Matt's 18th Birthday trip - Now Live

[MuxtonMiley]

Hi Wayne
Enjoying reading your Trip Report as ever and Matt's Blog! Really putting us in the mood. We fly out for our 20 day Orlando and New York Trip on Saturday morning. Arrive MCO approx 16.05. Will look out for you in case our paths might cross! Good luck to Matt for his A Level results!

 

[wayneg]

My mission in 4 weeks time is to use my snack credit's on sampling different ones..have the Boardwalk bakery and Staring Rolls on the agenda oh and the main street bakery...think I'm about to dribble

Our aim was to try use more snack credits this time and try different things, we just cant, always too full, this morning we shared a cupcake in AK with an elephant ontop, Matt struggled with lunch then. We have about 10 things in the fridge to eat (cheesecakes, magic bar etc) always too full with the meals. Suitcase is going to be full of candy again.

Yeah I think even with the discount at SSR/OKW from rack rate it's getting expensive. We went for it for next year as its Joseph's first trip but in future will maybe look to going back offsite (main advantage of onsite with DDP and gift cards next year is we won't have to think all that much about spends).

Your room at the fairfield inn did look nice. Which one is it? We still need a (cheap ish) room for between our cruise and SSR stay next year

This is where we stayed this time and the one we prefer but the price has risen recently http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mcofv-fairfield-inn-and-suites-orlando-lake-buena-vista/
Nov back to this one for 4th time, great value at £36/nt http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trav...ndo-lake-buena-vista-in-the-marriott-village/

yes, which fairfield inn was it? ....
years and years ago we stayed offsite....with the skyrocketing Disney prices, i'm more than willing to consider staying offsite again...

Some love the Disney resorts and find them the only option for them, thankfully we enjoy offsite as much, especially around the LBV area.

It is school bread from Norway and I didn't find it sickly at all. It has a vanilla type thick custard in the middle and is topped with shredded coconut. It is a sweet dough similar to an iced bun, very yummy

Karen & Matt like the school bread, I don't, I had a waffle.

Hi Wayne
Enjoying reading your Trip Report as ever and Matt's Blog! Really putting us in the mood. We fly out for our 20 day Orlando and New York Trip on Saturday morning. Arrive MCO approx 16.05. Will look out for you in case our paths might cross! Good luck to Matt for his A Level results!

We fly home from Tampa on Saturday so won't bump into you this year, have a great holiday.

 

[Whisky In A VAse]

What are your plans for tomorrow Wayne, then I can look out for you. Thought I saw you last night in Dowtown Disney. Just as I was about to say hi, I realised it wasn't you.

 

[wayneg]

What are your plans for tomorrow Wayne, then I can look out for you. Thought I saw you last night in Dowtown Disney. Just as I was about to say hi, I realised it wasn't you.

Going to MK from opening til mid afternoon, pool for a couple of hours then Hoop Dee Doo tomorrow evening.

 

[wayneg]

Wednesday at Epcot for opening to ride Soarin.
Spare counter service credits so had a breakfast platter each at Sunshine Seasons.

Shopping to get shoes & trainers for Matt.
Lunch at POFQ
Pool in afternoon then into AK for dinner at Yak and Yeti. Food was good but service was poor, when the food was brought out I asked someone to find our server as we had been without drinks for over 10 minutes.

 

[disneyholic family]

Our aim was to try use more snack credits this time and try different things, we just cant, always too full, this morning we shared a cupcake in AK with an elephant ontop, Matt struggled with lunch then. We have about 10 things in the fridge to eat (cheesecakes, magic bar etc) always too full with the meals. Suitcase is going to be full of candy again.

This is where we stayed this time and the one we prefer but the price has risen recently http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mcofv-fairfield-inn-and-suites-orlando-lake-buena-vista/
Nov back to this one for 4th time, great value at £36/nt http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trav...ndo-lake-buena-vista-in-the-marriott-village/

Some love the Disney resorts and find them the only option for them, thankfully we enjoy offsite as much, especially around the LBV area.

when the kids were toddlers, we always stayed at the Days Suites in LBV - it no longer exists....it was torn down years ago...
a nice one bedroom with full kitchen that cost only $25/night.....
those were the days..

but then we started staying onsite...we only went offsite again when they eliminated some of the onsite perks a number of years ago...but the kids prefer onsite so we went back onsite...
but i really don't think disney is value for money....i know it's always been expensive, but i think they've gone crazy with their prices..

or maybe the rest of the world makes a lot more money than i do...probably..

we also had trouble with the snacks last summer - if we ate one in the middle of the morning, the kids weren't hungry enough for lunch....
and in the afternoon, everyone was too full from lunch...

we ended up with a lot of snack credits at the end...(also 1 TS each and several counter service)....there's just so much food on that dining plan..

you won't believe it, but i actually bought the dining plan for Chani and her husband (they're there now)....i decided that even though the dining plan is crazy expensive, the food prices at WDW are even crazier and if they had to pay it out of pocket, it would ruin their vacation..

i know that two years ago, when i was there on my own, every time i paid $4 for a frozen coke, it made me ill....$4 for a tiny little cup of frozen coke, when you can get one that's 3 times the size at Hesse for 99 cents...

every time i paid a crazy price it really made me ill...
somehow paying in credits last august didn't bother me as much..
so i bought the dining plan for them....probably sounds insane!!

 

[huahuamick]

years and years ago we stayed offsite....with the skyrocketing Disney prices, i'm more than willing to consider staying offsite again...

 

[LauraDaveCharlie]

Thanks for the info about the Fairfield Inn. I have chosen for us to stay there in October for my husband's surprise birthday trip (still managing to keep it a secret with 11 weeks to go!!). So it is good to hear lots of positive things about it - looking forward to it. I actually chose it because we have been to Bahama Breeze there a few times and I always looked at that collection of hotels there and thought these would be great off-site hotels to stay in for their location. Our favourite breakfast place is Golden Corral (although we will use the included breakfast at the Fairfield Inn some days) and our absolute favourite restaurant is Bahama Breeze. As both are right there next to the hotels it seems perfect for us. Looking foward to coming back from a busy day and using the Bahama Breeze bar every night with their lovely cocktails, firepit and caribbean music!

We are back at POFQ next summer with the free DDP. We have the counter service which works perfectly for us. Primarily because we found even that had too much food last year and we gave away loads of deserts and even then took a lot of sweets home with us for the snack credits. But it is also because a 'free' DDP isn't free if you have to pay the tips for TS meals.

They are offering free DDP when we are going in October (the TS one for the mods) but I still booked at the Fairfield as when I sat down and worked it out it was still way more to stay at POFQ than at the Fairfield even factoring in free DDP against paying OOP for all our meals which we will take out of WDW. So many good restaurants at such great prices out of Disney!

 

[luke]

Will definitely be looking at the likes of those Fairfield Inns for our one night which is still unbooked.

I have no loyalty at all to onsite (first few times stayed offsite and only went onsite with the SSR DDP offers and for next year as we got such a good deal ) so if things become too expensive we will be back offsite (and I much prefer eating offsite too for food quality) in an instant.

Even for luxury, I doubt even the top end Disney hotels would be as nice as the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress where we stayed when we got married (and I notice youre staying there too
Soon Beth, I'm jealous) except for location wise

Have a good last day Wayne

 

[wayneg]

or maybe the rest of the world makes a lot more money than i do...probably..

Thats certainly one of my problems, only earn less than half what I did before the recession.

Even for luxury, I doubt even the top end Disney hotels would be as nice as the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress where we stayed when we got married (and I notice youre staying there too
Soon Beth, I'm jealous) except for location wise

Have a good last day Wayne

When I priced up for our Nov trip I looked at Disney.co.uk, cheapest roomwas £65/nt, Art of Animation £175/nt. I went for the Fairfield Inn at £36/nt for location and staying there before knowing we like it. For £55/nt I could have stayed at the http://www.rosenshinglecreek.com/ with free WiFi & free parking offer. You can easily stay in 4/5 star luxury offsite for value prices onsite which a bit of searching.

 

[disneyholic family]

Even for luxury, I doubt even the top end Disney hotels would be as nice as the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress where we stayed when we got married (and I notice youre staying there too
Soon Beth, I'm jealous) except for location wise

the conference i'm attending is at the hyatt grand cypress, so i'll be there for 4 nights with my mom and sister (we go to this conference together)...and right afterwards we get on the disney dream (and i have a post over on the DCL cruise board about DCL prices)....
but i was planning on coming in a week early to do WDW on my own like i did 2 years ago....but the prices are killing me...the ticket, the food, the room...
i just don't think i can bring myself to shell out that amount of money to be on my own....i can't do it....

 

[queendisney]

Some love the Disney resorts and find them the only option for them,

that's me! I am Disney's dream person as I won't ever consider staying off resort again. I am a Disney fanatic through and through and only staying on resort gives me that total immersion and I feel totally contented and stress free. Nothing else comes near to doing that for me.

 

[RDP]

that's me! I am Disney's dream person as I won't ever consider staying off resort again. I am a Disney fanatic through and through and only staying on resort gives me that total immersion and I feel totally contented and stress free. Nothing else comes near to doing that for me.

I'm with you on this one, only stayed offsite once, before getting DVC. I need the total immersion also. When we stayed offsite it was in a villa. I totaly agree its much better value for money offsite, but love the flexibility of having the car and the Disney transportation, especialy when we dine out and have a drink. As the children get older we may venture further afield (Keys and Miami and the Gulf Coast) but our holidays for the forseeable future will involve a large portion of onsite!

 

[Pootle]

I think you need to be a real disney lover to like this resort and it is a must stay if you have young children, because any child would love it, even as a adult you do not. I may be 50 odd but I would still consider staying here, as it is all what disney is about, you may have to pay premium price to stay here but for me better then looking for a cheap cut price accomodation outside Disney in a run down area, of course we all have our own preference.

You may not have intended this, but your post comes across as being unfair to many who choose not to stay on site and only want/need budget accommodation. I've yet to see a post from anyone who is prepared to stay in a 'run down area' and I know that many people great deals on good hotels as I do myself when I stay offsite, which I often do for a few nights, despite being a DVC member. LBV, which Wayne prefers, as do I, is far from 'run down' and you can get great rates at some of these hotels if you know where to look.

I hope you have a good journey home Wayne and family and I've enjoyed following your trip

 

[sandshal]

Have stayed offsite many times, with stays at HRH, Portofino, Ginn Reunion, Sheraton Vistana Villages and private villas, also stayed onsite three times at DLRP ...... To be honest the thought of staying onsite in Fl fills me with horror ... Disney overload! That said, each to their own ... For us Florida is not just about Disney, hence we love offsite and eating offsite too ..... Value for money doesn't even come into it.

I for one have enjoyed Wayne and *** comparison with the two over the last couple of years ..... I guess you need to try both and make up your mind which option works best for you.

Fab report as always Wayne ...... Safe journey home x

Sharon

 

[wayneg]

Will have to finish last few days when I get home. Last night was at Hoop so didn't update due to a few drinks.
Just returned car, really picky, there was a crack in trim when boot was open. The car had done 10,000+ miles, not the best we have ever had and he had me filling in a damage form to say I had not seen it on collection. There was also a $45 fee for one way drop.
Not sure if I posted about the car collection 18 days ago but it took a while to sort out, thought it was sorted but after a week I got an email saying I had to ring about our overdue rental. I checked paperwork which said we only had a 1 day rental. I rang to be told they had corrected their error. I assume they did something wrong with all the hassle on collection and added the one way fee. Took 2 minutes in the Dollar Kiosk to get it removed.
Sat waiting for 4pm flight to Atlanta now, should be boarding soon.

 

[Fantasia Sam]

You may not have intended this, but your post comes across as being unfair to many who choose not to stay on site and only want/need budget accommodation. I've yet to see a post from anyone who is prepared to stay in a 'run down area' and I know that many people great deals on good hotels as I do myself when I stay offsite, which I often do for a few nights, despite being a DVC member. LBV, which Wayne prefers, as do I, is far from 'run down' and you can get great rates at some of these hotels if you know where to look.

I agree and for the most part you get way more bang for your buck by staying off site. As much as I ADORE staying in the haven of a Disney Resort I actually see some great prices for staying offsite in resorts that are cheaper than a Value but give you so much more (Disney Transport aside) than a Disney Value Resort.

Whilst I am not staying off-site so much these days because of DVC and great AP rates I still go and hang out off-site and nope not a "run down" area to be found

Back to Wayne's Trippy.... Welcome Home Wayne and family .... I know you had a good time it's been a blast reading along with you on here and on Matthew's blog

 

[RDP]

When is the next trip Wayne? Are you going to bother to unpack?

 

[catherine]

Welcome home Wayne! Sounds like you had a great trip, thanks for posting and taking us along for the ride!

 

[wayneg]

When is the next trip Wayne? Are you going to bother to unpack?

11 weeks 3 days.

Before this trip I had a few health issues, the first few days of the trip I struggled with pains I had been getting, the past 3 weeks hardly any problems at all, the specialist did suggest it was stress related but I didn't believe him, I am not sure now. I just have no idea where the stress is coming from if thats the problem.
I have a colonoscopy booked for Tuesday then an ultrasound on my Gallbladder next week, if they are OK I guess I might have to accept it is stress, maybe ask for holidays to Florida on the NHS
Off to the rugby now to try keep me awake.