Help....Official December 2015??

[squeegee]

The release date of July 30th will be good for planning/budgeting, but I still won't be booking until next year (after I have my flights), plus I want to wait til the free dining is released. We are thinking now of doing a split stay - 11 nights at POP, then 3 nights up at Universal (so we can get a 2 day ticket). (Squeegee, that's a good best friend to have! Lucky you!)

We're booking that night just to feel like we're making progress, like it's "real." She will rebook and/or adjust whatever is needed for me as discounts come out, so it's not the "final" booking yet. You can make all the changes you want, for free, to a booking until it's paid off.

I'm tracking flights through southwest already, keeping a spreadsheet tab to see how they fluctuate. Granted, those are still 2014 prices, but it's interesting to see how they jump all over. Am looking at the airport in Austin. We're in San Antonio, so it's not like it's a small city, but Austin is somehow about $100 less per person. So, we'll just fly out of there. Am hoping for a total of less than $800 for the three of us, RT. Right now they're running between $850 and $1000.

 

[Kristin5]

Yeah, I know you can make changes to the booking - but because we have to convert to USD, it means we can still lose out on $ if we make changes. Do you know, if we book the accommodation, then the free dining comes out, will they apply it, or do we have to rebook/change our booking (and therefore risk losing out because of exchange rate)?

I am also tracking airfares...though ours are currently around $9000 for the 3 of us (matching our dates - but 2014 dates/prices). I am hoping they come down closer to $6000 during some sort of sale fare early next year, but think I might be out of luck due to the Christmas season. If they stay that high, we may end up changing our trip timing to September/October as we have done in the past few years. But our preference is to go at Christmas.

 

[Jenn55]

We're booking that night just to feel like we're making progress, like it's "real." She will rebook and/or adjust whatever is needed for me as discounts come out, so it's not the "final" booking yet. You can make all the changes you want, for free, to a booking until it's paid off. I'm tracking flights through southwest already, keeping a spreadsheet tab to see how they fluctuate. Granted, those are still 2014 prices, but it's interesting to see how they jump all over. Am looking at the airport in Austin. We're in San Antonio, so it's not like it's a small city, but Austin is somehow about $100 less per person. So, we'll just fly out of there. Am hoping for a total of less than $800 for the three of us, RT. Right now they're running between $850 and $1000.

We did it in January from toronto for 900 canadian for 2 of us, 1 adult, 1 child.. So I'm hoping for similar pricing this time around.. I can on,y look 11 months ahead through air canada tho

 

[Jenn55]

Yeah, I know you can make changes to the booking - but because we have to convert to USD, it means we can still lose out on $ if we make changes. Do you know, if we book the accommodation, then the free dining comes out, will they apply it, or do we have to rebook/change our booking (and therefore risk losing out because of exchange rate)? I am also tracking airfares...though ours are currently around $9000 for the 3 of us (matching our dates - but 2014 dates/prices). I am hoping they come down closer to $6000 during some sort of sale fare early next year, but think I might be out of luck due to the Christmas season. If they stay that high, we may end up changing our trip timing to September/October as we have done in the past few years. But our preference is to go at Christmas.

Oh I know all about loosing money to the exchange rate! We have to convert ours too, thankfully it's not too too bad, still not as great as it's been years past tho. At least it's not like converting to the euro. I'm going to Italy next month and the exchange is killing me.. For 1600ish canadian.. Were talking like 1095 euros... !!!

I'm also wondering if they just apply it or rebook it, cause I don't want to take the time to have them refund it and then be able to charge it again, it's a pain in the ***! Lol but maybe I'm just lazy? Probably! Then u get to the whole, ok the exchange is good do I transfer all my money now or do I wait for it to get better, but what if it gets worse. I had this issue before our last trip

 

[squeegee]

My only experience with an exchange rate has been with Mexico, but I haven't gone in many years. We would just exchange dollars for pesos at a business before crossing over, and work with pesos. We never bothered changing anything back to dollars. How does it work for y'all?

 

[squeegee]

Yeah, I know you can make changes to the booking - but because we have to convert to USD, it means we can still lose out on $ if we make changes. Do you know, if we book the accommodation, then the free dining comes out, will they apply it, or do we have to rebook/change our booking (and therefore risk losing out because of exchange rate)? .

I'm not 100% certain, but I believe room only ressies have to be rebooked. I don't think they go to the hassle of issuing a refund and all that - I think monies just move over. But, I think package ones just get discounts applied without rebooking.

 

[Kristin5]

Thanks squeegee, that would be good news for us if true. Still would have to wait until airfares are booked, but it could mean that we can have airfares and accommodation booked by February. Then it will all feel very real!

 

[Jenn55]

My only experience with an exchange rate has been with Mexico, but I haven't gone in many years. We would just exchange dollars for pesos at a business before crossing over, and work with pesos. We never bothered changing anything back to dollars. How does it work for y'all?

Depends on how much I have to change back tbh. I didn't change any back when we got home last time cause I think I had like 2-5$ American at the time lol it wasn't worth it. But I only went down with about 200$ cash, the rest was on gift cards and that cash was basically for universal. Here we go to the bank to exchange, it gives us the best rate versus a money exchange place

 

[kristenm514]

Hi everyone! I was trying to talk DH into going to WDW this Christmas, seeing as it's free dining and all

He didn't bite. We are in the process of purchasing our first home right now, so I suppose he's right that it's financially prudent to hold off on the big vacays this year (I'm still pouting, though). I was also just there with DD over my birthday and Mother's Day this year.

He did, however, promise me that we will go for Christmas 2015!!! Woohoooo! I think he figured that would slow my planning bug a bit..ha! Not a chance!

I'm pretty certain our dates will be 12/16-12/26. I want to stay at AKL, but the price tag on a 10-night deluxe stay might be a no-go. Thinking maybe a split stay with a value or mod and a deluxe, or all 10 nights in an AoA suite if he won't green-light AKL for the whole stay.

I'm excited to have people to wait this thing out with!

 

[Jenn55]

So we finally made a choice!! Were gonna be staying at Port Orleans Riverside dec 1-13th, 2015. We spent no joke 3-4 hours discussing it. We looked at videos and picture of the ones we we're deciding on. We were torn between POR, a lion king suite at AOA and and a split stay between the two. My pricing worked out to be the split was 600 more then riverside and 600 less then the lion king suite. My issues with AOA was I have stayed there but he never has (the hubby) and I was afraid it was too in ur face disney, but he actually said it wasn't but we did agree that by staung at POR we could use the money towards other things. However, the hubby has now coined POR as POO - he thought it stood for Port OF Orleans hence the POO... so now he says we can only go if he gets to call it POO.. MEN!! Lol

 

[squeegee]

Hi everyone! I was trying to talk DH into going to WDW this Christmas, seeing as it's free dining and all He didn't bite. We are in the process of purchasing our first home right now, so I suppose he's right that it's financially prudent to hold off on the big vacays this year (I'm still pouting, though). I was also just there with DD over my birthday and Mother's Day this year. He did, however, promise me that we will go for Christmas 2015!!! Woohoooo! I think he figured that would slow my planning bug a bit..ha! Not a chance! I'm pretty certain our dates will be 12/16-12/26. I want to stay at AKL, but the price tag on a 10-night deluxe stay might be a no-go. Thinking maybe a split stay with a value or mod and a deluxe, or all 10 nights in an AoA suite if he won't green-light AKL for the whole stay. I'm excited to have people to wait this thing out with!

From what I can tell, the suite at AOA will run you almost as much as the AKL, especially if any discounts come out on the AKL. There almost certainly won't be any discounts on AOA.
Congrats on the house!

 

[squeegee]

So we finally made a choice!! Were gonna be staying at Port Orleans Riverside dec 1-13th, 2015. We spent no joke 3-4 hours discussing it. We looked at videos and picture of the ones we we're deciding on. We were torn between POR, a lion king suite at AOA and and a split stay between the two. My pricing worked out to be the split was 600 more then riverside and 600 less then the lion king suite. My issues with AOA was I have stayed there but he never has (the hubby) and I was afraid it was too in ur face disney, but he actually said it wasn't but we did agree that by staung at POR we could use the money towards other things. However, the hubby has now coined POR as POO - he thought it stood for Port OF Orleans hence the POO... so now he says we can only go if he gets to call it POO.. MEN!! Lol

I'd let my DH call it whatever he wanted, if it means getting to go back and having him enjoy the place.
Here's hoping that when the rates come out, all of it works to about the same! 9 days to go!

 

[Kristin5]

Welcome to a fellow Kristin / Kristen! You're even planning to go the same dates as me. Have you checked out the option of renting dvc points at AKL/AKV?

Jenn, well done on the decision making - POR (POO!!) looks beautiful.

I priced out our holiday (airfares, accommodation, WDW and Universal tickets for total of 4 week holiday) based on dates in Sept/Oct vs Dec/Jan, and Dec/Jan actually works out $500 cheaper. Hopefully that holds true for 2015!

 

[kristenm514]

Welcome to a fellow Kristin / Kristen! You're even planning to go the same dates as me. Have you checked out the option of renting dvc points at AKL/AKV?

It would make good money sense to do the point rental, but the lack of flexibility makes me nervous. While DH and I are fortunate enough to have ample vacation time, we both sometimes end up on projects that can make it impossible to get away. Not so much over the holidays, but there's still a possibility we might need to change plans. Having to pay in full when the ressie is booked, up to 11 months in advance, is another pain point.

As of right now, this is what I'm thinking:
6 nights Coronado Springs or Caribbean Beach, hoping for free dining but not banking on it. If no FD, we might even do a value for this part

4 nights big splurge...right now, it's between AKL Savanna View and Contemporary MK View. Contemporary is winning right now, I think. Boardwalk is also in the running, though I think I'd prefer to stay there in the summertime.

Too many choices!

 

[Jenn55]

We're looking at doing room only for our stay, buying the memory maker and getting our tickets, 10 day, and Disneyquest from undercover tourist. Did the math and it's about 60+ dollars cheaper to go that route. It's kinda funny tho cause when DS and I went back in January the hubby laughed at me and told me I was crazy to buy the memory maker. As I told him, I was sick and tired of having all these pics of DS, or skewed 'selfies' of the 2 of us, or woes, having the kid take pics lol. That I wanted to be able to have pics of both of us, and the amount that we got was well worth it. This time around I automarically put it in the price and we when I re explained the concept, he's like oh yes we for sure need that! Oh what a change 6 months later makes! Looking forward to doing more planning, he's a little upset about my obsessiveness tho, especially this far out!

 

[squeegee]

We're looking at doing room only for our stay, buying the memory maker and getting our tickets, 10 day, and Disneyquest from undercover tourist. Did the math and it's about 60+ dollars cheaper to go that route. It's kinda funny tho cause when DS and I went back in January the hubby laughed at me and told me I was crazy to buy the memory maker. As I told him, I was sick and tired of having all these pics of DS, or skewed 'selfies' of the 2 of us, or woes, having the kid take pics lol. That I wanted to be able to have pics of both of us, and the amount that we got was well worth it. This time around I automarically put it in the price and we when I re explained the concept, he's like oh yes we for sure need that! Oh what a change 6 months later makes! Looking forward to doing more planning, he's a little upset about my obsessiveness tho, especially this far out!

How does it work if you buy your tickets from an outside source and they then offer free dining, and I think it requires a 2-day ticket purchase? Do they give you credit for already having them, or do they make you buy new ones? Or am I confused and they don't require tickets at all?

Thanks!

 

[Jenn55]

How does it work if you buy your tickets from an outside source and they then offer free dining, and I think it requires a 2-day ticket purchase? Do they give you credit for already having them, or do they make you buy new ones? Or am I confused and they don't require tickets at all? Thanks!

Tbh.. I'm not sure lol.. I know u can link them to ur reservation on the MDE. I've looked up historical deals and there hasn't been one during our time period for a few years. Usually right before and right after.. Like this year it went till nov 20 then picked up again dec 12.. And we're going dec1-13 right in the middle of two of the free dinning dates

 

[jessie31383]

Hi everyone! Glad to see there are other obsessive people like me! I mean that in the nicest way! We just went to WDW in June which was supposed to be our once in a lifetime experience but we fell in love and decided we HAVE to go back and have decided to go for Christmas 2015. We are going Dec. 23 through Jan. 2nd. We are hoping to get the free dining as well but not banking on it, but I am really confused about the hotel we are going to stay at because of it. Originally we said we wanted to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge (super pricey) but then decided to do Port Orleans ( I think riverside ). Now I am back and forth, if there is free dining to stay at AKL since it will be cheaper with the free dining and work out to the same amount as it would be to stay at Port Orleans, or to really save the money and just stay at CBR which is where we stayed in June. Part of me says we didn't stay much time in the hotel so it does not matter where we stay, but the other part of me says we are going more days this time (we only went for 5 days last time and this time we will be at the parks for 9 days) so we might spend more time in our room. Any thoughts are welcome, my sweet hubby does not want to hear about it and says WE JUST GOT BACK lol.

We are also thinking about doing Universal this time because we all love roller coasters and my daughters (will be 12 and 11 at the time) love Harry Potter, but then I don't know if we should since our regret from our June trip is that we wish we had more time to be at Disney. What are your thoughts.

Last time we did a couple of signature meals and ended up paying out of pocket for a few meals which were crazy expensive. We had fun, but I don't think we will do that again, as that is money that we can use to buy more stuff while we are there and we did not really enjoy the food any more than we did for the regular meals.

Are the dates for Christmas also coming out on July 30th? My travel agent said they are not released until 499 days in advance which I calculated as being August 11th.

Has anyone been during Christmas before? We really don't mind crowds that much, but at the same time it does make me a little nervous. Christmas and New Years is the easiest time for us to go and have more time to spend. My husband's company shuts down for that time and all of my clients are in South America and usually out during that time, plus I get Christmas and New Years day paid so I have to use less vacation as well as the kids are out of school during that time.

Sorry I rambled on, I am so happy there is post for Dec. 2015, as you can see I have been dying to talk and get opinions from people to start my planning.

 

[Jenn55]

Hi everyone! Glad to see there are other obsessive people like me! I mean that in the nicest way! We just went to WDW in June which was supposed to be our once in a lifetime experience but we fell in love and decided we HAVE to go back and have decided to go for Christmas 2015. We are going Dec. 23 through Jan. 2nd. We are hoping to get the free dining as well but not banking on it, but I am really confused about the hotel we are going to stay at because of it. Originally we said we wanted to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge (super pricey) but then decided to do Port Orleans ( I think riverside ). Now I am back and forth, if there is free dining to stay at AKL since it will be cheaper with the free dining and work out to the same amount as it would be to stay at Port Orleans, or to really save the money and just stay at CBR which is where we stayed in June. Part of me says we didn't stay much time in the hotel so it does not matter where we stay, but the other part of me says we are going more days this time (we only went for 5 days last time and this time we will be at the parks for 9 days) so we might spend more time in our room. Any thoughts are welcome, my sweet hubby does not want to hear about it and says WE JUST GOT BACK lol. We are also thinking about doing Universal this time because we all love roller coasters and my daughters (will be 12 and 11 at the time) love Harry Potter, but then I don't know if we should since our regret from our June trip is that we wish we had more time to be at Disney. What are your thoughts. Last time we did a couple of signature meals and ended up paying out of pocket for a few meals which were crazy expensive. We had fun, but I don't think we will do that again, as that is money that we can use to buy more stuff while we are there and we did not really enjoy the food any more than we did for the regular meals. Are the dates for Christmas also coming out on July 30th? My travel agent said they are not released until 499 days in advance which I calculated as being August 11th. Has anyone been during Christmas before? We really don't mind crowds that much, but at the same time it does make me a little nervous. Christmas and New Years is the easiest time for us to go and have more time to spend. My husband's company shuts down for that time and all of my clients are in South America and usually out during that time, plus I get Christmas and New Years day paid so I have to use less vacation as well as the kids are out of school during that time. Sorry I rambled on, I am so happy there is post for Dec. 2015, as you can see I have been dying to talk and get opinions from people to start my planning.

I'll try to answer this as much as I can, I've only been 3 times and each one was staggered out 13 years apart, but I've done so much research and planning I'd like to think of myself asan intermediate expert! Lol first off.. Welcome! This is the land of the obsessive over 1.5 years away and yet planning group. Lol I say that loveingly! We decided on port Orleans, riverside for our next trip mainly because as u said, we don't spend a lot of time at the resort. Last time it was just DS, who was almost 8 and myself who went and we did jan 2-11th, 2014. This time the hubby has been convinced to come with and although he screams he's excited, he is sooo not a planner and basically thinks I'm crazy right now! He's never gone before so I have him the websites I used and said, be free to take a look. We jumped between POR and AOA and a split stay. We wanted AKL savannah fries but just couldn't justify the increased cost of it. This time were there dec 1-13th. Last time I went it was just after Xmas and the Xmas stuff was just coming to a close, we missed candlelight processional and MVMCP but was able to see the Osbourne lights. This was my main reason for changing the dates this time around to do more of the Xmas stuff. I've read that it's best to do ur must do's leading up to Xmas Eve and Xmas day as it's pretty wall to wall people in the parks but it stays busy till about the 2nd. The dates for the entire year, the rack rates as their called come out July 30th however you can only book 499 days in advance. I'll be under that for my arrival day so I'll be able to book but if your arrival day is more then 499 days you basically have to wait until ur 499 days away to BOOK YOU CAN STILL LOOK AT RATES THO!! And it will give you an idea of what it's going to cost you just can't put down the deposit.
As for the dinning plan, I was set on using it when I first planned this trip cause it was cheaper with just the DS however with the hubby wed actually pay more for the DDP then we would OPP. And as he said we'd be locked into making sure we had at lest 2 big meals a day. When the son and I went we only did 3 table service meals and I took food for him, mainly sandwhiches and snacks which kept the cost low. If you google DDP calculator there's a site that comes up that you can figure out the cost and it asks for ur dates and you pick ur restuarants for each day, not specifically ur actual plated meal. The great thing is it tells you when ur ADR windows opens so you know when you can start booking meals.

As far as harry potter is concerned. It's the reason I went to disney in January. Sons a massive HP fan, went as him for halloween, he's now 8.5 and he's read the first 5, seen the first 4 movies. It was suppose to be our once in a lifetime trip.. Funny how that happens eh! So I made sure we spent 2 days at universal to make sure he got to do it. He was actually more excited about seeing harry potter then anything else! And we loved the butter beer!! Knowing that and the fact that the new section has just opened I would highly recommend time there. However the way I would do it, and it's just my opinion is to do 3 days, 1 day each for the harry potter section and 1 day to finish off the rest of the 2 parks, especially if ur girls are fans. When I started planning this trip I looked at doing a split, so many days at disney and so many staying in side at universal. If u do universal I highly recommend looking at the cost of staying on site, you get early entreance to the park and complimentary skip the line passes (which can be 89 plus dollars) bought otherwise. I was gonna do this but decided on a whole universal trip in 2016 and to focus on disney this time around. I'm not sure if ur driving or flying down, if u fly and don't rent a car, it cost us about 32-36$ EACH WAY to taxi from our disney hotel to universal and back for 2 days. Which is why the thought of staying onsite next time around was soo appealing!

Let me know if u have any other questions and welcome to the crazy hut!!

 

[jessie31383]

I'll try to answer this as much as I can, I've only been 3 times and each one was staggered out 13 years apart, but I've done so much research and planning I'd like to think of myself asan intermediate expert! Lol first off.. Welcome! This is the land of the obsessive over 1.5 years away and yet planning group. Lol I say that loveingly! We decided on port Orleans, riverside for our next trip mainly because as u said, we don't spend a lot of time at the resort. Last time it was just DS, who was almost 8 and myself who went and we did jan 2-11th, 2014. This time the hubby has been convinced to come with and although he screams he's excited, he is sooo not a planner and basically thinks I'm crazy right now! He's never gone before so I have him the websites I used and said, be free to take a look. We jumped between POR and AOA and a split stay. We wanted AKL savannah fries but just couldn't justify the increased cost of it. This time were there dec 1-13th. Last time I went it was just after Xmas and the Xmas stuff was just coming to a close, we missed candlelight processional and MVMCP but was able to see the Osbourne lights. This was my main reason for changing the dates this time around to do more of the Xmas stuff. I've read that it's best to do ur must do's leading up to Xmas Eve and Xmas day as it's pretty wall to wall people in the parks but it stays busy till about the 2nd. The dates for the entire year, the rack rates as their called come out July 30th however you can only book 499 days in advance. I'll be under that for my arrival day so I'll be able to book but if your arrival day is more then 499 days you basically have to wait until ur 499 days away to BOOK YOU CAN STILL LOOK AT RATES THO!! And it will give you an idea of what it's going to cost you just can't put down the deposit.
As for the dinning plan, I was set on using it when I first planned this trip cause it was cheaper with just the DS however with the hubby wed actually pay more for the DDP then we would OPP. And as he said we'd be locked into making sure we had at lest 2 big meals a day. When the son and I went we only did 3 table service meals and I took food for him, mainly sandwhiches and snacks which kept the cost low. If you google DDP calculator there's a site that comes up that you can figure out the cost and it asks for ur dates and you pick ur restuarants for each day, not specifically ur actual plated meal. The great thing is it tells you when ur ADR windows opens so you know when you can start booking meals.

As far as harry potter is concerned. It's the reason I went to disney in January. Sons a massive HP fan, went as him for halloween, he's now 8.5 and he's read the first 5, seen the first 4 movies. It was suppose to be our once in a lifetime trip.. Funny how that happens eh! So I made sure we spent 2 days at universal to make sure he got to do it. He was actually more excited about seeing harry potter then anything else! And we loved the butter beer!! Knowing that and the fact that the new section has just opened I would highly recommend time there. However the way I would do it, and it's just my opinion is to do 3 days, 1 day each for the harry potter section and 1 day to finish off the rest of the 2 parks, especially if ur girls are fans. When I started planning this trip I looked at doing a split, so many days at disney and so many staying in side at universal. If u do universal I highly recommend looking at the cost of staying on site, you get early entreance to the park and complimentary skip the line passes (which can be 89 plus dollars) bought otherwise. I was gonna do this but decided on a whole universal trip in 2016 and to focus on disney this time around. I'm not sure if ur driving or flying down, if u fly and don't rent a car, it cost us about 32-36$ EACH WAY to taxi from our disney hotel to universal and back for 2 days. Which is why the thought of staying onsite next time around was soo appealing!

Let me know if u have any other questions and welcome to the crazy hut!!

Thank you for all of your great advice. For the dining plan we know we are going to do it for sure. We used it during our June trip and loved it. We are just hoping that they do free dining through the 23rd again next year so our whole trip will be cheaper, but either way we are doing the dining. I am lazy I guess because I do not like packing food, and we are kind of foodies and loving trying new things. Although I do have to say it is not good on any of us because we all gained weight in June even with all of the walking we did.
Thank you so much for your advice on the Harry Potter, I am going to have to seriously talk to the girls and my husband and see if they want to do that for this trip, or if we should plan a trip in the future to do just Universal.

So excited that the actual pricing is coming out. I have just been basing our budget on this year, although I am sure it is going to go up a little, but here is to hoping not to much!