Help me with my first WDW trip

[Ryoga]

The DF and I have decided to spend our honeymoon (Nov. 9-16) in Orlando at WDW. We booked some good plane tickets yesterday and now need to figure out what to do about our Disney vacation. Neither of us have been to WDW before, so pretty much all the information I have is from reading around here and at other sites.

We want the full Disney experience, but can't completely break the bank on this trip. I'm thinking a room at the Pop Culture resort would be fine as I imagine we'll spend most of our time out and about. Now I need to figure out if I should book the room separately and get a regular hopper/hopper plus/ultimate hopper or if I should get one of the packages. I would like to do the things from the Romance plan (horse drawn carriage w/ champagne, dinner, and La Nouba), but that looks like you have to have the Dream Maker Package. Can you get each of those separately?

I also need suggestions for nice places to have a sit down dinner that are mid-range in price. Also, what are some other romantic things to do?

Oh, and the last bit - I am a AAA member, so I could get the package at their price. I'm also interesting in the Disney Visa. Do they have any offers that will be good in November? And does anyone know if you get the 6 months no interest with the Disney Visa if you book your trip through AAA?

Thanks in advance for your help. All this stuff is making my head spin.

 

[dopeyfanatic]

It is much cheaper to book your stuff seperately. When is your honeymoon? Codes come out and you might be able to get an even better rate on your hotel room so keep an eye on that. www.mousesavers.com is a really great site for that. If you want to go to the water parks you'll want to get at least the hopper plus tickets. The Ultimate Park hopper will let you do any of the water parks or Disney Quest (a giant arcade place) as much as you want. The hopper plus has a limit on how many times you can do those places. We are getting the UPH because I know we'll want to go to Disney Quest and it's not included in the regular hopper plus tickets, so it's cheaper to get the UPH than to pay to go to Disney Quest seperately. You do need to keep in mind though that the UPH has to be purchased for lenght of stay. If you're staying 5 nights you have to buy a 6 day pass.... As for the romance stuff, you can definitely buy tickets to La Nouba seperately. http://allearsnet.com/btp/carriage.htm This site has a ton of info also. It says on that link that you can purchase cariage rides seperately also, but I don't believe with champagne. Although it never hurts to ask a CM. I'm sure if you got a Visa you could pay for your package through AAA and get the 6 months no interest, although the package may not be the best deal. You kinda need to just price the package and then price the seperate stuff and see what the difference is. In most cases it's cheaper to do it seperate, but you never know. I haven't been to WDW since I was 12 so I can't give you any ideas on restaraunts, although the All Ears website does list menus and prices for all the places there so you can see what they have. Another romantic thing to do would be a fireworks cruise, although that's $120. Not sure what your budget is exactly. Let me know if you need any more help. Have fun planning!

Stacie

 

[mad4themouse]

First of all, congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

Secondly, welcome to the DISboards!

You've already jumped a few hurdles by nailing down your dates and purchasing airfare. Now the real fun begins! Whether you decide to stay at the PopC or GF, you can get a package with all the bells and whistles or you can go with the bare basics and add what you want in kind of an à la carte fashion.

What's nice about the packages is that you don't have to do anything more than show up once you make the call to a TA and plunk your money down. Some TAs will even take care of making your PSs. This is something that you should consider if you're involved in extensive wedding planning. Planning the honeymoon down to the last detail could be a little too much to handle.

AAA offers some good packages and so does the Disney VISA (although I don't have great offers right now). Every once in a while, a package code will come out that can make the trip a little more affordable. Current codes expire on 8/28/04 with new onces expected to be released in early September. Those new codes should cover November dates. If you can wait a few weeks to book your package, you may want to see what becomes available.

If you want to create your own package, you can book the carriage ride yourself and bring your own bottle of champagne along. The cost of the carriage ride is $30 and can be booked by calling 1-407-WDW-PLAY.

Tickets for La Nouba can be purchased from many of the online ticket brokers, like Ticketmania.com . The discount is not hefty but you will save a few dollars. Tickets are $72 apiece and include tax and shipping. Hint: sign up for the MouseSavers Newsletter . It comes out on the 15th of every month and Mary almost always has a link in it to special Ticketmania prices just for her readers.

If you feel that there will be some days when you want to sleep in and skip the parks, consider purchasing PHPs instead of UPHs. Like dopeyfanatic said, the PHPs will not include DQ admission but when you can buy DQ passes for about $24 apiece online, the UPHs aren't such a bargain. Your UPH will be good from the moment that you check in until midnight of the day you check out. The PHPs never expire as long as days remain on the pass (a good incentive to plan that second honeymoon). For a 7-day trip, I would go with a 5-day PHP. If you can find one that includes 4 pluses instead of the usual 2, get it and enjoy a few nights at PI as well as a day at one of the water parks.

For ideas of other romatic things to in WDW, check their website:
DisneyWorld.com - Romance & Recreation
Naturally, everything has it's price.

Finding romantic dining spots that won't break the budget may be a little tricky. The better restaurants (Citrico's, California Grill, Ohana's) have the best views, the higher qualitly menus and the most romantic atmospheres. Perhaps you could choose one for a romantic dinner and do lunch at some of the others. Lunch is always more affordable at these restaurants than dinner is. You can check menus here Allears.net - Menus from Around the World to get an idea of what the cuisine is like at each restaurant and what kind of prices you'll pay. Don't forget to add tax (6.5%) and tip (15-20%) to the total bill.

If dinner or lunch is too costly at any of these restaurants, how about doing just dessert & coffee? You'll get the same great atmosphere but you'll reduce the cost considerably.

Pkay, this post is getting way too long. Please don't hestitate to post any more questions that you have because you'll get great advise here. And again, congratulations!

 

[Shelle&Dave]

Congratulations!

I think it is so exciting that neither one of you has been to WDW before. That way you can experience everything for the first time...together! I've been to WDW twice and this is DFiance's first trip, so I feel like the tour guide. I'm stressing out trying to make everything just perfect. We are staying at Pop Century. I requested a lakeview room. I hope we get it!

The previous posters gave you some great ideas. Definately sign up for the mousesavers newsletter. Mary has put so much work into the website and the newsletter...it's just amazing.

The coffee and dessert thing that was mentioned is something I plan on doing. This is a budget trip for us, so we can't afford to eat many nice dinners. We both love desserts, so for a couple of the days we are there we plan on eating a big counter service lunch and then for dinner going somewhere nice for dessert and maybe appetizers if we are hungry.

The carriage ride does sound romantic. I'm hoping to catch the fireworks at the Poly beach.

 

[Minderbinder5]

Congrats! What a great choice to spend your honeymoon at WDW! The one thing I'd like to add to all this great advice is to buy (or just go to your library and rent) the Unofficial Guide to WDW and/or PassPorter's guide. I am planning a trip and these two resources have been fantastic! There are excellent descriptions about all sorts of activities, restaurants, shows, and money saving tips. I have also seen books out there that are written specifically for couples and honeymooners that are going to tour WDW.

 

[The Sweetness]

To visit any major offsite attraction (Sea World, or USF...) I may suggest not staying on property. The rooms at the value resorts are really, really tiny. For $50 you would be paying a night, you can get a room offering a complimentary hot breakfast every morning, comp shuttles to all major parks, Dis + others.

Also, I stayed at a value resort once, and it was not the slightest bit romantic. You can, of course, make your own romantic oppritunities. Congrats, and have fun, whatever you choose