What to do....rent a DVC room or hope for free dining?!?!?! HELP!!

[disfan1084]

Okay, we are planning a trip for September of 2014 and here is my problem. There will be 5 adults (2 couples and one single) a 4 year old and a 2 year old. Because we are going in September, we are thinking Disney may offer a free dining plan. We don't know if we should stay in a moderate resort (everyone getting separate rooms) and hopefully get a free dining plan or if we should rent a DVC room from an online broker and NOT get the possible free dining plan. The reason we are trying to decide now is because we need to book our DVC room one year out (September 2013) if that is the route we take. Are there ANY suggestions out there?!?!?!? PLEASE HELP ME DECIDE WHAT TO DO!!!!!

 

[jennylyn_b]

Okay this is in my opinion an easy decision. Get the rack room rate for the rooms at your desired hotel no discounts. Get the cost for the dining plan. Get the cost for the DVC rental, if you need help let me know. Now add the dining plan cost to the rental. Is that less or more than the hotel rooms?
Plus do you want to share space or do you prefer separate rooms ?

 

[disfan1084]

I have figured the cost and the DVC rental is a little cheaper, but not much. I've heard a lot of really bad things about the dining plan, so I'm wondering if I should just do the DVC rental because it would be fun to stay in a fancier/nicer hotel vs having the dining plan. I've heard the dining plan is very restrictive and confusing. Also, I heard by day 3-4 kids are sick of what the kids menus have to offer......

 

[pepe of ohio]

We're not fans of the dining plan just on living by a schedule....we want no ADR's running our stay and mostly it saves us no money ...

As for regular rooms vs DVC... We did a trip once with 3 groups, all related and did OKW 2 bedroom.....found out 3 separate rooms in a regular resort would have been better ( where we really wanted we're not available )...each would have privacy, own AC controls bathrooms etc...

Renting points from Disney, broker or individual you get no housekeeping and studios are quite small....

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

Hold off for free dining.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[jennylyn_b]

We're not fans of the dining plan just on living by a schedule....we want no ADR's running our stay and mostly it saves us no money ...

As for regular rooms vs DVC... We did a trip once with 3 groups, all related and did OKW 2 bedroom.....found out 3 separate rooms in a regular resort would have been better ( where we really wanted we're not available )...each would have privacy, own AC controls bathrooms etc...

Renting points from Disney, broker or individual you get no housekeeping and studios are quite small....

DVC rooms are larger than hotel rooms. The studios include kitchenettes and the larger villas have full kitchens and washers and dryers. There most certainly is housekeeping just not daily. There is a housekeeping schedule or you can pay to add additional cleanings.

 

[jennylyn_b]

I have figured the cost and the DVC rental is a little cheaper, but not much. I've heard a lot of really bad things about the dining plan, so I'm wondering if I should just do the DVC rental because it would be fun to stay in a fancier/nicer hotel vs having the dining plan. I've heard the dining plan is very restrictive and confusing. Also, I heard by day 3-4 kids are sick of what the kids menus have to offer......

May I ask what hotel for regular rooms and what DVC you are looking at? What size?

We don't do the ddp as we like appetizers and adult beverages. Sometimes we share or skip desserts. The kids menus aren't bad if you do some planning ahead of time and choose places that have different items on them.

We eat breakfast in our DVC, do cs lunch and a Ts dinner with stops at pool bars and such. That's what we like to do. We don't like having to feel that we have so many snack credits or not enough Ts credits.

 

[rpcvpanama]

One thing to consider as well about renting...you would need, for your groups size and make up, a 2 bedroom unit. That will be one master bedroom with a king bed, a second bedroom with either 2 queen beds or 1 queen and a pull out sofa and depending on where you rent either a pull out sofa in the living room and possibly an additional pull out chair.

Would the other couple and single be comfortable sharing a room? Or would the kids be with the other couple and the single in the living room?

Also, some resort have 2 bathrooms while others will have 3 (BLT, AKL) in the 2 bedrooms.

 

[robnoxious]

I cannot believe you have heard bad things about the dining plan. Yes it is expensive and requires a lot of preparation well in advance but being super organized has given my family two amazing vacations and our third is coming next summer, 2014. We have had free dining once, paid for it once and are hoping to get it free again next summer.

 

[Cobern]

DVC rooms are larger than hotel rooms. The studios include kitchenettes and the larger villas have full kitchens and washers and dryers. There most certainly is housekeeping just not daily. There is a housekeeping schedule or you can pay to add additional cleanings.

If you pay cash through Disney for a 2 bedroom it does include daily housekeeping though, right?

 

[Missyrose]

If you pay cash through Disney for a 2 bedroom it does include daily housekeeping though, right?

Yes, if you book through CRO, you get daily housekeeping.

 

[bumbershoot]

The reason we are trying to decide now is because we need to book our DVC room one year out (September 2013) if that is the route we take. Are there ANY suggestions out there?!?!?!? PLEASE HELP ME DECIDE WHAT TO DO!!!!!

FWIW, owners of any given resort can only book at that resort 11 months out. So you'd be booking in October, not September. So make sure you're contacting the owner of the resort you want to stay at; otherwise you'll have to wait until 7 months out.


The dining plan doesn't work for the way we eat, so we haven't yet bought it. If we had a trip planned, had no discounts, and then free dining came out for the same total cost, we'd probably get it, but I know we would not eat a lot of what's included and we would spend beyond it. So it doesn't really work for me, but...

I've heard the dining plan is very restrictive and confusing. Also, I heard by day 3-4 kids are sick of what the kids menus have to offer......

Have you read exactly how it works? Beyond just opinions of if it's restrictive and confusing, if you read how it works you might have a different opinion. And the important question to answer is if YOUR kids will be bored, and if they will, what will be your solution? You could seek out restaurants with different kid menus, for instance. Change it up a bit. I'm sure there are other ideas, but you need to look at menus (they have menus here at wdwinfo.com and also at allears.net) and see if *your* kids will like what they can eat, and if you can find places that suit them as well as you.

 

[patty57]

I would rent the DVC room.

 

[kappyfamily]

DVC for sure! 2 bdrm BLT or AkL is awesome!!

 

[DisneyBliss7]

We went through this with planning our upcoming trip. We are going Sept 2013, all last year I kept going back and forth on what we should do....rent points or wait in hopes of free dining(which did come out for our dates)....well we decided to rent points I couldn't be happier with our choice! We aren't doing any dining plan since we have a kitchen. We compared and if we stayed in a value and got FD, with the upgrade and tips it would cost more vs renting points. We are ordering food from Garden Grocer and we have three tableservice meals reserved plus the meals at the parks(just quick service). We'll eat breakfast in our resort every morning(ecxept for our morning at Tusker House) and buy what we need at the parks for snacks,lunch,dinner...I'm sure we'll bring some sandwhiches and snacks some of the days. My kids are picky eaters and I think we would have wasted money with the DDP.

 

[disfan1084]

May I ask what hotel for regular rooms and what DVC you are looking at? What size?

We are looking either at Contemporary for DVC or a moderate resort. If we do a moderate then each family will get their own room. If we do the DVC then we will do a 2 bedroom.

 

[Missyrose]

We are looking either at Contemporary for DVC or a moderate resort. If we do a moderate then each family will get their own room. If we do the DVC then we will do a 2 bedroom.

You know the DVC villas are in Bay Lake Tower and not IN the Contemporary, right?

 

[ElizabethG]

I've been with the DDP and without. First, think about where you want to eat. We won't get DDP again because it isn't worth it for us. Generally, we use more TS credits than we have alloted and have to pay OOP. We also have extra CS credits because some of those meals are big and we just want to split one. Also, I don't like most of the CS desserts and would opt not to have one at all. We end up with snack treats in our carry-on bag at the end, too (unless it is F&W). I do buy gift cards ahead of time so the total trip meal bill isn't such a shock.

For the kids, we have always eaten at a lot of character meals. Most of those are buffet. So, kids and adults have the same offerings there.