Should i give up my luxury for once a year trips

[Summer-Caitlin]

I am with the luxury camp if you can afford it of course

I have just booked 3 weeks in WL Nov/Dec 2013. However we would normally stay moderate. Have stayed at CBR, POFQ, GF and OKW. We stayed 7 wonderful nights at concierge at The GF as part of our honeymoon and I adored that stay. I still think back to watching Wishes from our balcony, that castle view brought tears to my eyes! For me a big part of the WDW experience is the hotel and after staying offsite for only 4 days, we vowed we would never do that again. We also felt the magic disappear. It really depends on what your holiday entails. We won't go back to WDW without the dining plan so staying onsite is a must for us, also we don't have transport so being onsite makes it easier. I loved POFQ just as much as OKW to be honest but have always wanted to try WL and as this is our first trip with our son who will only be 2 and a half, the proximity of the deluxes won out for me.

I am not sure I could go value as although it looks great for kids I just think it might be too noisy, plus the lack of dining options don't appeal.

I don't think I would prefer to go to Disney every year either to be honest. I like the fact I go every few years as it makes the trip all the more special to me. The flights, accomodation and tickets are expensive so if we were to go every year we would have to stay offsite and it wouldn't be the type of vacation I would want as it would all be on a budget. I love Disney but the hotels to me are a big reason I go.

Just my opinion of course

 

[willeve]

I am a deluxe girl and would hate to arrive at my destination and feel disappointed. As a family, we happily stay at a Travelodge/Kyriad to visit Eurodisney for a couple of days, but for my biannual 'big' holiday I want luxury, amenites, location. This is as important to me as where we visit, so I am prepared to do 'big' hols every other year and a camping trip to France the other years.

 

[gemmybear83]

I'm in the luxury camp too BUT I don't think of any of the Disney hotels are particularly luxurious - none of them are 5* I have stayed in far nice hotels elsewhere for literally half the price per night.

I have stayed in all 3 categories and all suited our budget at the time, and would stay at any again. I love holidays as much as the next person but I am unwilling at this stage (married both work full time no children) to compromise on my lifestyle day to day. I am sure that will change in time though

At the end of the day I think it depends on your own individual budget

 

[Samaya]

This is the dilemma.
Since we've come back from Disney I've been busy trying to work out how we could go back to Disney sooner and more often. Currently we go every other year for 18 days and stay deluxe(I love my luxury), but we could manage to do a week in October staying budget (probably Pop) and then two weeks in August staying at a moderate, which would be great(in theory). My problem is I'm finding hard to let go of my deluxe resorts(SAB, walking to EPCOT,larger beds,balcony etc).

Your deluxe dilemma has certainly seen a lot of varied replies and has highlighted that we all have different values and pockets and yes there are lots of great off-site resorts and villas and at a much lower cost than onsite.

So here's another alternative to look into which has a bit of Disney deluxe each year but at a lower cost than one would expect.

This doesn't involve any UK Disney offers so there's no free dining but food off site is very reasonable and if you mix that with some on site dinning then that side of that holiday won't be that expensive and buying a few things at Walmart, Target or Publix for breakfast and snacks will make your money go further.

Hopefully you are not tied down to certain dates and are flexible when you can go.

So for easy of comparison I've look at 10-days in Oct 2013 checking in on the 6th and out on the 16th for a range of hotels on the UK Disney site.

Disney's All-Star Music Resort...................... £640.00
Disney's Pop Century Resort........................... £740.00
Disney's Port Orleans Resort - Riverside.. £1,190.00
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge ....................£2,680.00

Now for that bit of deluxe that you want but at a lower cost.

You could rent 96 points from a DVC member at $12 per point, the total cost would be $1,152 which is about £750, with those 96 points a DVC member should be able to secure a 10-day value studio at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Jambo House and that works out at a saving of over £1,900 on the room rate.

The value studios are slightly smaller than the standard studios at Jambo House and I believe approximately half of the value rooms have a Savanna View, other views could be either the pool, garden or parking lot.

So for about £750 you could have that little bit of Disney deluxe for 10-days, which is comparable to a Disney value hotel and because you would be staying on site there's no cost for parking at the theme parks, which can save $14 a day, so over 10-days a saving of $140.

You state you would like to go every year so is there a chance you could go twice but within 12-months of each other, that way you could buy an annual Theme Park only ticket at $611.31 (about £395) which would cover both visits and with that pass you can get a small 10% discount at some on site restaurants, but there's no water park visit's with this type of pass.

It's also free to park if you have the annual ticket which is also a saving if staying off site for the other days.

The DVC rental cost of $12 per point will possibly be the average next year, David's rental's charge $13 per point at the moment, but if your lucky you might get them as low as $10 per point.

The 10-day stay which requires 96 vacation points in an AKV Jambo House value studio are for stays including just one Friday and Saturday night taken in Jan, Sept, Oct, Nov 1st up to the 26th and 30th Nov up to Dec 23rd.

But these value rooms at AKV get booked up quickly so you would need to make a reservation about 10-11 months out.

In Jan 2013 there's only 6-straight nights available from the 15th, most of the other nights in Jan are fully booked.

Hope you can sort out your annual deluxe stay from everyones suggestions.

 

[eeyorefanuk]

Hi

Just wondering what it is that some don't like about valu resorts

 

[Pootle]

I saw a deal for Comfort Inn LBV a few days ago for our Nov trip, £26/nt I put it to Karen, it did not go down well, even with the latest refurb she won't go back. It was only 1 cockroach, and it was in my shoe not hers

I actually stayed there a few times in the early nineties and as a place just to sleep - if you could ignore the noise from I4 (and I could because it was cheap!) - it was okay.

 

[ChipnDaleRule]

Wow I've seen some great insight into other peoples views on deluxe/budget/mod.Heres my conclusion.Even the children enjoyed reading this one
I posted my picture of a view from the YC over to The Boardwalk and i remember how, when i saw it for the first time it brought tears to my eyes,ok the kids didn't get it and they thought it quite silly, but that reaction from me summed up Disney for me,its a magical feeling that you dream about when your at home just after having one of those days
We've done budget, and at the time,with little ones it suited us perfectly,but now their older, and we do spend quite a bit of time at the resort because we've done the parks, and we don't feel the need to spend all day there,so the resort is just as important to us as going on Space Mountain and meeting Chip n Dale after all.

Seeing everyones opinions in black and white has really helped and made me understand more whats important to a ChipnDaleRule holiday

 

[paulh]

I saw a deal for Comfort Inn LBV a few days ago for our Nov trip, £26/nt I put it to Karen, it did not go down well, even with the latest refurb she won't go back. It was only 1 cockroach, and it was in my shoe not hers

Once stayed at MIC Lake front got a discount and she only pressed one button,and on invoice was roach discount

Hi

Just wondering what it is that some don't like about valu resorts

We love them as much as the rest of disney hotels, have and will stay in them as well as mods(makes my DVC go further

You could rent 96 points from a DVC member at $12 per point, the total cost would be $1,152 which is about £750, with those 96 points a DVC member should be able to secure a 10-day value studio at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Jambo House and that works out at a saving of over £1,900 on the room rate.

The value studios are slightly smaller than the standard studios at Jambo House and I believe approximately half of the value rooms have a Savanna View, other views could be either the pool, garden or parking lot.

.

Why not just buy DVC,best thing we ever did

Paul

 

[ChipnDaleRule]

Why not just buy DVC,best thing we ever did

Paul

You know we looked at DVC right back in the early days when we were just a two, and decided it wouldn't be worth it

 

[paulh]

You know we looked at DVC right back in the early days when we were just a two, and decided it wouldn't be worth it

ouch that must hurt
Paul

 

[queendisney]

Hi

Just wondering what it is that some don't like about valu resorts

I don't 'dislike' but just prefer a moderate. For me its all comes down to a few things really.
1. The rooms are basic and a tad small and there are only two of us!
2. They tend to attract lots of children, which is fantastic if you have children
3. They tend to be just a bit further from the parks
4. They don't have quiet pools
5. The theme of them is very much in your face, we need somewhere a bit more relaxing after a busy day at the parks or shopping
6. They tend tobe huge and spread out with ofter a long walk to and from the main building
7. The lines for the buses always seem to be massive

This is just a generalisation..

But I do think they give you a great Disney feel, the pools are big, the counter service restaurants provide an ok selection for breakfast etc. Although a couple of posters think they are no better then a basic motel, I think this is an unfair description based on where they are and the Disney theming and its perks ie emh, package delivery,key to the world so you can charge to your room, no parking fees, closer then a cheap motel off resort..and I know for sure I'd rather stay in a value then a cheap motel else where.

 

[wayneg]

Hi

Just wondering what it is that some don't like about valu resorts

Many love value resorts, don't be put off by some of us that dont.
We stayed at the All stars Movies back in 2000, there was absoutely nothing in the room any different to a cheap motel room apart from some popcorn wall lights, we were so disappointed thinking it was going to be Disneyfied. Even the TV only had about 6 channels(maybe more but it was very limited) back then compared to about 50 channels in a cheap motel.
Every morning we left the room re-iced the car(it was the coldest Xmas for many years) and went out for the day, came back across the car park and into the room, not a scrap of Disney(except the popcorn lights, they will stick in my memory for life )
It cost me around £75-£80/nt/room (2 rooms) as it was peak Xmas dates. For that I could have stayed in 5 star offsite, we just didn't get the Magic.
I said never onsite again, took me 8 years to relent and we stayed at AKL for 3 nights which was lovely, we actually paid the same rate for savannah view 8 years on at £75/nt with AP discount.
Since stayed at OKW 3 times (4th this month) as we got 50% discount and free dining, we enjoy staying in Deluxe but we will never stay in value again.

I would expect the rooms to be far better 12 years later, the new resort looks great but not for us, I will leave room for others that enjoy them and get the Magic. I am more than happy paying £35/nt at Fairfield Inn if I want a value holiday.

 

[paulh]

don't get me wrong i love Disney and will visit every year.but I still want to go on more holidays as well.Xmas did a cruise, Feb did skiing August were back to Florida and Disney,next Jan its the northern lights with a bit of skiing thrown in(normally would ski in Feb but its my 50th and always wanted to see them) March is a transatlantic cruise back from the Caribbean, and hopefully in sept next year Hawaii (a touch of Disney as its dvc)
If we can save on money to do more i will, to me more is better
Paul

 

[RobynPrincess]

Can only speak for myself but this is such a no brainier for me! 2 trips wins hands down

 

[Dimplenose]

You won't know unless you try it for yourself.

Maybe you could do a 10 day split stay between the resorts you are thinking about. And then it wouldn't delay your return to the deluxes too much if you find you don't like it.

We wanted to find out if we'd enjoy a villa holiday so we tried it one year (we only visit every 4 years or so) and didn't enjoy it as much as a Value on-site. BUT we still had a good holiday AND we knew what we preferred next time we were in a position to book a WDW holiday.

 

[Stickers118]

We have tried all options, value, mod, luxury and offsite in a villa.
It has been a few years since we last went, 2009, our next trip is in 2013.

We tend to live life to the full with the trips to Florida saved up for over a long time, 5 years in the case of our next trip.
The cost between a luxury and a value is not really a concern but we decided where to stay based on the fact that we could spend the difference doing something else, such as universal or discovery cove (which the kids do not know about).
The new AoA just looks so amazing and is just so Disney in our opinion so we booked that.

We weighed up the Disney dining by paying more for a mod but as we plan to go off disney property for at least 4 days out of the 14 we decided against it.

To the OP only you know what pleases you so go for that.