Need help Planning

[Gitts2008]

Hello

I am a newbie. I am planning a trip to WDW for 11/30-12/05. It will be my husband, 7 year old daughter and myself. I would love it, if someone could look over what I planned and let me know what they think:

Hotel: POP or Star Music
**Is it worth the money to stay at a Moderate resort?** I will be renting a fridge if we stay at the POP.


Tickets: 6 days ( Park Hopper and Water Park More Fun options)
** We are not going to the water parks, so is it worth the extra money to see DisneyQuest, Downtown Disney, and Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. ??? **

Dining: Deluxe Dining plan
** We are not 3 sit down meal family, but the basic plan does not look like enough food and the deluxe looks like too much. We plan on doing 3 Character Meals (2 breakfasts and 1 dinner) **
** Are the meal plans worth it?**

Schedule
11/30 (Sun) Arrive--MK
12/1 (Mon) MK
12/2 (Tues) Epcot
12/3 (Weds) AK -Downtown- Hollywood Studios
12/4 (Thurs) MK
12/5 (Fri) Epcot or whatever we did not see or want to do again. Leave

Being comfortable and having fun is my first priority so this plan is not set in stone.

**Are 4 full days and 2 1/2 days enough time?**
We are not AAA members but would it be worth it to join?

Is the interactive Mickey worth the money?

I plan on about $500.00 spending money. I heard that there are stores right outside of Disney that sell the Disney shirts and stuff for less money. But, I did not plan on renting a car.
**Should we rent a car? Is the Mouse Transportation reliable and good?***


Any tips or suggestions would be great. I have planned this trip so many times and things always happened and we could not go. I am not letting anything stop us this time

 

[worm761]

if you are not doing the water parks then the water parks and more feature is probably not worth your money. the wide world of sports is only fun if there is something going on and you have tickets. as for disneyquest...it is great. you can get discount tickets through some brokers. have you looked at www.mousesavers.com and have you signed up for the newsletter? you will get a link to special discounts in the newsletter. she uses www.undercovertourist.com . i have used www.ticketmania.com and www.mapleleaftickets.com . these are all very reputable places and sell disney tickets at a discount. so does this parent site. www.wdwinfo.com

i have stayed at POP and All Star Sports. twice at both resorts. they are both fun and both worth the money. if you are looking at a moderate check out coronado springs. very cool looking resort.

as for the dining plan...it looks like alot of food. we do not average 1 table service meal a day. therefore, do not use it. you may want to check out the restaurant board. they have the pros and cons on there.

disney transportation is just fine. i used to live in new york and would fly down. never once rented a car. it is all highways and whatnot and i get lost very easily. my motto is ... i am on vacation, let someone else do the driving.

oh...and downtown disney does NOT cost to get into. it is a shopping complex. very fun even if you just go to look. but be warned that there are many temptations down there. ie...the lego store, and goofy's candy store.

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

The first thing to keep in mind is that the WDW experience is so subjective that 20 replies to this question will yield 20 completely different responses, especially to the "is this worth it?" type of questions. What works best for one family would not be what's best for another.

That being said, here's my 2 cents...

Hotel:

We've either been to or stayed at almost all of the resorts on WDW property and out of all of them - value, moderate, and deluxe - we prefer POP. It's very garish and tacky but to us that's where its charm is. Not too many people have neutral feelings towards POP...they either love it or hate it so if you're considering it I'd go check out the POP Picture thread and see for yourself. As to your question as to whether the moderate is worth the money, personally I don't think so but I'm sure there are many who disagree with me. If I were you I'd check out the differences in amenities and the price difference and make your decision based upon that.


Tickets:

You don't have to pay extra to go to Downtown Disney itself, only entrance to the clubs in Pleasure Island and of those only 2 allow children under 18. Not sure if that affects your decision at all.


Dining Plan:

We've never used the DDP so really can't comment. Some people seem to love it, others the opposite.


I think you're very smart in saying your itinerary is not set in stone. We've found keeping a flexible schedule is often posted as the #1 tip on threads containing tips for first time visitors. It's so easy to sit at home and say you want to do these things in a particular order but once you're actually there things like crowds and wait times, not to mention a desire to do something a second or third time, have a habit of shuffling your plans. Like you said, you're there to relax and have a good time, not stress about keeping to a fixed schedule.

If your trip is to do Disney and only Disney I think you'll have plenty of time. Last May we kept our trip limited to WDW and found 7 days was enough. To make it seem longer each day we’d spend the morning at one park and the afternoon/ early evening at another the go to DTD at night.

I don’t think there’s anything really wrong with Disney’s transportation system but we always use a rental car to give us the option of offsite shopping & dining. Plus at the end of a long day when we’re tired the last thing we want to do is wait to get on a crowded bus. Again, it’s a personal decision but we plan well in advance and watch the rental car prices closely so we usually get a very good rate.

I would say yes the AAA room discounts you’d likely get would exceed the cost of the membership.

As for the Pal Mickey, we absolutely love ours and think it was money well spent. The only thing I would suggest is bringing rechargeable batteries he does go through them quickly.

Hope these help;
Lee

 

[Unregistered]

Most of what I say here is from advice I gleaned from this board and my last trip to disney.

**Is it worth the money to stay at a Moderate resort?** I will be renting a fridge if we stay at the POP.

Personally I loved staying at a moderate for my honeymoon, but I plan on going with a value resort for my next trip. We spent our afternoons lounging in the room and swimming in the pool, but we could have done the same thing at a value resort. (I highly advise afternoon breaks during the heat of the day).

I think it's a personal choice of theming, features you want and how much you can afford.

Schedule
11/30 (Sun) Arrive--MK
12/1 (Mon) MK
12/2 (Tues) Epcot
12/3 (Weds) AK -Downtown- Hollywood Studios
12/4 (Thurs) MK
12/5 (Fri) Epcot or whatever we did not see or want to do again. Leave

Being comfortable and having fun is my first priority so this plan is not set in stone.
**Are 4 full days and 2 1/2 days enough time?**

I would add on 1-2 more days. 1.5 days in magic kingdom would probably be enough. You will likely need a full two days in Epcot (unless you have small children who would prefer more time in magic kingdom. I would advise a full day in Hollywood studios just so you can see all the shows, and a full day in Animal Kingdom just to enjoy it. If you have teh money to move yup to a moderate room, add on an extra day or so staying in a value resort.

On my honeymoon we arrived late saturday, toured the parks sun/mon/tues/weds/thurs/fri/sat and left Sunday. It was just enough time to fit everything I wanted into the trip.

Tickets: 6 days ( Park Hopper and Water Park More Fun options)
** We are not going to the water parks, so is it worth the extra money to see DisneyQuest, Downtown Disney, and Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. ??? **

I was really disappointed with DisneyQuest, not a sports fan or clubber, so for me it was a waste of cash. I only went to one water park which would have cost $35 to enter without the special ticket. I paid more than $35 for the extra ticket, so I lost money. Where you are limited on time and don't plan on hitting the water parks, I wouldn't go for it.

Dining: Deluxe Dining plan
** We are not 3 sit down meal family, but the basic plan does not look like enough food and the deluxe looks like too much. We plan on doing 3 Character Meals (2 breakfasts and 1 dinner) **
** Are the meal plans worth it?**

Consider that it costs about $5-10 per person for breakfast in the food court. Add that price unto the basic dining plan. If you plan to go to any dining places that cost two dining credits budget for the extra meals required. Add that to your total. Compare this final total with the cost of the Deluxe dining plan and decide from there.

Personally I'll be going with the standard plan, especially if I can manage to snag free dining next fall. (usually offered august to september, and you can purchase the plan april - june)

I plan on about $500.00 spending money. I heard that there are stores right outside of Disney that sell the Disney shirts and stuff for less money. But, I did not plan on renting a car.
**Should we rent a car? Is the Mouse Transportation reliable and good?***

I didn't mind the buses except for one night where the wait for a bus to get back to Port Orleans from the Magic Kingdom took forever. I don't have a car normally though, so take that as you will.

Any tips or suggestions would be great. I have planned this trip so many times and things always happened and we could not go. I am not letting anything stop us this time

I wish you luck and hope you have a fabulous trip.

 

[Gitts2008]

Thank you all so much.

I will not get the extra "More Fun" option on the tickets.

The dining plan I am still up in the air about. I will have to search for others who have used the Deluxe and find out what they thought. But, first I must find out more about this Free Meal thing.

I thnk that I will add an extra day. Thanks again so much Any and all advice is great when trying to plan a massive fun vacation....Hopefully, when I join AAA they can help me b/c I am question woman


I think the POP will be fine...we are there for parks not the Hotel.

On a side note: I have trolled some of the board and I feel like I am missing the secret guide to the tricks of planning a WDW vacation....Did anyone else feel that way ?

 

[staceymay00]

Hi...I am also new to this board. We have a family trip planned for this fall. Last January we took our kids (1.5, 4 and 6 at the time) to Magic Kingdom for two days after visiting friends in FL, but this fall we are going for five full days. I would like to stay a little longer but don't want to pull my kids out of school more than a few days, so five days it is.

As for AAA, I am saving $25 x 6 nights at POR just with my AAA discount. Our AAA has always paid for itself just with hotel discounts because we travel several times a year to see family and friends.

Again I am not an expert, but you might be a little short for time at AK and DS, and I think two full days at MK is probably enough time if you arrive at opening and stay until closing (take a rest in the afternoon if the park is open late that night). I've heard Disney transportation is pretty efficient from resort to theme park, but not to other resorts. We'll have a car since we live close enough to drive to Orlando, but plan to take Disney bus to MK so we can skip the monorail. We'll probably drive to the other parks.

You are smart to say you'll be flexible up front!

 

[disney54us]

Hi welcome to the boards!! Here's more two cent's
I never stayed at either, so I can't tell you. I don't think I would want to have to rent a frid, and would probably opt for someplace that had one (again that's just me). You would know better how your family is about hotels, some go by: we only just sleep there, others want more. I believe you stated your child is younger, so I would say they do get tired out and you may spend more time at the hotel and pool then people w/older kids or a couple.

If you are not going to do the water parks, skip the pass w/them.
Downtown Disney is free, and actually Paradise Island you use to need a keytotheworld pass but now you can get in. That's why it's become a teen hangout even though they can't get into the clubs.

The dining plan, our first couple of trips, back then it was called food and fun, then we b/c DVC members and it was not available to us. We did get our use out of it, and on our next trip sinc the dining plan is available to DVC members we will use it. When I look at one of the highest cost of our trips it's the food.

Glad to hear your not going to try to do it all in one trip. It's nice to actually enjoy the trip and dream about the next one.

Good luck, I'm sure whatever you do will be .

 

[dreamin in pa]

On a side note: I have trolled some of the board and I feel like I am missing the secret guide to the tricks of planning a WDW vacation....Did anyone else feel that way ?

I know exactly what you mean. I'm planning our third trip and sometimes I still feel lost on here.

On your schedule, I would cut MK down to 2 full days. Maybe use your arrival day for DTD and just to check out your hotel. We stayed at POP on our last trip even though we love going to the parks, we spent a few hours just looking around the hotel grounds. There are lots of picture taking opportunities there too. I would also set aside a full day each for both Animal Kingdom and Disney Hollywood Studios. You may not use the full day but you also don't want to look back and say you wished you had schedule more time to do such and such.

You are also only park hopping on one day of your trip. Is it worth the added expense to only hop for one day? I don't like to park hop but you may end up loving it. If you do your park days a little different, you may not have to park hop.

We did the dining plans for our last 2 trips and will not be doing it for our next trip. We felt like we were tied to our ADRs. And we really did find it to be alot of food. As others have said, check out the dining board and they will give you the scoop on everything with the dining plan.

I think the bus transportation is great. I love the fact that none of us have to drive for a week. The buses can get crowded, very crowded, but if you don't want to stand, you can always wait for the next one. We've done that alot especially with 4 kids.

And I just want to add, don't overplan. You won't be able to see everything in this one trip no matter how hard you try. Don't forget to just relax and enjoy Disney.

 

[disney54us]

Oops, forgot a couple, we have never rented a car and we have more then 13 trips. Transportation, is excellent. Even when you leave Epcot and it's closed and the buses are gone. There's still a bus to get you home!!
Another hint, will depend on you DD, she may love the MK and want to spend more time there. When my DD was younger that was where she wanted to be, and we did get in the others but MK was it for her.

 

[disney54us]

hi dreamin!

 

[Disney_rider]

This is just my 2 cents so you can take it or leave it but I used to be a travel agent and I've planned alot of trips.

Hello

I am a newbie. I am planning a trip to WDW for 11/30-12/05. It will be my husband, 7 year old daughter and myself. I would love it, if someone could look over what I planned and let me know what they think:

Hotel: POP or Star Music
**Is it worth the money to stay at a Moderate resort?** I will be renting a fridge if we stay at the POP.

I would go Moderate I personally was really disapointed with the star movie I stayed at. The buses were super packed and the rooms are really small. Even the lowest moderate is better than any of the A-Stars.


Tickets: 6 days ( Park Hopper and Water Park More Fun options)
** We are not going to the water parks, so is it worth the extra money to see DisneyQuest, Downtown Disney, and Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. ??? **

Don't waste your money if your not gonna use it. If there is nothing going on at the sports complex don't bother. If you really want to go to Disneyquest just pay for it when you come apon it.

Dining: Deluxe Dining plan
** We are not 3 sit down meal family, but the basic plan does not look like enough food and the deluxe looks like too much. We plan on doing 3 Character Meals (2 breakfasts and 1 dinner) **
** Are the meal plans worth it?**

My first trip was my 2 parents me 26 at the time and my 1 year old daughter and we had plenty to eat with unused meals and snacks left over. we did 2 character meals but we had enough to do a 3rd easy.


Schedule
11/30 (Sun) Arrive--MK
12/1 (Mon) MK
12/2 (Tues) Epcot
12/3 (Weds) AK -Downtown- Hollywood Studios
12/4 (Thurs) MK
12/5 (Fri) Epcot or whatever we did not see or want to do again. Leave

You really do not need 3 days for MK....you'll need to devote an entire day to AK...It's HUGE and woth it. And a day should be devoted to Hollywood studios.Downtown is fun at night or would be good to do the day you arrive and or leave. Use it as a filler.

Being comfortable and having fun is my first priority so this plan is not set in stone.

**Are 4 full days and 2 1/2 days enough time?**
We are not AAA members but would it be worth it to join?

Is the interactive Mickey worth the money?

I was not impressed with mine and I gave it to a little girl that was fasinated with it.(that was my good deed for the year)

I plan on about $500.00 spending money. I heard that there are stores right outside of Disney that sell the Disney shirts and stuff for less money. But, I did not plan on renting a car.
**Should we rent a car? Is the Mouse Transportation reliable and good?***

I would have loved it if we only spent $500!!! Our tab by the time we left was $3000 but I'm a pin and art collector so I'm ab-normal.
But lets think about this...How much are you paying to rent a car??? then do you know where these "places" are? Do you really want to spend the extra money driving around Orlando looking for a good deal???and do you have time for such an excursion?
I didn't find the prices for shirts and stuff that bad.


Any tips or suggestions would be great. I have planned this trip so many times and things always happened and we could not go. I am not letting anything stop us this time

I'm sorry if I'm to blunt but I've done alot of iterneraries and trip planningI'd be glad to help you.

 

[MousekaMaddi]

my 2cents........
dont buy the park hop option, devote the whole day to whichever park u want to go to that day.(theres plenty to do all day at each single park) U can stay all day or leave go swim in your hotel pool and return to THE SAME PARK ON THE SAME DAY.

Dont do the water parks on your first trip(next time)

Stay at a value, theyre tiny but great value, get up and GO TO THE PARKS!!

We love POP, Movies and Sports, love the value, love everything about em, I am 40, DH 40, DD5.

Dont do deluxe, do basic dining plan, be sure to call disney and make All of your dining "reservations" called ADRs....NOW, right NOW.
Stop reading and go call disney right now for ressies,...really! NOW!

Need more help PM me, we go alot and I love helping people plan.

 

[Gitts2008]

Thank you all so much. The suggestions given have made my planning this trip less scary.

Disney_Rider : OH MY! You spent $3000.00 in extras...yikes, I am budgeting btw $3500-$4000 for the whole trip (Airfare, hotel, tickets, food and extras)


Again, thank you all so much for taking the time to help me out.

 

[mom of 2 pwr rngrs]

On a side note: I have trolled some of the board and I feel like I am missing the secret guide to the tricks of planning a WDW vacation....Did anyone else feel that way ?

Hi, I am a newbie also and I definitely feel that way. I can't put my .02 cents in about your plan because I am still figuring this WDW thing out.

Every time I think that I have figured out our vacation, I come across another thread that suggests something else. This has turned into a research project for me, a good one though .

Maybe I will put my .01 cent in, you said that you would be renting a fridge, I have seen on another board, I think the budget board about Fridge, some free. I am not sure if it is out for your dates yet.

 

[Rylee]

Hello

I am a newbie. I am planning a trip to WDW for 11/30-12/05. It will be my husband, 7 year old daughter and myself. I would love it, if someone could look over what I planned and let me know what they think:

Hotel: POP or Star Music
**Is it worth the money to stay at a Moderate resort?** I will be renting a fridge if we stay at the POP.


Tickets: 6 days ( Park Hopper and Water Park More Fun options)
** We are not going to the water parks, so is it worth the extra money to see DisneyQuest, Downtown Disney, and Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. ??? **

Dining: Deluxe Dining plan
** We are not 3 sit down meal family, but the basic plan does not look like enough food and the deluxe looks like too much. We plan on doing 3 Character Meals (2 breakfasts and 1 dinner) **
** Are the meal plans worth it?**

Schedule
11/30 (Sun) Arrive--MK
12/1 (Mon) MK
12/2 (Tues) Epcot
12/3 (Weds) AK -Downtown- Hollywood Studios
12/4 (Thurs) MK
12/5 (Fri) Epcot or whatever we did not see or want to do again. Leave

Being comfortable and having fun is my first priority so this plan is not set in stone.

**Are 4 full days and 2 1/2 days enough time?**
We are not AAA members but would it be worth it to join?

Is the interactive Mickey worth the money?

I plan on about $500.00 spending money. I heard that there are stores right outside of Disney that sell the Disney shirts and stuff for less money. But, I did not plan on renting a car.
**Should we rent a car? Is the Mouse Transportation reliable and good?***


Any tips or suggestions would be great. I have planned this trip so many times and things always happened and we could not go. I am not letting anything stop us this time

Hi,

Hotel
We have stayed deluxe and values (2 rooms) and honestly, we've been happy with both. As long as we were at a Disney Resort, the hotel had very little to do with our Disney experience. Most moderate rooms are only slightly larger than values. My family loves ASMovies.

Tickets -
No, it is not worth the extra $$. In fact, a Cast Member (CM) told me if you plan on visiting any of those places only 1 time, it is cheaper to buy a separate admission when you get there, if you plan on 2 or more visits, it is worth it to add on to your MYW ticket. Downtown Disney is free... a shopping, restaurant complex.

Hopper passes - This is entirely up to you, but I don't think it is necessary for 1st time visitors... (unless they only have a couple of days and want to take in the highlights) there is so much to see and do at each park. We've taken trips with and without them, so, a couple of things to keep in mind... Hopping takes time and a little planning. However, they do provide more freedom, especially for dining options.

If you don't buy hoppers, you will need to make your Advance Dining Reservations (ADR) in the park you are visiting for that day, or, I recommend, at a nearby resort restaurant, so you don't lose a lot of time to traveling. A Downtown Disney ADR is usually good for the day you'll visit AK, since it usually closes earlier than the other parks.

Dining Plan (DP) -
Since you have said, you are not a 3 sit down meals a day family, I definitely think the basic DP is enough. We love the DP, and usually leave with a couple of Counter Service (CS) and snacks, unused. (I have always insisted on one nice, relaxing Table Service (TS) meal per day, dining plan or not.) It is a nice break in the day, and the restaurants are fun, too. You'll have to decide which meal plan works for your family, but unless you are planning on a lot of signature meals, (uses 2 TS credits) having 2 TS meals will take a lot of time away from your park touring and keep you on a tighter schedule. You can make ADR's 180 days out... even if you don't choose either DP but want to experience a few TS restaurants, you will need ADR's.

Schedule -
I would advise waiting until the park hours schedule is released for the month/s you'll be visiting and referring to it when choosing which day to visit each park. Since you are a Disney Resort guest, you'll be able to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours (EMH). If you have hopper passes, it's not quite a much of an issue, as you'll still be able to go to the extra evening hours, but it still would be valuable for scheduling your dining reservations.

If you could add just one more day, I think it would be greatly worth it. Do you plan on using Magical Express (ME)? I don't know what time your incoming and outgoing flights will be but upon arrival, check-in will take time, and when departing ME picks up a few hours before departure time.

*Anyway, if you only have 4 full days, I would recommend the hopper passes and would not schedule more than one TS meal per day, CS is quicker and there are many fine options.*

I do think you will want/need more time at AK and HS, than you have allowed for.

I would recommend concentrating on 1 park per day, arriving early, and plan on being there for most of the day, then after dinner, going to the park that has the extra evening hours. Hope I word this to make sense... If you buy hoppers... plan on starting your day at one of the parks that does NOT have extra magic hours, (those who do not purchase hoppers, but want to take advantage of EMH, have to go to that park, that day, making it slighty more crowded) then taking an afternoon break for a swim and dinner, head to the park that does have the EMH in the evening.

I'm not one for scheduling an entire day... I think it's important to have time to discover the "magic" at your own pace, but I do recommend having in mind a few must-do-attractions for your family, hitting those early in the day and using fast passes. Upon arriving at each park, grab a schedule at check show and parade times.

So, I would start each day at a different park, then mid to late afternoon, (with the exception of one full day at MK) break for rest/swim/dinner, and then head to the park with the EMH's (making sure one of the EMH's is at MK, giving you more time there) or possibly one evening at Downtown Disney. When you know you arrival and depature times, you'll be able to plan those days.

I think $500 for spending money should be enough.

Disney transportation is sufficient. I would not rent a car.

 

[queensara]

Welcome to the DIS Boards

We have been to Disney several times. We have always stayed off site, so I can't comment on the pop. We have packed an insulated lunch bag and taken sandwiches into the park for lunch and then do counter service for dinner. We usually eat our breakfast in the hotel. If you are renting a fridge you can do all of this. There is a site where you can order groceries ahead of time to be delivered to where you are staying. We also freeze water bottles the night before and take them into the park. Its a great way to save some cash.

 

[Gitts2008]

Thank you so much QueenSara. Do you know the website of the grocery store? That would be a money saver.


On a side note: My Dh's best friend told us to leave the end of Nov/Beginning of Dec open b/c he just got engaged That is when we were planning on going.

 

[collcass]

Hi, I am a newbie also and I definitely feel that way. I can't put my .02 cents in about your plan because I am still figuring this WDW thing out.

Every time I think that I have figured out our vacation, I come across another thread that suggests something else. This has turned into a research project for me, a good one though .

QUOTE]


I'm right there with you. I am about 100x as confused now that I've read all these threads. My head is actually spinning thinking abou planning out our days

 

[Gitts2008]

Hi, I am a newbie also and I definitely feel that way. I can't put my .02 cents in about your plan because I am still figuring this WDW thing out.

Every time I think that I have figured out our vacation, I come across another thread that suggests something else. This has turned into a research project for me, a good one though .

QUOTE]


I'm right there with you. I am about 100x as confused now that I've read all these threads. My head is actually spinning thinking abou planning out our days

I wish you luck It has become a part time job understanding and looking and figuring out everything. We still have plenty of time to but I still feel overwhelmed.

These boards are great tho. SO MANY helpful people. It makes me want them on my vacation to help