BC Disers?? Tell us about your trip plans!

[visitingapril09]

Just curious how many BC folks we have who are in the middle of trip planning? Tell us about your plans (as much as you are comfortable) Where are you flying from? What are your plans while there? Staying on site or off?

 

[visitingapril09]

We are going the last 10 days of March to first week of April. Haven't booked the flights but will fly from Seattle on Alaska likely.

Staying off site at Terre Verde. Getting 10 day passes so we can come and go at leisure.

Travelling with DH, DS 18, DD 16, DS 15 and DS 12....This is our second trip to WDW. The other was in 2004 for our sons Wish trip.

 

[Fellowship9798]

Staying at WDW in BWV Jan 2011 for me to run the WDW Marathon. No kids coming on this trip so it will be very different for DW and I (as if going for my first marathon wouldn't be different enough).

Also doing the DCL repositioning cruise in late April 2011 from LA to Vancouver and will probably stay a few days at Disneyland first using our new DVC points at the VGC.

We normally don't do two trips in a year, much less within only 4-5 months of each other, but we already had the cruise in April planned with my parents when I decided to try the marathon in January. Luckily our DVC points will cover all the accomodations.

Looking forward to a fun first half of 2011!

 

[ado121]

our family is going to disneyland this year. dec 5th to the 11th. we alternate each year with a trip to disney. last christmas was disneyworld and it was excellent! this year is disneyland.

 

[Paddle_Nut]

We are doing our first cruise on January 29th, 7 day eastern caribbean on Disney Magic. We are very excited!! We did a lot of research and decided to fly out of Seattle as it was a good deal.

Can't wait!

 

[I Run Long]

We're making our second trip ever to the World for 14 nights, Sep 8-22. Renting points and staying at BCV. Got the 10 day PH with water parks and more tickets. Can hardly wait! It's me, DH, DS14, DD12. Also making a side trip for a couple of days to US/IOA - have to see Harry Potter. Flying out of Seattle on Continental. Got a sweet deal of Cdn$ 998 return for all four of us from SEA to MCO. The countdown is on.

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Ditching the kid with Grandma and Grandpa while we go to Epcot Food and Wine festival. We're flying Kelowna-Seattle-Orlando on Alaska Airlines using points. The fees and taxes worked out to $75.20 US for both of us.

 

[Paddle_Nut]

We're making our second trip ever to the World for 14 nights, Sep 8-22. Renting points and staying at BCV. Got the 10 day PH with water parks and more tickets. Can hardly wait! It's me, DH, DS14, DD12. Also making a side trip for a couple of days to US/IOA - have to see Harry Potter. Flying out of Seattle on Continental. Got a sweet deal of Cdn$ 998 return for all four of us from SEA to MCO. The countdown is on.

Wow - that is good airfare

 

[I Run Long]

Wow - that is good airfare

Yeah I could hardly believe it when I saw it. BTW have a great trip - we've always wanted to do a Disney Cruise - maybe our next trip.

 

[deanie]

We are flying Continental out of Seattle also, in November, though and our airfare was certainly more than that. You got a great deal! Two of my sisters and I are going for her birthday and are staying at CSR and doing a day each at USF and IOA. The sad thing is, I will likely have to use a wheelchair or an ECV as my knees have gotten really bad. That is not good news for someone who has always walked and gone the commando mode!! (Well, maybe that is why my knees got so bad!)

 

[Sue M]

Booked for Jan 2011, got RT airfare for $325 CAD incl tax out of Seattle.
We stay overnight at a Marriott chain hotel night before flight, getting really good rate from Entertainment Book, and can leave car there for free.
We always stay on site.

 

[Craigdarroch]

Heading out for our 12th trip to WDW on Sept. 10. Staying at POFQ.

We will be renewing our annual passes and possibly heading back in early December.

We skipped WDW last year because we got a PIN code for the Disneyland Hotel that we couldn't pass up.... but now we're craving WDW again.

Hate the lack of flights from YVR, as well as the atrocious prices.

We got lucky this time because we had enough Alaska miles to get free flights, but as most of you know, YVR to MCO is ridiculous. People don't believe me when I tell them the prices are often around $700 to $800 per person.

Does anyone else have the Alaska airmiles card? It's awesome... dollar for dollar on your points and a $75 companion fare once a year.

Already counting the days until our vacation

 

[visitingapril09]

Heading out for our 12th trip to WDW on Sept. 10. Staying at POFQ.

We will be renewing our annual passes and possibly heading back in early December.

We skipped WDW last year because we got a PIN code for the Disneyland Hotel that we couldn't pass up.... but now we're craving WDW again.

Hate the lack of flights from YVR, as well as the atrocious prices.

We got lucky this time because we had enough Alaska miles to get free flights, but as most of you know, YVR to MCO is ridiculous. People don't believe me when I tell them the prices are often around $700 to $800 per person.

Does anyone else have the Alaska airmiles card? It's awesome... dollar for dollar on your points and a $75 companion fare once a year.

Already counting the days until our vacation

Totally agree about Vancouver prices! We just booked last night on Alaska with our new CC from them. So we were able to book 4 seats at regular fare of 379 inclusive, 1 99 companion fare and 1 1/2 price with 20000 points. So we were able to book 6 direct flights, at times we wanted for $1900 Canadian. I was thrilled with that! Same flights with just the little 45 minute flight to Seattle on another Alaska flight.......$790 each! 1/2 the price to drive 2 hours south...it makes NO sense to me.

 

[visitingapril09]

We're making our second trip ever to the World for 14 nights, Sep 8-22. Renting points and staying at BCV. Got the 10 day PH with water parks and more tickets. Can hardly wait! It's me, DH, DS14, DD12. Also making a side trip for a couple of days to US/IOA - have to see Harry Potter. Flying out of Seattle on Continental. Got a sweet deal of Cdn$ 998 return for all four of us from SEA to MCO. The countdown is on.

\
That is fabulous. What airline did you use?

 

[fraservalleymom]

I'm so glad I found your thread! My DH and I are in the early stages of planning our first trip to WDW with our 2 DD 9 & 7yo. I am thinking early May 2011.

I wondered about how most BCer's got down to WDW. If they flew out of YVR or went frrom Seattle. I had heard Seattle was much cheaper but I'm not a very seasoned traveller and not too up on those things.

Questions for you: 1. Do most of you book your trips with Disney, with a travel company or a combination of both? 2. Have any of you rented points to stay at one of the DVC resorts? 3. Oops, I forgot. I guess that what you get for working night shift.

Thanks so much.

 

[I Run Long]

\
That is fabulous. What airline did you use?

Flying out on Continental - it was just a lucky catch on my part. I had every single airline bookmarked as well as travel sites (Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz) and every morning I would check out the price. Well, around the middle of January Continental had this great price. Of course, I booked it immediately. The next day the same flight was Cdn$ 1800. Even Southwest hasn't come in that cheap.

 

[I Run Long]

I'm so glad I found your thread! My DH and I are in the early stages of planning our first trip to WDW with our 2 DD 9 & 7yo. I am thinking early May 2011.

I wondered about how most BCer's got down to WDW. If they flew out of YVR or went frrom Seattle. I had heard Seattle was much cheaper but I'm not a very seasoned traveller and not too up on those things.

Questions for you: 1. Do most of you book your trips with Disney, with a travel company or a combination of both? 2. Have any of you rented points to stay at one of the DVC resorts? 3. Oops, I forgot. I guess that what you get for working night shift.

Thanks so much.

How fun for you! Well for your first part about flying it is definitely cheaper to fly out of Seattle. Even for us with ferry costs off the island. So since our flight leaves so early in the morning from Seattle we are leaving the island the day before and staying in a Marriot hotel near SeaTac. Mind you we won't be getting much sleep - our flight leaves at 5:48 am

For our first trip we used a Disney vacation specialist as we weren't too familiar with things Disney - if you are unsure I would recommend you going that route. It doesn't cost you anything - the agent gets compensation from Disney. There are some wonderful ones - personally I recommend Fairytale Dreams and Destinations a Cdn travel company - heck we may as well support our own in this economy. If you google them you'll find their site quite easily.

For this trip (our 2nd) we are renting points from a DVC owner (we like to stay in Deluxe resorts for Moderate resort prices). I found a great owner on Disboards own DVC rent/trade. I then purchased my park tickets through Mousesavers discount link to Undercover Tourist. Doing it this way will require more time, effort and research on your part. But if you are willing to do that and have the time this can be a real money saver for you. But again - if you'd rather not be tied down to all of this, you really can't go wrong with Fairytale Dreams & Destinations.

I'm sure others will weigh in here with their advice. Good luck with your planning - you can't beat a trip to the DW. If you have anymore questions ask away.

 

[squirrel]

I booked the bounceback from last years Free Dining with Disney.

I then kept an eye on flights and didn't find any red-eye flights at a decent price with my regular airlines (AirTran and Southwest). So I checked out Alaska and Delta. They both had the flight I wanted and it was direct. Delta ended up being cheaper when I added in the cost of one bag each. My niece and I got our return tickets for $500 CAN. I booked with my travel agent and also added the deluxe trip insurance (I always get it when I take my niece). A day or two later the price went to almost double what I paid.

I hope my parents or sister will drive us down and pick us up as I don't want to leave my car parked in Seattle for 2 weeks (it's actually more like 16 days).

This will be the younger niece's first Disney trip. The older one has been to DL and WDW (twice).

 

[fraservalleymom]

How fun for you! Well for your first part about flying it is definitely cheaper to fly out of Seattle. Even for us with ferry costs off the island. So since our flight leaves so early in the morning from Seattle we are leaving the island the day before and staying in a Marriot hotel near SeaTac. Mind you we won't be getting much sleep - our flight leaves at 5:48 am

For our first trip we used a Disney vacation specialist as we weren't too familiar with things Disney - if you are unsure I would recommend you going that route. It doesn't cost you anything - the agent gets compensation from Disney. There are some wonderful ones - personally I recommend Fairytale Dreams and Destinations a Cdn travel company - heck we may as well support our own in this economy. If you google them you'll find their site quite easily.

For this trip (our 2nd) we are renting points from a DVC owner (we like to stay in Deluxe resorts for Moderate resort prices). I found a great owner on Disboards own DVC rent/trade. I then purchased my park tickets through Mousesavers discount link to Undercover Tourist. Doing it this way will require more time, effort and research on your part. But if you are willing to do that and have the time this can be a real money saver for you. But again - if you'd rather not be tied down to all of this, you really can't go wrong with Fairytale Dreams & Destinations.

I'm sure others will weigh in here with their advice. Good luck with your planning - you can't beat a trip to the DW. If you have anymore questions ask away.

Thanks for the great info. You gave me some great things to think about. I appreciate the effort to respond. I will certainly be looking into the travel agent you suggested. I have looked at the DVC and love the thought of staying in a condo style unit rather than just a hotel room at any resort but my DH is not a very trusting sort so I'm quite sure he won't want to go that route but you never know. I can't believe how much effort I have taken just to learn the basics of a WDW vacation. It sure has been fun,though. Thanks again.

 

[I Run Long]

Thanks for the great info. You gave me some great things to think about. I appreciate the effort to respond. I will certainly be looking into the travel agent you suggested. I have looked at the DVC and love the thought of staying in a condo style unit rather than just a hotel room at any resort but my DH is not a very trusting sort so I'm quite sure he won't want to go that route but you never know. I can't believe how much effort I have taken just to learn the basics of a WDW vacation. It sure has been fun,though. Thanks again.

Glad it was some help for you. I just wanted to mention that many Seattle hotels have a park and fly option (including the one we're staying at) where your parking is free (while you're busy enjoying Disney World) and they also have free shuttle to the airport and back again. Can't go wrong with that.