What would you do in this case? Potential Split Stay

[peteykirch]

I'm planning a trip in November when Free Dining comes available to the general public "allegedly"

Now, I'm not made of money, so my original plan was just to stay at the Pop, and pay the difference to upgrade to Deluxe Dining.

However more and more I research it, I was thinking of perhaps trying to rent a few nights at a DVC via David's Vacation Club Rentals.

I've priced it out, and if it's available I can splurge for a bit of "luxury" and stay at Bay Lake Tower for 3 Nights, after spending 2 Nights at the Pop for only about 300$ more in total.

So, do you think it's worth it? To splurge almost 100$ more a day to spend the last 3 nights of your trip at Bay Lake on the Monorail Line?

If my math is correct, the original plan of 5 Nights at the Pop, Deluxe Dining, and 5 Day Park Hoppers would be roughly 1181$.

Now if I do 2 nights at the Pop, buy the 5 Day Park Hoppers, and schedule my dining reservations in a manner that I can get by with just the plan Disney Dining plan that would be 596$, and then 3 nights at Bay Lake Tower + Deluxe Dining would be 841$, so in total 1437$ so in total $256 more for this option, if it's available and that's a big if.

So would you do it?

 

[MMS1125]

not for that short of a trip I don't think. I'd save the extra $$ and put it toward a future vacation

How much of a difference is it for you to stay at a mod and not have to upgrade your dining? Are you traveling solo? If so I'd go thru the menus and add up what you think you'd like to eat. You might be cheaper just renting points and paying OOP for your meals or hoping for a room discount. I don't really think the DDP is beneficial for 1 person a room discount would be a greater savings

 

[Butler_chic07]

It's a toughie... In the end you have to decide what YOU want!

That being said I'd save the money for a future trip and try to stay for longer than 3 days. It's a tease for that short of time. We stayed at AKL for 3 nights for part of our honeymoon. We thought 3 nights would be great- we decided against staying longer since we flew from WDW to Hawaii and were trying to save the $ for our week in Hawaii.

But if you do not see another trip in the near future do it!

This year we are saving money by staying at All Star Sports (it was the cheapest and is my DH's favorite all-star). I thought about doing a split stay just like you, but DH is finishing his doctorate of pharmacy and won't be done til May- so we decided to save the $ instead and put it towards next years trip!

I'd weigh the options... Is this your only chance to stay at BLT? Then YES!

And someone mentioned looking at the moderates... That's a good option too.

Good Luck!! It's a hard decision!

 

[peteykirch]

not for that short of a trip I don't think. I'd save the extra $$ and put it toward a future vacation

How much of a difference is it for you to stay at a mod and not have to upgrade your dining? Are you traveling solo? If so I'd go thru the menus and add up what you think you'd like to eat. You might be cheaper just renting points and paying OOP for your meals or hoping for a room discount. I don't really think the DDP is beneficial for 1 person a room discount would be a greater savings

I was planning with the dining plan to do sit down lunch, signature dinner every night. Using the snacks for a light breakfast in the morning, pastries, and what not.

Using the current promotion Disney is running if I was to jump up to using their General Public Room % Discount, I can stay for the same length, same tickets, Deluxe Dining for 1585 at Coronado.

 

[peteykirch]

It's a toughie... In the end you have to decide what YOU want!

That being said I'd save the money for a future trip and try to stay for longer than 3 days. It's a tease for that short of time. We stayed at AKL for 3 nights for part of our honeymoon. We thought 3 nights would be great- we decided against staying longer since we flew from WDW to Hawaii and were trying to save the $ for our week in Hawaii.

But if you do not see another trip in the near future do it!

This year we are saving money by staying at All Star Sports (it was the cheapest and is my DH's favorite all-star). I thought about doing a split stay just like you, but DH is finishing his doctorate of pharmacy and won't be done til May- so we decided to save the $ instead and put it towards next years trip!

I'd weigh the options... Is this your only chance to stay at BLT? Then YES!

And someone mentioned looking at the moderates... That's a good option too.

Good Luck!! It's a hard decision!

I know, it's a toughie to figure out what I want to do.

1585 gets me Coronado, Tickets, Deluxe Dining for Sept 10th-15th


Or if I wait until November.

5 Nights at the Pop, Tickets, Deluxe Dining would be 1181.

I'd really want to wait until at least November so things would cool down a bit more, and the crowds should be a bit more lax the week prior to Thanksgiving.

I was even crunching the numbers at renting other DVC properties.

If it's available I could get 5 nights at the Boardwalk Inn Villas in a studio, tickets, deluxe dining for 1456. I would easily pay that since I stayed at the Boardwalk Inn years ago and loved it. I think I would be more partial to almost just doing that versus the split stay, and even perhaps just the stay at the Pop.

For 270$ more I would be right in the back yard of my favorite park EPCOT, and a boat ride from the Studios.

I'm 24 so renting a car would cost an arm and a leg, despite having a completely clean driving record for the 7 years I've been driving. If I didn't want to rely on the Disney Buses at the POP.

 

[MMS1125]

well with those choices my vote would be a room discount at BWI in November if there's at least a 30% off room discount...and paying for DDP or renting points for a studio and adding the dining plan..might come out a tad cheaper if you rent! What's the difference in a regular room vs a studio villa..price wise and ammenities? I'd almost rather pay for a regular room and get housekeeping. I do think if I was willing to stay deluxe again I'd try a diff resort before I went back to BW. What about Beach Club or Yacht Club since you like the area? They are roughly the same price. I'd also try Wilderness Lodge it's a tad cheaper than those too

 

[peteykirch]

well with those choices my vote would be a room discount at BWI in November if there's at least a 30% off room discount...and paying for DDP or renting points for a studio and adding the dining plan..might come out a tad cheaper if you rent! What's the difference in a regular room vs a studio villa..price wise and ammenities? I'd almost rather pay for a regular room and get housekeeping. I do think if I was willing to stay deluxe again I'd try a diff resort before I went back to BW. What about Beach Club or Yacht Club since you like the area? They are roughly the same price. I'd also try Wilderness Lodge it's a tad cheaper than those too

30% Room Discount at the BWI, 5 day Park Hopper, Deluxe Dining = 2132

Renting a Studio Villa at the BW, 5 Day Park Hopper, Deluxe Dining = 1456

I've previously stayed at; WL, AKL, Poly, GF, and BWI.

I'm really interested in Bay Lake Towers cause it's like the Contemporary Lite, but seems to be a bit pricey for me, to do a 5 night stay.

 

[MMS1125]

wow big diff! I'd def go the studio route then I think

 

[Zooteach1@yahoo.com]

I wouldn't get your heart set on renting points and getting BWvillas or BL Tower... my understanding is that most of the top choice locations book up 11 months out. I tried to rent points from David's for a studio stay Nov 25th - Dec 1st and they only had Saratoga Springs available.

 

[DsnyMama]

Yeah I'd do it - and I am! This trip we decided to price out a split stay and it's just a tiny bit more than a full stay at CSR! We'll be arriving first at Animal Kingdom Villas - renting points from a DVC member - and staying 2 nights there. after that, we'll move to a package with free dining (upgraded to DxDDP) over at Coronado Springs. I'm SUPER happy about it! I figure on Nov 28th I'll just check out at AKV on our way out the door to DHS and request that Bell Services transfer our luggage to CSR. After lunch I'm planning to head to CSR, check in, then head back to DHS. Should be a pretty smooth process!

 

[peteykirch]

Turns out there were slim pickings in regards to what I was looking at for this time period.

I had my choice of Sarasota Springs, Old Key West, or Savannah view at the AKL.

I think I might push my trip back until January 2013 now.

I've been in contact with the people at David's and they've been a great help, right now I have my choice of Wilderness Lodge Villa studios, BWI Studio Villa (Preferred), all 4 levels of a studio at AKL, and Lake/Lagoon view at Bay Lake.

Ohh the choices.

 

[Herbie]

I would spend the extra $100 per nite and stay in the BLT for all five nites and give up the deluxe dining.

 

[Herbie]

I would stay at pop with good dining over the WL......Just not my fav.

 

[DsnyMama]

Turns out there were slim pickings in regards to what I was looking at for this time period.

I had my choice of Sarasota Springs, Old Key West, or Savannah view at the AKL.

I think I might push my trip back until January 2013 now.

I've been in contact with the people at David's and they've been a great help, right now I have my choice of Wilderness Lodge Villa studios, BWI Studio Villa (Preferred), all 4 levels of a studio at AKL, and Lake/Lagoon view at Bay Lake.

Ohh the choices.

Jealous of AKL Savannah view... We booked with DVC the 26-28 and all that was open was standard

 

[peteykirch]

Now I just need to decide between Wilderness Lodge or BWI Villas

Such a hard choice.

While I love both, staying at BWI would give me easy access to 2 parks, and WL would only be to the MK.

I'm not a huge AK fan, so being away from there doesn't bother me.

Ohh the decisions.

 

[Sue M]

I'd stay at AKL or the deluxe of choice and forgo the deluxe dining. For us it's way too much food and tied to too many adrs. Just having a dinner ADR is enough for us. The rest of the day we can be spontaneous

 

[peteykirch]

Crunching the numbers have left me these options.

Pop then Bay Lake 5Nights, 5Day PH, Dining Plan 1507
Pop then BWIV/WLV/BCV 5 Nights, 5Day PH, Dining Plan 1416

Bay Lake, 5 Nights, 5 Day PH, Dining Plan 1894
WLV/BCV/BWIV 5 Nights, 5 Day PH, Dining Plan 1751.

Really got to figure out if it's really worth the nearly 400$/330$ difference to do a split stay or just stay the entire stay at one of the DVC properties.