That's the question everyone budget-conscious traveler faces when planning a theme park vacation. Sure, we'd all love that suite overlooking the park, with 24/7 concierge service, front-of-the-line access to all the rides and shows in the park, and all local transportation on demand. But those rooms cost a lot of money. Too much, for most families.
So how high can you go on a nightly hotel rate? What's the point at which you have to say, "I don't care how great the facilities and amenities are, I can't afford it."
You can find "Value" resort rooms on-site at Walt Disney World for under $100, but you'll probably end up paying more than $100 a night once you add taxes and fees. You almost always have to go over $200 a night, after tax, to find on-site rooms at either Universal Orlando or the Disneyland resorts. If you have to travel during school vacations, you'll often need to pay still more. But parks deliver a wide range of services and amenities for travelers who can pay higher nightly rates. Willing to pay $1,000 a night? You can find some really sweet accommodations, at pretty much any theme park, at any time of year.
Of course, most families can't pay that. Many can't afford, or just won't pay for, on-site location and amenities during the time of year when they can travel, so they look for lower-priced, off-site accommodations. But even off-site, you've still got trade-offs to consider: distance from the park, size and quality of the room, availability of parking, dining and airport access, whether you're a member of a loyalty program, etc. Considering all those factors, you try to get the most value for your money.
...Up until a point — that price per night when you can't pay more. And if you don't find the value you need for that price, you don't take the vacation. At least, not to that destination.
So let's talk about your financial breaking point for hotel rooms. How high are you willing to go on nightly rates? For this vote, let's consider the final price per night, including taxes, fees, and all the other costs a hotel tacks on to your bill at check-out.
We've offered a range of prices here, but tell us your specific cut-off, in the comments, if you'd like. What's the best deal you've found for a hotel on a theme park vacation? Where's your go-to option for value when you want to visit your favorite park?
For more: Rate and review on-site theme park hotels from around the world.
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We are a family of five by the way...
By comparison, if it is a short stay, and if we can find some way to make it a part of the celebration - a special birthday, for example - we're willing to go higher. We'll be celebrating my 50th birthday in 2014 by spending two nights at the Grand Californian in DCA. Been wanting to stay there since it opened and this feels like an occasion worth splurging for.
So while I checked the "up to $500" category in the survey, truth is, we'll usually limit ourselves to the $100-$150 range per night. Maybe something similar to this "depends on the occasion" policy applies to a lot of TPI readers.
When we make an overnight trip out of a Disneyland visit, we like the hotels/motels along Harbor Boulevard, some of which are closer walking distance to the main gate than the on-site Disney-owned hotels. The ones we like are usually under $125 (plus taxes and fees) if booked a few weeks in advance.
When my wife and I's collective income goes over $250,000 a year, my answer will change ;).
I understand your poll choices being specific dollar amounts but I usually think in other terms. I won't normally stay in a room that costs more than a day's pay unless for special occasions. This varies with individuals but the answers above seem to reflect that criterion. Maybe restate the choices to something like.. half day's pay, 1 day's pay, 2 days' pay etc. and see how people make those decisions.
Also, I'm often on my own, so the size of the room and things that affect families really don't come into play for me.
I'm sorry, but this is a poor survey choice since the results and answers are not really relevant to anyone. They're certainly of interest to potential advertisers and the site owner, but for a persuasive discussion it's worthless.
What one person perceives as too much doesn't apply to the other and the discussion isn't really of any use. It's a personal preference and looking at the results why do I care that x% of the users stay within a certain price range.
If anything it just shows that most people on this site are price conscious, but again other than advertisers and those pitching the ad buyers who cares?
Well, for my 1 year anniversary, my wife and I stayed at The Wilderness Lodge at Disney World and for our 5-year anniversary, we stayed at the Boardwalk Inn. Those were I believe in the low $300s, but we felt the occasion deserved going all out. We are already planning our 10-year anniversary, where we'll stay at the Grand Californian.
I've also had the pleasure of staying at the Portofino Bay during Harbor Nights, and took my dad to the Hard Rock Hotel on his 50th birthday.
All of these are in Orlando because I lived in Orlando for 10 years. So being a local, my costs weren't as high, as I'm not paying for airfare, and I can just stay one night rather than feeling like I have to stay 3 nights+ to make it worth a "vacation".
Generally, I don't like spending more than $150/night and think Disney World's moderate resorts such as Port Orleans is an outstanding value, but for a special occasion, I have no problem spending $300-400/night. It's just not something I'm able to do regularly.
I had the unfortunate experience of staying at the All-Star Sports hotel and can say without a doubt, I'll never do that again. If money is tight, I will wait it out and hold off because it was a horrible experience.
For most of us, the Park is the thing. Now for someone like Robert, who spends a great deal of time in theme parks and writes about them professionally, pretty soon you've been on every ride 100 times and then food and off-the-beaten-path things become much more interesting. But most of us don't get to the parks often enough to want to casually explore the hotel, its grounds and amenities.
I will say that Universal Orlando is a game changer, however. A few years ago I stayed for a couple of nights at the Royal Pacific hotel at a little over $400 a night and it was worth EVERY penny. The hotel was beautiful, but the front of the line access privileges made it possible for me to relax AND do everything I wanted to do in the space of time I had.
By the way you can still find deals this way too. I booked early for next year in November and got my room for around 200 a night. With all that staying onsite offers I think that's a deal with the expansion of Harry Potter opening up sometime next summer. In other words I'm having my cake and eating it too!
I will spend up to $300 per night for a good quality room in a place like Hawaii or New York, but not other places.
I saved money once at an Orlando conference by staying in Kissimmee, but there was the drive, lots of spiders above doorways, elevator, soda machines..., much light coming in through frosted windows around the door...
I see a lot of comments where people say "we don't spend enough time in the room to justify a higher expense". I think I'd feel that way on a work trip, where I am flying in to a place and then out again the next day. I stay at a Residence Inn or a Courtyard in that case.
We save up for our vacations a year or two in advance. For me, part of the thrill of vacation is staying somewhere nice. I enjoy coming back to a hotel that is gorgeous and plush and I like coming back to a room where the furniture and the bedding is top-notch. I love all the perks of a fancier hotel, including a staff that really pampers us on vacation.
To me, it's like choosing between McDonald's and a nice restaurant for dinner. On vacation, we eat in sit-down restaurants because that's a treat for us. We nickle and dime back at home to afford to splurge on vacation.
I'm 39 and figure I have about another 25 or maybe 30 (tops) vacations ahead of me. I don't always get to take one in a year. So I think $300 a night for a hotel for us is well-worth it. I enjoy myself on those trips more than I do if we'd try to find the cheapest room possible. All my skimping and saving all year is rewarded with a very lovely room for our vacation home away from home.
When we have stayed in less expensive accomodations offsite in the past, the trips were somewhat disappointing since she felt pressure to get up and get going, and we still got to the parks later when the lines for the popular rides were longer. Nobody was really happy with the situation.
Now, we just bite the bullet and pay the higher price for the onsite hotels and everybody is happy (except my wallet).
It comes down to budget. Often the difference between being able to go and not being able to go is as little as $10/night. If it's just an overnight trip I might bite the bullet and spend $80 for one night, particularly if it's a Saturday night. But I can't afford that much per night for a whole week.
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We did stay in the Animal Kingdom Lodge (Savanah-side room) for a couple of nights, and while the room and staff were amazing, we just didn't think it was a good value for us when we merely use the hotel room to sleep. Sure, it was amazing waking up and looking out our window to see animals at 6 AM, but was it worth $200+, probably not for us. Until we start slowing down and decreasing the number of hours we spend in the parks, paying extra for a nicer hotel room just isn't our style.