How important is choice of resort?

[sarahsthreads]

well at our kids (younger) ages we would spend at least a couple of hours in the room after the park. Have you looked into renting points for Bay Lake Towers (connected to the contemporary)? We did that last year and it was awesome and a lot less $.

We did this a few years ago when DD1 was 5 and DD2 was 1.5 and it was fabulous! We had a one bedroom suite, so we could put the kids to bed and hang out in the living room - we used a PNP for DD2 and DD1 just slept in the King-sized bed with us. We had groceries delivered, and ate all but one breakfast (we did a character breakfast) and a few of our dinners there, so saved a ton on eating at the parks. We brought half the clothes we might have otherwise and just did a couple of loads of laundry. We were literally walking distance to the Magic Kingdom, and right on the monorail for Epcot. It made mid-afternoon kids-needing-downtime super easy and convenient.

I would do it again in a heartbeat! (And we probably will when DC3 is a couple years old.)

DH was in charge of the reservations, so I'm not sure how he booked it, but it was *significantly* less expensive than staying at the Contemporary, a bit more than the All Star hotels were.

Sarah

[KrisM]

Make sure I'm doing this right! The dates I'm using are April 5 through April 13. Using http://www.dvcrequest.com/ , I get 312 points minimum for BLT. That's $4056.

Using dates in December 2013 for the same number of days and the same expected price season (no prices for April yet on Disney), I get room only for All Stars suite $3043, Cabins at FW for $3748, and Contemporary for $4093. A 1 bedroom at BLT for those dates is $3146.

I can see the savings. So, there are no cancellations. Do you buy trip insurance? It's a lot of money to put up as a guaranteed vacation. Kind of scary to think about!

And, wow. I am still in overall sticker shock of a $7k vacation that is only 1 week! Yikes!

[westwoodmom04]

Make sure I'm doing this right! The dates I'm using are April 5 through April 13. Using http://www.dvcrequest.com/ , I get 312 points minimum for BLT. That's $4056.

Using dates in December 2013 for the same number of days and the same expected price season (no prices for April yet on Disney), I get room only for All Stars suite $3043, Cabins at FW for $3748, and Contemporary for $4093. A 1 bedroom at BLT for those dates is $3146.

I can see the savings. So, there are no cancellations. Do you buy trip insurance? It's a lot of money to put up as a guaranteed vacation. Kind of scary to think about!

And, wow. I am still in overall sticker shock of a $7k vacation that is only 1 week! Yikes!

I know, I think Disney was the priciest family vacation we have taken so far. I think that BLT is the most expensive (or the same as AKL dvc), so the others will be a little less expensive. If you compare room square footage, I believe a one bedroom BLT is about the size of two standard size guest rooms. All of the one bedroom or larger dvc units have foldout sleeping for 2-3 kids in the living area. We had our kids there and us in the bedroom for a pretty good level of privacy in a one-bedroom unit, and there were two bathrooms so that helped too.

Also, David's vacation club sells trip insurance. I decided to gamble, and didn't get it.

[Indianamom2]

Make sure I'm doing this right! The dates I'm using are April 5 through April 13. Using http://www.dvcrequest.com/ , I get 312 points minimum for BLT. That's $4056.

Using dates in December 2013 for the same number of days and the same expected price season (no prices for April yet on Disney), I get room only for All Stars suite $3043, Cabins at FW for $3748, and Contemporary for $4093. A 1 bedroom at BLT for those dates is $3146.

I can see the savings. So, there are no cancellations. Do you buy trip insurance? It's a lot of money to put up as a guaranteed vacation. Kind of scary to think about!

And, wow. I am still in overall sticker shock of a $7k vacation that is only 1 week! Yikes!

I think it sounds like you're doing things right. I know we paid about $13/point (to BIL/SIL, who own DVC at the AKL). I believe that since we are going in the value season we needed something like 118 points total.

We didn't do trip insurance because we're related to the sellers so no problems there, plus baring a major health catastrophe, we'll be there. I figure if we can't go for something that major, that will be the least of our worries!

[AnnieW625]

Do you have to go in December? That is high rate time I believe. Have you considered The Bonnet Creek Westin? It is near Downtown Disney I believe. That or renting points (unless we are able to make things work with one of DD1's friends moms who works for the "mouse"--aparrently there are good discounts if you travel with an emoloyee) will be about the only way we could afford a great WDW vacation.

We rarely stay in hotels and yeah the open to outside door hotel rooms kind of turn me off too (unless it is a villa or condo rental). If I am on vacation I want to be pampered!

[hillview]

yes that sounds right. Yes it is super $$. December is a higher season. We go in Jan (when we go) and it is a lot less $ but STILL very expensive.

[KrisM]

Do you have to go in December? That is high rate time I believe. Have you considered The Bonnet Creek Westin? It is near Downtown Disney I believe. That or renting points (unless we are able to make things work with one of DD1's friends moms who works for the "mouse"--aparrently there are good discounts if you travel with an emoloyee) will be about the only way we could afford a great WDW vacation.

We rarely stay in hotels and yeah the open to outside door hotel rooms kind of turn me off too (unless it is a villa or condo rental). If I am on vacation I want to be pampered!

We are going in April. The kids are in school in December. I only used December and a similar price point for pricing, since next April isn't out yet. But, April isn't cheap, either, I'm finding. We could go in August, which is cheaper.

Hotels that open outside don't bother me. My house opens to the outside .

I did look at Bonnet Creek. I came up with $1850 for a 1 bedroom, including the shuttle fee. It's definitely more space for less money! I am considering that, too.

[KrisM]

yes that sounds right. Yes it is super $$. December is a higher season. We go in Jan (when we go) and it is a lot less $ but STILL very expensive.

I've confused people. We're going in April. Our kids don't have time off school in January, unfortunately. We are going on spring break next April.

[Cam&Clay]

I've confused people. We're going in April. Our kids don't have time off school in January, unfortunately. We are going on spring break next April.

That's why it's so expensive. The few weeks before Easter and the week after are some of the highest priced (and most crowded) weeks of the year.

[BayGirl2]

That's why it's so expensive. The few weeks before Easter and the week after are some of the highest priced (and most crowded) weeks of the year.

If you want to see what Spring Break crowds are like go to EasyWDW.com's blog posts for the last couple days http://www.easywdw.com/uncategorized...13/#more-10833. The pictures of Magic Kingdom yesterday are enough to make me avoid April at WDW, it just looks miserable there. If you do go at a busy time be sure to have a strategic touring plan to avoid the crowds. If I had to go at a really busy time I'd want to stay somewhere I can get back to the hotel easily in the afternoons and wouldn't mind spending some time at, because we'd really have to get out of the parks for a few hours. Plus I'd want to be able to get there early in the morning (especially MK) and back easily in the evenings to stay late. This would be less important to me in low season because we tend not to take breaks.

Can't you look at this April's rates (i.e. now) to get an idea?