Help planning first trip

[wags7862]

Hi everyone, I hope I am doing this correctly. I am attempting to plan a trip for my family of 4 to Disney World. We plan on going in October so I have heard this is a good time. I am in the military and have heard that Disney Shades of Green is the place to stay for military. This site is outstanding for information but a little overwhelming. So I guess if you guys and girls could point me the right direction I would greatly appreaciate it.

P.S. I will be the hero to my family if I can pull this off!

 

[indians3452]

Well good choice in a vacation, you will be a hero to your kids. Well you are already a hero for your military service. Shades of green is a beautiful resort, my dad was in the navy, so we got our tickets their, never went their cause his motto was, well for disney at least "why pay 2x for a hotel room, for one week, when you can pay half on a hotel and stay two weeks" First thing is first, length and stay time? From their you move on to how to travel. Then how many days at the parks, what kind of tickets with which perks.

After that what parks on what days. If you are having a day for just you and your sig other what days you two going?

After that decide what kind of resturants you want to go to. Character meals? Fast food? Eating at the hotel?

With the food decided you can then decided which rides to go on, i suggest making a iternary Csp?) for each day. If you get a park hopper do you wanna spend half day at MK then other half at epcot. If you have young ones you might need to take a break in the middle of the day, especially if you go to epcot, it can be overwhelming.

Also if you are spending days not at the parks(why would you? joking) are you going to explore orlando, are you going to stay in the hotel. If your kids are school age and have work assigned by their teachers, you might need to have a day for them to do it, or split it up over everyday.

Well i though out a bunch of info at once. sorry if it seems disorrented.
Good luck and you will do fine.

 

[wags7862]

Thanks for the help, I intend to take them for at least 4 days. I would like to visit each area for one day, is that possible? I intend to fly my family down and rent a car and then (hopefully) shuttle back and forth. I have heard that you can make meal reservations when Disney characters show up. Is this possible or just luck?

P.S. What is a CSP?

Thanks again!

 

[indians3452]

You can do it in four days, you need to plan on getting up early if you are going to shuttle from hotel to park. Buses can take some time. Yes actually character meals are basically a meal (b/l/d) buffet or family style. And as you eat your food the characters go from table to table singing autographs taking pictures and mingling at each table. Its a very popular choice to eating, especially with younger ones. A reservation is recommended especially for breakfast ones, but not always recommended. Some of the best ones are:
Crystal Palace: Magic kingdom, it has breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I think you have to have a reservation (or priority seating as its called) to have the breakfast one. It features Winnie the Pooh characters. Its buffet style.

Cinderellas royal table(i think its called that): Magic kingdom. Breakfast. RESERVATION IS REQUIRED!!! This is the most sought out character breakfast. It has princess characters, and non princess (marry poppoins). Great for the little princess in your family. Everyone is served the same dish. Eggs bacon etc..

Princess breakfast in Norway in Epcotsorry don't know the name.) EPCOT. Reservations are required. Buffet style with princesses.

Garden grill: Epcot. Dinner with Mickey and pals. L/D. Family style, which means its like thanksgiving. Turkey, catfish, mac and cheese. I think kids can get a different set off food but i cant remember.

Liberty Tree: Magic kingdom. L/D. Dinner with mickey and pals in colonial era cloth. Same as garden grill in food style.

These are the major ones at the park. Most are reasonable priced. About 20-30 a person. Like i said earlier priority seating isn't required for some but is really recommended. You can call up to 90 days in advance for seating. None of them really fill up except Cinderella table which is in Cinderella's castle. When i went as a kid, it took my family three trips to get a seat here. So yeah any more info just ask.

 

[disney54us]

Hi, and Welcome to the boards. ditto on previous post you are our hero's and a thank you for all you do. I can't offer info on this, on one of my regular boards Thread Killer's unite, which was recently moved to the CB, there is a reg. DL55 who is going to be staying there. I am sure they would share info and help. If you want stop by the board and ask (we are all friendly), or you may want to pm. I think I give DL a heads up, has always been willing to help others.

 

[shellybelly72]

Hi & welcome!We have stayed at shades of green a few times. It is a beautiful resort. They run their own bussing system which is pretty nice and you can by tickets to the park at a discounted rate right down the hall from the lobby.t
The rooms are actually pretty good size too!

You need to call and make reservations early, and by early I mean in the next few months!!

Happy Planning!

 

[wags7862]

Thanks to Indians3452, Shellybelly72, and Disney54us for all the good info. After 20 years in the military I was pretty good at planning but after spending a few days on this you guys should be in charge of the military! I am considering staying somewhere else on the Resort. I think my two sons would enjoy staying at a themed hotel better. However, if I am not going to save any money I would rather spend the money on the attractions. Thanks again!

 

[wags7862]

Here is another question I have for all the experts.

I see there is another route to go in preparing your trip. It's called "Magic your Way". My sister-in-law used it and loved it. She flew down from Columbus, Ohio and her luggage was dropped off there and was in there rooms when they arrived. Has anyone used this?

 

[DL55]

Hi, welcome to the DIS!
This is our third attempt at the Shades of Green, finally got a reservation. We made them 8 months out. 2 previous attempts were made at 6 and 7 months. Its a great price especially for those of you in the military at lower ranks. My husband is a DOD employee so the savings aren't as good. We still are getting a Deluxe hotel for the price of a Value. The (military) ticket prices are a great value because we park hop. With only 4 days and first time you may not want to park hop. Tickets are cheaper without the park hopper option. The Magical Express, where they pick you up at the airport and deliver your luggage to your room does not apply for SOG guests as we are not "Disney". But we do get to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours. These are times where different parks are open an hour early or 3 hours later than posted times.

PS you are our hero

 

[wags7862]

Thanks DL 55, I just went out and picked up PassPorter's Walt Disney World and Walt Disney World with Kids 2008. I honestly thought I could just buy tickets a few weeks out and be ready to rock and roll. I was wrong! Thanks again for the great advice and a quasi support group!

 

[DL55]

Lots of people don't think to plan ahead. But you will have an even better time knowing in advance of what to expect (especially best times to get on the rides! ) BTW if you want theme just walk from the SOG to the Poly, check out the resort , hop on the momorail and check out the other two. You get to look at theming without paying for it! That's what I'm planning to do.

 

[wilde_oscar]

going on Oct. you might get a better deal staying at All Stars Sports (the 2 boys would like it I am sure) by putting together a package deal. 4 days really is a pretty short trip, to hit the highlights of the parks ya need about a full day per park, is a couple of those 4 days are travel days, you need to accept that you are not going to see it all. October is the prime time for Mickey's not so scary halloween party (MNSSHP) which is a hard ticket event that you pay extra for, but ya get plenty of candy, there is special fireworks and special parade.

park touring plans might help, a good guide book will help... the Unofficial Guide is popular for a reason.

I know it is overwhelming, but WDW is the largest vacation destination in the world, it is twice the size of manhattan with a lot more to see and do. Ask questions, take notes, make a spread sheet. Start a list of must do attractions, and a list of would like to do attractions.

And by all means ask questions, post your plans here and ask for feedback. We have the expertise, and the knowledge buried in the Dis Boards somewhere.

 

[wilde_oscar]

Here is another question I have for all the experts.

I see there is another route to go in preparing your trip. It's called "Magic your Way". My sister-in-law used it and loved it. She flew down from Columbus, Ohio and her luggage was dropped off there and was in there rooms when they arrived. Has anyone used this?

i would say a majority uses this... Disney has been putting together vacation packages to WDW for a few years now... over 30. So they get a lot of things right that you would not have even thought of... something else to consider is that the sponsor of the Dis Boards is a travel agency that knows a little about vacations to WDW since it is all they do and their OCD with WDW will make your ears hurt with the level of knowledge. ya might wanna check out Dreams Unlimited travel, fire off an email, explain your situation, and they just might have some good/better information on prices and scheduling.

The MYW (Magic Your Way) package puts everything ya need together in a nice way. Flights, transport to a WDW Resort, Room, Tickets, and Meals. These packages are modular so you can add and subtract. Staying onsite saves time and hassle with getting to and from the parks via WDW transportation (the largest logistics and transportation system in the world, they move in excess of 200,000 people to 40 destinations in-world in about an hour in the evenings when the parks are closing).

Remember to breathe and breathe often... a little knowledge goes a long way in planning.

 

[wags7862]

Once again, many thanks go out to DL55 and wildeoscar for more great advise.

We only have a week off for school so I intend to spend 4 days to include travel. I would love to stay at least another day but the cost is the driving factor for me. I am not going to go commando and attempt to see everything the park has to offer. I would love to but I will take what I can get. I think if I can pull off something that allows us to see and enjoy something for a few days then that should be fine. Plus its a nice little break for my boys in school.

I think I will shoot off an e-mail to Dreams Unlimited Travel.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Hi, welcome to the DIS!
This is our third attempt at the Shades of Green, finally got a reservation. We made them 8 months out. 2 previous attempts were made at 6 and 7 months. Its a great price especially for those of you in the military at lower ranks. My husband is a DOD employee so the savings aren't as good. We still are getting a Deluxe hotel for the price of a Value. The (military) ticket prices are a great value because we park hop. With only 4 days and first time you may not want to park hop. Tickets are cheaper without the park hopper option. The Magical Express, where they pick you up at the airport and deliver your luggage to your room does not apply for SOG guests as we are not "Disney". But we do get to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours. These are times where different parks are open an hour early or 3 hours later than posted times.

PS you are our hero

Also, Shades of Green does not qualify for the Disney Dining Plan either.

 

[wags7862]

Also, Shades of Green does not qualify for the Disney Dining Plan either.

Thanks Tiffany,
That stinks! I just figured that I could add another day to our trip. I think I might have to contract one of you guys out to plan this trip! I am going to Shades of Green tomorrow to see what they offer. Thanks everbody!