Its booked!

[Blackadder337]

Hi All,

So yesterday I booked our trip to WDW for October 2016. I know the exchange rate is crap and all, but we want to go to capture the child like magic effect we hope it has on our daughter. I have no problem going again when she's older too, but I want both

We'll be flying out of Toronto to Orlando. But I'm wondering if I can get some input on:

1) We will have an early morning flight, so any recommendations on hotels + 10 day parking? It will be a late night check in, early morning check out maybe a continental breakfast along the way so I'm not looking for acceptably comfortable and affordable.

2) I have our POR reservation, park hopper tickets, meal plan, photo memory maker and flights. But my question is ... what next? I guess since we're going next October, It will be some time around April I guess that we can make dining reservations, then in August we can do Fast Pass rides. Aside from that, is there anything else I should know about or be doing in the mean time?

The last time I went to Disney, the Disney Studio wasn't even built yet so I really don't have any past experience to rely on.

Thanks!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

2) I have our POR reservation, park hopper tickets, meal plan, photo memory maker and flights. But my question is ... what next? I guess since we're going next October, It will be some time around April I guess that we can make dining reservations, then in August we can do Fast Pass rides. Aside from that, is there anything else I should know about or be doing in the mean time?

Are you planning on going to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party while you are there? If so, you'll want to mark your calendar for early May, when those tickets are generally released for sale.

 

[starvenger]

The International Plaza (formerly the Doubletree) has a stopover package but given the hotel the room might be pricey. http://www.internationalplazahotel.com/specials/stopover-package

Outside of that, there are the usual chain hotels around and obviously some have breakfast and some don't. Since I live in Toronto I can't vouch for any one hotel being better than the other.

Parking, there are some offsite lots that I haven't tried, so others may be able to speak about them, but I cannot. Personally I prefer the Park n Fly valet, which is about $70/week but the shuttle runs very frequently so there's very little panic about making it back to the terminal.

Food-wise, There's a 24-hour diner on Airport Road (N of the 409) called Zet's (http://zets.ca/). I used to eat there fairly often back when I worked near the airport and while it's not a "You Gotta Eat Here" kind of place it's still decent for a greasy spoon. Word of warning - if you eat here you will feel very full.

 

[hardis5]

There are fairly regularly park-n-stay deals on the travels sites that offer the one night plus up to 14 days parking in the Pearson airport area. Watch for and if booking a current park-n-stay offer directly, make sure it is a reservation you can cancel prior if a deal come up.

Since you bought a resort package, you should be able to do your FastPass selections 60 days prior to arriving. Browse DISboards to become familiar with the parks, checkout restaurants you'd like to book a reservation for (look at your meal plan carefully to see the implications of certain restaurant reservations) and let the excitement and anticipation build.

 

[mort1331]

You never mentioned how old your daughter is. Things like MNSSHP are great but if she too young you might want to wait.
For the hotel, there is the one right at the airport, it use to be Novetel cant remember what it is now.
Give us a little more info so we can help. How long are you going? ages,(little ones) , not sure if you need the hoppers so might save money there.
And watch the boards lots of info here.
Have fun planning

 

[Blackadder337]

Ahh yes that was what I also meant to ask... I wanted to book a Halloween Party night but wasn't sure when to do that. Thanks for the May reminder


My daughter is 11 now, will be 12 by the time we go. She used to go crazy for princess stuff, much less now but I'm sure she'll still get swept up in the magic of it all

We will be gone for 10 days including 1 day each way travelling. We will be arriving in Orlando around mid-day so my thoughts for that were to check in and relax at the pool or something, then go for dinner somewhere and maybe catch fireworks at night or something. Just a gentle relaxing first 1/2 day

We also want to do 2 days at Universal as well. But given that our daughter will only be 12, sadly I think we will not be able to do the Horror nights there. We'll have to do that a few years from now

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

A good call on Halloween Horror Nights at Universal. The event is fabulously done but very, very scary....I can't imagine many 12 year old girls who would not find it beyond terrifying. Even Universal recommends that under-13's not attend (though we did see a few kids, including an infant, when we went this year ).

 

[Blackadder337]

I got my first round of mailings yesterday. A lovely little customized booklet telling me about dates to remember for dining, FP+ , magic bands etc... I admit, I got a little silly inside when I flipped through it