Hubby said I can book a girls only trip.. help me decide time and place!

[princessesintraining]

My husband gave me the go ahead to plan another Disney trip for our girls 8 & 5. My husband is not going, but my mom said she will go along for the ride. We did a Disney trip in Febraury 2012 and stayed at the wilderness lodge, which we loved. Would love to stay deluxe again and are looking at either August 17-24, middle of september or middle of october travel dates. Want to stay under $4000 and would consider the villas(renting points?): if this will help with the costs. I would prefer to do the dining plan out of convenience and park hoppers because last time they wanted to spend a lot of time at MK. Not planning on doing water parks. Will be flying but not considered that in price as husband might have enough miles to fly us for me. Thanks for any help!

 

[Alabama Minnie]

Not sure how many days to divide into that $4000 but I would consider the Poly or Contemporary and that way you would have two Queen beds and a nice daybed for all of you. They are also both on the monorail, especially if you like going to MK alot.

I do NOT recommend August. It is still VERY hot. Also have been many times late Sept. it is still warm but better and cheaper.

 

[princessesintraining]

It's 7 nights/8 days. I figure I travel day on each end, so 6 park days, but want to make sure we have some down time because last time it was commando style with my then 7 year old and my husband and 4 year old couldn't keep up, but that was a 5 park day trip. We could really go at anytime that isn't July or beginning of august, but I would have to pull the girls out of school (kindergartener & 3rd grader(A student)) We have 3 birthdays in October and my eldest has a birthday in middle of November, if that makes a difference. We just have to go the middle of some month, as my mom has to be at her job to do monthend.

 

[pepe of ohio]

Big fans of WL. We have done a studio, not that bad and I'm looking at Dave's Point Rental.. WL 8 nights studio..... 127 points needed and all his points rent for 13.00 a point so that's cheaper than the regular lodge, only no daily housekeeping.... Doesn't mean much for us but 1000.00 saving does... Check out his site... Good calculator for checking how many points needed at all the villas..

We like Sept/Oct in WDW, value season, low crowds but hot weather... It's Florida, we want the heat and sun, really enjoy the resort pool....we spend more time in the MK than any other park hence why staying at the WL is so avantagize fir us, love the boat!!

 

[mickeynut1]

I would consider the Poly or Contemporary and that way you would have two Queen beds and a nice daybed for all of you. They are also both on the monorail, especially if you like going to MK alot.

I do NOT recommend August. It is still VERY hot. Also have been many times late Sept. it is still warm but better and cheaper.

I agree, especially about the resort options . The Poly and CR are among the largest standard rooms of the deluxe resorts, with all rooms having a daybed.

We've never been in August, but have been twice the very end of September and once the tail end of October into November and the weather all 3 times were great (that's actually our favorite time of year to go). It's warm enough for swimming, but not too terribly hot for walking around the parks.

 

[princessesintraining]

Would June be any better crowd/ temperature wise? june 8 through 15 would go under their promotion. School lets out the 7th.

 

[nolanboys]

We've gone the first week in June. It was hot and by the end of the trip there was a noticeable increase in crowds. DH and I went in September. It was a little warm, but not bad. The parks were fairly empty. You do have to worry about hurricanes that time of year. We've been in October twice and love it. Weather is great. What about looking around Columbus Day so the girls only miss 4 days?

 

[owl0306]

deluxe with a day bed is your best option as all of you can have your own beds. I love YC and BWI.

 

[NHKristy76]

I found June to be oppressively hot but that gave us a great excuse to use spend time by the pools.

I'd say October if you are planning to spend a lot of time in the parks but June if you are going to be focused on relaxing by the pool.

Have fun either way!

 

[MMrules]

September usually has good deals on hotel and/or free dining. If there is a room discount, that is usually the best option for saving money. Free dining is great, but not cheaper than a room discount.

I have DVC and do love the extra space within the room. Now if you only get a studio it is like a regular room with a pull out sofa which I have slept on and kids don't usually mind. The studio's have a small kitchen with microwave, toaster, fridge, so it can help save on meals. You can order groceries through gardengrocer. com and have them delivered to your room to help save with money. Points are usually cheaper in Sept so to rent them through Dave's would probably be cheaper than a regular hotel room. If you can get a 1 bedroom villa you will have a full kitchen, washer/dryer and if it's at Animal Kingdom you would have 2 bathrooms.

I love the Animal Kingdom villas (where we own). Much like WL but with the animals it has a very exotic feel to it. I also like the WL but haven't had the chance at a villa there either. The Beach club is very nice and close to Epcot. I think Saratoga and Old Key west are too big but just because I like to be walking in hallways instead of outside to get to my room.

Good luck choosing.

 

[princessesintraining]

MMrules how is it staying at AKL/villas? What is the transportation like having to take a bus everywhere? I have looked at AKL, but I just feel like it's so far out there. We don't mind sharing beds and to be honest we hardly spent any time in our actual room last time. I will have to check on renting points because we ate most of our meals in the parks the last time, but my girls would really prefer at least breakfast in the room since they are oatmeal/cereal eaters.

 

[MMrules]

MMrules how is it staying at AKL/villas? What is the transportation like having to take a bus everywhere? I have looked at AKL, but I just feel like it's so far out there. We don't mind sharing beds and to be honest we hardly spent any time in our actual room last time. I will have to check on renting points because we ate most of our meals in the parks the last time, but my girls would really prefer at least breakfast in the room since they are oatmeal/cereal eaters.

I actually think the buses there run very smooth. Yes, it looks further away than other resorts, but there are only 2 bus stops within one at the villas and one at the lodge. Then you are off. I found that maybe the longest ride was 20 minutes.

Now when I stayed at BC and BW the bus shares with both resorts and swan/dolphin. Sometimes the loading on/off took over 20 minutes never mind the ride to the park. Also boats can go slow too and won't operate in thunderstorms.

When I was at WL the boat ride was great, but again running the risk of thunderstorms ends that transportation. Also they will go to fort wilderness or GF to pick up/drop off guests so that takes a while too.

The moderates will all have multiple bus stops as does Old Key West and Saratoga (My in-laws own at Saratoga and we were on the bus within the resort for about a half hour before getting on the road).

Bottom line all resorts seem to be sharing with other resorts for bus transportation (I am sure due to budget cuts) so there may be waits. My last AKV was in Sept 2011 and the bueses were great! Lots of folks will say a monorail resort hands down, but they have cut back on their hours of operation and sometimes the wait to get on them can be very long especially when the park closes.

Not to sell you on AKV, but it really is a very beautiful and peaceful resort. THey have wonderful activities there for grown ups and children and the service was fantastic. I wouldn't let the bus situation stop you unless you absolutely hate the bus

 

[MMrules]

So I just went on the DVC members web site to find some prices for you.

I randomly picked Sept. 8th through 14th b/c that time of year is cheaper points wise for DVC. Also staying Sun through Sat. costs less points.

If you booked at Animal Kingdom they have several point categorys. The points I looked at were in the actual lodge.

The Value room (may or may not be savanna and is slightly smaller than a regular studio) is 57 points. I think the points rent at $15 each which would cost you $855.

The studio which is a standard view (Parking lot, possibly pool) is 68 points which would be $1020.

A savanna room (which sees the animals and would be the same points at the larger Villa) is 86 points which would be about $1290.

I would say this is all within your budget with lots of money to play with for tickets, air, meals etc.

Sometimes DVC books up fairly quick in the fall, but this gives you ball park numbers to crunch. I hope this helps.

 

[EagleScout]

To answer one of your original questions (when to go of the times you picked), September and October also have the advantage of the Halloween party if you want it (or the negative if you do not want it). I apologize if telling you stuff you already know, but starting in early september, with increasing frequency as getting toward oct 31, mk has a separate halloween "party" beginning at 7 pm until midnight (2-3 per week in sept, 3-4 per week in oct). They are a "hard ticket" event, meaning it is an extra admission - just a little less than a one-day pass (maybe 40-50 dollars). We took our 3 yo who loved it- obviously did not stay for whole thing (we are pretty lax on vaca, but not that lax). Especially during weekday parties in sept, the crowds are relatively light (mostly walk-on rides), and the parade was neat- which was the main reason we went. There are also lots of character signings, many unique for that event. Our son liked to see them, but could not be bothered to wait in the lines, so instead he (and we) preferred to just walk past them and wave and walk on rides. There is also a villains only stage show and two "dance parties" where kids can dance with characters. There is also trick-or-treating, but we did not bother with that, because many stations had lines, and we can get candy elsewhere, but i recognize some really like it, and a few of the stations had shorter lines. On the flip side, if you do not go, there is some curtailing of your mk hours, but only minimal. Have fun whatever you choose! One last piece of advice- i agree dave's point rental is great, but those start booking up at 11 mos prior to visit, and at 6-7 mos out can get going very fast, so prob want to start making plans.

 

[princessesintraining]

Thank you for all your help! Tomorrow I will be booking the Wilderness Lodge for Octber 5-12. We will be celebrating all 4 of our birthdays because October and the middle of november are very busy for us. Although renting a villa would be cheaper, I was a little afraid of not getting my money back if we couldn't make the trip. My mom's boyfriend has health issues, so I was a little concerned about that. We are definitely going to try and hit up the Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween and my sister said that Food and Wine is going on as well.

 

[jude&jonah]

Probably too late- but I totally vote Y & B club for a girls trip- especially during food & wine! Close to epcot for dining and drinking, walkable to the boardwalk, great pool since you're not doing watermarks and it's a decently hot time of year, and most importantly one you haven't done before! I personally try not to repeat Disney resorts if I can help it. Also, it's one of the more reasonable deluxes IMO- closer to the price of WL than the others.

WL IS my favorite- but again- I think it's fun to try out different places.

HAve a great trip with whatever you choose!!!

 

[tcordero]

Have you thought about Saratoga Springs? They have 2 bedrooms with 3 beds + sofa bed...very roomy and close to Downtown Disney!

 

[princessesintraining]

Ended up booking Wilderness Lodge Oct 5-12 to celebrate all our birthdays. Busy month for us! Hoping for some kind of discount or offer, so I can stay on budget, but I guess there is still plenty of time to save if there's not.