First Time to WDW - Any Booking tips

[fionamarynev@hotmail]

After many years, my friend & I have bitten the bullet to go to WDW next Aug 2017. We've been to Disney California & Disney Paris and sooo love anything Disney! But this visit seems to be full of questions!!

I've got a couple of questions to ask if anyone can help I would be very grateful! This is before we book the holiday as we don't want any huge errors that can't be changed!

1 - Neither one of us wants to drive in the US, is it best to get a hotel on site rather than on I-Drive, or LBV as we are quite happy to pay for cab fares. I've heard that its hit & miss with hotel shuttles and long wait for buses, changing etc in the heat.

2 - Is EMH really worth staying on site, also is the dining plan that sometimes is free, is that really worth it?

3 - Is it preferable to book with a TA or book flights separately, and then the hotel + tickets?

4 - Is it better to fly a scheduled airline rather than Thomson/Thomas Cook

Sorry for the questions, I expect that there will be more as we go along!

Many thanks
Fiona

 

[chmurf]

1. No car = stay onsite.
Also remember that WDW is the size of the city of San Fransisco, or the city of Paris. Staying offsite means a lot of transportation, and cabs could hit you for up to $100 per day depending on where you stay and where you go.

2 EMH is worth it if you can be at the park's gates well before they start, and have a hopper option to switch parks around lunch time
Dining plan is worth it if you have it for free. Don't pay for it, you most probably wouldn't break even compared to paying out of pocket

3 DIY is the way to go

4 It will mainly depend on price. I much prefer scheduled airlines but as long as they get you there, airlines are basically as bad as one another

 

[dixonsontour]

Onsite disney sounds like best if you are not driving. Hang fire a week and the UK free dining offer should be out for 2017.

You can book this direct with disney - so hotel and tickets and free dining. You get free quick service at a moderate hotel and free dining at a deluxe usually. Also included are coach transfers to and from disney called magical express from MCO airport. If you fly into sanford on thomson you will need to sort a transfer out.

Then 11 months out flights will be released and you can book those. I look on skyscanner or kayak. Do consider indirect flights with a stop enroute as they are cheaper. If you need to tweek your disney reservation to tie in with flights they will for free if same price or £50 fee if new price is cheaper.

End August is much quieter as US schools back. Flights go cheaper too if you can come back as late as possible in August/early September. Are you stuck with school hols?

You can book with a travel agent, they offer the free dining but it will usually cost more. Personally I like booking direct with disney everything is there online. As UK high street travel agents are not specialists in disney they often misinform or sell overpriced tickets.

 

[LiquidSunshine]

1 - Neither one of us wants to drive in the US, is it best to get a hotel on site rather than on I-Drive, or LBV as we are quite happy to pay for cab fares. I've heard that its hit & miss with hotel shuttles and long wait for buses, changing etc in the heat.

Stay onsite if you don't want to drive. We stayed in POFQ & found the Disney transportation excellent to & from the hotel. We also found it easier to arrange a taxi from the hotel on the odd days where we ventured off Disney property i.e. a day shopping at the outlet mall & a day at Universal.

2 - Is EMH really worth staying on site, also is the dining plan that sometimes is free, is that really worth it?

For us, yes it was worth it. If you can get up earlier to be at the parks for gates opening, but we made more use of EMH where the parks stayed opened later at night. We managed multiple rides on some of the bigger attractions with very little to no queues!

We didn't get the dining plan the first time we went, but we have it this time. We are looking forward to it, we definitely think it will save us spending our spending money on food!

3 - Is it preferable to book with a TA or book flights separately, and then the hotel + tickets?

We booked our 2014 trip through Virgin Holidays - hotel, tickets, flights. After spending a lot of time on the boards during the planning of that trip, we realised DIY was the better option, which is why we have DIY this time. We have saved a tidy little sum by going DIY. If you can wait, the 2017 free dining offer will be released shortly. If you book through Disney directly, you pay a deposit of £100, balance due 12 weeks before you leave. Then take a look at booking flights separately. You will need to wait until 11 months before your travel date before flights will be available, but have a look around and get a rough idea and the best routes for you. We saved money by booking to fly with Aer Lingus from Dublin.

Good luck with your planning!

 

[clareyfairymouse]

Welcome to the world of Disney holiday planning!

I agree with the previous posters, staying on site would be easier if you don't fancy driving. You can still get to the other attractions via bus or taxi from Disney so you won't miss out. Staying on site gives you the added advantage of being able to stay later as some of the hotel shuttle buses have restrictive pick up times and Disney in the evening is worth staying for!
You will have options with prices depending on which resort you like the look of. The dining plan options for next year get released next week so have a look at that to see if it helps to narrow your options. No resort is bad, everyone will have a personal preference but alot of the time it comes down to price.

DIY can work out much cheaper, it's worth shopping around and comparing. You can get a free shuttle bu to and from Orlando international that takes you and all your bags direct to the Disney resorts.

Just ask if you have more questions.

 

[LiquidSunshine]

You can get a free shuttle bu to and from Orlando international that takes you and all your bags direct to the Disney resorts.

I forgot to mention this. Staying on-site with Disney, you will be able to take advantage of the free Disney Magical Express (DME) service. You fly into Orlando International, and once you have got off the plane, head straight to the DME desks, where you and your bags will be taken straight to your hotel on a nice, luxury coach!

 

[saintrob]

There's so many options for booking a holiday to WDW! What will suit you best is such a difficult choice to make especially for a first trip.

I used to book the whole package via a UK travel agent as I didn't know any different - it was easy but on reflection cost me a lot more than had I booked the deal independently.

I then started to book our holidays DIY and tended use the Disney UK site for the hotel, charter or scheduled sites for the flights and whoever offered the best deal for tickets. This certainly saved money and worked out really well. It does take a little more work but is relatively easy to do.

We don't drive when we're in WDW and have only stayed off site once - never again! The hotel transport was hit and miss and we spent a fortune on taxis. We love staying on site and wouldn't stay anywhere else.

We never make use of early morning EMH but DS and I love evening EMH. For us - yes it's worth it! Nothing beats an uncrowded MK late at night. I'm not a fan of the dining plan although we have used it many times in the past. It works for a lot of people and if it's free then it can be a good deal.

For a first time visitor you may feel more confident in booking with a TA although I found that it all depends on the quality of the TA. I've also found that there's so much valuable information that you can find on these boards if you decide to book DIY

Good luck with you planning!

 

[bex7583]

If you are sure you don't want to drive then onsite should be considered first.

If you stay offsite food , parking ,extra car related costs can add up quickly so the free dining can be a good deal whe staying onsite.

The idea of booking DIY was nerve wracking but I found it all worked out great

 

[MrsIncredible1974]

Can I ask a supplemental question on a similar point? I'll assume yes!

Having travelled in 2012 on a package, I'm considering DIY for August 2017. I'm happy with the hotel / tickets / dining package currently on offer via the WDW site but I'm panicked by the thought of not being able to book the flights until 11 months out. As we have to travel during school holidays (OH is a teacher) will options be limited if people travelling on packages will be able to book their places on the direct flights well before the 11 month mark? I'd prefer to fly direct as we're travelling with 2 pre-teen children but could live with an indirect flight if the stop over wasn't too bad.

Any advice?

Thanks

 

[Elise79]

The package companies only get a certain allocation of flights from the airlines the rest (which is the majority) goes on sale at the 11 month mark.

We always have accommodation booked before flights (the only times we've done flights first is if we have done a last minute trip) and I currently have accommodation booked for December this year and July next year without flights. We will get flights for December but I was hoping for reward seats which haven't come up yet and obviously July is well outside 11 months. You will always get flights to Orlando.

 

[MrsIncredible1974]

The package companies only get a certain allocation of flights from the airlines the rest (which is the majority) goes on sale at the 11 month mark.

We always have accommodation booked before flights (the only times we've done flights first is if we have done a last minute trip) and I currently have accommodation booked for December this year and July next year without flights. We will get flights for December but I was hoping for reward seats which haven't come up yet and obviously July is well outside 11 months. You will always get flights to Orlando.

Fabulous. Thank you x
Having checked expedia, I've taken some comfort from the availabilty for this August

Now, if only Coronada Springs would re-appear I'd book...

 

[saintrob]

I only ever book my flights at 11 months out and haven't booked a package for years. I too am always on the lookout for reward flights.

We've never had a problem with getting flights - our last Easter trip was booked only four months before travel and we can also only visit during school holidays.

You'll get flights!

 

[MrsIncredible1974]

I only ever book my flights at 11 months out and haven't booked a package for years. I too am always on the lookout for reward flights.

We've never had a problem with getting flights - our last Easter trip was booked only four months before travel and we can also only visit during school holidays.

You'll get flights!

Thank you

I really hope you're both right as I've just booked! CSPR for two weeks in August 2017.
Only 68 weeks and 3 days to go...

 

[Jennisney]

1. I would recommend staying onsite 100%!!!!! If you are mainly doing Disney (like we do, we only spend 1 day at Universal), you get free magical express pick up at the airport and you also get taken back to the airport at the end of your trip, they have free buses to all the parks and downtown disney (and also boats and monorails depending on which hotel you are staying at!) If you are visiting universal, walmart, malls etc, we personally use Uber (I always see alot of controversy about it online, but it is our personal preference as it saves us alot of money!) For example it only cost us $15 return to Universal from All star music using Uber as our first ride was free And plus being in the heart of the magic is one of our favourite parts of our trip!

2. We dont really use the EMH too much so that doesnt really sway our descision! I would say that the free dining plan is 100% worth it, especially if eating at restaurants is something you enjoy to do on holiday! Last year we spent £1000 on food :| because we enjoyed eating at the restaurants SO much we ended up spending nearly the entirety of the money we took with us on food .. Oops!!! The food is just SO good at WDW!!! So I would say the Dining plan is definitely worth it! It is also great knowing that everything is paid for before you go in that aspect, and plus if you stay in a Moderate or Deluxe hotel you get free memory maker and free $200 giftcard too!! Which is a nice little perk! The Memory maker also costs £150 if you were to book that seperately and it means you get all your photopass photos and ride photos included for free on your trip taken by great photographers!

3. Personally we book directly through Disney and book our flights seperate! We went to Virgin to see how much it would cost with them as we thought it would be way cheaper to book a package through a company but It was £1000 more expensive then if we did it through Disney and booked flights seperately! But its all down to personal preference I think people do get good deals through travel companies, Im just not too sure, I like having the freedom of doing my own thing and booking it all myself

4. I have never flown with Thompson or thomas cook, I always use virgin, I really enjoy their service and wouldnt fly with anyone else!

Hope this helps, but like I said this is all my own personal preference ^_^