What would you do??

[**Clare**]

Hi everyone

Well I've been sitting here for most of the night, crunching the numbers, weighing up the options and trying to decide if we can afford to do a trip during the Xmas season.

I'm thinking 1-4 January (not flexible) and the difference between on-site (Cheyenne) and off-site & AP's (Kyriad & CE) is more than £250. That is doing 1 adult and 1 child and the other adult and child getting AP's.

Arguments for on-site:
we love the walk to and from the parks, but at that time of year, maybe we'd just put up with the shuttle scrums to get to and fro as quickly as possible?

we all love the Cheyenne

We've never used the shopping service and rarely wait to see the characters so I'm not sure that these things are much of a benefit for us.

Arguments for off-site:

Price!!!

If we buy AP's then a possible trip in October would be much cheaper than we are used to. Plus ds will be 7 by October so we'd have to pay for him if taking an on-site package as usual.

I think I'm a bit doubtful if the same magic would be there if we stay off-site, although we are just "somewhere to sleep" hotel people (a bit of a contradiction there maybe

The current on-site package price is up to 30% off, I'm doubtful that there would be better than this along given the time of year.

I've been reading up about AP's and I think the pass number has to be given to the cm before they will give a room only quote so I don't think I could get an idea of that price, maybe worth a phone call tomorrow though.

Any comments/thoughts are very welcome!!

 

[mum2threemonsters]

Hi Clare,

Iv just been looking at next winter trips too as Iv noticed the under 12 offer and 2 free nights is on. I am hoping one day we can stay at the Disneyland Hotel and if we are going to do it, it would be cheaper at that time as both my children will be over 7 this year!

However Im googling pictures of the rooms etc and I have to say our stay in the Explorers Hotel and the quality and style of the rooms far out ranked any of the disneyland hotels. Hotel New York comes close. We stayed at Santa Fe last year and I would say that the transport times or frequency were any different from the Exporers. The pool was fantastic. We used it several times. The grounds were peaceful for me to walk my baby in his pram to get him to sleep. And to top it all off, they upgraded us after an email asking for some pixie dust (id just had an operation) and put us in the largest, tidiest hotel suite Iv ever seen in my whole life.

So whilst I feel like I need to book 'Disney' hotels I wouldnt not go to one of the partner hotels. The photos for the Dream Castle and Magic Circus look far more themed too for children.

 

[Hipster Meg]

We were toying with the idea of visiting then but in the end decided to go with February instead. The plan we had was to book an off site hotel with a refundable rate and get AP but keep an eye on the Disney offers so that if a flash sale came up we could cancel our original booking and stay on site instead. If you have a look off site they charge slightly more for a flexible rate over one that you can't change but it gives just a little bit more freedom.

 

[**Clare**]

Thanks for your replies.

That's good to know about the Explorer's Julie. It's so much cheaper staying off site that I think its a bit of a no-brainer. Will have to have "the talk" with dh!!

HM - yeah, that's what I was thinking of doing too re the refundable rate.

I've not had a chance to phone today to see if they'll give me an AP room only rate without having an AP code. I'll maybe try it once the kids are in bed so little ears can't hear.

Thanks.

 

[mum2threemonsters]

Our December stay at Santa Fe was room only with a AP discount but we did need to give our AP details.

Maybe they do a RO rate anyway?

 

[stargatebarbie]

I have had 7 trips my 8th very soon and the kyriad has always been our only option.duu to our budget Nice rooms regular bus,free wifi,tea coffee making .huge outdoor space at the back , huge lake with fish in it like been in the country you would never know disney was 5 mins away my kyriad thread is
here
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2814822

 

[Ware Bears]

We booked off-site on fully cancellable rates for both last year and this summer and then waited to see whether DLP did any deals we were happy with. Last year we booked the Explorers and cancelled it when we got a good deal for the Disneyland Hotel. This year we booked the Kyriad and cancelled it when we got a good price for the Newport Bay. If this hadn't happened I would have been more than happy to stay at the Kyriad which proves that I feel the magic isn't missing offsite and actually the main reason for changing was that we wanted an outdoor pool now watch it rain cats and dogs every day!

 

[Disney Princesses LW]

Hi everyone

Well I've been sitting here for most of the night, crunching the numbers, weighing up the options and trying to decide if we can afford to do a trip during the Xmas season.

I'm thinking 1-4 January (not flexible) and the difference between on-site (Cheyenne) and off-site & AP's (Kyriad & CE) is more than £250. That is doing 1 adult and 1 child and the other adult and child getting AP's.

Arguments for on-site:
we love the walk to and from the parks, but at that time of year, maybe we'd just put up with the shuttle scrums to get to and fro as quickly as possible?

we all love the Cheyenne

We've never used the shopping service and rarely wait to see the characters so I'm not sure that these things are much of a benefit for us.

Arguments for off-site:

Price!!!

If we buy AP's then a possible trip in October would be much cheaper than we are used to. Plus ds will be 7 by October so we'd have to pay for him if taking an on-site package as usual.

I think I'm a bit doubtful if the same magic would be there if we stay off-site, although we are just "somewhere to sleep" hotel people (a bit of a contradiction there maybe

The current on-site package price is up to 30% off, I'm doubtful that there would be better than this along given the time of year.

I've been reading up about AP's and I think the pass number has to be given to the cm before they will give a room only quote so I don't think I could get an idea of that price, maybe worth a phone call tomorrow though.

Any comments/thoughts are very welcome!!

Am I right in thinking you just book 1 adult and 1 child "offically" then after getting ap's for the other adult and the other child you all use the room. What about breakfast??? do you all eat as usually together as normal. Sneaking in sounds great idea.
I am just about to book 2 adults and 2 children boith under 12 for next March so any answers would be welcome,

 

[**Clare**]

We booked off-site on fully cancellable rates for both last year and this summer and then waited to see whether DLP did any deals we were happy with. Last year we booked the Explorers and cancelled it when we got a good deal for the Disneyland Hotel. This year we booked the Kyriad and cancelled it when we got a good price for the Newport Bay. If this hadn't happened I would have been more than happy to stay at the Kyriad which proves that I feel the magic isn't missing offsite and actually the main reason for changing was that we wanted an outdoor pool now watch it rain cats and dogs every day!

Hi again, thanks for the replies.

Elaine, I think this is what I'm going to do. Now I've looked into it, I see places like Alpharooms only take a small deposit or else you pay directly to the hotel, I didn't realise this was a possibility, I assumed I'd have to pay everything now (Hope you get the weather for the outdoor pool!)

At the moment, I'm thinking Kyriad as it is the cheapest and then perhaps the Explorers in October, when we'd be going for longer and maybe more likely to use the pool.

Just for information in case anyone is in the same position, I phoned DLP today and the nice chap I got gave me the AP room only rate without me having the AP code. It was still much more expensive than the off site hotels so I've pretty much ruled on-site out.

Disney Princess LW - I was referring to paying a package for one adult and one child and then paying the local room tax for the other adult and child

Thanks everyone

 

[Disney Princesses LW]

Disney Princess LW - I was referring to paying a package for one adult and one child and then paying the local room tax for the other adult and child

Clare, how much is the room tax cost? for 1 adult?
Ive been quoted £418 for 2 ad 2 ch for 4 days March
1 adult 2 x children smae hol same time is £287

so would it be better to pay AP and room tax for 1 adult? Bearing in mind if we buy an ap we could go again

 

[A Small World]

Room tax is usually about 2 Euros per night

 

[Disney Princesses LW]

REALLY !!! Bargin!!

what about APs???? whats the cost for 1 adult ?

 

[Ware Bears]

Prices for APS are here on DLRP Magic.

No worries about sneaking people into breakfast either - you've paid for breakfast for up to the room's occupancy when you've paid for the room.