Hi everyone, I would like your opinions about where to stay for our next trip. We have sort of narrowed it down to the above options (although we’re open to anything except AKL at this point). If we stayed onsite, DDP would be included in the price. Off site would be about $3000 cheaper before gas, food, parking (is there anything else I’ve forgotten that we’d need to pay for?). We’re looking at 14 nights from around the 17th August 2016 for DH, DD8 (turns 9 on trip) DS5 (ages at age of trip) and myself. It will be our second trip to WDW. Our favourite parks were MK, Epcot and the waterparks. Please help me with my dilemma - Disney magic or savings??? Thank you
That sentence broke my heart, it’s my favorite one of all! 
But really for a difference of $3,000 I’d probably stay offsite. We are planning a big family trip with my mom and siblings in a couple of years and I think I’ve decided we want to stay here for that trip since we’ll likely be footing most of the cost.
$3,000 can pay for a lot of special meals and extras like tours or other attractions while in Orlando.
For that long of a trip I would seriously consider staying off-site as it is a considerable savings. You might also want to consider having one of you get an AP, as that would eliminate the parking costs and give you various discounts, plus you could then get a TiW card for further dining discounts.
We stayed there on our last trip and loved it too. The main reason that we’re not is that last time although we only had a standard view we managed to get a room near the lobby on kudu trail looking out on the sunset savannah. If we didn’t manage to do that again we would just be so disappointed that it would take the shine off our holiday. I would definitely recommend it to others though. It was fab, we didn’t find it “too remote” and thought the bus service was great.
Westgate Lakes looks good, will show it to DH to consider.
1 Like
Oh phew! You had me worried lol. We were in a standard last time as well but got a great view of animals.
I’ve seen good reviews for Westgate, but I haven’t tried it myself. There are also private homes you can rent for less than the cost of that one. I just like that one because it has three big tubs and that would be awesome to soak in after a long day at the park lol.
I know it’s becoming sort of a cliche joke answer but since you want to stay deluxe and you have more than 11 months to go have you considered renting points? It’s probably going to considerably less than the rack rates you are currently comparing your costs to. Staying at Boardwalk or Beach Club villas might be a great alternative.
Yeah, I’d definitely look at the AP. There’s going to be negligible difference between a 10 day park hopper and a AP once you count parking.
As we’re in the UK we can get a 14 day hopper and water park ticket for about $450 so I would need to look at the other benefits as even with a parking cost we would just about break even with an annual pass.
I think it’s similar with renting points. The pricing structures for UK guests on hotels seems to be different to US, so by the time we factor in dining plan (has already been announced that they’re offering it free with deluxe hotels next year) we don’t seem to come out any better off. Maybe that’s also to do with the exchange rate. I’m not sure why, but it doesn’t seem to be such a good deal for us for some reason.
Understandable. 14 days is a long bit. We spent around $1,000 on food for the two of us over 8 days, but we did have some pretty expensive meals (CG, CLP, F!) so we could have done it for a lot cheaper. If you plan to eat a lot of sit down meals with 4 people it couldn’t potentially save you to have the free dining option.
Of course as others were saying with an AP not only do you get free parking, you get merchandise discounts and if you pay the $100 for Tables in Wonderland you get the 20% discount on meals (including alcohol), plus the free valet parking at any resort where you eat and at $20 a stop that can add up pretty quick. Guess you’ll have some math to do lol. Of the ones you listed I’d probably go with BC/YC simply because of the pool the walking distance to Epcot and HS, and the awesome pool. Plus you can walk to tons of great restaurants.
1 Like
At 14 days, unless you are a crazy person when it comes to food, you likely will be skipping some table-service meals or going with very light ones, so you’re “losing money” with free dining.
Much as I love staying on-site, for a trip of that length, I’d stay off-site or do a split stay (half on, half off). I’d just want the extra space a vacation home provides.
2 Likes
We have been home from our stay at Beach Club for less than 24 hours, and we absolutely loved it. So convenient to take the boat (or walk!) to DHS and Epcot…the best pool I have ever seen…was so convenient to come back in the middle of the day when it was super hot and crazy busy. Could you split your stay into off site and onsite?
We’re doing that length trip this june. 4 nights onsite at YC then 11 nights offsite at Wyndham bonnet creek. For us it was about having the space of the two bedroom condo and not dining out every night (this is part of a 4 week trip) (from Australia). I did the maths on the AP and given we want to do waterparks it didn’t work out a better deal even factoring in parking, so we’ve gone with the 10 day wpm park hoppers.
We don’t get the same offers as uk so it might work differently for you.
But split spay might be a good option. You get a bit of each!
I think YC/BC would be the best option. Boat to HS and walk to Epcot. Good swim option and probably the greatest food choices outside of parks and DTD. Are you going to Universal. If yes, spend a couple of nights there to take advantage of the hotel guests perks. You could do split stays as well. Do you mind driving here. When I was in Ireland hubby drove and kept muttering right, stay to the right. You may also want ro shop. My relatives have always gone back to the UK with sn extra suitcase. A couple of nights offsite for shopping is also an option.
Good luck with your choice.