August/sep this year.

lyndseypie · 18 Feb 19, 04:23 PM

Hi. My holidays at work have changed and can go slightly out of school holidays. After looking previously at school hols it was out of budget for this year but now it may be doable. I’ve priced a budget Disney hotel, flights and Disney tickets for around Ł3500 for 2 adults 1 child.
I have a few questions.
Should I add on and pay for the ddp? We would like to do some character meals? If so would I still be able to book these in time for end of August?
Is there much difference between a budget hotel and a moderate?
Thank you.

JakesArmy · 18 Feb 19, 04:33 PM

We are going August/September this year too and because we were too late for free ddp we decided to stay at a Disney springs hotel instead. Cheaper than staying onsite but still a Disney affiliated hotel and we have the perk of being able to go into Disney springs for food.

lyndseypie · 18 Feb 19, 04:48 PM

Is there still free transport to the parks from them hotels? We are not wanting to hire a car.

JakesArmy · 18 Feb 19, 04:52 PM

Originally Posted by lyndseypie

Is there still free transport to the parks from them hotels? We are not wanting to hire a car.

Yes every 30 minutes. This will be first year we are trying them so can’t say whether any good or not.

Dacoops321 · 18 Feb 19, 06:18 PM

Have you looked at renting dvc points. It is often cheaper than paying disney directly, then with the saving you could put the money towards the ddp.

lyndseypie · 18 Feb 19, 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by Dacoops321

Have you looked at renting dvc points. It is often cheaper than paying disney directly, then with the saving you could put the money towards the ddp.

What are dvc points? I’m newish to all of this! Thanks.

**sha9** · 19 Feb 19, 07:40 AM

It may be worth looking at the Disney US site as they have free dining on at the moment.

Merryweather17 · 19 Feb 19, 11:29 AM

Originally Posted by sha9

It may be worth looking at the Disney US site as they have free dining on at the moment.

I couldn't find this on the US site yesterday so it may have ended now, instead i got a good rate on a room which suits us fine as then we can use the UK tickets rather than add US ones. I booked two value hotels for end aug and start sept (we are cruising in the middle) and some of the nights the rate was as low as $88 before taxes which was amazing! We prefer being onsite as we can use the magical express, disney transport (saving on car hire and parking) and get the whole disney 24/7 thing but this is precisely why some people prefer off-site or the hotel boulevard/bonnet creek resorts - all a matter of personal choice!

Only you can decide is the DDP is 'worth it' for you, it doesn't always save that much money but it can be nice to have food budgeted for before you go. You will still be able to book some character meals at this time but anything you want book asap and if you can't get something just keep trying as people cancel all the time and you may get lucky.

As for difference between moderates and value it depends how much time you want to spend at the resort, if we are park-touring till we drop then values are great for us, if we want some time to chill and enjoy the resort we rent dvc points and have a few down days - remember you can split you stay with some time staying at different resorts although this means more packing and unpacking. For a better idea of the resorts try youtube, it is full of resort tours and room tours and you can see for yourself which may suit you better.