The Cost of Convenience

[minniemomRN]

Our family had this same discussion for our upcoming trip this August. We decided to do a split trip, with the first part of the trip at POR in a royal room (theming galore!), and then we are heading to CR for the second half of the trip. We always wanted to stay there, and we are planning our MK days more toward that part of the trip. We did book a garden room. These rooms are the same inside as tower rooms, are still convenient to the MK walking path, and are closer to the pool -- if that would be important to your girls. No balcony, or MK view but a lot less money. Just another idea for you...

 

[darkwing818]

I'll admit we've never stayed at a value, but we did stay at Moderates our first two trips. I can't begin to stress enough how convenient it is to stay at the Contemporary. Not only can you walk to MK, but the resort itself is nice and compact, meaning food and transportation are close by. Three other resorts are just minutes away for more food, shopping and plain ol' sightseeing. It all makes for an easy vacation.

Go for the Contemporary. I'd be surprised if you ended up regretting it.

I agree with the above (and we've stayed at values) but as EPCOT is our favorite park, we fell this way about the Beach & Yacht Club & the Boardwalk. A 2 or 3 minute walk to EPCOT & a little longer to the Studios. Trust me, if you can afford it, staying at a Hotel with in walking distance of your favorite park is wonderful . But that's just my opinion

 

[Marionnette]

I feel pretty strongly about "going big" for this trip and doing the Contemporary, but I'd really value the opinion of my fellow DISboarders. Specifically: how much value do you place in convenience (which seems to be the biggest draw of the Contemporary)?

I totally "get" your justifications for staying at the CR. I value resort location so much that I purchased a small DVC resale contract for BWV so that we can walk to Epcot (our favorite park).

However, your wife also gets a vote in the resort choice and after your best efforts, she has still said "NO" to staying at the CR. I don't think that I can supply you with any more ammunition to change her mind. She doesn't place the same emphasis on convenience that I do. I'm not going on vacation with you. She is.

 

[MinnieTink]

Funny my DH and I just discussed this last week. We stayed at Art of Animation for a few nights, just the two of us. Our room was far from the main building/food court. The bus stops were far from the parks. We stayed at BC last time and we remembered the convenience and time saved being able to walk to Epcot, but not only that, the deluxe resorts tend to have bus stops closer to the parks. The difference in cost is great but there are many more conveniences and amenities at deluxe.

I will also say Wilderness Lodge is one of our favorites! The location is great, the lodge is beautiful and compact, and the price is a bit more reasonable than other deluxe resorts.

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

Well, we are a "value" family and have been to POP 3 times and are doing Music this August for 11 nights. We have never stayed at a deluxe so we may not know what we are missing (have visited most of them though and they are beautiful). That being said, the price difference is too high for us to consider them so I am with your wife on this one. We have everything we need at the values and my kids (15 and 12) LOVE them. I understand about convenience but not at that price difference. The furthest park from POP is MK and the bus ride was about 15-20 min.
Now, we always rent a regular standard room. If you were planning to get the suite at AOA then I could see adding a bit more and going with deluxe.
I am sure your family will have a wonderful time regardless of where you decide to stay.

 

[nkereina]

I think if money were no object, the majority of people on here would stay deluxe in a heartbeat. But since money IS an object to most of us, practicality should win out. I'd rather live comfortably the other 51 weeks out of the year than to live lavishly for the one week vacation. If CR is not in your budget to the point where you'd have to save more AND use money from your tax return, I wouldn't do it.

I think WL is a good compromise or even more economical yet, a moderate resort. FW is priced as a mod and has the boat access as well. POR has a TS restaurant and the best food court on property IMO and both POR and POFQ have the boat to DTD which is great considering how annoying it can be to get to and from DTD. All mods have a more adult feel like the deluxes do, and have a few added benefits over the values. POR/POFQ were less than a 10 min bus ride to MK with the other parks being 10-15 mins away.

Another option is to rent DVC points. If you are not travelling for a while, you may be within the window where you could still get a good DVC resort for a moderate price.

 

[VACamm]

I would love to stay At the contemporary!

 

[lhermiston]

Just to clarify, Sue M and Cindy's Mom are referring to the Wilderness Lodge which is a very nice deluxe resort. The Cabins of Ft. Wilderness is considered a moderate, and the priciest of the moderates. Both do have a boat to and from MK, but the Wilderness Lodge will have a shorter ride.

Thanks for clarifying. I understood what they were saying, but "miswrote."

 

[dansdad]

Thanks for clarifying. I understood what they were saying, but "miswrote."

You're welcome. I do see quite a few posters that do not know they are 2 different resorts.

 

[ConvenientTruth]

It is obvious the money is a consideration (at least in your wife's eyes) and ultimately that should be your guide in this decision. I've stayed at practically every resort on the WDW grounds and to tell you the truth I have a great time no matter where I stayed. My kids couldn't care less where we stayed....Contempory, Fort Wilderness, CSR, All Star, Grand Floridian...they are just happy to be at Disney. As for convenience....I've had just as bad of a time on the monorail as I have had taking the bus back to the resort.

 

[karenklo]

I did stay at the CR in a garden room. The room was convenient to the pool. We also had a great view of the water parade! It was not a bad walk to the Monorail or MK from the room, and I had a 10 month old and 3 yo at the time! Of course my 3 yo was into trains at the time and Grandma let him pick the hotel for the family trip! So of course we ended up there after he saw the video of the monorail going thru the building. You kids may not care about that. The CR was a great place to stay once for us, but we prefer the Poly! Everyone has their own ideas of the best place!

 

[Disney Fool]

I have a suggestion: how about a compromise? Stay at the value for 5 days to a week; then stay the weekend or just a couple of nights at the Contemporary or Wilderness Lodge, and going to MK on those days? This way, you and your wife will get to experience the deluxe resort to see if you like the amenities.

 

[robinb]

If you are 100% sure of your dates of May 6-11 (from another post) then you may want to consider renting DVC points at Bay Lake Tower. BLT owners can start to make reservations on June 6th. A Lake View studio for your dates is 106 points and the going rate is $12 per point ($14 through David's Vacations) so that's a total of $1272 for your 5 nights, or $254 per night. BUT, you're not paying taxes on your rental, so it's the equivalent of $225 per night.

 

[Tink415]

How much value do you place in convenience? Well, IMO there is no resort that's convenient to every park so the value of a deluxe depends on what we have planned for a particular trip. I also like split stays because they let me feel like I'm getting more value for my money. I agree with pp who suggested a compromise

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

I've done both. Questions : how easily can you afford the contemporary. No matter how convenient if you are stressed over how much you paid it is no fun.
Your children are young so factor in extra costs is food and toys and such.

When my kids were young I stayed at pop a few trips so as not to stress when someone wanted a Mickey bar a pin or toy etc.

A rental car will get you around fast. The contemporary is really only good for the MK maybe Epcot. You still need a bus for everything else.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[WIDisneyFan]

If you are 100% sure of your dates of May 6-11 (from another post) then you may want to consider renting DVC points at Bay Lake Tower. BLT owners can start to make reservations on June 6th. A Lake View studio for your dates is 106 points and the going rate is $12 per point ($14 through David's Vacations) so that's a total of $1272 for your 5 nights, or $254 per night. BUT, you're not paying taxes on your rental, so it's the equivalent of $225 per night.

This is something you really should consider as an option.

But to answer your original question the value of convenience to us far outweighs the cost. We are now DVC members and own at Bay Lake Tower. Our kids are now 8,6 and 4 and being able to walk out the front door of the resort and then walk to the Magic Kingdom in less than 10 minutes is worth every penny we have spent. Access to Epcot is easy as well with just a quick monorail ride (technically 2 as you change monorails at the TTC).

 

[smooreo]

We stayed at BLT this past October, and I can't say enough about the location. We were able to walk home from the MK in 10 minutes. No lines. No rushing. Hoping on the monorail to get to EP or 'Ohana was excellent.

A big plus that we enjoyed was watching the fireworks every night after the kids had gone to bed. I knew we'd be able to see them, but enjoying them with a drink on the balcony was fabulous!

We're now thinking about another trip and trying to figure out where to go...I don't think BLT is in the budget this time (although I would stay there in a heartbeat!). Oh well....

 

[jw50]

I feel pretty strongly about "going big" for this trip and doing the Contemporary, but I'd really value the opinion of my fellow DISboarders. Specifically: how much value do you place in convenience (which seems to be the biggest draw of the Contemporary)?

If the CR is not easily within your budget I would recommend that you book AOA initially. If a good enough discount becomes available where the CR is at least close to being within your budget then you could revisit upgrading to CR with your wife.

You know your wife a lot better than we do and you should know how she would react if you made a unilateral decision to change resorts.

When we went in 2005 (last trip before that was 1990 with the kids) my wife wanted to stay at POR and that is where we initially booked. Due to deciding to go with the Premium Plan I changed our reservation from POR to the Poly (location was much better for what we had planned). My wife did not find out about the change until we got in the ME line for the Poly instead of the line for POR. After that trip there was no need to even discuss "what resort", only how long to stay and which dining plan.

So just be aware that you could be significantly increasing the cost of your future trips by introducing your wife to the Deluxes.

 

[huntconn]

I would strongly suggest that you try to persuade your wife to try the CR. Maybe some of her hesitancy comes from the fact that she has never stayed at a deluxe resort before. Staying on the monorail loop is truly magical for our family. So much so that I believe all other Disney resorts are inferior to the 3 that are on the loop just because of that factor (just my opinion). We have very close friends that have admitted to us that they used to think that we were nuts for spending so much money to stay at a deluxe every year. Then they tried the WL. Followed by the CR. This summer we are vacationing together at the Poly!

 

[hgeisler]

The Contemporary IS Disney. It's the first resort completed and it remains an original...it does not require giant icons. Please let us not speak of it again, my friend.

Go to the Contemporary. Hope for a discount and do a little saving.

I love this! I agree, but many do not:/ OP, go for the CR. It is my fave resort. There is nothing like being that close to the castle (especially with the tpv rooms), having the monorail running through the building, being able to walk to MK, and the Wave (One of Disney's hidden gems that many have not discovered).