I have Questions for you all...

[sister2797]

Hi everybody..
Ill give you the scoop..
I am FINALLY going to WDW in December of 2007..I know it is basically a year away, but I am in the process of getting my PhD and I have a schedule of all sorts of stuff that I have to do, classes to teach etc. into 2008. I am going to be meeting my family there (Brother, Sis in law and All the kids and grandbabies) for the Holidays (Dec. 20th to 26th 2007)..I am at a loss as to how, what, who and where.
So here we go..I hope someone helps me grab a clue..
Here is my rundown:
How soon in advance should I schedule this trip?
Should I do A Vacation Package or Should I book hotel, flight etc separate?
Should I do the dining plan? ( I have a nine year old who is pretty picky when it comes to his food)
How awful are the crowds during the holidays?
Are the Value Resorts pretty decent? (My son and I will basically sleep and take an occasional dip in the pool, otherwise we are playing in one park or another)
Is the transportation good from the Value Resorts to various locales?
I hope you fine people can fill me in.
If anyone cares to respond it would be wonderful...

 

[TinkerDaisy]

Hi everybody..
Ill give you the scoop..
I am FINALLY going to WDW in December of 2007..I know it is basically a year away, but I am in the process of getting my PhD and I have a schedule of all sorts of stuff that I have to do, classes to teach etc. into 2008. I am going to be meeting my family there (Brother, Sis in law and All the kids and grandbabies) for the Holidays (Dec. 20th to 26th 2007)..I am at a loss as to how, what, who and where.
So here we go..I hope someone helps me grab a clue..
Here is my rundown:
How soon in advance should I schedule this trip?
Should I do A Vacation Package or Should I book hotel, flight etc separate?
Should I do the dining plan? ( I have a nine year old who is pretty picky when it comes to his food)
How awful are the crowds during the holidays?
Are the Value Resorts pretty decent? (My son and I will basically sleep and take an occasional dip in the pool, otherwise we are playing in one park or another)
Is the transportation good from the Value Resorts to various locales?
I hope you fine people can fill me in.
If anyone cares to respond it would be wonderful...

Ok here are my tips.

I would call WDW 1-407-824-4321 and find out the first possible date you can book for when you want to go and book ASAP. Stuff fills up pretty quick. They will usually give you a date to call back and book.

We are doing the dining plan because it will be easier than eating in our room and chaeaper then paying out of pocket for everything. There is a link in the planning section of this website that has menu's for all the restaurants. So you can look and see if they have things your child will eat. Most restaraunts have a variety of food.

We stayed at the Pop century Value and really liked it. If you are just going to be in the room to sleep then that is really all you need. The pools are really good at the pop. They have three or four pools there, and they are really big. We had no probs with the transportation. Stay in the 50's or 60's building of the Pop if you want a closer walk to the buses.

I am not sure how the crowds will be in Dec. We have went in Sept, and are going in May this year.

If you haven't already go to the Disney website and order the free video it has a lot of info and it is fun to watch.

 

[teacher100]

We love the values. I'm not sure how old your son is, but my kids would rather stay in them because of the big icons then something more plush. We stayed at All Star Movies and we never waited longer than 10 or 15 minutes for the bus. We never uses our car.

I would book room only and wait and see what kind of discounts come later. Room only can be cancelled and your can get your deposit (one nights stay)
I think up to 5 days before the trip. The package is more sttrict. Personally the only reason I would get a package is if I get the free dining plan. You can get tickets cheaper by going through a ticket outlet like ticket mania and if you have AAA you can get a room discount and come out better than you would with a package.

We don't purchase the dining plan, because our family shares meals a lot and we eat meals in the room and save money. It's just your preference.

I went the first week in December and it was great! I hear that if you go during Christmas week it is crowded however.

Have fun!

 

[byoung]

How soon in advance should I schedule this trip?
As soon as you can.

Should I do A Vacation Package or Should I book hotel, flight etc separate?
Check it out, you can also try AAA if you are a member.

Should I do the dining plan? ( I have a nine year old who is pretty picky when it comes to his food)
The plan does save you money.

How awful are the crowds during the holidays?
Early Dec crowds are manageable. Christmas Week will be crowded.

 

[Kimi313]

As for the room you should go ahead a book now and request everyone is put at least in the same building. After you have your room you can apply discounts at anytime, AAA or AP.

Packages - I don't know- we have never done a package we have always booked room and got tickets on our own, we drive down so we haven't had a need for airline tickets.

Dinning plan - we don't because we don't like seat down meals everyday, we find it too much to schedule around a meal everyday so we have one on our arrival day, and then a couple during our stay. Oh yea we go down for 5 days in park so our time is limited. If you are staying longer you may want to. Deb's allearnet.com site has some really good info about the dinning plan and has prices for meals so you can figure out if it is cheaper for you. Also when we eat we don't do appetizer and desserts so again another reason we don't do the dinning plan.

I have never been to DW in Dec but from these boards I gather the only busy times are weekend and the week before Christmas.

Value Resort - I have stayed at All-Star Sports and we loved it. I actually prefer there food court to the fast food spots at the Deluxes. We have ressies at All-Star Movies this spring, me and DD are going with my brother and his family. When we were there we never had any problems with the bus but that is not saying you won't, I have found you can have a long wait for the bus at ANY hotel. We always go out to catch the bus way before we need to just in case we have a long wait. I feel if you approach it "Hey I'm on vacation I don't expect the bus in 15 minutes" then your never dissappointed.

I highly recommend going to the mousesavers.com sight and read up on all the different discounts you can get on rooms and sign up for her newsletter that comes out once a month, it offers discounts on tickets, the best I have seen.

Well have a great time and I know it seems like a long time from now but you will have the best time being on here and planning that when you get back you will actual have not only disney withdrawl but a planning withdrawl.

 

[Floridagram]

As for the room you should go ahead a book now and request everyone is put at least in the same building. After you have your room you can apply discounts at anytime, AAA or AP.

Packages - I don't know- we have never done a package we have always booked room and got tickets on our own, we drive down so we haven't had a need for airline tickets.

Dinning plan - we don't because we don't like seat down meals everyday, we find it too much to schedule around a meal everyday so we have one on our arrival day, and then a couple during our stay. Oh yea we go down for 5 days in park so our time is limited. If you are staying longer you may want to. Deb's allearnet.com site has some really good info about the dinning plan and has prices for meals so you can figure out if it is cheaper for you. Also when we eat we don't do appetizer and desserts so again another reason we don't do the dinning plan.

I have never been to DW in Dec but from these boards I gather the only busy times are weekend and the week before Christmas.

Value Resort - I have stayed at All-Star Sports and we loved it. I actually prefer there food court to the fast food spots at the Deluxes. We have ressies at All-Star Movies this spring, me and DD are going with my brother and his family. When we were there we never had any problems with the bus but that is not saying you won't, I have found you can have a long wait for the bus at ANY hotel. We always go out to catch the bus way before we need to just in case we have a long wait. I feel if you approach it "Hey I'm on vacation I don't expect the bus in 15 minutes" then your never dissappointed.

I highly recommend going to the mousesavers.com sight and read up on all the different discounts you can get on rooms and sign up for her newsletter that comes out once a month, it offers discounts on tickets, the best I have seen.

Well have a great time and I know it seems like a long time from now but you will have the best time being on here and planning that when you get back you will actual have not only disney withdrawl but a planning withdrawl.

I believe that it is the week AFTER Christmas that is the most busy, so the week you have chosen should be OK. Have fun!

 

[jenlynn0808]

Definetly do the dining plan. My DD is also a picky eater (she lives on chicken nuggets). We stayed a AKL and ate dinner at Boma's, they had a huge buffet and one section was also set up for kids. As an added bonus, becuase it was a buffet...she actually tried other foods because she knew if she didn't like it, there was always something else she could find that she loved. We saved our snacks and used them for late afternoon for a treat at Toll House, Hagan Dazs, etc. Plan may seem expensive, but we added it up, we would have spent more if we had payed for eveything. We saved $$ by using the dining plan.

 

[rrkman]

I stayed at All-Star Sports a few years ago and I thought the bus service was great....even better than what we saw at Poly last year (but you do get the monorail there). We were only in the room to sleep and it seemed fine. I would start planning as soon as possible and if decide on the dining plan, you will need to figure out where and when you want to eat so that you can book your priority seating ADRs.

 

[Indy's Girl]

Just keep in mind that if you want the dining plan you must purchase a package, and that everyone in the room must be on the same package. This means you must book tickets and room together. You can, however, book a package through AAA if you are a member and get some discounts this way. For now you should be able to reserve room only for your dates now, and then decide later on if you want to upgrade to a package. Whether you do the dining plan or not, you can make reservations (ADR) at Disney's sit down restaurants 180 +10 days from the start of your vacation. What the +10 means is that at the 180 day mark you can book dining for the next ten days of your vacation (this is only if you are staying at a Disney resort, all other guests can book at 180 days, but then must call back each day after as they don't get the +10).

 

[sister2797]

A Great Big THANK YOU to all that replied. I Booked my room@ the Pop today and all the and 7 days of park hoppin tickets(airplane tix will come later). I actually saved a bundle going one day earlier...soooo as It is The 19th till the 26th Of December 2007.... WOOHOO!!!

 

[Floridagram]

COngrats! Have a blast. Don't wait to long to get airline tickets though because as you know alot of people travel at that time of year.

 

[BrooklynnsMommy]

I will be there in December also. We have already booked our trip. I would say decide where you wnat to stay and book it. We are staying at the Pop Century this summer and then the All Star Music in Dec. We really love Pop Century. The bus service was wonderful our last trip. Check the price of a package and then check what it is to book seperatly. Sometimes the package is cheaper sometimes it isn't. The dining plan probably isn't worth it with a picky eater. I'll be happy to give any other info to any other questions. feel free to PM me.