Back with more newbie Qs!

[zippy99]

I feel envy... I miss our October trips - halloween and using our snack credits on food & wine.

Sadly, our two teenagers and GCSEs dictate that we can no longer take them out of school like we did for our first 4 trips.

I have never been May, but by all accounts, weather, price & the events make October/November one of our favourite times to visit.

 

[MrRomance]

Thank you! Would absolutely love to see both!! Are these a very busy or expensive two weeks to go though? That would be amazing plus it would cover my DDs birthday.
Great advice re: tipping, I'm going to do a search now

The first weekend in November is when the switch happens so it wouldn't coincide with your chosen dates. This year our dates are 29th October - 12 November. The switch from Halloween to Christmas is the weekend of the 9th. Next year we are a day before (28th - 11th)

The weekend of Halloween can be busy, mainly because it coincides with the UK half term, but it's not (in my experience) high crowd levels. We have been in the summer and at Easter and both of those are far more crowded. We also were there for President's Day weekend which is notoriously busy but the end of October is no where near those kind of levels.

 

[Elise79]

Ruth you are an angel!! Thank you so much! Ah so for October 15 I'd expect to be able to book in April/May next year, then maybe around Nov/Dec I'll see prices for May 15. Now just to be patient and wait

Prices for the whole of 2015 will be released approximately April 2014 going by past experience.

I would probably pick October over May. But we like both - Flower & Garden makes Epcot amazing looking in the spring but can get hot especially in the second half of the month (We have seen temps in the 90s in May)

Regarding tipping TS meals have already been covered but in generally 18-20% of pre-tax amount is expected for good service.

Other tipping situations:
Bar tender - $1 for a beer, $2 for mixed drink or cocktail
Bell services/luggage assistance - $1 or $2 per bag
Valet Parking - $2 to the driver on collection
Taxi - 10% of fare

Optional tipping situation:
House keeping - $1 per day per person - we don't tip house keeping but many on here do - totally personal decision.

Spending money - I budget $200 per day for 2 adults plus a 5 yo however that has to cover food, gas & shopping. So $2500 will be plenty if you get free DDP.

 

[kizzabel]

I would say the early dates in October are by far the best!

F&W is only really busy at weekends, we didn't notice high crowds in the week. But it's a while since I've been at that time of year and I believe it's busier now.

I think early dates would probably suit us better to dodge mid term crowds (as its a once off trip I can justify it somewhat.....ish!).
Would you plan your weekends to be non park days / out of World excursion days?

I feel envy... I miss our October trips - halloween and using our snack credits on food & wine.

Sadly, our two teenagers and GCSEs dictate that we can no longer take them out of school like we did for our first 4 trips.

I have never been May, but by all accounts, weather, price & the events make October/November one of our favourite times to visit.

October just seems to win on every level - the only draw for May is my birthday!! That and impatience / want-to-go-now syndrome! This trip is probably going to be a once off - unless I love long haul flights - so in that case I'll take the kids out of school... Luckily its not communion year for either child, nor will it be the year that DS changes school so I'm fairly happy with them missing ten days for a once in a lifetime trip or as I'll be selling it > Cultural broadening of their horizons

The first weekend in November is when the switch happens so it wouldn't coincide with your chosen dates. This year our dates are 29th October - 12 November. The switch from Halloween to Christmas is the weekend of the 9th. Next year we are a day before (28th - 11th)

The weekend of Halloween can be busy, mainly because it coincides with the UK half term, but it's not (in my experience) high crowd levels. We have been in the summer and at Easter and both of those are far more crowded. We also were there for President's Day weekend which is notoriously busy but the end of October is no where near those kind of levels.

I think we may just go for earlier October for the sake of having a less crowded trip. I would really love to see Christmas at WDW, its fantastic at DLP so it must be totally perfect at WDW. Loads to think on!

Prices for the whole of 2015 will be released approximately April 2014 going by past experience.

I would probably pick October over May. But we like both - Flower & Garden makes Epcot amazing looking in the spring but can get hot especially in the second half of the month (We have seen temps in the 90s in May)

Regarding tipping TS meals have already been covered but in generally 18-20% of pre-tax amount is expected for good service.

Other tipping situations:
Bar tender - $1 for a beer, $2 for mixed drink or cocktail
Bell services/luggage assistance - $1 or $2 per bag
Valet Parking - $2 to the driver on collection
Taxi - 10% of fare

Optional tipping situation:
House keeping - $1 per day per person - we don't tip house keeping but many on here do - totally personal decision.

Spending money - I budget $200 per day for 2 adults plus a 5 yo however that has to cover food, gas & shopping. So $2500 will be plenty if you get free DDP.

Thanks so much for going through all the details on tipping. I can see this feeling weird! Is that for every cocktail.. we'll be broke
I get the valet, I get the luggage assistance but I cant wrap my head around the taxi.. is the fare not enough
May sounds super hot, DS would love it but I'd be no use!

Thanks everyone for all your very much valued advice - I've gotten loads to think on. Looking forward to taking the plunge and picking up loads more tips and advice from this side of the DIS

 

[DisFanJen]

I think early dates would probably suit us better to dodge mid term crowds (as its a once off trip I can justify it somewhat.....ish!).
Would you plan your weekends to be non park days / out of World excursion days?

You don't need to avoid the parks at the weekend, just Epcot. So there's no problem going to another WDW park or a park outside of the WDW bubble.

October just seems to win on every level - the only draw for May is my birthday!! That and impatience / want-to-go-now syndrome! This trip is probably going to be a once off - unless I love long haul flights - so in that case I'll take the kids out of school... Luckily its not communion year for either child, nor will it be the year that DS changes school so I'm fairly happy with them missing ten days for a once in a lifetime trip or as I'll be selling it > Cultural broadening of their horizons



I think we may just go for earlier October for the sake of having a less crowded trip. I would really love to see Christmas at WDW, its fantastic at DLP so it must be totally perfect at WDW. Loads to think on!

Though going in late October early November is great for hitting both holidays, it really is a lot busier the closer you get to Oct 31st so if you want to avoid the crowds then I would go earlier.

Thanks so much for going through all the details on tipping. I can see this feeling weird! Is that for every cocktail.. we'll be broke
I get the valet, I get the luggage assistance but I cant wrap my head around the taxi.. is the fare not enough

Yup, getting used to tipping is weird at first but after a while it becomes second nature. In fact we tend to tip more in the UK now, which means that any place where we are a regular, the staff usually 'fight' over who is going to serve us!

May sounds super hot, DS would love it but I'd be no use!

May can be meltingly hot which is another reason I like to go in the cooler months of the year. Late September - Early March are my usual dates but I have been in May to do Flower & Garden.

Luckily for us, the cooler months line up with our birthdays (Jan and March) so we can still do birthday trips.

 

[flortlebap]

I think early dates would probably suit us better to dodge mid term crowds (as its a once off trip I can justify it somewhat.....ish!).
Would you plan your weekends to be non park days / out of World excursion days?

There are heaps of options. Personally I tend to avoid MK on weekends as there's a noticeable crowd difference (although this is the same anywhere). Universal and IoA aren't bad on Sundays if you get there early enough. But in early Oct park levels generally aren't a problem, with the exception of maybe the second week in Oct.

We always use a spreadsheet and crowd calendar weeks before we go so we know the best parks to visit and when. We black out days we don't want to be in parks and only use them for park visits if we have to - otherwise personally I take them as days to go off site, or hang at the hotel, or visit a WP. If you plan in advance, there's really no reason to be around crowds (unless you like to soak up the WS atmosphere at F&W!

 

[xxpeplyxx]

I'd personally love to go October time, I've only ever been Between the end of july and first two weeks in august which people always say is a very busy time, but honestly we have never found it too busy what so ever and we have always done everything we've wanted to whilst we have been there so I very much think its how you approach the situation! We go with the flow, wake up in the morning and see what we fancy doing, have never checked crowd levels before hand or anything! And as I say never had a problem doing absolutely everything! All the rides all the parks all the shows etc! So I honestly think don't be out off by parks being busy as at the end of the day your there and that in itself is the best feeling in the world!

As for money it depends what you intend on doing as others have said (and if you love shopping) we will be taking on average $150 per day per person I had roughly $100 per day last time I went and that was fine but there was a few things I wanted to buy but couldn't! The $150 per day per person does not include food and we do not have the dining plan but instead we have saved a separate amount of money for food for the 3 of us < we don't eat hardly anything whilst there so can't warrant the extra cost for the DDP!
Also as others have said do you plan on doing any other parks or going any other places?? And will you be purchasing all of your tickets before hand! We have everything booked and paid for, disney 14 day ultimate pass, flex ticket& discovery cove, we have also paid for the photopass plus already & already have car hire! but if you do other parks, consider a few extra costs I.e tips for bus/taxi drivers if you don't have a car hired, parking at the other parks if you do have a car, and petrol to pay for, we always buy the express tickets at US & IOA so that's about another $100 each! Then if you do discovery cove you may want to buy the picture package which is very expensive! Will you want ride photos as this can be rather costly! And also as someone else mentioned are you likely to go to the outlets to but clothes and stuff!

There's lots of extra costs to consider and as I said for me personally $100 per day was not enough! But saying that I like the freedom of buying what I want whilst on holiday where as some people will only buy a few bits and bobs!

So basically $2500 into 14 days is roughly $178 and obviously you will have the dining plan will $178 be enough per day, are you likely to give in to your children if they want something, will you buy many ride photos? Are you like me who loves to shop and could spend forever shopping?

 

[joolz1910]

We went last October and our trip was perfect! We went late October, early November so we were able to do mnsshp and mvmcp. We stayed at okw and had free ddp - link to trip report in signature. There is a cost breakdown in the pre -trip report. X

 

[paul_toria96]

Sorry to put a damper on things but I've noticed the age of your kids, did you know they are not allowing children any authorized time off school now and will report you to the police if you have more that 5 days off in the school year ?

If this isn't a problem - October all the way

 

[ellis9905]

For a while schools have not been allowed to authorise holidays in term times, and a fine of £50 a day has been an option to discourage this- however this is at school/ local authority discretion.... I have never known anyone prosecuted for this... They have now increased the fine to £60 per day but once again this is as a last resort and at local Education authority discretion.

Having spoken to my children's school there are more interested in targeting those who remove there children every yr for a Holiday as opposed to those who it is a one off for.

That's my opinion from the information I have been given..

 

[joolz1910]

For a while schools have not been allowed to authorise holidays in term times, and a fine of £50 a day has been an option to discourage this- however this is at school/ local authority discretion.... I have never known anyone prosecuted for this... They have now increased the fine to £60 per day but once again this is as a last resort and at local Education authority discretion.

Having spoken to my children's school there are more interested in targeting those who remove there children every yr for a Holiday as opposed to those who it is a one off for.

That's my opinion from the information I have been given..

The rules about authorised absences are changing from Sept 1st. Headteachers can no longer authorise an absence for the purpose of a holiday during term-time. Previously they could authorise up to 10 days at their discretion. The fine is £60 per child and per parent (not per day).

From Sept 2013, no Headteacher will be able to authorise a school holiday during term-time, which will result in 2 main things happening: parents will say their child is 'unwell' rather than on holiday OR parents will go ahead with the holiday and the absence will be reorded as unauthorised. You don't get an automatic fine.

For the record: my 3 children are at 3 different schools; 2 were authorised and 1 wasn't. Would I do it again? Hell yeah

 

[ellis9905]

The rules about authorised absences are changing from Sept 1st. Headteachers can no longer authorise an absence for the purpose of a holiday during term-time. Previously they could authorise up to 10 days at their discretion. The fine is £60 per child and per parent (not per day).

From Sept 2013, no Headteacher will be able to authorise a school holiday during term-time, which will result in 2 main things happening: parents will say their child is 'unwell' rather than on holiday OR parents will go ahead with the holiday and the absence will be reorded as unauthorised. You don't get an automatic fine.

For the record: my 3 children are at 3 different schools; 2 were authorised and 1 wasn't. Would I do it again? Hell yeah

sorry to hi-jack the thread but... am I right then that its a the discretion of the education authority? and therefore as a one off your unlikely to get a fine??

also what about flights that are pre booked before the change of rules on sept 1st?? ( were already booked to travel in march 14??

TIA

 

[rex008]

We did October last year, and thought it was fantastic. Weather was just right (for us); not too hot or humid, but warm enough for water park days. Did MNSSHP, and that was a highlight for us. Yes, it was a pricey extra, but thoroughly worth it, IMHO.

We did OKW, with the DDP, so almost all food was covered. If memory serves, I think tips were $300ish for the 2 weeks. We had a couple of outside Disney meals, but pretty cheap ones. The only other expense out there was shopping really; we were pretty much pure Disney otherwise, so I think our total spends were <$1500, and could easily have been less without purchase of North Face coats, etc .

I would strongly suggest going on the UK Trip Reports board and finding people who've done that time of year to get an idea about what to expect. I'd humbly point you towards mine (in the sig), except I'm somewhat embarrassed about not finishing off the last couple of days!

We've booked OKW again for October next year. This time with 3 days at Universal. We're lucky in that our kids get a 2 week halfterm, so no worries about absence. Except we're planning to fly Friday-Friday as the Saturday flights are significantly pricier. So still need one day "sick" .

I'd also recommend (closer to the time) touringplans.com. Give great suggestions on good days to do which park, fully taking into account crowds due to parties and F&W. Suggestions worked really well for us. And I'd also recommend the Unofficial Guide book as well. It's a great big thing these days, but it makes great planning material especially as you have a while before you can book.

Have fun planning!

 

[lolainkent]

The rules about authorised absences are changing from Sept 1st. Headteachers can no longer authorise an absence for the purpose of a holiday during term-time. Previously they could authorise up to 10 days at their discretion. The fine is £60 per child and per parent (not per day).

From Sept 2013, no Headteacher will be able to authorise a school holiday during term-time, which will result in 2 main things happening: parents will say their child is 'unwell' rather than on holiday OR parents will go ahead with the holiday and the absence will be reorded as unauthorised. You don't get an automatic fine.

For the record: my 3 children are at 3 different schools; 2 were authorised and 1 wasn't. Would I do it again? Hell yeah

Yup, all this. We planned a trip to Australia for this Christmas and freaked out when a friends holiday request for this past June was denied. Phoned the school and were told that all that would happen is DS's absence would be unauthorised. When we asked if that could affect him negatively in anyway, ie: grammar school (we live in Kent), we were told that it wouldn't. The receptionist DH spoke to went as far as to say that they'd rather know where the kids actually are than start getting an influx of "sorry, xxxxx won't be at school today because he has a fever" and know that 50% of them are full of it.

 

[joolz1910]

sorry to hi-jack the thread but... am I right then that its a the discretion of the education authority? and therefore as a one off your unlikely to get a fine??

also what about flights that are pre booked before the change of rules on sept 1st?? ( were already booked to travel in march 14??

TIA

No, there is no discretion after 1st Sept 2013 - NO holidays can be authorised by the Head or LEA.. The Headteacher can authorise absence in term-time for exceptional circumstances only, not for holidays as these do not fall into that category.

Because the rule changes have been well-publicised, I don't think they would accept flights booked before the 1st Sept as an excuse.

I wouldn't panic though, as most schools will probably record the absence as unauthorised and won't issue a fine. The fine would be £60 per child and per parent; so if you have 2 kids and two parents, my understanding would be the maximum fine would be £240.

Schools have been able to fine you for a long time and I have only ever known one person who has been fined, one child + one parent = £100. All that is happening from September is that the fine has increased from £50 - £60 and Heads can't authorise holidays in term-time.

The school cannot stop you from taking your child on holiday during term-time.

 

[ellis9905]

Thank you

 

[joolz1910]

Thank you

I hope you have a great trip.

 

[kizzabel]

You don't need to avoid the parks at the weekend, just Epcot. So there's no problem going to another WDW park or a park outside of the WDW bubble.



Though going in late October early November is great for hitting both holidays, it really is a lot busier the closer you get to Oct 31st so if you want to avoid the crowds then I would go earlier.



Yup, getting used to tipping is weird at first but after a while it becomes second nature. In fact we tend to tip more in the UK now, which means that any place where we are a regular, the staff usually 'fight' over who is going to serve us!



May can be meltingly hot which is another reason I like to go in the cooler months of the year. Late September - Early March are my usual dates but I have been in May to do Flower & Garden.

Luckily for us, the cooler months line up with our birthdays (Jan and March) so we can still do birthday trips.

Thanks a mill for all the info, more and more set on early October now! I would definitely lean more towards F&W then F&G (as my scales can attest to!). Im relieved that it won't make it too mental busy.

There are heaps of options. Personally I tend to avoid MK on weekends as there's a noticeable crowd difference (although this is the same anywhere). Universal and IoA aren't bad on Sundays if you get there early enough. But in early Oct park levels generally aren't a problem, with the exception of maybe the second week in Oct.

We always use a spreadsheet and crowd calendar weeks before we go so we know the best parks to visit and when. We black out days we don't want to be in parks and only use them for park visits if we have to - otherwise personally I take them as days to go off site, or hang at the hotel, or visit a WP. If you plan in advance, there's really no reason to be around crowds (unless you like to soak up the WS atmosphere at F&W!

Whats the 2nd week in October? Maybe we could plan to do Universal one of our Sundays, we hadn't really discussed Universal yet, and may not even bother? Our two littlies at the minute are more in a Disney frame of mind but a lot could change in two years! DD (9 when we go) is quite a scaredy cat so I don't know if she would go in for the thrill rides, POTC at DLP spooks her sometimes! I like the sound of your planner! Thats my kinda organising!

I'd personally love to go October time, I've only ever been Between the end of july and first two weeks in august which people always say is a very busy time, but honestly we have never found it too busy what so ever and we have always done everything we've wanted to whilst we have been there so I very much think its how you approach the situation! We go with the flow, wake up in the morning and see what we fancy doing, have never checked crowd levels before hand or anything! And as I say never had a problem doing absolutely everything! All the rides all the parks all the shows etc! So I honestly think don't be out off by parks being busy as at the end of the day your there and that in itself is the best feeling in the world!

As for money it depends what you intend on doing as others have said (and if you love shopping) we will be taking on average $150 per day per person I had roughly $100 per day last time I went and that was fine but there was a few things I wanted to buy but couldn't! The $150 per day per person does not include food and we do not have the dining plan but instead we have saved a separate amount of money for food for the 3 of us < we don't eat hardly anything whilst there so can't warrant the extra cost for the DDP!
Also as others have said do you plan on doing any other parks or going any other places?? And will you be purchasing all of your tickets before hand! We have everything booked and paid for, disney 14 day ultimate pass, flex ticket& discovery cove, we have also paid for the photopass plus already & already have car hire! but if you do other parks, consider a few extra costs I.e tips for bus/taxi drivers if you don't have a car hired, parking at the other parks if you do have a car, and petrol to pay for, we always buy the express tickets at US & IOA so that's about another $100 each! Then if you do discovery cove you may want to buy the picture package which is very expensive! Will you want ride photos as this can be rather costly! And also as someone else mentioned are you likely to go to the outlets to but clothes and stuff!

There's lots of extra costs to consider and as I said for me personally $100 per day was not enough! But saying that I like the freedom of buying what I want whilst on holiday where as some people will only buy a few bits and bobs!

So basically $2500 into 14 days is roughly $178 and obviously you will have the dining plan will $178 be enough per day, are you likely to give in to your children if they want something, will you buy many ride photos? Are you like me who loves to shop and could spend forever shopping?

I am quite good at budgeting, if I do say so myself! I had planned on a day out shopping at one of the malls and the kids will be given a set limit on what they can spend from my budget > generally in DLP its a tshirt and a toy and then if theres anything else they have their own money that they saved themselves and bar what they want it impractical for bringing home its their choice. We would definitely be looking at one other day out of the world but no ideas as to where yet although Discovery Cove looks like a great option. Thanks again for your perspective, the more the merrier. Its such a great help for figuring all the budget side of things out. I think we would also go for the Photopass but definitely need to look at this more. We could survive without it but it would be a nice addition.

We went last October and our trip was perfect! We went late October, early November so we were able to do mnsshp and mvmcp. We stayed at okw and had free ddp - link to trip report in signature. There is a cost breakdown in the pre -trip report. X

Thanks so much will be having a look at this in the morning.xx

Sorry to put a damper on things but I've noticed the age of your kids, did you know they are not allowing children any authorized time off school now and will report you to the police if you have more that 5 days off in the school year ?

If this isn't a problem - October all the way

We are in Ireland so it won't affect us. That would put a serious damper on your holiday! I just hope the Irish government doesn't get wind of this - they love stupid fines!

For a while schools have not been allowed to authorise holidays in term times, and a fine of £50 a day has been an option to discourage this- however this is at school/ local authority discretion.... I have never known anyone prosecuted for this... They have now increased the fine to £60 per day but once again this is as a last resort and at local Education authority discretion.

Having spoken to my children's school there are more interested in targeting those who remove there children every yr for a Holiday as opposed to those who it is a one off for.

That's my opinion from the information I have been given..

I would actually be in trouble is the last paragraph was implemented here! Our holidays have been in or around October for the last few years! I do make a point of getting extra work and homework for the kids but they do still miss 5 days of school. I would rather they have a holiday though then not to be able to afford it due to higher prices at midterm or during the Summer but I know this is an emotive subject and thats only my opinion.

 

[kizzabel]

We did October last year, and thought it was fantastic. Weather was just right (for us); not too hot or humid, but warm enough for water park days. Did MNSSHP, and that was a highlight for us. Yes, it was a pricey extra, but thoroughly worth it, IMHO.

We did OKW, with the DDP, so almost all food was covered. If memory serves, I think tips were $300ish for the 2 weeks. We had a couple of outside Disney meals, but pretty cheap ones. The only other expense out there was shopping really; we were pretty much pure Disney otherwise, so I think our total spends were <$1500, and could easily have been less without purchase of North Face coats, etc .

I would strongly suggest going on the UK Trip Reports board and finding people who've done that time of year to get an idea about what to expect. I'd humbly point you towards mine (in the sig), except I'm somewhat embarrassed about not finishing off the last couple of days!

We've booked OKW again for October next year. This time with 3 days at Universal. We're lucky in that our kids get a 2 week halfterm, so no worries about absence. Except we're planning to fly Friday-Friday as the Saturday flights are significantly pricier. So still need one day "sick" .

I'd also recommend (closer to the time) touringplans.com. Give great suggestions on good days to do which park, fully taking into account crowds due to parties and F&W. Suggestions worked really well for us. And I'd also recommend the Unofficial Guide book as well. It's a great big thing these days, but it makes great planning material especially as you have a while before you can book.

Have fun planning!

Thanks! I will definitely have a look at your TR and a few more on the reports boards. I have a couple of DLP ones I never bothered finishing either and I have no excuse as those trips were only a few days long!! I've gotten the Unofficial Guide and it is massive and full of info (perhaps also a good weapon with the weight of it!!). I m about half way through and found some things hard to get info on but its taught me loads too. I'd say I'll be rereading it a couple of times again as theres so much to take in. Thats great to have an estimate for total tips. How many were in your group?

 

[rex008]

Thanks! I will definitely have a look at your TR and a few more on the reports boards. I have a couple of DLP ones I never bothered finishing either and I have no excuse as those trips were only a few days long!! I've gotten the Unofficial Guide and it is massive and full of info (perhaps also a good weapon with the weight of it!!). I m about half way through and found some things hard to get info on but its taught me loads too. I'd say I'll be rereading it a couple of times again as theres so much to take in. Thats great to have an estimate for total tips. How many were in your group?

We were 2 adults plus DS10 and DS9. We booked both boys as 10 years old, as for barely any extra in park ticket price, we got free adult dining plan for both. Gave them more choices for food, although they still ended up ordering off the kids menu a lot of the time. Does mean you get charged adult tip rate on buffets and any other fixed cost meal though.

I reckoned an average of about $40/adult and $20/child on the notional TS meal cost (of course with DDP you go for the most expensive thing on the menu most of the time!). So $120 for a usual DDP meal. At 18%, that's around $22, times 14 TS credits, that's around $300. YMMV, as they say over there. HDDR is a 2 TS credit event, but includes tip, so calcs might be out a bit. DW rarely drinks alcohol, and I usually only had one beer with a meal, so that keeps those costs down. But drinks can potentially add a fair bit - I think ours were only about $200 for the trip - we mostly used snack credits in the park where we needed one during the day; of course you get a monster drink with most QS meals, and we had the mugs for the resort, which were very handy round the pool and on the way back to room.