August 2015!!!

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

Hey Everyone!! Just booked our August trip!!!! 8/26-9/2


And I booked the flights, so its official!!!!!

We will be staying at Beach Club for the first time. Its a huge splurge so I am praying for some late summer discount!!!!

So excited to be planning with you guys!

We have not used the new FP with the magic bands yet so Im a little nervous about that!

And can't wait to decide on our dining. If anyone has any suggestions for a great meal please share!

It will be me, my DH, our 2 kids, DD 10, DS 6.

Do you visit the discount board on the Dis? There's been mention of a special travel agency exclusive offer for the end of August and Beach Club is included in it -- actually almost all Deluxe hotels were. Of course we're camping so we can't take advantage of it, but it might be worth checking out!

 

[annabug]

Do you visit the discount board on the Dis? There's been mention of a special travel agency exclusive offer for the end of August and Beach Club is included in it -- actually almost all Deluxe hotels were. Of course we're camping so we can't take advantage of it, but it might be worth checking out!

Hi! Yes I did check it out, and thank you so much for mentioning it to me. Its weird, Ive never used a third company, so Im a little leary, also I can't get the dining plan with it? I requested a quote, and asked about the dining so we will see what they say.

Camping sounds like a blast!

 

[squirrel4569]

As we're getting closer to our six month mark (holy crap I have to plan some ADRs!) I figured I'd join in with Team August 2015. We're currently booked on a BB to Pop from August 8th-15th, but we are buying DVC and should be closing on it in a couple of weeks, so we'll cancel the Pop reservation and book DVC depending on what is available. I'm hoping to do a longer trip if we can book our DVC points from August 8th through the 18th.

We've done August before and enjoyed it. It's hot and it rains at 3pm everyday, but the crowds were pretty manageable and Brita bottles and free water/ice were a life saver. I think you go in and out of A/C enough that the heat really isn't an issue. We're from Texas too so we're pretty acclimated to it. It's more humid in Florida, but the difference between a dry 105 and a humid 85 isn't much.

With a longer trip, DVC and APs for the first time it should be interesting to see how our touring changes. I don't think we'll commando it like before. Also going to try out some new restaurants. Cape May will be on the docket as will Raglan Road. Probably going to try going without the dining plan this time to see how that works out. The last couple of trips we've had extra snack credits left over and had to use them all at the end and on this last trip we even had QS credits left over that wound up just getting burned.

AKV is our home DVC resort which will be a first for us, but I'm also interested in BLT, VGF, BCV and BWV so we'll see what's available when we are able to book. We may wind up at SSR or OKW, which wouldn't be horrible either. Looking forward to the trip!

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

As we're getting closer to our six month mark (holy crap I have to plan some ADRs!) I figured I'd join in with Team August 2015. We're currently booked on a BB to Pop from August 8th-15th, but we are buying DVC and should be closing on it in a couple of weeks, so we'll cancel the Pop reservation and book DVC depending on what is available. I'm hoping to do a longer trip if we can book our DVC points from August 8th through the 18th.

We've done August before and enjoyed it. It's hot and it rains at 3pm everyday, but the crowds were pretty manageable and Brita bottles and free water/ice were a life saver. I think you go in and out of A/C enough that the heat really isn't an issue. We're from Texas too so we're pretty acclimated to it. It's more humid in Florida, but the difference between a dry 105 and a humid 85 isn't much.

With a longer trip, DVC and APs for the first time it should be interesting to see how our touring changes. I don't think we'll commando it like before. Also going to try out some new restaurants. Cape May will be on the docket as will Raglan Road. Probably going to try going without the dining plan this time to see how that works out. The last couple of trips we've had extra snack credits left over and had to use them all at the end and on this last trip we even had QS credits left over that wound up just getting burned.

AKV is our home DVC resort which will be a first for us, but I'm also interested in BLT, VGF, BCV and BWV so we'll see what's available when we are able to book. We may wind up at SSR or OKW, which wouldn't be horrible either. Looking forward to the trip!

Hey there, familiar face! Congrats on the DVC purchase, that's awesome! We went back and forth so many times -- to buy in or not. We ended up buying an RV, so I've been calling it my DVC on Wheels! With 2 x's a year trips I feel like the girls will eventually want to go somewhere else -- maybe?? So at least we can drive that thing anywhere.

We are tossing around the AP idea. We're going to see how everyone handles the 17+ hr drive before we decide to do it though.

We traveled in Nov 2012 and 2014 as well, but this is our first August trip and I'm REALLY worried about the heat. This is also the first time we are NOT getting the dining plan. Even though it was "free" during our recent November trip I was still mad that we had left over snacks and QS credits. We're going to see if we make out better OOP. Plus, with the RV having a full kitchen and fridge we can eat at least one meal a day in there.

I'm currently trying to plan my park days so I can figure out ADRs (we're doing at least 3).

 

[annabug]

Yea almost 6 month mark!!!!

I think you guys will be fine in an RV, thats such a fun way to travel!!!!!
It annoys me to not use snacks, QS too. Im praying for free dining !!!!

And Im trying to pretend the heat/humidity won't be that bad, the low cows will make it more tolerable for all of us.

Think about it, when the parks are mad crowded, it feels so hot and crazy to me anyway. SO it won't be that bad!!!!


How are you guys going to plan ADR if park hours aren't released yet???

This is driving me crazy! I need to know my park before i pick my ADR.. DO you think they will be released before our 180 mark???

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

Yea almost 6 month mark!!!!


How are you guys going to plan ADR if park hours aren't released yet???

I'm planning based on last years park hours -- that's what I did for my Nov trip. They were pretty consistent.

Here are Aug 2014 hours:
http://media.disneywebcontent.com/StaticFiles/ParkHours/WDWTravelAgent_august.pdf

I'm also picking my park days going off of last years Eady WDW guides. It's all just a guess until the "official" hours are released, but it's a start.

 

[annabug]

I'm planning based on last years park hours -- that's what I did for my Nov trip. They were pretty consistent.

Here are Aug 2014 hours:
http://media.disneywebcontent.com/StaticFiles/ParkHours/WDWTravelAgent_august.pdf

I'm also picking my park days going off of last years Eady WDW guides. It's all just a guess until the "official" hours are released, but it's a start.

Great idea. Do you think the official ones will be out before Feb 27?

 

[annabug]

Do you have any must try restaurants for this trip??

I want to try
Boma
Ohana breakfast
Via Napoli
Sci Fi
BOG, maybe lunch?
Cape May
Tusker House breakfast
beaches and cream
oh geez, the list goes on!!!!

 

[annabug]

WOW! TY for that calendar link!!!!

We will be there for a few days in September too, how do I find that calendar too?

 

[squirrel4569]

Hey there, familiar face! Congrats on the DVC purchase, that's awesome! We went back and forth so many times -- to buy in or not. We ended up buying an RV, so I've been calling it my DVC on Wheels! With 2 x's a year trips I feel like the girls will eventually want to go somewhere else -- maybe?? So at least we can drive that thing anywhere.

We are tossing around the AP idea. We're going to see how everyone handles the 17+ hr drive before we decide to do it though.

We traveled in Nov 2012 and 2014 as well, but this is our first August trip and I'm REALLY worried about the heat. This is also the first time we are NOT getting the dining plan. Even though it was "free" during our recent November trip I was still mad that we had left over snacks and QS credits. We're going to see if we make out better OOP. Plus, with the RV having a full kitchen and fridge we can eat at least one meal a day in there.

I'm currently trying to plan my park days so I can figure out ADRs (we're doing at least 3).

Free dining was nice on our last trip, although we upgraded from the free QS to the DDP so it wasn't entirely free. We just wound up using more TS restaurants than QS and even wound up having to pay for one of those OOP. We like the character meals but we did find we didn't eat much at them. I also found the desserts to be very rich on this trip and couldn't finish them most of the time. I probably wouldn't order them at each meal. It's probably the first time we felt like we didn't get our money's worth out of the DP, with the exception that it wasn't very expensive.

We had always stayed away from DVC due to our experiences with other timeshare sales presentations. They all seemed to work the same both in how they were presented and how the programs worked and we just couldn't buy into it. I was curious on this last trip and they threw out the carrot of extra FP+ so we decided to check it out. We almost bought on the spot. The way they did the presentation was very low pressure and the way the program works makes it much more flexible. We looked into resale and found that was a better deal and found a contract that worked with our budget and travel options. We're probably going to do APs as well since we get a discount through DVC.

August is nice in my opinion. It's hot and humid for sure, but I felt like between A/C, our Brita bottles and our TS meals we were able to manage it pretty well. The mid afternoon rain shower always cooled things off and it was warm enough to enjoy the pools. November is too cold and unpredictable to enjoy the pools unfortunately. We love the Christmas decorations and such though, so we've enjoyed those trips.

As for planning our ADRs and park days, I typically go by Josh's suggestions. On our last trip I followed it exactly and we had a great time as far as crowds went. The biggest challenge for us is that we like to go to MK to start and end the trip so fitting that in isn't always easy, however, with APs again, it'll be easy enough to hop from one park to another or to just pop into MK for a quick ride/meal/visit.

I've considered an RV in the past, but between fuel and storage and maintenance I don't think it would save us anything. Plus we like to be in the bubble of Disney and all they have to offer. For a family larger than 4 I can see it making life easier though. Finding a room for more than 4 is tough and expensive.

 

[Disneylover99]

And Im trying to pretend the heat/humidity won't be that bad, the low cows will make it more tolerable for all of us.

I love this! Maybe it will rain milk.

 

[Disneylover99]

Do you have any must try restaurants for this trip??

I want to try
Boma
Ohana breakfast
Via Napoli
Sci Fi
BOG, maybe lunch?
Cape May
Tusker House breakfast
beaches and cream
oh geez, the list goes on!!!!

We will probably only do Via Napoli. My husband loves the pizza there. We are just doing quick service dining this August. But we will definitely do BOG for lunch.

 

[annabug]

We will probably only do Via Napoli. My husband loves the pizza there. We are just doing quick service dining this August. But we will definitely do BOG for lunch.

YEAAA!!!! I hope we love via Napoli. Is this a sit down or just a QS for pizza?

And Im dreaming about all of these TS ADRs soley based on my belief that we will be able to snatch free dining.

Im gonna be so sad if we don't, but we will get the dining plan anyway!!!! LOL DH doesn't know that yet.......

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

I've considered an RV in the past, but between fuel and storage and maintenance I don't think it would save us anything. Plus we like to be in the bubble of Disney and all they have to offer. For a family larger than 4 I can see it making life easier though. Finding a room for more than 4 is tough and expensive.

We're staying at Fort Wilderness so I'm hoping that keeps us in the Disney bubble. We've never considered staying "off" property, it just doesn't seem right! This is going to be a different Disney vacation for us for sure, so I'm hoping we all like it just as much as our previous trips. I'm looking forward to boating to Magic Kingdom

I am hoping gas prices continue to stay low (fingers crossed!) in NJ we've seen it below $2/gal as recently as yesterday!

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

Does one exist? I find Facebook pages usually have more movement than threads here.

 

[squirrel4569]

Does one exist? I find Facebook pages usually have more movement than threads here.

Yup - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1463808673854712/

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

Yup - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1463808673854712/

Awesome, thanks!

 

[Disneylover99]

YEAAA!!!! I hope we love via Napoli. Is this a sit down or just a QS for pizza?

It's a table service. We ate there for the first time last August, and we loved it so much that we canceled one of our other ADR's so we could eat at Via Napoli twice. Ask for extra tomato sauce for dipping. Yum!

 

[annabug]

It's a table service. We ate there for the first time last August, and we loved it so much that we canceled one of our other ADR's so we could eat at Via Napoli twice. Ask for extra tomato sauce for dipping. Yum!

Fantastic!!! TY!!!!

And I joined the FB group!!!! TY!!!

 

[LUVDisney1975]

7 months from today we'll be at Disney World!!!! Yay!!!! 1 more month until ADR's!!! Now just to find decent airfare. August here we come!!!!