First Trip needing help

[dabdrea4e]

Hi everyone! Im planning a trip for my husband and myself for the last week in February 2014. Ive sent away for the planning DVD and also checked out some guidbooks from the library but i still have a few questions! This is my first trip ever to disney so im confused about a few things. Any help would be appriciated!

1. I know i could book the hotel room only 500 days in advance but id prefer to get the prices online and then call to book. Everytime i enter our dates it says no rooms available. Is this becuase Disney hasnt released those rooms yet? If so when do they rlease rooms/prices for end of February vacation packages?
2. If i have to make reservations for things like character dining etc 180 days in advance, will they at least release rooms by then? Will i have to have a room booked to
make reservations or can i go ahead and make reservations at the 180 day mark and then make my hotel reso later?
4. Thoughts on dinning plans? Necessary for 2 adults or would it be better/cheaper to just pay as we go? Any idea if they ever offer free dining in late February?
5. We will most liekly stay at port orleans and do a breakfast with mickey at the contemporary resort. If we wanted and early reso like 8am and park doesnt open untill lets say 9am that day. Would we be able to utalize the bus and monorail system to be able to get to breakfast on time?
6. Fireworks every night or just on weekends? We wanted to do a mon-thurs trip but i dont want to miss fireworks since its my first trip!

Thanks in advance for all your help! Im so excited I just want to get it all booked and finalized already!

 

[disd55]

Hi everyone! Im planning a trip for my husband and myself for the last week in February 2014. Ive sent away for the planning DVD and also checked out some guidbooks from the library but i still have a few questions! This is my first trip ever to disney so im confused about a few things. Any help would be appriciated! 1. I know i could book the hotel room only 500 days in advance but id prefer to get the prices online and then call to book. Everytime i enter our dates it says no rooms available. Is this becuase Disney hasnt released those rooms yet? If so when do they rlease rooms/prices for end of February vacation packages? 2. If i have to make reservations for things like character dining etc 180 days in advance, will they at least release rooms by then? Will i have to have a room booked to make reservations or can i go ahead and make reservations at the 180 day mark and then make my hotel reso later? 4. Thoughts on dinning plans? Necessary for 2 adults or would it be better/cheaper to just pay as we go? Any idea if they ever offer free dining in late February? 5. We will most liekly stay at port orleans and do a breakfast with mickey at the contemporary resort. If we wanted and early reso like 8am and park doesnt open untill lets say 9am that day. Would we be able to utalize the bus and monorail system to be able to get to breakfast on time? 6. Fireworks every night or just on weekends? We wanted to do a mon-thurs trip but i dont want to miss fireworks since its my first trip! Thanks in advance for all your help! Im so excited I just want to get it all booked and finalized already!

1. Disney has yet to release the 2014 rates according to my knowledge. It happens sometime in the summer.
2. Most people usually have to book reservations at the 180 day mark and often well before they actually get to book the room.
3. I don't usually go in February, and don't know the specifics on the dining plan. Who knows if a free dining plan will come out. If it does, take advantage. If not, do you want a dessert with every meal? A sit-down meal every day? Will you eat all the food? These are things you should think about.
4. Park transportation, including buses and monorails, open an hour prior to park opening and stay open till an hour after park closing. This is true for all disney parks, although you must check specific hours for MK that day.
5. Fireworks from which park? Epcot or MK? I believe at that time of year that it isn't every night but a few nights. You'll get to see them at least once during your stay. You won't know park hours and fireworks till it gets closer till your trip.

 

[dansdad]

1. I know i could book the hotel room only 500 days in advance but id prefer to get the prices online and then call to book. Everytime i enter our dates it says no rooms available. Is this becuase Disney hasnt released those rooms yet?

Yes.
First trip, how exciting!!!

If so when do they rlease rooms/prices for end of February vacation packages?

Historically in August. But the last 2 years have been late June early July.

2. If i have to make reservations for things like character dining etc 180 days in advance, will they at least release rooms by then? Will i have to have a room booked to
make reservations or can i go ahead and make reservations at the 180 day mark and then make my hotel reso later?

No need to have a room reservation to make dining reservations at 180 days out.

4. Thoughts on dinning plans? Necessary for 2 adults or would it be better/cheaper to just pay as we go? Any idea if they ever offer free dining in late February?

Only worth it to us if they offer free dining. Historically, Free Dining has worked better for us than room discounts. You'll have to run the numbers for your family specifically to see.

5. We will most liekly stay at port orleans and do a breakfast with mickey at the contemporary resort. If we wanted and early reso like 8am and park doesnt open untill lets say 9am that day. Would we be able to utalize the bus and monorail system to be able to get to breakfast on time?

The buses start rolling at 6:30AM for early breakfast reservations. You can either take the monorail from MK to the Contemporary, or walk.

6. Fireworks every night or just on weekends? We wanted to do a mon-thurs trip but i dont want to miss fireworks since its my first trip!

Every night!

 

[Tink0812]

I will try my best to answer your questions. I just got done planning my 14th trip to WDW so I have had a bit of experience even though this is my first trip actually planning on my own. They typically release the rooms/packages at the time you are able to book them. As far as the dining reservations, you do not have to have a resort booked to have a dining reservation so, yes, you may book those 180 days in advance without having made your hotel reservation. That being said, we have found it much easier to get rooms (especially with better prices) when booking further in advance than 180 days. At the end of February you may not have a problem booking a resort that late but be aware, rooms tend to go fast when they are available and you may get leftovers. Now for the dining plan, it just depends. My husband and I are going in October and I sat down and did a rough estimate on how much it would cost us for food compared to how much the deluxe dining plan would cost us and it was pretty well the same. The dining plan was a bit more but not enough to make a clear decision against it. The thing with the deluxe dining plan is, we are able to eat at the signature restaurants (Citricos, Le Cellier, Spirit of Aloha, etc.) whereas we probably wouldn't if we had to pay out of pocket because it would easily be over $100.00 each meal. The buses do start pretty early sometimes like 6:30am; however, they will only run about every 30 minutes then. If you were ready for the first bus, you wouldn't have a problem making it on time. One thing that people new to Disney need to know, if you plan to get somewhere by a certain time, allow at least an hour to an hour and a half for travel. It is so unpredictable depending on traffic, the amount of people on property, etc. Fireworks will be almost every night. There is Wishes at Magic Kingdom (typically held at 9pm) and Illuminations at Epcot (also typically at 9pm). Once it gets closer to time for your trip (I forget how many days) you can see the schedules for fireworks on the website. Hopefully this helps some and my fellow Diser's can chime in with more details.

 

[dansdad]

4. Park transportation, including buses and monorails, open an hour prior to park opening and stay open till an hour after park closing. This is true for all disney parks, although you must check specific hours for MK that day.

Actually, the buses start rolling at 6:30 for early breakfast reservations.

5. Fireworks from which park? Epcot or MK? I believe at that time of year that it isn't every night but a few nights. You'll get to see them at least once during your stay. You won't know park hours and fireworks till it gets closer till your trip.

Actually, they are every night all year round.

 

[Wood Nymph]

1. I know i could book the hotel room only 500 days in advance but id prefer to get the prices online and then call to book. Everytime i enter our dates it says no rooms available. Is this because Disney hasnt released those rooms yet? If so when do they release rooms/prices for end of February vacation packages?

I am waiting for the 2014 prices to be released before booking our trip, too. We went in February of this year and the rates were out by the time we booked in July. Discounts for that period were released later in the year, like early October. There wasn't any free dining offered for that period in 2013, so I wouldn't count on it for 2014.

4. Thoughts on dinning plans? Necessary for 2 adults or would it be better/cheaper to just pay as we go? Any idea if they ever offer free dining in late February?

Skip the dining plan. Almost everyone can save money paying out of pocket, especially if it is just two adults. Families with young children under age 10 who do lots of character meals usually benefit from the plan, but most others don't.

5. We will most liekly stay at port orleans and do a breakfast with mickey at the contemporary resort. If we wanted and early reso like 8am and park doesnt open untill lets say 9am that day. Would we be able to utalize the bus and monorail system to be able to get to breakfast on time?

My suggestion is to check out the Port Orleans facts thread:

Port Orleans French Quarter Q&A Thread, New for 2012 (Read first posts for FAQs)

They will be able to answer a lot of your questions about the resort and traveling to the parks from there. My sisters stayed there in February and really liked it there.

 

[dabdrea4e]

Thank you everyone for your great replies! Very informative! I guess Ill be playing the waiting game untill Disney releases info/pricing for Feb 2014! Dont they know people are excited to make all their plans?! Lol!

 

[sharadoc]

The fireworks at MK and Illuminations at Epcot run every night, Fantasmic used to run only a few nights but they seem to be going to every night now so you're covered. What you won't get every night is the Main Street Electrical Parade so you would have to schedule your time to be there if you want to see it.

We also don't agree that the dining plan is the best choice for us. Especially for your first trip, just concentrate on the parks and the experience, don't give yourself the extra stress of getting to dining reservations.

A cab ride to the Contemporary would not be too much, you're very close to the Magic Kingdom at Port Orleans, so I would recommend that for your early ADR at Chef Mickey's.