Advice on a Solo Trip Please

[BilbooToo]

Hi,

Regular visitor to WDW, with the next visit being...

- 2 adults from the UK
- Port Orleans French Quarter (first time on-site)
- Disney Dining Plan
- 14 nights
- Apr/May 2020
- Flights booked and paid for, with no refund option
- Cost for hotel, tickets, DDP etc (but not flight) are around £2,150 each - so nearly £4,300 in all

Things have changed and rather than cancel I'm weighing making this a solo trip, well the flight is paid for after all, and as such spoke to Disney today...

- Same as above but with just me - £3,685
- POFQ but with QSP - £3,485
- Pop Century with DDP - £3,167
- Pop Century with QSP - £2,929

I've no issue with going by myself, so that's not the question, it's more around the options I've got.

In my opinion, staying on site works best for solo traveller, I get picked up at the airport then dropped off again a couple of weeks later! Plus this trip was a Disney only trip, always stayed offsite in the past and done all the Orlando attractions so this was a chance to check out the 'Disney Bubble'. However, this does come at a cost!

Realistically if go for Option 4 (PC/QSP) it's costing me about £800 more but stepping down a hotel and Dining Plan level.

Would I be better looking off-site and getting a hotel with a decent shuttle service, however I've then got the food and Uber/Lyft costs also? I've always had a car in the past, but the costs for this plus parking would make it uneconomical.

Any thoughts, suggestions, help please?

Thanks in advance
John

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Sorry to hear that things didn't work out with your original traveling companion.

I am not a fan of any dining plans, as I find it more affordable to pay as I go, plus I like the freedom of being able to choose any food at any time with no dining plan constraints.

The seven Disney Springs hotels https://disneyspringshotels.com/ have viable pre-scheduled shuttle service at no extra charge, and are within walking distance of Disney Springs, but are not Disney-owned and tend to be more affordable.

Other than those, if you want to stay offsite, I've found renting a car is most practical. While some other offsite hotels have shuttle services, they tend not to be convenient. For example, there might be only one or two shuttles each day to/from WDW, and the shuttles might go only to Epcot or Magic Kingdom, and you might have to arrange a specific reservation for each shuttle ride. There is also usually a fee to use these shuttles. But renting a car would not work for you, if you're not licensed to drive in the USA.

In my opinion, your viable options from among what you listed are the Disney Springs hotels, Pop Century, or POFQ, and I'd skip the dining plan.

You could also look into renting DVC points from David's Vacation Rentals, to stay in a DVC studio. The more popular ones generally would have needed to be booked 11 months ahead, but there is usually still space at Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, and Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Villas.

 

[rosegoldmonorail]

i say pop century with DDP. pop is an amazing hotel, and this is coming from someone who's a bit of a hotel snob xD. i stay at pop all my solo trips, i actually like it better than some of the moderates. plus the DDP is very convenient, and you won't get sick of eating quick service all the time - you'll have more options.

it all depends on what you can afford, and what you're willing to spend though. i'd say definitely stay on site though. the value resorts are relatively cheap, and by the time you factor in transportation, it'll be just as much if not cheaper than staying offsite.

 

[winthropf]

Dates of the trip may help.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Dates of the trip may help.

He did say Apr/May 2020.

 

[YawningDodo]

Chiming in that I'd consider going without a dining plan! Going by myself, I just get an idea of what I expect to spend on food each day and go out of pocket on it. There's more flexibility, and you'll almost certainly come away having paid less for your food.

I'm a big fan of staying onsite, though. It may be worth crunching the numbers to find out whether a rental car and parking would eat up any savings from staying offsite; my attitude is that it's always such a close thing (particularly as a solo person who doesn't need a lot of space and wouldn't rent an AirBnB or anything like that) that it's not worth giving up the convenience of the WDW bubble. I haven't stayed at POP since it was refurbished, but I've read good things. You could also consider a split stay to lower costs--spend the first week at a value resort and the second at POFQ.

 

[BilbooToo]

Hi All,

Thanks for the responses, really appreciate the help - especially good to hear the comments on Pop Century.

Still pondering this, spent quite a bit of time on the phone to Disney earlier to help crunch the numbers to make sure I've got accurate figures. I got two Disney Gift Vouchers when I booked, one for $200 and another for $100, which I've been using as part of the equations (as it means less spending money required) however I've discovered today that I lose the $200 voucher if I move from a Moderate to a Value which impacts the figures.

Where I'm at is (taking the voucher values into account)...

Hotel	Dining Plan	Cost	Cost over Base (per Day)
Pop Century	Breakfast	£2,421	-
Pop Century	QSD	£2,799	£27
Pop Century	DDP	£3,037	£44
Port Orleans French Quarter	QSD	£3,3157	£52.57
Port Orleans French Quarter	DDP	£3,345	£66

I know a few of you have said to ditch the Dining Plan, but I quite fancied going down this route just to ensure most costs are covered, particularly as who knows what's going to happen to the exchange rate with Brexit hanging over everything - the question is whether it's worth £27 or £44 per day over the base cost (assuming I move to Pop Century).

I've had a quick look at off-site options and I reckon I can get a decent hotel and park tickets for around £1,400 (unless anyone knows any different), so that leaves £1000 difference to staying at Pop Century with breakfast - so that would need to cover the airport transfers, travel costs and the general inconvenience. Regarding a car rental, parking costs are going to be $350 if I stay off-site, so when you add on the cost of the rental and insurance I'm pretty sure this becomes unrealistic.

Any thoughts or help would be gratefully received, including options on doing this cheaper - whilst I can afford the options above, it's a lot of money and the only reason I'm considering is because the plane tickets are non-refundable.

Thanks in advance

Regards
John

 

[daae3]

I am not a numbers person but I will say, stick with on site for the Extra Magic hours and fast pass booking advantages over a hotel off site. What you save in cost, you will prob spend in transport and time...plus there is an advantage to being immersed. Since you used the funny squiggly, guessing you are British or some such thing...so definitely don’t want to waste those flights. As to the 2 resorts, I am a fan of both. POFQ advantages: very pretty, compact, beignets! Bar on site with music, great pool and hot tub, nice quick service options, head over to riverside for table service, boat to Disney Springs, easy access to Disney Springs for other dining options, some included in your dining plan. Pop advantages: price point is great, fun resort, quick service is pretty good, they have some fun bakery items, good layout, (skyliner?not sure when that opens). Disadvantage POFQ...more expensive. Disadvantage Pop....big resort, crowded and very popular, the pool may be under construction? As to solo tips...ask away...lots of folks on this board happy to help who have had a blast going solo. Sorry your plans changed, but I am willing to bet you will have an amazing vacation whatever you choose

 

[DaisyDuck001]

guessing you are British or some such thing

No need to guess. The third line of his original post says he is from the UK.

Anyway, the seven Disney Springs hotels I suggested above, are close enough to Disney Springs that it's walkable (around 20 minutes or less, depending on which hotel, and on your pace), plus they have a free bus to/from Disney Springs, plus these hotels also include a free bus to/from the parks. So if I were looking for a way to do the trip more cheaply without renting a car, I'd consider this approach. www.mousesavers.com often has discounts at these hotels.

But if your heart is set on staying onsite, Pop Century and POFQ are still viable, too.

Some people who don't want the rigidity and extra costs of the dining plan, but who want to prepay for their meals, buy Disney gift cards, to use to pay for most or all of their food. That might be another option for you. I haven't done the dining plan, but having read comments from lots of people who did, most say they would have spent less on food without the plan. (And there are a few who have the opposite experience).

Hope that helps.

 

[BilbooToo]

Hi All,

Thanks again for the responses.

DaisyDuck001 - I've followed your advice and had a look at hotels in the Disney Springs / Lake Buena Vista areas, so far I've whittled it down to...

- Wyndham Lake @ £2,042
- Radisson @ £1,774
- Fairfield Inn @ 1,680

Included in those prices are Disney 14 Park Tickets @ £445 and airport transfers with Mears Shuttle at £35 return.

These are starting to look good deals, I know I lose the 'bubble' and the 60 day FastPass etc but it's working out so much cheaper.

My plan is to use the hotel shuttles in the morning, then get Disney transport to Disney Springs in the evening then walk back to the hotel - or Uber/Lyft is I'm tired (or lazy! )

Any thoughts / comments?

As ever, thanks in advance - the help is much appreciated.

Regards
John

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Hi, my comments about the hotels that are within walking distance of Disney Springs, and that include free bus service to/from the theme parks, only applied to the seven hotels listed at this website that I mentioned above: https://disneyspringshotels.com/. (These hotels do not provide airport transportation, so you'd need to arrange that separately). These seven hotels do include the 60 day FP and extra magic hours.

 

[BilbooToo]

Hi DaisyDuck001,

I started my search with the one's you mentioned, however the costs were such I'd better better staying at Pop Century so expanded my search from there.

Regards
John

 

[DaisyDuck001]

The problem with the ones in your expanded search is that they are probably not within reasonable walking distance from Disney Springs, and probably do not include frequent/free buses to/from the theme parks nor to/from Disney Springs. (And as you noted, they also don't include EMH or 60-day FP.)

The seven hotels I suggested do often have discounted rates available via mousesavers.com (mousesavers also has a free email newsletter with such offers), but if that doesn't work for you, maybe you'd prefer Pop Century, after all.

 

[spacegirl2007]

Personally, if it were me and I was going for 2 weeks I would figure I'd be spending a little more time hanging around the resort and would want to go moderate. Pop Century is great and I'm staying there for a 5-day solo trip in November and looking forward to it, but it's very family-oriented and it is the loudest hotel I've ever stayed in. If budget is a priority, though, I think it's the best value as far as cost:quality that there is onsite.

Have you looked at maybe Coronoado or CBR? Coronado is a great "more adultish" hotel, IMO, and the dining is way better. The pools are nice and the quiet pools are actually quiet. The resort is beautiful. I think POFQ still wins out for transportation over CS, but CBR will have the Skyliner which could push it farther up to the top of the moderates for me. Maybe I am definitely biased towards staying onsite though, half the reason I go is for the Disney Bubble.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

I also agree with ditching the Dining Plan, if only because it is a LOT of food. That being said, I have heard some people like the "no worries" aspect of having it covered, so if you have your heart set on it, go for it. How much does the hotel matter to you? A value has no hot tub which matters to me (lol) but may not to you. Will a basic pool bother you or do you not care? Will you spend a significant amount of time at the resort? I love POR but if I'm mostly touring I don't care to pay extra for a hotel. Since you're going to be there for two weeks, you may want to do a moderate vs value because I bet you'll be spending more time at your hotel than if you do a quick trip. Port Orleans has two pools, they do the fun runs, have a neat piano bar, and boat service to Disney Springs. If you're going to do some resort days, that would be a nice idea. You could also do a split stay! Stay at a value on the days you're going to be in the parks, and plan on moving to the nicer hotel for some rest days.

If you do off site, I would honestly not get a rental car (or use Mears shuttles or the hotel's provided transportation) and use Lyft instead. The hotel shuttles are notorious for being offered only certain times per day and not being reliable. I frequently get offered coupons and I think if you do a monthly pass you can save a good bit too. Then you don't have to take the monorail at MK or pay to park your car (and consider this, if you're offsite you have to pay to park at your hotel AND the Disney parks). No walking from the parking lot to the park or waiting for a tram. Even when I'm on site I take Lyft sometimes! It's just faster and with the monthly pass it was usually less than $10 to get wherever I wanted.

As for off site hotels, I don't know what the price is but Hilton Buena Vista Palace has a really nice pool with a lazy river. Not as good as Yacht Club's pool and the rooms are basic, but it has the 60 fastpass window & Extra Magic Hours. You can walk to Disney Springs from there so it's quite close to the parks.

 

[BilbooToo]

Hi All,

Thanks for the responses / advice, much appreciated.

- Musical Astronaut: I read your Solo Trip report, very entertaining - can't believe how much you park hop! And your Magic Band is fantastic!

Some comments to your advice...
- I did look at other Moderate resorts, but no availability
- I'm not really a resort type, I generally just use them as a base for sleeping as I'd rather be out and about - so I've given up on the POFQ despite it look like such a nice resort
- That said, a solo two weeks is quite long, so may want the odd down day - but I'll probably go to a water park and crash there.
- Not going to rent a car, plan is...
+ Onsite - Disney transportation
+ Offsite - Hotel shuttle or Lyft in the morning, Disney transportation back to DS then walk to hotel.

OK, I've been doing a bit of work and think I've got it down to these options...

- Pop Century with breakfast @ £2,501 (with a $100 Disney Gift Card)
- Pop Century with QSD @ £2,879 (with a $100 Disney Gift Card)
- Pop Century with DDP @ £3,117 (with $100 Disney Gift Card)
- Radisson Buena Vista @ £1,740
- Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista @ £1,936

All the above include airport transfers and Disney tickets for the 14 days.

To be honest, and much though I really want to stay onsite, the Radisson and Wyndham are looking the better options - if I stay at the Radisson I'm saving over £1k from PC with QSD.

In terms of Radisson or Wyndham...
- Radisson is cheaper
- Radisson gets better reviews
- Wyndham has EMH and 60 Day FP
- Wyndham is close to Disney Springs, although Radisson is very much walkable.

Any thoughts?

Regards
John

 

[yeahdisney]

I prob check shuttle times for the hotels. If restrictive then I would stick with Disney hotel. Did you look at swan or dolphin? You can walk/boat to HS and boat or walk to Epcot. And then you would have boardwalk for entertainment and food with a tiny shopping.

Totally get the dining plan and the exchange rate, so I would have it and if closer to date, the rate is not wicked I would drop it-can you drop it?

Then I would use my saving to Uber to universal one day. There I said it. To ride their coaster

I’m not a stay in the room person either.

 

[DaisyGeorgeLily]

I'll admit up front that I love Pop and have solo-ed there several times. It's just goofy fun. Am staying at the Swan for the first time this fall and feeling a little nostalgic for Pop, but it wasn't available. Before I got the Swan deal I was obsessed with all the Disney Springs resorts, read all the reviews, did a ton of math, and concluded that commuting was going to take more of my time than I wanted (I haven't taken the Lyft/Uber plunge yet!)

Budgeting for such a long trip must be stressful. While I haven't bothered with the meal plan in years, I can see where 2 weeks would be really oppressive to "hope it all works out." But it looks like the Pop with breakfast is about $700 more than the Radisson (factoring the gift card). And that's 14 more meals than you'd have at the Radisson (even if they are all breakfast). Plus round trip transportation to the airport, which is another chunk of change.

Have you done some mock dining plans for a 2-3 day period to see what out of pocket expenses would be? Not a whole-hog "what's my dream meal?" review of the menus, but a clinical "What will a burger and fries for lunch and a simple entree and dessert for dinner" cost me at the places I want to go? I think it would be very easy to spend $50/day paying out of pocket. Of course, if you can get by on 2 meals/day (and we often do), that will cut things back considerably and you could just do the breakfast and have a large early dinner/ evening snack.

I don't envy you the decision, but I do kind of envy the 2 week trip!