adamsloco
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2006
- Messages
- 138
Well, the family and I are going to WDW this year!
I guess I should introduce myself and my family. I am 34 years old and my wife is 32. I have one son, 8 and two daughters 4 and 1. We are from Toronto, Ontario Canada. I have been to WDW twice, once as a kid in 1990, and a 'romance'
trip with my DW in 2000. Yep, I know, I should be waiting three more years to go, since that is the tradition. Oh well. That trip was the first one for my wife. This trip will be the first one for the kids.
We were originally planning to go next year. In preparation, I went to the Disney website, and searched as if it was next year. What I found was promising. We had the money to do it this year!
So, we began looking at all our options. (I usually get my vacation at the beginning of December, so that is when we looked.) We called one of the Disney travel agents to get a quote and some information. Well, I won't go into all the details of all the steps. We ended up getting reservations for The Contemporary Resort, Magic Kingdom View, for Nov 28 to Dec 5. With kids, we aren't going to be in any great hurry, so we chose straight tickets, not park hoppers.
I must thank everyone on these boards, and at the other Disney sites. They have been so helpful in making decisions. Like do we do the Dining plan?
Yep. We have decided to do the dining plan. For both of the trips I have been on, money was very tight. So tight, not only did we have to stay off site, but we had to monitor every penny spent on food, etc. No snacks in the park, and just one (small) meal a day. So it is worth it to us to NOT to have to read every menu right to left. AND to have the option of apetizers and dessert! 
Never an option before this trip.
We were/are a little concerned about the child menu options, though. We think it will work out, but us adults may be eating a fair bit of 'kid's' food while the kiddies chow down on our food. Simply because they *won't* eat the kid offerings. At least not for 7 days straight. We'll see about making sure we get good options at the counter service restaurants. BTW, can Counter service credits be used for snacks?
Which leads me into the ADP's. We can't book them yet, of course, but I have made a tentative plan of what park for what day, taking into account the extra hours offered to park guests. That way, I was able to decide on the character meals and sit down meals for each day. Here are my choices. (Suggestions would be most appreciated, if you see any problems.
)
Day 1 (Wednesday) Arrival -- Probably late afternoon, so no park plans.
Day 2 (Thursday) MK -- Dinner at Liberty Tavern. It looks like MVMCP also runs this night, so we will probably go to that, too.
Day 3 (Friday) EPCOT -- Akershus Princess Lunch
Day 4 (Saturday) AK -- Breakfastasaurous (hope I spelled that right
) for ... breakfast I guess. Also note that we will be going to Church Sat. Night.
Day 5 (Sunday) MK -- Crystal Palace for Breakfast (or lunch??
).
Day 6 (Monday) MGM -- 50's cafe for lunch.
Day 7 (Tuesday) IHAC# -- Hoop De Doo Musical Review for Dinner.
Day 8 (Wednesday) IHAC# -- Departure for home.
# IHAC = I haven't a clue. The last two days don't have parks planned. We will decide on the day which of the parks the kids want to revisit. Also, the last day will be dependent on how late I can book the flight.
That brings me neatly into travel plans! Nice lead in, right? After looking at driving vs. flying out of Toronto vs. flying out of Buffalo, we have decided to fly out of Buffalo, provided we can find flights cheap enough. Otherwise, we will drive. We have already started the process of getting our passports. Yes, we know they aren't necessary if we drive across the border, and fly domestic, but we figure it's still a good idea, and we have plenty of time if we do it now. Again, if people have any suggestions for booking cheap flight, I would welcome them. I am watching Expedia and Travelocity. And I am monitoring Jet Blue, AirTrain and Southwest directly. Those three aren't booking for my time frame yet.
So, that's that, I guess. The main things left to do right now are:
I bet I know what you are thinking. "He booked a vacation before he knew that he had those days off? What an idiot!
" What I asked for and what I got didn't match. I suspect they lost my bid. (It's a large company with seniority rules in place. They would receive approx. 500 vacation bids in a two week period.) Anyway, it's never been difficult to change your vacation weeks, provided you aren't trying to move them to the summer. I will be fine.
Any suggestions and comments are welcome . Especially since this is the first trip for the kids. Suggestions for Toddlers at WDW are welcome too.
Thanks!
I guess I should introduce myself and my family. I am 34 years old and my wife is 32. I have one son, 8 and two daughters 4 and 1. We are from Toronto, Ontario Canada. I have been to WDW twice, once as a kid in 1990, and a 'romance'
trip with my DW in 2000. Yep, I know, I should be waiting three more years to go, since that is the tradition. Oh well. That trip was the first one for my wife. This trip will be the first one for the kids.We were originally planning to go next year. In preparation, I went to the Disney website, and searched as if it was next year. What I found was promising. We had the money to do it this year!
So, we began looking at all our options. (I usually get my vacation at the beginning of December, so that is when we looked.) We called one of the Disney travel agents to get a quote and some information. Well, I won't go into all the details of all the steps. We ended up getting reservations for The Contemporary Resort, Magic Kingdom View, for Nov 28 to Dec 5. With kids, we aren't going to be in any great hurry, so we chose straight tickets, not park hoppers.I must thank everyone on these boards, and at the other Disney sites. They have been so helpful in making decisions. Like do we do the Dining plan?
Yep. We have decided to do the dining plan. For both of the trips I have been on, money was very tight. So tight, not only did we have to stay off site, but we had to monitor every penny spent on food, etc. No snacks in the park, and just one (small) meal a day. So it is worth it to us to NOT to have to read every menu right to left. AND to have the option of apetizers and dessert! Never an option before this trip. We were/are a little concerned about the child menu options, though. We think it will work out, but us adults may be eating a fair bit of 'kid's' food while the kiddies chow down on our food. Simply because they *won't* eat the kid offerings. At least not for 7 days straight. We'll see about making sure we get good options at the counter service restaurants. BTW, can Counter service credits be used for snacks?
Which leads me into the ADP's. We can't book them yet, of course, but I have made a tentative plan of what park for what day, taking into account the extra hours offered to park guests. That way, I was able to decide on the character meals and sit down meals for each day. Here are my choices. (Suggestions would be most appreciated, if you see any problems.
)Day 1 (Wednesday) Arrival -- Probably late afternoon, so no park plans.
Day 2 (Thursday) MK -- Dinner at Liberty Tavern. It looks like MVMCP also runs this night, so we will probably go to that, too.
Day 3 (Friday) EPCOT -- Akershus Princess Lunch
Day 4 (Saturday) AK -- Breakfastasaurous (hope I spelled that right
) for ... breakfast I guess. Also note that we will be going to Church Sat. Night.Day 5 (Sunday) MK -- Crystal Palace for Breakfast (or lunch??
).Day 6 (Monday) MGM -- 50's cafe for lunch.
Day 7 (Tuesday) IHAC# -- Hoop De Doo Musical Review for Dinner.
Day 8 (Wednesday) IHAC# -- Departure for home.
# IHAC = I haven't a clue. The last two days don't have parks planned. We will decide on the day which of the parks the kids want to revisit. Also, the last day will be dependent on how late I can book the flight.
That brings me neatly into travel plans! Nice lead in, right? After looking at driving vs. flying out of Toronto vs. flying out of Buffalo, we have decided to fly out of Buffalo, provided we can find flights cheap enough. Otherwise, we will drive. We have already started the process of getting our passports. Yes, we know they aren't necessary if we drive across the border, and fly domestic, but we figure it's still a good idea, and we have plenty of time if we do it now. Again, if people have any suggestions for booking cheap flight, I would welcome them. I am watching Expedia and Travelocity. And I am monitoring Jet Blue, AirTrain and Southwest directly. Those three aren't booking for my time frame yet.
So, that's that, I guess. The main things left to do right now are:
- Book flight
- Book ADP's
- Change Vacation dates from May to November/December.
I bet I know what you are thinking. "He booked a vacation before he knew that he had those days off? What an idiot!
" What I asked for and what I got didn't match. I suspect they lost my bid. (It's a large company with seniority rules in place. They would receive approx. 500 vacation bids in a two week period.) Anyway, it's never been difficult to change your vacation weeks, provided you aren't trying to move them to the summer. I will be fine.Any suggestions and comments are welcome
. Especially since this is the first trip for the kids. Suggestions for Toddlers at WDW are welcome too. Thanks!
