September/October 2013 check in

[5ofus]

sept 7 syd-lax-mco (qantas/delta)
sept 8-13 WDW Boardwalk villas
sept 13-15 WDW Wilderness lodge villas
sept 15-29 B2B Cruise FOS
sept 29 Mco-lax-syd

so happy syd-lax fare is booked (at sale price )

now to the plotting re dining and tours and excursions......

I'm so sad that you won't be a part of the traveling circus that my family will be

 

[PrincessInOz]

don't you just hate that you bump a button and can't delete

we leave 13th arrive same day and head to dl too

Seems to be quite a few of the ANZACs heading over that day.

 

[australiankaren]

I'm so sad that you won't be a part of the traveling circus that my family will be

Oh the mental picture .....lol

 

[5ofus]

Oh the mental picture .....lol

We just need a clown car to make it complete!

DS3 will be sad that you can't teach him the tricks of the trade...

 

[Marlea98]

We just need a clown car to make it complete!

DS3 will be sad that you can't teach him the tricks of the trade...

Oh, that clown car! It'll go down in Anzac DIS folklore 8)

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[LouisaBean]

Hello All - we are also travelling in September
10 Sep SYD-LAX
4 nights Santa Monica
14 Sep LAX-MCO
7 nights Sheraton Vistana Buena Vista (time share exchange)
7 nights Disney Fantasy Cruise
4 night back at Disneyworld (not sure where to stay)
Home

Can anyone help with accomm for the last 4 nights. We would like to stay a a Disney Resort - think maybe Wilderness Lodge or Port Orleans or Art of Animation?
Also can anyone give me advise on Park passes - I have no idea where to start

Thanks

 

[coco392]

booked, sept 22-October 1 at pop century


now it gets interesting - is it right I can make adr's from 190 days out?

want to get be our guest, CRT and chef mickeys


hears hoping for a free dining or a room discount somewhere

was going to go aoa but 6 year old boy made the big call- "I don't want a stupid girls room'

has anyone done chip and dale campfire singalong? is it worth it?

woohoo it's happening

 

[coco392]

Hello All - we are also travelling in September
10 Sep SYD-LAX
4 nights Santa Monica
14 Sep LAX-MCO
7 nights Sheraton Vistana Buena Vista (time share exchange)
7 nights Disney Fantasy Cruise
4 night back at Disneyworld (not sure where to stay)
Home

Can anyone help with accomm for the last 4 nights. We would like to stay a a Disney Resort - think maybe Wilderness Lodge or Port Orleans or Art of Animation?
Also can anyone give me advise on Park passes - I have no idea where to start

Thanks

hi Louisa bean

I guess one starting point is how many in your crew and is budget an issue

I go pop because I am only in room to sleep, it
has own bus service and rhere is just three of us. if I was spending more time at resort then I would look at other resorts

isn't it cool to start booking

coco

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Hello All - we are also travelling in September
10 Sep SYD-LAX
4 nights Santa Monica
14 Sep LAX-MCO
7 nights Sheraton Vistana Buena Vista (time share exchange)
7 nights Disney Fantasy Cruise
4 night back at Disneyworld (not sure where to stay)
Home

Can anyone help with accomm for the last 4 nights. We would like to stay a a Disney Resort - think maybe Wilderness Lodge or Port Orleans or Art of Animation?
Also can anyone give me advise on Park passes - I have no idea where to start

Thanks

Welcome LouisaBean,

I too am on the 21st Sep Fantasy Eastern Cruise.

It's great fun picking your Disney Resort. As mentioned, it all depends on budget and the size of your party. The Wilderness Lodge looks lovely. It's also close to the MK which is a bonus. The other two have the benefit of being quite a bit cheaper.

Park Passes get cheaper per day, the more days you buy. In other words, if you get 7 day passes, you'll pay less per day than if you buy 4 day passes. Just a word of caution though, they expire 14 days after first use. So don't start using them during your first 4 days in Orlando otherwise you won't have enough days left when you return from your cruise.

MNSSHP dates haven't been announced yet, but looking at Park Hours I suspect there will be one on Sep 29th - the day after our cruise. This Halloween Party requires separately purchased tickets.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

booked, sept 22-October 1 at pop century

now it gets interesting - is it right I can make adr's from 190 days out?

My understanding is that it's 180 days from the start of your stay, but on that 180 day mark you can book restaurants for up to 10 days. I hope that makes sense.

Add your reservation to the new WDW website and it tells you what day you can start making bookings.

My stay starts on the 28th September and I can start making bookings over Easter (March 31st from memory).

 

[LouisaBean]

Thanks everyone - we are very excited. I am travelling with my 3 kids 12,10,8yrs and also my mum. We would prefer 2 rooms - if possible interconnecting so mum can have her own bed. Obviously we are on a budget but I am trying not to forgo a special experience just to save a few dollars. I expect that after the cruise we will only do a couple more days at the Parks so may in fact spend more time at the the resort.I am also hoping to get to the Halloween party, I am not sure on how to go about booking advance dining - is this done online? We would also like to get to Cinderellas breakfast and Chef Mickeys. The 29th would be great for the Halloween party. There is just so much to look at. I think as we are staying for 7 nights and then another 4 nights after the cruise we would be looking at a 10 day pass, not sure about hopper or not and not sure about the dining pass either - too many decisions

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I think as we are staying for 7 nights and then another 4 nights after the cruise we would be looking at a 10 day pass, not sure about hopper or not and not sure about the dining pass either - too many decisions

With the cruise in the middle I don't think it would be possible to use all 10 days of a 10 day pass.
If you use your first day on the 14th, the pass would expire 14 days later on the 28th.

I had this issue when I was trying to organise my dates. I was originally going to split my 11 nights at WDW up with a cruise, but it meant I would need to buy two separate tickets which is quite expensive.

Perhaps you could go to Universal and/or Seaworld during your first 3 days in Orlando.

 

[cola]

Hello All - we are also travelling in September
10 Sep SYD-LAX
4 nights Santa Monica
14 Sep LAX-MCO
7 nights Sheraton Vistana Buena Vista (time share exchange)
7 nights Disney Fantasy Cruise
4 night back at Disneyworld (not sure where to stay)
Home

Can anyone help with accomm for the last 4 nights. We would like to stay a a Disney Resort - think maybe Wilderness Lodge or Port Orleans or Art of Animation?
Also can anyone give me advise on Park passes - I have no idea where to start

Thanks

are you getting your exchange through II or RCI? If Disney is too difficult, you'll probably find a rental off property through the exchange company will be really cheap, even if you only use 4 days of a 7 night rental. Depending on your exchange company membership level you could get a 2 bedroom sleeps 8 for less than $400AU for 7 nights. You may even get a Disney exchange through RCI

 

[LouisaBean]

We exchanged through RCI, however I thought it might be nice to stay somewhere different for the second stay.

 

[alicia1506]

art of animation has more than just 'girl themed' rooms. they have family suites done in lion king, cars and finding nemo themes, as well as the little mermaid rooms. the family suites include one full master bedroom (queen bed) with full bathroom, and then a double sofa in the living room, and an innova double bed in the dining area, which essentially means they can sleep up to 5 or 6 people.

if it's you, your mum and your 3 kids, you could sleep 2 in the table bed, 2 on the double sofa and 2 in the queen bed in the master bedroom. there is also a second bathroom in the main living area and a kitchenette with microwave, coffee machine, fridge etc. we have booked a family suite at art of animation and found that it was only approx $50 more overall than booking 2 x rooms at pop century and the extra living space for us was a bonus in making our decision, especially when wanting to spread out or needing extra privacy/areas to relax & unwind in.

if you are doing a split stay, consider buying an annual pass if your dates are going to be more than 14 days apart, as the tickets will expire 14 days after you use the first day on your ticket, regardless of whether you have used up all the days on your ticket or not. i heard a rumour that while you can no longer add the 'no expiration option' to your ticket via the website, you may be able to request it via the WDTC or at the gate.. it usually costs approx $50 - 100 per ticket, from what i have heard (i recommend checking on this, as i've only heard rumour, not confirmation.

if you have questions that you can't get confirmed here on the DIS or via the disneyworld.com website, i strongly suggest that you use the 'contact us' feature on the disneyworld website, and send them an email with your questions, listed as bullet points or numbered. they are great at getting back to you with answers, options and clarifications, and that way, you have your answer in writing directly from a wdw customer service person, and not just some of us random disers on this board

good luck with your planning. i also recommend the birnbaum's guide to wdw 2012/2013 guide... i found it really useful for breaking down all of the options etc to help make the decision and trip planning process much, much easier!

 

[coco392]

art of animation has more than just 'girl themed' rooms. they have family suites done in lion king, cars and finding nemo themes, as well as the little mermaid rooms. the family suites include one full master bedroom (queen bed) with full bathroom, and then a double sofa in the living room, and an innova double bed in the dining area, which essentially means they can sleep up to 5 or 6 people.

if it's you, your mum and your 3 kids, you could sleep 2 in the table bed, 2 on the double sofa and 2 in the queen bed in the master bedroom. there is also a second bathroom in the main living area and a kitchenette with microwave, coffee machine, fridge etc. we have booked a family suite at art of animation and found that it was only approx $50 more overall than booking 2 x rooms at pop century and the extra living space for us was a bonus in making our decision, especially when wanting to spread out or needing extra privacy/areas to relax & unwind in.

we looked at the more boy themed rooms but as you said they are only the family suites. an extra $1600 - a lot of money when there is only 3 of us.
they should have themed the suites with lion king, cars etc as well as the little mermaid

 

[teddykins]

Gosh that Disney site is a poc I can't see our reservation even though I could see it when I logged in on my ipad but not on the PC up until a day or so ago - that is now gone and when I went to look at my Donald countdown last night it was gone and it said they couldn't find any reservations under my name. The Res number was used for "my party" and to "click here to view it" how ever upon clicking that I am told it can't find a reservation under my name and we're back to square one..

The Disney CSR as well as their IT department have no idea what's happened or how to fix it. My friend is listed twice (as an adult and again as an infant), she's also the "primary" user on the booking even though I'm the one who booked it.. the only good thing is I have been reassured by Disney CSR and the email I got that the room is as I booked it, two adults going by the names of Lisa & Bec. It's just sad that I can't do ANYTHING not even restaurant reservations come May 3rd

we looked at the more boy themed rooms but as you said they are only the family suites. an extra $1600 - a lot of money when there is only 3 of us.
they should have themed the suites with lion king, cars etc as well as the little mermaid

I wish they had themed TLK standard rooms, its my friend and I's favourite Disney movie but we couldn't justify the extra $700 for the suite.. so bummed I don't understand why they did it this way? Why not make it two and two? Even if the other standard room wasn't TLK another choice besides TLM would make perfect sense for those with boys who couldn't afford/didn't need a suite

 

[Minniemum]

Gosh that Disney site is a poc I can't see our reservation even though I could see it when I logged in on my ipad but not on the PC up until a day or so ago - that is now gone and when I went to look at my Donald countdown last night it was gone and it said they couldn't find any reservations under my name. The Res number was used for "my party" and to "click here to view it" how ever upon clicking that I am told it can't find a reservation under my name and we're back to square one..

The Disney CSR as well as their IT department have no idea what's happened or how to fix it. My friend is listed twice (as an adult and again as an infant), she's also the "primary" user on the booking even though I'm the one who booked it.. the only good thing is I have been reassured by Disney CSR and the email I got that the room is as I booked it, two adults going by the names of Lisa & Bec. It's just sad that I can't do ANYTHING not even restaurant reservations come May 3rd

I had this issue on the weekend. All I wanted to do was view my reservation and make sure I'd be able to make my ADR's (1 week to go!). Customer Service and then the IT department were able to confirm my booking but were at a loss to be able to fix the issue. With no resolution, I was put through to Guest Relations and the wonderful CS Grady . Grady understood the issue and thought it might have something to do with our phone number having an extra digit. We changed the number on My Disney Experience (included international code but dropped our last number) but it still wouldn't work. Grady then thought because of the change it wouldn't match the phone number on our booking. Rather than keep me on the phone, Grady said "Leave it with me. I know a few tech guys who can probably help me out". I kid you not, within 10 minutes the issue was fixed

for you Grady.

 

[teddykins]

That's lucky you got it sorted so quickly and so soon before your ADR's! This has been on going since about Feb 2nd when I booked it though and doesn't appear to be an easy fix if at all. We've spoken/chatted to 3 different IT people and 4 CSR who are all in agreement that they have no clue what's going on with our account how ever they each assured us that our names are exactly as they should be on our booking so that's something at least and hopefully we have no check in issues

ADR's can be booked over the phone right?

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I wish they had themed TLK standard rooms, its my friend and I's favourite Disney movie but we couldn't justify the extra $700 for the suite.. so bummed I don't understand why they did it this way? Why not make it two and two? Even if the other standard room wasn't TLK another choice besides TLM would make perfect sense for those with boys who couldn't afford/didn't need a suite

I'm another one who was confused by Disney's thinking with the Little Mermaid Rooms. Had they made the standard rooms Lion King or Nemo themed they would have been suitable for all genders. Then a Little Mermaid themed family suite would have been a nice contrast to the more male orientated Cars' Suites.
I think AoA looks like a great place to stay (my son and husband would love the Cars area). But I was instantly put off by the cost of the suites and the theming of the Little Mermaid rooms.

Sorry to hear you're having issues with the system. I hope they sort it out for you soon.
My ADRs open up over Easter and the system is still showing that I will have to book them day by day instead of being able to book 10 days all at once. If that doesn't change I'll have to ring. But it's a pain to have to add costly toll calls to the holiday budget when, if their system was just working properly, we wouldn't have to.
On the good side, I think after months of changing my mind almost every day, I may have finally decided on my timetable and where I'd like to make my ADRs. I can't wait to book them before I go changing my mind again