decided to stay at the Beach Club as some of the family has only a select few resorts they will only stay at. This is a tough trip money wise for us as it is, but we are able to do it because his entire family is going. DH just found out that there may be a free dining plan promo going on when we are going. If we switched to a moderate and did the dining plan, we would be saving about $700 - $800. We are going back and forth about potentially switching to this deal if it does happen in the timeframe we are going. He is going to mention it to his family, but I know that his sisters will poo-poo it because it's a "moderate". I told DH that I am fine doing this since we'll be seeing his family at the parks and for some dinners anyway considering we won't be in the rooms all the time as it is.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

I sent you a PM, hope I did it right.

 

[Chelley00]

If his sisters poo poo it, suggest they pay the difference between deluxe and moderate.

 

[tjmw2727]

We have traveled with family a few times and only once did we all stay at the same resort. We would make rough plans and start at the same park or maybe breakfast and then split up depending on ages of the kids and preferences. We did a few dinners together and or met for evening parades or fireworks after a break for naps and swimming. WDW makes it easy to meet up and separate so IMHO I wouldn't hesitate to stay at the resort that suits your family and budget. I would be honest about your choices and desire to spend time with family but also spend your vacation dollars on a resort that fits your family needs when talking with family and hopefully they will understand that one resort doesn't fit all!

 

[tcherjen]

I would save the money. You can do a lot with the extra money. I like moderates and usually opt for POR. We are staying at AKL this trip, because dd is in the DCP program and got me a good rate. Otherwise it would be POR or FWC.

 

[5stljayhawks]

Few thoughts, Not sure if you see the DH in your home town, but if you do I would say we are staying at other resort. If you have a car to get back and forth it will easier.

Or another thought is renting a house(s) offsite, this may even save everybody money and provide some room to spread out.

 

[Aliceacc]

We did a family reunion in 2014 with my brother in law and sister in law and both their families.

They both love Caribbean Beach. But it doesn't accommodate a family of 5, so we stayed at the Yacht Club.

It was a total non issue. We had dinner together every night, coordinated our fastpasses, and had a meeting place each morning. With the use of cell phones, anyone running late could find a Plan B for meeting up with the others. Disney transportation makes different resorts easy.

Stay where you want to stay.

 

[hsmamato2]

Stay where you can afford and enjoy it. meet up regularly. Have Fun.

 

[brinkley07]

It may be nice to have some down time from your family, and lessen your cost. Just remember if you're planning on pool time that you may not be able to get into their pool. I'm sure if you have an honest talk with the family they will understand.

 

[DisneyOma]

OP, you need to balance having to pay full price for your room and getting free dining compared to whatever special they have for deluxe at the end of the summer. They usually have really good deals at that time, don't they?

 

[Minniemoo15]

I agree - stay where you want to stay. You will have a much more enjoyable trip if you aren't stressed about money. I personally love Caribbean Beach. Pop was also great, smaller rooms but very clean and a fun atmosphere.

 

[mzsarah10]

We love POR; if it is part of the promo i highly recommend. My friends also just stayed at Caribbean Beach. $700-800 is a large amount of money to me. That's a good chunk of another trip.

 

[robinb]

We are going with DH's family at the end of August. We all decided to stay at the Beach Club as some of the family has only a select few resorts they will only stay at. This is a tough trip money wise for us as it is, but we are able to do it because his entire family is going. DH just found out that there may be a free dining plan promo going on when we are going. If we switched to a moderate and did the dining plan, we would be saving about $700 - $800. We are going back and forth about potentially switching to this deal if it does happen in the timeframe we are going. He is going to mention it to his family, but I know that his sisters will poo-poo it because it's a "moderate". I told DH that I am fine doing this since we'll be seeing his family at the parks and for some dinners anyway considering we won't be in the rooms all the time as it is.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

I have been to WDW for family get-togethers both in the same resort and in different resorts. I have to say that different resorts is so much harder. I think you need to look at exactly why you are taking this trip: to be with your DH's family or to simply "meet up" with them. I'm all for saving money, but if being with your DH's family is the main goal here you can't do it by being miles away at a different resort. It really is NOT the same.

 

[Chelley00]

We've gone with family three times. My brother stays at Pop. We've either stayed deluxe the same time or offsite. It works great for us as we have lots of time together at the parks, at meals etc but we also have our own separate time with our kids in the evenings at the pool or in the room.

They are also rope droppers. We necessarily aren't every day. We decide on a park and then meet up when we all get there. My teens appreciate being able to sleep in and stay up late.....my brother has younger kids and they are up early/in bed early.

 

[epsmith921]

I would say do what works for you. We personally stay in the same house with my parents, siblings, and their families every other year, and even then we all do our own thing all the time. We don't even tell the others where we're going half the time. We also all live minimum 6 hours drive apart.


If the savings is significant enough to make things better/easier on you, I say go for it. I personally would like the additional privacy from being in a different resort. If there's a room discount at the deluxes, maybe even check out boardwalk since it's a very reasonable deluxe. Depending on your car needs, the Swan and dolphin might be options as well and their pricing is usually quite good. Then at least you're in the same resort area but can maybe make something work better for your budget.

I also know how this feels when the trip is more of a hardship to you than the others. We have to get 15 hours drive to this every other year vacation spot with my family and the longest drive anyone else has is the 6 hours I previously mentioned. I have also told my parents that if I ever can't or don't want to pay to go on this trip, even if the reason is we're spending the money on something like Disney (!) then we just won't do it.

 

[pigletgirl]

If it's too much of a burden financially to stay at the beach club, either switch to the moderate resort OR rent DVC points. Don't spend every dime you have staying deluxe just because a family member wants you too.

 

[quagmire0]

Stay where you can afford and enjoy it. meet up regularly. Have Fun.

This is my thought. Is there a desperate need for you to all be together at all hours? If we were to ever plan a trip with relatives or the grandparents, you can bet that we'd be staying offsite, no matter where the others wanted to stay. It's much less expensive and it works for us. You'll see them plenty at the parks and can still easily meet up for meals.

 

[craigkerstiens]

We've often been on the other side of it, and personally do prefer Beach club or Boardwalk. We're also very fortunate that while we don't look at it costing nothing we can very much manage that. Others in our family aren't in quite as flexible of a position, and for those times I've been happy to pick up more of the share of the more expensive resorts. If you're concerned about the expense at least mention it to them. There's a chance they're doing well enough and if they really want everyone together it's no problem for them. And even if you do drop down to the moderate with the meal plan there will still be plenty of opportunities to get everyone together.