Is this a good deal for the GF, and am I crazy not to jump on it??

[VeronicaZS]

A little backstory, or just skip to the next paragraph.... I love to travel, DH didn't grow up traveling and I had to drag him kicking and screaming to our first Disney trip 7 years ago. Now he LOVES Disney and our family of 5 has gone every year except 2020 when we had to postpone twice. That rescheduled trip is happening next week (June 19-26). Earlier this year I found a crazy cheap flight to Orlando and jokingly told my DH that we should go for an adults only long weekend. To my shock he really wanted to do it so we were there May 7-9. During that trip he announced that he wanted to go back to Disney this November for his 50th birthday. His birthday is Nov 23 so he always gets short changed because of Thanksgiving.

I have been researching prices and Sun Nov 21 - Wed Nov 24 has the most convenient nonstop and cheapest flight that would allow us to spend practically 4 full days in the parks. The flight for the 5 of us is $1039 and I can get 5 adult 4-day park tickets from AAA for $2450. There is practically no availability at Disney resorts so I was looking at a suite at the Dolphin which is about $1400 plus we would need a roll away and MCO transportation so total around $5150.

THEN I go check Costco and they have a package with the same flight, same 4-day tickets and a garden view room in an outer building at the GRAND FLORIDIAN (which we have never stayed at) for $5116. If you back out the cost of the flight and tickets the room is $1626 or $542 per night which seems pretty good. Do you think this is a good deal?

I love Costco but for whatever reason their packages are always more expensive than if I just book everything from discount sites separately, but not this time. If this was our yearly trip I think I would have already jumped on this but I guess I still haven't wrapped my mind around the possibility that we may go to Disney 3 times in 1 year during a pandemic when there are no annual passes and reduced offerings. Do you see any reason to wait on booking? Thanks if you made it this far!

 

[windcriesamy]

GF isn't a resort we're ever interested in, so I rarely pay attention to the pricing for it, but I would generally expect to pay more to stay at GF than Swan/Dolphin. Seems worth it to me!

 

[JFDIS]

That is around what I paid with the 25% off room discount I got for September. I think it’s a good price because at this point we don’t know if Disney will put out fall room discounts and if they do my guess is the room inventory for those discounts will be low. Go for it!!!

 

[HiStitch626]

I think that is a good deal. I agree that often pricing things out separately can save money, but I have also seen Costco deals that were pretty good.

The Dolphin is nice and has easy transportation to two parks, but with the walkway complete, you can now walk to MK from GF.

 

[snappy]

Depends if your kids are young, If they are, choose the GF deal.

 

[Eastern]

How old are your kids? Disney adds an extra fee for each person over 18 yo after the first two adults. Make sure that is priced in to get an accurate comparison. It's around $40 pp per night for extra adults in the room at deluxe.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Seems good to me. Not a bad place to be to kick off the holiday season.

Busy time of year, but what isn't these days.

Have fun.

 

[VeronicaZS]

Depends if your kids are young, If they are, choose the GF deal.

How old are your kids? Disney adds an extra fee for each person over 18 yo after the first two adults. Make sure that is priced in to get an accurate comparison. It's around $40 pp per night for extra adults in the room at deluxe.

The boys are 12, 10, & 10. I think I am going to do it. You only turn 50 once and how cool that it is also WDW's 50th! Since this would be a special occasion trip and so close to Thanksgiving I thought it should be more of an upscale trip and I don't think it gets any more posh than the Grand Floridian! Getting excited!!

PS: But good lord, 2 Disney trips on 1 credit card month...

 

[DisneyonMars]

I think that this is a good deal. I love the Costco deals. We just got back from a split stay trip and loved our time at Grand Floridian. So nice to be so close to Magic Kingdom and such a beautiful resort with great pools and great food!!

 

[Avery&Todd]

I would TOTALLY BOOK the GF!!

 

[Eastern]

The boys are 12, 10, & 10. I think I am going to do it.

That's a good deal then. I got a quote and even without the Universal tickets they put in at the beginning and taking 1 day off the 5 day tickets they quoted it came out to $6,500 with RT air from EWR.

 

[MomOTwins]

For thanksgiving week, and assuming that has taxes included, that is a good price. I've seen better rates at GF but in the off season. You could probably save more if you are more flexible with your dates, but otherwise I say go for it.

 

[maryj11]

I love Grand Floridian!

 

[SarahC97]

Costco has some pretty terrible cancellation terms, so make sure you read all the fine print. Also, when you book through Costco, you will never deal with Disney directly, only Costco for any issues or changes you might want to make. I've known a few people who have really gotten burned by this. I say proceed with caution.

 

[Sue M]

Love GF. This year WDW resort prices have really gone up. I’ve paid less for GF pre Covid. But this is now. So can’t compare. If it’s in your budget take it and enjoy. I always request one of the buildings around the Courtyard pool.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I would definitely do it! Hopefully the tree is up by then!

 

[virk4]

GF and Dolphin are my two favorite properties. If you are going to spend lots of time in the MK......GF. From the Dolphin, you can reach Hollywood Studios and Epcot in minutes.
GF is awesome but transportation from and back can be a pain.
Good luck [you can't make a mistake]

 

[Blondie58]

Have stayed at GF many times. Without Bounce Back or a discount this is a very good price.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

The sad part is that for WDW, this is a good price.

 

[kjw42]

Costco has some pretty terrible cancellation terms, so make sure you read all the fine print. Also, when you book through Costco, you will never deal with Disney directly, only Costco for any issues or changes you might want to make. I've known a few people who have really gotten burned by this. I say proceed with caution.

I've always used an independent travel agency but I saw a great deal on a Swan and Dolphin package earlier this year and thought about snagging it. The cost was due in full and the refund was only like 30% I think? I tried to call to confirm but every time I checked the website it said high call volume, try again later and recommended the help section ( which did not help). It made me a little gun shy about booking with them. I've also heard horror stories about people trying to get vacations straightened out with them early in the pandemic. So I agree, they seem to have great rates but proceed with caution.