Which deal would you choose??

[Disny_newbie]

Hello,

I am planning to take my 7 year old son to DW in December. I contacted Unlimited Dreams and my TA was able to come up with two different options but I'm a complete novice so any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I originally wanted to go December 13-20 so with those dates she came up with these discounts.
December 13, 2015 – December 20, 2015
Magic Your Way
7 day park hoppers
1 adult/1 child age 7

Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter – garden view
$2,543.63

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort – standard view
$2,458.14

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort – water view
$2,766.38

After which she told me that if my dates were flexible she'd be able to get me a discount which was
December 15, 2015 – December 21, 2015
Magic Your Way plus FREE Dining
7 day park hoppers
1 adult/1 child age 7

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort – King Bed (are you ok sharing?)
$2,532.41

Disney’s Coronado Spring Resort – Water View King Bed
$2,630.27

Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa – Deluxe Studio
$3,538.02

My conflict comes with really preferring POFQ to the others she listed but POFQ isn't included in the free dining dates she listed. My question I guess is if the free dining is really worth it? Which of the resorts are better for a 7 year old? Thoughts?

 

[Kevin355]

CBR Standard view. Has 2 queen beds, and unless you really plan on spending time in your room, which I see is not probable since you have a 7 day park hopper. We are getting a Standard room again at CBR in September with free dining. And if you don't mind sharing a bed with your son, go for the King at CBR. The free dining is great. We got that again this September coming up.

 

[got4boys]

I would go for the free dining and chose between Disney Caribbean Beach Resort or Disney Coronado Spring Resort. You can ask for 2 queen size beds versus the king size bed.

Between the two I would chose Caribbean Beach Resort (they just went through a renovation)

Free Dining is a great added bonus. (You are paying full price for the room and the tickets)

Check the restaurants page and check the prices of the food. Meals are expensive at Disney. Yes, you can eat cheaply, but if you can get it as a bonus it is definitely worth it.

Character Meals are a great way to meet characters without waiting in line.

 

[smhwalker2011]

free dining is something we cannot go without... if you're big on character meals, or just the meal experiences in general than I absolutely suggest free dining. if you're not to big on dining then personally, I wouldn't get it.

If you don't go for free dining, I'd go with the cheapest option so you can save some extra for OOP meals/spending.

If you do go for the flexible dates w/ free dining I'd highly suggest Coronado. beautiful, beautiful resort. One of the nicest I've stayed at to date. HUGE pool, hammocks, sand. Its my kind of vacation. + if you have a water view that makes it even better.

Either way whichever one you pick, you're going to disney. So you won't lose out to much haha! Happy planning!

 

[Kbee]

I'd go with one of the free dining options, CBR because its the least expensive.

 

[Disny_newbie]

Thank you all!! I guess I was torn because of how big I read that CBR is. I would love to have a character meal, this is our first time going and I've never even heard of such a thing!

 

[Kevin355]

Thank you all!! I guess I was torn because of how big I read that CBR is. I would love to have a character meal, this is our first time going and I've never even heard of such a thing!

The size is greatly exaggerated. Unless you get Trinidad South, the size is just the same at POR.

 

[Sue M]

Hello,

I am planning to take my 7 year old son to DW in December. I contacted Unlimited Dreams and my TA was able to come up with two different options but I'm a complete novice so any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I originally wanted to go December 13-20 so with those dates she came up with these discounts.
December 13, 2015 – December 20, 2015
Magic Your Way
7 day park hoppers
1 adult/1 child age 7

Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter – garden view
$2,543.63

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort – standard view
$2,458.14

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort – water view
$2,766.38

After which she told me that if my dates were flexible she'd be able to get me a discount which was
December 15, 2015 – December 21, 2015
Magic Your Way plus FREE Dining
7 day park hoppers
1 adult/1 child age 7

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort – King Bed (are you ok sharing?)
$2,532.41

Disney’s Coronado Spring Resort – Water View King Bed
$2,630.27

Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa – Deluxe Studio
$3,538.02

My conflict comes with really preferring POFQ to the others she listed but POFQ isn't included in the free dining dates she listed. My question I guess is if the free dining is really worth it? Which of the resorts are better for a 7 year old? Thoughts?

POFQ is rarely included in discounts. I haven't looked on web site for your dates, but numbers seem odd that free dining would be cheaper. I'd ask TA to run members again. And if you want free dining grab it soon. It sells out.
Since you are using a Disney specialized TA, I'd ask her to help you with the Disney math to see which would be the better deal for you. Keeping in mind there may be a release for room discounts. Staying at a moderate resort a room discount may be better then free dining, with just 1 adult.

Dis has a section with WDW menus, and so does Allears.net. You could look at restaurants you're interested in eating to see what daily food costs for you would be.

 

[Sue M]

Oh, I now see why the free dining is cheaper, your trip would be shortened by a day!! Just saw that.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I would lean towards Coronado Springs because the pool is phenomenal for your 7 year old, and free dining is a good savings since you have to eat anyway.

Even if the are the same length trip, the prices should be close if there isn't a % off discount offered now. If that comes out later, you could run the numbers to see which is best for you.

 

[HopperFan]

I would probably pick CSR with Free Dining. It is the deluxe of the moderates and a great location park wise with very good bus service.

I would especially pick with dining plan because there are more places to eat here than most other resorts. Even a simple quick service right at the pool.
- Maya Grill, full Table Service D
- Las Ventanas, casual Table Service B/L/D
- Pepper Market, Food Court but menu has better offering, bigger portions and on china B/L/D
- Siestas Cantina, Counter Service by pool, smaller menu all day
- Cafe Rix, To Go Counter, very nice selection all day
- Rix Lounge, very cool lounge that serves appetizers and flatbreads, evenings
- Full Room Service, B/D
- Coconino Lounge IF YOU BOOK Business Class, Breakfast and Evening appetizer and snacks with beer and wine

Worth it? If you are saying that you are only giving up one day and your price, say at CSR, is $136 less. So your hotel around that date is @ $276. That means you are paying about $140 more for you room but eating for free on the regular DDP the whole week. Def worth it. Price out those character meals, ridiculous, but with the DDP you could eat at all kinds of them with him.

 

[lala5176]

I would pick POFQ. I have a 7 Year old son and He does not eat much at all. So we could eat pretty reasonably if it were just he and I. Also, being happy with the resort is very important to us and we love PO.

 

[jcjen519]

I would pick POFQ. I have a 7 Year old son and He does not eat much at all. So we could eat pretty reasonably if it were just he and I. Also, being happy with the resort is very important to us and we love PO.

If thats how you feel then I would go with port orleans for the longer trip. You can still pay out of pocket for character meals or pay for the dining plan. I don't think general public room only discounts have come out for that time period yet so you could probably end up paying less for the port orleans rooms that I don't believe are excluded from room only discounts although I'm not sure about that.

 

[dpswift]

Thank you all!! I guess I was torn because of how big I read that CBR is. I would love to have a character meal, this is our first time going and I've never even heard of such a thing!

I would CBR with FD. That way you can do character dining. It is very expensive to pay for these out of pocket.

At 7 I would have had no problem sharing with DS. However a room with 2 Queens might open up.

 

[goofy4tink]

I would stay longer at POFQ. Free dining is all well and good. But, unless you have a heavy eater, it's really not all the necessary. Yes, character meals are expensive...but they aren't that bad for kids. And you don't need to do one every day! I would go without free dining to stay at the resort I liked the best. The pool there is terrific and it's much smaller and compact.
If you really want the free dining, I would go with CBR. Yes, it's spread out. But, it's a beautiful resort and it's not all that difficult to get around the resort using the bus (if you end up further away than you would like).

I always sit down and run the numbers when deciding on free dining. There are many times that it just doesn't work for me.

 

[DizDaD7]

For a very few $$ more, I'd easily go with CSR.....It'll give you the most bang for your buck, along with more amenities.....One of the best slides on property, along with the absolute best bus service out of any resort( Deluxes included )

 

[Hi Pluto]

I agree with the free dining and CBR. The new room renovations look great! And I'm not sure if all the rooms have it, but part of the room reno's are the addition of drop-down murphy beds. Maybe you could get a king bed with a murphy bed.

~Cari~

 

[Hi Pluto]

I put this on another post too, but this is what impresses me:

 

[DizDaD7]

I put this on another post too, but this is what impresses me:

Very nice room reno's......It's just that we he\ad a not so great experience there, years ago. So this always sticks in our mind....But The room looks nice.

 

[vanyel]

I usually say go with free dining if you can but with just 2 of you, and one a child, I don't think that you'll benefit as much from the free dining, unless your 7 yr old is a big eater. You shorten your trip by a day as well. There is still a possibility that you will be able to get a room only discount which might be better for you in the long run. My dh and I are going 12/14 - 12/21 and changed our Reservations into 2 linked so that we could get free dining and we moved from POR to CBR. I would have preferred POR but the amount of money saved is significant and we have nothing against CBR. Frankly, I'm happy in any of the moderates and my favorite is actually CSR but I like to change resorts.

So if it was me given your parameters, - I'd stay where I was at and hope for a room only discount down the road. I always plan though, with the budget I'm willing to spend then consider the discounts as some thing extra!

Enjoy you're trip with your son - sounds awesome!