Would you rather: Upgrade to Mod or rental car

[ladyv]

We are currently going to stay at Pop.
We will have a 20 month old
We are going in late Sept/early Oct - on the free dining plan

I'm going to have some extra $$ saved...
If you were me, would you rather:

1) Upgrade to a moderate resort (and which one?!)
2) Rent a car instead of using Magical Express and the buses
3) Save your money where it's safe in the bank!

 

[EthansMom]

I would either upgrade to a Moderate or keep the money in the bank.

We used ME for the first time last year. We were on the bus and halfway to WDW when I remarked, "We wouldn't have even gotten our rental car yet!"

If you choose to upgrade to a Moderate, I would go for either POFQ or POR. Both have a boat that you can take to get to Downtown Disney, which is so fun in the evening with little ones. There are lots of shops and places to eat... a pretty relaxing way to spend an evening when you just don't want to go back to the parks for the evening.

POFQ is the smallest WDW resort and the whimsical crocodiles at the pool seem to be made just for little kids. My kids loved being able to throw coins in the fountain in the lobby too. When POFQ and POR share a bus, POFQ are the first ones on and the first ones to be dropped off. Also, the resort is small enough that all the rooms are about a 5 minute walk from the one bus stop... which can be pretty nice when you've got a sleeping baby/toddler.

POR is bigger and more spread out. But there is more than one pool and they have a Table Service restaurant.

When my kids were younger, we stayed at POFQ. As they're getting bigger, we've moved to POR.

OTH, it's always nice to have a bit more cushion in savings.

I hope this helps!

 

[Kae]

Save your money for your next trip. When your little one wound enjoy the water slide & maybe go deluxe so you can get a balcony. We loved pop on our last trip. Believe me there will always be a next trip,

Kae

 

[Doc CW]

Upgrade to POFQ or save the money. I like the idea of saving your money for a future trip better though.

 

[puffkin]

I say do a rental. Let me start by saying that on most of our trips we use Disney transportation. But, we took my son at 20 monhts and did the busses and it was horrible! ME wasn't bad, but the rest of the week was really difficult. He just didn't understand that he needed to sit on the busses. When they were full he refused to sit on my lap. When they were emptier he wanted to run around on them. Some nights he was so tired he fought sleep and screamed (once we even got back off at Pleasure Island and walked around DTD for awhile because he was screaming so much). Twice we had to stand and hold him because no one would give up a seat for one of us. It was a NIGHTMARE....not to mention still having the big diaper bag and stroller to lug around.

Our last 3 trips we have had a rental and it has been so much better! No long waits to get on the bus and he has his own seat. We can come and go as we please. He LOVES the tram rides in from the parking lot so those are an extra ride for him. There is hardly ever any traffic on Disney property or getting into/out of the parks, so you don't really need to worry about that.

That being said, our next trip we probably won't rent a car unless I get a fantastic deal. We rode the bus a few times on our last trip (at off peak times) and he did much better. He is 3 now. But at 20 months having the car was so nice!

 

[robinb]

I voted "save your money".

You don't need to upgrade. The advantages to a moderate is (1) room size, (2) pool amenities, (3) on resort TS restaurant and (4) landscaping. Since there are only 3 of you, you'll fit fine in a POP room. In addition your child is still young and she won't be able to use the slide and she's too little (diaper age) for the hot tub at the moderate resorts. No, there is no TS restaurant but you wouldn't be able to get into a moderate resort's restaurant on a whim even if you were staying there because of free dining. And yes, the landscaping is better at the moderates ... but I have a soft spot for Pop's giant icons. Do you really want to pay more for landscaping?

You don't need a car. ME will get you to the resort easily and they will even handle your luggage for you. I have taken ME 3-4 times and never had a problem with it. Plus, you have the DDP so you won't need to eat off site as your WDW meals are all paid in advance (well, included in the rack rate). A car is nice for getting to the parks, but Pop's buses come very frequently and there are A LOT of them at park closing.

I have stayed at all levels of resorts but I would not hesitate to save a boatload of money and stay at Pop for free dining.

 

[srwarden1928]

I would NOT want to be without a car. So in YOUR position, I would rent the car.

However, I feel so strongly about wanting the car that we ALWAYS drive, so we have our own car and never have to rent one. In OUR situation when we are having the car anyway, I would do the upgrade if I had the extra money to spend. I guess the extra money is not enough to do both.

 

[Minnesota!]

I wouldn't bother with the rental car, and a year ago I would have told you to upgrade. But I have stayed at Pop in the last 5 months and it was great. My son was 20 months at the time and he did a fabulous job! He LOOOOVED the resort and it was perfect for us!

So....I say save your money!

 

[mommyrants]

We stayed at CSR w/ a 20 mo and no car. It was great!

 

[mom2faith]

With a small child - rent a car!!

DH and I are so happy we did that. It just gave us some extra freedom and time. When we needed to leave the park for a nap, we did. Generally DD just slept in the car, and DH would drive me to Target or Joanns (we do not have those here, so it was a treat for me). Anyways, it was a way to "get away" from all the Disney and give DD soem down time - even if all we did was drive.

It was also easier to get to those early morning ressies - which we had a lot of. I had both the bus and the car figured out, and it was faster in the morning to use the car.

Have fun!!

Amy

 

[jensen]

I voted for the rental car!!!! On our last trip, I got a mid-size for $100 for the week... (putting on my flame suit) but, we did use ME for our bags... I checked in for ME while DH got the rental car and we were out of the airport and at our resort within 45 minutes of landing... having your own car doesn't really save time, as much as it saves aggravation... no waiting in lines and you are always guaranteed a seat. We'll never use the buses again!

 

[vettechick99]

Being a person that always has a car at WDW, I can tell youfirst hand they more often spend time parked than getting use. And parking at those parks is a huge time waster. It literally takes an hour from hotel to gate - to drive, park, unload, and get to the turnstiles. You are much better off relaxing and letting WDW do the work!

And upgrade that resort - the nicer the resort you can afford, the better!

 

[robinb]

I wouldn't bother with the rental car, and a year ago I would have told you to upgrade. But I have stayed at Pop in the last 5 months and it was great. My son was 20 months at the time and he did a fabulous job! He LOOOOVED the resort and it was perfect for us!

So....I say save your money!

I also really like the kiddie pool at Pop Century!

 

[Cherlynn25]

thats my vote. we have drive when we go since we are in s. florida. we NEVER use our car when we are there. We also have stayed at pop 2x and loved it. Given that you just have a little one the reasons to upgrade wouldnt really be worth it.
Either way, have a great time! =) We have taken 2 of our kids at that age and they were great! had a blast!!!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

RENT THE CAR!!! We stayed at Pop last Sept for free dining and while waiting for an hour for a bus to come pick us up from MK, while our 8 yo DD laid down on the concrete falling asleep and our 4 yo DD tried to sleep in her stroller, we swore we would NEVER do Disney Transportation again. We heard all the great things about the busses, especially at Pop and we thought great, a little patience and we will be fine...not so much..and really at the end of the day, or even while trying to get back to the resort for a nap, who has that much patience? Check out uscarhire.com for a great deal on rentals with all the insurance and an extra driver included. The prices are in British pounds, but there are many sites that can do the conversion for you..we are using them and got a great deal. We opted to stay at a Mod this year and we almost canceled our rental car, but all DD had to do was say, "remember when I was asleep on the ground waiting for the bus, Mommy?" and we are keeping it!!