PrincessTiffany.. thanks for the heads up! I will definitely be on the lookout for dining deals! Where do I look? On the Disney website itself? Guidance would be much appreciated. 40% off sounds too incredible to be true.
We will be at Disney from December 19th to 24th.. we were told we can made reservations anytime after June 20th. Timing is a tough one.. we're "on vacation" so it's hard to know when we'll want dinners. BUT it sounds like I'll just have to make the best guess and take it from there!
Thanks very much for the advice
Well staying at a Deluxe resort, the 40% room discount would be slightly more than the free dining discount, but with your dates running so close to Christmas, you may not be able to get 40% off to cover all those dates if they are released. Free Dining ran through December 21 last year, so as long as you checked in by Dec. 21, you got the free dining discount for your entire stay, up to 14 nights. The discounts usually get leaked here on the Dis a few days before they are on the WDW site, so the best thing to do is go over to the Code & Rates section of this Board, which is a Resorts Sub-Board and subscribe to one of the December Discounts Threads. The discounts will pop up there before they are put out by Disney and then you can call and add the discount to your existing reservation.
As far as booking ADRs 6 months out, it's not that hard - I do it every year. I highly suggest that you get The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World or check out their companion website,
www.touringplans.com. I use their Best Days/Crowd Calendar to pick which dates we will be in which parks. Once I know what park we will be in on which day, then I just pick a restaurant that is in the Park or at a close by resort.
Here's some info for people new to touring WDW:
1. Make sure you have Advance Dining Reservations.
2. Get to the parks at opening. You really can get a lot done in the morning because so many other people sleep in.
3. Eat lunch around 11:00 or 11:30 a.m. before the fast food places get busy. Then when while everyone else is eating lunch, you will have lower crowds.
4. I buy a ton of the two for a dollar ponchos at the dollar store and keep them in the backpack. That way you can throw them a way after use and not worry about keeping up with a wet bulky poncho the rest of the day. Bring throw away ponchos to wear on Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom, if not you WILL get soaked.
5. Other things I put in the backpack each morning are Tylenol/Motrin, small first aid kit, camera with extra batteries, small hand towel, hand sanitizer, wipes and a bottle of water.
6. Most single service items under $4.00 are considered a snack credit on the
Disney dining plan.
7. At Magic Kingdom always head to Fantasyland first, if you are not doing Fantasyland on a particular day then head to Splash Mountain first, then Big Thunder Mountain; at Epcot always ride Soarin' first and get a Fastpass for later after you get off of the ride; at Disney Hollywood Studios always ride Toy Story Mania first, then head over to Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror; and at Animal Kingdom ride Expedition Everest First then head to the Safari.
8. Favorite fast food restaurants at MK are Pecos Bills and Cosmic Rays; favorite fast food at Animal Kingdom is Flame Tree Grill and Pizzafari. If you are there while it's very hot, go to Pizzafari.
9. If there are two lines going into an attraction, always take the line that goes to the left.
10. My best tip would have to be USE THE FASTPASS SYSTEM. Our rule of thumb is if the wait is 25 minutes or less, we wait in line. If the wait is 30 minutes or more, use a Fastpass.
It is not highly publicized, but your Fastpass does not expire until the end of the day. You can never use it before the return time stamp on the pass, but you can always use it after. We try to collect Fastpasses during the early part of the day and then use them later in the afternoon when the parks become more crowded.
Click on this link and it will give you an excellent overview of Fastpass. It is from fellow Diser Doconeil and is super helpful:
http://www.oinc.net/disney/fastpass.php
If you still don't understand, just let me know your specific questions.
11. I like the Photopass. You can pre-buy it before your trip for $99.00. When you enter the parks you will see the staff photographers, they will take your pictures and give you a Photopass and you can use that for the rest of your trip. Each time you see a photographer have them take your picture and they will scan your picture. Then when you get home you can pull up the pictures, with the code they email you after purchase, and pick the photos you want on a CD. They will then mail you the CD and the copyrights to the CD and you can take them to
Walmart or Walgreens or wherever and get them developed. They also have a lot of cool software that you can use to edit your photos before you have them put on the CD.
My favorite Disney planning sites are:
www.disboards.com
www.allearsnet.com
www.wdwinfo.com
www.intercot.com
