Newbie introducing and having some questions

[elorapet]

hi, I am totally new here, registered today after reading the post for a couple of days.

Me and my family, we are from Finland, Europe, and finally we have a chance to have a holiday of our dreams and spend two weeks in Florida. This is the first time for our family visit US as well so we are excited.

We will stay 4 nights at some disney resort (31st Oct - 4th Nov), but because we are paying heavily for our flight tickets, we decided to buy only 1-day base tickets to WDW. Our kids are so young that we decided that MK would be the best choice.

So I have couple of questions... (I apologizes all the stupid ones I might ask )
- is it possible to watch the fireworks somewhere outside the parks where admission tickets are not needed?
- is it possible to have character breakfast/dining in some resort if you are not living there (for example if we have a room in value resort, can we attend a character dining in Polynesian resort?)
- Am I totally late for booking character dinings for the first days of November?
- if I book a room + tickets already now and then for example in August some discount codes are released, can I keep the existing reservation but attach the discount codes afterwards?
- is it worth to pay some extra and reserve a preferred room in All Star Movie resort?
- All the souvenirs (dolls, dresses, figures etc.) are surely quite expensive in the MK and I am surely my daughter wants some "princess stuff" to be bought, so if somebody has good tips where to buy those things, I would really appreciate all the tips I can get.

thank you in advance

 

[Bob P]

Hi and welcome to the DIS!

There are a few places outside the parks to watch the fireworks (the most popular are at restaurants like the California Grill where they pipe in the soundtrack) but in most of the places outside the parks you will only have a partial view and/or will not be able to hear the soundtrack.

Yes, you can dine at any of the hotels even if you are not staying there.

The only way to know if you are too late is to call Disney Dining. There should still be many availabilities in November as long as you are flexible with Dining times and have some backups.

Yes, you can always rebook a package at a more favorable rate.

I think people will have differing opinions on booking a preferred room at ASMO. Personally I would save the money and spend it on something else.

Check out this link (and mousesavers.com in general) for lots of money-saving tips on souveniers and almost everything else!

http://www.mousesavers.com/merchandise.html

 

[TaraPA]

Welcome to the DIS and I have to say lucky you, having a 2 week holiday in Florida! I agree with everything the above poster said. I think you can see most of the fireworks from the Boardwalk area, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. I also would not spend the extra money on the preferred rooms. I would really, really try to find a way to get more than a 1-day base ticket to MK. Even if you can just spend 1 more day in a theme park, or better yet have 2 days of park hopping, you could see all 4 parks in 2 days with a Park Hopper option ticket. You would not regret it. Definitely check out www.mousesavers.com for discounts & deals, and be sure to sign up for their newsletter. It comes out on the 15th of each month & there is usually a link in the newsletter to special discounts on theme park admission tickets through Undercover Tourist. You can only get to the special discount page at www.UndercoverTourist.com though the newsletter. They usually have deals like pay for a 3-day ticket, get 3 days free. Actually I'm not sure I'm allowed to be posting this info on the boards - private message me if you need more details. Another useful website is www.allearsnet.com for general Disney info. Enjoy your trip & again welcome to the DISboards!

 

[elorapet]

thank you for answering, both of you. many helpful tips. one more question...Is it possible to upgrade the tickets afterwards?
If I now make a reservation for room and 1-day tickets, can I upgrade the tickets later to be 2-day tickets with park hopper? (I want to make the reservations soon to be sure that there is rooms available, but I also need some time to convince my husband that it is better to have 2-day tickets...)

 

[byoung]

Hi and welcome to the DIS!

There are a few places outside the parks to watch the fireworks (the most popular are at restaurants like the California Grill where they pipe in the soundtrack) but in most of the places outside the parks you will only have a partial view and/or will not be able to hear the soundtrack.

Yes, you can dine at any of the hotels even if you are not staying there.

The only way to know if you are too late is to call Disney Dining. There should still be many availabilities in November as long as you are flexible with Dining times and have some backups.

Yes, you can always rebook a package at a more favorable rate.

I think people will have differing opinions on booking a preferred room at ASMO. Personally I would save the money and spend it on something else.

Check out this link (and mousesavers.com in general) for lots of money-saving tips on souveniers and almost everything else!

http://www.mousesavers.com/merchandise.html

Good answers.

 

[Tinks Girls]

thank you for answering, both of you. many helpful tips. one more question...Is it possible to upgrade the tickets afterwards?
If I now make a reservation for room and 1-day tickets, can I upgrade the tickets later to be 2-day tickets with park hopper? (I want to make the reservations soon to be sure that there is rooms available, but I also need some time to convince my husband that it is better to have 2-day tickets...)

Welcome Yes, you can upgrade your tickets at a later date. I, personally, did it myself for this upcoming trip. I am pretty sure that you can even change the tickets when you arrive at your resort. BTW- I agree with the previous posters - Do not upgrade to the preferred room and use the money to help pay for the park hopper tickets. You can be much more flexible with your time when you know that you can come and go if you or your kids need a break.

Good luck with your planning!

 

[ziggybaby]

Welcome to the DIS

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[PudgetteD]

Personally I would save my money and not get a preferred room. I've had standard view and preferred and IMO preferred rooms are too noisy!