First Trip To WDW!!!!!!!!

[sarahsmom3]

Me, my DH & DD (4) plan to leave very early on Aug 30 heading to WDW (it's about a 12 hr drive for us), when we get to Orlando check in to the AS Movies, I booked it last night for $77 a night, then do some shopping in Downtown Disney. We plan to visit 3 parks, for the next 3 days (1 a day, no hopping) then leave after the last park closes on Friday night to drive to Destin, Fl to stay the rest of the weekend (my company pays for the Destin weekend every Labor Day weekend!). We will be celebrating DD's 5th birthday and want to eat at Chef Mickeys and Cinderella's Royal Table. Should I use the dining plan?? What is a good rate of tickets to the parks?? Will I find tickets cheaper than to purchase them online from Disney? Sorry for all the questions but there is do much info out there I do not know where to start!!!

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Congratulations, sarahsmom3! Now to get the countdown ticker started!

First of all, you will be going during Value Season, that room is at it;s lowest rack rate. Keep an eye out for room-only codes and you could get it for even less. The codes for late August should be announced sometime in late June to mid-July.

As far as the tickets are concerned, just about anyone can and will beat Disney's price for the tickets with more days and more options. I'm partial to Ticketmania because they do have pretty low prices and they ship for free. Other good ticketbrokers are MapleLeaf and Discount Orlando Vacations . You can also sign up for the MouseSavers.com Newsletter . Mary frequently has a link in it to discounted Ticketmania tickets. The newsletter is published the 15th of every month. The tickets for more days with the no expiration option are less expensive per day than the 3-day MYW base passes that you're considering. If you plan to return to WDW within the next couple of years, I would recommend getting a 7-day or even 10-day non-expiring passes.

For the dining plan, you would have to book a package. You cannot book it separately. Right now, if you do that, you will pay the rack rate for your room and Disney's advance-purchase price for the tickets. It's worth considering if you plan to do one sitdown meal every day. Both Cinderella's and Chef Mickey's count as sitdown meals. I priced it out for my family (2 adults & 2 juniors) but at $140/day plus the higher ticket cost plus the increased room cost, it came out to close to $200/per day. So for me, it isn't worth it. In your case, if you decide to go with only the 3-day MYW base tickets and don't want to wait for room codes, the added cost of $80/day might make it worthwhile. You would need to crunch the numbers.

I hope I covered all your questions. Don't hesitate to post again if you have more! Good luck with your planning!

 

[nicknamy1996]

First watch for codes for a discount at the resort. But again $77 per night is already a good deal compared to regular or peak season.

At "retail" your tickets would be $510.15 (2A and 1C 3 day non hopping tickets) IF you plan to go back next year (or any year) on your way to Destin you can save a lot by buying 6 day non exp. tickets for everyone for only $218 more (you can save even more for future trips if you can go for the 10 day ticktets, but I'm just giving you options)

Just curious. Are you planning 1 day at MK 1 at MGM and 1 at EPCOT? The hopping option is $35 per person if you add it to a 3 day ticket or a 10 day ticket. Hopping is NICE. You could cover all 4 parks in 3 days and you could hit some parks twice. Day 1 MK(to start your trip right), Day 2 EPCOT, Day 3 MGM then EPCOT(for another Illuminations viewing) and Day 4 AK(closes early) then MK for a couple of hours(to end your trip right). It just opens up a lot of options. However, on a 3 day ticket you will actually pay more for hopping then you would to add a fourth day, BUT on a 10 day ticket it would average out to a much better deal.

As for the food question. I'd skip it this time around. The biggest thing is that it has to match the number of night in your hotel and to eat enough to even break even for that many days could be tough. It would be about $90 per night for the meal plan. So on Chef Mickey day you may come out ahead with your counter svc and snacks added in. But you may be to stuffed to try to do it all again the next day and the next. All of the menus are out there on the web with pricing to help you figure that one out.

Good luck! Have a great trip! Plan plan plan so when you get there you can enjoy enjoy enjoy! You should be able to see more, do more, stress less, pay attention to the details and get much more out of the trip. And if you're like us... you will end up going back!