i have no idea where to start !!

[princessjodiebo]

we have decided on a trip to the magic in may we can only go for a week possibly 10 nights at a push and i am at a bit of a crossroads !

a lot of people are talking about putting packages together themseklves and we have been looking at flight prices with various companies
we want to travel into mco as we will not be hiring a car and want the free transfers with disney
a lot of the american flights have stops and i was wondering if anyone had any opinions on wether it was a good idea - with one company it was nearly £300 pounds cheaper which is a lot of money !!

also disney are offering preferred viewing for fireworks if you book with them has anyone been and used that or is it not really a necessity ??

sorry for the questions but finally i think that we may be able to actually go this time and im so excited !!

 

[wayneg]

Personally I have never had a problem doing indirect flights(at least 50% of our trips below) saved a fortune over the years but other s won't do indirect whatever the saving. Aim for about 2 hours between flights and that is enough time to do immigration, recheck luggage and get to your next flight. Coming home anything more then 1 hour is usually enough.

Never been bothered with the preferred viewing, MK is not supposed to be a great spot, Epcot better but we never have trouble seeing them from anywhere we are at the time.

If you want to post details of dates, flight prices you have seen, hotel & prices etc then if anyone sees better they will reply.

 

[princessjodiebo]

the cheapest overall quote for everything was with complete orlando £3551
flights were just over £1900 with b.a
then port orleans accom
and then park tickets

its the cheapest i have found so far but i will keep looking right up til we book !

one other thing i wasnt sure about is the dining

is it worth upgrading to the regular plan from the quick service ?

im not sure as you lose a snack and to be honest i dont want to be tied down to dinner reservations which i assume i will be as so many people have to reserve their tables in advance

any thoughts much appreciated

 

[jtlover]

We have been on the dining plan 4x now and really enjoy it.

As Orlando is a holiday that you need to plan we always work our reservations on which park we will be in on the day - it works for us.

Personally I love dining plan and it works for us. We like to go to some of the signature restaurants which are very nice.

We book our holidays ourselves. Usually www.disneyworld.co.uk for the accommodation and tickets and then www.virginatlantic.co.uk for the flights. We also use Virgin for the car hire as well but dont book that until around 10 days before the holiday

Have fun planning.

 

[Elise79]

What dates and how many adults and children?

We have done both the QSDP and the DDP. When we did the QSDP we stayed at CSR where you could get really good QS - I had steak several nights and felt like I was still getting a proper dinner. I wouldn't stay at any other resort with the QSDP.

If you go with the DDP you will need to book reservations but you can change them as long as they are not the really popular restaurants.

 

[wayneg]

No question for us upgrade the DDP. If we stay onsite or offsite we eat a table service meal almost every evening.
If you are going when free dining plan is available have you considered Old Key West or Saratoga Springs? Similar price(some dates less) to POR but you get better DDP included.

 

[princessjodiebo]

the price i got was for me my hubby and my 13 yr old daughter and 9 year old son going at the beginning of may

its interesting to hear that CSR has a better choice of food on the QSP
im just worried that as we are only there for a week i dont want to waste time on table service meals if we are pushed for time
plus if its may would we be better off with the QSP and using our snack credits for drinks ?
i have no idea how much to budget for all the extras at the moment we are thinking about £1500 not sure if thats too much or not ?
we have ponchos and disney hats from dlrp to get us started lol

 

[WiganTony]

a lot of the american flights have stops and i was wondering if anyone had any opinions on wether it was a good idea - with one company it was nearly £300 pounds cheaper which is a lot of money !!

Was this £300 for all 4, or £300 each? If for all 4, I would be tempted to go with direct flights, which would also give you the chance to spend a few hours in a park on your final day to maximise your time.

However, if you decide to go indirect, I would make sure that your first US airport has a number of connecting flights available later on the same day just in case your flight from the UK is delayed. No point in arriving at an airport that has only one connecting flight per day!!

You don't say where you are hoping to fly from. If you can get to the London airports, you may want to look into direct flights to Tampa which may work out cheaper, and is only an hour or so drive to Orlando.

also disney are offering preferred viewing for fireworks if you book with them has anyone been and used that or is it not really a necessity ??

As Wayne notes, the preferred viewing in MK isn't great at all. It does mean you can get a seat and don't have to stake out a place well in advance, but the fireworks and castle are partially obscured by trees.

 

[princessjodiebo]

as i dont know when i will be back to florida i really wanted to make the most of this week i think i might stay at coronado or port orleans as hubby really likes those hotels and then upgrade the dining plan
i jsut know that there are going to be long days and i dont know wether i will end up spending all of my time buying extra snacks for the kiddies lol
i have seen that you can top up with water in the parks for free which is great as we all love a blast of h20
might need your advice soon on what restaurants to pick for dining its so exciting !!!

 

[BRiTMiCK]

Hi. Thought I'd give my experience. We always upgrade to the dining plan. you do have to plan your meals but we think its worth it as some of the dining around Disney is incredible. Plus you could use it to do some character meals so it only adds to the magic. Meeting the fab 5 at Chef Mickeys has got to be better than queuing up to see them. Plus if you book meals based in the parks it gives you a nice break from the rush and heat, without interrupting your day much.

But if you're planning to leave Disney at all, and visit the other Orlando attractions (we generally don't) then think about how many meals you'd actually be there for - it may not be worth it.

Oh, and if you do get the regular dining plan, I doubt you'll end up buying snacks for the kids on top. My hubby and I are big eaters and we still find there is way too much food on the dining plan - we have trouble trying to use up the snacks because the meals are so big. Kids get appetisers with their meals so that will also fill them up and even if they do want more than one snack a day, you could always spend some of your snack credits on them - if you're anything like us, you have to find reasons to spend them!

Also, we actually disliked the quick service dining at CSR when we visited last year. We didnt think the food was as good and didnt much like the concept of paying as you leave and having to pay (a small) gratutity when its meant to be quick service. We prefer the traditional food court style and loved the food when we stayed at PO Riverside.

We book hotel and tickets with disney direct and virgin flights direct and it works out cheaper than a package. Dont tend to do indrect flights as we find them too tiring (unless the saving is too great, so feel we have to). Direct, Virgin is usually cheaper than ba - but now adays, not by much.

Also, I think someone else suggested this but we're going at the same time as you and were looking at POFQ, upgrading to dining plan. For the same price we got OKW studio, with free dining plan. It will be more expensive than PO with quick service, but maybe worth considering if you're thinking about the upgrade anyway. That way you could use the little kitchenette for breakfast so you don't have to spend your snack credits too early on in the day. That offer is due to run out very soon though (1st Nov I think, might be 8th).

Hope that helps!

 

[orangetiggs]

we have stayed at csr and pofq and mcuh prefer pofq, we did the dining plan for the first time in 2009 and loved it, we stayed at pofq and upgraded to the regualr dining plan to get hte table service meal

i would always upgrade as we like to do a few of the character meals and these can be expensive

csr has a different type of food court as its not owned by disney, its more expensive and they charge you a tip when you pay for your meals which is not the same in other food courts

in csr you get your meal sit and eat then pay at the end so its semi table service hence the tip you pay when you pay the bill. we stayed there for your wedding in 2008 before the revamped the rooms and the hotel is nice but VERY big

POFQ is far nicer i think as its alot smaller and we really like the food court there and the boat to DTD is lovely. its a short walk to POR which is nice to have a walk round and you can get horse and carriage rides there as well

which ever hotel you choose your in disney so just have fun!

 

[WiganTony]

is it worth upgrading to the regular plan from the quick service ?
im not sure as you lose a snack and to be honest i dont want to be tied down to dinner reservations which i assume i will be as so many people have to reserve their tables in advance

If you do upgrade to the Regular Dining Plan, a couple of things we did to "free up" a few days:

1. Book a couple of character breakfasts in the hotels (e.g. Chef Mickey, O'Hana, Cape May Cafe). This will then leave the rest of the day free.

2. Book a 2TS meal. We tried Hoop de Doo Revue back in August, which we definitely would not have done if we had been paying ourselves ($180 for three of us ). This freed up another day for us to visit Seaworld.

3. Book our remaining TS meals around the parks (or nearby hotels) we were planning to be in on any particular day e.g. booked for Crystal Palace when in MK. This way you don't waste time travelling between locations.

Before you do commit to upgrading, have a look and see what TS meals you really want to do (I suspect mainly character meals!!) then weigh up the cost of these meals against the cost to upgrade. If the cost is similar or more than the cost of upgrading, then go for it. If you only want one or two TS meals, then it may be better to pay for these separately and perhaps use up your CS credits for breakfasts on a few days.

HTH.

 

[princessjodiebo]

wow thanks for all the help guys !
i have to admit if we can get okw or saratoga springs for the same price i might consider that
it all hinges on hubbies payday !!
i definately want to go for the dining plan though i have looked at the restaurants and you seem to get so much more and it wasnt that much more expensive
tuskers looked good i love the mickey waffles cant wait til the magic hpurs are posted then once we have booked i think i will work out our reservations round that
people cant believe how far in advance i am organising this but i dont want to get there and find i cant eat when i want !
its been such a horrible year for us as my brother was dagnosed with cancer so our honeymoon kinda went on hold
i know we are taking the kids with us but i think that they deserve a trip to the magic too
look forward to lots more helpful hints and hopefully seeing some of you out there !!!

 

[BRiTMiCK]

Hiya. I know the waiting till payday feeling - we're currently doing the same thing before we can replace our broken fridge - roll on the 28th!

Just wanted to say though that any quotes you have for port orleans probablly include the current early bird discount that disney are offering - 15% off. The prices on the disney website will definitely include that - but they don't state it. You have to book before the 1st November for that deal, so bear in mind that prices might go up after that.

If you do miss it, I'm sure they'll be offering more discounts pretty soon, but just thought I'd mention it in case you weren't aware. The OKW/Saratoga offer runs out then too.

Sorry you've had a bad year. WDW will definitely bring a few smiles.