Confused about what to do

[mhanabeck]

My girls have been wanting to go on a trip here for years. (11&12) We might be able to pull off a trip this year. There are so mmany things to consider.

How long should we stay. When I was pricing, with meals, it would be about $800 to be there for 6 nights & 7 days instead of 3 nights and 4 days. In the long run, I am afraid we would regret not staying as long.

Then we are on the food issue. Buy the food package or not. I am really confused. Is it really worth it. AAA agent was pushing us to it.

And now, I know this sounds stupid, I guess we are allowed to take food into the park. We have been to different parks in our area like Six flags where you can take nothing at all in. If you do take food in, do you take it in a backpack. We have done that at other parks.

Now, what is this I see on some of the threads about the mugs?


I am sorry to sound so out of it but, I haven't been to DW since 1991 and we went with a group who did all of the planning. We were without our darlings then.

I thank all of you in advance for your time and patience with me. I know we may never be able to do this again and I want to try and get as much as I can for as limited as my budget will be.


Thanks,
Marie

 

[all4fun]

Hi Marie,
If you're thinking of this as a once-in-a-lifetime trip and can swing a longer stay then I recommend it. There is so much to do at WDW it is impossible to fit in everything in even a one-week stay. With planning, though, you can definitely hit all the highlights and have a great time doing it, so you've come to the right place.

I would also suggest getting a good guidebook like the Unofficial Guide to WDW or The Passporter. They are both really good. The UG has a slightly more "cynical" tone to it but we used this one for our first trip years ago and it really helped us get the most bang out of our bucks that trip. The Passporter is more of an organizer style book with planning pages and pockets to keep receipts and such in. They both have a lot of useful info and also the best part - touring guides!

FOOD: The official policy is that they don't allow people to bring in food however in reality they do allow it so that is an option. There are rental lockers you can put personal items in at the front of each park in case you didn't want to carry food, coats, etc. around with you. You can get more info about the meal plan from the Restaurant board, check out the Sticky of the FAQ at the top. You can book your trip at the rack rate through Disney and get the Dining plan or if you're traveling after April 1st, you might consider Renting Points from a DVC member, in which case you can stay at a "home away from home" resort which could save you some money on accomodation and you can still get the Dining plan through DVC.

About the refillable mugs: The resorts each have a special mug that you can buy for, say $12.99 (I'm not sure what the actual cost is right now though) and you get "free" refills for the length of your stay, at your resort.

I hth! Let us know if you have any other questions.

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

I would personally recommend the dining plan. It worked very well for us and saved us a lot of money. However, I think it does require a good bit of planning for it to work smoothly. You need have an idea of which Table Service and Counter Service restaurants you would like to eat at, which requires you to make some sort of a flexible plan for your visit. 180 days before your trip you can begin to make Advance Reservations for the table service restaurants. A good place to check out the menus and more about the dining plan is at www.allearsnet.com
Hope this helps!

 

[Hannathy]

I vote for staying as long as you can and cutting back in other areas. The dining plan is great if you like to eat a lot and spend time eating at sit downs everyday we don't. The dining plan for you would be slightly more than 140.00
a day, you can eat well for less. We rarely spent that much but only like to do about one or two big sit down meals a trip. They would rather spend the time seeing things. Don't worry CS meals don't all have to be burgers. Have your family look at the menus. At many places my kids really didn't like that much for the money. There are many ways to save stay in a value or offsite especially if driving. I know folks not as magic but it is better than not going at all. Eat breakfast in your room, have a few meals off site if you have a car. Probably the MOST important thing is read these boards religously before planning and before long you will know more than that travel agent and be able to plan a great money saving trip.