All Star Music or WL, please HELP!!

[ktink]

Our family has stayed only at a value and a moderate. I justified the moderate resort because we had the free dining at the time. Well I went online and priced ASMu and we could stay there w/ 6 day base tickets & water park option and choose the dining package for $2,403... Well we could also stay at WL but loose all of the extras for roughly the same amount.

To tell the truth I'm kind of up in the air on the DDP anyway and if we were to stay deluxe I wouldn't want to do the water parks, I'd rather soak up the resort.

So tell me it's obvious as far as the better deal goes but is going deluxe worth loosing the extras? TIA

[mulderxcoltrane]

If the price for WL is without the DDP - I think (for us) it would depend on how much we'd spend OOP for food. If that would tack on a large amount - go with the value - b/c if you're in the parks a lot - you won't be at the deluxe resort enough to justify the cost.

[SgtTigger]

I am very loyal to the Wilderness Lodge but I think I can give you some extras why we love it....

Quick access to Magic Kingdom via boat or bus.
Boat to the Contemporary where we resort hop and look around. Also Monorail ride for fun on off days.
A quick boat or bus to Fort Wilderness to eat at Trails End Buffet.
A quick boat or bus to Fort Wilderness for the free campfire program.
All Hallways are inside, great on rainy days

The lobby at Wilderness Lodge:
The Fireplace
Sitting and listening to Whispering Canyon Cafe
The 4th floor overlook at the rear of the main lobby where you can watch the Pool, and boats cruise across the lake.
The reading rooms on the front of the lobby on the 4 th and 5 th floors.
The Music in the lobby

Eating.
Whispering Canyons Cafe
Artist Point (fine dinning)
and Territory Lounge

Outside
The pool
The geyser
The quiet pool by the villas

The Villas
The Carrolwood Pacific room

OK I know there is more but that is all for now.....




:cop: :tigger:

[Tinkerbellfan]

Hello,

We love the Wilderness Lodge - it is a wonderful resort. Since you have already tried the dining plan and the all-stars, I would highly recommend trying the Wilderness Lodge. Though, I will warn you that once you stay at The Wilderness Lodge, it may be hard to stay at a value resort again!

Enjoy - it is a wonderful resort!

[#1donaldfan]

We love the feel of WL......we've never stayed there, but have visited......values are ok, I suppose, never stayed at one, but my sister did once and told me that it felt busy all the time....like never leaving a busy park.....we have only stayed at POR and absolutley love it....I would go with WL and forget the DP, which your really paying for anyway, your just paying rackroom rates for the room and adding the per day price of food to your package. In the end though it's up to you and what you want out of your vacation....have fun choosing, either way you'll be at Disney and having fun....:mickey:

[ktink]

Thanks so much for all the info everyone! I really do want to stay deluxe this time so I'm leaning more towards WL, I'm just going to have to put alot more thought into the whole thing. Thanks and I'll gladly take any more advice.

[Crow]

for me id go WL, but many times i have split my stays between value/mod and or deluxe.
(as shown below)
depends on many factors for you....cost of dining (ive done the plan twice but probably not again)
WL def better atmosphere & Artist Pt is great. the lounge is good for drinks and flatbread also.
close to Ft Wilderness via boat, walk path so you could visit that for the animals and Trails End buffet.
boats to MK.
it is a big diff in $$ between value & WL though...give it thought what is best for your family

[wdw_bound]

We are WL addicts, but...

Your comparison isn't quite apples to apples. I would definitely give up the Waterparks option, maybe even the hopper option (although we utilize that every trip), but cutting out DDP means you'll have to pay oop for food, which is fine, but still needs to be factored into your costs. For my family of 3 (plus an under-3), we averaged around $30 per counterservice meal, and our cheapest TS meal was around $65 (most were over $80). So even allowing for only two CS meals a day, we'd still need to plan on an extra $60ish a day, and more if we wanted at least a couple of nice meals during the trip.

If I could swing it, I'd definitely go with WL, even if I had to stay one less night (more than that would be a tough call).

[ktink]

Well I just wanted to thank everyone for their input. I decided to go ahead and upgrage to WL :cloud9:. I just decided that w/ the DDP it would cost us roughly $130 per day and that doesn't include tips now. So we're going to do mostly counter service and throw in a few of our favorite table service meals. I may decide to add hoppers later but just have base tickets for now. Thanks again everyone!

[Tinkerbellfan]

I already recommended the WL above. But, I saw that you are visiting WDW in August/September.

Historically, WDW has offered discounts during this time period. You may want to consider booking your reservation with Magical Journeys. MJ automatically applies any discounts released during your date range that apply to your room.

Who knows - if a great discount comes out, you may be able to stay at the WL and get the Dining plan for not too much more than you are paying now.

I recommend MJ as they track the discounts for you!

[CaptSmee]

There is no comparison at all for these 2 resorts...I can't even believe that they are the same price even w/free dining! Amazing...not even in the same league...

[ktink]

I already recommended the WL above. But, I saw that you are visiting WDW in August/September.

Historically, WDW has offered discounts during this time period. You may want to consider booking your reservation with Magical Journeys. MJ automatically applies any discounts released during your date range that apply to your room.

Who knows - if a great discount comes out, you may be able to stay at the WL and get the Dining plan for not too much more than you are paying now.

I recommend MJ as they track the discounts for you!


Thanks so much for the suggestion. I've already booked through Disney. We have been lucky enough to get the free dining promo before and last year I had a trip paid for during the same week that I was able to apply a code and get 40% off. Sadly we had to cancel due to sickness in our family and the kids not be able to take off of school. I do hope I can get a discount and next time I will keep MJ in mind as that would be easier than me doing all of the leg work. Thanks again

[mickeytravel]

We love the Wl would choose that in a heartbeat. We get the magic base ticket with hopper you don't need the water park because the pool is the best there. Also we get the basic dining plan. Breakfast at WL is 5.99 for a full meal we pay that in cash and do lunch as counter and table as dinner works out the best. I would even give up one night stay if that makes a difference just to stay there:mickey: