What's the better deal?

[pixxi]

We are a family of 6 (kids will be 11,8,4,6 months when we go). If they offer free dining in the fall, what is a better plan for us?

Do we book a value resort family suite and get the basic meal plan?

Do we book Port Orleans and since it's a moderate resort get the upgraded mealp plan?

I just can't think of all the "if and but" to compare these.

Thanks for the help!

 

[allie1078]

We are also a family of 6 (13,10,9,3), on our last trip we did free dining upgraded to deluxe and two connecting rooms at pop. I prefered the two rooms because I didn't want to deal with the pullout sofas and chairs. The year before we booked one room at POR with regualr ddp and I don't beleive there where any discounts on it. And both trips were about the same price or with in a couple hundred of dollars. And at the time of the trips we had 2 adults, 1 disney adult child, 2 children, and 1 infant. I also really prefer two rooms to having just one, more room for all of the stuff you need with kids(stollers, pack n play, toys, snacks, ect.)

 

[squirrel]

You might be lucky and get a family suite with the Free Dining, but I don't think they have to even offer those rooms with the Free Dining.

I think you will most likely have to go with two connecting rooms at a value or POR.

 

[blessedby3]

We are a family of 6 (kids will be 11,8,4,6 months when we go). If they offer free dining in the fall, what is a better plan for us?

Do we book a value resort family suite and get the basic meal plan?

Do we book Port Orleans and since it's a moderate resort get the upgraded mealp plan?

I just can't think of all the "if and but" to compare these.

Thanks for the help!

There is no way I would want to stay in one room at POR with 6 people
You will be tripping over each other and only one bathroom!! We are a family of 6 also, and if we cant swing a deluxe resort for a trip then we book 2 rooms at POP. You get 4 beds and 2 baths and LOTS of room to spread out. We have always asked for connecting rooms and have always gotten them.
As far as the meal plan, there is tons of food even with the QSDP. The basic meal plan should be fine unless you want to upgrade, but I dont think we could ever eat all that comes with the deluxe!

 

[auralia]

also if you want to slerpge there are the cabins at the fort... personally i would probably do 2 connecting rooms at pop for privacy, but if you want the por atmosphere and the DDP instead of QSD then i would go POR.... i don't like DDP as i hate being tied to adrs maybe i've changed my mind and don't want to spend today in epcot... too bad i have to because of that ADR...

 

[MommyJack]

We went in Nov, 2007 with 4 adults and 2 children and stayed in the cabins at Fort Wilderness. They were very nice and I would recommend them. We had plenty of room and Fort Wilderness is great (although huge, we rented a golf cart to get around). I didn't find it to be that much more and we didn't get any discounts. We are now going in Oct, with 3 adults and 2 children. Staying in the family suites. The trip is all book, but I'm still hoping for a dining discount.

 

[pixxi]

I know that Port Orleans is smaller than the family suite but we won't be in the rooms much. If we stay at Port Orleans it will save us $350 for our trip.

Just so I understand the value meal plan is 2 quick service meals, 2 snacks and a refillable mug? With the regular it's 1 quick service and 1 table meal?

Someone mentioned they may not have free dining for the family suite? Is that right?

If we go with the regular plan for the fall, should we make advanced reservations for all the days we are there? Is it hard to get walk up seating?

This is kind of a last minute trip so we want to save as much $ as we can, since we didn't have a lot of time to save for it.

 

[hsembrick]

IMO I would do two rooms at POR and do the DDP not the QSDP. It is hard to get walk up ressies. With that being said I would go ahead and book your ADR's now. My kids love the character meals and hopefully you and your family will be able to get the times you want. Also with Disney not offering FREE dining yet unless you have a pin (and even then it is QSDP) you are more likely to get the ressie and times that you want. I'm not saying that you will get everything you want but you will probably have a better chance. Happy planning and have a great trip!

 

[02AggieGirl]

I know that Port Orleans is smaller than the family suite but we won't be in the rooms much. If we stay at Port Orleans it will save us $350 for our trip.

Just so I understand the value meal plan is 2 quick service meals, 2 snacks and a refillable mug? With the regular it's 1 quick service and 1 table meal?

Someone mentioned they may not have free dining for the family suite? Is that right?

If we go with the regular plan for the fall, should we make advanced reservations for all the days we are there? Is it hard to get walk up seating?

This is kind of a last minute trip so we want to save as much $ as we can, since we didn't have a lot of time to save for it.

You are correct about the dining plans for each resort with the exception that with the regular, you also get 1 snack.

I think you should stay at POR. Definitely make reservations in advance if you go during free dining.
Although, some people say that the regular dining plan is too much food and takes too much time away from the parks. I guess you should consider that in your decision as well. We personally love getting to do a sit down meal every day but every one is different.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

There is no way I would want to stay in one room at POR with 6 people
You will be tripping over each other and only one bathroom!! We are a family of 6 also, and if we cant swing a deluxe resort for a trip then we book 2 rooms at POP. You get 4 beds and 2 baths and LOTS of room to spread out. We have always asked for connecting rooms and have always gotten them.
As far as the meal plan, there is tons of food even with the QSDP. The basic meal plan should be fine unless you want to upgrade, but I dont think we could ever eat all that comes with the deluxe!

We've stayed at POR with 5 plus an infant and we were just fine. We spent most of our time in the parks and just slept and showered in the room, so we didn't feel cramped at all.