A bit scattered ~ Mind giving your opinion?

[Amunet]

Update: ALL FIGURED OUT!! Thank you to all that helped ^_^

I just found out when to ultimately plan for our WDW portion of our trip (after our 2 week Disney Cruise!). Sometimes typing it all out well help. In fact, the last time I shared my plans, someone pointed out a crucial miscalculation of time on my part, thus saving my reservations lol
So, then, please bear with me and I'll try to keep it succinct ^_^

Dates: September 9-13th
Arrival Day is via Cruise Ship
Who: 2 Adults - Me & DBF (He has never done WDW)
Definite Plans: MNSSHP on Sept. 11 & BOG on Sept. 11th (once can get reservations). Behind the Seeds Tour & Test Track. Ohana Breakfast & Raglin Road are also a must but dates are flexible.
About Us: We definitely are foodies. We love food and our vacations are pretty much planned around them first. Even planning our excursions for the cruise, we look at food options for the tour and if we don't like the food (or if none are included) we don't pick it!
I've been to WDW a lot and, as you will see, can plan it very well. DBF has never been and is really just open to everything. So it will be much more showing him what Disney really has to offer. He's seen videos and old planning DVDs and is excited. He DOES appreciate the small details and quality, which is what Disney is known for. I have no doubt he will enjoy Disney, I am just not sure to what extent


Park Ticket Dilemma
We currently have 2 adult 2-day (non hopper) park tickets, purchased before the tiered system. These are leftover from having to cancel our trip last month (surprise surgery).
The dilemma is if we are going to try for Free Dining (which we would have to buy new tickets to be part of the deal) and save our current tickets for a future Disney Vacation (Star Wars Weekends or in December) next year.
OR
Use our tickets anyways.

~~~ What is your opinion? ~~~


Possible Schedule
IF we use our tickets, I'm thinking this:
9/9 - Arrival Day, DTD
9/10 - AK
9/11 - Leisure/MNSSHP
9/12 - Epcot
9/13 - Departure Day

~~~ Would we miss out if we skipped DHS? ~~~

DBF is a rather large Star Wars fan. But I also would really like to see the night time entertainment that's new ^_^
Another dilemma would be, I kind of really want to do Blizzard Beach while we visit. I've never done it and DBF has never been to a GOOD water park. Granted, this may not be as high on the list if we end up staying at BCV.


Where to stay?
Okay so this is driving me crazy. I have no idea where we would even stay. It's so dependent on if we do the Free Dining or not.

If we Free Dine: It will most likely be at a Moderate
If we don't Free Dine: Possibly a DVC rental (BCV, VWL, AKV) or POFQ. Of course DVC rental depends on availability.

I know this LARGELY depends on where we want to eat and if the free dining will do it for us. If the double snack credit is back, it will most likely be worth it (we love TS!). Again ... if, if, if.


Ultimately
I'm having this dilemma mostly because Disney just isn't releasing any info yet. But, I know to get a decent price on anything larger (and ADRs), I need to plan this now and set up a base until exact numbers come out.
Usually I'm extremely good at planning the variables but I seem to kind of be at a block with this lack of info (probably my anxiety being stupid). So any opinions and logical arguments would be extremely helpful right now

My biggest issues are:
~ Tickets?
~ Where to stay?
~ Really want that Waterpark ... but also REALLY want the theme parks. (Yeah, this one I really have to decide).

We don't want to burn out either, so TRYING to take things a bit slow would be helpful and the only set in stone type of planning for our individual days will be ADRs and FPs.

 

[pa. dad]

After 2 weeks on a boat, some might have had their fill of water and water things but that is up to you. I like the water parks too but I might go for a MK day after all that water.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I'm thinking travel agent. There's a lot to decide here. I do agree to bag the Waterpark.

 

[OB1]

After being on a long cruise, you sure have a lot of leisure scheduled, with your DTD and Leisure spots. I'll suggest a partial day at DHS instead of DTD if Star Wars is a must see. Even if its for half a day, you have Launch Bay, Star Tours, along with plenty of other fun attractions. It may be too much to stay late, but you have Star Wars fireworks late in the day.

It may be worth a wait to see if free dining will be part of the time that you will be at WDW. That means buy tickets, but our tickets will not go bad, and only be more valuable over time as Disney prices increase much faster than any savings we may produce from the same money.

Good luck - sounds like an awesome trip.

 

[Amunet]

Thank you all!!

@pa. dad & @Jadyreen1282 ~ I think you guys definitely have a point with all the water and such. Very good points. That makes me feel better for missing the water park then, thank you ^_^

@Jadyreen1282 ~ Oh no, I can't stand having a TA for WDW. I am the planner and I LOVE doing this I've interned for a TA and worked in the travel industry ... I'm pretty much a TA without the discounts lol You are right, there is a lot to consider, which is why I'm asking for a fresh perspective. Thank you so much!

@OB1 ~ Hrm ... we very much wish to do Epcot and AK, which are 2 days right there. With the possibility of Star Wars Weekends in the future, we won't be replacing HS for one of those days (adding extra park days are out of the question). Though, if we went with free dining perhaps adding park hopper?
Plus, departure day on the cruise isn't quite leisure to me since I don't wake up that early While I truly appreciate your logic for arrival day, we have our hearts set on naps/DTD for that first day


Some info just came out (in Spanish! lol) about the details for free dining. It seems we fall right in line with everything but we'd have to buy 2 day park hoppers to qualify. We cannot use our already purchased tickets for free dining (already checked). Though, I've seen room only discounts release during the free dining time as well. Perhaps that may be a better deal?

It looks like what it really comes down to is buying those tickets or not. We LOVE TS and it might be worth it for us with free dining, but that depends on where we eat. It seems like the room only discount may be the best for us if we aren't going for park hopper?

 

[Mikie]

Some info just came out (in Spanish! lol) about the details for free dining. It seems we fall right in line with everything but we'd have to buy 2 day park hoppers to qualify. We cannot use our already purchased tickets for free dining (already checked). Though, I've seen room only discounts release during the free dining time as well. Perhaps that may be a better deal?

It looks like what it really comes down to is buying those tickets or not. We LOVE TS and it might be worth it for us with free dining, but that depends on where we eat. It seems like the room only discount may be the best for us if we aren't going for park hopper?

Well, saving grace for the indecisive - you should wait until free dining offer is released to decide on those tickets! Book a room now if you like, you can always change it later. Wait for free dining, then see if the room you want is available under the promotion or not! Ahead of time, run the numbers a bit - "if I get free dining, here's where I can afford/want to stay; "if no free dining, here's where I would stay". Don't forget to add the hopper cost to the potential free dining offer, as that was required last year - if it's not required this year, it's a nice little savings from your estimate. Then, when the offer comes out, start looking to see if you can get it. Price your choices both under the room only discount and under the dining plan discount and decide which room and which offer gives you the best deal! Room discounts are often a better deal on deluxe rooms; free dining, even with the cost to upgrade to the regular (non quick service) plan is often better in value resorts; and moderates are more in the middle - depends on your party size, the specific resort, and what % room only they came out with, but still often free dining is a bigger save.

Sometimes it's hard to get free dining (or other discounts) before the rooms available under the offer are snapped up, so you may not need those new tickets if you can't get the deal.

 

[Amunet]

Well, saving grace for the indecisive - you should wait until free dining offer is released to decide on those tickets! Book a room now if you like, you can always change it later. Wait for free dining, then see if the room you want is available under the promotion or not! Ahead of time, run the numbers a bit - "if I get free dining, here's where I can afford/want to stay; "if no free dining, here's where I would stay". Don't forget to add the hopper cost to the potential free dining offer, as that was required last year - if it's not required this year, it's a nice little savings from your estimate. Then, when the offer comes out, start looking to see if you can get it. Price your choices both under the room only discount and under the dining plan discount and decide which room and which offer gives you the best deal! Room discounts are often a better deal on deluxe rooms; free dining, even with the cost to upgrade to the regular (non quick service) plan is often better in value resorts; and moderates are more in the middle - depends on your party size, the specific resort, and what % room only they came out with, but still often free dining is a bigger save.

Sometimes it's hard to get free dining (or other discounts) before the rooms available under the offer are snapped up, so you may not need those new tickets if you can't get the deal.

Those are extremely good points! Tomorrow is suppose to be the announcement date. We finally did figure out dining (and we will dine these places no matter what), I'll be posting these in my next post
I did price out if we did non-free dining and it would be cheaper to rent DVC if availability is there. It would cost about $120 to add park hopper to our existing tickets, which we are going to do (no matter what). I know 2day park hopper tix are going to be about $515 for the both of us. I just took a look at the hotel options right now (POR+PH Tix) and so the total would be (didn't add dining cost of course): $1490.74

So, time to crunch the restaurant numbers and figure it out before possible announcement tomorrow lol

Also, I'm open to any math/number crunching help ... since I have issues sometimes lol

 

[Amunet]

Thanks to those of you that posted! Each and everyone of you helped us realize some important logistics and to help us save money ^_^
Below are the reservations I now have booked ... please feel free to give feedback on if you think the DDP would be useful to us based upon our dining plans.

Friday, Sept. 9th
Raglan Road - 7pm
+ Lunch Quick Service

Saturday, Sept. 10th
Tusker House - 9:30am
BOG Dinner - 9pm
+ Lunch Quick Service

Sunday, Sept. 11th
Ohanas Breakfast - 11:50am
+ Dinner QS (MNSSHP)

Monday, Sept. 12th
Garden Grill - 9:40am
Tokyo Dining - 7:30pm
+ Lunch QS

To make notes:
Friday = Arrival day, we will have breakfast on the cruise ship.
Sunday = Sleep in day. By making a late breakfast/early lunch we should be good to go by the time we have dinner just before the party.

 

[Mikie]

Thanks to those of you that posted! Each and everyone of you helped us realize some important logistics and to help us save money ^_^
Below are the reservations I now have booked ... please feel free to give feedback on if you think the DDP would be useful to us based upon our dining plans.

Friday, Sept. 9th
Raglan Road - 7pm
+ Lunch Quick Service

Saturday, Sept. 10th
Tusker House - 9:30am
BOG Dinner - 9pm
+ Lunch Quick Service

Sunday, Sept. 11th
Ohanas Breakfast - 11:50am
+ Dinner QS (MNSSHP)

Monday, Sept. 12th
Garden Grill - 9:40am
Tokyo Dining - 7:30pm
+ Lunch QS

To make notes:
Friday = Arrival day, we will have breakfast on the cruise ship.
Sunday = Sleep in day. By making a late breakfast/early lunch we should be good to go by the time we have dinner just before the party.

You should try using distripplanner.com. It's a dining plan calculator that lets you plug in where you want to eat (specific restaurants or just "average quick service"), how many snacks, whether you want the refillable resort mugs and it tells you whether the dining plan saves you money or costs you more than just paying outright. I think if you have more TS meals than the plan provides, it tells you which you should pay for.

Your dining looks delicious!!

 

[Amunet]

You should try using distripplanner.com. It's a dining plan calculator that lets you plug in where you want to eat (specific restaurants or just "average quick service"), how many snacks, whether you want the refillable resort mugs and it tells you whether the dining plan saves you money or costs you more than just paying outright. I think if you have more TS meals than the plan provides, it tells you which you should pay for.

Your dining looks delicious!!

Thank you for the info ^_^ Yes, we have done that but they prices are a tad off. The dining plan MAY have an extra snack credit now and that takes away the dessert from the quick service (but dessert is still part of table service). Their prices aren't totally reliable for us (for some reason), so we just have been crunching numbers by hand.

Turns out, it's comparable with DVC rental for BCV, VWL & AKL (Savanah View). Same with if we did POFQ without the DDP, in fact, it would save us doing the DDP Free offer (we are looking at POR).
HOWEVER, if there is availability for BWV, we save about $200 comparably!

WHEW!! My gosh, thank you Mikie, giving me a swift kick in the tail to get this figured out.

Yes. I could become a Disney Travel Planner. Will I? No. Stupidity is not something I handle well

 

[Amunet]

Final update: Free Dining is released! We ended up not getting it because it was more expensive then the 20% room only discount. So we booked a Garden View at POR and will save $150 overall ^_^
Only way to beat that if BWV has availability for rental

 

[Mikie]

Final update: Free Dining is released! We ended up not getting it because it was more expensive then the 20% room only discount. So we booked a Garden View at POR and will save $150 overall ^_^
Only way to beat that if BWV has availability for rental

Awesome! I saw some of the threads with folks up til the wee hours looking for free dining. Last trip, my dates fell in the blackout period and trip before that we wanted a value resort, but couldn't get the discount there; we ended up at French Quarter, which we loved, but really it was a nicer resort for a small savings over original budget instead of the big savings I had estimated. I must have had a million "what if" scenarios calculated!
Enjoy!! POR is beautiful! And now you know you can just use your existing tickets

 

[Amunet]

Awesome! I saw some of the threads with folks up til the wee hours looking for free dining. Last trip, my dates fell in the blackout period and trip before that we wanted a value resort, but couldn't get the discount there; we ended up at French Quarter, which we loved, but really it was a nicer resort for a small savings over original budget instead of the big savings I had estimated. I must have had a million "what if" scenarios calculated!
Enjoy!! POR is beautiful! And now you know you can just use your existing tickets

Haha exactly!! All figured out. Yeah, POR is my favorite ^_^ First time no Royal room, but that's okay. I'm just happy to be a POR for a deal lol

Sorry to hear about yours I hope you have better luck!