My original plan was to take a break from WDW and go in 2021. Driving my darling daughters (11,14) to activites last night (feeling overwhelmed emotionally as a father from the horrible news) we were talking what to do in 2019. Road trip this summer to Busch Gardens and Colonial Williamsburg. Trying so hard to be frugal these days. So I was talking to them about a disney cruise, a resort week in caribbean, even a long weekend in Universal.
They both pause and say, “Ummmmmm why not Disney next year?”
Love them so much, got so excited and smiled ear to ear. We all basically said at the same time YOLO!!! (so 2011 )
I spoil them but I do have a question.
4 Nights at a premium like Yacht Club? (love location)
Is it a matter of price? Any reason you wouldn’t want to stay off property?
We generally use VRBO/Homeaway to rent a condo. Saves a lot of money over staying on-property, plus allows you to have a full kitchen to save even more on food. You can also get a lot more space to spread out.
There are lot of nice places. A couple years back we did a rental house with a private pool. It was still cheaper than staying on Disney property. Just less convenient, of course!
Boy, any decision that has to do with being frugal obviously is all on your own resources and decision and hard for us to figure.
But when it comes to choosing whether to splurge more, I think one factor is whether you plan to spend a lot of time at the resort plus how the overall ambiance works for you. On our last trip we specifically planned to have resort days, as opposed to previous trips so it became more important than a place to crash after a long day out.
For me, if going moderate means additional nights as you have listed - I’m all over the additional nights. More family experiences over amenity for me any day.
In any case: be sure to check with Magical Vacations Travel to see what sort of deals they have when you want to go. They buy blocks of rooms and guarantee to Disney they will sell them so get some terrific deals - when I checked with an agent recently I was quoted a price including tax for WL that was better than CBR deals I was seeing, and got a BC quote that was also super low and made me rub my chin and go "Hmm…:
Yeah. FP+ is an issue when staying off property. In that case, it depends on when you go. If during a time when attendance at the parks is low, it may not matter much. You’ll just end up waiting a long time for a FEW of the rides. We had, for example, about 1 1/2 hour wait for Frozen, but it was more than offset by the fact that most other rides were practically walk-ons. In fact, in one case, we had a FP+ for a ride, but the line actually took LONGER to use the FP+ than the normal line because of the additional time for them to check the FP!
I don’t follow this forum consistently; however, the people who do say that Disney is crowded all the time now. So avoiding crowds is getting to be much more difficult.
I agree with @JJT - I would choose more nights at a moderate. I’ve walked thru POFQ, and while it isn’t the Ritz Carlton, it is a very nice resort. After all, there is a reason it books up 8-10 months in advance.
Do you mind the resorts you picked having dogs in the rooms? The Yacht Club and Port Orleans Riverside are two of the 4 resorts that allow dogs. Just something to consider.
I personally would do the 6 nights at a moderate. Both Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter are amazing. Riverside is more spread out and has a great theme, and French Quarter is more intimate and is a smaller resort so it’s easier to get around.
Keep in mind that while the Port Orleans Riverside is a great resort, if you end up getting a room far away, it can be a bit of a hassle and long walks, especially when you’re coming back from a long day at the parks.
Just something to consider.
I’m personally staying 8 nights at the Boardwalk Inn which is across Crescent Lake from Yacht Club. I used to have reservations at Yacht Club but I changed because we didn’t want to be around dogs at a resort and we’re going to be going back to our resort for mid-day naps and relaxation and didn’t want to hear dogs howling cause they miss their parents, etc.
Dolphin and Swan both have 60-day fastpass+ windows. Definitely check them out in your comparison because you can’t beat the location - walking distance to Epcot and DHS.
As JJT mentioned. To make your choice first get a quote from Magical Vacations Travel, (MVT). It has been referred to several times out here and the Big Book talks about them as well. In prior posts I stated that I have booked my own vacations for the last nine years via the WDW website. After being out here a while people kept mentioning the great deals they got from MVT. When I found out how much they could save me on a vacation I had already booked, I canceled and went with their deal. ($1000 savings for PoR). My wife and I will be there March the first of this year. Then my travel agent (Darcy) from MVT told me about a fall special they were having so I got a quote for Poly. ($4500 savings) I had to book the price was just too good. So the bottom line in choosing between a Moderate and a Deluxe resort comes down to money and location. Yacht is not worth the extra money as it is attached to the Beach Club which is closer to Epcot and a little cheaper (Deluxe). Poly is wonderful and is on the Monorail system. (Deluxe). PoR is great and that’s where we have stayed many time before as well as our upcoming trip. Has a great boat ride to Disney Springs (Moderate). As stated, you probably won’t be at your resort all that much so keep that in mind. Dog policy is new so we will find out how that effect things. Have a great vacation.
Yacht/Beach are my favorite Deluxe resorts, and Port Orleans FQ/Riverside my favorite moderate. You can’t go wrong with either. Stormalong Bay is the best pool on property but Old Man Island is great too. Given the constraints I would lean toward the longer trip at PO, unless you can get a great deal on Yacht or Beach, and extend the stay.
done and done. can’t wait to start planning. only 488 days and counting haha!. gonna look into the swan too. being a teacher the discount might over rule all
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