2011 Yacht & Beach Club FAQ, Part III- DO NOT POST HERE- Summer/Fall

[rusty4]

I keep seeing threads and posts that are referring to crowd calendars, predictions, etc. What are your thoughts on these? What are they? Is there really someone with a crystal ball who channels all her powers into planning our vacations? I am really curious about this.

I personally love them. Last year I used Touring Plans and EasyWDW. This year I decided not to renew my touring plans membership. They conflict with EasyWDW greatly this year. I am going to stick my EasyWDW's recommendtations on our trip. Great thing is it is free! Not to mention Josh is a member of Disboards and he will answer your questions on his site too.

http://www.easywdw.com/

 

[jaceraden]

Thanks for the info.

 

[pixarmom]

So I tried posting from my new phone earlier this morning, and I posted to the old thread - sorry, Dee!! I'm moving my post over here:

My girls were 8 and 11 on our most recent trip in August. They loved the mini-cups of layered PB & J and smeared it on a roll.... they also liked the sliced apples w/ caramel sauce, the veggie tray, and some of the hot appetizers offered depending on the night.

For breakfast there was plenty they liked-danish, muffins, cereal, fruit, bagels, etc....

For afternoon snacks, there's cookies, homemade chips with an amazing dip, swedish fish, trail mix, and yogurt covered pretzels.

As for the desserts in the evening.....they loved everything

Same for our boys! We have an adventurous eater, a picky eater and one in between, and they all love the food in the BC lounge.

This is a great description, so I just wanted to add how much we all enjoy the caramel dip and apples. The kids think it's fun to have the individual caramel cups and they end up eating lots of apples. Also, the Swedish fish and the yogurt covered pretzels are big hits with our kids. The cheese, crackers and veggies help to ensure they're eating some healthy snacks in addition to Mickey bars, which I really appreciate.

For our last visit, we stayed CL at both BC and BWI. We really love both resorts, but the boys rated BC a clear favorite in the CL food category!

 

[pixarmom]

I keep seeing threads and posts that are referring to crowd calendars, predictions, etc. What are your thoughts on these? What are they? Is there really someone with a crystal ball who channels all her powers into planning our vacations? I am really curious about this.

We absolutely LOVE touringplans.com!!! Now, there are times that there are a few inaccuracies, but I find it both interesting and helpful to manage expectations. We don't necessarily plan according to the predictions, but it's helpful to have an idea of what the crowds may be like. And they have some kinds of mathematical formula/trend analysis that they run to make the predictions.

The touringplan wait times are great in the parks after we've done our morning routine and we're going to repeat a few rides. It's also helpful in the heat or rain when we're trying to prioritize our repeats, and it gives us a general idea of meeting times when our family needs to split up to use rider swaps. A few times, we've been at the pool in the afternoon considering whether to run over to a park before dinner - we can check wait times on touringplans to decide whether it's worth it.

The added bonus: When we're subscribed, we can get WDW wait times at home. On a cold winter afternoon, it's always fun to check in and see how long the wait is for Tower of Terror or Space Mountain!

 

[pixarmom]

I'm feeling very blue...we have a reservations at the YC in March, for a few days pre-cruise (OK, I'm not THAT blue!). But...my DH (me too, if I'm really honest!) is totally shocked by the prices per night for YC. We stayed at the BC (with a pin code, which helped) last year and we LOVED it! I really, really wanted to be back, and try YC this time. Now it's looking like the Swan for us. Still something to look forward to, but well...it's not BC/YC and it's not a Disney resort.

Please don't be so blue! First, it's still possible that Disney will release a discount for March. And if not, the Swan is a great alternative for a pre-cruise stay. We stayed at Dolphin for one of our "on the way to the airport" stays and we spent LOTS of time over at BC, YC and BWI. In fact, other than swimming at Dolphin, lunch at Picabu and dinner at Bluezoo, we spent most waking hours at BC/YC/BWI.

We were hoping to stay at YC on our way to the airport in April, but then I researched discount trends and realized it was too close to Easter to be likely. We thought about a return to Swan/Dolphin, but wanted to try something new so we're staying at POFQ for the night.

You'll just have to plan a trip in February like we do - YC/BC is really reasonable when you combine value season with discounts!

 

[Lizziedog]

When are you planning on going? The amazing underwhelming 40th anniversary was on October 1 and it was apparently very blase and not much of a celebration. The fall discounts are out and I wouldn't expect further discounts. Villas are usually included in the discounts but not DVC. DVC booking is totally separate and is booked by points and the points required fluctuate by season. HTH.

I'm going toward the end of July (22nd-31st). The gal I s/w at Disney said that they should have some good discounts for the 40th year celebration? Last time we went in June we had a $700 gift card offer per room. I checked this year around the same time and I thought they had something but I can't quite remember? I'm just hoping for something but I"m not counting on anything. Thank you for your help!

 

[Lizziedog]

There is a general public fall discount using discount code M5T or N4V

Save at select Disney resorts for stays 10/30/11-11/21/11 and 11/26/11-12/23/11.

• Animal Kingdom Lodge and Polynesian 25% off
• Other Deluxe Resorts 30% off
• Deluxe Villa Resorts 30% off

Here is a sample of the winter discounts this year....

Save at select Disney resorts for stays 1/2/12-2/20/12.

• All-Star Movies 20% off
• Other Value Resorts and Port Orleans - French Quarter 25% off
• Other Moderate Resorts 25% off
• Animal Kingdom Lodge and Polynesian 30% off
• Other Deluxe Resorts 35% off
• Deluxe Villa Resorts 35% off

Hope this is what you were asking.

Thank you very much! Lets hope the deals keep coming for 2012...

 

[Marlton Mom]

I keep seeing threads and posts that are referring to crowd calendars, predictions, etc. What are your thoughts on these? What are they? Is there really someone with a crystal ball who channels all her powers into planning our vacations? I am really curious about this.

OK, I have a confession.

You caught me.

Yes, it is me that is responsible for all those crowd calendar predictions! (how did you know about the crystal ball? .... FREAKY!!!)

It's a big money maker for people like me who love to 'help' people who plan their Disney trips obsessively. (Dee does the Universal Studios Crowd calendars BTW.)

People think there's a lot of scientific mumbo jumbo involved but it's really simple. If you have somebody that HATES crowds then you tell them that the time that they are going will be insanely crowded, worse than Christmas Day even, and when they get to the parks and see even 1 other person then they tell me......I was in fact correct and the parks were INSANELY over-crowded and What was Disney thinking when they sold all those other people tickets AND let them into the park!

If you have somebody, say for instance a school teacher, and they can only go to the parks when they can go to the parks you tell them that, people will be there, there will be some waiting and they will have to make the best of it. These people come back from their trip and tell me, people were there, they had to do some waiting and they made the best of it!

Now you have the people who tell me they went when NO ONE was at the parks..... and that's because I told them to go at rope drop and leave 2 hours later because they will be done riding/doing all that they wanted to do anyway.

The same thing works for the buses !

I tell ya I'm making big bucks off of these people.... BIG BUCKS!!!

~Marlton Mom

 

[Laffites Landing]

This is why you are "infamous" MM!

Good Job! Explains A Lot!

OK, I have a confession.

You caught me.

Yes, it is me that is responsible for all those crowd calendar predictions! (how did you know about the crystal ball? .... FREAKY!!!)

It's a big money maker for people like me who love to 'help' people who plan their Disney trips obsessively. (Dee does the Universal Studios Crowd calendars BTW.)

People think there's a lot of scientific mumbo jumbo involved but it's really simple. If you have somebody that HATES crowds then you tell them that the time that they are going will be insanely crowded, worse than Christmas Day even, and when they get to the parks and see even 1 other person then they tell me......I was in fact correct and the parks were INSANELY over-crowded and What was Disney thinking when they sold all those other people tickets AND let them into the park!

If you have somebody, say for instance a school teacher, and they can only go to the parks when they can go to the parks you tell them that, people will be there, there will be some waiting and they will have to make the best of it. These people come back from their trip and tell me, people were there, they had to do some waiting and they made the best of it!

Now you have the people who tell me they went when NO ONE was at the parks..... and that's because I told them to go at rope drop and leave 2 hours later because they will be done riding/doing all that they wanted to do anyway.

The same thing works for the buses !

I tell ya I'm making big bucks off of these people.... BIG BUCKS!!!

~Marlton Mom

 

[jaceraden]

Yes, it is me that is responsible for all those crowd calendar predictions!

I KNEW it!

 

[bookgirl]

I keep seeing threads and posts that are referring to crowd calendars, predictions, etc. What are your thoughts on these? What are they? Is there really someone with a crystal ball who channels all her powers into planning our vacations? I am really curious about this.

They're like tip sheets at the racetrack. Predictions based on historical performance and forcasted conditions. You don't always get the exacta but, more than likely they'll finish near the front.

 

[KatieCollette]

Hey everyone! Planning on staying BC club level garden view this coming February. Any tips on what to put on the reservation for room requests?

 

[mommato2boyz]

getting excited Tomorrow we leave for our land and sea vacation. I will be back with pictures and a report of how we liked our 1st trip to disney and our stay at the Yacht club CL

 

[suemom2kay]

I'm going toward the end of July (22nd-31st). The gal I s/w at Disney said that they should have some good discounts for the 40th year celebration? Last time we went in June we had a $700 gift card offer per room. I checked this year around the same time and I thought they had something but I can't quite remember? I'm just hoping for something but I"m not counting on anything. Thank you for your help!

Just to be clear Lizzie... You are talking about Disney World yes??? If you are going in July 2012, you will be going during the 41st anniversary year. So, you feel better, the 40th anniversary had NO effect on discounts. Not sure what discounts are usually available for July. If you go to mousesavers.com You can see historical discounts to get an idea of what you might see in the future. Of course there is no guarantee they will have the same discounts. Discounts are occupancy driven. HTH.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Just had to post over here to let all of you know that I've been accepted to the Disney College Program for next semester! I will be working in Main Entrance Operations, but I don't know where yet.

 

[Sue M]

Just had to post over here to let all of you know that I've been accepted to the Disney College Program for next semester! I will be working in Main Entrance Operations, but I don't know where yet.

Congrats!

 

[pixarmom]

Just had to post over here to let all of you know that I've been accepted to the Disney College Program for next semester! I will be working in Main Entrance Operations, but I don't know where yet.

Congratulations!!!! I hope you plan to report about your experience! Our oldest son has been very interested in the college program since he heard about it years ago - and he has several more years to wait before he will be eligible. So we'd love to hear about it!

 

[Sue M]

I keep seeing threads and posts that are referring to crowd calendars, predictions, etc. What are your thoughts on these? What are they? Is there really someone with a crystal ball who channels all her powers into planning our vacations? I am really curious about this.

I've always used Touringplans to decide my touring sched, and found them pretty acurate. When we've deviated from "the plan" we've been sorry!

Never heard of the Easy WDW, until I read a post a few months back, so am going to give that a try next trip to see.

But basically the premise from touringplans is to avoid parks with EMH, or if you want to go to A.M. EMH to do so, then leave park when crowds build around 10AMish and go to the recommended park.

We like the evening EMH, so in the morning we go to to the recommended park, take a mid day break, then at night go to the evening EMH.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Congrats!

Congratulations!!!! I hope you plan to report about your experience! Our oldest son has been very interested in the college program since he heard about it years ago - and he has several more years to wait before he will be eligible. So we'd love to hear about it!

Thanks! I'm working on a blog, and the link will be in my signature soon!

I've always used Touringplans to decide my touring sched, and found them pretty acurate. When we've deviated from "the plan" we've been sorry!

Never heard of the Easy WDW, until I read a post a few months back, so am going to give that a try next trip to see.

But basically the premise from touringplans is to avoid parks with EMH, or if you want to go to A.M. EMH to do so, then leave park when crowds build around 10AMish and go to the recommended park.

We like the evening EMH, so in the morning we go to to the recommended park, take a mid day break, then at night go to the evening EMH.

I use touring plans for the crowd predictions and find them to be generally accurate. The exception is when weather plays in-we were just there over Columbus Day weekend, and the crowds for Epcot that Saturday were predicted at 9.8. however, some unexpected torrential rain seriously deminished the crowds.

 

[dgbg100106]

Just had to post over here to let all of you know that I've been accepted to the Disney College Program for next semester! I will be working in Main Entrance Operations, but I don't know where yet.

Congratulations!