*Thanks for giving me a place to get my thoughts/plans together. Any feedback is appreciated*
I really want to take my little boy (4 in April) to Disney while he still truly believes in all the magic (he makes us call him Kion right now and watches WDW ride/parade videos on youTube). We just had a baby Nov 29, so things right now seem crazy to plan a Disney trip, but here we are. We first talked about leaving the baby at home and just doing a fast 3-day trip with the (then) 4 yo, but it would be rushed and not a great "vacation" for us. Plus the tickets are loaded such that 3 more days would be just slightly more. So, we invited nana and plan on taking the baby for a week in Sept. We are from Memphis, so we are used to the potential wet weather.
The key to this plan is that Alligient flys non-stop from MEM - MCO on Mon&Fri for ~$100/person, so we decided to go from Fri-Fri (Sept. 16-23) so we could catch MNSSH and hopefully avoid crowds. We could also do a Mon-Mon trip so that the lowest crowds (Tues-Thurs) would be at the beginning of our trip. In either case, need to solidify a plan (and get some type of on-property res) before March so I'm ready for ADR 6 months out (+7).
Right now, i'm thinking about renting DVC points through a broker and getting a 2 bedroom condo at Animal Kingdom ($3000?). This would give us plenty of room and separate places for the boys to sleep. May also consider 2 separate studios with a Savannah view (about the same $), but not sure if I can get a guarantee they will be close. That would save us $ on a dining plan for Nana (as she will likely not be able to make all of them if she has the baby). Would also save a little on tickets (<$100).
We could also do 2 rooms (or a lion king suite) at Art of Animation for about $2500-3000 and potentially get free dining plans (which we'll use almost all on character dining). This could be a $2500 difference vs the above, but certainly a different experience at AK for a little boy who thinks he is a lion (booking at AK directly from Disney would negate the savings of the free dining plan).
The only other consideration is Bay Towers (just for the convenience to MK - which we may end up going to more than we think), but is certainly more than either option. Would only likely go with this if we did the 3-day trip (MK 2 days).
So the questions i'm trying to decide before booking in Feb:
1. DVC vs Direct: same price for value (AofA) vs deluxe (AK), but no *potential* free dining plans
2. Animal Kingdom: 2 Studios Savannah View vs 2-Bedroom Standard View
3. Dining Plan: purchase if using DVC? are character dining all week worth it?
4. Fri-Fri or Mon-Mon
I've been reading a lot of different information and have come up with the following itenary. It is definitely character dining heavy (and that is one place we could save a lot if we decided against a dining plan). Any thoughts on the "value" of purchasing dining plans if all your meals are expensive (due to characters)? Also thoughts on which character meals/special events are worth the cash price.
I think a 6-day park ticket makes sense due to how little the extra days are. It is pretty packed for a 4 yo with no full day break, but only did one early morning, so we can all sleep in a bit. Given we have 6 full days, also very flexible about moving things around (and I'm sure I'll need to based on the reservations I can get). Though, I did use the historical crowd stats to plan the right park on the right days.
Any tips/advice on any of the above (or other 9 mo/4 yo tips) is appreciated - thanks.
CURRENT ITENARY PLAN:
FRI 16-Sep
Dinner: Chef Mickey
PM: Fireworks from Poly
SAT 17-Sep
Breakfast: Condo
AM: Animal Kingdom
Lunch: Animal Kingdom
Afternoon: Condo
Dinner: Tusker House
PM: Rivers of Light
SUN 18-Sep
Breakfast: Be Our Guest or Crystal
AM: Magic Kingdom
Lunch: Magic Kingdom
Afternoon: Condo (this may be tough to get all the way back to AK)
Dinner: Magic Kingdom
PM: Pirates & Pals FW (maybe - this one seems expensive)
MON 19-Sep
Breakfast: Condo
AM: Condo
Lunch: Lunch Disney Jr (he really wants to see Little Einsteins or Oso, but i think they are gone)
Afternoon: Disney Studios
Dinner: Fantasmic Dinner
PM: Fantasmic Dinner
TUE 20-Sep
Breakfast: Condo
AM: Condo
Lunch: Magic Kingdom
Afternoon: Magic Kingdom
Dinner: MNSSH
PM: MNSSH
WED 21-Sep
Breakfast: Condo
AM: Disney Springs
Lunch: Disney Springs (TRex)
Afternoon: Epcot
Dinner: Coral Reef
PM: Illuninations Cruise (maybe - $275 seems steep)
THUR 22-Sep
Breakfast: Condo
AM: Animal Kingdom
Lunch: Animal Kingdom
Afternoon: Animal Kingdom
Dinner: Hoop de Doo
PM: Condo
FRI 23-Sep
AM Leave early
I really want to take my little boy (4 in April) to Disney while he still truly believes in all the magic (he makes us call him Kion right now and watches WDW ride/parade videos on youTube). We just had a baby Nov 29, so things right now seem crazy to plan a Disney trip, but here we are. We first talked about leaving the baby at home and just doing a fast 3-day trip with the (then) 4 yo, but it would be rushed and not a great "vacation" for us. Plus the tickets are loaded such that 3 more days would be just slightly more. So, we invited nana and plan on taking the baby for a week in Sept. We are from Memphis, so we are used to the potential wet weather.
The key to this plan is that Alligient flys non-stop from MEM - MCO on Mon&Fri for ~$100/person, so we decided to go from Fri-Fri (Sept. 16-23) so we could catch MNSSH and hopefully avoid crowds. We could also do a Mon-Mon trip so that the lowest crowds (Tues-Thurs) would be at the beginning of our trip. In either case, need to solidify a plan (and get some type of on-property res) before March so I'm ready for ADR 6 months out (+7).
Right now, i'm thinking about renting DVC points through a broker and getting a 2 bedroom condo at Animal Kingdom ($3000?). This would give us plenty of room and separate places for the boys to sleep. May also consider 2 separate studios with a Savannah view (about the same $), but not sure if I can get a guarantee they will be close. That would save us $ on a dining plan for Nana (as she will likely not be able to make all of them if she has the baby). Would also save a little on tickets (<$100).
We could also do 2 rooms (or a lion king suite) at Art of Animation for about $2500-3000 and potentially get free dining plans (which we'll use almost all on character dining). This could be a $2500 difference vs the above, but certainly a different experience at AK for a little boy who thinks he is a lion (booking at AK directly from Disney would negate the savings of the free dining plan).
The only other consideration is Bay Towers (just for the convenience to MK - which we may end up going to more than we think), but is certainly more than either option. Would only likely go with this if we did the 3-day trip (MK 2 days).
So the questions i'm trying to decide before booking in Feb:
1. DVC vs Direct: same price for value (AofA) vs deluxe (AK), but no *potential* free dining plans
2. Animal Kingdom: 2 Studios Savannah View vs 2-Bedroom Standard View
3. Dining Plan: purchase if using DVC? are character dining all week worth it?
4. Fri-Fri or Mon-Mon
I've been reading a lot of different information and have come up with the following itenary. It is definitely character dining heavy (and that is one place we could save a lot if we decided against a dining plan). Any thoughts on the "value" of purchasing dining plans if all your meals are expensive (due to characters)? Also thoughts on which character meals/special events are worth the cash price.
I think a 6-day park ticket makes sense due to how little the extra days are. It is pretty packed for a 4 yo with no full day break, but only did one early morning, so we can all sleep in a bit. Given we have 6 full days, also very flexible about moving things around (and I'm sure I'll need to based on the reservations I can get). Though, I did use the historical crowd stats to plan the right park on the right days.
Any tips/advice on any of the above (or other 9 mo/4 yo tips) is appreciated - thanks.
CURRENT ITENARY PLAN:
FRI 16-Sep
Dinner: Chef Mickey
PM: Fireworks from Poly
SAT 17-Sep
Breakfast: Condo
AM: Animal Kingdom
Lunch: Animal Kingdom
Afternoon: Condo
Dinner: Tusker House
PM: Rivers of Light
SUN 18-Sep
Breakfast: Be Our Guest or Crystal
AM: Magic Kingdom
Lunch: Magic Kingdom
Afternoon: Condo (this may be tough to get all the way back to AK)
Dinner: Magic Kingdom
PM: Pirates & Pals FW (maybe - this one seems expensive)
MON 19-Sep
Breakfast: Condo
AM: Condo
Lunch: Lunch Disney Jr (he really wants to see Little Einsteins or Oso, but i think they are gone)
Afternoon: Disney Studios
Dinner: Fantasmic Dinner
PM: Fantasmic Dinner
TUE 20-Sep
Breakfast: Condo
AM: Condo
Lunch: Magic Kingdom
Afternoon: Magic Kingdom
Dinner: MNSSH
PM: MNSSH
WED 21-Sep
Breakfast: Condo
AM: Disney Springs
Lunch: Disney Springs (TRex)
Afternoon: Epcot
Dinner: Coral Reef
PM: Illuninations Cruise (maybe - $275 seems steep)
THUR 22-Sep
Breakfast: Condo
AM: Animal Kingdom
Lunch: Animal Kingdom
Afternoon: Animal Kingdom
Dinner: Hoop de Doo
PM: Condo
FRI 23-Sep
AM Leave early
