Early planning - Few questions?

[Raci]

We are planning a WDW trip. Haven't decided exactly when for yet - but sometime in next couple of years.
At the moment we are trying to decide where to stay and for how long.

We will definatly only ever make it to WDW once in our life no matter how much we love it, so I'm seriously considering a 3 week trip.
Is this going to feel like too much to handle while we are there? Too long?

I also can't decide where would be the best hotel, have done some internet reading about them and have chosen possible ones from each level:
Value - All stars Music
Moderate - Coronado Springs
Deluxe - Polynesian (or Wilderness Lodge)

But I cant decide whether I can justify the extra cost of the most expensive ones (could never afford deluxe for the whole trip).
One possible option for a 3 week stay could be 16nights in All star Music and then 5nights at the Polynesian.

How does this sound? Is it practical to change resorts mid stay?
Any views for or against any of these hotel options?

One other Q, how practical is it to stay at WDW to go to Discovery Cove & Seaworld (both definate places for us to visit) or would we do better moving to a closer hotel for these attractions?

All our decisions are highly influenced by the fact that we have NO car options, will only be able to use public/disney transport.

Sorry the Q's are so random, the planning is in such early stages at the moment and there seems so much choice
Any help would be hugely appreciated!

 

[Shooby doo]

When could be a deciding factor by that is there any chance you would be going during Free Dining? We started going for 2 weeks but have gradually increased that to 3 weeks for the following reasons: To do everything in 2 weeks just leaves you shattered & burned out. Having those extra days allows us to factor in rest/shopping days. Having a couple of bad weather days isn't a disaster.& it allows us to visit all the parks.
There are plenty of posters on here that use transport all the time so I will leave that to them (we always have a car) but suffice to say that they don't seem to have a problem getting around!
As far as the Poly,yes it is a lovely hotel (& you can still go there to eat)but it does come at a premium ,would I stay there if I had the money -probably yes but only if I had the money- I personally would price the difference for those 5 nights & see if I could justify to myself that extra expenditure.
On the subject of Free Dining there were some good deals on both SSR & OKW (both classed as deluxe) if that could influence your decision.
SD

 

[wayneg]

If you go in Summer it could be free DDP fro your dates, might make a difference which level of dining you want to where you stay.
21 nights
Value £1,386 no DDP
Mod £2,100 incl Counter service DDP
OKW or SSR £2,100 incl regular DDP
Only £34/night more to stay in a deluxe DVC resort and get all you food incuded.
All prices plus tickets.
You need to check what offers are on for your dates, its very easy to do a dummy booking on Disney.co.uk (if you haven't already)

If you did want to change resorts you would not get free DDP for both resorts(unless you bought more tickets)

Can't help much with transport, we always have a car. If you are only doing SW & DC (2 trips) I would say taxis won't be too much.

 

[Raci]

When could be a deciding factor by that is there any chance you would be going during Free Dining?

Offers like this will affect our decision for sure.
I'm not really bothered about time of year anywhere between easter and summer is fine, that is flexible for now. So if we could get an offer we would def go with it!
Ideally we would like to go 2010 but I know it could take to 2011 to save up enough. Just trying to work out a rough cost at the moment so we can have more of an idea about when we go.

 

[jen_uk]

Everyone says they will only go once, we are on our 7th trip soon!

SW and DC are not far from WDW, you can get a Mears transfer there easily and fairly cheaply

If I could go any time of year I would choose October/November, its still hot but not so busy

 

[Raci]

If you did want to change resorts you would not get free DDP for both resorts(unless you bought more tickets)

If you are only doing SW & DC (2 trips) I would say taxis won't be too much.

We would probably buy the 21 day ticket if there for 3 weeks to give us the most flexibility of days. If we did a 16/5 night split and only got free dining for the first 16 nights would we be able to use any dining tickets we had left during the second part of 5 nights or do they have dates on them?

I read somewhere that with discovery cove you get 7days free admission for seaworld so would prob do seaworld on at least 2 days maybe 3 depending how much we fit in each visit. (we're all marine animal mad)

 

[Raci]

SW and DC are not far from WDW, you can get a Mears transfer there easily and fairly cheaply

If I could go any time of year I would choose October/November, its still hot but not so busy

What is a Mears transfer? Not come across that one yet

We would prob stear clear of Oct because we wouldn't really want to do the whole Halloween bit.

 

[jen_uk]

Mears is the biggest transport company in the area, they do taxis, minibus transfers etc, the hotel can book transfers to SW, IOA etc.

If you don't want to do Halloween, how about early November? The summer months are very hot and very busy.

 

[Raci]

Thankyou

I think I would have to rule out Nov as I would need (for a 3wk trip) to link at least 1 week into the easter, may half term or summer hol as schools will only authorise 2 wks hol a year for my DD.
Which is a shame as I'm all for quieter parks, hence why both our DLP trips were off peak.

 

[wayneg]

We would probably buy the 21 day ticket if there for 3 weeks to give us the most flexibility of days. If we did a 16/5 night split and only got free dining for the first 16 nights would we be able to use any dining tickets we had left during the second part of 5 nights or do they have dates on them?

I read somewhere that with discovery cove you get 7days free admission for seaworld so would prob do seaworld on at least 2 days maybe 3 depending how much we fit in each visit. (we're all marine animal mad)

No your dining plan credits expire at midnight the day you check out of your 1st hotel so you would not be able to use them.
Yes you get 7 days SW incl with DC, we have had Annual passes for about 3 or 4 years at SW its a great park.

Free Dining would not be on in Nov, if thats a consideration.

Disney Haloween to me is amazing, the theming of the parks is at its best. Oct is my fave time of year for WDW

Everyone says they will only go once, we are on our 7th trip soon!

I said I never wanted to go, 16 year ago I did not like theme parks, wouldn't go on rides, would never do fancy dress, would not drive abroad again (could go on and on here) Now 16 years later look at my list below, its the best place on Earth.

 

[jen_uk]

Out of those times then I woud go for late summer holidays, this is when we have to go now, by then the American schools are back so its a bit quieter. I've heard that Easter is the worst time to go as its crazily busy

 

[wayneg]

. I've heard that Easter is the worst time to go as its crazily busy

It is, been for 2 Easters, mega busy, would never advise anyone to go if they have an option.

 

[Raci]

No your dining plan credits expire at midnight the day you check out of your 1st hotel so you would not be able to use them.

Shame!

Free Dining would not be on in Nov, if thats a consideration.

Is there free dining every year? This is the first year I've seen it, but I've not really been looking before.
What times of year is it usually if its a regular occurance?

 

[Raci]

Out of those times then I woud go for late summer holidays, this is when we have to go now, by then the American schools are back so its a bit quieter. I've heard that Easter is the worst time to go as its crazily busy

It is, been for 2 Easters, mega busy, would never advise anyone to go if they have an option.

I was surprised to see that summer hol was quite a bit cheaper than easter, but I assumed that was weather related and it would be still as busy.

However if main summer holidays is substantially quieter than easter holiday as well as being cheaper it sounds good to me

Does the fact that the american schools have gone back affect park opening hours or shows/parades etc. I wouldn't like to go off peak if it meant lots of things not running, as we will never have the oportunity to do them again.

 

[wayneg]

Is there free dining every year? This is the first year I've seen it, but I've not really been looking before.
What times of year is it usually if its a regular occurance?

Was on last year, this year and on again next year.
This year its for stays 2 August and 17 December 2009
Next year 1st August and 18th November 2010
Sorry didn't know it went into November.

 

[wayneg]

Does the fact that the american schools have gone back affect park opening hours or shows/parades etc. I wouldn't like to go off peak if it meant lots of things not running, as we will never have the oportunity to do them again.

Best thing to do is look at this years times, they have cut back all year this year not just offpeak. http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/hours.htm

 

[Raci]

Was on last year, this year and on again next year.
This year its for stays 2 August and 17 December 2009
Next year 1st August and 18th November 2010
Sorry didn't know it went into November.

I didn't realise it would be possible to see next years already, WDW must book so much earlier than I thought. Where can I go to find this type of info?

Best thing to do is look at this years times, they have cut back all year this year not just offpeak. http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/hours.htm

Thankyou.
I haven't got as far as checking hours etc yet, so I'll have to go take a look.

 

[wayneg]

I didn't realise it would be possible to see next years already, WDW must book so much earlier than I thought. Where can I go to find this type of info?

Yes they are on sale now, all the prices I quoted in post#3 are all available to book on Dsiney's site http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdwi/en_GB/index

 

[Raci]

Yes they are on sale now, all the prices I quoted in post#3 are all available to book on Dsiney's site http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdwi/en_GB/index

Sorry, I presumed you meant so I could get a quote for this summer to give me a rough idea of cost. I am so used to DLP's timescale of date releases for booking, I just never thought WDW would have next summer already.

I only have dialup and its working like a snail at the mo, but I will deff go get a quote. Thankyou.

I looked at the opening hours page, so much info. I'm a bit confused by some of it. Some of these I've heard of but others not:
Disney Wishes
A dream come true parade
Spectromagic
Illuminations
Block party bash
Fantasmic
Jammin jungle parade
Are these all on every season or are some of them only summer/christmas things?

 

[wayneg]

No, they are next years price, this year were slightly cheaper, The best offer is with OKW and SSR as they are also giving 42% discount on them 2 resorts as well as the better DDP.

Disney Wishes- night fireworks at Magic Kingdom
A dream come true parade - Parade at MK
Spectromagic -Night parade MK
Illuminations - fireworks/fountains/laser show at Epcot
Block party bash- Hollywood Studios parade
Fantasmic -HS night show
Jammin jungle parade- Animal Kingdom Parade

All used to be on every day but with cutbacks you need to check your dates(look at this years to see) I know Fantasmic is down to 2 or 3 times a week now.