Possible Early May 2012 Trip -- Can Someone Help Me?

[JustMe+Three]

My preggo brain is refusing to work properly right now. I have been talking to DH about doing a "babymoon" trip for us and the boys before the baby arrives in August. I really wanted to go to WDW again since our trip in October was a bust (only there for a few days, and it RAINED the entire time). Well DH told me the other day that it might be a possibility! We are looking at May 6 - May 10. DH would like to stay at CBR in one of the pirate rooms, but we are also debating on a Value Resort room too. I saw that there is a promo for a certain % off if booking by March 31, so I told DH that we need to get moving on figuring this out. I would love to get the dining plan, but am figuring that the majority of the table service places are going to be pretty booked up, right? We are planning to do one park a day, no hoppers, no water park.

So if someone wouldn't mind throwing some info my way -- any idea what crowds will be like? Typical temps? Major threats of rain (don't want to do that again!)? Any ride/area closings that I should know about ahead of time? I know that I won't really be able to ride a lot of the rides, and that is okay. I love Disney, and seeing the happy faces and looks of wonder on my boys' and my DH's faces (prior to our October trip, DH hadn't been before) is worth it to me.

So if anyone can help me out with any of the above, or anything else that i need to know, I would really appreciate it. Like I said, my preggo brain isn't functioning so well right now/anymore. I tried searching for May 2012, but didn't come up with much.

 

[Missy Mousie]

I'm sure there are much more qualified to answer that me, but our experience in May was towards the end of May and HOT (85-95) high humidity, and love bugs. They are annoying, but didn't bite. They were however plastered all over our car. Somehow, the MK seems to be fairly bug free. Part of the magic

We stayed in the Pirate rooms last time we were there. They are in the farthest section from the main pool, so expect a longer walk. They were cool but I'd prefer to be by the main pool and restaurants next time.

 

[suevr]

We've been to WDW during the first week of May the past two years. The crowds really aren't that bad but it is hot already. We live in Georgia and we found it was much warmer than here. I'd say the crowds were a 6 or 7.

Two years ago we stayed in the pirate rooms at CBR. My boys thought the room was cool for about ten minutes, then they really didn't care that much about it. Lesson learned to me...it just wasn't worth the extra money. We pretty much just sleep in the room anyway, so I prefer a location closer to the parking lot. Like the previous poster said, the rooms are at the far end of the resort. That's great if you have a car, but not so great if you have to take Disney transportation. I loved that we could park right outside of our room.

Here's a list of the closures for WDW: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/rehab.htm

 

[JustMe+Three]

Okay, so we are looking at probably mid 80s then? That's not too bad. I can handle that.

I will have to keep that in mind about the Pirates room. DH and both of the boys are really into pirates, so that is why DH was looking at that room. But you are right, we are really only going to be there to sleep (unless, heaven forbid, it rains all day again!). We might take some relaxing time for the pool, but might tour other resorts instead. I don't know. We will be driving down, but having to walk so far after a day & night of walking the parks might not be such a good idea...

Thanks for the link on the refurbs. I really appreciate it!

I am open to any other tips that anyone else has! I am really hoping that this trip pans out. I have been talking about it non stop, and DH is saying that next time he just isn't going to tell me until he is getting ready to book it.

 

[suevr]

Okay, so we are looking at probably mid 80s then? That's not too bad. I can handle that.

I will have to keep that in mind about the Pirates room. DH and both of the boys are really into pirates, so that is why DH was looking at that room. But you are right, we are really only going to be there to sleep (unless, heaven forbid, it rains all day again!). We might take some relaxing time for the pool, but might tour other resorts instead. I don't know. We will be driving down, but having to walk so far after a day & night of walking the parks might not be such a good idea...

Thanks for the link on the refurbs. I really appreciate it!

I am open to any other tips that anyone else has! I am really hoping that this trip pans out. I have been talking about it non stop, and DH is saying that next time he just isn't going to tell me until he is getting ready to book it.

We actually liked going the first week of May. We were supposed to go again this year, but apparently my 4 year old can't miss a week of Pre-K so we had to push back our trip until the kids get out of school. I'm not sure how much rain they get that time of year, but it never rained on us the past two years.

I forgot to mention that the pool is pretty cool at the resort. My boys (then 3 and 6) loved the slide. There's also a kids play area. Since you're driving you'll be able to park your car close to the room. We always drive to the parks so it was convenient for us. It was just a bit of a walk to the pool and we didn't eat at the resort but you could drive to the food court if you wanted to.

 

[JustMe+Three]

We actually liked going the first week of May. We were supposed to go again this year, but apparently my 4 year old can't miss a week of Pre-K so we had to push back our trip until the kids get out of school. I'm not sure how much rain they get that time of year, but it never rained on us the past two years.

I forgot to mention that the pool is pretty cool at the resort. My boys (then 3 and 6) loved the slide. There's also a kids play area. Since you're driving you'll be able to park your car close to the room. We always drive to the parks so it was convenient for us. It was just a bit of a walk to the pool and we didn't eat at the resort but you could drive to the food court if you wanted to.

Aw, that sucks that he can't miss a week of Pre-K. That is another reason (besides baby) that we decided to go now -- my youngest start Kindergarten in the fall and I'd hate to have to pull him out for a week when he just started going to his "big boy school". Thanks for mentioning that we can park near the room. I was worried there for a minute! We haven't decided if we are going to take the bus to the parks, or drive. I guess it just depends on what things look like. But I will have to keep the car thing in mind for the longer park days. I'm really interested in the pools and the kids area though. I know that the Value Resorts have pools and a play area, but I'm thinking that neither of them were very big or impressive... (although I didn't get a good look at them)

I really really hope we can go! I am going to be so bummed if we can't. I keep telling DH not to upset the preggo wife!! Lol

If we stay on the resort, are we allowed to resort/pool hop? Or do you have to stay at your hotel?

 

[focusondisney]

Hi! We've been to WDW the week after Mother's Day twice already & are planning for the 15-19th this year. Weather is usually hot & sunny, very little rain that I remember. Crowds are moderate (5-7's). We usually go in Sept, so that is busy for us. However, I am still tweeking my ADRs & finding LOTS of availibility. You can go to the WDW site & plug in some of the places your family would want to eat at & see if there are openings. You can check that without having to book. My other suggestion is to book a room only right now, if you see the resort & room type you want. Room only can be cancelled 5 days before. And you can change it to a package later, if you decide to add the dining plan. That will give you more time to decide. And congratulations on the new baby!

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

Being pregnant and if you are very far along at all I would recommend againts the pirate rooms. They actually dont have matresses just a 6-8 in 'topper' and many find them very uncomfortable. After a long day in the parks preggo I can't imagine sleeping on that rock and waking up and being magical.

 

[focusondisney]

[/FONT]

Only to a sister resort. Ex: Port Orleans Riverside guests can use PO French Quarter's pool & vice versa. POFQ guests can not go to Carribean Beach pool or Wilderness Lodge's. Boardwalk gu.ests cannot use Yacht & Beach Club's, etc. I believe the All Stars are all sister resorts, so you could use any of them if you are staying there.

 

[JustMe+Three]

Hi! We've been to WDW the week after Mother's Day twice already & are planning for the 15-19th this year. Weather is usually hot & sunny, very little rain that I remember. Crowds are moderate (5-7's). We usually go in Sept, so that is busy for us. However, I am still tweeking my ADRs & finding LOTS of availibility. You can go to the WDW site & plug in some of the places your family would want to eat at & see if there are openings. You can check that without having to book. My other suggestion is to book a room only right now, if you see the resort & room type you want. Room only can be cancelled 5 days before. And you can change it to a package later, if you decide to add the dining plan. That will give you more time to decide. And congratulations on the new baby!

I had no idea that you could go onto the WDW site to check for resturaunt availability!! Is it under a certain category? I will have to go poke around. Thank you so much for that! And thanks for the tip about booking the room only right now. DH gets a discount on WDW tickets through his work (buy 4 days get a 5th free I think) so we are buying tix seperatly. I noticed that it wouldn't let me add on the DP when I was doing the hotel and trying to check on cost for the room and DP. Good to know that I can add on later.

And thanks for the congrats too. It appears that after 2 boys we are getting a baby girl!

 

[JustMe+Three]

Being pregnant and if you are very far along at all I would recommend againts the pirate rooms. They actually dont have matresses just a 6-8 in 'topper' and many find them very uncomfortable. After a long day in the parks preggo I can't imagine sleeping on that rock and waking up and being magical.

Ah, thanks for that. I will be about 6 months preggo when we go, so sleeping on a not-so-comfy mattress won't be a good thing. I will pass that info along to DH. Do the other rooms at CBR have good beds? Any specific room recommendations or buildings (if that is how it goes -- I have never been above a value resort, and even then that was only once!)?

 

[Jonesloonybin]

We are going the beginning of May also. (4/29-5/9) We went last year at the same time. Last year it was hot, but only a few days really felt VERY HOT. There were some love bugs but not a lot and they were not really a problem for us. We stayed at Pop last time and are doing the same this year. My youngest dd loved it and we didn't spend much time in our room.

We are also from NC and we are driving down. If you go to the WDW website, click on the "Where to Eat" tab, then choose the "make dining reservations". You can try different times and such. Keep in mind that some places require a credit card hold now. (all character meals and signatures)

Hope this helps!!
Terri

 

[focusondisney]

I had no idea that you could go onto the WDW site to check for resturaunt availability!! Is it under a certain category? I will have to go poke around. Thank you so much for that! And thanks for the tip about booking the room only right now. DH gets a discount on WDW tickets through his work (buy 4 days get a 5th free I think) so we are buying tix seperatly. I noticed that it wouldn't let me add on the DP when I was doing the hotel and trying to check on cost for the room and DP. Good to know that I can add on later.

And thanks for the congrats too. It appears that after 2 boys we are getting a baby girl!

On the WDW site, click on "Where to eat". Book dining reservations is there. You can plug in the restuarant name, date & party size & see what comes up. Or you can put in a park or resort & see several options. I usually put in a specific time, not lunch or dinner. The system checks in 4 hour blocks & gives you a few options. You can play around with times if you don't like what comes up the first time.

You can only add the dining plan on to a package, which means you will need to buy at least a one day ticket to get it. So if you are really set on buying the tickets thru your DH's work, you won't be able to add the dining plan. If you really, really want the dining plan, you should just get the package with tickets. The difference between a 4 day & a 5 day ticket is about $10 each. So you would have to decide if the $40 savings is enough to pass up the dining plan.

 

[JustMe+Three]

Thanks everyone! I passed along all of the info to DH. He may be too busy at work to read it right now, but I'm not so... I really appreciate the location of the availability check for the resturaunts. I will def be checking into that!

Let me know if you guys think of anything else that will help!

 

[suevr]

Aw, that sucks that he can't miss a week of Pre-K. That is another reason (besides baby) that we decided to go now -- my youngest start Kindergarten in the fall and I'd hate to have to pull him out for a week when he just started going to his "big boy school". Thanks for mentioning that we can park near the room. I was worried there for a minute! We haven't decided if we are going to take the bus to the parks, or drive. I guess it just depends on what things look like. But I will have to keep the car thing in mind for the longer park days. I'm really interested in the pools and the kids area though. I know that the Value Resorts have pools and a play area, but I'm thinking that neither of them were very big or impressive... (although I didn't get a good look at them)

I really really hope we can go! I am going to be so bummed if we can't. I keep telling DH not to upset the preggo wife!! Lol

If we stay on the resort, are we allowed to resort/pool hop? Or do you have to stay at your hotel?

Yeah, it's not like he'll miss any work by missing a week of Pre-K, it's just that Georgia Pre-K has very strict attendance rules. If you miss too many days then the child can be kicked out. We already took our kids out of school for a week in the fall to go to WDW and they gave me a lot of grief so I didn't want to press our luck by pulling them out again. We can wait a few more weeks...it will just be busier when we go now.

I don't remember the beds being uncomfortable in the pirate rooms, but then again I'm always so exhausted at WDW that I'd probably sleep well on anything.

You can always go ahead and book your dining reservations even if you're not sure if you'll make the trip. Like someone else mentioned, some of the more popular restaurants require you to leave a credit card number. If you cancel within 24 hours then you're charged $10/person. It's better to make them now and cancel later because if you wait you'll definitely have trouble getting reservations.

Here are a few photos I took of the pool at CBR. It's pretty nice:

Kids area:

Main pool and slide:

 

[Fire14]

This is my take on CBR it is very spread out like your in China and food court is in Russia. I stayed in regular room at CBR and it wasn't that far to bus stop but It seemed like it took forever to catch a bus to anywhere ( 45 min most days). I found beds to be comfy. I personally will not stay at CBR resort again but thats my PO. Pirate rms are in South Tridad and I believe one of last stops on bus rounds.
One tpping factor is I believe Mods have queen beds where as Values only have doubles.

 

[Wadecool]

We went May 1-7 last year and loved it. It was just starting to get hot and the crowds were very manageable. If DD weren't starting Kindergarten, we would keep going in early May.