I did not pay an ounce of attention to any of the Disney posts because I had no intention of going to Disney, except, now we are going to Disney. Do I want to stay on site? Do I want a meal plan and which one (I like food and remember not liking the food last time I was there)? Do I want to go to the park every day of the trip or should I buy less days at the park? If I buy only 2 days, do I still get that wristband thing? What areas are good for 1 year olds?
Post by hopecounts on Dec 18, 2014 22:14:10 GMT -5
with a young kid I would get park tickets for everyday if you are going 4 or less days so that you can take it easy and not be rushing trying to do stuff. 5+ I'd do park days most days and a break day midstay.
Why are some of the packages double or even triple the rate? Is it just that those resorts are significantly better? Which medium priced hotel is the nicest?
Post by estrellita on Dec 18, 2014 22:23:14 GMT -5
I prefer staying on site. We went in Jan and it was so easy. We took the shuttle from the airport and the bus system to the parks and Downtown Disney. Well except for a couple times when my cousin picked us up (she lives there). I definitely recommend that over renting a car (which isn't a bad idea if you plan on going other places though). We didn't do a meal plan, we just charged everything pretty much to the room. We got the Magic Bands and I love those. I'm not sure if there is a minimum stay required or anything. But they are the best invention ever (minus when mine randomly stopped working but luckily we were at the hotel so I stopped at the concierge desk and got a new one). Magic Kingdom is definitely good for little ones. They probably have the most kid friendly rides and characters. Animal Kingdom is good too because of the animals. There is a petting zoo area also. We did one park per day this last trip but usually we've done the 4 in 3 days (we skip a lot of shows and parades). If you want to see a lot, I'd probably do 2 days MK, 1 or 2 Epcot, 1 Studios and 1 Animal Kingdom at the least.
Why are some of the packages double or even triple the rate? Is it just that those resorts are significantly better? Which medium priced hotel is the nicest?
They are nicer. We used to stay at the "budget" hotels all the time and those are pretty nice too. For the "medium" ones we've stayed at Port Orleans and Caribbean Beach. I really liked them both. There is more to do at the hotels and they are a bit nicer. However, I really think the budget ones are plenty sufficient if you're not spending a lot of time at the hotels.
WDW is like buying real estate. Location, location, location.
The $$$ resorts are convenient to the parks in terms of transportation and walking. For a LO, monorail resports will put you closest to MK. The Boardwalk area allows boat and walking distance to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. You'll pay more at any of these deluxe hotels but avoiding buses is so worth it with a LO and a shorter visit. Plus the pools and food options are way better. I tend to eat in resorts rather than parks. Of the moderate hotels, I like Port Orleans or Carribean Beach; Coronado seems to have the most amenities at the moderate price point. I stayed once at a budget- never again- they're filled with rowdy high schoolers on trips.
I like park hoppers because I like options for doing a morning in one place, lunch in another and maybe fireworks/parade in a 3rd. If you're only doing a park a day because of your child's age, a single park each day is fine. Most of the stuff for littles is in MK, but there are definately things age appropriate in the other parks. Opinions of AK seem the most varied- if you have a good zoo local, you may be disappointed- otherwise- it's a nice morning.
You may want to look into renting Disney Vacation Club points. It can be a way for a nicer/bigger place at a cheaper rate. We are renting points for a 2bd condo at Bay Lake Tower (BLT) which is next to the Contemporary.
The dining plan is hit or miss with if it's really a good deal. We are doing it because there are 5 adults and 1 free kid, so E is sharing our portions and since she's a eater, I figure it's worth it.
A lot of the resort restaurants are good. If you want a night out without E, DH and I have gone to Victoria and Albert's a few times, and found that to be excellent (no kids under 10 at the restaurant).
I don't find the meal plan worth it unless they're giving it out for free.
After 3 days the increase in the cost of park tickets isn't much, so I'd buy for the length of your visit and do more, shorter visits to the parks.
For moderate hotels, I loved the grounds at Port Orleans Riverside.
Poly and beach/yacht club are my favorite resorts. Poly has been under construction, though the end of the major construction is supposedly near
With a toddler, I'd pay for as much flexibility as you can afford - monorail hotel, park hoppers for the length of stay, etc - and then be willing to change plans, even if it technically means wasting money (skipping a park day, not actually park hopping, even skipping a dining reservation). We're here now. We're at Coronado Springs, so not a monorail hotel, but we do have our own car, so that's been fine. We've got free dining, but honestly, dining reservations have almost made things more stressful because we feel a little more tied down than we'd like. It also helps to have no expectations because sometimes DD just wants to color instead of staying in the park or whatever. She's having a ton of fun, so it's fun to watch her with a perma-smile on her face, but I'll be honest, I cried a few pregnant hormonal tears last night over not getting to go to epcot for anything more than our dining reservations because DD didn't want to stay to look at things at all, and we've said the entire time that this trip is all about her, so we weren't going to force anything.
Post by mainelyfoolish on Dec 19, 2014 9:17:19 GMT -5
It depends on how much money you want to spend. We went in November and stayed off-site with a rental car. Our hotel was across the street from the Downtown Disney area, so no farther than any of the value resorts, plus with a car you don't have to wait for a bus.
When you stay off-site, you cannot purchase a meal plan. Again, this was not a loss for us. We bought some food at a grocery store when we got into town; my kids are happier eating peanut butter sandwiches than a lot of the Disney food choices, anyway, and our hotel had a free breakfast which we ate most days. We were still able to do all the character dining we wanted, we just paid OOP.
I prefer to be at an MK area resort since that is the park we spend the most time in. We like Wilderness Lodge. It's close to MK, but since it is not on the monorail, it's cheaper and not too much more than a moderate.
We do 5 park days at least, with a park hopper. I personally wouldn't ever do Disney without the hopper option, but that's our style.
Free dining is not always the best deal. We save more money with the room discount at a deluxe resort than we would with free dining. We did purchase the plan this time and it did save us $200 over what we would have paid OOP. It's different for every family and dependent on where you stay and where you eat.
It depends on how much money you want to spend. We went in November and stayed off-site with a rental car. Our hotel was across the street from the Downtown Disney area, so no farther than any of the value resorts, plus with a car you don't have to wait for a bus.
When you stay off-site, you cannot purchase a meal plan. Again, this was not a loss for us. We bought some food at a grocery store when we got into town; my kids are happier eating peanut butter sandwiches than a lot of the Disney food choices, anyway, and our hotel had a free breakfast which we ate most days. We were still able to do all the character dining we wanted, we just paid OOP.
Yes - depends on how much you want to spend. ILs took us this year and we stayed in an offsite timeshare. It worked for us and between learning the layout, how to get around AND also hearing the experiences of friends of ours who went this year too but stayed onsite but in a hotel that was only on the bus line - I would only ever stay onsite if I had the $$ to stay on the monorail. It doesn't solve the issue of the parks that aren't on the monorail, but it would help. Our friends (who have 3 kids) ended up taking a cab sometimes because at night, when EVERYONE else was leaving the parks at the same time, getting on a bus was next to impossible.
I liked having our car, TBH.
And we had a kitchen so we bought food, made a few meals there (always breakfast), etc. Honestly- I would just get TIRED of always having to eat out the entire week.
We also only got 4 days of park tickets. We took two days "off". One day just stayed at our resort the whole day at the pool, the other day was part pool, part Gatorland. It was nice to take a break from DISNEY!!!!
Can someone explain the dining packages/free dining/all the options? Do you have a set number of meals that they deduct from your plan and you can eat whatever you want for each meal?
We will be staying at Coronado in late March/early April. I saw a few people have stayed there or are there now. Can you comment on the rooms/amenities/anything else? We plan to stay at the resort during the day for 2 or 3 days since my H will be at his work conference and its just littleOlive and me (he will be a bit over 2). Do the rooms have any sort of divider? I am dreading nap or bed time in a single room, he won't sleep if we are in the room, but we can't leave him. I am begging my H to get a suite so we have at least one bedroom to put him in and then we can stay awake and hang out in the room during naps/early bed times, but I know that will be pricey.
Post by estrellita on Dec 19, 2014 10:03:54 GMT -5
olivesyou I don't know anything really about the meal plan but the Magic Bands are awesome. They are your room key, park ticket, Fast Pass, etc all in one. So we scanned them to get into our room, the park, to pay for things if we were charging the room, and going through the Fast Pass lines. You can pick Fast Pass options ahead of time and/or reservations. We didn't do any reservations with it but we did do the Fast Passes. It was nice to have them planned ahead of time, but you can also change them on the go with the app or by visiting a concierge desk.
Why are some of the packages double or even triple the rate? Is it just that those resorts are significantly better? Which medium priced hotel is the nicest?
My favorite is Port Orleans Riverside. We stayed there last time and it was awesome. I have some pictures on my FB page if you want to check it out. Caribbean Beach resort (also a moderate) has pirate themed rooms if Elijah is into that (or perhaps you've always dreamed of being a pirate). When are you guys going? You can take me with you as your nanny. ;-)
rikki- Who is going on the trip? Just you and E and your H, or is it an extended family thing? How many nights? What are your main " goals" for the trip (meet Mickey, go to the pool, ride lots of rides etc) What is your budget? Is this a once in a lifetime thing, or do you think you might go back?
Post by DarcyLongfellow on Dec 19, 2014 10:38:14 GMT -5
No, the monorail doesn't take you everywhere. Not even close. BUT, if you're there with a young child, it can work out quite well. The monorail goes to MK and Epcot, but not to the other two parks (DHS and AK) and not to any of the water parks/Downtown Disney, etc.
If I had an unlimited budget and was going with a young child, I'd stay at Bay Lakes Tower (the vacation club property that's attached to the Contemporary). You can walk from there to MK. And then you could take the monorail from Contemporary to Epcot.
But, we go all the time (we live 2.5 hours away), and we never stay on property. It's not worth it to us. I can get a 2 bedroom suite with a full kitchen for $120 a night if I just drive 15 minutes down I4. Since we leave the parks before dinner and let the kids go back to the hotel and wind down before bed, we like to have our space.
For a full Disney immersive experience, though, staying on site is fun. Disney has kind of funny hotel categories I feel like. The Deluxe resorts are definitely awesome -- the three monorail hotels (although, they are all aging and aren't really that nice inside the actual rooms -- but the locations are phenomenal). Animal Kingdom Lodge is also great with young kids, but it's kind of far from everything. The hotels that are walking distance to the back of Epcot (and also to DHS, although it's a longer walk) are also great, location-wise. Yacht Club/Beach Club as well as some others. I *think* those might be considered Deluxe, though.
I'd do a park pass for every day you're there. After you go over 3 days or so, the per day price drops so low that it's kind of crazy not to do it. And it's so nice not to feel like you have to "do everything" when you're there with little kids. You can go for 4 or 5 hours a day if that's all you can handle.
When I've taken 1 year olds, they love everything. It really is a great age for Disney. They aren't old enough yet to be scared of things older toddlers might be scared of, but they're interested in everything. My favorite "secret" stop for a young toddler to run around is the waiting area of Dumbo. You get a pager (like at a chain restaurant) and you can let your kid run around as long as you want until you go on the ride. It's a great indoor playground with a young toddler area. At that age, my kids' favorite rides were: MK: Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, Pirates of the Caribbean, Aladdin's magic carpets, the people mover in Tomorrowland, Little Mermaid, Small World, Jungle Cruise Epcot: Mexico ride, Nemo, boat ride in the Land pavilion
No, the monorail doesn't take you everywhere. Not even close. BUT, if you're there with a young child, it can work out quite well. The monorail goes to MK and Epcot, but not to the other two parks (DHS and AK) and not to any of the water parks/Downtown Disney, etc.
If I had an unlimited budget and was going with a young child, I'd stay at Bay Lakes Tower (the vacation club property that's attached to the Contemporary). You can walk from there to MK. And then you could take the monorail from Contemporary to Epcot.
But, we go all the time (we live 2.5 hours away), and we never stay on property. It's not worth it to us. I can get a 2 bedroom suite with a full kitchen for $120 a night if I just drive 15 minutes down I4. Since we leave the parks before dinner and let the kids go back to the hotel and wind down before bed, we like to have our space.
For a full Disney immersive experience, though, staying on site is fun. Disney has kind of funny hotel categories I feel like. The Deluxe resorts are definitely awesome -- the three monorail hotels (although, they are all aging and aren't really that nice inside the actual rooms -- but the locations are phenomenal). Animal Kingdom Lodge is also great with young kids, but it's kind of far from everything. The hotels that are walking distance to the back of Epcot (and also to DHS, although it's a longer walk) are also great, location-wise. Yacht Club/Beach Club as well as some others. I *think* those might be considered Deluxe, though.
I'd do a park pass for every day you're there. After you go over 3 days or so, the per day price drops so low that it's kind of crazy not to do it. And it's so nice not to feel like you have to "do everything" when you're there with little kids. You can go for 4 or 5 hours a day if that's all you can handle.
When I've taken 1 year olds, they love everything. It really is a great age for Disney. They aren't old enough yet to be scared of things older toddlers might be scared of, but they're interested in everything. My favorite "secret" stop for a young toddler to run around is the waiting area of Dumbo. You get a pager (like at a chain restaurant) and you can let your kid run around as long as you want until you go on the ride. It's a great indoor playground with a young toddler area. At that age, my kids' favorite rides were: MK: Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, Pirates of the Caribbean, Aladdin's magic carpets, the people mover in Tomorrowland, Little Mermaid, Small World, Jungle Cruise Epcot: Mexico ride, Nemo, boat ride in the Land pavilion
I stayed at BLT when DS was 21 months old and OKW when he was 13 months and 2.5. The BLT trip is by far the easiest Disney Trip I have ever been on. We rented points and it wasn't much more that the OKW trip in terms of $$ but SO much more convienent.
My toddler tip is to pack an extra change of clothes and a camp towel in your backpack, for the SPLASH pad in front of Dumbo. Seriously DS could have spent all day playing and splashing there, and it was a great spot to watch him play. That area of the park ( Story Book Circus) is my new favorite, I love that in addition to the Splash Pad there is Dumbo, The Dumbo Play Area, The big top characters, The Barn Stormer ( for 38 inches and above) and the Train. We seriously spent a whole morning just in that area.
We went with a 4 year old and a 1 year old. We did not stay onsite. We were able to get a 2 bedroom condo about 15 minutes away with a kitchen for about $60/night. I refuse to stay in a hotel room with very young children, I consider it a special form of torture so we also rent through vrbo.com. We were close enough to go back if we wanted in the middle of the day. It was seriously not a big deal to be off site.
We didn't get a dining plan because we had a kitchen and we cooked and packed lunches. We ate well and very healthfully while there. I'm not usually a big fan of amusement park food and Disney is no different to me. We did one character meal that was fine.
We had military passes so we had four days at the parks. We did Epcot, magic kingdom, and then we went out to cocoa beach for a few days and came back and did animal kingdom and magic kingdom again. That was perfect.
Our 1 year old was able to ride almost everything really and she wasn't scared of anythingn. Our 4 year old could ride everything except the roller coasters like space mountain. She didn't get scared of anything either. We skipped meeting most characters because I see it as a big waste of time personally and I'm there to ride rides. . Luckily my kids felt the same way. They just wanted to ride everything.
With a young toddler the key is to be flexible and not set yourself up with crazy expectations and plans and just kind of go with the flow. Despite all the posts on here you really can do that and have a great time, you don't have to plan out every second of every day.
rikki- Who is going on the trip? Just you and E and your H, or is it an extended family thing? How many nights? What are your main " goals" for the trip (meet Mickey, go to the pool, ride lots of rides etc) What is your budget? Is this a once in a lifetime thing, or do you think you might go back?
Hi. Yes, just the 3 of us. It is not at once in a lifetime trip as I would like to take E when he remembers it and my MIL has indicated she is saving up to take him there. The reason we are going is there were tickets from Chicago to Orlando for $60 a person last week so I jumped on it. It will be nice to get away from the cold and I do think that Eli will enjoy it. We are going January 31-February 4. I have not set a budget but I do not want to spend a lot as this is not our "big" vacation for the year and it was not planned or budgeted for.
rikki- Who is going on the trip? Just you and E and your H, or is it an extended family thing? How many nights? What are your main " goals" for the trip (meet Mickey, go to the pool, ride lots of rides etc) What is your budget? Is this a once in a lifetime thing, or do you think you might go back?
Hi. Yes, just the 3 of us. It is not at once in a lifetime trip as I would like to take E when he remembers it and my MIL has indicated she is saving up to take him there. The reason we are going is there were tickets from Chicago to Orlando for $60 a person last week so I jumped on it. It will be nice to get away from the cold and I do think that Eli will enjoy it. We are going January 31-February 4. I have not set a budget but I do not want to spend a lot as this is not our "big" vacation for the year and it was not planned or budgeted for.
$60 tickets? I'm so sad I'm never able to find ticket deals like that.
That's a fairly quiet time to go, so you shouldn't hit major crowds, which will be nice for you.
Hi. Yes, just the 3 of us. It is not at once in a lifetime trip as I would like to take E when he remembers it and my MIL has indicated she is saving up to take him there. The reason we are going is there were tickets from Chicago to Orlando for $60 a person last week so I jumped on it. It will be nice to get away from the cold and I do think that Eli will enjoy it. We are going January 31-February 4. I have not set a budget but I do not want to spend a lot as this is not our "big" vacation for the year and it was not planned or budgeted for.
$60 tickets? I'm so sad I'm never able to find ticket deals like that.
That's a fairly quiet time to go, so you shouldn't hit major crowds, which will be nice for you.
Have fun!
I think the total for all 3 of us for round trip tickets was $179! I jumped as soon as I saw it.
rikki- Who is going on the trip? Just you and E and your H, or is it an extended family thing? How many nights? What are your main " goals" for the trip (meet Mickey, go to the pool, ride lots of rides etc) What is your budget? Is this a once in a lifetime thing, or do you think you might go back?
Hi. Yes, just the 3 of us. It is not at once in a lifetime trip as I would like to take E when he remembers it and my MIL has indicated she is saving up to take him there. The reason we are going is there were tickets from Chicago to Orlando for $60 a person last week so I jumped on it. It will be nice to get away from the cold and I do think that Eli will enjoy it. We are going January 31-February 4. I have not set a budget but I do not want to spend a lot as this is not our "big" vacation for the year and it was not planned or budgeted for.
This sounds awesome. Since your trip is coming up so soon, If it's not once in a lifetime, and your budget is not big, I would look into a moderate resort and renting a car. , or renting points at Saratoga Springs and renting a car. Yes, BLT and the monorail are more convienent but it will be very difficult to get into that hotel with renting points at this time, and it is VERY expensive per night otherwise.
Check out David's Disney Vacation Club rental. He may have some last minute deals on Saratoga Springs. Otherwise, I would book POR or POFQ. I would get park hoppers for each day, and plan to spend part of each day at the pool if needed. Once you have booked your room and purchased park tickets, you can book your FPplus
I just looked at easywdw.com. It looks like it is going to be a moderate to low week crowd wise. It looks like your best bet parks wise is Epcot or HS ( or both with a park hopper, you can walk or ride a boat between these two parks) on the 1st, Animal Kingdom on the 2nd and MK on the 3rd. You can use your arrival and departure days to relax or hit up things you want to see again in the parks.
In terms of meal plans, The Dining plan ( standard) is a Quick Service ( like fast food) a sit down meal ( most character meals included ) and a snack a day. You also get a mug that is refillable only at your resort ( super convienent for lounging at the pool). Since your trip is so close, you might not get the restaurants you want at the times you want ( people make reservations 180 days out) however there are most likely still some character meals available, and LOTS of good places to eat as well. You can pay OOP for meals, but I find if I am staying on sight the dining plan is easier for me.
I just looked. On February 1st there are still 2 dinner seatings available at Garden Grill at Epcot. if you want a character meal at Epcot. There is an 8:30 am Breakfast at Tusker house available on the 2nd at Animal Kingdom. If you think E will like characters those are both GREAT meals to do with him.
Can someone explain the dining packages/free dining/all the options? Do you have a set number of meals that they deduct from your plan and you can eat whatever you want for each meal?
We will be staying at Coronado in late March/early April. I saw a few people have stayed there or are there now. Can you comment on the rooms/amenities/anything else? We plan to stay at the resort during the day for 2 or 3 days since my H will be at his work conference and its just littleOlive and me (he will be a bit over 2). Do the rooms have any sort of divider? I am dreading nap or bed time in a single room, he won't sleep if we are in the room, but we can't leave him. I am begging my H to get a suite so we have at least one bedroom to put him in and then we can stay awake and hang out in the room during naps/early bed times, but I know that will be pricey.
Thanks!
We just stayed there in Oct. no room divider and ai agree it would eliminate bathroom access if you squeezed it into the sink area. Breakfast at Pepper Mill was average, perfectly good but nothing amazing. The pancakes are huge so DD and I shared them a couple mornings. The grounds are beautiful. Bus Service was good and we didn't really have a problem with overcrowded busses.