moving resorts - a lot!

[wendlle]

I have a room booked for RPR from May 3-7 that I've had for around 6 months on a SMSM rate, total is $1880 (2 queen standard)

I've been stalking the AP rates for months and nothing is good for my dates.

If I play with the dates for various resorts I come out ahead but is moving around to 3 different resorts more hassle than it is worth??
We usually do split stays at WDW but they make it so easy over there, they move your luggage and it feels seamless.

I also need to add a night and RPR is way too expensive now to add that on, the prices for it have skyrocketed for some reason, so I'd have to add a night at surfside which is fine.

I'm now considering the following:

RPR 3-5 $804
HRR 5-6 $456
Surfside 6-8 $331
Total $1591

OR

RPR 3-5 $804
Surfside 5-8 $489
Total $1298

The latter means we are only moving once, but it also means we only have EP's for 2 days - our arrival day may be a write off as we have a red eye flight arriving at 5:30am so may not want to do too much that day with the kids.

We are coming with two large suitcases but I do pack stratigically so try to use one bag at a time and only have to open it to get the clothes out we need (packing cubes)

Thoughts...

 

[CAPSLOCK]

If you don't spend a lot of time in the hotel room, it's not too bad to move. And if you live out of the suitcases primarily instead of strewing things all over the room. You may be "homeless" until the afternoon on any moving days.

Figure a $5-10 Uber for each luggage move, send 1 person with the Uber/luggage & have that person check in & drop the bags at luggage services or the room, if it's ready. Meet back at the original hotel or in CityWalk/parks.

You get to explore several hotels this way, and several pools. But you have to learn more layouts & don't get as settled.

You might also consider:
3-4 RP $457
4-6 Dockside $198
6-8 HRH $907
Total $1562
Which gives you EP for all except 5/5. If you're leaving fairly early on 5/8 that might not matter anyways.

You're right, those are some pretty terrible AP rates for that time of year. Whatever you decide, keep stalking for improvements.

We're doing offsite-RP-Dockside our upcoming trip - 3 nights 3 hotels. So you can guess which way I roll.

 

[wendlle]

If you don't spend a lot of time in the hotel room, it's not too bad to move. And if you live out of the suitcases primarily instead of strewing things all over the room. You may be "homeless" until the afternoon on any moving days.

Figure a $5-10 Uber for each luggage move, send 1 person with the Uber/luggage & have that person check in & drop the bags at luggage services or the room, if it's ready. Meet back at the original hotel or in CityWalk/parks.

You get to explore several hotels this way, and several pools. But you have to learn more layouts & don't get as settled.

You might also consider:
3-4 RP $457
4-6 Dockside $198
6-8 HRH $907
Total $1562
Which gives you EP for all except 5/5. If you're leaving fairly early on 5/8 that might not matter anyways.

You're right, those are some pretty terrible AP rates for that time of year. Whatever you decide, keep stalking for improvements.

We're doing offsite-RP-Dockside our upcoming trip - 3 nights 3 hotels. So you can guess which way I roll.

Thankyou. Yes I've never had such terrible AP rates before. RP is over $700 for most nights! And is the most expensive of the 3. Really weird.

That's not a bad plan. I was also thinking of getting a hotel for the 2nd even though we aren't there that night so starting at Surfside and ending with the Premier resorts, that way when we arrive at 7am or so we have somewhere to go with the kids - they may want to rest after the red eye from LAX. (they are used to 14+ hour flights)

We plan on leaving late on the 8th to take advantage of any EP if we have them, we could leave early if we are at the value resorts. We're moving over to the HGVC at Seaworld for a week.
If we did Dockside or Surfside I'd like to get the 2 Bedroom but it's not essential - would be nice to get a sleeping area away from the kids for a few nights.

 

[nherbert]

Hi, fellow Aussie,
You may be interested in these two posts I did recently about our recent stay.
Post in thread 'HARD ROCK HOTEL INFO, FAQ and more........'
https://www.disboards.com/threads/hard-rock-hotel-info-faq-and-more.3494880/post-65914496
Post in thread 'Dockside Inn and Suites Thread..... FAQ and more.....'
https://www.disboards.com/threads/dockside-inn-and-suites-thread-faq-and-more.3791059/post-65914555

Key points:
HRH (and I presume RPR) as it also Loews deluxe will transfer luggage to other Loews. Not sure about dockside/surf side transfers.
Having the two bed suite is great and cost compared to the deluxe hotels is great
Once you have experienced the express pass it is hard to go without and we found that after 3-4 days with it, we didn’t need more park days - so 5 days with it you might find is enough and not need surf side at all
We move a lot, so I wouldn’t view 3 hotels as a problem.
We used Lyft rather than uber, as it was much cheaper. We needed to transfer btw Disney/universal.
I think the costs might be higher in May because Epic is opening around then.
The suggestion above to maximize use of EP is a good one, but not sure if surfsude will do transfer of luggage.

 

[wendlle]

Hi, fellow Aussie,
You may be interested in these two posts I did recently about our recent stay.
Post in thread 'HARD ROCK HOTEL INFO, FAQ and more........'
https://www.disboards.com/threads/hard-rock-hotel-info-faq-and-more.3494880/post-65914496
Post in thread 'Dockside Inn and Suites Thread..... FAQ and more.....'
https://www.disboards.com/threads/dockside-inn-and-suites-thread-faq-and-more.3791059/post-65914555

Key points:
HRH (and I presume RPR) as it also Loews deluxe will transfer luggage to other Loews. Not sure about dockside/surf side transfers.
Having the two bed suite is great and cost compared to the deluxe hotels is great
Once you have experienced the express pass it is hard to go without and we found that after 3-4 days with it, we didn’t need more park days - so 5 days with it you might find is enough and not need surf side at all
We move a lot, so I wouldn’t view 3 hotels as a problem.
We used Lyft rather than uber, as it was much cheaper. We needed to transfer btw Disney/universal.
I think the costs might be higher in May because Epic is opening around then.
The suggestion above to maximize use of EP is a good one, but not sure if surfsude will do transfer of luggage.

hi there, thanks for the suggestions. I've been quite a few times you may be able to see in my signature my trips, most have been at the premium hotels and I just love the EP, we went once without it the entire time at Cabana Bay and I really missed it. I won't do it again for an entire trip - a few days maybe but not a whole trip.

I got a reply from Universal and they said they can transfer luggage between the premier hotels but won't to or from the values even if it is to a premier, so we would be on our own getting luggage to anywhere else if we choose a value.

I've been in May before, and it was more expensive than our usual September - interesting enough is that dates later in the month when Epic opens are cheaper than earlier - I'm just hoping they drop a bit as we get closer.