Grady Wilson
Footballguy
Instead of a free dining plan they knocked off about $300 from Coronado Springs. AGain, I'm a rook and definitely don't know the right questions to ask.AcerFC said:
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Disney Vacation (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter DOVCommish
- Start date
parasaurolophus
Footballguy
DVC guys, what is the shortest amount of time in advance you have booked your trip? We are considering buying some points and want to know the time window required. We frequently go on less than a months notice. Would there be any availabilty?
Grady Wilson
Footballguy
Okay, so you all don't worry about taking them out of school? I wouldn't either, but my wife said she wouldn't be too thrille about it.
Redwes25
Footballguy
What are good places to do character meals with Mickey. Was thinking Breakfast and Lunch would be the best times to do these but open to suggestions. See Chef Mickey's mentioned in the thread and seems like a good idea. My son is will be four when we are there.
Also, anyone been to the Disney junior character place in Hollywood Studio's? He is in to all those characters so thought that was a good one to go to as well.
Also, anyone been to the Disney junior character place in Hollywood Studio's? He is in to all those characters so thought that was a good one to go to as well.
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Grady Wilson
Footballguy
We did Chef Mickeys last night and the kids loved it. This morning we did Tusker house at Animal Kingdom and they loved that as well. Our son is 5 and daughter is 2. We've spent a lot of time doing the autograph thing. Yes, it's time consuming, but to see the glow in their eyes to get to see those characters was worth it.
AcerFC
Footballguy
MK-crystal palace with pooh bear, tigger, piglet and eyore. There is also princess stuff at castle. Animal Kimgdom- tusker house with Mickey, Minnie, Donald and daisy. Hollywood Studios- forget the name but oso, June from little einsteins, jake and someone else. Ohana- breakfast with LILO, stitch, Mickey and someone else. There is a couple of other princess themed stuff but not sure it's for your son.
Battles
Footballguy
There is always something somewhere. We book early and then add days if we can as it gets closer. At 1 month away we're usually set. If something isn't available then, they have a wait list and that has worked 3 out of 4 times. The only time it didn't work we just switched resorts. From my experience it seems people are always adjusting their schedules and opening up rooms. I think some people even overbook just in case and pull out.parasaurolophus said:
We've even added days during our visit on a couple of occasions during Christmas. This usually means switching from a one bedroom to a studio and a different resort.
So, if you're open to possible smaller room sizes and resort hopping, you can usually get in somewhere.
Frank Drebin
Footballguy
Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club has probably the best breakfast budget at WDW. My kids like Chef Mickey's and we think it's ok, but it's really loud in there. Cape May Cafe is much more laid back. Tucker is good too.Play and Dine at Hollywood and Vine (with Disney jr. Characters) was pretty good too. My son loved it on our first trip. Also, don't miss the Disney Jr show they have at Hollywood Studios. They have Handy Manny, Jake and Neverland Pirates and Little Einsteins live in a show (well, puppets and a live host...)
Godsbrother
Footballguy
You can almost always find something in one of the DVC resorts but it really depends on where and how long you want to stay and what kind of room you want.parasaurolophus said:
Snotbubbles
Footballguy
I thought Cinderella's Castle was cool. Don't know if they still have it. But if your kids like Cinderella, it's pretty neat to eat in the MK castle.
kneeshooter
Footballguy
Getting close to booking our trip for May 2014. Anyone rent DVC points? It will be my first time trying it and I'l be using one of the point brokers.
Good/bad experiences?
Good/bad experiences?
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William Munny
Footballguy
This was recommended by someone in his thread. We used him for our trip last year and it was very easy and smooth. Went with Beach Club, loved it.http://www.dvcrequest.com/
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Redwes25
Footballguy
Who are the characters at Tuskers?
Good idea on autographs as think my son will get into it.
Bringing my twin daughters as well but they will be about 2 so think I can avoid the princess thing until the next trip.
Redwes25
Footballguy
Thinking of staying at Beach club or Yacht club so that is good idea for breakfast character meal as we can do it easiliy in the morning before we start our day. Thanks.
Good idea on Disney junior show as well. Think he will like that stuff as he watches it all the time.
Disco Stu
Confirmed FBGal
Yes. The only difference is the 180 day mark starts on day one of your trip if you have Disney hotel reservations.
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Redwes25
Footballguy
Thanks, Figure they typically have some of sales or discounted pricing if we keep an eye out. Let me know if this is entirely off base. Planning our trip for the week after Thanksgiving which I hear is pretty quiet time.
Disco Stu
Confirmed FBGal
You should verify, but I don't think there is any downside to booking now and canceling if a better deal comes up later.
cstu
Footballguy
Not at all. What is one day out of school in the big picture? Especially when it will make your time at Disney much more enjoyable.
cstu
Footballguy
Snotbubbles
Footballguy
15 absences for the year.
At 5 absences you get a written warning sent home with the kid. At 10 you have a phone conference. At 15 you get the axe.
I would eat up ~8 absences for our Florida trip (we go every year for 10-12 days).
Disco Stu
Confirmed FBGal
Couldn't you go for fewer days if the crowds are much lighter? 5 days skipping school (maybe 4 if you time it to hit a teacher inservice day or something) plus the weekends bracketing it... that's still a 9 day trip.
Snotbubbles
Footballguy
I guess I could. Is it really worth, shortening a vacation and risking you children getting dismissed from a really good school to skip crowds at Disney?
AcerFC
Footballguy
an absolute yes for me
Redwes25
Footballguy
Mr. Ected
Footballguy
If you do your reservations through a place like Small World Vacations (I've used them before - I can dig up my contact if you want, she was great) this is a non-issue. One of the really nice thing about them was her ability to redo your reservation if a better deal came out. They also get a ahead-of-time heads up about most if not all of the deals.
Having a professional keeping an eye on your reservation, and jumping for it if the deal(s) fit was really nice.
Grady Wilson
Footballguy
We used the same place. My agent was awesome and emailed me when we got a deal on the $300 savings for Coronado.If you do your reservations through a place like Small World Vacations (I've used them before - I can dig up my contact if you want, she was great) this is a non-issue. One of the really nice thing about them was her ability to redo your reservation if a better deal came out. They also get a ahead-of-time heads up about most if not all of the deals.
Having a professional keeping an eye on your reservation, and jumping for it if the deal(s) fit was really nice.
East Coast Bias
Footballguy
Just signed up for the 4 day Disney that leaves on Sunday. First Disney experience for my 5 year old.
cstu
Footballguy
Have your kids missed any time? If you cut the trip shorter it seems like missing 5 days wouldn't risk anything if they haven't. It would also make it much better for everyone.
Mr. Pickles
Footballguy
Premier
Footballguy
Driving there now for another day. :-/
parasaurolophus
Footballguy
Just put in an offer today for DVC. What put me over the edge is that DVCrequest is snatching up points at $11 a point. Didnt matter what home resorrt you had or use year. Figured that must mean something is always available (as was mentioned in this thread).
Now we wait...
Now we wait...
Ghoti
Footballguy
We are planning our first trip to WDW for 2014. I’ve spent a couple hours going through this thread, thanks for all of the great tips everyone. We don’t get to do a whole lot of family vacations, so we want to do this one right and try to make it as stress-free (ha!) as possible. Thus, we will definitely be lodging in the park.
To that end, what do you folks recommend for a “moderate resort”? Looks like there are 4 choices there: Caribbean Beach resort, Coronado Springs resort, Port Orleans- French Quarter, and Port Orleans- Riverside. The main things we are considering is ease of transportation and as kid friendly as possible (not that it should be a problem at Disney). Does anyone have an opinion on how easy it is to get around from these moderate resorts? We may consider going up to a Deluxe resort for the monorail if it will save us significant time/headache, but maybe it isn’t necessary? It is more important to me that we spend less time trying to get around then sitting on buses, etc., but if there isn’t a huge difference I wouldn’t mind saving a little money there.
Age of the kids at the time of the trip will be 10 and 5. It is likely that we will have to go at some point around President’s Day (which falls on Feb. 17, 2014) due to work/school issues. From the crowd calendars, this looks like a pretty ugly week, but there’s not much we can do about that.
We are considering doing the Disney Cruise/Park combo. Has anyone done this before? Basically it is 3 days cruise, 4 days in the parks, or vice versa. The parks we want to hit will be WDW (probably 2 days) and Epcot and/or Hollywood Studios (probably a day each, depending on how many days we are at the parks vs. on the water). I will need to go through a travel agent to get it figured out, and I think I will start with Mr. Ected’s recommendation of “Small World Vacations”. We will definitely do dining reservations around the 180 day mark so we are sure that we can get the restaurants we want.
To that end, what do you folks recommend for a “moderate resort”? Looks like there are 4 choices there: Caribbean Beach resort, Coronado Springs resort, Port Orleans- French Quarter, and Port Orleans- Riverside. The main things we are considering is ease of transportation and as kid friendly as possible (not that it should be a problem at Disney). Does anyone have an opinion on how easy it is to get around from these moderate resorts? We may consider going up to a Deluxe resort for the monorail if it will save us significant time/headache, but maybe it isn’t necessary? It is more important to me that we spend less time trying to get around then sitting on buses, etc., but if there isn’t a huge difference I wouldn’t mind saving a little money there.
Age of the kids at the time of the trip will be 10 and 5. It is likely that we will have to go at some point around President’s Day (which falls on Feb. 17, 2014) due to work/school issues. From the crowd calendars, this looks like a pretty ugly week, but there’s not much we can do about that.
We are considering doing the Disney Cruise/Park combo. Has anyone done this before? Basically it is 3 days cruise, 4 days in the parks, or vice versa. The parks we want to hit will be WDW (probably 2 days) and Epcot and/or Hollywood Studios (probably a day each, depending on how many days we are at the parks vs. on the water). I will need to go through a travel agent to get it figured out, and I think I will start with Mr. Ected’s recommendation of “Small World Vacations”. We will definitely do dining reservations around the 180 day mark so we are sure that we can get the restaurants we want.
Disco Stu
Confirmed FBGal
For a first trip, the Cruise/Park combo is too much imo. Just do the parks all week.
And if the combo is in the budget, I imagine the Deluxe resorts would be as well. I've never stayed at one, but being on the monorail line sounds like it would improve your experience significantly.
snogger
Footballguy
Can't help on moderate hotels..
Both times we went we thought about saving
and staying at one, but felt the extra money to stay at Wilderness was well worth the cost.We used Magic for less both times we went and LOVED the service.
I sent an email when we booked through them on the days we'd be at what parks and the 1st and 2nd choice restaurants and the times and they did all the booking for us when the 180 day hit.
They also constantly watched for any discounts/free stuff that came along for us and automatically added them for us.. Both times we booked with them, the food package was offered for free after we had booked and they got it for us.
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BoltzNBrew
Footballguy
We stayed at Riverside in the newly renovated at the time Magnolia Manor building. Short walks to food court, pool, boat to DTD, lobby, bus. They had movies every night outside, the pool was awesome and had poolside games for the kids during the day. We took the boat to DTD a couple times. We had no issues with getting busses to any of the parks. Coming back they can be a bit of a wait and crowded but it was like that for all of the resorts. Thing to consider is monorail does not run to all the parks so at some point you will be bussing it. Just plan to get to the stop 45+ min before park opens if you are planning a rope drop entry. Never waited more than 15 min for a bus to the parks and rides there were all fairly short.
Godsbrother
Footballguy
I have stayed at all of the moderates with the exception of the Cabins at the Wilderness Lodge (which you didn't mention) . My preference of those that I have stayed is Coronado Springs, Port-Orleans-Riverside, Port Orleans-French Quarter, and then Carribean Beach , though to be honest I liked them all.
You may also want to consider the Dolphin and the Swan which are within walking distance of EPCOT and the Boardwalk and priced about the same though they aren't Disney themed so maybe not quite as "kid friendly".
I have also done the park/cruise combo (3 day cruise/4-day park but we added a day). For a first time I would suggest 5-days in the parks spread over 7 days (2 days being "rest" days) and I would definitely hit all 4 of the parks. Get the park hopper option so you aren't pinned to one park per day. Save the cruise for another visit.
You may also want to consider the Dolphin and the Swan which are within walking distance of EPCOT and the Boardwalk and priced about the same though they aren't Disney themed so maybe not quite as "kid friendly".
I have also done the park/cruise combo (3 day cruise/4-day park but we added a day). For a first time I would suggest 5-days in the parks spread over 7 days (2 days being "rest" days) and I would definitely hit all 4 of the parks. Get the park hopper option so you aren't pinned to one park per day. Save the cruise for another visit.
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AcerFC
Footballguy
Only real thing it is good for is making reservations wherever you want and not having to worry about "going" to that park that day.I used to be a park hopper all the time person, now if you can plan ahead, feel like you dont really need it. Although I did just get it for Disneyland because we only have 2 days there and want the kids to be able to do what they want (son- Carsland), daughter (MK)
The Commish
Footballguy
We've never been able to get all the way through any park in a day and be ready to go on to another park that same day.
quickhands
Footballguy
How much for a handicapped tour guide?
BoltzNBrew
Footballguy
Yeah I don't think I would ever get a hopper at WDW. Only hopping we did was back to the hotel for a few hours of rest then back to the same park. Would rather get the extra days at the lower price.ETA:Anyone going to WDW in the near future can give their FP+ and MyMagic+ experiences it would be appreciated. Still looking at Oct 2014 trip to WDW so lots of time to soak in the new procedures and get plans together.
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Godsbrother
Footballguy
Park hoppers allow you to jump from one park to another on the same day. Many people consider certain parks to be 1/2 day parks so they can hit, say the Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios in the morning and then hop over to EPCOT or Magic Kingdom for the evening. It also comes in handy if you encounter a park that is really crowded -- you can hop over to another park that is less crowded. It also allows you a lot more flexibility in dining. With a park hopper you are stuck in one park for the day -- even if you've done everything that you want in that park.
To many people 7 full days of theme parking is pretty exhausting anyway. It is much more relaxing to have a couple rest days during your stay where you can enjoy the amenities of the resort, take in Downtown Disney, golf, etc. In these cases a park hopper allows you hit multiple parks in one day, spending as much or as little time in each as you want.
Given a choice of 7 days/1 park vs 5 days/go to any park anytime & have 2 days away from the parks, I would choose the 5-day hopper every time. It is a personal preference though...
Disco Stu
Confirmed FBGal
Agreed. My personal preference is to get the 7-day and take one or two (or more) afternoons off. At first I thought it would be too restrictive on dining, but with all the good options at resorts that didn't end up being a problem.
The last time I did the park hopper, I probably didn't hop until the last day. It was nice to hit a few scattered attractions we missed or wanted to repeat but didn't seem to be worth the extra price.
I may be in the minority though, as I don't really consider any of them to be "half day parks". I could see finishing AK and hopping to Epcot or MK for the evening, but I prefer to schedule a nice, leisurely dinner that evening instead. Then start fresh the next morning.
Like you said, personal preference...
Native
Footballguy
We stayed at the Dolphin and it was plenty kid friendly while being much more upscale than the comparable "Moderates". Swan/Dolphin has a character buffet breakfast featuring Goofy, Pluto, Chip, Dale, etc so theres a real disney atmoshphere in the resort. The pool areas is fantastic - waterfall, waterslide, lake with peddle boats, etc. And being within walking distance to the boardwalk, Epcot and some other resorts makes for a lot of fun for small children.
Yankee23Fan
Fair Tax!
We also get the Hopper. We usually don't spend a whole day in any park and like to move around a lot. For moderates, I like Port Orleans, but I am not a huge fan of the transportation system there - although I am at the point where I hate using the transportation system because of all the fatcar scooters you have to deal with (the story today about rich people paying them to go with them doesn't surprise me at all).
What you need to realize about Disney (back to the hopper question) is that you really should just do whatever makes you happy. You could have probably no fewer than 567,644,344,637,456,887,123,122 different vacation weeks there and never have the same experience twice. You could stay for a week and never hit a park and have a phenominal vacation. You could spend a whole week in EPCOT (I have come close to doing that during food and wine. It was scary I'm sure to whoever saw me coming with a credit card and open mouth. I don't care. It's food from every corner of the world in easy to eat portions before you hit the next country. I digress). So do the hopper or don't. Really, don't worry about it. Enjoy everything you can without making it a job. When it becomes a job you've missed the point.
What you need to realize about Disney (back to the hopper question) is that you really should just do whatever makes you happy. You could have probably no fewer than 567,644,344,637,456,887,123,122 different vacation weeks there and never have the same experience twice. You could stay for a week and never hit a park and have a phenominal vacation. You could spend a whole week in EPCOT (I have come close to doing that during food and wine. It was scary I'm sure to whoever saw me coming with a credit card and open mouth. I don't care. It's food from every corner of the world in easy to eat portions before you hit the next country. I digress). So do the hopper or don't. Really, don't worry about it. Enjoy everything you can without making it a job. When it becomes a job you've missed the point.
Ghoti
Footballguy
I just want to say, there’s really outstanding advice in this thread. Thanks to all. As a novice trying to sort through all of this Disney stuff, it’s pretty daunting. Yankee23Fan, you nailed it – we don’t take enough large scale vacations as it is, so I don’t want this to become a job. I don’t mind paying extra if it will make the vacation more enjoyable, but I know you can also get soaked if you aren’t careful.
So there’s a lot to consider. Thanks again to everyone for sharing your advice and experiences in this thread. I always feel better into plunking down this kind of dough if I know a little more about what I am getting into.
DiscoStu, your advice is well taken. We’re really in the early stages of planning, and we definitely aren’t sold on a cruise/park combo. I am going to consider either stretching out the parks an extra day or so, or scrapping the cruise altogether. I kind of considered the cruise more of a “me” thing because I wouldn’t have to be dragging the kids through crowds on those days and I wouldn’t mind some time to sit in a chair with a beer. But, as was mentioned, it may be much better to just spend an extra couple of “rest” days in the hotel and get the same benefit. I never considered doing that, but it’s seriously solid advice. And the money saved on a cruise would definitely allow us to upgrade to a deluxe resort.
So there’s a lot to consider. Thanks again to everyone for sharing your advice and experiences in this thread. I always feel better into plunking down this kind of dough if I know a little more about what I am getting into.
