Ladies and gentlemen boys and girls tonigth .......

[smitch425]

Okay - thanks! It was worth a try! Do you thing I'd run into any problems if I fly down, check-in, but we don't use any of the park tickets and the room isn't used until 9/27?

If you are there and paying for the room, why wouldn't you stay there? I think housekeeping will notice and it could be an issue. If it were me, I would fly down with my kids, check in, head to a park and upgrade my and my kids' ticket with the bonus days. It is pretty inexpensive to add extra days to a multiday ticket. If you are flying alone, I would still head to the parks for the extra time.

 

[okangela]

If you are there and paying for the room, why wouldn't you stay there? I think housekeeping will notice and it could be an issue. If it were me, I would fly down with my kids, check in, head to a park and upgrade my and my kids' ticket with the bonus days. It is pretty inexpensive to add extra days to a multiday ticket. If you are flying alone, I would still head to the parks for the extra time.

As much as I'd love to have an extra two days (and not a problem to pay for them), the cost for 4 of us to fly down on the 25th wouldn't be worth the benefit of having free dining. I was going to talk a girlfriend in to going down with me to have a kid-free day in the park before flying home that night.

 

[nlm74]

Does this mean since they're offering a free dining they won't offer room discounts? Do they ever offer both discounts at the same time? Really hoping for a room discount......

 

[jasmyn02822]

Aaaand...you've just made my whole darn year

 

[LDavis33]

The telephone CM's vary greatly I think. You have some that have worked every day for years and are incredibly connected and then you have ones that just work part time that DW pulls in for busy times. Case in point, our day 180 fell just a couple of days before the release of the summer promo. The first CM I spoke with to make ADR's said this was her first day working in a really long time. And I believe her because she could not remember how to make ADR's or even her log in information. It took 30 min's to make 3 ADR's. Luckily I am a very patient person. In addition, all 4 CM's that I spoke to told me I could make ADR's online 180 +10 days out. One even transferred me to an IT guy to work me through it. As soon as he got on the phone he apologized and said I was correct. You can only book day 180 online. So, if you day 180 was on a Monday, you could only book Monday. And the next day come back to book for only that day, etc.

I booked ADRs online over 180 days out.

 

[Don Disney]

Danny25 is "The Man"! Thanks very much....AGAIN for the info!!

 

[jpessa]

Ok I know it's been said over and over that LM rooms are included but probably extremely limited. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but I have a reservation for LM room starting on the 25th and I can't help being excited. Someone please temper my hopes so I won't be too disappointed if it doesn't work out. I can't change resorts because I'm going with extended family who arrive on the 29th and don't care about the DP anyway. And besides I really want the Ariel themed room for my DD.

 

[black562]

So way off topic here. But one thing that's still hazy to me is the whole magicband deal. I would love it if those are out in September.

 

[black562]

Ok I know it's been said over and over that LM rooms are included but probably extremely limited. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but I have a reservation for LM room starting on the 25th and I can't help being excited. Someone please temper my hopes so I won't be too disappointed if it doesn't work out. I can't change resorts because I'm going with extended family who arrive on the 29th and don't care about the DP anyway. And besides I really want the Ariel themed room for my DD.

You could stay at Pop. It's connected to AOA by a bridge so you'd easily be able to go back and forth to see family. Just a thought.

 

[plutospalforever]

I booked ADRs online over 180 days out.

Yes if under day 170 I believe, but you can not book day 180 plus the rest of your stay online

 

[MackenzieFL]

This is awesome though. I made ADRs so we wouldn't get stuck. I know I can change them or cancel if anything but didn't want to get left out in the cold.

We have 6 nights at moderate resort (PORS) so the TS ADRs I made are:
Chef Mickey (late breakfast)
1900 Park Fare (late breakfast)
1900 Park Fare (early dinner)
Planet Hollywood (late lunch)
Chip & Dale Harvest Feast Garden Grill (early dinner)
Sci-Fi Dine In Theater Restaurant (late lunch)

(and, yes, I planned according to what day/what park we'll be at)

As I understand it from my research, these are on the regular DP, so they should be included with the free dining, is that right?

And when you go to the restaurant, it seems you get an entree, dessert & non-alcoholic beverage, right? (or buffet, of course, if that's the case)

Now do they allow any entre on the menu, or do you have to look for a more restricted list of offerings? I mean, do you have to get a burger, or can you get like a steak? Is there $$ limit to your entree price or something?

Thank you all so much for your patience with my never-ending pleas for clarification. I don't like surprises, lol. You guys are awesome.

 

[jpessa]

Correct! But you can not book day 180 plus an additional 10 online. Only day 180.

Yes you can. I did it last month. 180+6 (I was only there for 6 nights). All online.

 

[MackenzieFL]

While I'm thinking, I have a couple more questions.

- how do you usually estimate your trip cost for this kind of package deal?

I looked up regular room rates for that week, added tax & fees. Then I looked up ticket rates + taxes/fees.

So my estimate for 6 nights at PORS + 4 day base tickets is about $2450.

There are 5 of us (we're doing the room w/the extra drop-down bed for my little one).

Does that sound right? And all of us would get the dining plan?

Does it go by room/ticket rate, or will it be a different per person/per night rate?

Again, sorry if my questions are confusing with all these details but I need to get it in my head, I don't want to find out halfway-through our trip I need to start tapping into rent & bill money because I miscalculated. I never did a mod resort, vaca pacakge or dining plan at all. So thank you to all who have the patience to walk me through it

 

[jpessa]

You could stay at Pop. It's connected to AOA by a bridge so you'd easily be able to go back and forth to see family. Just a thought.

I thought of that but the original reason I'm going is for the LM rooms and to be with the in - laws. I really do have my heart set on it. I was OK with it being excluded from FD because it always is, so I had made my peace with it, but... Now I got my hopes up! Boo.

 

[lazer]

Just a reminder for the folks hoping for LM inclusion. It was fully booked the week we are going in Sept. Actually we were booked there and switched to POR. It was really crowded when we were there last year and it wasn't even completed, so I was afraid it'd be too crowded for my tastes.

So, just have a back up plan. Pop is great! And, the last time we were there we walked & ate most meals at AOA's food court. So you'll still be able to explore AOA (just not the pools).

 

[plutospalforever]

Yes you can. I did it last month. 180+6 (I was only there for 6 nights). All online.

I believe you, maybe because when I called last month on my day 180 they were upgrading computers (IT guy did not say that was the reason) but computer would not physically let me book any further in advance than my 180th day. He said if I wanted to book more in advance than that, up to 10 days, I would have to do it on the telephone.

 

[Wood Nymph]

This is awesome though. I made ADRs so we wouldn't get stuck. I know I can change them or cancel if anything but didn't want to get left out in the cold.

We have 6 nights at moderate resort (PORS) so the TS ADRs I made are:
Chef Mickey (late breakfast)
1900 Park Fare (late breakfast)
1900 Park Fare (early dinner)
Planet Hollywood (late lunch)
Chip & Dale Harvest Feast Garden Grill (early dinner)
Sci-Fi Dine In Theater Restaurant (late lunch)

(and, yes, I planned according to what day/what park we'll be at)

As I understand it from my research, these are on the regular DP, so they should be included with the free dining, is that right?

And when you go to the restaurant, it seems you get an entree, dessert & non-alcoholic beverage, right? (or buffet, of course, if that's the case)

Now do they allow any entre on the menu, or do you have to look for a more restricted list of offerings? I mean, do you have to get a burger, or can you get like a steak? Is there $$ limit to your entree price or something?

Thank you all so much for your patience with my never-ending pleas for clarification. I don't like surprises, lol. You guys are awesome.

Yes, all the restaurants that participate in the DDP will be included in the free dining plan. You can get any entree on the menu, even the most expensive one.

 

[Blessedwith3boys]

While I'm thinking, I have a couple more questions.

- how do you usually estimate your trip cost for this kind of package deal?

I looked up regular room rates for that week, added tax & fees. Then I looked up ticket rates + taxes/fees.

So my estimate for 6 nights at PORS + 4 day base tickets is about $2450.

There are 5 of us (we're doing the room w/the extra drop-down bed for my little one).

Does that sound right? And all of us would get the dining plan?

Does it go by room/ticket rate, or will it be a different per person/per night rate?

Again, sorry if my questions are confusing with all these details but I need to get it in my head, I don't want to find out halfway-through our trip I need to start tapping into rent & bill money because I miscalculated. I never did a mod resort, vaca pacakge or dining plan at all. So thank you to all who have the patience to walk me through it

Sounds right to me! We're doing pretty much the same plan, except staying 7 nights. I'm estimating 2600.00!

 

[jpessa]

I believe you, maybe because when I called last month on my day 180 they were upgrading computers (IT guy did not say that was the reason) but computer would not physically let me book any further in advance than my 180th day. He said if I wanted to book more in advance than that, up to 10 days, I would have to do it on the telephone.

That must be it then.

 

[jpessa]

I thought of that but the original reason I'm going is for the LM rooms and to be with the in - laws. I really do have my heart set on it. I was OK with it being excluded from FD because it always is, so I had made my peace with it, but... Now I got my hopes up! Boo.

What do you guys think of the idea of doing a split stay? In my case, I'm doing 10 nights (was originally 6, then 8, then with the FD announcement became 10... ). I'm set for sure on staying at AoA LM, but since I have so much time there I thought I'd start with 5 days POP with free QSDP (arrival on Sept 25, last day of FD!), then 5 days at AoA LM with OOP food.

According to my "Disney math", I could fit it in same budget I had for 8 days at AoA with food all OOP, and all I would have to sacrifice would be one Akershus breakfast (which we did in November, and we're doing CRT this time anyway).

Opinions?

ETA: my in-laws who are also staying at AoA aren't arriving until the 5th day of my stay, so it would work out well to switch then to be with them and DD would still get the "full" Ariel effect.