Torturing myself with decision

[Mmouse1588]

We typically do a 7 night stay deluxe with 6 day hopper. We have a lot of other expenses going on this year home repairs.. weddings etc.. so my husband said we need to keep disney budget low this year. So I booked 7 night stay at port orleans riverside with free dining. I've stayed here many times as a child and loved it. The total was $3,600 and we found that acceptable. Now that the current room discount offer is ending soon im beginning to second guess it. Is that "free dining" for my husband 4 year old son and i worth it.

I found that if i change our reservation to 6 nights, get rid of hopper just do 6 day base and move to pop century wed save $1,250. Wed save $1,400 if we moved to all star. we would no longer have free dining just the room discount.

I am fine with losing the hopper and staying 1 day less. Im questioning the loss of the dining plan.

Is it worth the change or will we be spending close to that on food anyways and should have kept the dining plan and nicer hotel with longer stay and hopper?

 

[5kidsmommy]

So a couple questions. Are you planning on doing a bunch of character meals? Will you order food from a grocery service to supplement food bought in the park? I find it's super easy to save money especially on breakfast by ordering some stuff online. It would really depend on how much you plan on eating. I'd do a dining calculator and see how much you'll be spending out of pocket on food. It also depends on which All Star you are staying at. Movies is done being renovated, Music is partially renovated and they haven't started on Sports yet. So at Sports and Music you might just have full beds. We just got back from our first stay in an unrenovated room at music and we slept in seperate beds because full beds are too small.

Pop is fully renovated and has queen beds plus the skyliner which is a nice perk.

 

[Mmouse1588]

Thank you for the hotel feed back. I am appreciate it. So we usually do a lot of dining but bc were trying to keep cost down, we are planning 1 character breakfast and thats it. I planned on ordering groceries for most breakfasts to be in room. I really should do a dining calculator i guess and see what the "real" savings are.

 

[5kidsmommy]

Thank you for the hotel feed back. I am appreciate it. So we usually do a lot of dining but bc were trying to keep cost down, we are planning 1 character breakfast and thats it. I planned on ordering groceries for most breakfasts to be in room. I really should do a dining calculator i guess and see what the "real" savings are.

I will be honest. We had our first stay at a value resort. It was nice. It was clean. I wasn't a fan of the lines at the bus stops, it just wasn't what I was used to. We only had a two night stay and it was just my husband and I. We didn't spend much time in the room. I could totally go back to a value (with queen beds) for a couple of nice stay. We didn't use the pools so the loss of the hot tub and slides wasn't a big deal on this trip. Had I always stayed at value hotels it wouldn't have been a big deal but I did notice a difference. The rooms are tiny, like really small. I could hear the people loud and clear in the room next to us and various toilets throughout the night. Once again had I always stayed in values I might not have been bugged by this.If you haven't stayed in one before you should probably know these things.

As far as dining we usually find paying out of pocket especially when we aren't doing a lot of table service works out better but if you have a drink or two a day once again the dining plan might make more sense. We have a trip coming up in September and I am going to sit down and look at the menus one by one and figure out how much I'll really be spending.

Good luck! And I hope you don't mind my honesty. The values are nice just really different from deluxe accomedations.

 

[Gehrig1B]

The DDP would never save us money. I would drop it and enjoy Disney while dining where, when, what, and how you want without being tied to a plan. Dining calculators can't really take into account how you will choose to eat without the plan. Share an entree? Appetizers, no dessert? Pasta instead of steak and lobster? Lots of variables make it easy to eat well at Disney for a lot less money than the DDP costs.

 

[disneyseniors]

It sounds like you are talking yourself into Pop or the Movies? LOL!
The cost you describe is alot if you are trying to save money. The dining plan is subject to your eating habits/wants. If you love the character meals with children then that is a big savings. However, you are only doing one, so.
IMO, I would go for the cheaper route on the resorts. The dining plan? It depends on what you want to eat and where.
We used to be "that family" that only used the dining plan, for years. Now the kids are grown, and we don't eat as much. Character dining is not important for us, so we save alot of money by eating out of pocket. I guess it depends on your eating habits, but it was a money saver for us. When the DP first came out, Wow, it was great. Now, not so much IMO.
Hope this helps

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

We are grandparents taking our 4 year old grandson this May. We're staying at a value resort this trip because of our grandson's age. There is no telling how kids will respond, but we're betting he will want to be more active in the parks than previous years so we only want a place to sleep and shower. We also aren't doing the dining plan because he's not a big eater and has not been interested in meeting the characters in previous trips - like the pp said, a few character meals make the dining plan worth it. Otherwise, we haven't done the dining plan the last few trips.

 

[Mmouse1588]

Your all helping thanks. We dont drink alcohol. And we are big ice water drinkers esp in September in Florida. I am a bit worried about the difference between value and deluxe but deluxe is not on the table this stay. Supposedly were going during a slow time (we've gone this time in past and it was slow) which is the week of labor day. So i was not concerning myself with the busses too much. I miss typed and we have free quick service not sit down dining currently with our port orleans reservation.

 

[Wild4Walt]

So with the change to Pop ( I'd go Pop over All Stars for location and Skyliner ) you save 208.33 a night ( based on 6 nights ). If it were me, I'd look at it and figure out if my party would spend 208.33 a day on food. My husband and I typically don't spend the 150.00 that the dining plan usually costs for 2.

As far as the change from a Deluxe to a Value - it is a much different experience. Not bad by any means, just different. I'd recommend watching some youtube videos of walk throughs so you know what to expect.

 

[Mmouse1588]

I think wed spend 125 dollars a day on food as a estimate with the exception of the one character breakfast day would be more.

 

[Disneylover99]

Your all helping thanks. We dont drink alcohol. And we are big ice water drinkers esp in September in Florida. I am a bit worried about the difference between value and deluxe but deluxe is not on the table this stay. Supposedly were going during a slow time (we've gone this time in past and it was slow) which is the week of labor day. So i was not concerning myself with the busses too much. I miss typed and we have free quick service not sit down dining currently with our port orleans reservation.

If you don’t drink alcohol and prefer ice water, you’re not going to spend much on counter service for two adults and a four year old. I’d drop fd, stay at Pop and eat what you want.

 

[SaintsManiac]

We do Pop or deluxe. I'm not a fan of mods. Pop is great in that it is compact. Dedicated buses AND the Skyliner. I think it's a good choice for you, especially with that savings. You'll probably spend half of that 1250 on food.

 

[Miffy]

@Mmouse1588--The difference between Mod and Value is pretty big, too. My own dining style doesn't lend itself to any of the Disney dining plans, but that doesn't mean the same is true for you. Have you checked the Mod resorts for your dates to see what the room-only offers are? It might be that dropping the dining plan would save you money in a Mod as well.

If you're used to staying Deluxe, Value is a huge change. The room will be much smaller and the noise factor is, to me, a big consideration. I don't know what Pop is like, but I've stayed at the All Stars and if I were a spy whose assignment was to listen in on the people in the next room, I wouldn't need to plant a microphone or even lean up against the adjoining wall with my ear to a glass. I could just hang out on the bed and take notes.

The hopper is a separate question. I'm a huge park hopper and would be loath to give this up. If I had to choose between a Value resort with a hopper or a Mod with no hopper, I'd choose the Value + hopper, hands down.

Edited to fix mistake!

 

[Mmouse1588]

@Mmouse1588--The difference between Mod and Value is pretty big, too. My own dining style doesn't lend itself to any of the Disney dining plans, but that doesn't mean the same is true for you. Have you checked the Mod resorts for your dates to see what the room-only offers are? It might be that dropping the dining plan would save you money in a Mod as well.

If you're used to staying Deluxe, Value is a huge change. The room will be much smaller and the noise factor is, to me, a big consideration. I don't know what Pop is like, but I've stayed at the All Stars and if I were a spy whose assignment was to listen in on the people in the next room, I wouldn't need to plant a microphone or even lean up against the adjoining wall with my ear to a glass. I could just hang out on the bed and take notes.

The hopper is a separate question. I'm a huge park hopper and would be loath to give this up. If I had to choose between a Value resort with a hopper or a Mod with no hopper, I'd choose the Value + hopper, hands down.

Edited to fix mistake!

Good to know about the thin walls. We are light sleepers. However, I looked into staying at the same moderate or a different moderate. And it would really not save us very much money wed might as well stay with the original plan. The savings would be in Staying at a value One less day and getting rid of the hopper.
The thing that's bothering me the most is losing the Dining Plan that I'm supposedly getting for free. Making me think I'm not really saving as much money moving to a value because of the loss of the Dining Plan. I don't know.

 

[Mmouse1588]

We do Pop or deluxe. I'm not a fan of mods. Pop is great in that it is compact. Dedicated buses AND the Skyliner. I think it's a good choice for you, especially with that savings. You'll probably spend half of that 1250 on food.

Do you find the rooms are loud?

 

[MomOfDisneyPrincess]

Here is how I would look at it. Let's take the Pop savings of $1250. You don't care about losing park hopper, but you do lose one day and dining. You said you would spend $125 per day on food, times 6 equals $750, plus $100 for a character buffet, would be $850 for food. So the $1250 savings minus $850 for food is only a $400 savings. You didn't specify if that loss of a day was resort only or resort plus park tickets. If that $400 represents one resort day, plus one day of food, plus a park ticket, PLUS staying at a nicer resort for the whole week and getting park hopper thrown in, suddenly it doesn't seem worth changing your original plans.

This is coming from someone who loves Pop Century, doesn't buy into the dining plan anymore and doesn't bother with park hopping. If I had your decision to make, I think we'd be staying at POR this time!

 

[Mmouse1588]

Here is how I would look at it. Let's take the Pop savings of $1250. You don't care about losing park hopper, but you do lose one day and dining. You said you would spend $125 per day on food, times 6 equals $750, plus $100 for a character buffet, would be $850 for food. So the $1250 savings minus $850 for food is only a $400 savings. You didn't specify if that loss of a day was resort only or resort plus park tickets. If that $400 represents one resort day, plus one day of food, plus a park ticket, PLUS staying at a nicer resort for the whole week and getting park hopper thrown in, suddenly it doesn't seem worth changing your original plans.

This is coming from someone who loves Pop Century, doesn't buy into the dining plan anymore and doesn't bother with park hopping. If I had your decision to make, I think we'd be staying at POR this time!

Yes your right this is why i feel like its not worth changing. I think this is the response i wanted to confirm what i already know. Im not saving as much as i orginally thought

 

[Ensusieasm]

Port Orleans Riverside is my favorite resort, and I’ve stayed at several deluxe resorts. My advice is to stay at POR. You don’t need the quick service meal plan or hoppers unless the special price including those works out better for you than a room only deal.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Good to know about the thin walls. We are light sleepers. However, I looked into staying at the same moderate or a different moderate. And it would really not save us very much money wed might as well stay with the original plan. The savings would be in Staying at a value One less day and getting rid of the hopper.
The thing that's bothering me the most is losing the Dining Plan that I'm supposedly getting for free. Making me think I'm not really saving as much money moving to a value because of the loss of the Dining Plan. I don't know.

If you are a light sleeper, I would not recommend the value resorts. We stayed at AoA a few years ago and I barely slept a wink because I heard everything - the walls are super thin. It was not enjoyable at all. I would stick with your original plan!

 

[Mmouse1588]

If you are a light sleeper, I would not recommend the value resorts. We stayed at AoA a few years ago and I barely slept a wink because I heard everything - the walls are super thin. It was not enjoyable at all. I would stick with your original plan!

Yea i dont want that. Last summer the trip waa rough bc we shared a room with my MIL and she waited till the airport to tell me she snores really bad. And omg did she. Had to rush order ear plugs