Pop with free dining upgrade or GF with discount

[mickeynut1]

I know this is probably a dumb question but I was all set with a 10 Day August trip to Pop. It’s me and my 2 dd’s ages 9&7. We had 10 day PH with water parks with a preferred pool view and I upgraded the free qsdp to the regular ddp. Total for the trip was $3780.
Today I found was able to get another reservation for the same 10 days but this time at the GF in a garden view outer building with a 8 day base and 1 day to a water park for $3870 (no dining plan).
The loss of the 2 park days is fine bc one day we will do mnsshp and the other a water park.
I am sad about losing the “free” dining.
I know this is stupid but which reservation would you keep?
Thanks for any responses!

We like the DDP, but love the GF (have never stayed at Pop or any other value). With that said, I'd go with the GF without the DDP. The GF is a beautiful resort with a relaxing atmosphere, 2 nice pools, and great dining options. Plus there are several other dining options close by at the CR & Poly. You could spend the 2 non-park days enjoying the resort.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Disney math at it's finest! Comparing the price of Pop w/ dining plan to GF w/o dining plan is apples to oranges. Only you, OP, know whether or not you can afford the added food cost. It really comes down to what you value more, TS experiences or the resort amenities.

 

[pd1138]

I went back and forth myself, AOA with “free” upgrade dining or a deluxe with a room discount without dining. We ultimately chose the deluxe for the balcony, view of fireworks, close proximity to park, slide at the pool, and the overall smaller more intimate feel of the resort. We will get groceries for breakfast and snacks and the refillable mugs since we will be there over a week. We are actually looking forward to more quick service since having too many ADRs involves a lot of scheduling and waiting. Still we have our favorite sit downs booked, just doing brunch and lunch times vs dinner which saves money. Last time we went we had the dining plan and we brought home way too many snacks and by the end of vacation no one was hungry!

 

[SharonZ]

I'm not a big fan of the dining plan. You need to sit down and figure out what your costs would be OOP for dining at the places where you know you want to eat. Personally I won't stay at a value (just me), so I would choose GF. But with the ages of your children, you would be fine at POP.

 

[disneydacey]

Order some groceries and stay at the GF. I would always choose deluxe over value bc we put more emphasis on amenities like pools and transportation.

 

[glocon]

Another vote for GF.
We have always chosen the resort discount over free dining- but that’s what is important to us.
Are bigger and more luxurious accommodations more important, or free dining?
They are both good options, but only you can decide what is most important to you and your family.
What do the girls think?

 

[Karen46]

Another Vote for the GF. You can really cut the food bill by making great morning options in the room. We always pack snacks in the luggage and have more room for souvenirs. Ziplock bags are important. GF is beautiful!

 

[Amanda999]

I'd definitely go GF, but everyone values things differently. I usually travel alone with our 2 sons, and I highly value convenience when I'm alone with the kids (GF is more convenient to MK and Epcot than Pop), and my sons most important criteria is a good pool (water slide and hot tub highly preferred - Pop has neither).

While we also enjoy character meals, my sons are happy to eat 'suitcase food' (in the room- protein bars e.g.) for breakfast and another meal a day, while we eat TS for the 3rd meal. When we had free dining a few years ago, we had so many leftover snack and meal credits it was clearly not worth as much to us as other people. The meal (counter and table) portions are so large, we'd never eat 2 meals a day per person anyway. We drink tap water every meal, so the free beverage (and mug) aren't worth anything to us. Free coffee in the room (even at Pop now).

Being right on the monorail line is so cool. And you can easily walk to Poly to check it out, eat at Ohana. Monorail to CR to check it out. Just so easy, after all that walking in the parks.

FWIW I do like Pop alot. Stayed in renovated room last month.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I think that Mom2rtk posed the best questions that only you can answer if it's worth it to move from POP to GF and "lose" free dining? IMO, if you move to GF you really aren't giving up free dining, you're giving up convenience of not having to think about your OOP expense for food and park hoppers. Staying at POP under the free dining, you're paying rack rate for that room, extra for hoppers and upgraded food plan. So, I guess if it were me, I'd run the numbers and go from there. My guess is that no matter how you slice it, POP will still be cheaper than GF based on that scenario so I think it just comes back to what you're preferences are with this trip. If it were me, I'd stick with POP, keep the QS dining plan and pay OOP for certain meals. I think we'd get the best bang for our buck that way. Good luck, either way you slice it, it's still an awesome trip.

 

[Melanie230]

We sleep and shower in our room and that's it. We stay at Pop every time we go because for us, staying at a Deluxe Resort isn't worth it.