Well, I did it ...

[san2ting2mom]

OK, so I went ahead and decided on a resort and finally called and made our reservations today.

We are going to stay at the POR from May 21-28. Room-only price for two adults and two children (ages 5 and 2) came out to be $983, with the AAA discount. The CSR was very nice and encouraged me to call back periodically to see if there were any discount codes that could be applied to our stay.

And thanks to the comments I read on this board, I requested a room in Magnolia Bend or Oak Manor. The AB portion just didn't do it for me -- I ain't a swamp kinda gal, haha.

Also, our younger daughter will turn 3 on the trip (May 25), and the CSR said that there still would be no charge for her, because it's all dependent on the child's age upon check-in. Woo-hoo!!!

So the wheels are in motion! Thanks to this board, I think I've made the best decision for our family vacation. If only my kids and hubby would appreciate how much "hard work" I put into doing all this research ... man, if only all hard work could be so fun and enjoyable!!!

Linda
(love the dancing banana!)

 

[rcraw45425]

Congratulations and welcome to the DIS! I love him too! Now you need to start thinking about where you want to eat and look at www.allearsnet.com for the restaurant menus. They are prety darn accurate and will give you an idea of food types and prices. great when you have kids, they know what's there ahead of time. Enjoy!

 

[san2ting2mom]

Thanks, Robin! I am very excited about booking a character meal on 5/25, since that is my daughter's birthday. She and her sister are not into princesses that much, so I guess it will have to be something with Mickey/Minnie or the Pooh characters.

Also, I'm hoping that maybe the discount codes will make it worthwhile for us to pay a bit more and upgrade to the AKL. I am checking out lots of pictures online, and the more I see of the AKL, the more I fall in love with it, but right now, with only the AAA discount (10 percent off regular rates, so it's $1678 for the 7-night hotel stay), it's hard to justify the additional costs, kwim? So I will just wait and see, but even if we do stay at the POR, I'm sure we will still be extremely happy, what from all the great reviews I've read about it on this board.

Linda

 

[rcraw45425]

Have you concidered purchasing one Annual Pass and using it to get the AP discounts? I purchased a voucher after we came home from our October trip, was going to hold off activating it until we had used up the remaining days on our hopper tickets. Well, I went on and activated it for our trip lst week, it allowed me to book the Yacht Club for $227 a night tax included,that was for a standard view room, then I got a free upgrade to lagoon view. The rack rate for that room would have been ~$395 a night. I paid for my AP on what I saved. I also was able to purchase the DDE (Disney Dining Experience) card for$50 which gives 20% discount for sit down restaurants at the parks and resorts. I saved quite a bit on this trip. I just booked a garden view room at the GF for ~$350 during peak, rack rate is $511 a night there again I'm saving a bundle on that trip. You might want to check into it. HTH,

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

Woohoo, Linda! I still think you should wait until November and go with me. Definitely let me know how POR is...if you do decide to stay there.

I know you'll have a wonderful trip!

Melinda

 

[MagicKingdom05]

san2ting2mom,

You should really think about getting an AP. It is saving me $1000 on my Feb/March, and I am able to stay at Poly for 5 nights of the trip which I normally wouldn't beable to.

AP rates are guaranteed, but when they do come out, you might be very surprised at the savings.

 

[LglBlonde]

You might want to wait until at least early to mid-March before deciding whether to purchase an AP. Last year codes came out in early March. I know our late May/early June stay at POFQ was about $680 for 5 nts (King room).