Totally dumbfounded WDW is cheaper...

[ballarinamom]

WHOAH. I had no idea there was smoking in the WDW park! Funny I picked that out first!

I have been to hotels with bolted furniture...it also included used soap, mysterious hairs on the sheets & a pink toilet. But I was in college & looking for a deal!

They don't allow smoking. But it seemed like everywhere we went someone was throwing a butt on the ground for us to walk on.
We stayed at All Star Movies becuase DD is used to the Disney theming at the DLH. ASM was the only hotel to offer Disney themeing no matter how much you were willing to pay. That was dissapointing

 

[CoolPool]

Everytime I look at airfare it is about $500 per person from the Bay Area. So that right there is $2000 for 4 people.

This August I paid $229 round trip nonstop on Delta LAX/MCO. No special deal, no special website. I think you might want to look again.
***
Look I'm an AP holder at DL and we love to go down there, but WDW is a total vacation experience in a way that DLR cannot approach due to size limitations/location.

Last week we stayed one night in the DLH and it was a lot of fun. Love the pool there! But in the morning there was a letter letting us know we could book an additional night at $129. That ticked me off a bit; if they had given me that rate upfront, I'd have booked 3 nights at the resort. The GCH pricing is ridiculous for vacationers; the good rates go to conventions. Vacationers are not as welcome at the DLR hotels. They are chasing a different market than WDW.

Keep in mind too that WDW is an international destination. You see a lot more Europeans and South Americans there spending weeks at the resorts. DLR, frankly, seems a lot more like Walt's hokey local-yokel first try compared to the total atmosphere at WDW.

 

[carebee21]

Just to clarify, I was just touching more on Walmart is going to offer a better price than say a mom and pop shop because they sell more volume. They order more volume and get a better price and therefore give a better price just based on the volume they do. I wasn't even touching on the walmart rudeness or vacation mentality.

We went to Disneyworld for 12 days in January and we enjoyed ourselves. It's really hard to compare the 2 places because they really are 2 completely different experiences. We love Disneyland and it was more magical to me, but I think that's because I have the memories there from when I was a child. I do agree that that Disneyworld parks felt more touristy, aand could use a bit of a better upkeep to stay clean but that would be kind of nit picking (however I'm sure disneyland would have the same issues if the attendance was higher). But the attractions themselves were fine and clean and well kept, the resort was amazing and beautiful (we stayed at Port Orleans Riverside) the restaraunts and food were all wonderful. All in all, it was a wonderful vacation and experience and if we ever have the chance to do it again especially with the deal we had (we did the buy 4 days, get 3 free plus a $200 giftcard), I certainly wouldn't hesitate.

 

[mhconley]

The three of us spent 7 days and 8 nights in a courtyard view room at WL in WDW last August with free dining, park-hoppers, etc. We paid just over $4.4k. Airfare was free thanks to United's Mileage Plus program. Incidentals while we were there added about another $400.

This year we have reserved 5 days and 5 nights at DLH in a DTD view room in late September on the 5 for 3 plan with park-hoppers but no dining. We paid just under $1.7k. We are driving from the San Francisco Bay area. I expect our food and souvenirs to run $150-250 daily so were looking at about $1.25k there brining our total to just under $3k.

Very comparable when you leave out transportation to and from Anaheim or Orlando.

Martin

 

[loumanchoe]

8

 

[Krissy Marissy]

They don't allow smoking. But it seemed like everywhere we went someone was throwing a butt on the ground for us to walk on.
We stayed at All Star Movies becuase DD is used to the Disney theming at the DLH. ASM was the only hotel to offer Disney themeing no matter how much you were willing to pay. That was dissapointing

I have seen a lot of smoking recently at DLR. In fact...this last tuesday we went to a bugs land area to change the kiddies into their swim suits and the people coming out of the family restroom before us had JUST been smoking in there. I gagged and we waited for the other one to open. Other families were complaining about it too. I wish Disney would ban smoking at ALL of their parks. Such a hassle for those of us who do not wish to smell that nasty smoke!


Also which hotel had furniture chained to the wall? I have stayed at quite a few of the WDW resorts, tree house villas (before remodel), Grand Floridian, Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge, Wilderness Lodge villas and the Contemporary. I dont recall furniture being chained down

 

[PinkBudgie]

This August I paid $229 round trip nonstop on Delta LAX/MCO. No special deal, no special website. I think you might want to look again.

That is an amazing price!
I just checked trip advisor's flight finder for Oakland to Orlando for second week of November (since when we go, we want to go around that time) and it lists all the major airlines. None of them are non stop. That stinks. If you don't want to take mulitple airlines for one trip, the cheapest one stop is Delta for $483. If we wanted two stops we could go for $268 but that would be an 11 hour trip! Compaired to the price of driving down, it is much cheaper to get to DLR. It may be that leaving from the bay area is more expensive than LAX or the time of year or just some random price fluxuation. When we are really ready to go I will be watching the prices for deals. But I don't really want to travel for 11 hours when it should only take 5, and that isn't counting the two hour drive to the airport from our house.

Edited to add- I just did a search for the same dates from LAX and they are about half the price of San Fransisco and Oakland for non stop. Now I have something else to outraged about!

 

[carebee21]

That is an amazing price!
I just checked trip advisor's flight finder for Oakland to Orlando for second week of November (since when we go, we want to go around that time) and it lists all the major airlines. None of them are non stop. That stinks. If you don't want to take mulitple airlines for one trip, the cheapest one stop is Delta for $483. If we wanted two stops we could go for $268 but that would be an 11 hour trip! Compaired to the price of driving down, it is much cheaper to get to DLR. It may be that leaving from the bay area is more expensive than LAX or the time of year or just some random price fluxuation. When we are really ready to go I will be watching the prices for deals. But I don't really want to travel for 11 hours when it should only take 5, and that isn't counting the two hour drive to the airport from our house.

Edited to add- I just did a search for the same dates from LAX and they are about half the price of San Fransisco and Oakland for non stop. Now I have something else to outraged about!

I just did a search on kayak.com and pulled up Nov 7- Nov 14 out of San Francisco is $260/pp with taxes and fees on both airtran and american airlines with just 1 stop. And if you go the next week, Nov 14-21 out of SF it's $335/pp with taxes and fees on Delta via Orbitz. Not sure about your specific dates, I just typed in Sat-Sat but there are some ok deals if you're looking to fly.

 

[Krissy Marissy]

I think when booking airfare for olando it is essential that you book early! Those prices jump around a lot and never seem to come as low as they were the first time you looked.

 

[CoolPool]

You know something else? Those Delta nonstop flights feature the little TV in the seatback so everybody gets their own little bubble universe during the flight. With 2 kids, that's priceless! I hope you get some good prices...I was told by a Delta employee that they fluctuate a lot during the week online; you have to look everyday and several times a day for the best price. I waited 3 weeks to buy and knew that I wasn't going to get better than $201+tax.

(The United nonstop flights don't in my experience have the TVs.)

 

[DLR29]

Edited to add- I just did a search for the same dates from LAX and they are about half the price of San Fransisco and Oakland for non stop. Now I have something else to outraged about!

Maybe driving down to LA the night before might be cheaper in the long run then?

Yep, we keep looking for flights for our June trip too. We are going with my cousins who live in So. Cal, so if the LAX flights are that much cheaper, maybe we'll go from there.

 

[disfan07]

I like WDW more than DL. But thast because i was raised with WDW b/c we lived in Virginia until last year. My first trip to WDW was when i was 6 months old and ive been 19 times. For me, WDW does have more (at least that i like) and DL is just kind of a fill-in until i can go back to WDW next year.

From virginia, we were able to go to WDW for 7 nights (Dec 19th-26th) for $2700 total...3 adults, Caribbean Beach Resort, Airfare, 7 day PH tickets and Food and souvineirs.

I mean, don't get me wrong...I like DL well enough....but for me it will never compare to WDW and i don't personally think we would ever consider payign as much to go to DL as we do for WDW....it's not worth it to us
Even though we could go to DL once a month since we live an hour away now, we would prefer to go maybe twice, three times at the most for 1 or 2 nights each so that we can go to WDW instead

 

[PinkBudgie]

You know something else? Those Delta nonstop flights feature the little TV in the seatback so everybody gets their own little bubble universe during the flight. With 2 kids, that's priceless! I hope you get some good prices...I was told by a Delta employee that they fluctuate a lot during the week online; you have to look everyday and several times a day for the best price. I waited 3 weeks to buy and knew that I wasn't going to get better than $201+tax.

(The United nonstop flights don't in my experience have the TVs.)

I'll keep that in mind about Delta. They seem to be cheaper than United anyway. Just for fun I put looked to see how much it would be at WDW this November. Poly wasn't even available. Animal lodge was over $4,000 for 7 nights for four including parkhopper but not water parks. POR was $2500 for the same package. But I want to stay at the Poly so I guess we better keep saving.

I realize also the reason WDW is more expensive besides airfare is because you want to stay longer than you do at DLR. Although we did stay a week at DLR this summer off site and it was $1200 for the hotel for the week. And we already had APs from the previous summer so no need to buy tickets.

As far as preference, it seems to depend on what park you grew up with. But I've always wanted to see WDW to decide for myself.

 

[bumbershoot]

As far as preference, it seems to depend on what park you grew up with. But I've always wanted to see WDW to decide for myself.

I think I'll love WDW like a parent loves his/her kids. The kids are loved the same, but maybe for different reasons, or different specifics.

As for park preference, my brother grew up (with me) with occasional DL trips...but now it's all gotten skewed over to WDW, b/c he spent HS there and did Grad Night there! (didn't go on any rides, b/c that's not what GN is all about, he said, yikes!) Now? The child (OK fine he's 37, whatever) calls DL "Magic Kingdom"! I have never called it the MK, not once, not even as a child, it was Disneyland! (and now it's Disneyland Resort, or a more specific thing if I'm only talking about a particular bit of it, but never Disneyland=Magic Kingdom!) Sigh...little brothers, what CAN you do with them?

 

[Krissy Marissy]

I grew up going to disneyland at a young age, first trip was at 4 and went each year after. We went to WDW when I was 9 and then again when I was like 14, then every year after. Even though I have been to disneyland more than triple the times I have been to WDW I still prefer WDW. I think I always will. Just much more to offer over there.

 

[Albort]

Simple, Cost of living.

DLR's average salary is like $2-3 more than WDW...
then again, rent in Florida is super cheap too...

it also has to do with the supply and demand... WDW has more hotels, more space to hold more people. hence, competition...

 

[CoolPool]

I'll keep that in mind about Delta. They seem to be cheaper than United anyway. Just for fun I put looked to see how much it would be at WDW this November. Poly wasn't even available. Animal lodge was over $4,000 for 7 nights for four including parkhopper but not water parks. POR was $2500 for the same package. But I want to stay at the Poly so I guess we better keep saving.

I realize also the reason WDW is more expensive besides airfare is because you want to stay longer than you do at DLR. Although we did stay a week at DLR this summer off site and it was $1200 for the hotel for the week. And we already had APs from the previous summer so no need to buy tickets.

As far as preference, it seems to depend on what park you grew up with. But I've always wanted to see WDW to decide for myself.

You want the Poly??? I love it...check Magical Vacations Travel dot com. I stayed at the Poly 2 years ago on a special block rate from them. They are offering one this November too; maybe it can help you out.

Poly was the resort we used every year when I was a kid. We've branched out to the AKL and most recently the Yacht Club and they were equally as great. YC has a wonderful pool...! I pretty much pick my resort based on the pool.

 

[rangermom]

I think it depends on your personal memories and experiences as to which one like. If you fell in love with Disney Theme Parks at DL, then you might be more bias to DL over WDW and vice versa. My first trip ever was in 1993 when my HS band attended Magic Music Days at DL. I was hooked. In 1995 my band then went WDW for the same event, I really enjoyed it but I had fond memories of DL. When we started going as a family in 2007 we went to WDW and then bought DVC. I was completely hooked to WDW, and we had great family memories there. As a family we have been to WDW 3 times and are now planning our 2nd trip to DL. DS loves Disneyland more and DH loves WDW more. I love both, if we were to look at each park separately (ie, MK, DLR, DCA, AK, EPCOT, and DHS) I am a DLR and MK girl. No matter if we are in FL or CA I have to start my trips at those 2 parks.

DH felt that DL was actually dirtier than WDW and he does not like that that we are not completely immersed in Disney for the entire trip. When we go to WDW we typicall use Disney transportation only and never leave the property for a week. Again, it's all what your preference is and what you want your experience to be.

As to the chained beds... were the headboards bolted to the wall? The poster that mentioned this stayed at ASM. This is a Value resort, which is a like Motel 6 Disney style. I have never stayed there, but my understanding is that they are not a full bed frame, but headboards which need to be bolted to the wall to stand up.

I have stayed at Moderate and Deluxe resorts and the beds are not bolted to the wall. You can not compare the DL resorts to the Value resorts at WDW, they are apples and oranges.

Where ever everyone goes, I am sure we will all have fun. It's Disney!

 

[caligirl stuck in va]

I live in Virginia (for the past 11 years) and still haven't been to WDW. However, we have been to DLR twice and plan to go back in 2010. I do want to try WDW one day, but when I start pricing a WDW trip it adds up fast. WDW tickets are WAY more expensive than DLR tickets (and WDW tickets only seem to be "worth it" if you can do like 8 days and we can't - Disney is not stupid, look how much 8 days hotel/food costs! The tickets get "cheaper" at that point, but they are reaping the high profit of food). So, even though we could drive to WDW and would have to fly to DLR, we still don't feel like we can afford WDW like we can DLR.

 

[PinkBudgie]

I think I'll love WDW like a parent loves his/her kids. The kids are loved the same, but maybe for different reasons, or different specifics.

As for park preference, my brother grew up (with me) with occasional DL trips...but now it's all gotten skewed over to WDW, b/c he spent HS there and did Grad Night there! (didn't go on any rides, b/c that's not what GN is all about, he said, yikes!) Now? The child (OK fine he's 37, whatever) calls DL "Magic Kingdom"! I have never called it the MK, not once, not even as a child, it was Disneyland! (and now it's Disneyland Resort, or a more specific thing if I'm only talking about a particular bit of it, but never Disneyland=Magic Kingdom!) Sigh...little brothers, what CAN you do with them?

That's a good point about about loving them each differently. I'm sure I'd be the same way too.

I have noticed that people who are used to WDW call Disneyland "Magic Kingdom" because that's what it is over there. But in my opinion, that would be like calling their Magic Kingdom, Disneyland. Over here, magic kingdom is more descriptive like "Disneyland-The Magic Kingdom".

Oh well, I can't get to WDW this November. Too many job things going on. I'm thinking DH and I will go after the boys graduate in 2012. That will be our present to us for getting them through school! Although, 2012 is when all the DCA changes are supposed to be finished and of course I want to see that also!