Should i give up my luxury for once a year trips

[tinks_1989]

but thats the point exactly, people are so different...
I would never stay off resort again..don't care how nice the places are they are not Disney Resorts. I would def wait and save for a holiday and stay on resort then ever stay off resort. Perfectly happy paying Disney prices. I love staying on resort and nothing will tempt me off again.

We feel the same about staying on site especially now we have DD but I couldn't justify my money being spent on something that is no better then a motel! I have stayed off site plenty off times (9) and totally agree I would rather spend the bit extra for the Disney magic but I would rather have a bit of luxury in my life make up for living on such a tight budget the rest of our time! There's just something nice about staying in a
nice hotel!

 

[queendisney]

I couldn't justify my money being spent on something that is no better then a motel!

I don't think you can class the value resorts as 'no better then a motel'..they are totally different IMO. Just because they call them Value resorts still doesn't make them only worthy of a Motel status.. I think thats a bit unfair to class them the same. But totally agree there is something nice about staying in a luxury resort.

 

[gemma85]

I don't think you can class the value resorts as 'no better then a motel'..they are totally different IMO. Just because they call them Value resorts still doesn't make them only worthy of a Motel status.. I think thats a bit unfair to class them the same. But totally agree there is something nice about staying in a luxury resort.

I think it's good that places have value resorts to allow people even on low ish incomes to get the chance to go on Disney holidays. If they only had deluxe hotels onsite I know that I would never be in a situation to take my son away. I don't go on holiday to just sleep so basic wouldn't bother me. I know the look on my sons face will make a value holiday feel like luxury to me

 

[tinks_1989]

I don't think you can class the value resorts as 'no better then a motel'..they are totally different IMO. Just because they call them Value resorts still doesn't make them only worthy of a Motel status.. I think thats a bit unfair to class them the same. But totally agree there is something nice about staying in a luxury resort.

Me and DH in 2008 stayed in a very cheap hotel for a week inc hotel car, insurance and flight it £340 per person it was a very cheap motel clean fine great location and seeing photos of the values with exception of the new one I think they were on par extras like wifi doesn't bother us! I wouldn't do it again though it was just a spur of the moment thing saw it really cheap and booked it! When we visit DLP value is fine we aren't there long enough to worry but for two weeks I think it's a bit different! X

 

[ChipnDaleRule]

Im finding this an interesting debate. As i said for one week i could quite happily stay value, but for my main two weeks could i give up this?

At the moment I'm being out voted 3 to 1

 

[queendisney]

Im finding this an interesting debate. As i said for one week i could quite happily stay value, but for my main two weeks could i give up this?

At the moment I'm being out voted 3 to 1

I think you know you can't!

 

[tinks_1989]

Just looked at our dates for all three value,mod, luxury we like the dining plan having it paid before we go or getting I free is great for us less spending money to worry about so these prices are hotel plus tickets plus ddp standard 1 TS 1 CS 1 snack per person per day for two adults

Value £3,566

Mod £2,632

Luxury £3,753

For an extra £187 I know where I would choose and if you could get SSR at a discount the luxury I chose for price comparison even better!

 

[wayneg]

I don't think you can class the value resorts as 'no better then a motel'..they are totally different IMO. Just because they call them Value resorts still doesn't make them only worthy of a Motel status.. I think thats a bit unfair to class them the same.

This is one thing we differ on, stayed at ASMovies and the room was absolutely no different to a cheap motel. Yes they are in nice settings but we went from the room to the car and back again at night.

Im finding this an interesting debate. As i said for one week i could quite happily stay value[/IMG]

We wouldn't be, we like the deluxe resorts onsite but if I want to cut costs then its offsite, we just don't like the value resorts onsite., when we visited Pop Century last year for a meal it reminded us why we dislike the values.

There is a big difference here for many people in that some get the "Disney Magic" and any resort from value to Deluxe is better than offsite or like us we just don't get it, its a room to stay no matter who owns it for us but like I said before its somewhere to sleep for us and nothing else for others the resort & facilities mean a lot.

 

[nibbo]

What an interesting thread. Just goes to show how different everyone is.
I've been facing this dilemma over the last week or two trying to decide what to do for next year. Yes, we could have done value resorts or off site cheaper but not cheap enough to enable us to come back any sooner than every other year. The value resorts were ideal when the kids were younger, they loved it and so did we but now we've moved on to the moderate resorts, POR, CSR and next year CBR. I can't ever see us staying at deluxe resorts due to the cost except maybe just for an odd night or two just for the experience.
For next year I think I worked out every permutation going for hotels and cruises, staying at a villa or off site aren't our thing even though they are cheaper. We've gone all that way and spent all that money for a fantastic holiday so we might as well spend the extra and stay exactly where we want to. Same with the cruise, having been on two DCL cruises I was going to do an RCCL cruise next year but seeing as we loved it so much with the whole Disney experience we decided to blow the budget and do DCL again.
We'd rather have the perfect holiday every two years rather than one every year where we had to compromise on things and not enjoy it so much.

 

[Kath2003]

What do you remember about the trips?

I couldn't care less about the flight. I'm plenty happy in a £35/night 3* offsite hotel. What I care about is the parks, the sunshine, the food and the drinks. And getting there as often as I can to enjoy those things.

In ten years time, I won't look back and think about the hotel room or the seat on the plane, I guarantee you....

 

[ben1993]

What do you remember about the trips?

I couldn't care less about the flight. I'm plenty happy in a £35/night 3* offsite hotel. What I care about is the parks, the sunshine, the food and the drinks. And getting there as often as I can to enjoy those things.

In ten years time, I won't look back and think about the hotel room or the seat on the plane, I guarantee you....

I think the resort is a big part of a holiday like Orlando, but I agree 100% about the flight. I'd never pay extra for premium economy let alone first class.

 

[katiec]

I think the resort is a big part of a holiday like Orlando, but I agree 100% about the flight. I'd never pay extra for premium economy let alone first class.

See to me the flight can be a major part if my holiday!!! Having arrived at the airport on return from a skiing holiday - along with the other 300 passengers ALL at the same time - being able to go ino the 20 person PE queue was worth every penny! I didn't want to spend my holiday worrying about the queue to come home and the scrabble to sit together - even pre-booked seats were not given as they should

On the luxury/non luxury question we did 14 nights in 2011 at Rosen Inn @ PO and couldn't bare to go anywhere near the pool due to the screamy kid shouty mother type family. Didn't go to the pool once!!
On the same trip we had 2 nights at BCV and spent 3 full afternoons round a chilled & relaxing pool.

I have not been here much as we were planning a west coast trip however yesterday we booked a week at the Yacht Club with DxDDP as part of our trip next sept. We like (a bit of) luxury and don't think I would want to go every year & stay at RI@PO - I'd prefer to go every other year & have my luxury fix.

Some of the stuff I have to deal with at work is hideous so I really need to get away from it all on my holidays. A room is more to us than just somewhere to sleep

But if we all wanted to sty at the same place we'd struggle

Katie x

 

[wayneg]

I think the resort is a big part of a holiday like Orlando, but I agree 100% about the flight. I'd never pay extra for premium economy let alone first class.

Have you ever flown in anything but economy? I felt exactly the same until I tried it, PE not so much (although thats how we fly next week) but Business class or better is certainly worth the money if you have it. I have flown Business class twice its its certainly teh most memorable thing in my mind from recent years, it makes the holiday very special.
Although I don't mind too much where we stay I wish we could afford to fly there and back every trip in Business class.

 

[katiec]

Have you ever flown in anything but economy? I felt exactly the same until I tried it, PE not so much (although thats how we fly next week) but Business class or better is certainly worth the money if you have it. I have flown Business class twice its its certainly teh most memorable thing in my mind from recent years, it makes the holiday very special.
Although I don't mind too much where we stay I wish we could afford to fly there and back every trip in Business class.

Oh how I agree with you Wayne!!

We were lucky enough to upgrade to Virgin UC for £600 each a couple of years ago & we were upgraded to AA Buiness class for volunteering to take a later flight home from JFK - fantastic fantastic experiences and woud always consider upgrading if the price wasn't extortionate!!!

Katie

 

[torsie24]

What do you remember about the trips?

I couldn't care less about the flight. I'm plenty happy in a £35/night 3* offsite hotel. What I care about is the parks, the sunshine, the food and the drinks. And getting there as often as I can to enjoy those things.

In ten years time, I won't look back and think about the hotel room or the seat on the plane, I guarantee you....

See, we reminisce all the time about watching wishes from our GF and BLT balconies. Or the jacuzzi in the GF. Or our view onto the Boardwalk. Or watching the giraffe and zebra while eating our breakfast.

The hotel is 50% of the enjoyment of our trips.

We've had city breaks where our hotels were basic so understand the 'we just sleep there logic" but even then we prefer our city breaks in nice hotels - the wonderful balcony we had in Paris looking down a picturesque street toward L'Opera is just as lovely a memory as the memory of exploring Notre Dame is.

In Krakow we stayed in an OK 3* place down some back street. And we loved the city but the trip missed that little thing that makes it feel like a holiday for me. I don't want to stay somewhere that isn't at least as nice as home.

I go on trips to see things, relax, have fun, and most definitely stay somewhere special.

 

[queendisney]

What do you remember about the trips?

I couldn't care less about the flight. I'm plenty happy in a £35/night 3* offsite hotel. What I care about is the parks, the sunshine, the food and the drinks. And getting there as often as I can to enjoy those things.

In ten years time, I won't look back and think about the hotel room or the seat on the plane, I guarantee you....

the plane is not important to me but we all know from the other thread recently it is to others. In the last 17 or 18 years we've been going I look back and yes I very much remember my hotel choice. Its an extremely important part of my experience. I don't work on the 'it'll do' theory, I want my whole holiday to be special for us and we won't compromise to do that.. In ten years time I'll look back and remember all my special memories and the lovely places we have stayed. We compromised once and I remember that holiday also but more so because it just wasn't what we wanted it didn't seem complete. Everybody has their own opinions and non of them are wrong, its just how you do it. There is nothing wrong with people loving the Value resorts or others not wanting todo anything other then stay delux. As a pp said 'staying in a value resort is like staying delux to them'

 

[Pootle]

What do you remember about the trips?

I couldn't care less about the flight. I'm plenty happy in a £35/night 3* offsite hotel. What I care about is the parks, the sunshine, the food and the drinks. And getting there as often as I can to enjoy those things.

In ten years time, I won't look back and think about the hotel room or the seat on the plane, I guarantee you....

Have you ever flown in anything but economy? I felt exactly the same until I tried it, PE not so much (although thats how we fly next week) but Business class or better is certainly worth the money if you have it. I have flown Business class twice its its certainly teh most memorable thing in my mind from recent years, it makes the holiday very special.
Although I don't mind too much where we stay I wish we could afford to fly there and back every trip in Business class.

Now I understand both of these points of view.

When I was younger, I didn't care where I stayed so long as it was clean, cheap and convenient, and I wanted to get there as cheaply as possible, so flying economy was just fine.

Now I'm older (and have the money to pay for it) I do want somewhere that's nice to actually be, other than for sleeping, and I also want the journey to be as pleasant as possible, so it's business class if I can get a good deal and PE otherwise. I'd rather stay at home these days than stay at, say, the Comfort Inn, LBV and fly economy .... yes, really .... but it wasn't always like that.

As Wayne said in his first post on this thread, only the OP can know just how important it is to them, but some great advice and suggestions have been given.

 

[wayneg]

Oh how I agree with you Wayne!!

We were lucky enough to upgrade to Virgin UC for £600 each a couple of years ago & we were upgraded to AA Buiness class for volunteering to take a later flight home from JFK - fantastic fantastic experiences and woud always consider upgrading if the price wasn't extortionate!!!

Katie

Our 1st experience in Business class was a freebie, a glitch a few years back on Expedia, searched economy price was £460 but changed the search to Business class and the price stayed at £460. Problem was we enjoyed it so much we wanted same again year after, didn't do too bad as the day I booked VA wanted £1300pp for economy seats, Delta Business £1,160pp.

See, we reminisce all the time about watching wishes from our GF and BLT balconies. Or the jacuzzi in the GF. Or our view onto the Boardwalk. Or watching the giraffe and zebra while eating our breakfast.

The hotel is 50% of the enjoyment of our trips.

We've had city breaks where our hotels were basic so understand the 'we just sleep there logic" but even then we prefer our city breaks in nice hotels - the wonderful balcony we had in Paris looking down a picturesque street toward L'Opera is just as lovely a memory as the memory of exploring Notre Dame is.

In Krakow we stayed in an OK 3* place down some back street. And we loved the city but the trip missed that little thing that makes it feel like a holiday for me. I don't want to stay somewhere that isn't at least as nice as home.

I go on trips to see things, relax, have fun, and most definitely stay somewhere special.

I fully agree a hotel can make all the difference, when we stayed in NYC, our hotel room at Crowne Plaza had a view of Times square & Empire state building, we still have the room number if we ever go again but it was £350/nt last time I checked. It made the trip a lot more special than a 2 star motel.
But for us Orlando is not the place where a hotel matters that much to us, its a place to sleep only, fully appreciate others use their hotels a lot more, then it would be worth spending more on.

 

[wayneg]

I'd rather stay at home these days than stay at, say, the Comfort Inn, LBV and fly economy .... yes, really .... but it wasn't always like that.

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

 

[gemma85]

See, we reminisce all the time about watching wishes from our GF and BLT balconies. Or the jacuzzi in the GF. Or our view onto the Boardwalk. Or watching the giraffe and zebra while eating our breakfast.

The hotel is 50% of the enjoyment of our trips.

We've had city breaks where our hotels were basic so understand the 'we just sleep there logic" but even then we prefer our city breaks in nice hotels - the wonderful balcony we had in Paris looking down a picturesque street toward L'Opera is just as lovely a memory as the memory of exploring Notre Dame is.

In Krakow we stayed in an OK 3* place down some back street. And we loved the city but the trip missed that little thing that makes it feel like a holiday for me. I don't want to stay somewhere that isn't at least as nice as home.

I go on trips to see things, relax, have fun, and most definitely stay somewhere special.

For me to pay out for a deluxe while it's just me and my son who 4 would be a waste of money. I think if you have older kids or are on holiday without kids then you can appreciate the luxury. Maybe when my sons older I will start to take to a deluxe hotel. For my first trip I will only bother with value if it cheaper than more expensive hotel with qsdp included. I priced one up with dining plan and POR was coming out cheaper then the cheaper hotels