Yet another resort dilemma...What would you do?

[mlee.sunny]

I think I'm driving myself crazy.

Currently I have ASMo preferred booked for ten nights, from 9/20 to 9/30. Cost is $1333.87

I got a quote from a TA for ASSp standard for eight nights, 9/20 to 9/28, and she says she cannot extend past 9/28. Room only price is $777.28 and price with Disney dining plan (not qs!) is 1796.88

I think the dining deal is a good one, but I'm not as excited about the resort or that I would have to shorten the trip by two nights. I wouldn't necessarily be devastated, but there won't be as much down time as I had originally planned.

DH says let's grab the dining deal, but I'm torn. What would you do?

 

[spiceycat]

the value resorts only offer for their free dinning is the quick service - that is all they have - counter service - so unless she has you paying extra? are the tickets in both. you have to get room and tickets for the free dinning

 

[mlee.sunny]

the value resorts only offer for their free dinning is the quick service - that is all they have - counter service - so unless she has you paying extra? are the tickets in both. you have to get room and tickets for the free dinning

It's an agency-specific deal. I don't have to get tickets and the dining plan is the regular ddp not the qs.

 

[spiceycat]

I would go for it - but make sure that it is in a written form before you pay.

 

[mlee.sunny]

Also, to further clarify, DH and I are AP holders, so not having to buy tickets for the DDP is a good thing

 

[stinkpickle]

I didn't do the math, but is the dining plan discounted at all through the TA? If it's the same price as adding the regular dining plan anyway, I would probably just take the room-only deal from the TA, skip the dining plan altogether, and spend 9/29 and 9/30 at another resort.

 

[mlee.sunny]

I didn't do the math, but is the dining plan discounted at all through the TA? If it's the same price as adding the regular dining plan anyway, I would probably just take the room-only deal from the TA, skip the dining plan altogether, and spend 9/29 and 9/30 at another resort.

I don't think it is, but a plus is that we don't have to buy tickets, which is usually required to get the DDP. I don't think DH would be up for switching resorts near the end. We would probably just come home after the 8 nights.

 

[stinkpickle]

Yeah, we have AP's also, so having to pay rack rates AND buy tickets just to get free dining is a no-go. Room only discounts (either by discount or TA) all the way.

 

[buzznina]

I don't think it is, but a plus is that we don't have to buy tickets, which is usually required to get the DDP. I don't think DH would be up for switching resorts near the end. We would probably just come home after the 8 nights.

You only have to but tickets if it is for FD, you do not need to buy tickets to just purchase the DDP.

 

[DisKaren]

I don't think it is, but a plus is that we don't have to buy tickets, which is usually required to get the DDP. I don't think DH would be up for switching resorts near the end. We would probably just come home after the 8 nights.

You do not have to buy tickets to get a room and dining plan. You do have to call Disney or have a TA call Disney. You can't book it online. It's called a ticketless package.

 

[SG131]

Im not sure the travel agent's deal is really all that good. You are cutting two weekend days off your stay. The rack rate for those two days is $169 each. So a good chunk of the money you are saving comes from that. If you subtract two nights at $169 from your original total it comes out that the package is really only saving about $219.

Personally for me it wouldn't be worth the trade off of losing two vacation days, but as AP holders I'm sure you get down to Disney more than I do so it may not be as big of a deal to you. I also have ZERO interest in sports so that would be the last resort you'd find me at!

 

[dlavender]

I'm sure you've thought of it, but could you go down two days earlier, like the 18-28?

Also, have you checked if they have any other resorts available for a deal? For your original $1300 you may be able to get a nicer resort for the same length of stay as your original.

Just some ideas.

 

[loves to dive]

I'm all about saving money so I'd probably go with Sports and not the dining plan then just do a split stay for the other two nights. Maybe take that savings and splurge on a mod or deluxe? AoA breaks down to $133.38/night and Sports $97.16/night. That's a difference in $36.22/night. I'm not a fan of the dining plan, it doesn't work for the way our family eats since we tend to not always eat three meals a day, some days we eat TS, some days we snack all day and we don't like to be tied down to a schedule.

 

[stinkpickle]

The TA can book up to five days before or after the set date blocks. I would find a resort that the late September and early October offers share (probably a moderate) and make two reservations. It's technically a split stay, but you wouldn't have to switch resorts.

 

[Sue M]

I'd switch to sports, for the deal and add 2 days at another resort. AsMo or Pop? Sports doesn't appeal to me either but the surfboard section looks cute, and for resort break time since AllStars seem to be all within walking distance you could go to one of the other Allstars. I think they share ammenities?

 

[mnamna]

This isn't really a deal. You're paying about the same price per person as Df and I are for our trip. We also originally booked our trip as a ticketless package with dining. You don't need a TA for it.

It sounds like your TA is just trying to get business and lying to you. You should be able to add dining to your current reservation, BUT not all cast members know you can do a ticketless package with dining, so you may need to ask for a supervisor.

 

[bumbershoot]

I got a quote from a TA for ASSp standard for eight nights, 9/20 to 9/28, and she says she cannot extend past 9/28. Room only price is $777.28 and price with Disney dining plan (not qs!) is 1796.88

I would call wdw and get a price for those dates as a ticketless package and see what the price is. See what sort of deal she is actually giving you.

 

[mlee.sunny]

Wow! Thank you everyone for your help! We ended up ditching both of the above plans and booked through our credit card rewards site (which I learned last night you can do!) using 78000 miles to book 9/21 to 9/30 at ASMo. No money out of pocket means it's free, right? But in all seriousness, I really appreciate all of the wise words.

 

[leebee]

Wow! Thank you everyone for your help! We ended up ditching both of the above plans and booked through our credit card rewards site (which I learned last night you can do!) using 78000 miles to book 9/21 to 9/30 at ASMo. No money out of pocket means it's free, right? But in all seriousness, I really appreciate all of the wise words.

WHOA!! What credit card? I might have to look into this!!

 

[mlee.sunny]

WHOA!! What credit card? I might have to look into this!!

Chase Sapphire Reserve! You get a 1:1.5 redemption on travel booked through ultimate rewards