Which do you prefer to spend your money on food or lodging

[abbyndrewmom]

I'm just curious to see what people prefer. For us I would prefer to stay at a moderate or even off site (though not since EE came back) and put the extra money towards eating onsite. I love dining in Walt Disney World, it is one of the few places that we can dine pretty much anywhere comfortable with our children. We always do at least one sitdown meal a day and sometimes two. Maybe it is because my husband is a chef and we always have a car so location is never a big deal. I love the variety in Epcot, the fun of the character meals, the beauty of the castle and the family atmosphere of Ohana's. I just can't imagine a trip to Disney without food being a main part of it.

How do others feel?

Allison

 

[tmli]

Because I travel alone with my son we don't do many sit down meals so I can't exactly answer your question.(Plus he's too afraid of characters to do char. meals). However I make the decision every year to stay at ASMO so I can enjoy other luxuries like illuminations cruise, private car from and to the airport, souvenirs and as many trading pins as he wants. With only 2 of us the room is more than big enough and we enjoy the pool and theming there.

If my husband travelled with us I'm sure my views would change, first of all I'd like a little more room and no matter what I spent for the room he would curb my souvenir spending.

 

[E.Jane]

I'd have to say lodging. Personally, I'd be perfectly happy with a bag of french fries, a mickey mouse Ice-Cream bar and a coke for supper each day! Ok, that's stretching it a bit, but I haven't quite acquired a palate for much of the food down south - everything seems just a little "off" to me. My kids have yet to enjoy anything at the more expensive sit-down meals we've splurged on, they were quite happy with hot dogs and pizza.

Resorts, on the other hand, are very important to me. I like to feel like I have just stepped into another world - something as far from reality as possible. I want to feel pampered and spoiled for choice. I may not spend all day in my room, but I want to look forward to going back there and relaxing. I want a themed pool surrounded by palm trees and if possible, someone to bring me a drink when I need one!

On our first trip, lodging was not so important. We went to WDW and toured "combat" style - attacked each day for fear of missing a single moment. We are now planning trip #3, and resort time will be more important.

 

[pkitty]

I'am all about the lodgings that's for sure!!!!! Our first trip to WDW we tried staying outside the resort (3 days) and did the balance of the trip inside The World at the All Star Music ( this is considered a moderate resort according to Disney!!!) Well it felt like the Hilton to us compared to the roach motel we stayed at for 3 days when we first arrived!!!! My daughter was only 4 at the time and when we arrived at the first hotel and entered our room she cried!!!! I didn't blame her I was so po'd that I called my travel agent asap...it wasn't pretty that's for sure!!!So needless to say once bitten twice shy.....we've stayed inside ever since....at least I can see where the dollars are being spent....clean well appointed hotels, friendly staff and very safe accomadations ( no armed security gaurds strolling around the pool and no car alarms going off at 3 am). So yeah I'd settle for a burger and great accomadations anyday!!!! As far as bang for your loonie goes some of the best food I've had at WDW has been counter service!!! Try the FLAME TREE BARBEQUE at Animal Kingdom and you'll know what I mean!!! Have fun!!! Denise

 

[juniorbugman]

I guess you could say that our family sort of fits in the middle of food over lodging. We usually try to stay in the trailer homes at Fort Wilderness. We have one meal each day at a park, whether it be a character meal or park meal or even another lodging or hotel and the others at the trailer home. Cooking our own meals sometimes gets us over the takeout foods from our driving trip down from Canada. Staying on site for us is the only way to go.

 

[cdnmickeylover]

I guess that I would have to reply lodging. It's not that we don't like to eat at WDW but we prefer to take our own food and save money that way. I'm diabetic and taking our own food also helps me to control what exactly I'm eating as well but that's a separate issue. The money saved allows us to stay onsite which we both agree is a must, at least for us.

 

[cdnmickeylover]

I guess that I would have to reply lodging. It's not that we don't like to eat at WDW but we prefer to take our own food and save money that way. I'm diabetic and taking our own food also helps me to control what exactly I'm eating as well but that's a separate issue. The money saved allows us to stay onsite which we both agree is a must, at least for us.

Cdnmickeylover

 

[bunnyfoo]

Hmm ... that's a tough one because some of the restaurants in Disney are so fabulous! I'd choose moderate accomodations ... I can't see paying for concierge service... although you do get food ... I stayed at the Wyndham in DD last time which was really nice!

 

[Snowwark]

This is a good question Allison, I just wish I had a clear answer!

I really don't differentiate between the two. Although I've yet to enjoy concierge accommodations, ( and probably won't soon, given our dollar!), my comfort level is important to me. That goes for my surroundings and palate! I can easily go from moderates to luxury resorts, but I also enjoy a few special meals when I'm at WDW.

BTW - check your PM box abbyndrewmom, there should be a dusty, as yet unread PM there.

 

[PoohBWV]

I love Disney's resorts so much - but it is getting harder and harder to justify the cost, especially when you take into consideration our dollar. I still think that we would prefer to spend money on the resort though.

 

[kellyla]

Thats a tough question for me too.We stay at the All-Stars mainly because of the great value and I love having the bus system(my DH plays golf while we are at WDW so me and the kids need to rely on the bus)We arent really fancy eaters and are happy eating counter service(although we do go to Chef Mickey's once)So I guess I prefer to spend my money on souvenirs,LOL.

 

[bunnyfoo]

Yeah, the dollar is a real killer! I sometimes forget about the exchange rate while I'm on vacation .. but when I come home and I get the credit card bill

What are they calling the Canadian dollar these days? The Pinecone Peso

 

[TimNDansMom]

While I would love to stay at a deluxe resort again (we stayed at AKL in 2001 and loved it) it is hard to justify the cost with our dollar so low. I also have enjoyed staying at the moderates, DXL and CSR so far, but really, for the value, I have been quite happy with our 3 stays at All Star Music. The bus transportation is good, I like the food court and this way, we can go more frequently and if we decide to splurge on anything, whether it be souvenirs or more nice dinners, I don't feel like we've spent far too much money for a vacation. So I guess you could say we don't put quite as much emphasis on lodging but still want to be comfortable. I always visit the other resorts anyway!

Kellyla, I'm in the same boat as you, dh goes off golfing for the day!

 

[eleanor]

I love the resorts. Everything is so convenient, but I must say that the dollar is so low today that I wonder if and when it will go up.

 

[SandraC]

I'd have to say lodgings over food ~ namely the POOL! We have stayed at CBR and CSR ~ moderates suit our budget just fine. The pools need to be great. I am thinking Poly next time because of the pool. We don't really scrimp on food either. We seem to do about 6 characters meals each trip so that adds up $$$$$$$. I like counter service and food courts right now over sit downs because they suit the ages of my kids better. My kids are pretty good and can sit thru a long sit-down meal, but I'd rather have Mickey time than meal time right now. We can do sit-down at home (RAINFOREST CAFE JUNKIES THAT WE ARE LOL). S