A little help please...

[DisneyDreamer04]

Okay, I need some advice...

Help me decide.. btw we are a family of 5.
Scenario 1: book thru Disney two value rooms, dining plan, memory maker, etc.
Pros my hubs likes the idea of all inclusive, all we have ever done, so all we know
Cons double beds, never stayed at all stars, and my choice is sports.. Not crazy about theme
$4990

Scenario 2: book thru 3rd party, and stay art of animation, pay out of pocket for food
Pros get to stay somewhere that normally would never justify spending, looks like awesome atmosphere
Cons have to try to figure out how to "link" reservation, pay out of pocket for food
$4950 based on what I figured for food out of pocket

Scenario 3 book third party and book at Caribbean, pay out of pocket for food
Pro we are in queen beds, nice pool, lots cheaper
Cons hate all the bus stops at the mod's, still have to "link" and pay for food daily
$4450

Here is the deal our family has never been to any of the above resorts..
We have been to pop century & port Orleans we enjoyed both, but we are park people, we don't normally come back to the resort, and only do one down day.. We will be there though for 8 nights.
Very nervous about booking thru sites like orbitz, Travelocity just cause I have never done that for Disney... My hubs like the thought of it all being paid for and done, and not paying out of pocket for food.. BUT I can just charge to the room, and take care of that nightly..
And I am all about saving money... So the cheaper does look appealing,
HELP!

 

[dansdad]

I would pick scenario 3 as CBR is our favorite Moderate and one of our favorites in all of WDW. We too like the idea of having everything paid for up front. That is why we take the amount it would cost us to pay for the Dining Plan and put that amount onto a couple gift cards. Then we use the GCs to pay for food etc. Doing this is a much better deal than the Dining Plan itself. For example, our last trip the Dining Plan for the 3 of us was around $1500. We bought 2 gift cards, one for 1K and one for $500. Now remember with the Dining Plan tips and alcoholic drinks are not included. We used the GCs to pay for our meals, tips and drinks included, ate the way we wanted, ordered what we wanted, bought snacks whenever we wanted and still had $175 on the one GC at the end of our trip. Now we already have $175 towards food for our next trip.

 

[Dis703]

Personally, I would book CBR no question. But then I'm not a particular fan of the values and I absolutely LOVED CBR.

I'm wondering though why do you have to book it through a 3rd party? Couldn't you book through Disney and still get your dining plan? Or is it a matter of just getting an extra discount? Typically the mod (with a discount at least) is cheaper than 2 value rooms. Not sure when you are traveling if a discount is expected or not.

ETA: FWIW we do the same as dansdad and bring gift cards for our meals. We've yet to not save money over the dining plan this way.

 

[AinsleyLM]

I would do CBR, too. I have stayed there several times and love it. It almost feels like an oasis after a long park day. That beach feel just makes you relax. I have never done the dining plan, so I can't say anything about that.

 

[BigAlsGal]

I always book through Disney so I know nothing about booking through 3rd party. Because of that out of your 3 scenarios I would choose option 1.

Having 2 rooms, 4 beds, 2 bathrooms is really nice. Plus like you said all is taken care of which seems important to you and your family.

 

[DisneyDreamer04]

The only thing that really worries me is all the bus stops..BUT we will have our own car, so we could drive to the parks..
The 3rd party deal is orbitz deal with promo code comes out cheaper than wdw. Plus Travelocity also is cheaper...

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We are fans of the dining plan. Yes we have run the numbers and no it doesn't save us a whole lot (although usually it does save some vs. out of pocket) but the fact is food is an expensive part of a Disney vacation. If you figure out what it will cost and can account for that (or even pre-pay with gift cards) it might help with your comparison. We also book directly through Disney and call to revise our reservation if a better discount comes out.

The bed size is the biggest thing that keeps us from booking at the Values. We just don't want to be in double beds for a long trip. Because of this, we would probably pick option #3, but only after figuring out how much the food would cost for the trip so that we would know how much extra we were paying for the Mod vs the value once food was included.

 

[loves to dive]

I've gone through Orbitz twice and had no problem linking up, as a matter of fact I have a split stay coming up where I booked the first two nights at CBR through Orbitz. Just make sure you go into MDE and change the address, they will have the Orbitz address listed. Between your 3 options, I'd rule out #2, I just can't see paying for a value at moderate prices. Yes it's a cute resort but the rooms are smaller, no covered bus stop and busy food court, no coffee pots in rooms. I would run the numbers, being honest with yourself on just how you actually eat and compare the DP and paying OOP. We've found for us the DP just doesn't work, we don't eat desserts, prefer appys instead so we end up paying for those and not eating the dessert. We rarely, if ever eat a snack and I rarely eat an adult QS meal, I tend to eat the kid's meals because there is just too much food in the adult and I rarely eat an entre at the TS restaurants, I eat an appy and either soup or salad, I'm just not a big eater. Grab a real menu from allears or WDW, don't do the calculators because they estimate and make assumptions that aren't always true, look at what you would really eat, not cutting corners just pick what looks good and then run the numbers. I'm not a fan of the values, so I'd go with the moderate if it was me.

 

[DisneyDreamer04]

It does seem important to our family because that is the only way we have ever done it.

Hate just leaving that kinda money on the table so to speak for peace of mind.. Btw, I LOVE the idea of gift cards for food!

 

[dansdad]

The only thing that really worries me is all the bus stops..BUT we will have our own car, so we could drive to the parks..
The 3rd party deal is orbitz deal with promo code comes out cheaper than wdw. Plus Travelocity also is cheaper...

In this families opinion the multiple bus stops is a non issue. If you're the first stop picked up the entire loop takes 6-7 minutes. I would rather be sitting on the bus for those minutes than spending them walking to one main bus stop. With every village having its own stop you are always very close to one.

Also, during peak bus travel times they break the resort up into 2 routes. So one bus will pick up at 3 of the stops and another separate bus will pick up the other 4.

And remember if you drive to MK you will have to park at the Ticket and Transportation Center, take a tram to the front then either boat or monorail over to MK. The bus will drop you off right at the front gate.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

The only thing that really worries me is all the bus stops..BUT we will have our own car, so we could drive to the parks..
The 3rd party deal is orbitz deal with promo code comes out cheaper than wdw. Plus Travelocity also is cheaper...

Multiple bus stops aren't the worst thing. It can be nicer than having a long walk to a crowded single stop.

 

[DisneyDreamer04]

Thank you, I think I just get wrapped up in all the thinking and thought process.. Plus, it's such a huge chunk of money. Last time we went was 4years ago..

 

[dansdad]

Thank you, I think I just get wrapped up in all the thinking and thought process.. Plus, it's such a huge chunk of money. Last time we went was 4years ago..

We wouldn't need resources like the DIS if we all didn't over think and over plan our Disney Trips. Welcome to the Club! We all understand.

 

[LSLS]

I booked through Orbitz once. They have to link up your reservation for you to Disney (very easy, they do it all the time from the sounds of the person. You can just use the online chat button). I think the negative is probably not getting the others. Honestly I have never found a scenario to make the dining plan worth it so we always pay OOP.

As for the hotels, I'm just not a big All Stars fan. Don't like the rooms, and I don't like how far away you feel. I really want to try AOA (never been), but I can vouch for CBR being really nice.

 

[Dis703]

The only thing that really worries me is all the bus stops..BUT we will have our own car, so we could drive to the parks..
The 3rd party deal is orbitz deal with promo code comes out cheaper than wdw. Plus Travelocity also is cheaper...

The bus stops at CBR were a complete non-issue while we were there. Transportation was great.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

linking a reservation to MDX that was made via a third party broker is EASY. You can do it yourself. They do not have to do it for you. However, if you have kids and book through Orbitz remember you'll need to book for the adults and call Orbitz later to add the children, or they will charge you the extra person fee per night for the children. that might be an issue when you must book a room with a capacity of 5.

 

[Lmans77]

I would def. do option 3. Last year we booked a 3rd party agent vacation that had no dining plan. I also had always had the dining plan and always booked through Disney. It was a total non issue. Everything linked up fine in MDE. Also, we saved money by paying out of pocket. And we can EAT. We did not sacrifice, and actually got to eat more TS and less QS which is how we prefer to eat anyway. We also had a car, so were able to stop at Super Target before we checked in, and picked up extra snacks for the kids, diet coke for me, beer, etc. Also, if you have or get a Target red card, you can purchase your Disney gift cards at a 5% discount to pay for your dining. You can buy multiple gift cards between now and your trip. (they sell $50 or $100 denomination GCs). Then you can consolidate all of them on to one or two cards (each can hold up to $1000). Then when you are Disney, remember everything is constructively "Paid for" already, and don't worry about prices. Charge back to room with Magic Band, and you can settle up nightly or the night before with your gift card.

In my opinion, the Disney dining plan works a lot on psychology. People love the all-inclusive feel (me included) because it's already paid for and sometimes it can save you money. But remember, sometimes it doesn't. It all depends on how you guys eat. Book 1 or 2 less character meals = money saved. But regardless, with the money you'll be saving by staying at CBR (with better amenties) you are ahead.

 

[LSLS]

linking a reservation to MDX that was made via a third party broker is EASY. You can do it yourself. They do not have to do it for you. However, if you have kids and book through Orbitz remember you'll need to book for the adults and call Orbitz later to add the children, or they will charge you the extra person fee per night for the children. that might be an issue when you must book a room with a capacity of 5.

That's what I needed their help with. I thought I remembered needing help linking, but you are right, it was changing a kid from an adult.

 

[RustManFan]

I would never do dining other than out of pocket as to justify the dining plan cost we would have to eat more than we want. I couple places we used to just stop by and eat now are on the reservation system do we will probably make a handful of ADRs...

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Driving to Magic Kingdom is almost always more fuss than multiple bus stops at the resort. Parking at the TTC, you end up having to take transport anyway.