Cars suite vs pop

[celiacmom]

L (4.5y) and I are going to WDW nov 15-21 (our first time)
We currently have free dining at pop and 6 day park hoppers.
I'm considering dropping free dining and getting the cars suite at aoa.
It would almost double the cost and not ha r meals....
We have 5 character meals booked currently (L loves characters!)
Worth it for a nicer room or keep what I have?

[ilikedonuts]

Keep what you have. Character meals are $$$$. Do you normally have a suite for vacations (do you need the separate bedroom?)?

Did you upgrade the dining from quick service to regular with your Pop room?

[celiacmom]

May 25, 2016 16:24:01 GMT -5 ilikedonuts said:

Keep what you have. Character meals are $$$$. Do you normally have a suite for vacations (do you need the separate bedroom?)?

Did you upgrade the dining from quick service to regular with your Pop room?

We don't NEED a suite but I don't love that pop is a double bed. We co-sleep so it's tiny.
Yes we upgraded dining plan to regular

[ilikedonuts]

May 25, 2016 16:31:08 GMT -5 celiacmom said:

May 25, 2016 16:24:01 GMT -5 ilikedonuts said:

Keep what you have. Character meals are $$$$. Do you normally have a suite for vacations (do you need the separate bedroom?)?

Did you upgrade the dining from quick service to regular with your Pop room?

We don't NEED a suite but I don't love that pop is a double bed. We co-sleep so it's tiny.
Yes we upgraded dining plan to regular

Pop has some king bed rooms. I just don't remember if they are a separate booking category or if you can request one (obviously not a guarantee, but at least you'd have a chance at a king).

[celiacmom]

May 25, 2016 16:35:09 GMT -5 ilikedonuts said:

May 25, 2016 16:31:08 GMT -5 celiacmom said:

We don't NEED a suite but I don't love that pop is a double bed. We co-sleep so it's tiny.
Yes we upgraded dining plan to regular

Pop has some king bed rooms. I just don't remember if they are a separate booking category or if you can request one (obviously not a guarantee, but at least you'd have a chance at a king).

From my understanding those are accessible rooms and can't be requested but I'll follow up and check

[miss1180]

i think i would keep what you have--- the food costs have gone up, especially character meals can add up FAST!!! especially at 4.5 if he likes characters, those meals can make the whole trip for him :-)

we;re kind of going through the same thing. we're booked on an awesome deal through a travel agency to stay at the polynesian. BUT we can't add a dining plan to it (thats the catch to the super good deal!) DS is 5.5 and likes the character meals a lot. DH and i also like a lot of the "family style" / buffet meals like ohana dinner, Liberty Tree Tavern, Boma... the ones that cost the same, no matter how much you eat :-) There are still rooms left with free dining at Coronado Springs... SOO i'm thinking about "giving up" the polynesian to stay at coronado with free dining. such tough first world problems!! LOL

[ribollita]

Keep what you have. It's very easy to walk across the bridge from Pop to AoA and you can walk around the Cars area, take photos with the cars, it's very cool. I also like the food court there. Have fun!

[curbsideprophet]

May 25, 2016 17:11:24 GMT -5 miss1180 said:

i think i would keep what you have--- the food costs have gone up, especially character meals can add up FAST!!! especially at 4.5 if he likes characters, those meals can make the whole trip for him :-)

we;re kind of going through the same thing. we're booked on an awesome deal through a travel agency to stay at the polynesian. BUT we can't add a dining plan to it (thats the catch to the super good deal!) DS is 5.5 and likes the character meals a lot. DH and i also like a lot of the "family style" / buffet meals like ohana dinner, Liberty Tree Tavern, Boma... the ones that cost the same, no matter how much you eat :-) There are still rooms left with free dining at Coronado Springs... SOO i'm thinking about "giving up" the polynesian to stay at coronado with free dining. such tough first world problems!! LOL

Have you put your dining selections into the online calculator to see if the dining plan is worth is cheaper?

We ate at CRT, BOG dinner, Ohana dinner, Akershus breakfast and I could not make it so that we would come out ahead with the dining plan. I would keep the poly!

OP it sounds like you do not need a suite . Are you even sure if the beds are bigger at AoA?

[wesleycrusher]

We've stayed in a king at pop...can't remember if it was Just a request or if we specifically reserved a king room.

I would for sure stay at pop. We are hardly ever in our rooms, we're always at the parks. And if pop had a hot tub at the pool it would be our favorite resort.

[lala]

I'd keep what you have! The king would be nice if you can get it but if not, I don't think it's worth such a jump in price.

[cbwm1]

I don't know...

We had a Cars suite when we went last October. Granted, it was our first time, but man the suite was NICE.

It was fantastic having two bathrooms, and DH and I were able to stay up later without worrying about disturbing Will. And having all the space to spread out was fantastic.

We're staying at Coronado Springs in December and we're kind of pouring one out for the AoA suite. lol

[lala]

May 25, 2016 23:04:17 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

May 25, 2016 16:04:04 GMT -5 celiacmom said:

L (4.5y) and I are going to WDW nov 15-21 (our first time)
We currently have free dining at pop and 6 day park hoppers.
I'm considering dropping free dining and getting the cars suite at aoa.
It would almost double the cost and not ha r meals....
We have 5 character meals booked currently (L loves characters!)
Worth it for a nicer room or keep what I have?

If you are just looking for a queen bed or larger and you are willing to drop free dining if necessary, a moderate resort would be cheaper than a Cars suite.  A suite seems excessive if you are cosleeping and going to bed at the same time.  (Some of the moderates are eligible for free dining, but I don't see any available for free dining right now for a reasonable price - but I just searched quickly).  

I like the dining plan (and it always does show a savings on the calculator when I do it), but I would be fine dropping it if I couldn't find a room that worked.  And if you have a room only, I think you can get your tickets from an authorized reseller and save a bit more.    

This is a good idea, too. Are there any room only discounts when you're going? A room only is often a better deal anyway. 

[cbwm1]

May 26, 2016 8:05:02 GMT -5 daisyfay25 said:

May 25, 2016 21:26:33 GMT -5 cbwm1 said:

I don't know...

We had a Cars suite when we went last October. Granted, it was our first time, but man the suite was NICE.

It was fantastic having two bathrooms, and DH and I were able to stay up later without worrying about disturbing Will. And having all the space to spread out was fantastic.

We're staying at Coronado Springs in December and we're kind of pouring one out for the AoA suite. lol

I am looking at doing the Lion King family suite, so I know they're in different areas, but how was the atmosphere at this resort? Is it loud? Are the beds comfortable? My H is hesitant to stay at a Disney resort because he thinks it's going to be overrun by children and not as nice as normal hotels. I need ammo to argue my side lol! We will have a toddler this year for the first time so despite going to WDW a bazillion times in my life, planning is different now.

I mean, all Disney resorts are going to be overrun with children. lol

The atmosphere was super fun. We loved the pools and the theming, and our son (7yo) was super bummed when we told him we're not going to stay there again in December.

The beds weren't the most comfortable ever, but we were so damn tired every night that it didn't matter in the slightest.