Summer room only rates vs. gift card rates

[maggiew]

I'm undecided what to do. Here are my numbers. Currently I have Wilderness Lodge room only booked for Aug. 8 - 15. It is only DH & I, so not sure on amount we will spend on food, but maybe $75-$100 per day. We will eat table service at lunch and most likely no desserts or apps.

Pop:
Room only w/ 7 day base tickets $1232.14
Room only $728 + GAD tix + $330.14 upgrade to 7 day = $1058.14
Gift card deal Aug. 8 - 13 w/7 day tix + Aug. 13-15 room only = $1399.02 + $300 gift card

POFQ:
Room only w/7 day base tickets $1544.12
Room only $1043 + GAD tix + $330.14 upgrade to 7 day = $1373.14
Gift card deal Aug. 8 - 13 w/7 day tix + Aug. 13-15 room only = $1856.32 + $500 Gift card

WL:
Room only w/7 day base tickets $1729.22
Room only $1229 + GAD tix + $330.14 upgrade to 7 day = $1559.14
Gift card deal Aug. 8 - 13 w/7day tix + Aug. 13-15 room only = $2201.72 + $750 gift card

Maggie

 

[oldbay]

I'm undecided what to do. Here are my numbers. Currently I have Wilderness Lodge room only booked for Aug. 8 - 15. It is only DH & I, so not sure on amount we will spend on food, but maybe $75-$100 per day. We will eat table service at lunch and most likely no desserts or apps.

Pop:
Room only w/ 7 day base tickets $1232.14
Room only $728 + GAD tix + $330.14 upgrade to 7 day = $1058.14
Gift card deal Aug. 8 - 13 w/7 day tix + Aug. 13-15 room only = $1399.02 + $300 gift card

POFQ:
Room only w/7 day base tickets $1544.12
Room only $1043 + GAD tix + $330.14 upgrade to 7 day = $1373.14
Gift card deal Aug. 8 - 13 w/7 day tix + Aug. 13-15 room only = $1856.32 + $500 Gift card

WL:
Room only w/7 day base tickets $1729.22
Room only $1229 + GAD tix + $330.14 upgrade to 7 day = $1559.14
Gift card deal Aug. 8 - 13 w/7day tix + Aug. 13-15 room only = $2201.72 + $750 gift card

Maggie

I think you should do one of the deals where you get the GC for the food.
For example, at $75 (food) x 7 days = $525, so using the POFQ example,
1373.14 + 525 = 1898.14, you would be better off not using your GAD tix and having the GC to use for food. You could then use the GAD tix for fastpasses, right?
Same with the WL, 1559.14 + 750 GC (eat some nice dinners = 2309.14

 

[maggiew]

Yes. That makes sense. But that is assuming I would spend the whole $750. Would I normally spend that much? I'm not sure. We've never gone just DH and I. Usually its us and the 2 kids. So I can't estimate very well what we will spend.

I think I may look at it this way : the total spent OOP.

If I go with the GC deal, I will for sure be spending $2201 OOP. So, if I subtract the cost of the room discount deal ($1559) from that amount, I get $642. Will I spend at least that much on food and/or other stuff? Probably.

Maggie

 

[oldbay]

I think if you go with the lower amount OOP, you might spend the trip counting every penny, trying to stay below the GC deal - at least that is what I would do. I tend to like the meal plan for this reason as it is prepaid and I am on vacation and not counting every cent. I priced out the 500 GC deal with a moderate (we are more people, so it would be more and just our dinners came to $500). Two ideas - one you could think of where you would most likely eat and price out the average cost of the meals there to use it to estimate food costs. Second idea - split it up, 5 day reservation with GC deal and 2 day reservation with percent off deal to take advantage of both. I am sure you will have a great trip either way - DH and I are looking forward to a no kids trip in about 10 yrs! LOL!

 

[disneyfan55]

Yes. That makes sense. But that is assuming I would spend the whole $750. Would I normally spend that much? I'm not sure. We've never gone just DH and I. Usually its us and the 2 kids. So I can't estimate very well what we will spend.

I think I may look at it this way : the total spent OOP.

If I go with the GC deal, I will for sure be spending $2201 OOP. So, if I subtract the cost of the room discount deal ($1559) from that amount, I get $642. Will I spend at least that much on food and/or other stuff? Probably.

Maggie

One thing about the giftcard deal is that you could book only the 5 days with that offer and the other 2 days as a room only with the discount. It might entail changing rooms so it's something to think about. It would have been worth it for us to do this if we didn't have APs. (we didn't want all the 5 day passes required to be purchased) I didn't figure your amounts, just assumed you booked the 7 days at rack to get the free gift card. You could also, use part of the giftcard to pay for park hoppers or the additional days if you only book with the 5 day. Another thing about making it a package, you can put it on Disney Visa and have zero interest for 6 months.

 

[maggiew]

Yeah, that is what I did in my calculations. If you look closely at the numbers, on the last line I added the 5 day gift card deal with the 2 day room only discount. So that is already taken into account.

Maggie

 

[a1tinkfans]

My head is SPINNING

 

[Dizzyworld]

My head is SPINNING

Me too.

 

[maggiew]

Think how mine is spinning!!!

Maggie