WDW all star resort pricing too high...

[ICF]

Ha! We obviously are VERY different people. Neither one of those scenarios are anything close to what I would consider a vacation. I refuse to cook on a Disney vacation. We love laying in our beds and watching TV in the AM and PM when we are waking up/winding down, but absolutely no need for a separate bedroom or family room, and we love having the other families/kids at the pool at the resort for our kids to play with.

Same goes for even a minute driving on any road, much less an interstate....not gonna happen, for us, on a Disney vacation. Disney, for us, is synonymous with not having to do ANYTHING that relates to everyday. No cooking, cleaning, driving, etc.

So glad there are so many choices out there for the varying ways people to choose to vacation!

OP - when are you going? My upcoming Pop reservation is about $95/night.

You are 100% correct, it is good there are so many choices, cause 4 people stuck in a room at Pop century isn't my idea of a vacation.

As to a couple of your other points....

I dont believe I ever once drove on an interstate while on vacation -- except for the drive from the airport to the townhouse. 90% of my driving was on Disney property...and easy as can be. I've still never seen this horrible traffic people speak of. I'm sure it's there....but not from Windsor Hills to Disney. Even the traffic we encountered on 192 when going someplace to eat or get groceries wasnt ever anything I considered bad.

WH has a huge pool and waterslide. Our group of 7 kids got plenty of swim time togeter there...both in that pool and in our own private pool (although 7 kids between 2-13, did make that a bit crowded...but still lots of fun). They also all got together to watch Brave (for free) in the resorts theater one raining afternoon when the tropical storm went thru.

The extent of our cooking at WH involved being able to re-heat left over Giordano's pizza and one day of making eggs for breakfast. It was however nice to have the kitchen and fridge to store the lunch meat, milk, juice, breads, cereals, drinks and the like so we didnt have to eat out 3 meals a day.

My wife and I stayed at Pop once for 4 nights -- that was fine space for 2 people....but not near enough space for how we like to vacation with the 2 kids, but Im glad it works for your family.

 

[lillygator]

We have stayed off site once and well, we likely will never do it again.


Because there are so many tourists driving in the Orlando area - I really don't stand to drive there. People change lanes at the drop of a hat, they fly across three lanes to make their exit in time, and then the people that forget how traffic signals and signs work.
We usually drive for at least one trip a year, and even then we take buses most times. If we are going out to a park for the entire day I don't mind - but you mix local traffic with tourist traffic and YOWZA - it gets hectic!


Much further off site than that, and I fear the magic would just be gone for us!

unfortunatley, they do this ALL over FL....it's drives us natives NUTS.

 

[lillygator]

Ha! We obviously are VERY different people. Neither one of those scenarios are anything close to what I would consider a vacation. I refuse to cook on a Disney vacation. We love laying in our beds and watching TV in the AM and PM when we are waking up/winding down, but absolutely no need for a separate bedroom or family room, and we love having the other families/kids at the pool at the resort for our kids to play with.

Same goes for even a minute driving on any road, much less an interstate....not gonna happen, for us, on a Disney vacation. Disney, for us, is synonymous with not having to do ANYTHING that relates to everyday. No cooking, cleaning, driving, etc.

So glad there are so many choices out there for the varying ways people choose to vacation!

OP - when are you going? My upcoming Pop reservation is about $95/night.

since we have found our hidden treasure on disney property, Bonnet Creek....that is where we stay....no way do I want to be in a small room at pop with 2 adults and 2 kids (well 3 now), this way they get there own room....dh and I can relax well into the nigth alone and there is a jacuzzi bathtub for 100-120 a night!!

Being local and AP holders we drive to the parks so that is not an issue......

over memorial day we stayed at okw for the weekend to visit friends...we booked a studio but magically were upgraded to the 1 bd...thank goodness!!! It was nice but doesn't compare to the privacy of a 2 bedroom...the kids had to sleep on the living room pull out. The only thing missing...is the disney room card and charging for me...

 

[maxiesmom]

I couldn't believe how high AS pricing was either when I was thinking of a trip in July for my DDs birthday. What happened to the days when the rooms were under $100 a night? Now we're looking at close to double that. Needless to say, I told DD it wasn't going to happen.

Where are you seeing that the rooms are almost $200 at the All Stars during July? I'm seeing they are $133 during the week and $158 on weekends.

 

[kajs22]

unfortunatley, they do this ALL over FL....it's drives us natives NUTS.

People drive crazy everywhere and it is very subjective. We live in NY so everywhere else is tame!!! There are benefits to both sides - it is really fun - fun - fun to stay onsite and have the immersion experience, but, it is also nice to stay offsite and have some room to breathe & peace away from the magic

 

[Eureka]

We are going in August and had a PIN code for the resorts. Our Pop Century room (regular, not preferred) is $90/night which includes all taxes. We drive and stay overnight on the way down, and usually pay more than that just at some Hampton Inn or equivalent off of I-95. There are four of us and yes, it's cramped in the value rooms, but we are barely in the room. We'd rather spend our money on the tickets and food.

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

I priced July standard Music with tax $1,108.53 for a week $160.00 avg night, too high for standard hotel room. It seems since the free WiFi and a fridge was put in the rooms have gone up accordingly.

The hook, line and sinker is free park parking, bus transportation and MH. Maybe for the first time visitor the perks work out. But, I think the cost is just getting out line for the dated rooms and crowded buses.

I liked the perks, but I like having money in my pocket, I'll stay onsite, if a room is priced accordingly.

 

[rantnnravin]

I priced July standard Music with tax $1,108.53 for a week $160.00 avg night, too high for standard hotel room. It seems since the free WiFi and a fridge was put in the rooms have gone up accordingly.

The hook, line and sinker is free park parking, bus transportation and MH. Maybe for the first time visitor the perks work out. But, I think the cost is just getting out line for the dated rooms and crowded buses.

I liked the perks, but I like having money in my pocket, I'll stay onsite, if a room is priced accordingly.

Unlike most hotels, Disney is not a "last-minute deal" type of set-up. Your best deals are going to be a few months in advance. You can save a pretty significant amount using resort discount codes. But no, if you make last minute plans, you'll pay rack rate (retail).

 

[maxiesmom]

I priced July standard Music with tax $1,108.53 for a week $160.00 avg night, too high for standard hotel room. It seems since the free WiFi and a fridge was put in the rooms have gone up accordingly.

The hook, line and sinker is free park parking, bus transportation and MH. Maybe for the first time visitor the perks work out. But, I think the cost is just getting out line for the dated rooms and crowded buses.

Part of the problem you have is when you are going. During the summer when the kids are out of school the prices are a bit higher. The rooms at the All Stars cost as little as $85 a night if you go during value season. Just like most resorts when the demand goes up so do the prices.

Also, I'm not sure why you are calling the rooms dated. Disney has been refurbishing rooms like crazy, and the All Stars were all redone within the last few years. They seem to be making their way through all of the resorts at a pretty good pace, freshening everything up.

 

[nugov2]

However---you dont get 3 BR, a full kitchen, seperate family room and your own private pool. All of which you'll get a Windsor Hills -- for $100 or night or less. We paid about $80 when we went the first week of June. The house was totally Disney. Disney ice cubes, knobs on cabinets, bedding, pictures on the wall...etc

And IMO, Disney buses are much more of a pain then driving myself. When driving from the parks to WH -- I spent about 2 mins on 192 and the rest of the time on Disney property. I also control the air and know I'll be able to sit down too!!

I don't think people who stay exclusively on site understand this. We used the valet lot at CR and were in and home from the parks in 25 minutes and that included walking to our car. The waits to get onto the monorails was typically at 20+ minutes(didn't notice the bus wait time). I basically was home when you were just getting onto the monorail. You can come and go as many times as you want once you valet...so mid day nap, no problem(and you can come and go even if you park in the main lot). We had reservations on site every day but one and we never left more than 30 minutes early and were on time...every time. There was no traffic. When we had CM resies there was a little wait to get into CR because it was at 10:30, but that was minimal and the same wait you would have had taking a WDW bus. I have stayed both(I will admit it had a been a long time since I was onsite) and for our family at the ages they are off site was more enjoyable. We stay in hotels for mini vacations and staycations all the time, but for more than a couple of days I need the space and my kids want the space. It just makes it more enjoyable. This was the first time with the kids at WDW we have a family of 5 (2,6 and 8). I figured the house would give us more flexibility. When we were home at night I can still be up relaxing poolside with a drink while the kids are sleeping away in their own room. We didn't change the budget of our trip, just put our savings into more fun stuff. So to have $2,000 more to spend on tours, Character Meals etc. I think for us it was a better use of our money. I know my kids loved all those extras and still felt immersed in WDW because of the house theming.

I totally get why people stay on stie at deluxes...it is nice, I don't think that it isn't. When my kids are older I will put more money into a deluxe and less into the other stuff, because at those ages I don't think they will care as much about CM(at least as many as we did), bbb makeovers and a lot of the activities we paid for. I just don't think you are getting much value at a value when you can be just as close off site, have nicer accommodations and the same perks. There are tons of off site locations where you are immersed in WDW theming, you can hit a resort everyday for meals(and unless it is your home resort be there just as quick) and participate in pretty much all resort activities(except swim in pools). Again, this was just us, but my kids like the private pool...we never even went to the big pool at WH. Oh, WH does have a park shuttle, so technically there is transportation to the parks off site as well

 

[Pembo]

Driving in Orlando is tough but staying at WH, the drive was short using Sherberth road and no traffic. The only place we went besides Disney was the grocery store on the way back to WH. Cooking at WH for me is a frozen pizza or making sandwiches and of course cereal. When we stayed at Pop, I also had cereal and made sandwiches. It is so much nicer to make a sandwich in a kitchen than on the bed at Pop.

We used the main pool at WH ALOT. We stayed in a condo so no private pool. My kids had a lot of fun with other kids there and the slide was awesome. (No slide at the values)

The other bonus was the washer and dryer. After a VERY wet day at the parks it was great to put our shoes in the dryer and have dry feet after a mid-day break. For me, that was priceless.

All that said, this last trip was spring break week and we stayed on site for EMH, which was well worth it. We were there when the MK was open early every day for resort guests.

Onsite and offsite for us are different vacations and we like them both. I did find that offsite was much more relaxing however.

 

[nugov2]

Driving in Orlando is tough but staying at WH, the drive was short using Sherberth road and no traffic. The only place we went besides Disney was the grocery store on the way back to WH. Cooking at WH for me is a frozen pizza or making sandwiches and of course cereal. When we stayed at Pop, I also had cereal and made sandwiches. It is so much nicer to make a sandwich in a kitchen than on the bed at Pop.
We used the main pool at WH ALOT. We stayed in a condo so no private pool. My kids had a lot of fun with other kids there and the slide was awesome. (No slide at the values)

The other bonus was the washer and dryer. After a VERY wet day at the parks it was great to put our shoes in the dryer and have dry feet after a mid-day break. For me, that was priceless.

All that said, this last trip was spring break week and we stayed on site for EMH, which was well worth it. We were there when the MK was open early every day for resort guests.

Onsite and offsite for us are different vacations and we like them both. I did find that offsite was much more relaxing however.

Us too, we never cooked. We ate at the resorts every day. The perk was the kids could eat yogurt or a little cereal at an actual table to hold them off while we were showering and getting ready and then waiting for our table at the restaurant. I didn't feel the need to throw on clothes and hurry down to eat b/c the kids were starving and we didn't have much to give them until we were dressed. The only time we cooked was on one of our chill days. We grilled hamburgers and hung poolside all day. It was at the second to last day of our trip and a welcome change after eating out for 7 days in a restaurant We actually cancelled an ADR so we could do this. We also brought sandwiches for my little guy into the park every day b/c he is picky plus lots of snack options that we could store in the fridge or freeze to bring into the park as well with a house. There isn't a lot of room in a hotel fridge and I doubt you'd have luck freezing much of anything in one. Then we just packed a small cooler with frozen water and Gatorade instead of ice packs and through the snacks sandwiches in and they were nice and cold by the time we were ready to sit down and eat lunch at a CS restaurant.

 

[MinnieVanMom]

I did a google search for windsor hills and come up with the website but I dont' see where they give a price. We are a party of 8, 3 different families and would like to find a good deal on a house for week.

 

[mrsabbott]

There are a number of different websites that rent condos and townhomes for Windsor Hills. I think the best deal is vacationcentralflorida.com. They rent 2 and 3 bedroom condos and 3 bedroom townhomes. All of them have a big Disney theme. Prices vary depending on when you stay but they often have deals for as low as $199 a week for a condo. I believe that the 3br ones will sleep 8 easily.

 

[Pembo]

I did a google search for windsor hills and come up with the website but I dont' see where they give a price. We are a party of 8, 3 different families and would like to find a good deal on a house for week.

I used Windsorhillsrent.com. You put in your dates and get lots of emails from those who have availability. Go to the Orlando boards on the DIS for more info.