Hello again! So we are a party of 4 adults, 1 child, and an infant. We could have fit in one room at CBR but since 2 of the travellers are my mom and brother, we all felt more comfortable with them having a separate room. The cost for 2 standard rooms at CBR for 12 nights at the end of August plus 5 Day MYW+ water park tickets and memory maker was about $7650. We were switched to a 2 bedroom at SSR which would have cost $11,330 at rack rate with the tickets and memory maker, but our price of $7650 carried over (so a free $3680 upgrade). Today, my
travel agent was able to apply the Summer Family Magic Package offer to the $7650 price and now we are paying $5792 for a savings of $1858. Our ticket prices did change to reflect the increase and we were switched to Park Hopper Plus, which I think the total difference in what we were originally paying for the tickets and what they are now is around $300. Since that is an additional cost that I would not otherwise have purchased and would have raised the original price of the package, I didn't calculate that into the overall savings.
But to sum up, we received a park hopper plus upgrade to our tickets and are staying in a 2 bedroom at SSR for $1858 less than what we would have been paying at CBR rack rate for 2 standard rooms. If we do end up qualifying for
free dining, then that will be a better deal and we will switch to that, but right now the amount we just saved is paying for over half of the cost of the dining plan ($3522 for all of us).
In your situation, I'm not sure what I would really suggest. I don't know how much availability there is at CBR for your dates, but that will definitely play into whether or not you will be able to qualify for free dining. For my dates, all that's available are Pirate rooms and with the extra cost, it pretty much negates the value of the gift card. I also don't know for sure if they would offer you a free resort switch at this point since you've applied the new discount. They also seem to be trying to get away from the construction concessions they were previously offering. It's still possible they may be willing to switch you, but I have a feeling that if/when free dining comes out, regardless of whether CBR is included, that it will probably be too late to try to request a free resort change then. If they do allow you to switch, they probably will try to steer you toward Port Orleans, also maybe AOA suite or the cabins. It seems they were pushing those resorts more because they are closer to CBR's price range. But if you do pursue this and they agree to switching you and you want SSR, don't be afraid to point out that you know many others were switched there. They didn't offer it to me until I brought up knowing that it was offered to others. I know you only have 1 room at CBR whereas I had 2, but the studios and 1 bedrooms will not fit 5, and I know of a couple people on these boards who were given a 2 bedroom at SSR when they only had 1 room at CBR, so it has happened. If you decide you want to switch and they don't seem too willing to move you anywhere because it's been so long since the construction announcement, it might help to point out to them that most people spend months deciding on a resort and you didn't want to rush into any decisions concerning this. You were trying to weigh your options and get more info about the construction and you just feel like it will take away from your vacation, especially since you are staying 12 nights. Again, I really don't know how Disney will handle your situation, but I would strongly suggest that if you are planning on trying to move that you do it soon- before free dining comes out. I think if you wait until after the announcement and ask for a free resort switch they will figure you are doing it just for free dining (in which case, they could argue that lots of people don't get free dining at their resort of choice and it's not their responsibility to give you a free upgrade just so you can qualify for it), and not that you are moving because of the construction.
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Summer airfare has nowhere to go but up at this point.
) and I like having the full size fridge in the room for the garden grocer snacks I get delivered. Anyway for my same exact travel dates, 5 nights at Grand Floridian (garden view/outer building) with 5 day park hopper pass with 1 day waterpark bonus feature was 2,966.45 with their Labor Day deal. (No you cannot add a meal plan as they are a wholesaler, purchasing blocks of rooms). But again, I was really holding out for a villa as I like the extra room & other perks.
So when an opportunity to make more money presents itself......any business would do the same. The only way to combat that is to not go. Do something different.........which many of us here.........may not be willing to do. Think of this............2019 and 2020 could be massive for WDW.............Star Wars Land..........Toy Story Land...........it will be nuts.........start saving now if you ask me.
