Help with picking a good resort for April 2013

[Tar Heel Tom]

Hello,

I'm a dad with two kids, our son is 5 and our daughter is two. We are planning to go to WDW in late April. I'm very very very new to this, so please bear with me. Where would you suggest we stay? We plan on staying during the week for cheaper rates. I've read a lot of good things about CSR. Thanks in advance for helping a rookie with this stuff. My wife is usually pretty busy handling our two wild childs haha, so I'm trying to book us for our trip within the next week or so.

Thanks,

THT

 

[Missytara]

There is a very informative thread for CSR, so I would definately check it out.

I would also check out the threads for the other moderates as well.

I would also warn you that April equals spring break, so there are very few pockets of lower rates, even during the week. Also, a lot of the resorts will be booked in advance and a lot of discounts will be blacked out.

You may want to go over to the discount codes and rates boards, to find out some lower rates during Spring break period.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Hello,

I'm a dad with two kids, our son is 5 and our daughter is two. We are planning to go to WDW in late April. I'm very very very new to this, so please bear with me. Where would you suggest we stay? We plan on staying during the week for cheaper rates. I've read a lot of good things about CSR. Thanks in advance for helping a rookie with this stuff. My wife is usually pretty busy handling our two wild childs haha, so I'm trying to book us for our trip within the next week or so.

Thanks,

THT

You've come to the right place! As you've probably noticed Disney offers 24 different resorts to choose from, so the task of picking just one is hard even for a veteran! My best advice to you is to look at tons of photos (main Disney website, here on the DIS, also AllEarsNet) and see what appeals to you. They are all special and unique in their own way. With your children being 5 and 2 I would definitely recommend checking out the Art of Animation resort. It is the newest resort on property and offers really cute themed rooms your kids would love. I'm also a fan of Pop Century. Here on the DIS resort board you can find special threads dedicated to almost every resort. That's the best place to get down to the nitty gritty about what each resort offers... their amenities, pools, dining, etc. Please feel free to ask any specific questions, that's what we are all here for!

 

[Tar Heel Tom]

Thanks for the tips and advice so far. I checked out the April 2013 discount thread and didn't see anything yet. I guess I need to register on the Disney site to have the opportunities for discounts? Again, I apologize for the multiple questions. It looks like if I can find a discount during that month it wil save a ton of money, but it also sounds very difficult to get discounts in that month as well.

Do I just go to Disney.com and sign up there for potential discounts?

Thanks again for all the help.

THT

 

[wdwrich]

I guess I need to register on the Disney site to have the opportunities for discounts?

No, not necessary. Here is a great site for getting the latest on discounts:
www.mousesavers.com

You can sign up for their e-mail newsletter to get updates regularly.

 

[mickey&minniealways]

You might want to consider renting points from a dvc member. My sister turned up on to this years back when she owned at VWL. She gave us 50 points to use. Enough to rent a studio at OKW for 5 nights and showed us how to get the rest so we could get a 2 bedroom a there. We have been doing this ever since and it really does make a big difference. We have 3 kids and always seem to have extra people with us.

 

[gtpoohbear]

We are also going in late April

The first part of the month is very busy with spring break, but I think it gets better once you are toward the end of the month. The easiest way to pick a resort is to just start pricing out different options on the Disney website, and see what category (value, mod, or deluxe) you are comfortable with, then pick the specific resort in that category that appeals to you most from the pictures. For a first time trip with young kids, I would definitely be considering Art of Animation though! We haven't stayed there but it looks really cool.

I would suggest you go ahead and book something now, then if a discount is offered (which we are all keeping our fingers crossed for!) you will be able to add the discount to your existing reservation when it comes out. Honestly, the best place to find out about discounts is right here. Just keep checking back regularly, if there is a substantial rumor about a discount, you can bet you'll read about it here Especially on the Discounts board.

It definitely is worth doing some research and planning now. If you are interested in doing any table service meals, especially character meals (which I would recommend with young kids!) you will need to make those reservations soon - depending on your exact check-in date, you can probably make them sometime this week. And they do book up well in advance.

Good luck, and happy planning!

 

[Tar Heel Tom]

We are also going in late April

The first part of the month is very busy with spring break, but I think it gets better once you are toward the end of the month. The easiest way to pick a resort is to just start pricing out different options on the Disney website, and see what category (value, mod, or deluxe) you are comfortable with, then pick the specific resort in that category that appeals to you most from the pictures. For a first time trip with young kids, I would definitely be considering Art of Animation though! We haven't stayed there but it looks really cool.

I would suggest you go ahead and book something now, then if a discount is offered (which we are all keeping our fingers crossed for!) you will be able to add the discount to your existing reservation when it comes out. Honestly, the best place to find out about discounts is right here. Just keep checking back regularly, if there is a substantial rumor about a discount, you can bet you'll read about it here Especially on the Discounts board.

It definitely is worth doing some research and planning now. If you are interested in doing any table service meals, especially character meals (which I would recommend with young kids!) you will need to make those reservations soon - depending on your exact check-in date, you can probably make them sometime this week. And they do book up well in advance.

Good luck, and happy planning!

Thanks for the info! Where are the best character meals typically located? I'm definitely going to do that for our kids.

 

[Missytara]

Thanks for the info! Where are the best character meals typically located? I'm definitely going to do that for our kids.

You can post over at the dining thread to ask about character meals.

For a newbie, it does seem like once you start getting answers on a board, that you can keep asking questions on that board. But people for Disney are not always expert is every single category. I would go to the certain boards to get answers to a smaller list of questions related to that topic.

Like to find out about discounts, go over to the discount rates and codes board and they will explain how discounts are released.

Good luck!

 

[gtpoohbear]

Thanks for the info! Where are the best character meals typically located? I'm definitely going to do that for our kids.

It depends on which characters you want - our favorites are all in the Magic Kingdom area. Chef Mickey (at the Contemporary Resort - it has Mickey and the gang), and also inside the park - Crystal Palace (Pooh characters) and Cinderella's Royal Table (inside the castle, with princesses.

If they like Disney Junior characters, you will find them at the Hollywood & Vine Restaurant in Disney Hollywoos Studios. Animal Kingdom has Tusker House with Donald and a few others.

There are some others too -from the Disney dining web page you can get it to give you a list of character meals, and you can click to book a reservation right from the page that gives the description.

You can book them (as well as any table service restaurant) 180 days from your check in date. We are checking in on 4/18, and were able to make our dining reservations (ADRs as they are called) on Saturday (10/20). So depending on when you will be checking in, you can probably add or subtract to figure out when your ADR date would be. I know it sounds crazy to have to book meals so far in advance, but the popular ones do fill up, especially if you don't want to have to eat at a really weird time.

 

[Tar Heel Tom]

Thanks, everybody. Sorry for all the questions. It is a little overwhelming. It's a little more to take in than Six Flags here in Texas. I'll ask the questions on the appropriate boards from now on.

 

[Missytara]

Thanks, everybody. Sorry for all the questions. It is a little overwhelming. It's a little more to take in than Six Flags here in Texas. I'll ask the questions on the appropriate boards from now on.

You are at the right place; no one has better info than the disboards!

 

[MikeRx]

The best resort for your family is a personal choice, but it may help to consider transportation options. If you are relying on Disney transportation I feel you’d be better served at a monorail resort. With the ages of your children you will be spending a lot of time at the Magic Kingdom and maybe the resort pool. The convenience of the monorail is priceless to us. Easy on/off for stroller and short commutes to MK & EP. We can go to the parks and return to the resort for naps or pool time without using the bus on many of our days. With that said, we are forgoing our own advice this trip and doing a value as this is a “what the heck trip” at the Pop Century; however they have a dedicated bus route.

You can stay at one of the monorail resorts in a garden view room for the best value. We love the Poly and are returning in April. We did the theme park view in April 2012, but didn’t spend enough time in the room to value this upgrade. Our next Poly stay (April 2013) is garden view, close to the Great Ceremonial House.

As for Character breakfasts (never tried any other character meal)….we’ve done many of them and use them as a great way to get into the park early for photos and beat the rope drop crowd. Our 4 year old son is a Jake nut so Hollywood & Vine is a must do with the Disney Jr. team, Crystal Palace for Winnie the Pooh and friends and Tusker for Donald and the Safari theme remain on our list each time. In the resorts, we also enjoyed ‘Ohana at the Poly, but Cape May’s at the Beach Club was o.k. at best. We are trying Chef Mickey’s for the first time in April. We have a boy so Akershus and Cinderella are not on our list…

Mike DW DS (4) DMIL

First visit 1976, WDW 2/2010 BC CL, Disneyland GC 12/2010, WDW 4/2012 POLY TPV, WDW 7/2012 (off site meeting), WDW 12/12 POP and 4/2013 POLY with Disney Dream cruise!


and

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Thanks for the tips and advice so far. I checked out the April 2013 discount thread and didn't see anything yet. I guess I need to register on the Disney site to have the opportunities for discounts? Again, I apologize for the multiple questions. It looks like if I can find a discount during that month it wil save a ton of money, but it also sounds very difficult to get discounts in that month as well.

Do I just go to Disney.com and sign up there for potential discounts?

Thanks again for all the help.

THT

Ask as many questions as you'd like! There are several places you can watch for discounts. Right here on the DIS: http://www.wdwinfo.com/discounts.html and here: http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=93 As someone else mentioned, Mousesavers is another great resource: http://www.mousesavers.com/ Subscribing to their newsletter is a great idea. Usually when a discount is about to be released you'll hear the buzz on the message boards first. That will give you a chance to formulate a game plan. Some people like to go ahead and make their resort reservations, then call to modify them once the code is out, others prefer to wait. Usually I'm more inclined to wait, but that's because I'm very flexible about which resort I am willing to stay at. If you have your heart set on one particular location then it's probably best to go ahead and book it now, then worry about modifying it later. When the codes come out be prepared that sometimes you might have to change your resort in order to get the discount you're looking for. Being flexible will help your chances for sure! If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

 

[butsy113]

For our first trip "Birnbaum's Official Guide" was a great resource to have. You can find it on Amazon. The book is great for a beginner (I still get a new copy every year!). It can give you the basics on resorts, restaurants,character meals, etc. Our favorite resort is AKL. If discounts come out that make it doable, I highly recommend it Heck, we loved it so much AKV is now our "home"

As far as restaurants, I think you should go to Allears.net and check out the menus. Find what will work for your family and go with it. A lot of the restaurants are more for the experience, not the superior food. For instance, people on the boards often talk down about Chef Mickey. Is it the best, no, probably not. It is rally good though, and where else can you eat with the FAB 5 around you!!! A must do for your little ones.

Good luck with the planning and have a magical trip