stitchgal
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2004
- Messages
- 273
First time posting a trip report here! I have written them in the past but never posted one on disboards. The pre-trip report was written by my husband.
Cast of Characters
Me, Amy- 31, 10th trip (I think), DH got me into WDW
DH, Jason-32, 20+ trips, went every year as a child
DD, Mallory-3, 2nd trip to WDW, looking forward to it!
DD, Tabitha-just turned 1 and just started walking so we are excited to see her toddle around the World
August 27-September 3, 2006
Pre-Trip Report Written by Jason, so he is I
Our last trip to the World was in November 2004, when Mallory was 15 months old. When we found out that baby #2 was due in August 2005, we knew that we would need to take a break from major travels. Experience with Mallory showed us that 9 months old was about the earliest to plan a major trip. We had not been to Disneyland since 2002 so we decided to go there next. Not wanting to take major trips to Disney too close together, by March of 2006 we had plans to next return to the World in December 2006. However then the free offers started to come in
(Nearly) Free Airfare. For November and December 2005, Wendys, Coca-Cola, and AirTran Airways came out with a promotion for (nearly) free flights. For every 32 Wendys medium or large soda cup collected, one could get a free one-way flight anywhere that AirTran flys. Limit four one-way flights (two roundtrips) per adult. Many trips to Wendys and trashcan searches later, we had 256 cups, good for a free roundtrip for each member of our family. Cost for flights probably $40 in gas, postage, envelopes, plus another $20 for the 9/11 security fee total of $60 for all four roundtrips.
Free Dining (sort of). In 2005, Disney did a free dining promotion for most of the months of August and September. I really wanted to take advantage, but with an extremely newborn baby, it would just be too impractical. I thought it would be unlikely that Disney would repeat the deal, because the value to a family of four (2 adults, two kids) is $97.96 per night, ($86.97 for our 2 adult 1 child family) which is more than the cost of a value resort room. I watch Disney promotions and Disney tends to do discounts of $30 per value, $55 per moderate and $75 per deluxe, so surely Disney wouldnt repeat such a great offer.
I was wrong. The offer came out in the spring and I was excited and wanted to do it. However we already had many trips planned (California in May, a week at the beach, and many smaller trips) so Amy was able to talk me out of it.
Eventually another room discount came along that would have saved us $40 per night ($44.60 with tax). So the free dining plan actually cost $44.60 as to get free dining one must book at rack rate. But we would have done the dining plan anyway, so a $86.97 discount sure beats a $44.60 discount.
Free Wiggles (Truly). While we were vacationing in California, my mother joined us for the Disneyland days. She mention that she heard somewhere on the Internet that the Wiggles (kids music group with their own TV show) were coming to Disney World sometime. That got Amys attention. Amy had wanted to take Mallory last year but their concert in our area was only a few weeks after Tabithas birth. Once we returned home, further research showed that the Wiggles were coming during free dining at the end of August and prior to Mallory starting preschool. Furthermore, they were coming during one of the historically least busy weeks of the year. Figuring that Wiggles tickets for Amy and Mallory would probably run $50 each this would be a $100 savings. And I could go too. I re-presented the plan to go, cancelled a trip or two from the summer schedule, and Amy agreed to go. Whoopee!
Other Reasons to Go. I wanted to test out the dining plan prior to the big trip (9 nights with my mother and brother at the Polynesian) in December. We wanted to see the 50th anniversary decorations (particularly the castle). Morbid curiosity about what the weather is really like in August. We also wanted to see Blizzard Beach, which is closed in December.
Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs)
Getting the ADRs was not a problem at all. Although we were not interested in the really popular restaurants, even though we first called less than 90 days out we still got everything we wanted at the time we wanted. Hopefully this would be a good sign for low crowds. We ended up with:
8/29 Wolfgang Puck Café at 6:45 PM
8/30 Boma at 6:50 PM
8/31 San Angel Inn at 5:30 PM
9/1 Kona Café at 5:30 PM
9/2 Hollywood and Vine 8:15 (JoJo Circus and Little Einsteins character breakfast)
9/2 Spoodles 5:30 PM
Car Rental
We got an excellent rate on an intermediate car from National. The rate for six days was $121.10. We are Emerald Club members, so we got to skip standing in line too.
Disney Package
We got six nights at Port Orleans Riverside Resort. We also paid for 7 days park hopper tickets with the water parks and more option. The room cost was $929.91 and the tickets were $850.27 for a total package price of $1780.18. Did I mention the dining was free?
Cast of Characters
Me, Amy- 31, 10th trip (I think), DH got me into WDW
DH, Jason-32, 20+ trips, went every year as a child
DD, Mallory-3, 2nd trip to WDW, looking forward to it!
DD, Tabitha-just turned 1 and just started walking so we are excited to see her toddle around the World
August 27-September 3, 2006
Pre-Trip Report Written by Jason, so he is I
Our last trip to the World was in November 2004, when Mallory was 15 months old. When we found out that baby #2 was due in August 2005, we knew that we would need to take a break from major travels. Experience with Mallory showed us that 9 months old was about the earliest to plan a major trip. We had not been to Disneyland since 2002 so we decided to go there next. Not wanting to take major trips to Disney too close together, by March of 2006 we had plans to next return to the World in December 2006. However then the free offers started to come in
(Nearly) Free Airfare. For November and December 2005, Wendys, Coca-Cola, and AirTran Airways came out with a promotion for (nearly) free flights. For every 32 Wendys medium or large soda cup collected, one could get a free one-way flight anywhere that AirTran flys. Limit four one-way flights (two roundtrips) per adult. Many trips to Wendys and trashcan searches later, we had 256 cups, good for a free roundtrip for each member of our family. Cost for flights probably $40 in gas, postage, envelopes, plus another $20 for the 9/11 security fee total of $60 for all four roundtrips.
Free Dining (sort of). In 2005, Disney did a free dining promotion for most of the months of August and September. I really wanted to take advantage, but with an extremely newborn baby, it would just be too impractical. I thought it would be unlikely that Disney would repeat the deal, because the value to a family of four (2 adults, two kids) is $97.96 per night, ($86.97 for our 2 adult 1 child family) which is more than the cost of a value resort room. I watch Disney promotions and Disney tends to do discounts of $30 per value, $55 per moderate and $75 per deluxe, so surely Disney wouldnt repeat such a great offer.
I was wrong. The offer came out in the spring and I was excited and wanted to do it. However we already had many trips planned (California in May, a week at the beach, and many smaller trips) so Amy was able to talk me out of it.
Eventually another room discount came along that would have saved us $40 per night ($44.60 with tax). So the free dining plan actually cost $44.60 as to get free dining one must book at rack rate. But we would have done the dining plan anyway, so a $86.97 discount sure beats a $44.60 discount.
Free Wiggles (Truly). While we were vacationing in California, my mother joined us for the Disneyland days. She mention that she heard somewhere on the Internet that the Wiggles (kids music group with their own TV show) were coming to Disney World sometime. That got Amys attention. Amy had wanted to take Mallory last year but their concert in our area was only a few weeks after Tabithas birth. Once we returned home, further research showed that the Wiggles were coming during free dining at the end of August and prior to Mallory starting preschool. Furthermore, they were coming during one of the historically least busy weeks of the year. Figuring that Wiggles tickets for Amy and Mallory would probably run $50 each this would be a $100 savings. And I could go too. I re-presented the plan to go, cancelled a trip or two from the summer schedule, and Amy agreed to go. Whoopee!
Other Reasons to Go. I wanted to test out the dining plan prior to the big trip (9 nights with my mother and brother at the Polynesian) in December. We wanted to see the 50th anniversary decorations (particularly the castle). Morbid curiosity about what the weather is really like in August. We also wanted to see Blizzard Beach, which is closed in December.
Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs)
Getting the ADRs was not a problem at all. Although we were not interested in the really popular restaurants, even though we first called less than 90 days out we still got everything we wanted at the time we wanted. Hopefully this would be a good sign for low crowds. We ended up with:
8/29 Wolfgang Puck Café at 6:45 PM
8/30 Boma at 6:50 PM
8/31 San Angel Inn at 5:30 PM
9/1 Kona Café at 5:30 PM
9/2 Hollywood and Vine 8:15 (JoJo Circus and Little Einsteins character breakfast)
9/2 Spoodles 5:30 PM
Car Rental
We got an excellent rate on an intermediate car from National. The rate for six days was $121.10. We are Emerald Club members, so we got to skip standing in line too.
Disney Package
We got six nights at Port Orleans Riverside Resort. We also paid for 7 days park hopper tickets with the water parks and more option. The room cost was $929.91 and the tickets were $850.27 for a total package price of $1780.18. Did I mention the dining was free?
We're going down in 12 days to take advantage of the free dining as well! We also looked at the cost benefits due to paying rack rate, but with all the great restaurants we'll be eating at - we're coming out ahead even with paying rack rate! 
