1st timer w/dh, dd(7) and ds(5)

[heretothere]

Hello all,
My family and I are trying very hard to save up some $ in order to take our very first trip to Disney in Oct. (hopefully)! I figured this was a great place to start as far as getting sage advice from you seasoned vets! I have a few quick questions to start off:

1.) I have seen some people post that they almost have their package paid off? Is there a site I can go to & set up an account to make payments towards our vacation?

2.) I'm really leaning toward staying at AKL. We all absolutely LOVE animals & I think this would be an amazing experience. My ds is a very picky eater though and is sure to not even want to try much of the African dishes they offer. Is that enough to consider a stay somewhere else?

3.) In your opinion, what is the best guide to peruse as we are planning this trip. I work at Barnes and Noble and I can tell you that we have two entire shelves dedicated to Disney Guides alone. Birnbaum's seems to be the most popular, but that doesn't always mean it's the most helpful!

Thanks in advance for your advice! I'm looking forward to hearing from you and then leaving my own advice later next year! (I think I'm more excited than the kids!!!)

 

[pepe of ohio]

Welcome to the craziness of Disney. You'll not regret your trip no matter where you stay. As for guides, we stared out using Birdbaums and I think its the most comprehensive guide giving a "Disney" overview of just about everything there is on property. Others use a different touring guide but we've been over 38 times now and don't care to use a guide, just our knowledge and instinct makes our vacations enjoyable.

Few of our time worn tips, don't get locked into alot of ADR's, you're setting your vacation into a time to be setting and in Disney, you want to be flexible enough to do things on a whim. A couple not to be missed, for us, Hoop Dee Do and 50's Prime Time. These we get as for out as we can. Our other tip we gleamed over the years even though our children are all grown is meals. We see alot of people getting 2 children 2 meals, one each, meals in WDW are huge. My wife and I split alot of meals while there, not because we're cheap but they are too big and alot of food. We'ld rather each have half, not be stuffed for all the walking, and then if we see a snack we'ld like, we split that too. One child meal could easily feed 2 picky children and same for adults. We eat a good breakfast, since its so big, rarely have lunch or we have a picnic from groceries we obtained around the pool and then hit a counter dinner or one of our TS we have reservations for. Too many places to eat and choices to make.

We also lay out our meals on pieces of paper, all the musts and then lay in pieces of paper with our parks and try to keep eating in our park areas to lessen alot of travel.

Hope these few of our easy way to do Disney help and remember, its a vacation, relax, stop and just sit on a bench and drink in the surroundings and make a memory, you'll be back and enjoy the magic, its all over.

 

[heretothere]

Thanks so much for the tips. I was also considering whether we needed to do the DDP, but I've read so much about how it's just so much food. On the other hand, I'd rather pay for it up front so my dh doesn't have a heart attack when he sees how expensive it is to eat there. I think your tip about sharing meals is probably the best way to go. When we're active like that, we usually eat a big breakfast, very light lunch, and then dinner. Your suggested way will, no doubt, save us money in the end, and my husband will think we're being frugal!! Thank you!!

 

[wdwdancerwannabe]

I didn't like BOMA....but I'm sure the Counter Service/Food Court has plenty of "normal" food. We stayed at POR and had the DDP - ate at many TS's - but never ate at the TS restaurant at our resort!! But we ate at the food court/Counter Service rest. many times.

I probably wouldn't let the restaurants in a resort be your deciding factor. Most spend so little time at the resorts (of course...AKL provides MANY reasons to stay for awhile!)

 

[laura001]

Hello all,
My family and I are trying very hard to save up some $ in order to take our very first trip to Disney in Oct. (hopefully)! I figured this was a great place to start as far as getting sage advice from you seasoned vets! I have a few quick questions to start off:

1.) I have seen some people post that they almost have their package paid off? Is there a site I can go to & set up an account to make payments towards our vacation?

2.) I'm really leaning toward staying at AKL. We all absolutely LOVE animals & I think this would be an amazing experience. My ds is a very picky eater though and is sure to not even want to try much of the African dishes they offer. Is that enough to consider a stay somewhere else?

3.) In your opinion, what is the best guide to peruse as we are planning this trip. I work at Barnes and Noble and I can tell you that we have two entire shelves dedicated to Disney Guides alone. Birnbaum's seems to be the most popular, but that doesn't always mean it's the most helpful!

Thanks in advance for your advice! I'm looking forward to hearing from you and then leaving my own advice later next year! (I think I'm more excited than the kids!!!)

Hi there, and welcome to the DIS!

I pay our package in full, but I believe that you can make a payment whenever you choose to do so, if not, why not just set up a separate bank account and put the money in there. I have even gone so far as before our vacation I put money on our credit card that then gives us a credit balance and then use our credit card for purchases etc. You could do the same thing and work toward paying it off. It is such a nice feeling to have everything paid for before you go!

Even if your daughter is a picky eater, I wouldn't worry about picking your place to stay around that. I would think you could find something for her there, and you spend such little time at your resort and have so many choices about where to eat. Other than picking up light snacks or the odd breakfast we rarely eat at our resort.

I have never been on the dining plan but will be doing that in the spring when we go. The reason I chose the DDP is that we do like to eat one nice meal a day, usually eat breakfast in our room, and a very light lunch. When we have a nice meal for dinner, it can cost us (2 adults) usually between 90.00 to 150.00 .....so....I figure that the DDP costs us less than that and we end up with the availability of counter service and snacks that are paid for. When we go, I don't think that we will be counting every little thing, so if we have some credits left over....so be it! Also, when it comes to desserts, I will bet that we will share our dessert just as we usually do. I think that the value of the DDP (at least on paper) is great for us. Guess I will know for sure once we try it.

As far as books, my first few times at WDW, I went to the library and picked up every book I could find on Disney. I believe at one point I really liked one of them and went and purchased it. Now I get the passporter every year, I like it, I buy it and use it for every trip (it does help to keep things organized). I would suggest going to the library and then picking out what to purchase after that if you still feel the need to have one. The DISboards will give you the bulk of info you need and you can always ask questions.


Happy planning!!!!

 

[heretothere]

We do have a seperate bank account set up- our "Disney Fund" I even made up a Mickey Mouse chart and stuck it up on the wall so the kids can see our progress. I guess I was just wondering if there was some type of a payment plan through Disney, but this works! I really, really would like to have everything paid for in advance (inluding our spending $) so that we can just sit back and have an amazing time. I don't know that we'll ever be able to do this again, at least not while the kids are young, and I don't want to be worried about how much it's costing us while we're there. I was thinking of buying one of those Visa gift cards and putting our spending money on that. That way we won't have to worry about carrying a lot of $ around with us. Great tip about going to the library. I will try that! Thanks!!

 

[Mickiethepooh]

You can use your room card to charge to your room is you are staying at a disney resort. it can be backed up either with a credit card or with cash you deposit at check in. No need for the Visa gift card many of which have hidden fees.

 

[MomWith2Cinderellas]

Hello all,
My family and I are trying very hard to save up some $ in order to take our very first trip to Disney in Oct. (hopefully)! I figured this was a great place to start as far as getting sage advice from you seasoned vets! I have a few quick questions to start off:

1.) I have seen some people post that they almost have their package paid off? Is there a site I can go to & set up an account to make payments towards our vacation?

2.) I'm really leaning toward staying at AKL. We all absolutely LOVE animals & I think this would be an amazing experience. My ds is a very picky eater though and is sure to not even want to try much of the African dishes they offer. Is that enough to consider a stay somewhere else?

3.) In your opinion, what is the best guide to peruse as we are planning this trip. I work at Barnes and Noble and I can tell you that we have two entire shelves dedicated to Disney Guides alone. Birnbaum's seems to be the most popular, but that doesn't always mean it's the most helpful!

Thanks in advance for your advice! I'm looking forward to hearing from you and then leaving my own advice later next year! (I think I'm more excited than the kids!!!)

Welcome to Dis boards!!!

Here are some of things we have done for our past/future trip;

1. We do use AAA to book our package. I know some people just use AAA for their room rates and book the rest of their trip themselves. For us, I like to use AAA to do our packages. The package deal I received from them for our upcoming trip was about 20% cheaper than going through Walt Disney World online.
2. You have so many restaurants to choose from at the parks or other resorts that I would not base my stay on the food at just one resort. Your DS may enjoy some of the other restaurants at WDW and you can use Dinsey transportation to get around the grounds to other restaurants.

We like using the DDP, because the meals are paid for upfront. We typically bring some breakfast type foods to the room. Use a counter service for lunch and a table service for dinner. This worked out well for us last time and I will be shipping and ordering some food when we get down there.

Again, welcome and have a blast planning your trip!

 

[ksloane]

You can book through Disney or a few TA like Magic for Less Travel or Dreams Unlimited and put $200 down and pay it out (must be paid 45 days before arrival date).

I used the DDP for a couple of the reasons already mentioned, butthought I'dback them up. 1) I liked knowing virtually, if not entirely, all our food and snacks are already paid for - more relaxing for me. 2) I think part of the Disney experience is the magnificent restaurants and atmospheres at them (including all the character meals). If you just do one a day, the DDP comes out cheaper and you get the perks of the CS and snack too.

 

[milkabum]

Staying at the AKL is a great choice, and I don't think you have to reconsider because of the food. Go to the page below to see your dining options:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/dining/diningListing?id=AKLResortDiningListingPage

The third one seems to be good for a picky eater. Hope you earn enough for that trip! If you go in October, it's a good thing to look into going for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party too!

 

[candlekatie]

When it comes to planning, I don't have a favorite book, but I love the Tour Guide Mike website. There is so much info, great sample plans, and tons of people ready to offer advice. It only costs $21.95 and when you consider how much the total trip will be, it is soooooo worth it. (I even think there is a discount through DIS) My DH mocked it a bit at first, but he is a true believer now. Good Luck with all your planning!

Katie
2 days to WDW

 

[jmskinner]

I would recommend the DDP also. We just went on our first trip ourselves and as someone else posted, eating at the TS restaurants is amazing. I know we probably would have only done CS if it weren't for the DDP. Actually, except for one CS at DTD, which didn't accept the DDP, all of our CS were at the hotel. Lunch was always our TS.

I am the mother of a picky eater myself, it is chicken nuggets only for my DS8. I would think AK's CS would have something your child will eat.

Also, for my next trip I went ahead and got the Chase Disney Visa. I believe you can charge your trip to it and get 6 months no interest. Plus, you would earn reward dollars. Other cards offer better rewards, but these are strictly to be used on Disney. Now my DH can't refuse to go, now he knows we have to so those dollars don't go to waste.

I bought Birnbaum's book and found it really helpful, but really these boards provided the most help for me and www.allearsnet.com.

Also, I personally have not tried this, but a lot on the Disers do. If you are trying to save money and want to stay at AK, why not stay a few nights at a moderate or a value resort and a few at AK. We hope to go for 10 days next time and this is what I am planning on. Don't think we could afford 10 days at AK.

I hope some of this helps.

 

[disneymomof5]

I always book my vacation in advance with $200 down and pay a little bit as I go. It makes feel like I'm not spending as much. Also, you can book through disney and still use AAA. Also I get the ddp. Paying a little bit at a time and getting there with pretty much nothing I HAVE to buy is why we go every year. I come home from one vacation and start planning the next and it always seems affordable this way.

 

[Tide27]

The Disney Dining Plan is well worth it.

Just dont waste your meal coupons on a cheap table service.

There are a ton of places to eat at Disney, with many of the sit down restaurants requiring reservations.

In my experience, it is better to plan one meal a day on a reservation and use the DDP for it. Many guests try to plan each meal, and as such are locked into such a tight schedule they dont get to do much of anything here other than eat.

 

[Indy's Girl]

Any package you book through Disney only requires a $200 deposit at the time you make your reservation and that the package be paid in full by 45 days before your trip. You can pay on this a little at a time, all at once, however works for you. There is also no cancellation fee before 45 days before your trip, no fee to change your reservations etc. so you can book AKL svannah view now, and if in July you realize you cannot afford it you can cancel the whole thing, change to a different resort, change to a different view etc. very easily. If you book now though you at least have a reservation

I would definitly say do the dining plan, especially because you want to have the trip as "prepaid" as possible. This way you also get to try some of the nicer restaurants etc. This is what we are doing for our homeymoon in July. If you do the DDP, or just plan to eat at a lot of TS restaurants, you should make ADR's, I would do one for every night of your stay. You can cancel these later (even when you are in the parks) if you want more flexibility but you cannot decide spur of the moment to get into a restaurant that is full. Also, to really get the value of the DDP I would think you would want to eat at a TS everyday and so need to make ADR's. Also keep an eye out for free dining during the time you are going. I think it has been offered the last 2 years during August and September, and basically you get the DDP for free! If this shows up it might be worth it to move your reservation dates a little (e.g. have your first night there be the last night of September if Free Dining is only through septemer) that way you still visit in October but lock in free dining for your whole trip!
Also, since your kids will be 9 or under when you go the DDP is really very cheap for them so it may be even more worth whiel. Make sure you take a look at the threads and info about the new kids meal options though to make sure it will work for you (I think virtually evey TS place will have chicken strips, mac n cheese, or a hot dog as an option)

We are planning to stay at AKL as well, and it looks so beautiful, I am so excited! You might want to think about requesting a bunkbed room for your kids. Also, keep in mind that if a savannah view room is out of your budget that there are lots of viewing areas throughout the resort as well. Whatever it takes to stay longer right? I am sure your daughter can find something to eat at the Mara (CS at AKL) and even BOMA has some tame offerings like mac and cheese and chicken strips so your family can be a little adventurous and she doesn't have to be.

I would recommend you check out the Unofficial Guide and Passporter Guide. These two offer soooo much information that is not included in Birnbaum's guide (though this one is nice because of all the pretty pictures). These two describe every ride, rate it for different age groups, give touring plans, etc. Unofficial Guide also has a whole section about traveling with kids that may prove helpful (in fact they even have an entire seperate book you can get called Unofficial Guide to WDW with Kids). Passporter has pocket folders, packing lists etc. but also has a library edition that you can probably check out at your local library that has all the info but not the folders etc. Check out both of these at your library or bookstore, I think they are well worth purchasing as well. They seem to be the two most popular (plus Tour Guide Mike's service) on these boards and for good reason.

Finally, if you want to "prepay" your spending money, why not consider buying disney gift cards or disney dollars? This way you won't spend the money on anything else. Also, you can give the kids there own gift cards with a preset amount for spending on souvenirs. THis way they knwo how much they have, can spend it how they want, and when it is gone it is gone. (you could also give them a smaller amount on a gift card each day, such as $10 etc, they could spend or save this each day for a bigger thing at the end). You can get gift cards at a Disney store, online or at the resort gift shop when you check in. You could also ask that relatives give your kids b-day gifts in the form of disney gift cards/dollars so they have to save them for the trip.

Finally, you will find tons of info here, and on allearsnet.com and mousesavers.com, check these sites often for new info etc.

 

[runwad]

If you get a Disney Visa and charge your vacation package you have 6 mos same as cash, so you could charge it and work on paying it all off before you go, oh wait I think you have until 6 mos after your vacation to pay it off so depending how far in advance you book you could have quite a while to get it paid off. If you search or ask someone there is a link that will give you a $50 reward card for applying for this card that can be used in Disney after your first charge. HTH

 

[byoung]

Hi there, and welcome to the DIS!


I have never been on the dining plan but will be doing that in the spring when we go. The reason I chose the DDP is that we do like to eat one nice meal a day, usually eat breakfast in our room, and a very light lunch. When we have a nice meal for dinner, it can cost us (2 adults) usually between 90.00 to 150.00 .....so....I figure that the DDP costs us less than that and we end up with the availability of counter service and snacks that are paid for. When we go, I don't think that we will be counting every little thing, so if we have some credits left over....so be it! Also, when it comes to desserts, I will bet that we will share our dessert just as we usually do. I think that the value of the DDP (at least on paper) is great for us. Guess I will know for sure once we try it.



Happy planning!!!!

The dinning plan is well worth it.

 

[Fabinva]

My husband, kids (ages 4 and 6) and I stayed at the AKL in Nov 06, we are glad we did but would not do it again, kids loved the animals but after a few days did not care much for it, the service was OK, we had requested a bunk bed months in advance and did not get one for first night, we got one for second night but was a bit of a pain to move rooms, also got a hard time reaching the front desk more than once, long lines at check in and out, just not what we expected for spending the extra money.
We did not have the DDP and wish we did, food is very expensive.