GayDays 2011

[TagsMissy]

Saw this so I thought I'd post it here.. hope the link works!

http://networkedblogs.com/68Dpu Gay Days added the crowd calendar for 2011. The dates are estimated for now...

We've never been around Gay Days being that well we are a straight couple so we never thought of going around that time plus we generally travel to Orlando around Labour Day for the extra free day off ... I thought it started on the Saturday? The 2nd is a Thursday (which they list as a Gay Day)... what's your experience?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Saw this so I thought I'd post it here.. hope the link works!

http://networkedblogs.com/68Dpu Gay Days added the crowd calendar for 2011. The dates are estimated for now...

We've never been around Gay Days being that well we are a straight couple so we never thought of going around that time plus we generally travel to Orlando around Labour Day for the extra free day off ... I thought it started on the Saturday? The 2nd is a Thursday (which they list as a Gay Day)... what's your experience?

Gay Days always starts on Thursday. Gay Day at Magic Kingdom is Saturday.

 

[Sphyrna]

Saw this so I thought I'd post it here.. hope the link works!

http://networkedblogs.com/68Dpu Gay Days added the crowd calendar for 2011. The dates are estimated for now...

We've never been around Gay Days being that well we are a straight couple so we never thought of going around that time plus we generally travel to Orlando around Labour Day for the extra free day off ... I thought it started on the Saturday? The 2nd is a Thursday (which they list as a Gay Day)... what's your experience?

If you want to take advantage of an extra free day off, there's Memorial Day. I love when Gay Days is the weekend following Memorial Day because it saves me a vacation day. I usually go down Memorial Day weekend and stay until the following Monday. There are kick offs and other events the entire week. But as for the parks, it starts Thursday with Animal Kingdom.

 

[TagsMissy]

If you want to take advantage of an extra free day off, there's Memorial Day. I love when Gay Days is the weekend following Memorial Day because it saves me a vacation day. I usually go down Memorial Day weekend and stay until the following Monday. There are kick offs and other events the entire week. But as for the parks, it starts Thursday with Animal Kingdom.

I am not American

 

[TagsMissy]

OK I've formed a list of who is all going ...

I now need to decide -- dining plan or not... QS or Regular... what to do... what to do....

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I will tell you there is no way we could eat enough Quick Service for the plan to be worth it!!

For adults you HAVE TO eat a minimum of $12 worth of food at EVERY meal and use EVERY snack credit at $4 to break even. If you don't want/need 2 drinks at breakfast and dessert at every lunch/dinner (some of those Quick Service desserts are vile) then you are better off without the plan. Trust me. I knocked my brains out over this issue.

We use the TiW card for table service but I seriously considered the Quick Service plan. In the end it would have cost DOUBLE what we ended up actually spending on Quick Service meals and snacks.

 

[TagsMissy]

I will tell you there is no way we could eat enough Quick Service for the plan to be worth it!!

For adults you HAVE TO eat a minimum of $12 worth of food at EVERY meal and use EVERY snack credit at $4 to break even. If you don't want/need 2 drinks at breakfast and dessert at every lunch/dinner (some of those Quick Service desserts are vile) then you are better off without the plan. Trust me. I knocked my brains out over this issue.


We use the TiW card for table service but I seriously considered the Quick Service plan. In the end it would have cost DOUBLE what we ended up actually spending on Quick Service meals and snacks.

The problem for us is that the regular meal plan is too much food for us. the portions vs what we are used to at home + added heat we just don't eat that much and struggle to use the credits. I suppose I could stack reservations with more 2credit dinners or something Who knows... maybe a split stay and have regular dining on one portion of the split stay... hahaha I have quite a few months to mull this over!

 

[hematite153]

I'm already jealous of everyone who gets to go next year. Who knows, maybe someday I'll change jobs.

The problem for us is that the regular meal plan is too much food for us. the portions vs what we are used to at home + added heat we just don't eat that much and struggle to use the credits.

Then, why not just pay OOP? If you're struggling to use the credits then you likely aren't saving any money with the DDP.

 

[ConcKahuna]

Then, why not just pay OOP? If you're struggling to use the credits then you likely aren't saving any money with the DDP.

I agree with this. You really have to eat a LOT of food to make any of the dining plans worth it.

 

[TagsMissy]

I'm already jealous of everyone who gets to go next year. Who knows, maybe someday I'll change jobs.



Then, why not just pay OOP? If you're struggling to use the credits then you likely aren't saving any money with the DDP.

we are OK with the QS one, the regular one can get tough for us... but we are celebrating hubby's bday so I may get regular for a portion of the trip.. who knows.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

The thing with the Quick Service plan is that you will likely lose money on it. If you are doing it as a convenience, then go with the plan. If you are trying to factor which way costs less, SKIP the plan. For the 3 of us the quick service would have cost $1247. We spent I think $625. We make coffee in the room every day, so having 2 additional drinks at breakfast would have been silly. And we NEVER order dessert with lunch. I think in 15 days we bought ONE snack that was $4 (a container of those ice cream Dibs), all the others were less. And the 3 of us shared the Dibs as we walked from the snack cart over to Big Thunder.

 

[Sphyrna]

I am not American

Oh yea, didn't think about that. Guess that doesn't help you much then.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

we are OK with the QS one, the regular one can get tough for us... but we are celebrating hubby's bday so I may get regular for a portion of the trip.. who knows.

Have you checked out the Tables in Wonderland card? It can be a good alternative. It gives you 20% off all food and drink (including alcohol) at participating restaurants (and most of the full service places participate).

We've had it for years (although to be fair, we didn't renew this year) and it's always paid for itself quickly.

Disney Dining is not what it used to be (for local folk) so we no longer felt the need to have the card, but it very well may be something that you find useful.

 

[TagsMissy]

Have you checked out the Tables in Wonderland card? It can be a good alternative. It gives you 20% off all food and drink (including alcohol) at participating restaurants (and most of the full service places participate).

We've had it for years (although to be fair, we didn't renew this year) and it's always paid for itself quickly.

Disney Dining is not what it used to be (for local folk) so we no longer felt the need to have the card, but it very well may be something that you find useful.

But you need to have Annual Passes for that don't you? We don't have those as we don't necessarily go twice within a year and our stays are usually 8-10 days... I've looked at APs but it just didn't seem worth it for us considering our traveling patterns

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

But you need to have Annual Passes for that don't you? We don't have those as we don't necessarily go twice within a year and our stays are usually 8-10 days... I've looked at APs but it just didn't seem worth it for us considering our traveling patterns

Yes, you have to have APs or be a FL resident.

 

[ConcKahuna]

But you need to have Annual Passes for that don't you? We don't have those as we don't necessarily go twice within a year and our stays are usually 8-10 days... I've looked at APs but it just didn't seem worth it for us considering our traveling patterns

If you have an overlap between the vacations each year, you can work in the AP and save a lot of $$ on tickets.

For example, since you are going in August this year, as long as you come again before the end of July next year the AP would be worth it.

ETA: There are often a lot of room discounts with the AP too, if you're not using DVC points for a trip

 

[rpmdfw]

I thought you could get the Disney Dining Experience (I refuse to call it "Tables in Wonderland", what a lame name) if you were a DVC member, too.

Might be worth calling and checking!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Rob, it took me FOREVER to be able to say "Tables in Wonderland" with a straight face. It's an asinine name.

As far as DVC being able to purchase one, I am not sure.

 

[rpmdfw]

Rob, it took me FOREVER to be able to say "Tables in Wonderland" with a straight face. It's an asinine name.

As far as DVC being able to purchase one, I am not sure.

Well, I don't do ANYTHING with a straight face.

 

[hematite153]

I thought you could get the Disney Dining Experience (I refuse to call it "Tables in Wonderland", what a lame name) if you were a DVC member, too.

Might be worth calling and checking!

Nope. It's one of the things that DVC members frequently discuss wanting as a perk and I really think that it should be one, but, it's not. (I mean, isn't it a win-win perk? We have villas with kitchens and thus can choose to cook our own food pretty easily. Give us some discounts and many of us won't notice that we're actually spending more overall because we'll be too busy noticing the "savings".)