Where would you stay?

[twirlmaniac]

We are going to Disney in Feb. and can't decide where to stay. We are thinking Pop Century, Hilton Downtown Disney, or Radisson Celebration. We have stayed at Pop century before but never the other two. Price range from 57.oo to 135.oo. I would love to save money but wonder if the few perks you get staying at disney is worth the extra money. Please, help!

 

[ADisneyQueen]

We need more info. Are you driving or flying? If you are flying I would stay at pop if you are not renting a car and are only doing Disney. If you are driving you have the freedom to stay anywhere. How many people are going?

 

[twirlmaniac]

We will be driving. Two adults and two kids. My daughter will be competing in a baton contest at wide world of sports. Some mornings we will have to be there early and other days we will have to be there later in the day. Will also have to work around naptime. Will have to get to parks when time allows and we can go on Monday before we had home.

 

[MinnieLove]

We are having the same dilemna. Made reservations for 6 in 2 bd villa at SS for mar 6 -13, including tickets and dining plan. Do not plan to rent vehicle (but could if we change plans).

Just wondering if we are making the best choice to stay on site? Weighing the disney conveniences. Also found accomodations quite limited at WDW for family of 6.

Any suggestions?

 

[MomofKatie]

Have you thought about renting a townhouse or condo? Windsor Hills is one of the nicer developments- they are very close to WDW property, and the prices are comparable to a decent hotel (anywhere from $65-100/night). You could find a nice 3 bedroom condo for that price and have a full kitchen, space to spread out, 2 bathrooms, and be just about as close to the parks as many of the onsite resorts.

 

[MomofKatie]

I just noticed I forgot to include the website for Windsor Hills in my last post- here it is: www.windsorhillsrent.com

 

[Brian Noble]

Personally, I would never pay the rates Disney asks for the 2BR DVC units, even when deeply discounted. During my upcoming trip, a 2BR at SSR, even with the 7-for-4 promotion, is $3,500 for the week. And, in this case, renting from an owner is not much better---$3,160 at $10pp, but that doesn't include Mousekeeping and will have much less generous cancellation terms. As mentioned, you can get a 3BR condo at Windsor Hills for 1/3 of that price even after you add a rental car, gas, and theme park parking.

Don't get me wrong, the "magic" is nice, and I enjoy my onsite stays when I can arrange them. But, it's not $2,000 worth of "nice" to me.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

Did you get a special rate at one of the value resorts since your daughter is competing at wdw?
I would either stay at a value for the covience or stay at WH. I would not stay in an offsite hotel. THey could cost as much as a 2br at WH.

 

[dougsmom98]

If I were you, since you have a car, I would definitely stay at the hotel that has the $57 rate. That is a lot of money to be saved.

 

[LindaBabe]

I'm not loving the hilton. It may have a cheap rate, but if you need to eat there or anyhting, it will cost you - and the Hilton could be anywhere, it's that generic.

 

[7165red]

How about a villa with a pvt. pool. There are so many to choose from. Try www.orandovillas.com

 

[summermac]

We are traveling with a party of 8 and I was not happy with the choices for staying on site. I am not putting up a ton of money for deluxe, etc accomodations. The value resorts are nice but since we only have 2 kids in the party, they could not guarantee us adjoining or side by side rooms. What am I going to do when my kids (5 & 2) go to bed early? Sit in the other double bed and stare at them?

So anyway, we really really wanted to stay on site for the kids to experience the magic of that. However in the end, we decided on a villa at Windsor Hills. I researched several resorts and liked this one the best. I looked at Reunion but it seemed they were all $150-$200 more than WH. I also looked at one other (I can't remember which now) and again, same thing.

We are renting a 5 BR villa for $1200. Accomodations at All Star Music were running us about $2000 alone for two rooms and this was even with the buy 4, get 3 free. That's crazy. The package for us was going to be almost $2000 total (dining plan, park tickets & accomodations) and the one for my parents & sisters was going to be nearly $3000.

So uh, that's a long winded answer. Here's the short one: Go off site.

 

[JennSaint]

I just used hotwire and got the Caribe Royale. It's about 1.5 mile from Disney. I paid $105.00 plus tax. All the rooms are suites. If you are interested I can share the star rating and amenities which would help you identify it.

 

[MarthaJr.]

FYI-check http://www.mousesavers.com and click on the links to the various preferred & other hotels listed. They offer a nice discount. For my dates over Easter you can get the Caribe Royal for $109 + tax without going through hotwire and you know what you're getting.

The Radisson you asked about is listed on mousesavers too w/discount.

I don't know what your dates are...but I just pluggd in 2/15 - 2/20 2 adults/2 kids at the Radisson through the link on http://ww.themouseforless.comand they have some very nice rates with various theme park tix included.

Hope this helps!

We, on the other hand, still cannot decide if we are stayng on or off site ---stupid 4/3 deal! LOL! Way too tempting---I'm all about vacationing on the cheap!

 

[horseshowmom]

I glanced over the thread and didn't see this one mentioned. We just got back from Bonnet Creek, and it was wonderful. They have 1BR, 2BR, 3BR, and 4BR units. We requested fireworks view, were put in building 5, and watched the fireworks from the MK and Epcot every night from our balcony.

You actually have to drive onto Disney property to get to BC. It's next door to the CBR.

I got mine through ebay, but there's a guy named Ken Price that several on this board have used who has a website that you might want to check into - www.vacationupgrades.com.


ETA: I would see if he's willing to negotiate the rate too!

 

[yourcruise]

The Radison is nice we have stayed there before, its top notch.

 

[MinnieLove]

We are having the same dilemna. Made reservations for 6 in 2 bd villa at SS for mar 6 -13, including tickets and dining plan. Do not plan to rent vehicle (but could if we change plans).

Just wondering if we are making the best choice to stay on site? Weighing the disney conveniences. Also found accomodations quite limited at WDW for family of 6.

Any suggestions?

UPDATE: Phone Disney re: reservation at SSR. Broke down cost of trip. Total minus cost of dining plus, minus 7 day tickets=$3400 for a 7 night stay. And yes that was with 4/3 special. We were being charged almost $900 a night. $900 PER NIGHT CM insisted we were getting the very best rate, a great deal as she repeatedly said.
I put this in perspective - that is the housepayment our house (built in 2001 with 3 baths, 4 beds and 3,000 sq ft). I am so ashamed of myself. I am the reason Disney is so profitable.
Luckily it is not to late. Many people have offered economical solutions, one including utilizing campground ressie to get dining...

So this minnielover and mom of 3 is now startting over looking for 2 bedroom accomodations close to Disney. I will be saving at least $1500. I would love to find a quick and economical solution to finding accomodations and rental van. Suggestions are always appreciated (march 6 -13 2009)

I thought I was taking advantage of special, little did I know I was being taken advantage of.

 

[angelat]

UPDATE: Phone Disney re: reservation at SSR. Broke down cost of trip. Total minus cost of dining plus, minus 7 day tickets=$3400 for a 7 night stay. And yes that was with 4/3 special. We were being charged almost $900 a night. $900 PER NIGHT CM insisted we were getting the very best rate, a great deal as she repeatedly said.
I put this in perspective - that is the housepayment our house (built in 2001 with 3 baths, 4 beds and 3,000 sq ft). I am so ashamed of myself. I am the reason Disney is so profitable.
Luckily it is not to late. Many people have offered economical solutions, one including utilizing campground ressie to get dining...

So this minnielover and mom of 3 is now startting over looking for 2 bedroom accomodations close to Disney. I will be saving at least $1500. I would love to find a quick and economical solution to finding accomodations and rental van. Suggestions are always appreciated (march 6 -13 2009)

I thought I was taking advantage of special, little did I know I was being taken advantage of.

If you'd be willing to change your dates to a Saturday to Saturday stay instead of Friday to Friday you could take advantage of www.vacationcentralflorida.com which is in Windsor Hills. They are awesome people to deal with, the condos are spacious and clean and comfortable. 2 or 3 br, 2 bath. For March it would be $595 for a 2 BR or $699 for a 3BR. I highly recommend them and Windsor Hills, as I'm sure many people would.
Good luck!!

 

[MinnieLove]

thanks for the response. I did find a 3 bd condo at WH, and I am pleased as pie! So glad I did some extra checking. I think everyone is going to be pleased with the new location even though we are not on-site.