Where Would You Stay on Cash?

[VGCgroupie]

Thanks for everybody's feedback. We have decided to go with All Star Sports.

Have a great time!

 

[kes601]

Have a great time!

Thanks! We do have a stay at VGC (first time) first though. Just mentioning that because of your screen name.....

 

[VGCgroupie]

Thanks! We do have a stay at VGC (first time) first though. Just mentioning that because of your screen name.....

VGC is my all time favorite! Make sure to use the "corn castle entrance" if you enter DCA in the AM. It cannot be beat.

 

[eandt]

Not 100% DVC, but.....

So, we are out of points -- can't even borrow but decided we wanted to add a trip at the end of July when it will be hot as hades. There are some really good discounts on the cash side of WDW, including the Disney+ one. Currently looking at 6 nights. We can do All Star Sports for $665, Saratoga Springs (standard studio) for $1664, or POR Riverside for around $1100. I think we ruled out POR Riverside (if it was POFQ it'd be another story).

With SSR we would be able to do Extended Evening at EP and MK. Obviously with All Star Sports that isn't an option, but we would probably end up paying for After Hours at HS and EP, which would add about $570 to our total, so still under the total of SSR by a few hundred dollars.

For me EP Extended Evening and EP After Hours there is no comparison. We've never had luck at EE there, but have done AH twice and loved it. We have also never truly experienced MK EE because it usually starts later than we would like. HS AH has been good for us in the past, but if one ride goes down then that can cause issues.

So, SSR comes to $1665 (no AH) and Sports comes to $1234 (paying for AH). Would you just pay for SSR and do the "free" EE instead of saving $400 and doing Sports w/AH?

We just paid for a cash stay at POFQ last month but arrived a day early and all that was available was AS S, the room was alright but the noise was unbearable with kids (and parents) yelling and talking loudly I assume from the courtyards well past 11pm .. never again. Couldn’t imagine doing a week of that …

 

[kes601]

We just paid for a cash stay at POFQ last month but arrived a day early and all that was available was AS S, the room was alright but the noise was unbearable with kids (and parents) yelling and talking loudly I assume from the courtyards well past 11pm .. never again. Couldn’t imagine doing a week of that …

That is my recollection from the last time we stayed at Pop before DVC. Curious -- what did you think of POFQ? That was the moderate we gravitated towards before DVC. A lot of it had to do with how good the food court was, but it seems they've dumbed it down and made it generic since re-opening after Covid.

 

[Genie+]

We’ve stayed a bunch of times at the values and thankfully never had a serious issue with noise, but maybe that’s because we always requested rooms near the parking lot?

If concerned about noise you could try requesting a room where not much foot traffic will be happening outside.

 

[kes601]

Ya, so I knew Sports wouldn't last.....

Checked this morning and figured out a way to get a Garden Wing - Resort View room at Contemporary at the passholder rate the whole time. I never understand how Disney determines room availability. If looking the whole time it wasn't available our first night but was the last 5. But then I looked at a 3 / 3 split and it was available on both ends. So I modified to the first half and them modified again and the whole time was available.

I blame YouTube for this. Was watching a video last night that showed Bay Lake at sunrise and I realized it had been a minute since we stayed in that area.

 

[eandt]

That is my recollection from the last time we stayed at Pop before DVC. Curious -- what did you think of POFQ? That was the moderate we gravitated towards before DVC. A lot of it had to do with how good the food court was, but it seems they've dumbed it down and made it generic since re-opening after Covid.

We love POFQ, it was our favorite pre DVC as well. Had a great stay there and we found the food to be pretty good, better than the AKV (where we own) quick service by far. Had the salmon a couple times which we enjoyed as well as the gumbo and shrimp and grits, both a little spicy but good. Only disappointment was the dessert, we got a piece of cheese cake one night and it was basically a small sample of jello cheesecake yet cost $6-7 and the King Cake was eh … Beignets were awesome as usual … also not a fan of Scat Cats, we like to sit at a bar which they don’t have … pool bar was good.

 

[eandt]

Ya, so I knew Sports wouldn't last.....

Checked this morning and figured out a way to get a Garden Wing - Resort View room at Contemporary at the passholder rate the whole time. I never understand how Disney determines room availability. If looking the whole time it wasn't available our first night but was the last 5. But then I looked at a 3 / 3 split and it was available on both ends. So I modified to the first half and them modified again and the whole time was available.

I blame YouTube for this. Was watching a video last night that showed Bay Lake at sunrise and I realized it had been a minute since we stayed in that area.

You did the right thing

 

[kes601]

Updating this. We pulled a complete180 on this. We are embracing making it an adventure.....

Universal APs purchased.....2 days of Epic Universe tickets purchased.....room booked at Royal Pacific. The FOMO is real.

Will be our first trip to Universal since right after they re-opened after Covid.

ETA: Added a third Epic day and changed hotel to Stella Nova so we could walk to Epic. 3 Park single use Express Pass for all 7 days (a 5 day pass and a 2 day pass) was considerable cheaper than 3 individual single use Express Passes for Epic alone. It makes no sense, but it is the way it is.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I love that I am not the only one that does complete 180 on my trips!

 

[Brian Noble]

room booked at Royal Pacific

I like Royal Pacific a lot. The rooms are on the small side, but Lowes knows how to run a hotel in ways Disney does not.

 

[kes601]

I like Royal Pacific a lot. The rooms are on the small side, but Lowes knows how to run a hotel in ways Disney does not.

This is where we stayed in 2020. I think we were there a week or two after they re-opened in the summer. Really, really enjoyed it.

 

[sarah4770]

I’ve stayed at sports, and while it is fine, I guess I am completely spoiled.

 

[The Jackal]

Have fun at Universal. Hopefully your trip is Epic.

 

[Headless]

Looks like you pivoted so my comment is now only half related but....

I'm planning out our 2026 which our September trip will eat all or the majority of our points and the trip in January I wanted to add as our 'extra' was just about 100-115 depending on where we wanted to stay. When I tried to price out at rack rate the cost of Pop (we love the skyliner and the trip is before the refurb) was 1000 more then renting the points for a Poly stay.... Still on the fence of booking the trip but that was my food for throught.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Yacht Club

 

[Dina]

We have done POFQ when out of points, and I really enjoyed it. We’re one and done with the values, but love the moderates . We keep going back and forth over buying more points , or just staying on cash when out of points

 

[iona]

We like POFQ too plus I’d like to try the club offering at CSR someday. Normally our cash stays are at Universal though…