December 2010 planners check in here

[Tracy72]

Hi All,

We booked our flights to L.A. through the week and sooooo excited ! It is for my hubby and 2 daughters (ages 10 and 7 years). Though two days after I booked the flight prices dropped by $ 300 for the 4 of us. We are flying back on the 22nd Dec to be back in Oz by Xmas day and I didn't want to leave it too long to book and then miss that flight. I really need to stop looking at the prices so I can stop kicking myself !

We are going to Orlando for just over 2 weeks. 10 days booked at the Caribbean Resort at WDW with 10 day park hopper and at this stage the dining deals with quick service. We are thinking of then moving to either Universal Studios for 6 nights or booking somewhere on International Drive.

We just sat down and watched the Disney DVD and now my girls are super excited.

Can't wait to hear what you all have planned or if you can give us any suggestions.

Cheers

Tracy

 

[shushh]

We're booked as well! Did it today.

Went to flight centre to get our tickets price-matched. If anyone is interested in the price, we ended up getting it for $1619.78 for SYD-LAX-MCO, MCO-LGA and LAX-SYD. That's better than the $2000+ price a few weeks ago.

So essentially we'll be at WDW and Orlando before heading up to NYC for a week. Then catching the train to Washington DC. And from there we'll fly back to Orlando to catch our Disney cruise back to LA.

Seems so real now that tickets are booked!

 

[Tracy72]

OMG Shushh, that is a brilliant price. Who are you flying with ?

I really think we've booked too early now, but not much I can do about that. We've paid around $ 1500 each and that is only to LAX and we still have to get to MCO.

You have done really well ! Congrats !

 

[shushh]

Thanks Tracy! We're flying with Delta. United is marginally cheaper but i found out that they don't have on demand entertainment so Delta it is. Who are you booked with? Don't forget you're also flying back during peak time! We're flying just either side of the high season.

I found it really hard to gauge how good the price was because its open jaw and I've never flown only one way all the way to NYC. Also it is still 8 months out. But when it dropped so much against VAustralia and Qantas, we decided to go for it.

 

[Tracy72]

We are flying VAustralia and it's direct out of Brisbane which is great. Previously we've had to fly Bne-Syd first. That is true that we're coming home in peak time. I've worked out that it will be another $ 300.00 each return to MCO.

Where do you stay in Orlando ? Last time we stayed on Int Drive (before kids), this time we're going to stay onsite. We've picked the Caribbean. Hoping for some discounts so we can possibly upgrade.

 

[shushh]

We'll be staying at the Port Orleans Riverside as we have 3 kids and they are the only ones with rooms that fit 5 which aren't villas or suites. Very excited as we've never stayed onsite on any DIsney property. And hoping that the free dining will be offered again this year!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

We'll be staying at the Port Orleans Riverside as we have 3 kids and they are the only ones with rooms that fit 5 which aren't villas or suites. Very excited as we've never stayed onsite on any DIsney property. And hoping that the free dining will be offered again this year!

Shushh, I look forward to hearing about what you thought of POR. I am thinking of POFQ for December next year and I am particularly keen to hear about the transport. How the location of these resorts works for the parks and how long it takes to get everywhere. You'll have to update me when you get back.

We flew Delta to LAX last year and we were very impressed with them.

 

[aussiegirls]

I think I am going to buy my tickets by the end of next week Just need to confirm that it will be ok for me to have the time off work and I will be off to Flight Centre with my V Australia print outs for them to match it (and give me $20 vouchers )

Very exciting

xxx

 

[darren123]

We sre going from 1/12 to 15/12 more details later have to go on the January trip first.

Will not be going now our Son was called up to the Army so all that planning will be for when he gets some time off next year.

 

[DVCAustralia]

Keep in mind that just as we are all enjoying the Australian dollar being high so are United and Delta when receiving Australian dollars for their fares. As such I would be very surprised if either V or Qantas will be able to match their fares, particularly to East Coast USA where United and Delta are basically giving you are cross-country return flight for a couple of hundred dollars. Whilst it is a risk to book in the next month or so I would jump on any new low fares in particular as availability in the lowest fare classes will increasingly become a real issue over the next few months.
I agree that WDW is now better value than DL and accommodation, both on and off site, is a big part of that. Having experienced almost all the DVC resorts last December using my DVC points I would strongly recommend renting DVC points be considered as an option for staying onsite. Whilst the Disney moderate resorts are a good choice DVC villas can often be rented for a similar if not lower price. You can even get DVC rooms at the Grand Californian in Disneyland resort although as with other Anaheim hotels the prices are higher.

In relation to the Caribbean, their food court is great particularly using the counter service credits of the dining plans (smoothies as drinks!!!).

 

[shushh]

Shushh, I look forward to hearing about what you thought of POR. I am thinking of POFQ for December next year and I am particularly keen to hear about the transport. How the location of these resorts works for the parks and how long it takes to get everywhere. You'll have to update me when you get back.

We flew Delta to LAX last year and we were very impressed with them.

Will definitely update all! I've heard good things about Delta but to be honest, we're so excited about going I think the flights we'll cope with regardless of who we fly with. Oh and by the way we just bought ourselves a new DSLR!

Will not be going now our Son was called up to the Army so all that planning will be for when he gets some time off next year.

So sorry to hear that. It must be disappointing.

Keep in mind that just as we are all enjoying the Australian dollar being high so are United and Delta when receiving Australian dollars for their fares. As such I would be very surprised if either V or Qantas will be able to match their fares, particularly to East Coast USA where United and Delta are basically giving you are cross-country return flight for a couple of hundred dollars. Whilst it is a risk to book in the next month or so I would jump on any new low fares in particular as availability in the lowest fare classes will increasingly become a real issue over the next few months.
I agree that WDW is now better value than DL and accommodation, both on and off site, is a big part of that. Having experienced almost all the DVC resorts last December using my DVC points I would strongly recommend renting DVC points be considered as an option for staying onsite. Whilst the Disney moderate resorts are a good choice DVC villas can often be rented for a similar if not lower price. You can even get DVC rooms at the Grand Californian in Disneyland resort although as with other Anaheim hotels the prices are higher.

In relation to the Caribbean, their food court is great particularly using the counter service credits of the dining plans (smoothies as drinks!!!).

Thanks for the info. The one thing I've had difficulty finding info about is how the whole DVC points rental thing works. If we rent DVC points, will we still be eligible for free dining? (assuming it is offered)

 

[DVCAustralia]

Originally Posted by shushh
Thanks for the info. The one thing I've had difficulty finding info about is how the whole DVC points rental thing works. If we rent DVC points, will we still be eligible for free dining? (assuming it is offered)

Basically renting DVC points lets you book with the reservation system of the DVC members using the points table and paying per point as opposed to the hotels division of Disney using the cash price. There are of course advantages and disadvantages to this but generally it is a much better deal. Since each person has different requirements it is hard to give a general example, but one is an Old Key West studio villa which is a 390 sq ft room with two queen beds and kitchenette for US$90 per night (9 points a night at US$10 per point Sunday to Thursday nights in January and from September to December 23) as opposed to US$295 per night on the website.
If you PM or e-mail me specific details I could give you more relevant examples.
Specifically in regard to dining, 'free' dining should be called 'included' dining. When Disney has a large volume of rooms left to fill it sometimes uses a free dining promotion to fill the rooms at the rack rate by including dining. This allows Disney to sell the room at the rack rate rather than at a substantial discount. As I am a DVC member I just used points for the room and paid for the dining plan through DVC, the same process you would use if you rent points (and indeed if there is no free dining promotion).

 

[platypus67]

Just got off the phone from booking our Dec trip. I've booked a room only at this stage with the hopes that there may be a better deal come up down the track.
We decided on ASMU for this trip. We will be there for 12 Nights from the 30th of Nov.
We have booked our flights from LAX to Orlando and flights back to LAX in early Jan. Hopefully a good fare to LAX will come up as well. Prices aren't bad at the moment, but I'm happy to wait just a little longer.
Now the planning can really start.

 

[aussiegirls]

Well today I am armed with the lowest air fare quotes I can find (V Aust website) and $20 FC voucher. During my lunch time I am off to FC to get them to price match and give me $20 off. Then give me 3 new $20 vouchers which I will use sometime down the track to buy 14 day park hoppers.

Wish me luck

xxx

 

[OzCath]

Love your work Aussiegirls!! Hope you get what you want. I'm going to wait a little longer and see how the airfares pan out. To be honest don't have the funds right now to be able to pay for airfares anyway, but still planning to go mid November, early December. Going back to work 2 days per week so that money will go straight into the Disney fund!!

 

[aussiegirls]

I bought my tickets, I bought my tickets, I bought my tickets

Got FC to price beat and used my $20 voucher - also scored 3 more $20 vouchers.

So we are officially going!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Soooooo excited

xxx

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Just got off the phone from booking our Dec trip. I've booked a room only at this stage with the hopes that there may be a better deal come up down the track.
We decided on ASMU for this trip. We will be there for 12 Nights from the 30th of Nov.
We have booked our flights from LAX to Orlando and flights back to LAX in early Jan. Hopefully a good fare to LAX will come up as well. Prices aren't bad at the moment, but I'm happy to wait just a little longer.
Now the planning can really start.

Platypus, did you see the post about the Pin codes, you need to go check it out.

And congrats on booking. I'm so jealous

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I bought my tickets, I bought my tickets, I bought my tickets

Got FC to price beat and used my $20 voucher - also scored 3 more $20 vouchers.

So we are officially going!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Soooooo excited

xxx

Yay Aussiegirls. That is amazing news. You must be so excited.

Where did you get the price for FC to match?

 

[aussiegirls]

Got the price from V Aust website.

I was going to wait but it got down to $1111 per adult and I thought that I should just go for it. I might be annoyed if it goes lower than that - it shouldn't go too much lower anyways. But I am not much of a gambler so I thought I would just get them.

I am happy with that price.

xxx

 

[OzCath]

Well done Aussiegirls. Really excited for you. That's a good price. I wouldn't expect it to go much lower than that. Now the planning can begin!