I've got so much to learn and just a *few* questions...

[becauseisaidso]

So I figured I better just create an account so I can get started with it all.

My trip planning has come about rather hastily, with me piecing things together since July.

I've got my flights, rooms, ADRs...lots of stuff *kind of* worked out, but still so many things and details to figure out and make a decision on.

Thus, here I am.

 

[Aliceacc]

Welcome!

How can we help?

Who's going, when are you going, and for how long?

 

[becauseisaidso]

Thanks!

We will be visiting November 25th - December 1st. We are actually flying out from California on the 22nd, which is my son's 16th birthday. Incidentally, it's also my boyfriend's birthday. All day in the air! What better way to spend your birthday?
My daughter - 11 - is also coming of course.

We are staying at the Royal Pacific the 22nd - 24th, the 25th - 28th at POR, and 29th - 30th at AKL, leaving on the 1st at 5 something (I think).

So, onsite at RPH at Universal for the unlimited express pass perks on Monday and Tuesday, and the rest at WDW. The split stay was an afterthought so I had to cancel my original POR reservations and make the new ones. Now, I'm wishing I had done one more day at AKL because I know my daughter will love it, but the extra cost is too much to justify on top of everything else.

My big thing right now is figuring out tickets. Originally, my plan was 6 days in the parks, 6 day park hoppers. A no-brainer, I thought. But... with so many other considerations now...

Arriving on the 25th, we have 4 pm reservations at Hoop Dee Doo. Do we plan on visiting a park this day or not? Should we just do a few more hours at Universal before we go to check in at POR, then straight to Hoop Dee Doo? After Hoop Dee Do, holiday resort tour if we don't visit a park?

Another thought is that we also have tickets to MVMCP on Sunday, the 29th. So, another alternative I've heard is to do the resort tour that day and save a ticket, just using the MVMCP hard ticket for MK that day. (If can't tell, I want to do a resort tour to check out the holiday decorations, so the kids will just have to suck it up.) We also have reservations at O'hana that day for breakfast since my daughter loves Lilo and Stitch.

But, I'm also hoping (and fervently checking) to get a O'hana reservation on the day we check out, the 1st, so then the 29th stays a little more open since our reservation is at 11:10 - not exactly the most convenient time if we do decide to visit a park that day.

As you all know, there are so many different ticket options available, with slightly different deals depending on the number of days I plan to visit a park. 6 day park hopper from UT is good, but if I go for 5, then I think - I can't quite recall right now and I'm at work... haha - that Park Savers has a better price (4 days +1 free).

So, that's it in a nutshell right now... What tickets to buy? In the big picture, the cost for another day isn't that much, so perhaps it's just better to covey my bases. OTOH, perhaps a day taking it a little easier would be a good idea for the 29th/MVMCP or, in the case of our arrival day, a little more realistic and easier on all of us.

Thoughts and suggestions? It also just dawned on me that the 29th is the day we check into AKL, so perhaps saving a ticket that day might be the best option. We can check out of POR, go to breakfast, check in at AKL, check out some of the other hotels and then go to MVMCP.

 

[DisneyMommyx3]

welcome!

 

[Aliceacc]

OK, first question: what are you doing for Thanksgiving dinner? This year it's Thursday 11/26.

Second question: is it really worth the hassle of changing resorts to have so little time at AKL? I've never done a split stay, but you're doing 3 resorts in one week. That's WAAYYY too much packing and unpacking for my taste.

OK, now on to your questions:
1. HDDR takes a few hours. The Magic Kingdom is open until 10 pm that night. I would absolutely plan on hitting the MK after HDDR. You KNOW your 16 year old son isn't going to want to go back to the resort and sit around. You're coming all the way from CA to see Disney World-- plan to spend LOTS of time in the parks!!!!
2. Once you get past 3 days or so, the per day price of a ticket drops drastically. We always get a park ticket for every day we'll be on Disney property, and we've never not used a single day's worth.

 

[becauseisaidso]

So...Thanksgiving... Somehow, through sheer luck, I happened to be looking at dining reservations for that day - I already had Mama Melrose Fantasmic reservations - and managed to score reservations for Minnie's Holiday Dinner at Hollywood and Vine, also for the Fantasmic reserved seating. Yay! for us!!

We're starting the day with an 8:35 reservation at BOG, so that's our Thanksgiving.

About the split stay...like I said, it was kind of an after thought as to the POR/AKL split. I think we'll be okay though. I used travel a lot for work... every 2-3 nights in a new hotel, for usually 2-3 week stretches, so I'm not really one for settling into a hotel room (other then unpacking my myriad of toiletries). I'm used to digging out of a suitcase, and I think my kids and I have done enough traveling to pack up and go easily. That said, I might try to see about adding a day to AKL from POR, but I'm not too worried about right now if I don't.

As to tickets, you're right about getting tickets for the full six days... it makes more sense to just cover our bases.

I think you're probably right about going to MK after HDD, too. I think we'll all probably be pretty excited.

Any other thoughts? I'm pretty sure I'm going just going to rent a car while we're at Disney.

 

[Aliceacc]

Why rent a car?

True, I've never been to WDW at Thanksgiving. But Disney transportation is actually pretty good.

And you'll have to learn the route to and from 2 different resorts. Personally, I would-- and have-- just relied on Disney transportation.

 

[Pooh2]

Welcome!!

We agree with going with the car rental. We went Thanksgiving week a couple years ago. Not having to wait for a bus or worry about having to stand on a crowded bus made the price of rental well worth it for us.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[becauseisaidso]

Thanks!

Yes, that was my thought as well regarding the car rental. I think we'll probably take a cab from MCO to Universal, since their daily parking rate is pretty ridiculous. But I was thinking we'll rent a car from then on. There seem to be more advantages to renting a car that make the price justifiable.