More opinions?

[Blackunicorn]

You guys are sooo evil. We haven't even made it to WDW yet, at you've convinced us that we wouldn't be happy in a studio. Sure, we scoffed when we heard, "Once you've stayed in a one-bedroom, you'll be spoiled!" but we thought we wouldn't fall into that trap. Anyway, I digress...

The current plan is to stay at our home resort, Saratoga Springs. In a one-bedroom villa. (Of course) Here's what I need your opinions on (and I hope that I'm posting to the correct board):

How many days would you stay? We aren't going to be back for at least two years, and this is our first time as a family. What is the bare minimum to see what ought to be seen at the parks, NOT doing it commando-style?

Should we bother with the water parks? Our kids will be 12 and 7, and love water, but we'll be going on a Disney cruise right before we go to WDW.

Will we need to rent a car? I haven't got a clue what's available for a DVC member to switch from the cruise to their resort. I know that people can pay for a land-and-sea package that covers everything, but when you use DVC, it gets a lot more confusing.

Would you trust Member Services to handle airfare for you? Airfare is horribly confusing to me. But if Member Services can help me with this, I guess I could stop asking stupid questions and bothering you guys.

I appreciate any and all help, and apologize for calling everyone evil.

 

[3 Hobbits 2 Disney]

Hi there. I can't speak to all parts of your question but I will try to answer the number of days and water park. I think the minimum number of days that you want is a day per park. The only way that you might be able to split is to do Animal Kingdom in the morning and a water park in the afternoon....If the kids are not into the "educational" side of Epcot, you might be able to split it but there's a lot to do even in the educational side. Bottom line, plan on a day minimum per park, get the option so that you can do more than one park in a day, and choose 1 water park before you go...they <are> worth it if your kids like the water. Kind of long but hope it helps.

 

[Cinderella]

I doubt whether i would get member services to book my airfare - it depends what kind of price they can get for you. Parks - i would also probably allow a day per park. Waterparks - depends how warm it will be when you are going.

I used a car for transfering from the cruise - i should imagine a town car service may be quite pricey but there is a towncar on here, sponsoring the transportation board so you may want to look into their service.

If you rent a car, i would highly recommend parking at the port, so you can make a quick getaway after the cruise. We stayed at the Radisson, and seemed to wait forever and a day for them to collect us and take us to the car - a lot of time was wasted! Have fun planning. When are you going? How long is your cruise for?

 

[dianeschlicht]

If this is your first trip to WDW, allow at least 5 days for the parks (and that will be doing comando style) and forego the water parks the first trip. They will still be there when you return, and you need to get a good overview of WDW first. It has no equal to compare it to, since it is so large. fourty five square miles is a lot of area!! I would say rely on Disney transportation, but be aware that some have reported issues from SSR. Get yourself a good touring guide (we like the Unofficial Guide) and read it cover to cover. By doing that, you will decrease the amount of time you need in line, and you can be a little less comando. We just returned from 11 days at WDW (OKW), and while we didn't really comando, we were in the parks most of each day and we didn't come anywhere near doing or seeing it all. We didn't feel a need to though, since we will be back in a month. If you plan your trip out, you will see more and do more than if you shoot from the hip.

 

[cobbler]

We have found it takes about 2 days to do MK, 1.5 to do all of Epcot, one full for MGM and one full for AK. So 5-5.5 is doing at a pretty steady pace.

We like our vacations 7 nights usually. We like to do our favorites at the parks and take at least one day to hang out at the resort, enjoy it and relax. But since you have been on the cruise you may have had enough relaxing.

 

[bcvillastwo]

What you can see in a day depends on many factors. How old are the kids, how old are the parents, how physically fit is everyone in the party, what is the outside temperature, how many people are in the parks, etc. All of these things and more have an impact on how much you can reasonally expect to see in a day.

If you have small children you probably aren't going to be able to push them but just so far or they will get cranky.

If people in your party are not physically fit, well just remember there is lots of walking involved.

I think you get my drift.

If you aren't very familiar with WDW and you can take two weeks, I would take two weeks. There is a lot to see and personally I find going about things at a more leasurely pace is the way to go.

We've done the commando thing and it really wears you out.

I have found that it's best to plan down days when you just hang around the resort. Another approach we use is to go 1st thing in the morning until around noon and then come back to the room, eat and lounge around for 3-4 hours to energize the batteries and then go out again until about 9 or so.

Everyone goes about this differently but remember no matter how you plan to approach it, there is lots and lots of walking involved.

 

[Blackunicorn]

I doubt whether i would get member services to book my airfare - it depends what kind of price they can get for you.

Have fun planning. When are you going? How long is your cruise for?

Well, the last time we talked to member services, they had a decent quote for us for airfare, but because I'm out of my depth as far as airfare goes, I didn't know if it would be better to go with them because they knew what they were doing, or wade through airfare myself and hope I don't make a mistake. I really have no idea how knowledgable member services is, but I know I have no idea what I'm doing.

We're going on the 4 day cruise in September. So much to do! I'm in a panic.

 

[Cinderella]

So, did you buy DVC in Disneyland? Is this your first disney trip? You will love it, and all the boards on here will help you to plan to get the most out of your trip. Saratoga Springs is lovely by the way - we stayed in December.

If MS got you a good deal, then maybe it would be a good idea to go with them. I usually book my flights at www.expedia.com and it is honestly easy to use.


We also did the four day cruise in December - it was absolutely brilliant. We rented a car from Dollar through www.airline-network.co.uk, but there may be cheaper sites to rent one in the USA.

Don't panic and have fun planning - there's heaps of info on the cruiseline board. We did the morning snorkelling in Nassau organised by Disney. Did you know, you can go and register at www.disneycruiseline.com and reserve some things in advance such as registering your kids for the clubs and also make spa bookings, palo dinner etc?

Also, did you read on this board that you can now book a dining plan. You will read a variety of opinions on this - but i think it is a great deal. If you like to eat at least one sit down meal a day, it will probably be worthwhile.

Talking of dining - you will also need to check out the dining board on here. It is best to make advance reservations for many of the meals you want to do, as sometimes it is hard to get a walk in.

Have fun planning.

 

[jdvm]

Some things to consider. No matter how long you stay at WDW, you can't do everything. Our kids make lists before they go and we review the lists a few days before we leave and there's always more undone than done. And that's when we lived in England and came to WDW twice a year for two weeks each trip!! The whole point of DVC is that you'll be coming back so realize on the front end you're not going to be able to fit it all in. Make sure you relax and don't get caught up with trying to do it all because you'll just become frustrated and exhausted. Experiment to see the things you might like. Try a water park (they're one of our favorites), try staying in and cooking a big family meal one night. Buy a bottle of champagne and some candles and fill up the jacuzzi and chill out with your partner. You will be back even if its not every weekend. And you know what, WDW will still be there. Ever so slightly changed but mostly just like you left it. Hope this helps......enjoy. jdvm

 

[Blackunicorn]

So, did you buy DVC in Disneyland? Is this your first disney trip? You will love it, and all the boards on here will help you to plan to get the most out of your trip. Saratoga Springs is lovely by the way - we stayed in December.

No, actually, we're very pathetic people--we bought into DVC sight unseen after seeing an ad for it in a magazine. We'd just had our first family trip to Disneyland in '02, and couldn't imagine anything better than a lifetime of Disney trips. I even got a job at the Disney store so we could get a discount...a "seasonal" job that I had for two years before my health forced me to quit. Usually we use our points for a trip to Disneyland because my husband's aging grandfather is there, and we want the kids to get to know him while they can--this is why we won't be back for a couple of years. However, I couldn't wait any longer to see Saratoga Springs!

 

[tmt martins]

If you have the points and the time and don't plan on coming back for awhile then I would do Sun through SUN with as manydays tackedon up to Fri depart on the second week(this will save points).

Depending on what time of year you go as well if Summer then water parks are a must and not just pick 1.You kids like the water then you have to do both .

We do EMH's at whatever park has it that day then around 11 or so when it gets busy we head to the water park (*atleast 4 of our normal 7 days) Then hit 1 of the parks at night just for the fireworks or parades this gets all that stuff in with no rushing.Then most other days head back to resort to do resort pools and activities.

Have your kids help you plan on WDW web sights Vac planner and save favorites print them out and go with a plan that flexable.

 

[rayzke]

When I was on the phone with MS early last week and asked about airfare....I was told they would love to do it for us but if we found something on the internet that was probably going to be cheaper than MS could do for us...we ended up finding something on travelocity...

 

[stinkerbell2009]

We have found with our kids that on day three they all meltdown. And they are not young - 9, 11 and 14. One day three plan to go to the water parks or hang at the pool. No one can go comando for that many days and not get tired of waiting in lines and the craziness of it all. We have been going to WDW for 12 years now and have found this to be true each and every time. We always tell people to hang loose that 3rd day and they all appreciate.

As for airfare, get it yourself. You can save yourself about 50-100 per person doing it yourself. Try the airlines websites and travelocity.com you can get better rates on your own.

 

[Dreamfinder2]

As we wrestle with unwelcome geezerdom, we've found that on Day 4 we tend to hit the wall, especially if it's HOT. So our rule is, "If it quits being fun, head for the room."

There are tons of great strategies out there for covering park turf effectively, but vets will tell you that if you can make that early rising sacrifice, being at the park gates prior to opening and busting your chops prior to lunch, you can clip off most of the E-ticket attractions in all the parks before you stop to catch your breath and get something to eat. I'm pretty adament about taking some time off in the afternoon ... there's that wacko period every day where there are still people arriving and no one's leaving. Ack.

Use your EMH time in the evenings. I'd steer clear of any park that offers EMH in the mornings.

Gone way afield here, but I think you need 5 days for the parks - a dedicated day for each park, and the 5th day to catch up on stuff you missed or to revisit any favorites. You're gonna be in commando mode, like it or not. AK will probably take the least amount of your time.

Grab yourself an "Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World" and also check their website at www.touringplans.com. I heartily recommend both these resources to 1st timers.

I wish y'all were going to WDW first and finishing up on the cruise. You'd come home so much more rested. Oh, well.

 

[La2kw]

You guys are sooo evil. We haven't even made it to WDW yet, at you've convinced us that we wouldn't be happy in a studio. Sure, we scoffed when we heard, "Once you've stayed in a one-bedroom, you'll be spoiled!" but we thought we wouldn't fall into that trap. Anyway, I digress...

The current plan is to stay at our home resort, Saratoga Springs. In a one-bedroom villa. (Of course) Here's what I need your opinions on (and I hope that I'm posting to the correct board):

How many days would you stay? We aren't going to be back for at least two years, and this is our first time as a family. What is the bare minimum to see what ought to be seen at the parks, NOT doing it commando-style?

Should we bother with the water parks? Our kids will be 12 and 7, and love water, but we'll be going on a Disney cruise right before we go to WDW.

Will we need to rent a car? I haven't got a clue what's available for a DVC member to switch from the cruise to their resort. I know that people can pay for a land-and-sea package that covers everything, but when you use DVC, it gets a lot more confusing.

Would you trust Member Services to handle airfare for you? Airfare is horribly confusing to me. But if Member Services can help me with this, I guess I could stop asking stupid questions and bothering you guys.

I appreciate any and all help, and apologize for calling everyone evil.

Yes, do Typhoon Lagoon. If your kids like swimming, they will love the waterparks. It's unlike any water park back home. You could do a morning at a water park, and the evening at DD if you don't want to use a theme park ticket that day. We prefer to rent a car and we always do our own airfare.