PTR - Calif.... No, no, make that, FLORIDA here we come!

[Kristin5]

I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure you can book ADRs before you book your accommodation. You just need to know your dates.

FP+ is a different story because only onsite guests are able to book in advance as far as I know.

I'm sure one of the WDW experts will correct me if I'm wrong

Oh, thank you! I just assumed we'd need a room booking first (for some odd reason, though when I think about it, of course it doesn't make sense that I'd have to have a room reservation, as ADR's are open to everyone!) I was probably mixing it up with the FP+ system

Edited to add that if we book ADR's before having our room package (and by that, I mean our room and ticket), how do we add the ADR's onto our magic bands? I thought we'd book ADR's through MDE, so it would automatically be added to our account/magic bands? But we can't book ADR's through MDE until we have bought our tickets can we?

See, I told you I find WDW confusing! I don't know how anyone plans to go to WDW before DL! I definitely needed the experience of DL before tackling WDW!!!

 

[Kristin5]

I think I can answer my own question - I just looked at my Disney profile (MDE?), and it seems that I can link my reservations onto my profile after they have been booked, if they don't automatically link when I am doing the booking (though I just did a sample, and it seemed to work). Then I am assuming when we buy tickets, we will be allocated magic bands, and everything from my profile will be added to the bands? Is that how it works?

 

[zanzibar138]

I think I can answer my own question - I just looked at my Disney profile (MDE?), and it seems that I can link my reservations onto my profile after they have been booked. So it should be fairly straight forward.

That's good, because Magic Bands and MDE is definitely something I know NOTHING about.

We haven't made it to WDW yet because it just seems like too much work

 

[Kristin5]

We haven't made it to WDW yet because it just seems like too much work

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that!

 

[mindy32]

I don't know anything about the new fast pass system so can't help there!

But if I'm remembering correctly with dining reservations you can book only the one day at 180 days out if you don't have an accomm booking, so each day you would have to book the next day of your trip as you hit 180 days. If you have an accomm booking you can book ten days once your window opens, ie at 180 days you can book the first 10 days of your dining. I *think* that's how it worked at least back in 2012 when we went. Please correct me if I'm wrong experts!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Can I ask if you think it is really worth going the DVC route? Is it that much better than Pop? Has anyone stayed in both Pop and AKV?

This comes down to how you feel about accommodation. The DVC is considered deluxe and Pop is more Value.
It just depends on how much you value the additional 'intangible' items offered at the duluxe vs value and whether you will be at the resort to enjoy them.
In my experience, renting DVC can end up costing somewhere about the moderate resort price bracket. It allows you to experience a deluxe resort at a more affordable price.

I have heard it is difficult to book the cheaper DVC options and that we need to do it so early. Not sure I will be that organised, to be honest! And then we'd be locked in wouldn't we (ie no flexiibility)?

I'm not sure what you mean about no flexibility? If you mean that you're locking your travel dates in, this again comes down to how likely you are to shift your dates.

DVC availability will depend on whether any of the 'owners' are willing to rent their points out. And then it also depends on whether the room category you want is available at the time you want to travel. DVC room bookings open 11 months out from their travel dates for owners of that particular home resort. If you are seeking a room in a specific resort, you may want to get in early so that you lock in the availability and the room of your choice.

Pop seems a lot simpler process to book (ie just do it all directly through Disney, in combination with park tickets) and I have heard that the transportation service is good.

Have you priced out Disney tickets from Disney compared to somewhere like Undercover Tourist? The convenience of having everything done through the one booking is great and all that but it comes down to whether the savings in dollars for the family is worth de-bundling and buying them separately.

There are a number of ANZAC Dis-sers who have booked DVC through Davids or through owners directlly and they can provide their viewpoint as to whether it is easier or not.

I am lucky enough to know an owner so I have always booked via the owner rather than Davids. It does help that the owner and I trust each other so there are no issues with the transaction. I can honestly say that there is a little bit more paperwork and emails going back and forth; but for the price that I pay for staying at a DVC deluxe resort, it is well worth it. And because I normally buy tix for more than 7 days for WDW, the extra dollars that I save from buying tix through UT is also worth it for me.

But then I worry that, with January packages not opening until end of July, it means we would already be into the 180 ADR window before we have even booked our room package - so would we miss out on some ADR's? (Do they have to be booked exactly 180 days out, or could we wait until a bit closer?)

Zanzibar has already pointed out that you can lock in your ADRs without having to have any accommodation booked in. Disney does not mandate that you need to have accommodation booked when you book your dining because this allows off-site guests to also book in dining. They open the booking window 180 days out for everyone. Again, it's a supply/demand equation. If you have your heart set on eating at a particular restaurant and want to book in at the dining times of your choice, I would highly recommend that you ring in bang on the 180 day mark. A lot of the highly regarded places do book out. There are cancellations that do occur; especially when you get close to the 45 day mark (when Disney bookings can be cancelled without penalty) and it will come down to how you feel about waiting to see if anything opens up. There are no guarantees that the restaurant you want at the time you want to eat will open up afterwards.

Also, following on from LivingforDisney's comment about room discounts in January, I have looked into it and seen that this is correct - but they usually aren't released until sometime in October. Isn't that cutting it a bit fine? I don't think we could wait that late before booking (surely we'd miss ADR's by then?

Depending on how you feel, you may want to book a room at full rack rate and wait for the discounts to come out. When they do, you will want to call Disney ASAP to cancel the original booking and/or change it for the discount rate. Again, discounts are dependent on Disney offering them and Disney will determine how many rooms they will release at the discounted rate. If you call in early, your chances of securing the discount is greater than if you wait (like everything else at WDW! LOL).

And we'd have to be ready to go for FP+ too)

I think the rule still stands. You will need to have an on-site room booking in order to access FP+ 2 months in advance.

So many questions...

(Oh, and Wanderlust, I don't think we'd want to do a split stay during WDW time, as we are already moving across to Universal for 3 days as well, plus of course Denver, NYC and Washington - it'd be nice to put down roots somewhere for 11 nights without having to move again after a short time. If we were staying put in WDW we'd probably do it - we did it at DL last year, when we stayed at Hojos for 10 nights, then went to GCH for 4 nights, and that was fantastic! So it's not that we're against the idea of split stay, but I feel we are already sort of doing it between WDW and Universal )

Ask away!

There are so many great resorts at WDW that a split stay may be worth it so that you can experience as many of them in the one trip. It's totally up to you, of course, and I can understand the wanting to stay in the one spot thing.

 

[mindy32]

Oh and for the record as much as I love planning I didn't want to be bogged down in it since we were only there for 6 nights (3 adults) so I only made one reservation, we just did quick service the rest of the time/one walk up at Downtown Disney. It worked fine for us as we wanted flexibility over better food. We ate at the hotel foodcourt a few times which was decent enough/got bakery stuff in MK I think, so not all just junk. Worked for us.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I think I can answer my own question - I just looked at my Disney profile (MDE?), and it seems that I can link my reservations onto my profile after they have been booked, if they don't automatically link when I am doing the booking (though I just did a sample, and it seemed to work). Then I am assuming when we buy tickets, we will be allocated magic bands, and everything from my profile will be added to the bands? Is that how it works?

ADR are almost the last thing I would link in MDE. We were tweaking our dining reservations until the 6 week out mark and last year, I was aware that there were a lot of issues on MDE when it came to people making changes to their ADRs. So, once we were sure that our dining reservations were fairly stable, I linked them all. After that, we did have some more changes to make (mostly around the number of people going or not going) but I didn't make any changes. We just rocked up with more/less people on the day and worked it out with the restaurant.

When you buy tickets, you can link the ticket number on MDE. Mind you, I buy my tix from UT so it may be different if you are choosing to buy the tickets from Disney directly. Once the system recognises that you have valid tickets and you have a resort reservation, it will allow you to customise your Magic Bands and to make your FP+ reservations (FP+ at the 2 month mark). As an international guest, Disney will not ship the MB out to you. They will ship them to the resort and they will be there waiting for you when you check in.

That's good, because Magic Bands and MDE is definitely something I know NOTHING about.

We haven't made it to WDW yet because it just seems like too much work

It is work but it does get easier the more times you go.

 

[Kristin5]

Thanks for so much clarification everyone, this is great! (and PIO, with everyone's help, maybe planning this trip to WDW won't be so bad after all!)

 

[WanderlustNZ]

For me, renting DVC points was absolutely worth it. You are correct that it limits your flexibility - it is extremely difficult to make any changes once your booking has been made. But once your dates are set in stone, it's not that much different than locking in airfares.

If you are an extremely active family that only ever goes back to your hotel to sleep then Pop would probably serve you well. However for me the WDW resorts provided just as many wonderful memories as the parks themselves. Whether it was sipping frozen Margaritas around the AKL's beautiful pool, relaxing on my balcony at the end of the day watching giraffes walk past, or sitting on my BWV balcony watching a joint display of jugglers below, MK fireworks to the left and Epcot Fireworks to the right, I felt a bit like I had won the lottery. It was a real stretch in my families budget to go down the DVC route (we too started our research with POP), but in retrospect it was money worth spending. I would cut corners elsewhere before I did here.

Plus, completely as a side note, DH and I are larger than average and really aren't fans of double beds. For my upcoming trip to Yellowstone I have one night booked in a room with a double bed. DH and I have resigned ourselves to an uncomfortable sleep that night.

As for doing a split stay, I can completely understand where you are coming from. Just know that Disney move your bags for you. All you have to do is pack them up. We handed our bags to guest services, went to the AK park for the day, caught the bus to our new resort in the afternoon, and our bags were waiting for us. Easy as.

 

[Kristin5]

For me, renting DVC points was absolutely worth it. You are correct that it limits your flexibility - it is extremely difficult to make any changes once your booking has been made. But once your dates are set in stone, it's not that much different than locking in airfares.

If you are an extremely active family that only ever goes back to your hotel to sleep then Pop would probably serve you well. However for me the WDW resorts provided just as many wonderful memories as the parks themselves. Whether it was sipping frozen Margaritas around the AKL's beautiful pool, relaxing on my balcony at the end of the day watching giraffes walk past, or sitting on my BWV balcony watching a joint display of jugglers below, MK fireworks to the left and Epcot Fireworks to the right, I felt a bit like I had won the lottery. It was a real stretch in my families budget to go down the DVC route (we too started our research with POP), but in retrospect it was money worth spending. I would cut corners elsewhere before I did here.

Plus, completely as a side note, DH and I are larger than average and really aren't fans of double beds. For my upcoming trip to Yellowstone I have one night booked in a room with a double bed. DH and I have resigned ourselves to an uncomfortable sleep that night.

As for doing a split stay, I can completely understand where you are coming from. Just know that Disney move your bags for you. All you have to do is pack them up. We handed our bags to guest services, went to the AK park for the day, caught the bus to our new resort in the afternoon, and our bags were waiting for us. Easy as.

In DL we have enjoyed relaxing at the hotel and in the pool, but I thought because WDW is more spread out it might not be as practical to go back to the hotel for a bit of r&r in the middle of the day. Also, I don't know if the weather in January will be pool-weather? We have needed to at DL because the days average 30 degrees - a refreshing swim is wonderful!

Thanks for mentioning how easy it is to switch hotels at WDW (I had read about it, but forgotten). So maybe it could be an option after all. I like the sound of being in the middle of the fireworks at BWV!

 

[Kristin5]

I have been talking to DH about it, and he is now leaning towards BWV! The location seems great (walking distance to Epcot and Hollywood Studios is a real winner! Plus it is close to ESPN, which is a plus for sports mad people like us!) I have told him not to get his hopes up though, because they are hard to get, even 11 months out. Any tips on how we can increase our chances of getting the points we need for the dates we want? We will probably go through David's (as I have no contacts! LOL) We agree with you guys that we will be locking in dates for airfares, so we may as well lock in accommodation too.

So we were planning on doing a split stay between WDW and Universal (Hyatt Place). If we do, which order should we do it in? I was thinking 11 nights at WDW first, then last 3 at Universal (takes in Martin Luther King Day). But maybe we should switch it around? We do want to take advantage of the Magical Express (at least one way). But now I'm thinking that if we are lucky enough to get BWV maybe we'd want to stay there all 14 nights, and just do 2 day tours to Universal (with Dreams Unlimited). It is a slightly more expensive option (only by around $100 though).

Also, our dates at WDW coincide with marathon weekend - not sure if that will make a difference?

Our dates in Florida will be from January 6th to January 20th 2016.

We are also thinking of going to the USA travel expo in Melbourne tomorrow - will it be a waste of time this far out?

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I have been talking to DH about it, and he is now leaning towards BWV! The location seems great (walking distance to Epcot and Hollywood Studios is a real winner! Plus it is close to ESPN, which is a plus for sports mad people like us!) I have told him not to get his hopes up though, because they are hard to get, even 11 months out. Any tips on how we can increase our chances of getting the points we need for the dates we want? We will probably go through David's (as I have no contacts! LOL) We agree with you guys that we will be locking in dates for airfares, so we may as well lock in accommodation too.

So we were planning on doing a split stay between WDW and Universal (Hyatt Place). If we do, which order should we do it in? I was thinking 11 nights at WDW first, then last 3 at Universal (takes in Martin Luther King Day). But maybe we should switch it around? We do want to take advantage of the Magical Express (at least one way). But now I'm thinking that if we are lucky enough to get BWV maybe we'd want to stay there all 14 nights, and just do 2 day tours to Universal (with Dreams Unlimited). It is a slightly more expensive option (only by around $100 though).

Also, our dates at WDW coincide with marathon weekend - not sure if that will make a difference?

Our dates in Florida will be from January 6th to January 20th 2016.

We are also thinking of going to the USA travel expo in Melbourne tomorrow - will it be a waste of time this far out?

Do you plan on getting express passes for Universal? If so, price up the 3 Universal resorts where the price includes your express passes. These resorts might be more expensive that the Hyatt, but once you factor in the express passes, the early entry and the free onsite transportation, it makes for a pretty good deal.

I think if it was me I'd spend the first 4 nights at a Universal resort (we had 3 nights/2 full days there and just wished we'd had one more day), then 10 nights onsite at WDW. That way you will miss most of Marathon weekend at WDW. MLK Day will be busy at both Universal and WDW so I don't think it would matter where you were on these days. However, if you are going to be at Universal MLK weekend, definitely make sure you have the express pass.

As for the travel show, I'm going to the Auckland one tomorrow for no other reason than to collect some shiny brochures. There won't be anything I can book.

 

[Kristin5]

Do you plan on getting express passes for Universal? If so, price up the 3 Universal resorts where the price includes your express passes. These resorts might be more expensive that the Hyatt, but once you factor in the express passes, the early entry and the free onsite transportation, it makes for a pretty good deal.

I think if it was me I'd spend the first 4 nights at a Universal resort (we had 3 nights/2 full days there and just wished we'd had one more day), then 10 nights onsite at WDW. That way you will miss most of Marathon weekend at WDW. MLK Day will be busy at both Universal and WDW so I don't think it would matter where you were on these days. However, if you are going to be at Universal MLK weekend, definitely make sure you have the express pass.

As for the travel show, I'm going to the Auckland one tomorrow for no other reason than to collect some shiny brochures. There won't be anything I can book.

We weren't planning on getting the express passes. We think we'll be ok with 2 days there (1 is usually plenty at the LA version, especially as DS doesn't like a lot of the rides and, at the moment anyway, none of us are into Harry Potter). I had priced up a package with the Hyatt, Universal tickets, early entry, transportation - but they don't seem to do it in January (expires end of Dec). The hotel includes breakfast, and seems to get good reviews. Maybe they will release a package like that though, later in the year. But maybe we could do 4 nights and 3 days there, to do 2 days Universal and 1 day Kennedy Space Center, and then go to WDW for the final 10 nights. I am not sure how easy it is to get a tour from Universal though, and also do they do airport transfers to Universal? Another thing for me to look at I do think it'll be better to end our trip at WDW (can you do the magical express one way?)

But it's also still a good option just to do all 14 nights at WDW (only if we can get BWV though). And we could do the 2 day tour to Universal over marathon weekend maybe? Which still leaves us at WDW over MLK weekend, but surely it'll still be quieter than Christmas time!

(By the way, has anyone here done the Kennedy Space Center tour? If so, who did you book it through and did you enjoy it?)

Thanks for your help with this Wanderlust, you have given me lots to think about (and I am more excited about this trip now!).

The brochures are what I am using to bribe DS to want to go to the expo! He loves looking at those things!

 

[LivingforDisney]

We did the KSC with grayline, I booked it online.
We did the one with the airboat tour. I think they picked us up at 4pm at KSC and took us to the airboat, and then he came back for us after he went back to get the other people that stayed at Kennedy.
We had to get to the Swan hotel for the morning pick up, we where staying at Pop, they told me this when I called them and confirmed the date we wanted to do tour.
Thee driver then dropped us back at pop.
KSC was fantastic, though it was very hot when we were there. We didn't see everything, but enjoyed what we saw, especially the Atlantis shuttle exebition fantastic!
The airboat, we all said was a highlight of the trip, I recommend u do this as well.
Yes, we did Universal on 2 different days with dreams unlimited, worked out well. They pick u up at your hotel, but it was very tiring, but then again it was quite hot when we were there in September. Tiring as they go around all the hotels to drop people off.
This time we are going to stay at Cabana Bay

 

[PrincessInOz]

We drove ourselves to KSC rather than take a tour. DH is a major fan of the space program through the 60's and was chomping at the bit to get to KSC. It was well worth it.
And I'm also a fan of doing the airboat ride. If you have the time, it is well worth including this experience as part of your holiday.



I would recommend that you sort out your DVC first before deciding on whether to do Disney first or last. This way, you'll have the flexibility to work out your Disney dates pending availability and then figure out the UO component after.


We were there for the ToT marathon. We just planned our days away from DHS on the day that the marathon was on. If it weren't for the fact that one of the Dissers I was meeting with was running in the marathon and told me all about how he went, I don't think I would have noticed it was on at all.

 

[Kristin5]

Interesting that both of you say the airboat is well worth it - I looked at that, but DH thought we shouldn't do it, that it would be a waste of money/time (I thought it looked good, but not sure if DS would like it. Is it a scary type of thing? He's a bit of a wuss! *scratch that - I just showed him photos of it and he thinks it looks "awesome!"*) But with both of you recommending it, I might add it back onto my list.

LivingforDisney, did you do consecutive days to Universal? I don't think you have to, do you?

Now I am getting edgy about renting DVC points (here's me telling DH not to get his hopes up, and now I'm doing it myself!) When is too early to approach David's about availability? I know that you have to try and book 11 months out, but is it possible to ask the question (ie put our names down) prior to this?

 

[losfp]

Now I am getting edgy about renting DVC points (here's me telling DH not to get his hopes up, and now I'm doing it myself!) When is too early to approach David's about availability? I know that you have to try and book 11 months out, but is it possible to ask the question (ie put our names down) prior to this?

I emailed them to ask a few questions and the reply said that you can submit a request around the 12 month mark. That gives time to clarify the details, organise deposits, find owners etc etc etc then they can try and make teh bookings at the 11 month mark.

 

[Kristin5]

I emailed them to ask a few questions and the reply said that you can submit a request around the 12 month mark. That gives time to clarify the details, organise deposits, find owners etc etc etc then they can try and make teh bookings at the 11 month mark.

Ok, cool. Thank you, I will try that.

I was looking more at David's site and it says to put in preferences, so I was thinking we'd go 1. BWV, 2. OKW, 3. AKV (value). But try for 14 nights at all 3. Is there usually a better or worse chance the longer you intend to stay? Or it makes no difference as it simply depends on availability?

 

[zanzibar138]

With PIO mentioning the TOT weekend, I thought I'd elaborate. I don't know much about WDW in general, but I have done a lot of research on the different race weekends on both coasts.

The TOT weekend only involves a 10 miler and a 5km run, both on the Saturday I believe. The 10 miler is at night after the parks close and is obviously centred around DHS as that's where the attraction is. This is a relatively new race and doesn't attract a heap of serious runners. Also, the time of year puts a lot of people off because it is likely to still be very hot.

The Marathon weekend involves at 5km, 10km, half marathon and marathon on consecutive days (Thursday - Sunday). The runs are in the morning, and the half marathon and marathon are not finished by the time the parks open, so you will see runners going through the parks. I believe each park is involved in the course (they do have to string together 42km after all...). This is a historic weekend, and attracts many serious runners and newbies alike. I would say the extra crowds brought in by the race on and around that weekend will be noticeable.

I would probably try to do your Universal touring on marathon weekend to avoid those crowds at WDW. As for MLK Day, both resorts will be busy, so it will really be much of a muchness.