The Fairytale is now over....

[truescorp]

Thanks to everyone who posted a few days ago on my questions on the Fairytale package versus staying offsite.I just wanted to post to say now, officially, the fairytale is over. My husband and I(the anal retentive personalities that we are) did a "disney matrix" if you will to see what the advantages/disadvantages would be to using the Fairytale package that had most of us salivating since the details came out, or just booking seperately and off site. After consideration of cost, size of room, amenities and location, we have decided to go with the Wyndham Palms Resort for $65 a nite, bringing our total with Park Hopper Plus tickets for 7 nites to $1625. Now I was quoted $1637 for the Fairy tale and the CBR. Not only is our deal cheaper, but when you take into account the money we will save on cooking in our own kitchen(yes, they have kitchens in their villas) for at least one meal a day, it will greatly outweigh the cost of parking at the park. That, combined with the fact, that although our little ones mean the world to us-8yrs and 4yrs old, to be seperated from them at night by a door is just too good to pass up! The last thing that tipped the scale was the fact that if we have days left over(which we've never been for this long so we conceivably could have at least 2) on our passes, we can come back next year, do a 3 day cruise only and spend 2 free days at Disney when we get off the boat! THis is not available with the Fairytale.
So I'm passing this along because I've gotten a lot of good tips from others, and maybe this will help someone else who is just thinking they "have" to take advantage of this once in a lifetime deal that Disney is offering. I love to be enveloped in the "magic" as much as the next person, and I sooooooooo Wanted this package to work for us, but you cant argue with the "matrix"!

 

[tinaluis]

The tickets would be the deciding factor for us too. We usually buy 7 Day + hoppers and spread that out over 3-4 trips and ALWAYS do USF and IOA as well as a few "downtime" days by the pool and at Belz Outlet, so a length of stay passes wouldn't be a great deal for us either. I'm glad that you worked it out to where you feel comfortable with your decision and wish you a great trip!

 

[truescorp]

And thats amazing that you find a way to use the extra passes considering your from Chicago! I feel confident that we can use them from Virginia.

 

[Sammy]

Hey....anal retentive planners here from NH! We did the same thing with the "matrix", and discovered that because we have two trips planned this year, the Fairytale package won't work for us either. It is actually cheaper for us to buy APs for DH and I for our June trip, then just buy 6-day hoppers for the kids in Sept. The kids really enjoy just hanging around the pool/resort for a day or two, and this year they want to go to Sea World. So the UHPs included with the FT pkg definately won't work!

Now if I can only hold out and get AP room rates for September {crosses fingers and wishes reeeeeeeeal hard!}

Sammy

 

[breick]

How did you get the Wyndham Palms for $65?

 

[MrsPete]

I think you were smart to look at it so logically. I think that the park hoppers are a much better deal for someone with small children; they really need/enjoy a "day off" at the hotel pool, so it's a waste to get the "commando tickets" for them.

On the other hand, this would be a good deal for an adults/teens family who can go-go-go without long rest breaks.

 

[truescorp]

Someone posted with a link to Hotelkingdom.com and thats where I saw the one bedroom villa for that price. I owe so much to the DIS boards!
And you know what Mrs Pete, we usually do "commando " trips anyway, with my 8 and 4 yr old, but on this one I'm gonna really try to relax, utilize this beautiful resort and room, knowing that we have 2 days free so we HAVE to make a return trip next year! I think we're just getting to the point of feeling we almost need to get a shot of the Disney magic at least once a year. And its really not all that expensive-you can make it as cheap or as expensive as you want in my opinion. Especially with $20 rooms at Marriott.

 

[Kallison]

Dh and I are going again in October for a conference and it would only be 200 less to do FTP over the AP's for the kids. We always regret not getting AP's for the kids -- so we are not doing FTP. We will go again in October by ourselves and probably take the kids for another long weekend in the dregs of winter. We are going in August for 10 days. Now my parents are taking the FTP, it is comparable to getting free passes for 7 days for them. It took me 2 hours to figure out all our options between 10 day hoppers, fun in the sun, and ap's for us and/or the kids! Vacation should not have to be this much work!!!!!!!!

 

[travelitis]

The cost difference would be negligible to me (we don't cook as much as we think we will.), but the hoppers and the privacy/extra space would seal the deal. We will stay on-site using our SOG rate when we need only 1 or 2 nts, but we head for a timeshare resort that's close but off-site.

 

[truescorp]

You mean you stay off site when you are going to be there longer than 2 nites? I assume thats what you mean, and I totally agree. Its one thing to be cooped up for 3 or 4 nites but for 7 nites, the sleep deprivation I would have from listening to my 8 yr old son and husband snore in such close proximity to me would make me exhausted during the day!

 

[rlduvall]

I finally see that mothers have the same problem as me; sleep deprivation from listening to husband and child snore. I can actually handle my husband's snoring, but my four year old will absolutely blow you out of the room. On our upcoming trip I have thought about going off-site with a suite, but I think the little one would enjoy ASSp so much. That is my loving sacrifice to him; but only for 4 nights, lol.

 

[truescorp]

Too true! Is your 4 year old a boy? Maybe its just a man thing But finding this suite for so reasonable this year, plus we belonged to RCI and stayed in a 3 bedroom villa in 2001, I'm afraid I will be spoiled and never stay on site again. It may be a case where next year if we do the cruise and just have 2 days of our passes left, we will splurge and get the bigger onsite rooms. Anyone know off hand which resorts have the biggest rooms?

 

[rlduvall]

truescorp:

Yes, the 4 year old is a boy, lol. Also, from my many years of research on WDW, I have read that Polynesian has the largest standard rooms. Anyone else agree, or disagree? Who are you cruising with? Husband and I just got back from RCCL cruise. It was wonderful. Make sure you go to cruisecritic.com for lots of information. I find that planning is the majority of the fun.