What's the Cheapest rate for the Value Resorts

[TupperMom]

What is the cheapest rate someone can obtain and still stay on Disney property? We are a family of 7, so if we stayed at All Stars or one of those resorts, we'd have to get two rooms! This doesn't really appeal to me because then my husband and I would have to sleep apart for our vacation.

Any suggestions for a large family who doesn't want to spend all their money on accomodations?

 

[cobbler]

It depends on what time of year you are going. If you go during value season and have AAA, you can take 20% off rack rate.

 

[Amy&Dan]

They do have adjoining rooms at the values you can request (that have a connecting door). I have heard conflicting reports on whether or not you can be guaranteed that in the case of parents with minor aged children not wanting to be split up. Another possibilty would be to rent DVC points from someone over on the DVC Board. The two bedroom units sleep up to eight, have a king sized bed in the main bedroom, a sofa sleeper in the living room and then a second bedroom with two queen sized beds. And you would have two full baths, a balcony and a full kitchen plus a washer and dryer. Renting points can be very economical.

All that said, the lowest rate I have gotten at a Value was at Pop Century in late January (into February) 2005. $49 a night on an AP Rate.

 

[Deb & Bill]

A DVC two bedroom would probably cost more than two value rooms. Ask for connecting rooms with a door between. That way the parents don't need to split up.

You could always stay off the property in a rented house.

 

[Amy&Dan]

A DVC two bedroom would probably cost more than two value rooms. Ask for connecting rooms with a door between. That way the parents don't need to split up.

You could always stay off the property in a rented house.

Yes it would be more for sure (minimum of $270 a night for Sun-Thursday, Adventure Season). But its more economical than paying rack for a DVC 2BR. And I agree with the off property house idea. While I love to stay onsite and always have, I have a smaller family. My dd's teacher rented an offsite house. She was less than 10 minutes to AK and the house slept her entire extended family of over 10 people. For about $150 a night. It even had its own private pool. There is lots of information on this on disboards, can't remember the exact name of the forum but is there.

 

[Bell30012]

Two connecting rooms works very well... but there isn't a need for the parents to sleep in different rooms... they sell a device that can go over the door handle and will let a parent know in a hurry if someone opens the door... plus they have inside locks up high on the door.

 

[bless7ings]

When we went to disney 2 years ago the cm told me that having connecting rooms for families w/children is a guarantee. That they can not have familys split up and children not staying with an adult. It is a courtesy they offer.

 

[n2mm]

Family of 7 -- is everyone in your party over 3? That will make a big difference. The All Star Music suite will sleep 6 (plus one under 3). It is about the price of 2 value rooms and includes kitchnette? Is this an option? This way the parents have their own room (plus 2 bathrooms).

 

[bless7ings]

Family of 7 -- is everyone in your party over 3? That will make a big difference. The All Star Music suite will sleep 6 (plus one under 3). It is about the price of 2 value rooms and includes kitchnette? Is this an option? This way the parents have their own room (plus 2 bathrooms).

I thought it was more than two budgets?

 

[Reese]

We have requested connecting rooms twice and did not have a problem. They told us if the number of minors exceeds the number of adults that they will guarantee them. I also liked the convenience of staying on site as you don't havet o rent a vehicle. It is also nice having the two bathrooms and it works out pretty economical. We have a CAA memberships so we get a room discount.

 

[TheLittleRoo]

We stayed in two rooms at POR last year, and they could not guarantee that we would get adjoining/connecting rooms but we did get them at check in.

I was told by WDW reservations and the front desk that they make exceptions for single parents and grandparents, but all others are on a space available basis. To echo what a PP said, if there is only 1 adult for a party in two rooms, then they would HAVE to give connecting rooms for the safety of the children. I guess they just cut grandparents a break for their age, LOL! Otherwise, they feel like one parent can stay with the kids in one room and the other parent can stay in the other room with no risk to anyone's basic safety. Connecting the rooms is then a bonus for average families, vs a NEED for special circumstances.

HTH!

 

[Magnetic]

The -cheapest- we've ever stayed at the All Stars (Music) was $36/night last year from May 29-June 4 during Star Wars Weekends. This was a special rate though for Priceline.com that ran the last 2 weeks of May through the first 2 weeks of June, and the rate only became available at the end of April. My parents had a split stay at Sports and Music during the same week and had no problem requesting an adjoining room to ours at ASM for the latter part of their trip.

I'd love to see this rate made available again but it's one of those things you can't bank on -- it was a surprise thing that Disney just did due to those hotels not being filled to capacity during that timespan, and we made a spur of the moment decision to go the same day we learned of that rate (on the DIS boards, of course.

 

[bless7ings]

The -cheapest- we've ever stayed at the All Stars (Music) was $36/night last year from May 29-June 4 during Star Wars Weekends. This was a special rate though for Priceline.com that ran the last 2 weeks of May through the first 2 weeks of June, and the rate only became available at the end of April. My parents had a split stay at Sports and Music during the same week and had no problem requesting an adjoining room to ours at ASM for the latter part of their trip.

I'd love to see this rate made available again but it's one of those things you can't bank on -- it was a surprise thing that Disney just did due to those hotels not being filled to capacity during that timespan, and we made a spur of the moment decision to go the same day we learned of that rate (on the DIS boards, of course.

Do they advertise this? or do you bid? I am not familar w/this. How did you find out?

 

[Magnetic]

They did not advertise it when it happened -- it showed up on the DISboards on this same board. Here's the original thread -- you can see that the boards pretty much went nuts that day with people booking reservations. I would just advise checking these boards every day in case there is news of it happening again. It was the first time I've ever know of Disney offering their hotels to Priceline.

Additionally, the best advice I can give to do Disney for less than rack rate is to be very flexible on your dates. We go every year, but we rarely know more than a month or two out as to when we're going. Whenever we find a low rate, via a newspaper code, postcard or whatever the case may be, we book the trip. With the Priceline trip last year, those dates lined up with $169 round-trip airfare on United out of Chicago as well, so it was truly our cheapest trip to date -- and our first time at the All Stars as a family too. Coronado Springs is our favorite resort, and we've stayed there almost every other year, and we have never paid more than $89/night for that either. Two years ago we booked Port Orleans Riverside for $79/night on a postcard code and got upgraded to Saratoga Springs on arrival. We have had very good luck with last-minute trips. You just have to be willing to jump on the good rates when they pop up.

 

[bless7ings]

They did not advertise it when it happened -- it showed up on the DISboards on this same board. Here's the original thread -- you can see that the boards pretty much went nuts that day with people booking reservations. I would just advise checking these boards every day in case there is news of it happening again. It was the first time I've ever know of Disney offering their hotels to Priceline.

Additionally, the best advice I can give to do Disney for less than rack rate is to be very flexible on your dates. We go every year, but we rarely know more than a month or two out as to when we're going. Whenever we find a low rate, via a newspaper code, postcard or whatever the case may be, we book the trip. With the Priceline trip last year, those dates lined up with $169 round-trip airfare on United out of Chicago as well, so it was truly our cheapest trip to date -- and our first time at the All Stars as a family too. Coronado Springs is our favorite resort, and we've stayed there almost every other year, and we have never paid more than $89/night for that either. Two years ago we booked Port Orleans Riverside for $79/night on a postcard code and got upgraded to Saratoga Springs on arrival. We have had very good luck with last-minute trips. You just have to be willing to jump on the good rates when they pop up.

Wow that is amazing! Are you saying most of them are offers you have received in the mail? Disney told me in 2005 that they usually send there last minute deals within a certain radius because they can drive down. Maybe somehow you got an invite and keep coming last minute so they keep sending them to you! Can I somehow stay connected to you! We are flexible for dates, it's just the money! I'd love to try a moderate at those prices. Do you mind me asking what you average on a disney vacation and how many go w/ages?

 

[beth_cam]

So when are you planning to go, and is everyone over the age of 3?

Yes the suites are more than 2 rooms but that does guarentee you can sleep together.

Do you camp? there is camping onsite lol...so not for me.

 

[Magnetic]

Not all of them have been in the mail - the trip in 2005 was a postcard code, but prior to that we have used codes in the newspaper, Mousesavers, or by just calling and seeing if we have a PIN attached to our name in the computer. I have also gotten codes via email that we haven't been able to use due to time of the year, etc -- I have registered every email address that I have with Disney.com to try to receive more of those, if that's possible.

As far as the driving down, no -- we're near Chicago and not quite the quickest drive to Orlando by any means!

I would really have to think about what we spend on a trip -- we have never spent over $89/night for any moderate, which is what we usually book. (The All Stars were an exception simply because of that crazy price!) Our trips are usually 6-7 days in length.

We never book a package with tickets or dining included though. We have found it much cheaper to purchase a big multi-day park pass and keep it for several trips. We purchased non-expiring 10 day passes in 2004 and have used those for the past 3 trips, and I think we each still have a park day and two "pluses" (water parks, etc) on them as well. It's a bigger initial outlay to do that, but then you lock in the ticket price vs. dealing with it increasing each year. And once you have those passes, it's so easy to plan around cheap room rates because you can just show up and go in the park & aren't tied into booking packages with passes. This next trip, whenever it is, we will probably need to ante up for another set of big passes though!

We usually eat very light for 2 meals with food / snacks we bring from home, and we then have one "big" meal a day -- we love to eat in Disney! But lunches are cheaper than dinners, so lunch is often our big meal depending where we feel like eating that day. We don't go in the park every day -- we may visit other resorts, Fort Wilderness, spend a day at our own resort, etc., so those days are less expensive as well (if you have a length of stay pass, you've just paid for everyone's admission to go into the park every day of the trip, whether you do so or not.) We also haven't rented a car since Magical Express started, so our only outlay for these past few trips has been airfare, room, and meals. We usually don't buy many, if any, souvenirs -- this last trip though, our cousin in Orlando took us to Character Premiere at one of the outlet malls, which is where Disney sells park & resort-themed merchandise for 50% off or more. So then we did buy some things..!

We have 4 in the family, an 11-year-old, a 2-year-old, my husband and me. The baby's first trip down was when he was 6 months old, and he was a trooper -- we went again last summer so he was 1 1/2. So he's been cheap to bring along since he doesn't need a pass yet or eat too much.

 

[bless7ings]

Magnetic, thanks for posting your reply, it was interesting. I will have to go over it again to check things out to see if we can use any of your ideas.

I was looking over the old thread on $36 for the budgets. Do you know what the going rate is around WDW on price line if we were to drive down and was looking for a cheap stay before we went into Disney?

Or what would you try for?

 

[bless7ings]

Did you say how long ago it was for $89/ night for the moderate? Do you think you will be able to get it for that price again?

 

[Magnetic]

In rereading the old thread, there is a travel bidding site (the board won't let me post a link) where the original poster found the low Disney rates -- in that post, you can find the link though. It's a site where people just post what $ amount they bid for and what hotel they got. If you look at their Orlando/Disney area board, I see a Holiday Inn up there right now that someone got for $37.

I'm sure there are many more qualified than me to answer on that though, as the Disney All-Star deal was the first time I ever used Priceline, so I'm not 100% sure how the rates currently run for various hotel categories.

We paid $89 in 2004 at Coronado Springs -- I'd have to go back and look but I believe that was a newspaper/public 3-letter code for the Value season. It's been quite a while since Disney released any of those.

In 2005 we paid $79/night on a postcard code for Port Orleans Riverside (Coronado was already full when we called to book) and then once we got there, we were moved to Saratoga Springs at the same rate - that was such a fluke thing though that you can't bank on that happening -- POR had no cribs available for our baby and ended up moving us over there. But that postcard code was around the same time as our 2006 trip, sometime in early June for Star Wars weekends. I'm not sure of the exact dates of that trip.

Do I think we'd get that kind of rate again? Sure -- or we won't be going this year! Staying offsite isn't an option for us, and we only go when we can get something uner $100 for a Moderate. This most recent was my 11th trip to Disney, and our 5th consecutive annually (2002-2006) and in none of those trips did we pay more than that. It's just a matter of waiting for the right circumstances, I think. It's definitely harder now that they don't issue general public codes anymore, but it can certainly happen.