Any help on planning in July 2004 Long!

[Brumeiser]

Well it is time to start planning my July trip. I have several questions that I am sure this board will help me out like you always do. This will be interesting trip for sure I am taking my oldest son from the first marriage he will be 17 when we go down and his graduation gift and it will be my son from the second marriage who is two to be his first trip down. I know the heat will be bad but how are the crowds in July? We are planning on the 9th of July so it will be after the 4th. Will it be feasable to get a Disney budget room for under 75 dollars? I know Pop Century is 55 dollars but that is till February. Is it more of a pain staying onsite and trying to eat the majority of meals offsite? I am going to have over 300 dollars in restaurant certificates to use on this trip. I know if I go thru Priceline I can get rooms for 25 dollars but I have my heart set on staying onsite. Is the trick to keep a eye on mousesaver and wait till June and if no good prices to use Priceline? Any of your tips will be well appreciated. Thanks

 

[AspiringCindy]

Try using a AAA discount on the room. The discount could vary from 10-20% off! My guess...is that WDW will offer some kind of discount code in the future-They usually do!

 

[midge dionne]

We are also planning a July '04 trip. My oldest is 24 and the youngest will be 6. We only go in the summer. There are lots of websites that have helpful tips on Florida in the summer. We always leave during the heat of the day to go back to the hotel for a swim and quiet time regardless if we stay at Disney or not. If money is not a problem it is more fun to stay at Disney, but will the kids appreciate it? We will be staying at the Days Suite in Kissammee for under $80 per night. It has a full kitchen so we will be saving more money preparing SOME of our own meals-especially breakfast. The freezer part of the refrigerator will allow us to freeze juice boxes and grapes (money saver and heat reducer). There will be 6 people in our group this year so that leaves out most of the Disney hotels except Fort Wilderness and at over $200 a night that is out of our price range. This will be our first trip to WDW without my oldest son (18) who died in August '03. He used a wheelchair and we hardly ever had any problems with long lines. This year will be different for us . Different isn't bad,it's just different. Common sense is everything. We saw people using the Fast PAss machine when there was no waiting in line! The Fast Pass is a great "no waiting in long lines" tool and it works for everyone. Have fun planning!

 

[bobcat]

Keep watching mousesavers and these boards for good onsite rates. Both the All Stars and Pop Century are convenient to the freeway so eating off site shouldn't be too much of a hassle. Another option might be staying at the DTD hotels. Quick access to the Crossroads area with lots of food choices and still good transporation to the parks.

We went in July last year, later in the month, and really enjoy that time of year. If you plan for the heat and take breaks in the airconditioning you will do fine. There were discounts last summer on rooms but that is no garantee there will bethis summer as well.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

The one thing in July that can really eat away at your budget is drinks. If you are staying on site you should consider purchasing the refillable mugs from your resort. We do that plus when we go to the parks I have DH carry around a little backpack that has gatorade which I have mixed up in the room. We also take this to the water parks. I bring a couple of powdered containers to last the week. Our one ds has asthma and he really needs to stay hydrated, not to mention the other 2 thirsty teen ds. In July we have also encountered tour groups of 50 or more. There were some incidents we encountered such as line cutting, rudeness, not waiting their turn for character autographs. It can be frustrating to little ones, but the older ones should be able to handle that if it arises. The cast members generally ignore their rude behavior.