February 2014

[momof3littles]

I don't worry about getting the best value out of the plan. I just enjoy being able to choice my meal freely based on what I think I would enjoy the most, not what costs the most or the least.

Are you getting the dining plan or paying out of pocket?

We were going to do OOP, but we are now doing S/P/D.

 

[esmee1sttip]

...I noticed that you are going on the same week and will be staying at POR the same time esmee1sttip will be going.

And Step who just joined will be going the same week as well! Cool!

Woohoo! So true...same week and at POR too. We will be staying in the Royal room per my daughters' request

Thanks for the warm welcome! Right now I have too many ADRs I think I am not sure how long it is going to take us to get around, and whether we'll definitely be returning to our room mid-day. We are staying at POR, and I'm a little wary of how long buses are going to take, so we are leaning toward renting a car as of now.

I have seen a few posts/sites on estimated travel times. There is even a WDW Transportation wizard that will est your time and give suggested routes. Maybe using that can help you with the estimated times and assist your planning?

Anyone have tips on traveling around the world during the princess 1/2 weekend? Should we avoid MK / Epcot on those days, or expect ride closures or anything. Any ideas / tips / info much appreciated !

Have you tried checking out touring plans or similar sites with recommendations for touring on busier days? They have historical data on busiest days.... Also, this site has a link under planning at the top which has rehab info, park hours, etc.

 

[momof3littles]

I have seen a few posts/sites on estimated travel times. There is even a WDW Transportation wizard that will est your time and give suggested routes. Maybe using that can help you with the estimated times and assist your planning?

Dumb question, but I assume that's an app? That would be tremendously helpful.

 

[gypsymoon]

We are staying at the all star music Feb. 1st - 9th ! We are going the S/P/D !

 

[mymeme]

Dumb question, but I assume that's an app? That would be tremendously helpful.

I believe it is Laughing Place. hth

 

[esmee1sttip]

Dumb question, but I assume that's an app? That would be tremendously helpful.

I believe it is Laughing Place. hth

It is that ^ website. Although, someone may have made an app somewhere on the web...i just haven't looked.

We are staying at the all star music Feb. 1st - 9th ! We are going the S/P/D !

Welcome to the Feb thread!

 

[CourtH]

Taking our first Disney trip from January 29 - February 10th. We will be staying at POR.

 

[middlesista]

Yes, there are so many unknowns. My youngest hasn't napped in a year. But of course, Disney will be exhausting. However, with two siblings, I'm not sure how much he'll nap in the room, and he'll revolt if the older kids go out with one parent and one of us stays with him He may or may not nap in a stroller. It may take forever to get back to POR to rest and then back to the parks. I still have a poor understanding of how long it takes to get from point A to point B. I know the buses can be slow or a challenge at times especially from POR, so I think we're renting a car. But I still don't even know how long to leave to get from one place to the next, LOL. Very confusing for a newbie I'm already trying to figure out things like if we drive, how much time do we need to get to Crystal Palace for an earlier breakfast? A full hour? More? I have no idea what it is like to drive from park to park. My last WDW vacation was when I was 4 or 5, and I have a few memories, but no concept of the distance between parks and so forth.
I would rather have the ADRs for now and then deal with cancelling them later. AT least, that's my theory at the moment! Dh and I (and the kids, really) are kind of foodies, but I am not sure if we'll find TS too time consuming overall.
I am fine with adjusting as needed and giving ourselves more downtime. It certainly is hard to predict what our "style" will be at Disney. Worn out is not a good touring style, however!

We have both had a car and used buses and we actually found (depending on where we were going) that buses worked fine. We stayed at POFQ and would head back to the room sometimes for a rest (grandchildren) and all said and done it could take 30min to an hour depending on how long we had to wait for the bus. Just prefer the buses over the aggravation of driving unfamiliar roads and parking.

 

[momof3littles]

We have both had a car and used buses and we actually found (depending on where we were going) that buses worked fine. We stayed at POFQ and would head back to the room sometimes for a rest (grandchildren) and all said and done it could take 30min to an hour depending on how long we had to wait for the bus. Just prefer the buses over the aggravation of driving unfamiliar roads and parking.

It just seems sooo time consuming to do possibly 2 hrs total (to resort and back), then 2+ hrs in the room. I don't mind 2-3 hrs of breaktime or rest in the room, but 4-5 hrs seems so long. I also suspect if my kids nap, it will take them a while to settle down, and then we are looking at more like 3 hrs in the room. It seems like a car would cut down the transportation time. I have no idea how navigating the roads will be, so I am a little worried about that.

I'm also wondering about making early ADRs at say 8-8:30 am.

 

[gslc2011]

Add me to the Feb 14 group please... I will be staying @ VGF from 2/23-3/2. February cannot come soon enough.

 

[mdsouth]

We are staying at the all star music Feb. 1st - 9th ! We are going the S/P/D !

Happy you joined us! I am so glad the S/P/D deal came out for Feb already! So, who all will be on your trip? Is this a first trip for you or have you been before?

Taking our first Disney trip from January 29 - February 10th. We will be staying at POR.

Hurrah for you! A first trip to Disney! Woo Hoo! What park are you looking forward to visiting the most this trip?

Add me to the Feb 14 group please... I will be staying @ VGF from 2/23-3/2. February cannot come soon enough.

I am glad you found our thread! Welcome! Have you made any ADR's yet?

 

[esmee1sttip]

It just seems sooo time consuming to do possibly 2 hrs total (to resort and back), then 2+ hrs in the room...
I'm also wondering about making early ADRs at say 8-8:30 am.

I know when my girls were little and we went to DL, they would never nap in the room. However, they did need a "break" from the park or a change of pace. We would take some time out at the pool or even get away to Tom Sawyer island so they could just run and climb a bit. That seemed to be enough for them to recharge and allow for us all to enjoy our trip.

People seemed to have mixed responses to rental of a vehicle, I think renting a car when you have small children may actually be a good idea. If you still are not sure, you could always see how Disney transportation works for you the first day and if it isn't working out well, go to the hotel concierge and have them contact AAA Car Care Center for a rental.

Add me to the Feb 14 group please... I will be staying @ VGF from 2/23-3/2. February cannot come soon enough.

Welcome! I hear you on how Feb cannot come soon enough. Everyday my family is checking our countdown

Taking our first Disney trip from January 29 - February 10th. We will be staying at POR.

Welcome! It will be our first trip also at the same resort. You get to go first though as we will be going the end of Feb

 

[UK Princess]

Hello!

I have finally talked my DH into another WDW trip

We are coming over from the UK and doing 6 nights in Miami before 6 nights at SSR 7th - 13th of Feb! We have FD and the Ultimate Tickets as park of our UK package so will be hopping around and filling up on yummy food!

I have made 3 ADRs already - Cali Grill on the last night (a tradition since our honeymoon), Flying Fish Cafe and 'Ohana which are both new to us. We have to do 2 sigs as we find the DDP a lot of food so would rather use it that way. I chose SSR as DH loved WPE when we were on the DDP last time so it was part of my concessions to get him to WDW again!

Looking forward to counting down with you guys

 

[aubreysmom09]

We are going 2/27 to 3/2 Staying at POFQ. After 6 off site visits my 7th time we are finally staying onsite When S/P/D came out we decided to add days to our trip. From 2/23 to 2/27 we will be at the Marriott Harbour Lake. Now I am just trying to get everything planned.

 

[JediDad]

Our first WDW vacation between 02/12 through 02/17 at POR! The DIS board is such a great place to get answers to questions, pick up some handy tips, and learn a whole bunch of new acronyms. This thread made me join up so I can subscribe to it to hear what other folks visiting Feb are doing, so thanks!

Anyone else hoping that the new Dwarves ride will open in time for us? I know, chances are slim but wouldn't mind snagging an emerald or two in those tunnels!

I'm also hoping for a mild winter in Florida so it would warrant packing swimming gear.

 

[Brer Brett]

We just booked POFQ for Feb. 21 - Mar. 1. We are pumped. Always read that was a good week to go as far as fairly low crowds, but I read on some blog that the HIMSS conference is in Orlando during this week and apparently draws some 35,000 people to the area. Anyone know if this conference has been in Orlando before and what kind of impact this might have that week?

Also, in general, has anyone gone in late October and last week of February before? Our last trip with little kids was the last week of October, first part of November 2011, and the crowds were awesome. Really hardly anyone there. I expect last week of February to be a bit more crowded, but was curious if anyone has any real experience to share with those two timeframes in mind. Thanks!

 

[esmee1sttip]

I have been trying to determine how much cash/debit/visa/travelers checks/Disney gift cards to bring to WDW. So what do you DISers bring on your trip?

Hello!

I have finally talked my DH into another WDW trip

You must really be persuasive It sounds like you will have a very filling trip! Is Flying fish where you had a special honeymoon dinner?

We are going 2/27 to 3/2 Staying at POFQ. After 6 off site visits my 7th time we are finally staying onsite When S/P/D came out we decided to add days to our trip. From 2/23 to 2/27 we will be at the Marriott Harbour Lake. Now I am just trying to get everything planned.

Our first WDW vacation between 02/12 through 02/17 at POR!
Anyone else hoping that the new Dwarves ride will open in time for us? I know, chances are slim but wouldn't mind snagging an emerald or two in those tunnels!
I'm also hoping for a mild winter in Florida so it would warrant packing swimming gear.

I am so hoping that that the weather is mild when we are going as well for the same reason! Of course we are dying to ride the Dwarves' ride but I am hoping that it will open well before we arrive or a soft opening so we miss the crowds

We just booked POFQ for Feb. 21 - Mar. 1. We are pumped. Always read that was a good week to go as far as fairly low crowds, but I read on some blog that the HIMSS conference is in Orlando during this week and apparently draws some 35,000 people to the area. Anyone know if this conference has been in Orlando before and what kind of impact this might have that week?

We are going the same week and I chose that week because of several reputable sites recommending that particular week as low crowds, somewhat decent weather, ok price and lower amount of ride closures (than earlier in the year). Per two different sites, crowds are still predicted to be low to low plus which are ideal.

 

[kmarie99]

Count us in

We will be there Jan 28th - Feb 7th, staying at CSR!!!! . We will be celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary!

Cannot wait, we got engaged at WDW, celebrated our honeymoon there and our first anniversary.

 

[Kathy Z]

I have been trying to determine how much cash/debit/visa/travelers checks/Disney gift cards to bring to WDW. So what do you DISers bring on your trip?

We usually just bring $200 - $300 cash and put the rest on our Visa which we pay off when the bill arrives. We use the cash for small tips and out of pocket CS & snacks etc. But this is just for the 2 of us on trips when we are spending 4 days to a week and eating OOP. When I tried paying TS tips in cash it required taking more cash with us than I was comfortable with so I put those tips on the bill now.

I did switch our room only reservation (3 nights last week of Feb.) to S/P/D because I liked the way the numbers crunched and it will give us an excuse to plan another trip since we won't need the park tickets for this trip. We'll use our 3 TS credits for CA Grill (Signature) & Tusker House breakfast. It will be our first time to CA Grill and I really like getting to AK early and we've enjoyed that breakfast buffet before. I'm a strange one because AK is my favorite park (I'm a critter person). Lunch will be at Flame Tree BBQ and dinner at Yak & Yeti. Y & Y will be OOP and we'll probably enjoy cocktails, some appetizers & share an entree.

Our Magic Band package for our November trip is due to arrive today!!! Super excited

 

[mdsouth]

I want to welcome you all to our group! Welcome UK Princess, aubreysmom09, JediDad, Brer Brett, kmarie99!

We will just have to dance the four months away as we plan together!

Hello!

I have finally talked my DH into another WDW trip

We are coming over from the UK and doing 6 nights in Miami before 6 nights at SSR 7th - 13th of Feb! We have FD and the Ultimate Tickets as park of our UK package so will be hopping around and filling up on yummy food!

Looking forward to counting down with you guys

SSR looks like a beautiful resort! I can understand why your DH was swayed by the food at WDW -- it is something I look forward to too!

We are going 2/27 to 3/2 Staying at POFQ. After 6 off site visits my 7th time we are finally staying onsite When S/P/D came out we decided to add days to our trip. From 2/23 to 2/27 we will be at the Marriott Harbour Lake. Now I am just trying to get everything planned.

It is great that you will get to experience staying onsite for the first time! You will have to report back how your trip was!

Our first WDW vacation between 02/12 through 02/17 at POR! The DIS board is such a great place to get answers to questions, pick up some handy tips, and learn a whole bunch of new acronyms. This thread made me join up so I can subscribe to it to hear what other folks visiting Feb are doing, so thanks!

Anyone else hoping that the new Dwarves ride will open in time for us? I know, chances are slim but wouldn't mind snagging an emerald or two in those tunnels!

I'm also hoping for a mild winter in Florida so it would warrant packing swimming gear.

Welcome to our group and to your first WDW trip! I hope the Dwarves ride is open for our trip. I have been checking out the updates on the Disney rumor and news thread. It is coming along but it looks like a lot of landscaping details still needs to be done. And we can't see the inside of the ride, but it certainly is something I hope will be ready for us!

I am guessing by your username that you are probably looking forward to the Star Wars ride too!
May the Force be with you on your trip!

We just booked POFQ for Feb. 21 - Mar. 1. We are pumped. Always read that was a good week to go as far as fairly low crowds, but I read on some blog that the HIMSS conference is in Orlando during this week and apparently draws some 35,000 people to the area. Anyone know if this conference has been in Orlando before and what kind of impact this might have that week?

Also, in general, has anyone gone in late October and last week of February before? Our last trip with little kids was the last week of October, first part of November 2011, and the crowds were awesome. Really hardly anyone there. I expect last week of February to be a bit more crowded, but was curious if anyone has any real experience to share with those two timeframes in mind. Thanks!

I have never been in Oct nor Feb, so I can't help you there. I am just hoping for lower crowds than summer and for weather that will not be sweltering!

Count us in

We will be there Jan 28th - Feb 7th, staying at CSR!!!! . We will be celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary!

Cannot wait, we got engaged at WDW, celebrated our honeymoon there and our first anniversary.

A WDW trip sounds like a wonderful way to spend your first anniversary! Lots of happy memories for you and lots of fun to be had!

We stayed at CSR last time and really loved it. We are trying PORFQ this time just to try something new.