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Disney Experience

bobbygrrl

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Hi

I am going to exchange 1 week with DAE just after spring break 2014. About to pay for gold and am searching reviews to decide which properties to put on my search.

So far I am considering putting in requests for:

Polynesian Isle Resort
Fantasy World Resort
Sheraton Vistana Resort
Windsor Palm Resort
Parkway International Resort
Marriotts Grande Vista

(Can you suggest order of preference for these and have I missed any little gems or would you advise against any of these)

There will be: My hubby, me and our then 9 year old.

We won't be driving so would like to stay in a property that does cheap/free shuttles airport/attractions.

My two questions -

What timeshare would you suggest for us?

What park ticket combinations would work out best value?

We are coming in from the UK (not sure if that would make a difference).
 

ronandjoan

TUG Review Crew: Elite
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Telemark, Townhouses at St Augustine Beach and Tennis Club, Stoneridge Resort (ID)
My first advice would be to join TUG so that you can read the TUG reviews. They are far more accurate and valuable than reviews from other sites.

Secondly, DAE has limited inventory and they may not have a Marriott resort available...that said, we still have had wonderful exchanges with them. I would call them and see which units they had in April 2013 to get an idea of the availability. (You said "after Spring Break" but did not say the date -- after Easter, things open up. I just mention that since Spring Break is a long period as so many schools have varied dates.) They are a great company to work with - as you probably know - and very personable.

They are also very good to get you a good unit with a search.

I see for the rest of this year they do have an Orange Lake, Summer Bay and Star Island, all which would be good for you to add to your list.
 

stoler527

TUG Review Crew
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We always rent a car. Lots of resorts do not have shuttles. Staying at a Disney resort will give you the transportation that you want, but at a cost.
 

JPD

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Most resorts that have shuttle service charge about $10. a person, so you might just as well check out the price of a rental, plus it will give you the freedom to explore other parts of the area. Also if you do a rental, you must include the price of parking at the parks.

Lastly, the statement in the above post is right on the money. A Tugg membership is the best money I have spent since I started timesharing.
 

tug1873

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If you do not stay at a Disney property rent a shuttle. Even when they do have a shuttle it's probably inconvenient.

I just did disney world and here how I was able to keep my cost down.

You can rent a car under $30 a day. Take it slow you should be okay on our side of the road after a little bit of driving. This is a must if do though if your looking to save money. There is a target and walmarts in the area where you can buy supplies. without a car you can't buy those supplies.

You should invest in a good backpack if you have one. This is so you can buy bottled water and snacks and bring it into the park. Disney will allow this so don't worry about it. If you think it's to much hassle look at this way every bottle will save you $5. It amazing how light the water feels after I think that.

I don't park hop since it's to hard to get to one park to the next and can take some time. Cheapest way for tickets is to buy a 6 or 7 day pass so pick one park a day. Use Animal kingdom and Hollywood studios park as your off days where you only might spend 4-5 hours at the park so you can get some rest. Epcot and Magic kingdom are usually long days as there is a lot more to see there. Go early in the morning and skip magic hours parks. I also don't close out the parks. 8-10 hours a day is lot of park time.

A big thing to do is walk to the rides in the back of the park first. You can usually get 2 or 3 rides done in the first hour by doing this. Read mousesavers and come up with a plan to get the most of your day.

I also do lunch at a disney restaurant. Make sure you make reservations. I have found that the cost is about double what normal restaurant would be. It is worth it though since you can use that as recover time. I make it up by eating Breakfast and Dinner at the timeshare.


I usually like staying West of Disney since there is less traffic. Orange Lakes is a pretty good choice. Summer Bay is nice but they had building fall into a sinkhole.Look at the reviews online and pictures from the web. I look at the kitchen pictures you can usually tell a lot about a place from a good picture of the kitchen on tripadvisor since those are usually taken from a actual person and are not staged.
 
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amyhwang

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Baltimore
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Marriott’s Ko Olina
Of those, the only one we have stayed at is Grande Vista. I don't recall them having any sort of a shuttle, and a taxi was a whopping $50 one way to the Magic Kingdom (we had a car but one day my husband dropped me and the kids off there to meet up with my friend and her kids, and I took a taxi back).

I would look as close as you can, and research your options for shuttles. I do understand not wanting a rental car (with driving on the different side of the road and all - I wouldn't want to do it either!). You may find that if any trade doesn't come through, you may want to find a reasonable hotel or resort with good shuttles, like the Downtown Disney hotels (they have excellent shuttles and good rates for the most part - plus the Doubletree is all suites so you'd have a kitchenette).

Also, if you're not driving, you can order grocery delivery or take a taxi to shop for items. My sister recently used Garden Grocer for her delivery, and she was pretty happy with them. They also deliver wine :)

Have you looked at the Disboards? You can get lots of advice there too!
 

DeniseM

Moderator
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WKORV, WKV, 2-SDO, 4-Kauai Beach Villas, Island Park Village (Yellowstone), Hyatt High Sierra, Dolphin's Cove (Anaheim)
You will have more success with RCI and/or II.

The timeshares you listed are not affiliated with DAE, and the resorts don't do bulk space banking with them. DAE only gets single deposits from owners here and there, and they will get very few deposits (if any) from the top resorts.

I would also add Wyndham Bonnet Creek and Sheraton Vistana Villages.

There are very few legitimate discounts on Disney tickets - beware of big discounts - they are likely to be illegal sales, or scams.

The best legitimate price comes from being a member of www.mousesavers.com, and using their discount code to buy from Under Cover Tourist - it's free to join Mouse Savers - http://www.mousesavers.com/
 
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