Need Help Please!!

[davis65]

We are planning on going to Disney April 5th-9th. I found out its the bad week to go because that is the one week that they have no specials going on. However with school schedules and visitation schedules it was the only week we could go. I really don't want to go in summer. I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on really cheap or free souvineers. Unfortuantly most of our money is gone after paying for the hotel, tickets, and meal plan. I have 3 boys who will all be 7. I have heard about the pennies, and the masks at Epcot. Someone also told me about a passport thing at Epcot, but I don't know where to find that or how much it costs. I want to try to get them as many things as I can that are necessarily toys and shirts. They are going to make a keepsake box of their vacation. Also this is what all I am planning on getting please let me know if you think this is a good plan

Hotel- Port Orlean's

Tickets- 5 day park hopper

Meal plan- Deluxe (The kids want all the character meals and I want dinner at Cinderellas castle. this seemed to be the best plan to go with so everyone got what they wanted)

Pirates League- (I know they get a picture, but do they get to keep the bandana and sword? Is there anything else they get? The whole family is doing this one)

The pirate Cruise for the kids- (My big question about this one is that I have 2 kids that want to go on this, but I have one that has an autism spectrum disorder and OCD. he won't go because I am not allowed to be with him and that scares him. Is there something else he could do while his brothers are on the cruise?)

I havn't paid for all of this yet, but these are my plans. Sorry to ask so many questions, but this is our first time going, and since it is probably going to be a once in a lifetime thing I want to try to get as much out of it as I can.

 

[Dee77]

Pin trading is a lot of fun for kids however getting started and buying the pins at disney is outrageous. I suggest getting them the lanyards and trading pins through a seller on ebay. My DH bought 50 pins for $1 each and my DD, and several nieces and 1 nephew were all set this past trip.

If it's possible to have each of them have their own pictures taken with their favorite character would be great also. My DD and Nieces were all in every picture together but when it came to their favorites, I made sure they got one on their own. Plus separate pictures with their parents, grandparents etc.

Good luck!

 

[davis65]

I am trying to save some money so we can get a photopass CD. My boss went last spring and she showed me her CD. I loved how they edited some of her pictures. How much do these normally cost?

 

[mjkacmom]

I see you are new to this board - have fun planning! The reason there are no specials is because it's the week after Easter, historically one of the busiest times to go. The deluxe dining plan is a lot of food - you will be spending about 6 hours a day eating if you use all of the table service. You will also want to make your ADR's months in advance (it was 180 days out when I went last, believe it changed to 90 days out, but maybe 180 days out again?). You will also probably want to use some kind of touring plan, maybe get a book (passporter? unofficial guide?), utilize and understand the fastpass system, and make sure to get to the parks at rope drop.

You will make your ADR's based upon which parks, which days. If you want to eat at CRT, try to make your reservation as soon as your booking window allows. When we went last, during a slow time, we did the regular DDP, and it was too much food for us.

As for what to buy, I just gave my kids $25 gc's, and that's all they got.

 

[pittsburghmarc]

You are going during a busy time and the activities you have listed are not cheap. The one thing you need to know is doing these activities and the deluxe dining plan, you are sacrificing time spend on attractions and shows.

Character meals are great, but Cindy's castle will use two dining credits. Most likely, unless you skip some meals, you will be paying out of your pocket by the end of the trip for food.

My recommendation, understand you won't be able to do it all. Plan your must see's and do's, and try to relax.

 

[rie'smom]

Here's a link to a passport made by a DISer for others to print and use. Scroll down and then click on passports. Free except if you need ink and paper.

http://www.4shared.com/account/home.jsp

BTW, I'd skip the deluxe dining and book the ddp instead. DO the pirate League the whole family can enjoy, save the money and don't do the pirate cruise too. Table service mealls are fun but they take a lot of time from the parks. You need to decide if eating or riding is the point of your trip. Choose a few and leave 2 days open w/out then use those 2 days to pay for Cinderella's meal.

 

[mdsouth]

We bought our two kids the passports in Epcot. We got them at the kiosk right inside World Showcase by Canada. I am sure they are all over but Canada is at the very beginning of World Showcase and the first stop you go to if you head to the right.

The passports look like actual passports and include stamps/stickers of each country's flag and several pictures of landmarks from each country at least four or five stamps for each country in World Showcase. The package also included a great big pin with the Epcot logo on it -- all for 9.99.


So, the passports are definitely a great souvenir. My kids enjoyed putting in the stamps and then having the CM at the kidspots stamp their books as we toured the world. What made it really good experience for them, was that they could only put the stamps in the book once we had toured that country. We would stop at each country on a bench or somewhere and have the kids put the stamps in the book.

I saw some kids putting all the stamps in the book immediately after buying it all at once and in random order. This seemed like such a waste of a great educational souvenir. Obviously the passports did not hold the kids' attention for long so they did not get as much out of them as my kids did.

 

[davis65]

The main reason why I chose the deluxe dining was because my kids want to go to alot of the character meals. I have decided to not go to Cinderella's castle. The biggest thing that caught my eye about deluxe dining was that you get 3 meals aday instead of two. The meals that my kids want the most are:

chef mickey's
crystal palace breakfast
lilo and stitch breakfast
donald's safari breakfast
chip and dale dinner

Given that my family is big on 3 meals a day (my husband and I could skip a meal with no problem, but we have problems with 3 growing boys if we don't have breakfast, lunch, and dinner) could I realisticly cut out deluxe dining and still make everyone happy?

 

[churchpilot]

There are lots of things to do at Disney that don't necessarily cost money. You can make your own Epcot Passport books by going to the Dis Creative community on this forum and using their pre-mades ones. You can also buy autograph books or once again, make your own. You can have the characters sign a pillowcase or picture frame mat which makes a great keepsake. The photopass is great, but there is so much Disney editing software online that it isn't a must. You can also get the Disney photographers to take pictures of your family with your camera. The parks will be very crowded while you are there and you need to see what reservations are left for dining. We make ours in October when they first opened them back up to 180 days. You will have a hard time getting the Castle and most of the Character meals at this point. I would ditch Deluxe Dining and see what kind of reservations are out there and then book accordingly. You need to be at your restaurant 30 minutes before your check-in time and be prepared to wait because of the crowds. At 7 years old, your boys will still probably appreciate some downtime at the resort (swimming or resting), so your travel time back to the parks or DTD needs to be factored in. 5 days seems like a long time, but it will go by in a hurry. Try and enjoy the time and not worry about rushing from place to place to fill a square! Have a wonderful trip.

 

[churchpilot]

The main reason why I chose the deluxe dining was because my kids want to go to alot of the character meals. I have decided to not go to Cinderella's castle. The biggest thing that caught my eye about deluxe dining was that you get 3 meals aday instead of two. The meals that my kids want the most are:

chef mickey's
crystal palace breakfast
lilo and stitch breakfast
donald's safari breakfast
chip and dale dinner

Given that my family is big on 3 meals a day (my husband and I could skip a meal with no problem, but we have problems with 3 growing boys if we don't have breakfast, lunch, and dinner) could I realisticly cut out deluxe dining and still make everyone happy?

I think everyone will be much happier! The food court at PORS is wonderful and you can also take your own breakfast foods (cereal bars, poptarts, fruit, cereal (buy milk), cheese and crackers, etc) and that is less time spent eating and more time having fun. The regular dining plan is a lot of food. If your boys have really big appetites, some of the kids meals may leave them wanting a little more, but you always have your snack credits, just use them wisely.

 

[churchpilot]

Forgot to address your food choices---

All of them will be booked solid! Your best bet will be to check back as often as possible to see if there are any cancellations and snatch them up as quickly as possible. Chef Mickeys books up immediately and so does Ohana. You may have to compromise some, but good luck finding what you need. Some people may have booked and are hoping for a discount and when they don't get it, they may cancel and leave you some time slots.

 

[Rylee]

Hi,

With only 5 days, I think you have too much plan, leaving very little time to explore the parks.

Some suggestions, which will also save money...

*Drop the Deluxe Dining Plan, (DP) purchase the regular dining plan. This will save money and time. Of course, you know your own children but most 7 year old boys would rather experience the attractions than sit in restaurants. The regular DP will be plenty of food.

To do a Table Service meal requiring 2 credits, (like Cinderella's dinner, and that's if you can even get a reservation) figure out your cheapest Table Service meal, and pay out of pocket. Or, eat 2 Counter Service meals one day, leaving you an extra credit to use.

You need to call or check online to see if you can get reservations at your choice restaurants.

*Many people find they don't need "Hoppers." Hopping takes time, and you don't really have a lot of days, plus there is plenty to see and do in each park. Hoppers do allow for flexibility for dining but you've stated your kids want character meals. Choose character meals at restaurants located inside the park you plan to visit that day, or at a resort near the park. Not purchasing Hoppers will save your family a little over $250.

The kids passports for Epcot can be purchased at the park and cost about $10 the last time we bought them.

Have a great trip!

 

[nmmom95]

The main reason why I chose the deluxe dining was because my kids want to go to alot of the character meals. I have decided to not go to Cinderella's castle. The biggest thing that caught my eye about deluxe dining was that you get 3 meals aday instead of two. The meals that my kids want the most are:

chef mickey's
crystal palace breakfast
lilo and stitch breakfast
donald's safari breakfast
chip and dale dinner

Given that my family is big on 3 meals a day (my husband and I could skip a meal with no problem, but we have problems with 3 growing boys if we don't have breakfast, lunch, and dinner) could I realisticly cut out deluxe dining and still make everyone happy?

We also eat 3 meals a day, but only do the regular DP. We just pay OOP for breakfast. I usually eat a muffin or cereal, one or both of which is a snack credit, and DH & DS's breakfast platters are pretty inexpensive. The days we have character breakfasts, we eat a light lunch, and again pay OOP, since kids meals are only like $5. DH & I will sometimes use a snack credit if we're not that hungry. Snacks are any single serve item under $4.

 

[Rylee]

Given that my family is big on 3 meals a day (my husband and I could skip a meal with no problem, but we have problems with 3 growing boys if we don't have breakfast, lunch, and dinner) could I realisticly cut out deluxe dining and still make everyone happy?

Absolutely!

We and many others, have the kids eat in the room while we get ready in the morning. We bring breakfast items like pop-tarts, granola bars, juice boxes, fruit snacks, etc. Later we grab a counter service lunch and head to our dinner reservation in the evening.

We do at least 1 character meal for breakfast and usually schedule it late morning, which serves as our lunch, then do a CS dinner.

 

[Mrs D]

to the DIS! You are in the right place to help plan a special WDW vacation! I will answer as many of these questions as I can I will post in red in your quotes. Please feel free to post back here with more questions!
I just want to confirm that you are going in April 2010, correct?
First though I agree with the other poster that said you won't be able to do/see everything in this one trip. Because you are going at a busy time you will need to be very realistic that you can only do a certain number of things per day.
The Deluxe dining plan gives you 3 sit down meals every "night" (its based on the number of nights you are in your hotel room - you have 4 nights) while the Dining Plus (we call it DDP) give you 1 sit down meal, 1 counter serve meal and 1 snack each day. A sit down takes (especially character meals) take a minimum of 1 hour but it averages to be close to 90 minutes in my experience. You would be spending many hours eating and if you chose to go to a counter serve restaurant instead you will not see the saves of buying the meal plan.
I would strongly advise you to call 407-wdw dine to book restaurant reservations before committing to any dining plan. You are close to your trip and availability may be limited.

I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on really cheap or free souvineers. We don't buy many things on our vacations. The main thing is the experience and the memories. We select one or two items to bring home. Perhaps each boy can have a set $ amount to spend as they please?

Unfortuantly most of our money is gone after paying for the hotel, tickets, and meal plan. I have 3 boys who will all be 7. I have heard about the pennies We love these, most are 51 cents some are $1.26 bring a roll of quarters and pennies, and the masks at Epcot. Someone also told me about a passport thing at Epcot, but I don't know where to find that or how much it costs. I want to try to get them as many things as I can that are necessarily toys and shirts. They are going to make a keepsake box of their vacation. Also this is what all I am planning on getting please let me know if you think this is a good plan

Hotel- Port Orlean's

Tickets- 5 day park hopper make sure you actually need the park hopper. I would want to KNOW I will be going from this park to that park on what days before shelling out $250 for it. You can always add it later (I will explain more if needed)

Meal plan- Deluxe (The kids want all the character meals and I want dinner at Cinderellas castle. this seemed to be the best plan to go with so everyone got what they wanted)

Pirates League- (I know they get a picture, but do they get to keep the bandana and sword? Is there anything else they get? The whole family is doing this one)

The pirate Cruise for the kids- (My big question about this one is that I have 2 kids that want to go on this, but I have one that has an autism spectrum disorder and OCD. he won't go because I am not allowed to be with him and that scares him. Is there something else he could do while his brothers are on the cruise?) I wonder if this might be too much for this trip?

I havn't paid for all of this yet, but these are my plans. Sorry to ask so many questions, but this is our first time going, and since it is probably going to be a once in a lifetime thing I want to try to get as much out of it as I can.

I am trying to save some money so we can get a photopass CD. My boss went last spring and she showed me her CD. I loved how they edited some of her pictures. How much do these normally cost?

I love buying the photopass CD it costs between $100 - $150, I will explain more if you'd like

The main reason why I chose the deluxe dining was because my kids want to go to alot of the character meals. I have decided to not go to Cinderella's castle. The biggest thing that caught my eye about deluxe dining was that you get 3 meals aday instead of two. The meals that my kids want the most are:

chef mickey's
crystal palace breakfast
lilo and stitch breakfast
donald's safari breakfast
chip and dale dinner

Given that my family is big on 3 meals a day (my husband and I could skip a meal with no problem, but we have problems with 3 growing boys if we don't have breakfast, lunch, and dinner) could I realisticly cut out deluxe dining and still make everyone happy?

You have 5 table serve choices here that are MUST DOs, with the DDP you could have 4 of those covered and maybe you could just pay for one of the breakfasts out of pocket instead of on the dining plan. It would be significantly less expensive than the deluxe plan.

The counter serve options are really very good; there is lots more than just burgers and fries if you do a little homework and know where to go.

To get our 3 meals a day this is what we do: bring granola bars, English muffins or bagels, sometimes instant oatmeal, dry cereal and juice boxes with us. I buy a half gallon of milk at the resort to store in the fridge. This is our breakfast. Some people use their snack credits to buy bagels, muffins, pastries, etc from the resort counter serve as breakfast. I usually do a counter serve lunch and the table serve for dinner (you tend to get more variety from a dinner - particularly for character meals which are mostly buffets - and therefore get more bang for your buck on any dining plan).

I hope this helps and look forward to hearing your plans as they progress!

Enjoy!

 

[davis65]

Thank you all for helping out so much. Sorry to ask soo many questions, but it just seems like there is so much to learn. To be honest I feel a little lost at times. I rechecked the prices using all of your advice. Taking off park hopper and going to a regular dining plan did save over $500. which would be great. I really wanted to have something special put into the rooms when my boys arrived and this is more than enough to do that with. However I noticed that the regular dining plan does not include the refillable resort mug. This is the one thing that my DH wanted. He said that he didn't want to pay an arm and a leg just for the drinks. Can you purchase these seperatly? How much do they cost?

 

[nmmom95]

Thank you all for helping out so much. Sorry to ask soo many questions, but it just seems like there is so much to learn. To be honest I feel a little lost at times. I rechecked the prices using all of your advice. Taking off park hopper and going to a regular dining plan did save over $500. which would be great. I really wanted to have something special put into the rooms when my boys arrived and this is more than enough to do that with. However I noticed that the regular dining plan does not include the refillable resort mug. This is the one thing that my DH wanted. He said that he didn't want to pay an arm and a leg just for the drinks. Can you purchase these seperatly? How much do they cost?

You can purchase them separately. They are $12 or $13.

 

[rie'smom]

We eat 3 meals/day. Mostly we have a roll and coffee or cereal for breakfast. We save the counter service for either lunch or dinner and do the same for the table service. It's also a great idea to skip the hopping especially if this is your 1st visit. Just remember to schedule your meals for whichever park you happen to be in that day, ex. Cinderella for the day that you're in the Magic Kingdom because you will not be able to hop even for a meal.

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

You can have food delivered to cover breakfast and snack needs if you have fridge. GardenGrocer.com

My daughters who will be 8 next week wanted to spend time swimming. (It isn't the novelty of a pool - they have the opportunity to swim nearly every day in summer. The pool slides were certainly a hit, though.)

My girls are thrill seekers - all coasters are on the favorite list esp. Expedition Everest. The only attraction that freaked mine out were Dinosaur and Tough to Be a Bug (go figure). No problems with TOT or EE though.

You might want to keep the park hoppers in case any parks are simply too crowded and you want to park hop to go against EMH. (Go to the park for the early hour and leave for break then go to non emh park for less crowds.) I was going to advise against the extras you are planning, but it seems that they price isn't a deal breaker, so if you think the boys will like them, go for it.

Others have said all meals will be booked - I am not sure if you are going this year or next, but you might make out just fine. When we went the first time I planned, but didn't know how early I had to do things. It worked out fine. I made an appt for lunch at Cindy's place for the day of our arrive on my first call and I made a Le Cellier ressie without any problem.

Also, to have something special in your room, you might take it with you (if you weren't planning this). You can go to the creative boards to get t-shirt patterns to print out and iron on to create special tees for the boys. - check in with milliepie's stuff. Pick up stuff at $5 Below etc.

Ask away with any other questions. I recommend the Passporter and Unofficial Guides for planning/ reading materials.

 

[davis65]

About how many pins would each child need to enjoy the pin trading?