Disney during peak times - March break

[rxbeth]

Due to my husband's job as a teacher, we will have no choice but to go to Disney either during July or August or March break.  It is nearly impossible to get March break off at my work but I did get it for this upcoming March.

I've never been to Disney but I'm thinking that this is what we will do this year.  We are NOT staying home, that is for sure.  Any tips on planning Disney during March break?  I know there will be no deals at that time.  Our kids will be just shy of 5 and just turned 2 at the time.

[panicked]

Get fast passes as soon as your window opens. Same thing with dining. Stay on-site if you can do you can take advantage of EMH. Go back to the hotel and swim or nap mid-day to beat most of the crowds.

[Wines Not Whines]

We went over spring break this year. It was very very crowded, but manageable. You need to get to the parks for rope drop and do as much as you can in the first couple hours of the day, and manage your fast passes so you can ride popular rides. I think it's good that you know it will be crowded, so you can manage your expectations. You probably won't get to ride every ride, and that's ok.

There will be some deals/discounts on hotels during that time. I know we used some sort of discount.

[rxbeth]

Jul 28, 2016 19:09:03 GMT -5 panicked said:

Get fast passes as soon as your window opens. Same thing with dining. Stay on-site if you can do you can take advantage of EMH. Go back to the hotel and swim or nap mid-day to beat most of the crowds.

What is emh?

And when do fast passes open? I'm a total virgin to this? Do you have to have everything booked (hotel and tickets) to book fast passes?

[rxbeth]

Jul 28, 2016 20:13:42 GMT -5 Wines Not Whines said:

We went over spring break this year. It was very very crowded, but manageable. You need to get to the parks for rope drop and do as much as you can in the first couple hours of the day, and manage your fast passes so you can ride popular rides. I think it's good that you know it will be crowded, so you can manage your expectations. You probably won't get to ride every ride, and that's ok.

There will be some deals/discounts on hotels during that time. I know we used some sort of discount.

How do you find the discounts? And if I have to book so far out to get fast passes, etc, won't I miss the deals? I apologize if these are stupid questions

We are using some money left to us by my grandpa but we do want to save where we can since we have to account for the exchange rate (we are Canadian)

[panicked]

Jul 29, 2016 5:39:10 GMT -5 rxbeth said:

Jul 28, 2016 19:09:03 GMT -5 panicked said:

Get fast passes as soon as your window opens. Same thing with dining. Stay on-site if you can do you can take advantage of EMH. Go back to the hotel and swim or nap mid-day to beat most of the crowds.

What is emh?

And when do fast passes open? I'm a total virgin to this? Do you have to have everything booked (hotel and tickets) to book fast passes?

EMH- Extended magic hours. That's when a park opens early or closes late for hotel guests only. Totally worth it.

Fast passes open 60 days prior to check in, dining hall reservations open at 180 days prior. You have to have your tickets linked in the My Disney Experience app/ website to book fast passes.

[Wines Not Whines]

Jul 29, 2016 5:43:02 GMT -5 rxbeth said:

Jul 28, 2016 20:13:42 GMT -5 Wines Not Whines said:

We went over spring break this year. It was very very crowded, but manageable. You need to get to the parks for rope drop and do as much as you can in the first couple hours of the day, and manage your fast passes so you can ride popular rides. I think it's good that you know it will be crowded, so you can manage your expectations. You probably won't get to ride every ride, and that's ok.

There will be some deals/discounts on hotels during that time. I know we used some sort of discount.

How do you find the discounts? And if I have to book so far out to get fast passes, etc, won't I miss the deals? I apologize if these are stupid questions

We are using some money left to us by my grandpa but we do want to save where we can since we have to account for the exchange rate (we are Canadian)

Disney announces resort discounts on its website. Discounts for March won't be out for a while. I think the current discounts go through November 5. You can book a room and then cancel/re-book later if discounts are announced. This isn't applicable if you stay off-site (which will probably be cheaper).

You can reserve fast passes 60 days in advance if you stay on-site, and 30 days in advance if you stay off-site. I assume you'll have a hotel reservation by then.

EMH are "extra magic hours." If you stay at a Disney hotel, you are able to get into the parks earlier, and stay later, on certain days. However, they have been cutting back on these hours in recent years, and I personally don't think it's as much of a benefit as it used to be.

[rxbeth]

Super dumb question, what if the weather is horrible the day you have things booked? I mean, I assume things are outdoors. You're out that fast pass?

[rxbeth]

Jul 29, 2016 6:30:46 GMT -5 Wines Not Whines said:

Jul 29, 2016 5:43:02 GMT -5 rxbeth said:

How do you find the discounts? And if I have to book so far out to get fast passes, etc, won't I miss the deals? I apologize if these are stupid questions

We are using some money left to us by my grandpa but we do want to save where we can since we have to account for the exchange rate (we are Canadian)

Disney announces resort discounts on its website. Discounts for March won't be out for a while. I think the current discounts go through November 5. You can book a room and then cancel/re-book later if discounts are announced. This isn't applicable if you stay off-site (which will probably be cheaper).

You can reserve fast passes 60 days in advance if you stay on-site, and 30 days in advance if you stay off-site. I assume you'll have a hotel reservation by then.

EMH are "extra magic hours." If you stay at a Disney hotel, you are able to get into the parks earlier, and stay later, on certain days. However, they have been cutting back on these hours in recent years, and I personally don't think it's as much of a benefit as it used to be.

Thank you! Is there a charge to cancel and reboot? Would you have to rebook for the same hotel? I'm thinking pop century buy of discounts somewhere else are better...
Also, sleeping in the same room as the two kids sounds like hell on earth. Are the kids just so exhausted that they pass out every night? We do not cosleep and never have. Do thru have roll a way cribs? Would they give me one for a two year old?

[gardengal]

Jul 29, 2016 6:36:20 GMT -5 rxbeth said:

Jul 29, 2016 6:30:46 GMT -5 Wines Not Whines said:

Disney announces resort discounts on its website. Discounts for March won't be out for a while. I think the current discounts go through November 5. You can book a room and then cancel/re-book later if discounts are announced. This isn't applicable if you stay off-site (which will probably be cheaper).

You can reserve fast passes 60 days in advance if you stay on-site, and 30 days in advance if you stay off-site. I assume you'll have a hotel reservation by then.

EMH are "extra magic hours." If you stay at a Disney hotel, you are able to get into the parks earlier, and stay later, on certain days. However, they have been cutting back on these hours in recent years, and I personally don't think it's as much of a benefit as it used to be.

Thank you! Is there a charge to cancel and reboot? Would you have to rebook for the same hotel? I'm thinking pop century buy of discounts somewhere else are better...
Also, sleeping in the same room as the two kids sounds like hell on earth. Are the kids just so exhausted that they pass out every night? We do not cosleep and never have. Do thru have roll a way cribs? Would they give me one for a two year old?

The hotels have PnPs. 

Both my kids were so exhausted (as were we!) that sharing a room was not the disaster I anticipated. 

I highly rec using a Dinesen travel agent. They are free for you & can hold your hand thru the process

[rxbeth]

Jul 29, 2016 6:48:16 GMT -5 gardengal said:

Jul 29, 2016 6:36:20 GMT -5 rxbeth said:

Thank you! Is there a charge to cancel and reboot? Would you have to rebook for the same hotel? I'm thinking pop century buy of discounts somewhere else are better...
Also, sleeping in the same room as the two kids sounds like hell on earth. Are the kids just so exhausted that they pass out every night? We do not cosleep and never have. Do thru have roll a way cribs? Would they give me one for a two year old?

The hotels have PnPs. 

Both my kids were so exhausted (as were we!) that sharing a room was not the disaster I anticipated. 

I highly rec using a Dinesen travel agent. They are free for you & can hold your hand thru the process[/
quote]

How do you find and agent and just HOW is it free?!!!?

[Wines Not Whines]

Yes, you can usually cancel a reservation and rebook at no cost, and you can change hotels or keep the same one. I think there's a cancellation deadline, but it's usually within a week of your trip, and the discounts will come out well before then. We do this all the time. We're going to Disney in November, and we have a room booked, but we may change it when the fall discounts come out.

We've always just stayed in a regular room with our son (he's almost 6 years old, but we started going to Disney with him at 18 months). He's usually exhausted by the end of the night, and he sleeps with no problem. You can request a crib/PnP from the hotel. I think they also have bed rails.

[TBM]

pandce.proboards.com/thread/538883/using-disney-travel-agent

Also, Amy in that post is a TA, so you could pm her to find out more.

[Deleted]

Yay! We're going in November and sharing a room with both kids, let's hope it is not a disaster lol. H will be in the provided PnP and A is sleeping in the second queen bed.

You can book FP+ 60 days out if you stay in a Disney hotel. You'll have to have hotel and tickets to reserve them then.

March sounds better than July/August mainly due to heat. My kids, and I imagine e yours, aren't used to heat so I didn't want to take them in the summer.

[gardengal]

Jul 29, 2016 9:11:40 GMT -5 rxbeth said:

How do you find and agent and just HOW is it free?!!!?

I used Small World Vacations & I believe a poster on here is one too.

They are free for you b/c they get commission from booking rooms. My experience was that the TAs were able to get me better pricing than I could book myself

[curbsideprophet]

You can book dining reservations at 180 days out. You do not need a hotel or tickets to book. If you are staying onsite you can book the length of your stay up to ten days at the 180 mark.

There is a decent amount of things inside. I assume some of the outside rides shut down due to lightening though. They may give you an anytime FastPass for later if the ride is down during your FP window (they are 1 hour blocks of time).

You might want to look into an Art of Animation suite. They have a bedroom with a door.

[rxbeth]

Jul 29, 2016 12:31:29 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

You can book dining reservations at 180 days out. You do not need a hotel or tickets to book. If you are staying onsite you can book the length of your stay up to ten days at the 180 mark.

There is a decent amount of things inside. I assume some of the outside rides shut down due to lightening though. They may give you an anytime FastPass for later if the ride is down during your FP window (they are 1 hour blocks of time).

You might want to look into an Art of Animation suite. They have a bedroom with a door.

I didn't realize any of the places had suites. That might be worth it. Especially if we do go back for naps. I wonder how much those are? Off to google. Thank you!

[mslhb]

We are going the last week of March 2017. With Easter really late next year I am hopeful that March spring break crowds will be more dispersed. I know for us this is one of the very few times our school spring break hasn't matched up with Easter. I figure it will still be extremely busy but hopefully not crushing holiday crowds. The site below is a great resource for a crowd calendar and other useful info. This visit we rented points and are staying at the Poly. We rented through DVCRentals and the process was super easy and saved us a ton of money.

yourfirstvisit.net/

[lala]

I don't think it's the end of the world if you have realistic expectations & plan well.

We travel with all if is in one room often. No, it's not ideal but they're usually exhausted and sometimes those bigger rooms/suites/etc are double of more. We rent dvc studios & love it - those are Disney's timeshare rooms. Deluxe accommodations - more space, balcony, little kitchen-y area (NOT a full kitchen) and great pools. We go back to rest/swim/nap every day.

[cbwm1]

Jul 29, 2016 14:37:22 GMT -5 rxbeth said:

Jul 29, 2016 12:31:29 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

You can book dining reservations at 180 days out. You do not need a hotel or tickets to book. If you are staying onsite you can book the length of your stay up to ten days at the 180 mark.

There is a decent amount of things inside. I assume some of the outside rides shut down due to lightening though. They may give you an anytime FastPass for later if the ride is down during your FP window (they are 1 hour blocks of time).

You might want to look into an Art of Animation suite. They have a bedroom with a door.

I didn't realize any of the places had suites. That might be worth it. Especially if we do go back for naps. I wonder how much those are? Off to google. Thank you!

The suites are expensive but worth every. Damn. Penny.

We stayed in a Cars suite, and we all loved it so, so much. Will would pass out on the pullout couch almost immediately, and DH and I stayed up a bit longer in the bedroom having drinks. Having two bathrooms was also fab, because DH and I could shower at the same time - big time saver!

[rxbeth]

Jul 29, 2016 18:22:32 GMT -5 lala said:

I don't think it's the end of the world if you have realistic expectations & plan well.

We travel with all if is in one room often. No, it's not ideal but they're usually exhausted and sometimes those bigger rooms/suites/etc are double of more. We rent dvc studios & love it - those are Disney's timeshare rooms. Deluxe accommodations - more space, balcony, little kitchen-y area (NOT a full kitchen) and great pools. We go back to rest/swim/nap every day.

I'm so new to all this. I don't understand what they timeshare places are.

[rxbeth]

Jul 29, 2016 19:34:47 GMT -5 Loco Coco said:

Aw, I'm so excited for you! I think peak time is fine and long as you set your expectations accordingly.

That I'm going to spend a ridiculous amount of money to have over tired kids sleep (hopefully) in the same room as me, be cranky 24/7 and wait in line?  That interspersed with a few smiles?

[lala]

Jul 29, 2016 20:11:08 GMT -5 rxbeth said:

Jul 29, 2016 19:34:47 GMT -5 Loco Coco said:

Aw, I'm so excited for you! I think peak time is fine and long as you set your expectations accordingly.

That I'm going to spend a ridiculous amount of money to have over tired kids sleep (hopefully) in the same room as me, be cranky 24/7 and wait in line?  That interspersed with a few smiles?

You won't! Plan well, take breaks, plan well, make reservations & fast passes, take breaks, plan...you'll have fun! 
Honestly, the kids will be exhausted but as long as they get some good sleep at night, you'll be fine. SaveSave