I love New York (& Disney), DVC owners group!

[KSL]

Welcome KSL! I actually have been thinking about driving or trying the train for my next trip, cause my son (2) will not keep a mask on for 3 hours and im afraid of having an issue on the plane. How have your experiences on the train been?

Hello! There's a huge thread in the Transportation forum you can read to help make up your own mind, but here are my thoughts:
We prefer sleeper car accommodations to coach. If we were ever to do coach again we would try to get lower level to avoid people walking through and the doors between cars opening and closing all night. As far as sleeper accommodations, we used to do the family bedroom when my girls were small, but we've long since outgrown that. For anyone who is not claustrophobic and can do a little gymnastics (lol), the roomettes are a great option. In your situation , I would recommend a regular bedroom because there will be some room for your son to move around (before the bed is pulled out), he can share the bed with you at night (though if you have an adult traveling companion it will be very 'cozy' for 3 of you), and you have a bathroom/sink right in the unit which would be great in case you can't fully shut the door with you both in there (those restrooms are TINY). Plus it's just generally great for privacy if he's napping or fussy or whatever. Also, I'm sure you could be maskless while in your own cabin. You can also have meals delivered to your cabin if you prefer that instead of going to the dining car. I haven't done that, but I know it is offered and the room stewards will absolutely do that for you. Then they will ask when you want your bed made (because they usually do that while you are at dinner). The room stewards have always been very accommodating and helpful. We have loved the AT because we bring a LOT of stuff (partly because we tend to do longer stays and partly because 4 of us are girls!), and we like having our vehicle with us while down there. And the train is a little bit of an adventure, though it is by no means the Orient Express!
I hope this was helpful. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions!

 

[minie_meese]

Another Western NYer. We own and Animal Kingdom and Beach Club and generally fly out of ROC. Hoping Southwest brings back more direct flights from ROC soon. JetBlue does have some direct flights out of BUF. We have a family trip for 10 of us planned for 10 days in October but we have 2 kids traveling with us who are under 7 so we may end up having to cancel for the third time . I really hate to disappoint the 2 little ones. It will be the first trip for the 6 yr old but just not comfortable with the risks if virus data stays like it is or gets worse. We will still have time to bank all of the points which is the only plus. My husband and I also have a trip planned for a week in January.

 

[Uh_Oa]

Another Western NYer. We own and Animal Kingdom and Beach Club and generally fly out of ROC. Hoping Southwest brings back more direct flights from ROC soon. JetBlue does have some direct flights out of BUF. We have a family trip for 10 of us planned for 10 days in October but we have 2 kids traveling with us who are under 7 so we may end up having to cancel for the third time . I really hate to disappoint the 2 little ones. It will be the first trip for the 6 yr old but just not comfortable with the risks if virus data stays like it is or gets worse. We will still have time to bank all of the points which is the only plus. My husband and I also have a trip planned for a week in January.

Welcome minie_meese! We fly out of BUF, live 10 minutes from the airport. I'm hoping Southwest brings back more direct flights too. The flight times there and back were always so perfect pre pandemic.

 

[Hopfather28]

Welcome minie_meese! We fly out of BUF, live 10 minutes from the airport. I'm hoping Southwest brings back more direct flights too. The flight times there and back were always so perfect pre pandemic.

I got switched from direct out of BUF to a connection at BWI on my trip earlier this month. Baltimore always has issues and on the way back they cancelled my Wednesday flight 5 minutes after we checked bags and got through security. Told us it would take 6 hours to get bags back and they couldn't get us home until FRIDAY. Ended up renting a car at 6pm at MCO and driving to BUF where our bags had arrived 3 hours earlier. For my trouble I got a credit that expires in 4 months. Not sure I'll be flying Southwest again any time soon.

 

[Masterbetatesta]

^ Wow what a mess

 

[jppeek]

Wondering how everyone up here feels about the new annual passes and if the higher price changes how you may plan your trips?

In the past we would go down twice a year, same weeks, not paying attention to when our pass expired cause we always planned to renew. Now we are gonna try and get three trips per pass (go a week earlier on third trip rather than same week) and then let it expire and buy a new one six months later. So one pass every 18 months, but get three trips out of each one. Should break us about even I hope

 

[iheartglaciers]

I’m curious from anyone in HV, NYC, or Albany area which airport you find most convenient. I use to use Stewart but they still don’t have flights. Looking at westchester and Albany now but nyc airports not out of question if they are easy.

I love flying out of Westchester! It’s easy because I’m only 20 minutes away, but I’ve never had a line at TSA.

 

[Uh_Oa]

Wondering how everyone up here feels about the new annual passes and if the higher price changes how you may plan your trips?

In the past we would go down twice a year, same weeks, not paying attention to when our pass expired cause we always planned to renew. Now we are gonna try and get three trips per pass (go a week earlier on third trip rather than same week) and then let it expire and buy a new one six months later. So one pass every 18 months, but get three trips out of each one. Should break us about even I hope

We haven't tried annual passes yet. We're sub par white card holders so no discount. The full price annual pass doesn't make financial sense based on the number of times we go. I have done the math on the Gold Pass and now the Sorcerer's Pass. We're just about break even. The amount we saved buying resale more than makes up the difference for me. I do wish I could go more often to make it worth it, work and adult responsibility keeps getting in the way though HAHA .

 

[Simba's Mom]

Queens representing! We're a few minutes from LGA, but we'll generally take Delta from either LGA or JFK depending on the schedule. Or fly out of one and into the other, we're flexible.

I hope you stayed safe during the storms last week. DS lives in Queens, and apparently they got a lot of flooding and heavy rain/winds.

 

[DeeCee735]

LI here! Members since 2000 - BW & AKV. We fly out of JFK to MCO. Haven't been there since before COVID. Next trip is this December - maybe no parks, maybe just EPCOT. Looking forward to the trip as we're going with friends - also LI DVCer's.

Hopefully, my great love of DVC will be renewed. Staying at the BW and I used to get the chills just walking in....hope that comes back!

Dee

 

[cmarsh31]

Upstate, we fly out of ALB... about 50% of the time we have an issue. Sigh.

 

[jppeek]

LI here! Members since 2000 - BW & AKV. We fly out of JFK to MCO. Haven't been there since before COVID. Next trip is this December - maybe no parks, maybe just EPCOT. Looking forward to the trip as we're going with friends - also LI DVCer's.

Hopefully, my great love of DVC will be renewed. Staying at the BW and I used to get the chills just walking in....hope that comes back!

Dee

That sounds awesome and I’m guessing those chills will return! We (my wife, son and myself) went down in May after a 3 year hiatus and it was pretty amazing, got chills (and a bit teared up) from the moment we drove on to Disney property. Loved my park time, but even just taking in the hotel and being down there felt amazing! Hopefully you have an amazing trip

 

[jppeek]

Upstate, we fly out of ALB... about 50% of the time we have an issue. Sigh.

Ok so I will avoid Albany! Stewart which is closest to me now has frontier, so will probably try that out my next trip.

 

[AnnaS]

NY here - or should I say - known for the forgotten borough

We usually like to fly out of Newark. Very rarely JFK.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

Born and raised a New Yorker! (NYC) Lived in every borough except Brooklyn. Although, my Mom lived in Brooklyn when she first came to the US, so she has lived in all 5 boroughs of NYC! I've spent the most years in Manhattan (6years), Queens (7years), and the Bronx (27years).

Purchased DVC in 2001 after the birth of our 2nd child while we were living in the Bronx. Resale at OKW and BWV and direct at SSR. Went about 2-3 times a year for the next 18 years, many times without my husband. DME (when checking luggage was still free) and an Owners Locker and a washer/dryer in the villa made traveling alone with 2 kiddies so easy! Usually picked LGA because it was a closer drive to and from the Bronx.

Always had an Annual Pass. Figuring out all the ticket changes was too difficult for me. Was enough just to keep up with all the other changes. We usually went into the parks in the morning and left when the crowds started coming in. Stayed at the hotel during the almost daily summer afternoon thunderstorms. Then wandered out for dinner at the parks or resorts and maybe did a few rides then or just soaked up the atmosphere.

We now live in Northern Westchester. Love flying in and out of HPN. So convenient.

Our 2 kiddies are now grown. One is a junior at university and the oldest has graduated college and lives in Windermere right behind the MK Castle.

We let our APs lapse in early 2019 and were going to buy new ones during our next trip in 2020 and we know how those plans went! I refuse to go to the parks without an AP so, we have been patiently waiting. We usually only do the parks 2-4 hours a day. I think that this has been the longest I have not gone into the parks in the last 22 years!

Looking forward to see when our next trips (in 2022) will be now that we are empty nesters and are not tied to a school calendar and APs are now available for purchase.

We HAVE been using our DVC points over this past year or so. No expiring points here! We have been using it to book rooms to stay when visiting our oldest DD, helping her house hunt, for the house inspections and closing. So, OKW, SSR, and BLT have been our favorites during this time. We reserved the grand villa at BLT for 4 nights for her college graduation party (12 people) in May because we had the points to blow. We only had 5 people sleeping there! It was so nice. Only thing that could have made it better would have been fireworks! But c'est la vie.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

Welcome KSL! I actually have been thinking about driving or trying the train for my next trip, cause my son (2) will not keep a mask on for 3 hours and im afraid of having an issue on the plane. How have your experiences on the train been?

Over the years we drove many, many, many times, when I couldn't get cheap airfare. We usually did the bulk of the driving the first day and stopped overnight in GA and only left about 5 hours the second day, so that we got to WDW in the afternoon to check in. We left WDW like at 4am and drove straight through going home, just in time to crash in our own beds around 1am!

We have taken the AutoTrain exclusively since the pandemic started. We are too old to make the drive if we don't have to. Lol. We did coach 3 times but probably won't again. They use to leave space (an empty row) between you and the next party for social distancing but now that travel is getting back to normal and there are more passengers, there is no more social distancing. AND you have to keep your mask on while seated in coach which will be difficult for kids.

We are now only traveling in roomettes. Coach is actually more comfortable during the day because there is more leg room. But I put my legs up on my husbands seat and he does the same on mine in the roomette. Being able to sleep flat at night is a game changer. And most importantly, you can take your mask off while inside the roomette with the doors closed. We have our dinner delivered to the roomette, although, the dining car is now open to eat in.

HTH. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[jppeek]

Over the years we drove many, many, many times, when I couldn't get cheap airfare. We usually did the bulk of the driving the first day and stopped overnight in GA and only left about 5 hours the second day, so that we got to WDW in the afternoon to check in. We left WDW like at 4am and drove straight through going home, just in time to crash in our own beds around 1am!

We have taken the AutoTrain exclusively since the pandemic started. We are too old to make the drive if we don't have to. Lol. We did coach 3 times but probably won't again. They use to leave space (an empty row) between you and the next party for social distancing but now that travel is getting back to normal and there are more passengers, there is no more social distancing. AND you have to keep your mask on while seated in coach which will be difficult for kids.

We are now only traveling in roomettes. Coach is actually more comfortable during the day because there is more leg room. But I put my legs up on my husbands seat and he does the same on mine in the roomette. Being able to sleep flat at night is a game changer. And most importantly, you can take your mask off while inside the roomette with the doors closed. We have our dinner delivered to the roomette, although, the dining car is now open to eat in.

HTH. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you so much! Is there enough room for 2 adults and a 2 year old in one room eye you think?

 

[SleepyatDVC]

Thank you so much! Is there enough room for 2 adults and a 2 year old in one room eye you think?

The roomette is a max of 2 total and even with 2, it is tight with the legroom, since the seats face each other. You will have to go up to a bedroom. Look on the amtrak website to see your options.

Good luck!

 

[newlife]

Long Island here,western Suffolk county. I have been traveling to WDW for a long time. In 2004 bought SS and 2 years ago a small add on at poly. You would think getting airfare would be easy. Southwest in their infinite wisdom decided to severely cut the direct flights to Orlando. I used to be able to secure a direct flight very easily. Today the best I could do is 830 am direct. I always took the 6am to give me as much Disney time as possible. There were only 2 direct flights and all the others were Baltimore layovers of 2-3 hours. So i tried fronteir and after all the add ons they were more expensive. Islip/ MacArthur airport is great to fly out of but these airlines make it difficult with their pricing and availability. Did jet blue out of JFK but after adding on the transportation to the ticket it was more costly. so Long Island if flying to Orlando do it early because

 

[b00kbug]

Hello all! Long Islanders here (suffolk county)- and pandemic purchasers of DVC Riviera! Going for the first time in August.