hello advise sought

[gregpso]

Hi new to the thread. We are going to stay at WDW from sept 21 to sept 30 this year. We are travelling from australia. We will have 9 days at WDW Hopefully one day at Universal one day at kennedy space centre and 7 at the WDW parks. Thinking of staying at the All star resorts as quite cheap at $87 per night. Cannot afford the pricey hotels. ($500 per night for some ) ***)

As this is suppossed to be a quite time of year do you think the 7 days is enough and do you think we are right to stay on the property as oppossed to off property. Thanks

 

[Ericandjenng]

Honestly, there is never enough time...

But if you are planning on 7 days at Disney, I would definitely stay on property. Besides the convenience of the transpotation system, it's the atmosphere and no one does that better than Disney.

But as for the resort, beyond price you've also got to think about extra $ like for a preferred room and if you want a fridge in your room. Last time we stayed in a Value each of these conveniences was $10 per night in addition to the room cost--(so $87 + $10+ $10= $107 per night). We have found that moderate resorts can be found for rates close to that amount. They have bigger rooms, fridge is included and better overall layout for the resort. Also, Disney frequently has specials for alot of Sept. You might get a really good deal.

Good luck in your planning!

 

[Metro West]

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

Welcome to the Dis! You'll find a lot of useful information here!

I visited Australia in 2000 for the Olympics and LOVED it! Your country is so beautiful!

Anyway, like I said before, there's a lot of useful information on this board. I've been to WDW during the time period that you are going and the crowds aren't too bad. However you will still need to do some planning. The most popular rides will still have longer lines, so plan to ride those first thing in the morning. I think 7 days will be good for your trip. Is it possible to do EVERYTHING WDW has to offer in one trip? Not really, but 7 days should be good.

If I may make a suggestion - if I were you I would pick up the Birnbaum Guide to WDW for 2010. It's a wonderful resource and there are some coupons in the back of the book too!

Enjoy planning your trip and once again, welcome to the Dis!

 

[Aliceacc]

Hi and welcome!!!

I think you're making lots of good choices. While I've never stayed at the All Star resorts, my husband has (his school runs an annual trip to Disney and he's chaperoned several times)-- he has nothing but good things to say about them.

And a trip to Cape Caneveral is wonderful. We were there in 1990 (before kids) and loved it!!! When they get older, we hope to bring our kids back.

Staying on site means you should be elligible for Disney's Magical Express-- the free shuttle to/ from the airport.

You'll also be elligible for Disney's EMH-- extra hours in the parks only for guests of the Disney resorts.

You'll want to look into the meal plan (we loved it, but you have to see whether it's right for you)

 

[Disn3y]

Welcome, enjoy your trip!

 

[gregpso]

Hi and welcome!!!

I think you're making lots of good choices. While I've never stayed at the All Star resorts, my husband has (his school runs an annual trip to Disney and he's chaperoned several times)-- he has nothing but good things to say about them.

And a trip to Cape Caneveral is wonderful. We were there in 1990 (before kids) and loved it!!! When they get older, we hope to bring our kids back.

Staying on site means you should be elligible for Disney's Magical Express-- the free shuttle to/ from the airport.

You'll also be elligible for Disney's EMH-- extra hours in the parks only for guests of the Disney resorts.

You'll want to look into the meal plan (we loved it, but you have to see whether it's right for you)

Thanks to all for the advice. feel pretty good about the time we are going and staying at the All stars resort. The magic express shuttle sounds really good. We will be arriving at orlando at 0630 am so I hope .... into a room early and start doing the parks. We will have a hopper pass for the entire stay. I think meals are going to be expensive (as basically a captive of Disney for the entire time but everything in life is a trade off.)

As my kids are 23 and 17 this is prob going to be the last vacation as a family so this is the big one. I better start saving now. I figure I will be spending around $200 per day just on meals for 3 of us ( 23 yr old can pay for himself) A pity thare is no McDonalds or subway on site.

I hope the food portions are the same at Disney as else in the States. From memory when I travelled there (Vegas LA) some 20 years ago the food was cheap and plentiful. I will have to remember the tipping thing.

 

[Ericandjenng]

Actually there are 2 McDonald's...one very near the Allstars and a 2nd one at DTD

 

[Dizneydaz]

The McD's in DTD is closing in April for a new restaurant. Just read about it on allearsnet.com

Also, we go in Sept. every year and for the past 5 years have been able to get the free DDP. A good deal.

As for prices on dining at WDW-sorry, not that cheap but some of the portions are pretty large. We share alot. I don't think Vegas is that cheap any more either.

 

[Ericandjenng]

The MD's in DTD is closing in April for a new restaurant. Just read about it on allearsnet.com

That bites! When we go to DTD that's all my son will eat

 

[buzyanne]

I believe you were mentioning coming in Sept? If so something to look at is for the past couple of years Disney has offered free dining in Sept with certain packages. This makes your dining ressie harder to schedule but well worth it. If you book your vacation prior to you can call when the offer comes out as ask to have it added to your right as soon as the offer comes out. There is a limited # of rooms at each resort with the package. If you already have a package you want to make sure you get one at your current resort without having to transfer. Another thing to consider is last year for the 1st time Disney value resorts had the quick service dining plan only, upgradeable to regular dining plan for $10 per person per day. If you stay at a moderate or higher then you get the regular dining plan. This is something to consider as well. You will receive meals based on the # of nights you stay. (you will find some of the meals will require 2 Dining credits) so even if you are not in the park each day you will be able to use your dining. You have the option to pick the # of park day tickets on the website or on the phone when you make your reservation.

 

[PrincessInOz]

G'day mate. I just joined myself a couple of days ago. Been surfing this site since 2005 (and it's deadly addictive), when I was planning my first trip to WDW.
I'm heading back to the World in May this year (a bit of self promo-check out the link to the trip planner at the bottom).
We stayed off-site in 2005 with an eye on the budget but realised the benefits of staying on-site when we finally landed on ground.

Check out the rates for the moderates (we've picked Port Orleans Riverside this time) with the 39% discount for stays of 5 nights or longer. We wanna take advantage of the EMH, free transportation and dining. With the exchange rate holding up and the discounts offered, this might be a good time to take advantage of being able to stay on-resort and add dining.
We're thinking of adding the Quick Service Dining Plan to our ressie. The rules for "package" state that we have to have to purchase at least 1 day park ticket to qualify for adding on the dining plan so we'll buy our park tickets as part of our ressie rather than doing the discount ticket thing using Undercover Tourist.
I checked out the menus for the various counter service places and figured that I might be breaking even on food on the QSDP; but I didn't want to have to think about always ordering the cheapest thing off the menu when at the parks.

I'm going to pre-pay as much off the accommodation, ticket and food as possible when the exchange rate is good. That way, we don't have a major bill when we get home.

In 2005, we went to Kennedy Space Centre and had a blast. We were in Orlando for 10 nights and thought we would have heaps of time to do the World plus other theme parks. We spent all our time at the World; and had to drag ourselves out to KSC so that we saw something else. But then, we were here in June and the crowds were crazy!

We will be hiring a car for 1 week this time and will have the car until we change resorts. We're starting off in Miami and will be driving up. Alamo came up as the cheapest for 1 week's hire (make sure you identify that you are an Australian in country of origin - it's cheaper than putting in
US resident); plus we can drop off within WDW itself at the Swan/Dolphin and walk back to BCV. We will use the Magical Express to take us from the resort to Orlando International Airport.

Good luck with your planning; and if the posts on the DIS are correct, it looks like you might get lucky with a free dining plan in Sept.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Hi new to the thread. We are going to stay at WDW from sept 21 to sept 30 this year. We are travelling from australia. We will have 9 days at WDW Hopefully one day at Universal one day at kennedy space centre and 7 at the WDW parks. Thinking of staying at the All star resorts as quite cheap at $87 per night. Cannot afford the pricey hotels. ($500 per night for some ) ***)

As this is suppossed to be a quite time of year do you think the 7 days is enough and do you think we are right to stay on the property as oppossed to off property. Thanks

September is one of the slowest times to visit disney. The crowds are low, but it is still very hot. The thing that makes it worth it for us to visit in September is the Free Dining promo/discount. Since 2005, Disney has been offering the Free Dining promo for Magic Your way packages with a 3 night minimum and a 14 day maximum (Basic Dining Plan; 1 TS, 1 CS, 1 Snack per person per night) during the mid to last part of August until the end of September, give or take a few days. The free dining code is usually announced during the last of March/first of April. The first couple of days it will only be open to Disney Visa holders and then will open up to the general public. When the code comes out this spring, you can call and have it added to your reservation. It saves us a fortune. Just make sure you make your ADRs (advance dining reservations) at your 180 day mark, because free dining makes getting the popluar restaurants even harder to get.

As far as resorts, I have PLENTY of good things to say about the value resorts - fun, clean and cheap! We have stayed at all levels of Disney resorts and they are all nice, but we really like the value resorts. All-Star Movies is our favorite for it's traditional theming. A good tip we have is to request the Mighty Ducks building because it is actually very close to the bus stop and food court at the All-Star Music resort.

We usually do 7 days in Disney and you can pretty much see everything you want to in that time frame.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

I believe you were mentioning coming in Sept? If so something to look at is for the past couple of years Disney has offered free dining in Sept with certain packages. This makes your dining ressie harder to schedule but well worth it. If you book your vacation prior to you can call when the offer comes out as ask to have it added to your right as soon as the offer comes out. There is a limited # of rooms at each resort with the package. If you already have a package you want to make sure you get one at your current resort without having to transfer. Another thing to consider is last year for the 1st time Disney value resorts had the quick service dining plan only, upgradeable to regular dining plan for $10 per person per day. If you stay at a moderate or higher then you get the regular dining plan. This is something to consider as well. You will receive meals based on the # of nights you stay. (you will find some of the meals will require 2 Dining credits) so even if you are not in the park each day you will be able to use your dining. You have the option to pick the # of park day tickets on the website or on the phone when you make your reservation.

Actually the basic dining plan has always been the offer with the fall free dining promotion. The free dining plan with quick service that was offered last year for select dates in October, November and December was an entirely different promo than the free dining discount that was offered during the traditional fall dates.

 

[denegate]

Actually the basic dining plan has always been the offer with the fall free dining promotion. The free dining plan with quick service that was offered last year for select dates in October, November and December was an entirely different promo than the free dining discount that was offered during the traditional fall dates.

Things are always changing at Disney.....I believe now, when free dining is offered, only the quick service will be offered for free if you are staying at a value resort. Of course you can upgrade your dining package for an additional charge. Moderates and above will get the basic package.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Things are always changing at Disney.....I believe now, when free dining is offered, only the quick service will be offered for free if you are staying at a value resort. Of course you can upgrade your dining package for an additional charge. Moderates and above will get the basic package.

The current free dining bounceback for this fall and the current fall free dining offer for the UK both include the basic free dining, just as in previous years.

 

[gregpso]

Thanks for all your advice We will book the package now for 9 nights at All stars in Sept. 8 nights

We will add dining plan if its free or heavily discounted (quick service one) We do not want to spend time waiting at sit down resturants when we could be going on rides.

Quick query with airlines. We have booked the internal USA flights with Continental (as was cheapest) but have noticed the fine pring says all flight operated by United. Do qwe check in at the Continental Counter or United Counter ? All three flights booked with Continental are operated by United. Strange set up I thought if you booked and p[ayed Continental you would fly with them Am I miising something. many thanks to all. I love travelling to your country.

 

[Disney Crazy Debbie]

Since one of your inquiries had to do with food there is a website, greengrocer.com, where you can order on line and have the food delivered to your room. I haven't tried this yet myself but am planning on doing that this summer.