Staying onsite

[Pegasus928]

Someone I work with in my new job is looking to go to Florida next year. It will be just him and his daughter (10) and he says he wants to explore every accommodation option available to him before he makes his choice.
I have given him plenty of advice regarding staying in a villa, tickets and hire cars (as well as directing him to this site ) but I need some help from you guys who stay on site regularly.
Is is cheaper to go to a TA or do you go direct through Disney? His DD is an animal lover so I suggested staying at AKL - although I have no idea how the price would compare against POR (another one recommended to him by someone who has stayed there). When next year is the free DDP on.
I have a week off and have told him I would try to price up some alternatives for when we return but don't really know where to start

HELP​

 

[2Tiggies]

Wow, what a nice friend your friend has

AKL is going to be a fair amount more than a moderate. We were at POFQ this year and as with some of the other resorts, there were squirrels and rabbits as well as butterflies, lizards and a few snakes around the grounds. I don't know that he would need to fork out for a Deluxe purely based on the animal factor since Walt Disney was an animal lover and they have tried to reflect this throughout WDW, including the resorts. Of course if it's wildlife his DD loves more then it may be worth a look.

Free dining is on until mid November next year but the current offer stipulates you need to book before the end of this year to take advantage of free dining. EDIT: There are other dates in the beginning of the year but not a long clear run of them - a bit more sporadic.

I have found Disney UK cheaper to book through for the last two years (last year as flight inclusive and this year as DIY). In 2008 Disney UK was far more than Thomas Cook Signature so I went with them and saved (flight inclusive) about £400 over a 16 day stay. He really does need to price it up though because cheapest offer for the same package checking in tomorrow may not be cheapest with the same provider if you check in a few days later. CO apparently have had some good offers lately too but again it depends which resort you want to stay at as this varies.

A word of advice, if doing flight inclusive as a single parent with a minor child, you WILL be charged for 2 adults (yes, for the flights as well). I went DIY this year because of that and paid a child price for DD's air ticket, which was over £100 cheaper than mine with taxes added. If he needs to learn from anyone else's mistakes as a lone parent traveller, I am happy to admit my blunders as a preventative measure.

 

[Sapper383]

Your a great friend

We have booked to stay at AKL next Sept/Oct.

We booked with Virgin, it actually worked out cheaper than booking seperatly.

I had gotten alot of prices, we could have had a cheaper deal booking seperatly to stay at OKW or POR but not for AKL.

It will be our first stay at AKL and we have booked because my DS11 is a huge animal fan.

hope I have been some help

Sam

 

[Pegasus928]

Wow, what a nice friend your friend has

AKL is going to be a fair amount more than a moderate. We were at POFQ this year and as with some of the other resorts, there were squirrels and rabbits as well as butterflies, lizards and a few snakes around the grounds. I don't know that he would need to fork out for a Deluxe purely based on the animal factor since Walt Disney was an animal lover and they have tried to reflect this throughout WDW, including the resorts. Of course if it's wildlife his DD loves more then it may be worth a look.

Free dining is on until mid November next year but the current offer stipulates you need to book before the end of this year to take advantage of free dining. EDIT: There are other dates in the beginning of the year but not a long clear run of them - a bit more sporadic.

I have found Disney UK cheaper to book through for the last two years (last year as flight inclusive and this year as DIY). In 2008 Disney UK was far more than Thomas Cook Signature so I went with them and saved (flight inclusive) about £400 over a 16 day stay. He really does need to price it up though because cheapest offer for the same package checking in tomorrow may not be cheapest with the same provider if you check in a few days later. CO apparently have had some good offers lately too but again it depends which resort you want to stay at as this varies.

A word of advice, if doing flight inclusive as a single parent with a minor child, you WILL be charged for 2 adults (yes, for the flights as well). I went DIY this year because of that and paid a child price for DD's air ticket, which was over £100 cheaper than mine with taxes added. If he needs to learn from anyone else's mistakes as a lone parent traveller, I am happy to admit my blunders as a preventative measure.

I would have put money on you being the first to answer

I will check out Disney UK as a good start point. I intend to get prices for AKL and POR just as a guide. If nothing else it will give him some idea as to what to expect. Thanks for the heads up regarding flights too - thats something I would never have thought of

Your a great friend

We have booked to stay at AKL next Sept/Oct.

We booked with Virgin, it actually worked out cheaper than booking seperatly.

I had gotten alot of prices, we could have had a cheaper deal booking seperatly to stay at OKW or POR but not for AKL.

It will be our first stay at AKL and we have booked because my DS11 is a huge animal fan.

hope I have been some help

Sam

Thank you - I will look at Virgin too.

I honestly don't know if his DD is a wild animal fan, or just likes animals in general. I guess I will get the answer to that when he decides where to book

 

[jtlover]

We usually do everything ourselves but this year we have gone direct with Disney.co.uk including flights.

We stayed at Saratoga Springs this year and are doing the same next year at the end of October beginning of November.

We have stayed at AKL in the past and really enjoyed it. We have also stayed at GF for a few days. That is an option if they want to go to a couple of hotels but if they go with the dining plan it can make it difficult doing a split stay.

 

[wayneg]

It usually works(but not always) going in school hols its cheaper to do it seperate, low season cheaper with a package.

As said start off with Disney.co.uk and Virgin, go from there.
Post what you find if you want help to get the price down or look at other options.

If its when free DDP is on moderates only get the QSDDP, we would have to pay for upgrade to regular DDP so it cheaper for us to stay at OKW, our dates cheaper than POR and incls the DDP we want.

Stayed at AKL and loved it but would never stay there without a savannah view which is too much money for me now.

 

[dixonsontour]

We booked our first stay onsite at All star movies with US disney online. US were giving free qsdp which we upgraded to DDP at a value resort.

This year we booked OKW via UK disney.

We booked our flights separately.

The UK disney brochure has lots of nice pics - maybe get him to order one and see if any hotel catches his DD's eye.

He may be better in a disney hotel as opposed to a villa as it would give his DD chance to meet some other kids by the pool. We've stayed at a villa when DD was a baby but as she gets older I'm concious that she does enjoy some time playing with other kids on her hols.

 

[2Tiggies]

The UK disney brochure has lots of nice pics - maybe get him to order one and see if any hotel catches his DD's eye.
.

YES!!!! And he should order the planning DVD too. My daughter has been watching it for a few years now but there is a section on the resorts as well.

He may be better in a disney hotel as opposed to a villa as it would give his DD chance to meet some other kids by the pool. We've stayed at a villa when DD was a baby but as she gets older I'm concious that she does enjoy some time playing with other kids on her hols.

This is a very good point. Not only does the child get an opportunity to play with other kids, but the parent gets a chance to sit and have some adult conversation with other adults. Of course how important that is will depend if your friend is a dad wanting a good stretch of quality one on one time with his daughter and they don't usually get that; or whether he is the main/sole carer of the child and his life revolves around child-centred activity and conversation.

 

[WiganTony]

From a cost point of view, it may be worth seeing if the offer on OKW/SSR is available for his dates, as this way he would get DDP for almost the same price as a moderate hotel.

If his daughter is an animal lover, there is nothing to stop them from visiting AKL either for a meal or just to have a look around. We did this in August (staying at OKW) and spent an hour at AKL watching the animals after a meal in Boma.

 

[UKDEB]

There's also the option of renting points to stay at a DVC resort (which includes Animal Kingdom Lodge and Kidani Village). Of course, he wouldn't get the free dining and there's a big element of trust involved, but it would be a fraction of the rack rate. To give an idea of cost, I'd need to have some dates to work with.