September/October 2013 check in

[WanderlustNZ]

Hi everyone,

I've been meaning to come in and introduce myself for ages but kept forgetting. We are planning our 6 weeks East coast trip for September/October 2013 which includes WDW and a 7 night Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy. The rest of our trip will include New York, Washington DC, and Niagara Falls and either L A. or Hawaii as a stop over at start and end.

We are, me (Simone), my daughter who will be 6 at time of travel, and my mum. My brother might also join us in the WDW portion but is yet to commit to anything. We are from Melbourne.

So far I have booked our cruise through Dreams Unlimited, booked some accommodation in New York, looked into WDW accommodation but haven't booked anything and just researching New York stuff. I bought a book off Amazon about WDW with kids but haven't read it as yet.

I have a couple of questions for you all...... 1. Would you/have you considered buying 1 annual pass to make use of the discounts? If I got a discounted room rate (without the annual pass) are the room rates discounted anymore with the AP? 2. Should I book WDW accommodation now and then change my booking when/if specials are released or just wait for specials? And 3. a similar question do I book the dinning package with a hotel booking and just hope for a free dining promo or again just wait and see?

Any info would be a huge help cause I'm a bit like this planning this trip

I look forward to joining you in the planning journey

Welcome Simone.

It sounds like you have a great holiday planned! What day is your cruise? There are a few of us cruising on the 21st.

I'm no expert on booking WDW and have many of the same questions you do. Just a thought though, if you are hoping for the free dining plan, be careful about booking tickets separate from accommodation. I could be wrong, but I think free dining can only be added to a package i.e accommodation and tickets booked together.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

If you book through dreams you still have full access to the disney website and you would still be able to go on and book your port adventures and bbb and make reservations erc. Only thing different to booking it yourself is that a. You get a travel agent who can give tips and tricks. B. You get the free obc and c. They will notify you of all cut off dates and if a better deal comes out they will let you know. Every other aspect of your booking remains the same. Oh and they can do wdw ressies as well

Thanks alicia. It sounds like the whole TA thing might be a win win. I'll email Dreams Unlimited tonight to see if my booking would qualify for OBC.

 

[5ofus]

Hi everyone,

I've been meaning to come in and introduce myself for ages but kept forgetting. We are planning our 6 weeks East coast trip for September/October 2013 which includes WDW and a 7 night Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy. The rest of our trip will include New York, Washington DC, and Niagara Falls and either L A. or Hawaii as a stop over at start and end.

We are, me (Simone), my daughter who will be 6 at time of travel, and my mum. My brother might also join us in the WDW portion but is yet to commit to anything. We are from Melbourne.

So far I have booked our cruise through Dreams Unlimited, booked some accommodation in New York, looked into WDW accommodation but haven't booked anything and just researching New York stuff. I bought a book off Amazon about WDW with kids but haven't read it as yet.

I have a couple of questions for you all...... 1. Would you/have you considered buying 1 annual pass to make use of the discounts? If I got a discounted room rate (without the annual pass) are the room rates discounted anymore with the AP? 2. Should I book WDW accommodation now and then change my booking when/if specials are released or just wait for specials? And 3. a similar question do I book the dinning package with a hotel booking and just hope for a free dining promo or again just wait and see?

Any info would be a huge help cause I'm a bit like this planning this trip

I look forward to joining you in the planning journey

Welcome Simone. Your trip sounds like a lot of fun! Ahh Disney maths! Unfortunately there is no easy answer. You might get free dining, but are the savings worth more than an AP room discount? A lot of it depends on what your family is like and how much they eat. Also, which range of hotel you are looking at - I think Isaac that with two or three people in a value, the room discount is a better deal, but in a moderate it's better to get free dining. The only way to figure it out is to crunch the number unfortunately!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Welcome Simone. Your trip sounds like a lot of fun! Ahh Disney maths! Unfortunately there is no easy answer. You might get free dining, but are the savings worth more than an AP room discount? A lot of it depends on what your family is like and how much they eat. Also, which range of hotel you are looking at - I think Isaac that with two or three people in a value, the room discount is a better deal, but in a moderate it's better to get free dining. The only way to figure it out is to crunch the number unfortunately!

Hi 5ofus,

Do you mean 'deluxe' as opposed to 'value'? The room discount on a value is usually tiny (about $20), so free dining (even though it's just Quick Service) is a great perk.

 

[alicia1506]

hi simone! welcome.

i was planning a trip to wdw and was doing the fuzzy maths too. ultimately i had to work out... would the extra $$ spent on an AP really pay for themselves in discounts? ie how much would i have to buy to recoup the extra $$? would a room only discount at a mod be more than FD would save? etc. it required (in my case) a fresh notebook, coloured pens/highlighters and a calculator with fresh batteries and the better part of a saturday morning to work out what worked for us (4 adults).

i think this is a situation that has no clear answer. it really does depend on whether you prefer CS to TS, whether you prefer value to mod, are you going for bigger experiences or smaller budgets etc as to what works for you

i have added you to the roll call on the front page - when you lock your dates in, let me know and i'll update for you

 

[cola]

well, it is still doable... just not at wdw.

Are you keeping it to 2.5wks due to leave entitlements? If not, could you go a few days earlier, just you and Carlo and have some time in WDW? Let the others get the plane by themselves. If you don't try to hit the parks hard, just spend time getting over jetlag relaxing and do 4 days at the WDW with packed lunch etc, it can be pretty cheap! Off season accommodation in Orlando is RIDICULOUSLY cheap, get a mini-car, and it can be a budget trip. It will help you won't all be getting over jetlag/lack of sleep/dehydration at the same time.

 

[alicia1506]

Are you keeping it to 2.5wks due to leave entitlements? If not, could you go a few days earlier, just you and Carlo and have some time in WDW? Let the others get the plane by themselves. If you don't try to hit the parks hard, just spend time getting over jetlag relaxing and do 4 days at the WDW with packed lunch etc, it can be pretty cheap! Off season accommodation in Orlando is RIDICULOUSLY cheap, get a mini-car, and it can be a budget trip. It will help you won't all be getting over jetlag/lack of sleep/dehydration at the same time.

hi cola -- yes, at this point it is 2.5 weeks only due to leave entitlements.. i have tried crunching numbers and dates but it's just not going to happen this trip. i do have the consolation prize of carlo and i going in may/june 2014 for star wars weekend + 7 night western caribbean on the dcl fantasy so we will have plenty of time to do wdw up right then, with hopefully a side trip to either nyc or washington dc in with that one as well

 

[5ofus]

Hi 5ofus,

Do you mean 'deluxe' as opposed to 'value'? The room discount on a value is usually tiny (about $20), so free dining (even though it's just Quick Service) is a great perk.

Oops, I meant the other way around! I ave an awful tummy bug that seems to be affecting my brain!

 

[cola]

hi cola -- yes, at this point it is 2.5 weeks only due to leave entitlements.. i have tried crunching numbers and dates but it's just not going to happen this trip. i do have the consolation prize of carlo and i going in may/june 2014 for star wars weekend + 7 night western caribbean on the dcl fantasy so we will have plenty of time to do wdw up right then, with hopefully a side trip to either nyc or washington dc in with that one as well

You might be going before the Harry Potter extension opens! Ah well, at least that means you have another excuse to get back to Orlando.

 

[Feej]

Okay, I'll check in for 2013.

Not 100% yet, but most likely will be in the US for work conference again and will also be spending time with some friends that live in Hollywood, who have annual passes.

No planning this time, just gonna go and hang out with them there.

 

[australiankaren]

So have cruises boooked, all the rest will wait til march april.......ooohhhhh exciting times......

 

[Jade+3]

Karen, what happens on your B2B, do you have to disembark, and take your bags between cruises? Not that I am likely to ever do a B2B as DH does not like to cruise, but I am curious.

 

[5ofus]

Anybody booked their flights yet?

 

[Caroline NZ]

Anybody booked their flights yet?

We are flying staff standby so can't book until 6 weeks out, and still don't know if we are on until the doors are closing more or less But that's okay, because the financial saving at the moment more than offsets the uncertainty. However if we have a bad experience I will reassess our options for future trips.

 

[alicia1506]

I like to wait to book flights until around the 5 months to go mark.. I find that is when some of the promo fares come out etc. We have flight credit with vaustralia that i dont want to lose so as long as we book before may we are all good

 

[australiankaren]

Karen, what happens on your B2B, do you have to disembark, and take your bags between cruises? Not that I am likely to ever do a B2B as DH does not like to cruise, but I am curious.

the awesome thing is we keep our cabin for both, so they get all the B2B's togeather, walk us off...beep our card, scan our passports..issue us new seapasses..then straight back on the boat to the bar where lunch is served while they clean etc the boat. We have to get off so they can say the boat is empty for customs.....all very organised and easy.....so i dont have to pack and move which is a bonus, and they also i think will give us a free bag for washing as there are no self serve laundries on board....so we are in cabin 9350 for the 14 days, junior suite....and go from one level of FF to the next after our first cruise..so more freebies for us!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Anybody booked their flights yet?

I've booked the return flights to LAX from NZ. I'm traveling school holidays so don't hold out too much hope for any really big specials closer to the time. I just need to avoid the temptation to look over the next ten months and risk disappointment.

I still have the LAX to Orlando left to book. I want to wait until airlines such as Southwest have released their fares so I can make a real comparison between domestic providers.

It's actually quite relieving to have the international airfares booked and paid for. I'm so indecisive and can drive myself crazy weighing up different holiday destinations. I'm committed now to 3 weeks in the US and can start getting excited about the finer details.

 

[Jade+3]

the awesome thing is we keep our cabin for both, so they get all the B2B's togeather, walk us off...beep our card, scan our passports..issue us new seapasses..then straight back on the boat to the bar where lunch is served while they clean etc the boat. We have to get off so they can say the boat is empty for customs.....all very organised and easy.....so i dont have to pack and move which is a bonus, and they also i think will give us a free bag for washing as there are no self serve laundries on board....so we are in cabin 9350 for the 14 days, junior suite....and go from one level of FF to the next after our first cruise..so more freebies for us!

That is good organisation. We nearly booked 9200, but ended up going with a family promenade as it was quite a bit cheaper. The no laundry is a bummer, especially with my grotty kids. Doubt they will be too happy if I ban ice cream. There is always one who will spill the ice cream.

 

[becpee]

We're still in the planning and saving like mad

At this stage though 5 days DL, 7 days Palm Springs, Vegas, Legoland and maybe San Francisco.
Driving trip though, I love a good road trip

 

[alicia1506]

We're still in the planning and saving like mad

At this stage though 5 days DL, 7 days Palm Springs, Vegas, Legoland and maybe San Francisco.
Driving trip though, I love a good road trip

awesome. i love the idea of a driving trip but i don't think we're up to it ourselves... i will be eagerly subbing into your ptr though