Worth Upgrading?

[1sttimedisneymama]

so I was talking to my TA and we are wanting to do many character dining experiences (like one a day). We talked about how in the fall they typically offer free dining plans. We are currently booked at pop so we would qualify for the plan that does t include TS. She said we could upgrade to the better dining plan for extra per person or we could upgrade to a moderate hotel for only $200 more than just upgrading the dining. I think it would be worth it because character dining gets expensive. Thoughts?

 

[Jewel3k]

I've loved staying at Pop, but I've only stayed their with 3 or less in the room. I think they have the best busing and I love the themeing. Look at the additional things you get with a moderate and see if they are worth $200 to you. A moderate will have queens beds instead of a full, a coffee maker in the room, a water slide at the pool, a sit down restaurant at the resort and covered bus stops with no chain lines.

My family is to big to stay at Pop so its not a choice I have to make. I do love their bus service.

 

[VillainFavs]

For us the the cost was even less than $200 because we had four "adults" (kids were older). So it was definitely worth it. And we found we loved the upgrade to Moderate. Not that we were unhappy with the values. We had done three trips already at value resorts and would have continued there with no problems. But there were little things we found we really liked about the moderate that made the increase worth. Now, we were lucky enough that POFQ was included when we did it, which is rare. The resort is tiny and we loved that!

But having two sinks in the room was a huge time saver in the mornings. The larger rooms and larger beds are nice. POFQ just added a water feature for little ones that looks great (and even if you're staying at POR you could walk over and use it!). Coffee maker in the room. Covered bus stops. (August sun and downpours make this a HUGE selling point!)

If you're going to upgrade the dining anyway, and an extra $200 won't be a strain on your budget, I'd say go for it! And I'm very much a budget-minded vacation person!

 

[Hopefully]

Another vote to upgrade to a Moderate. Just the difference between double beds and queen beds makes it worth it to me

 

[tinkerbella16]

Another vote to upgrade to a Moderate. Just the difference between double beds and queen beds makes it worth it to me

Yup! $200 to upgrade to a moderate is well worth it. We loved Pop, but haven't been back since our first stay at POR in 2007.

But there are moderates that are usually excluded from free dining, like POR and POFQ.

 

[Eastern]

I would upgrade to the moderate.

 

[1sttimedisneymama]

Thank you! Its $450 different now bit if they come out with free dining it will only be about $250 different after the upgrade from quick service to standard. We will upgrade to the CBR if it comes out

 

[loves to dive]

One, I wouldn't book anything based on the assumption of free dining, it may or may not come out and who knows what kind of plan it will be. Two, it really is a matter of your budget and your comfort level with spending the extra bucks. For me, I dislike the value resorts so a moderate would be only logical for me. I would also consider whether or not you even need the dining plan, are you getting it for that one character meal? Is it the way you usually like to eat (trust me it's a lot of food) are there things that aren't included that you are going to have to pay out of pocket for? Is there a room discount that would make paying out of pocket for dining come out less? A lot of factors to consider, and only you and your budget can decide.

 

[1sttimedisneymama]

One, I wouldn't book anything based on the assumption of free dining, it may or may not come out and who knows what kind of plan it will be. Two, it really is a matter of your budget and your comfort level with spending the extra bucks. For me, I dislike the value resorts so a moderate would be only logical for me. I would also consider whether or not you even need the dining plan, are you getting it for that one character meal? Is it the way you usually like to eat (trust me it's a lot of food) are there things that aren't included that you are going to have to pay out of pocket for? Is there a room discount that would make paying out of pocket for dining come out less? A lot of factors to consider, and only you and your budget can decide.

We are planning for 5 character meals while we are there so we thought it would save money. We aren't booking assuming we will get free dining and are cirrently booked at Pop. We are just thinking about what we will do if we are lucky enough to get FD.

 

[Sue M]

When free dining comes out I'd ask my TA to switch me to a moderate. At this point there's no point in switching resorts untill you see what resorts are offering the free dining, if it ones out. If your TA is a Disney certified vacation planner, she will flag your acct for free dining and make the change when the promo is released.
Sometimes some resorts are excluded from promo, or room categories. Your TA can do the Disney math to see to see which is a better deal.
Are your character meals 1 or 2 TS credits? It's a personal pref, but character dining every day may be overload. There will be so much stimulation in the parks, plus adding in a daily character meal may be too much of a good thing. And typically they are overpriced and the food is just so so.

 

[1sttimedisneymama]

1 credit breakfast 2 days and dinner 3 days. Our son is 2 so we won't be spending a ton of time in the parks. There is only so much he can ride

 

[Sue M]

1 credit breakfast 2 days and dinner 3 days. Our son is 2 so we won't be spending a ton of time in the parks. There is only so much he can ride

touring plans.com have great touring plans for families with young children. For a first visit I would highly recommend them. They have a book too, WDW Unifficial Guide. It was my bible for my first few visits! Very good info.

 

[VillainFavs]

1 credit breakfast 2 days and dinner 3 days. Our son is 2 so we won't be spending a ton of time in the parks. There is only so much he can ride

You may be surprised! There's actually not all that many rides he won't be able to go on!

 

[masylimed]

I'm a huge planner that has 2 or 3 spreadsheets going to look at all cost options when planning my vacation. With that said, one big factor for us that we considered besides the magic numbers on the spreadsheets was the age of our children and what they were into at the time of our vacation. Up until our kids were older (10ish), we always stayed at a value hotel (POP was our favorite). They loved the bright colors and overall kid-friendly ambiance. Now that they're older, they get more out of the moderate resorts (our fav is POR). I will say that for me, it's hard to go backwards to a value resort now that I've enjoyed the extra perks of a moderate - like towels by the pool and hot tubs!

 

[FantasiaMagic]

I would upgrade as well!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I agree that you might as well wait to upgrade until free dining is released. Then you'll know which resort is eligible for free dining.