Where to get best value, 2 adults and 3 kids - 6, 9, 10, but not at a value resort?

[zekmoe]

We're trying to finalize a trip, with 3 boys, ages above, and 2 adults. We'd prefer a separate room, but will combine if the hotel can accomodate. We'd want the meal plan and parks etc, but can't really swing $1000/day combined for everything. What hotel would be a good choice for a reasonable rate, but have a nicer restaurant and pool than the budget ones. I've been to Saratoga and the older Dixie Landing. Would want to try other hotels. Thinking either a 6 person room at Wilderness lodge, or two rooms at another, maybe Port Orleans FQ. Yacht Club with 2 rooms is probably out of reach. Best ideas?
Thanks

[Barberella]

Further Questions: What month are you planning for? Will you have a car?

[Barberella]

Just wondering if you know that some 1 bedrooms at AKL have a sleeper sofa (sleeps 2) and a sleeper chair (sleeps 1) and 2 full bathrooms. Adults have Master bedroom & bath - boys sleep in living room & have their own bathroom.

[528toI4]

The polynesian rooms are large and sleep 5. Two queens (sleep 4) and a couch bed for one. Put the 10 year old on the couch thing and the other two in the bed. Great pool, awesome themeing and monorail ease.

[Mickey's Travel]

You can stay at two rooms at any moderate and get guaranteed connecting rooms. The Coronado has a junior suite w/ 2 queens and a pull out queen sleeper that starts at $355 value season 2011. The Wilderness Lodge Club Level with Concierge Service – Deluxe Room starts at value season $555 2 queen-size beds and one queen-size sleeper sofa.

If you are going late 2012 (Aug) you can try the new Art Of Animation (value) buy is suppose to be superior in design compared to current value resorts. Otherwise it's one room at any deluxe that offeres a day bed

[Drince88]

What about the Wilderness Campground cabins? I think they just redid the pool, and a lot of people like Trails End for an eatery. (I've just never made it over there to try to comment one way or another.)

[scoobydooby]

I would choose POR for 2 romms over POFQ. We've stayed at both and yes, POFQ is nice and small, but there is more to do at POR for children and the food court, just IMHO, is far superior. The quiet pools are also a bonus. Let us knowwhat you choose.

Only other (cheaper) idea. Family Suite - but that's at a Value too.

[ericles]

Have you considered renting points for a stay at a DVC Resort (Boardwalk, Beach Club, Contemp, Animal Kingdom, Wilderness Lodge, Saragota Springs, Old Key West...someone help me out if I've forgotten one!) for your stay? The price point between "regular rate" and rental rates are shocking sometimes. We are staying at the Boardwalk, 1 bd. studio - for the cost of a standard room @ Port Orleans. Of course, it depends on when you go & what offers Disney has in terms of room discounts & free dining and so on. I'd at least check out the difference in rental vs. standard rates for the time you are going. You never know, you may luck out. Just my 2 cents though...
Have a great time - planning is 1/2 the fun.

[GusMan]

Going off of what ericles mentioned, renting points for a DVC stay is a great idea. Though, you would need a 1 BR at AKV or BLT since they are the only DVC resorts that have 1BR's that will sleep 5. For the others, you would need a 2 BR. Or you could go with 2 Studios, but then I think you would be limited to AKV in Jambo House. There are options for sure.

[zekmoe]

I get confused by the rates on the regular disney site. Is there no way to put 2 adults and 3 kids, one smaller, into a single room? Checking a last week in August, I get rates of like 7500 for the poly, but bring it down to a party of 4 and I get less than 1/2, around 3100. I'm strictly a novice at how to book these.
A friend has a travel agency, and he's a Disney certified planner or something like that. I'm going to talk to him this week. Im really trying to keep the whole package under 6g including flights.

[Drince88]

I'm not sure what you were looking at, but I don't think you were comparing apples to apples.

Last week in August 2012 - Poly Garden View - 3 kids, 2 adults - Dining Plan - 7 day Base Tickets -- 5,262.61
Poly Garden View - 2 kids (I dropped the 10 year old), 2 adults - NO dining - 7 day base tickets -- 3,869.14
Poly Garden View - 2 kids, 2 adults - Dining Plan - 7 day base tickets -- 4,667.86

So I'm not sure how you got 3100, except if it was without the dining plan.

A 10 year old takes an adult ticket, which is $267 plus tax, and then the dining plan is 51.54/night = 576 +tax - so right in line with the 3 kid option.

[mom22gls]

Another advantage of a DVC villa is that any unit, larger than a studio has a full kitchen and washer and dryer in the unit, as well as a separate living room area. Even if you don't cook on vacation, there is a significant cost savings in eating a quick breakfast in the unit, versus eating at a food court, as well as being less stressful than finding a table, standing in line, etc. I order groceries from GardenGrocer.com, which lets you order and pay online, and delivers the order to Bell Services (which will store all perishables in a frig, and bring it to your unit). I have used the service many times. The kids can eat their cereal while watching TV, while you throw a load of laundry in, and it doesn't matter if it sits in the dryer all day while you are out. I get cereal, bagels, snacks, eggs, fruit, and lots of bottled water (another big savings over buying it in the parks). I've done breakfast in a standard room, storing milk in the mini frig, but it's much nicer to have a real place to store food, clean up, and sit, and you have the plates, utensils, and dishwasher. You could even make sandwiches and bring them into the park in a small, soft-sided coolers, at least a couple of times, and save on lunch, too, or go back to the villa for lunch.

[zekmoe]

I guess I should rethink the dual room thing. I kind of wish I could get a reasonably place for 5 but it seems like the places that are able to handle 5 are nearly as expenseive as 2 rooms in POFQ.
Where would go to look at buying those vacation club points? The only place I won't stay would be the Saratoga (I'm basically FROM Saratoga, and stayed there a few years ago and found it bland). How is that done?

[ericles]

Bob - I've got a person/Company I've used (and family members have used) several times that is very aboveboard. I also know of another well-thought of Company, although I haven't used them before. If you are interested in the info, PM me & I will forward the relevant phone numbers & email addresses & websites. If nothing else, it's always good to get the numbers & have the info for comparison.

[mom22gls]

I guess I should rethink the dual room thing. I kind of wish I could get a reasonably place for 5 but it seems like the places that are able to handle 5 are nearly as expenseive as 2 rooms in POFQ.
Where would go to look at buying those vacation club points? The only place I won't stay would be the Saratoga (I'm basically FROM Saratoga, and stayed there a few years ago and found it bland). How is that done?

You would not be buying points, for a one-time stay. You can rent them from a DVC owner, who makes the reservation for you. There are boards where people offer points for rent-you would need a lot of them; depending on the dates, place, and days of the week, for a 5 night stay (Sunday-Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights are a lot more points), if you want a two-bedroom villa, you are talking about 200 points. The usual rental price per point is around $10, if memory serves. You are entering into a private contract with the owner, so there is a bit of a trust issue. It is helpful to look at the points charts, online, to see what you need. Before buying into DVC several years ago, we stayed at a studio at Old Key West on rented points, and it went fine. You can also go through a rental service online. You can also simply reserve a unit, through Disney, just as you would a hotel room, on a cash basis. Very likely, you will end up at either Old Key West or Saratoga Springs, simply because of the large inventory. Saratoga Springs is our home resort, and we just stayed there about a week ago, in one of the new Treehouse Villas, which the kids love-it's basically three bedrooms for the "price" of two (about 1,000 square feet in a freestanding unit with a deck). There are only 60 Treehouses, so they are hard to reserve. The new, themed pool should have just opened, which makes two pools with slides on the grounds. It has not opened yet when we were there, but I could see enough that it looks really neat, with a big slide.

[zekmoe]

I think I'm going to cough it up for the Poly. I think it's about $1500 more for a 7 night stay, but I've been quoted from some travel agents that the other choice is Port Orleans Riverside, which I'd stayed at many years ago when it was Dixie Landing. Twice. I can't bear to go again and stay at exactly the same place.
It's the 5 person thing that kills. The new Animation Resort opening next year will likely be a better deal.
I wish that 2 rooms at a moderate weren't more expensive than 1 room at a deluxe, but it seems they are.
I'm hoping to book/confirm tomorrow

[mickeymom5]

We are a family of five...and looking forward to the extra option the new resort brings to the table. Can't wait to hear all about your trip...It is a dream of mine to stay at the Poly one day!

[tappenfeat]

I think I'm going to cough it up for the Poly. I think it's about $1500 more for a 7 night stay, but I've been quoted from some travel agents that the other choice is Port Orleans Riverside, which I'd stayed at many years ago when it was Dixie Landing. Twice. I can't bear to go again and stay at exactly the same place.
It's the 5 person thing that kills. The new Animation Resort opening next year will likely be a better deal.
I wish that 2 rooms at a moderate weren't more expensive than 1 room at a deluxe, but it seems they are.
I'm hoping to book/confirm tomorrow

Congrats on your decision. The Poly won't disappoint. We've gone with our family of four and bringing DMIL along with us, the day bed really provides that extra room for sleeping and the square footage of the room is nice compared to a Moderate.

Although, when we want to $ave some years we've gone and really want that extra room, we book with our Timeshare. Granted, we're not on property, and it's so much more magical when you are right in the middle of it. The Poly is smack-dab in the middle!!!

Have a magical time!!!

[SigalTchelet]

Have you considered renting points for a stay at a DVC Resort (Boardwalk, Beach Club, Contemp, Animal Kingdom, Wilderness Lodge, Saragota Springs, Old Key West...someone help me out if I've forgotten one!) for your stay? The price point between "regular rate" and rental rates are shocking sometimes. We are staying at the Boardwalk, 1 bd. studio - for the cost of a standard room @ Port Orleans. Of course, it depends on when you go & what offers Disney has in terms of room discounts & free dining and so on. I'd at least check out the difference in rental vs. standard rates for the time you are going. You never know, you may luck out. Just my 2 cents though...
Have a great time - planning is 1/2 the fun.

Where do you go to rent DVC points?

[mom22gls]

Where do you go to rent DVC points?

See my above post. You need to rent them from an owner. There are some online realtors who handle the transactions, or you can connect through a board. You might see posting on ebay, but they may describe it as a rental for a particular type of unit-as in a studio; you are really just renting the number of points for that rental, and that is what it would get you; a bigger unit may be more points than the owner has available.

[ericles]

Where do you go to rent DVC points?

I have a "person" I go to, she's a travel agent/broker-type person who deal with a pool of points. Plus, one other Company that brokers points. I'm not sure what the rules are on here about posting that sorta info - would you like me to PM you? We've done it several times now, all good experiences. It's easy & painless.

[buckeev]

We also are a Fab Five Family..and have done POR twice in the past 3 years. While we really enjoy POR, we kinda wanted a different "view". I was all set to pony up the extra bucks for Beach Club or BWI, then received an incredible pin offer via email making POR by far the best bang-for-our-buck deal.
We'll probably still do a few days at the Dolphin, but of course you can't add the dining plan.

Hope y'all have a great time!

[jtamchay]

HI ericles, I am late reading this thread but would appreciate your contact person...feel free to PM me. We are booking October 27-November 3, 2012. Thanks, jo

[jrsharp21]

here is one I ran across on a webcast advertisements. www.dvc-rental.com. We may try them out.

[jtamchay]

follow up is that I have contacted the person that ericles suggested and we are working together on my dates and renting her points...seems it will work out well and I am happy with the process.