Newbie planning for Aug 2011

[Aliceacc]

Now, if you want the LONG version....

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1926169&highlight=worked

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2263996&highlight=worked

 

[poohbearwithme]

I have made reservations at Holiday Inn Lake Buena Vista with the great AllEars Rate of $69.99/night, and I feel good about that. The pricetag of all of it was really hard for dh to swallow, so I'm working to keep expenses down in every way I can!

69.99 is not a bad price and it is pretty close to the park.
I totally understand the sticker shock for your DH, especially if he's never been. There are many budget tips for saving money and if you do enough research you will find things you would have never thought of to save money. One way I can thing I can think of right off is if the hotel offers a shuttle to the park you might want to look into taking that and save that $15 a day (WDW parking fee). If you or you husband is military or retired military there are currently money saving offers of tickets for them and their families. A AAA Membership will also save you a few bucks on tics if you are a member.

 

[StaceyDuke]

Hi all. It's been awhile since I posted here, but now that my trip is almost here I have a few last minute questions. You guys have been so incredibly helpful so far, and I really appreciate it! One thing I am still trying to get my head around is dining.

We are staying offsite so obviously not doing a dining plan. I have made two reservations - dinner at Yak and Yeti on our first full day and breakfast at Chef Mickey's on the morning of our departure. I am very excited about both of them! Thank you to those of you who made those suggestions!

I am thinking that midday each day we will take a little break and head back to our hotel for lunch and a rest. There's an Applebee's at our hotel (Holiday Inn Resort Lake Buena Vista) where kids eat free, as well as a fridge and microwave in our room, so I expect we will do breakfasts at the hotel at well. My understanding is that I can take my own snacks and other food into the parks - is that right? I am wondering if there are any other restaurants I should plan on in the parks? From what I've read, it sounds like the food at the counter service places isn't that great - is this accurate?

Also, my plan has been to hit the parks as soon as they open, come back midday to the hotel, and then go back to the parks mid-afternoon (our hotel is 11 minutes from MK, 6 from Epcot, and 9 from AK; we aren't going to DHS). Does this sound realistic? I really want to keep my husband and kids from pooping out before the evening - I just don't think any of them could make it from opening to closing (though I think I could!). I just don't know how well it works to tear kids away from the park midday!

 

[RCSpur]

You can take a collapsable cooler with you. You can pack sandwiches or whatever you want. I'd freeze several water bottles the night before. Refills are free.

Epcot has the world of coke and you all can drink all the foreign coke products you can hold. My favorites are Germany, Israel and China. There are a few that are terrible. It's near Epcots Character Spot which has Mickey and friends.

Most table service restaurants at WDW aren't that much more than the counter service and plus during the heat you'll enjoy the AC and having someone serve you. The food is significantly better too.

I fully understand saving money as I have three kids myself. We took them this past November and leaving Saturday for another round.

The midday break will definitely help everyone get revived. You were smart to plan two days at MK. We didn't see it all in November when we went. Hope you all have a blast.

 

[Aliceacc]

I just don't know how well it works to tear kids away from the park midday!

Don't think of it as tearing them away from the parks... think of it as OFFERING them the chance for a nice refreshing swim.

My kids are always ready to leave by 12:30 or 1, knowing we'll be back in a few hours.

 

[StaceyDuke]

Thank you, both of you, for your replies, and for your reassurances about taking the midday break. I've been priming my kids for it but I wasn't sure how it would go over once we were actually there. I will keep that in the plan and make it happen!

RCSpur, thanks for your words about 2 days at MK. One of my kids has been campaigning to do a day at DHS instead of the 2nd day at MK, but I really want us to have the 2 days at MK (I wish we were doing 2 days at Epcot as well!). My boys are both big Star Wars fans and they also love Toy Story, so I know there are parts of DHS they would enjoy, but overall it just didn't seem like we would be missing much by not doing that park, whereas I know we will miss a lot at MK if we don't have a 2nd day there. Kind of wish I'd done the park hopper option so we could do half a day at DHS, but it's too late to do that now.

I will look into getting a collapsible cooler and will also consider doing some table service restaurants.

I have to say I'm so super-excited that we got a reservation at Chef Mickey's - I waited pretty last minute (um, yesterday! for an August 12 reservation!) and know I was lucky to find a spot. Haven't told my kids yet but I know they're going to be thrilled!

 

[poohbearwithme]

If you are getting park hopper passes maybe you can head over to DHS when you come back from your break on 2nd day. That way you have 1 1/2 at MK and 1/2 day at DHS. 1/2 day should be enough for Toy Story and Star Wars...and after DHS closes you can head back over to MK. (This plan would only apply if you are getting Park Hopper Tickets)

 

[StaceyDuke]

Thanks, Lori, but we don't have the Park Hopper passes, unfortunately.

I am feeling bad that I didn't add an extra day to do DHS, now that I know my ds wants to do it so bad. But I think I will regret it if we don't do MK for 2 days.

 

[mdadinnj1]

Hi, Stacey!! We'll be there too. Lets go have some fun!!!

 

[stepdisney]

Hi Stacy. Didn't know if you knew it or not but the value resorts in August are just about what you are paying to stay off site and if you are going after August 19, you would qualify for free dining. We have gone in August since 2005. Our DS's are older now so we need a bigger room with an additional bed so the values are out for us now but it certainly would work with 2 7 year olds. We stayed at Pop in 2005 and it was so much fun.

 

[rtfelt]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure you can still add park hopper to your pass after the fact. You'll just have to pay the difference.

 

[StaceyDuke]

Hi all! We are back from our trip and I'm popping over here to say WOW what a fantastic time we had!! Thanks for all the great suggestions - you guys really helped me plan a fantastic trip. We had a couple of misadventures (stuck inside the top of Splash Mountain for 20 minutes with a freaking-out child, stuck at the Polynesian when the monorail went down during a severe storm) but overall it was a wonderful, magical time.

I'm already scheming for my next trip!

 

[StaceyDuke]

stepdisney, thank you for letting me know about the free dining plan after August 19 - something to think about for our next trip! We really loved where we stayed - the newly renovated Holiday Inn Resort Lake Buena Vista, very close to the parks - but I will look into the value resorts for our next visit.

rtfelt - I had no idea you could add park hopper! But I was very happy to just do one park each day, at least for our first visit.

I didn't manage to get us away from the parks midday the way I'd planned - we ended up going from opening to closing each day! (except for our last, when we left at dinner time to head home) We paid for it in terms of exhaustion, but we had so much fun we didn't really care!

 

[ryry]

We are planning our trip for August 2011 too, we leave this Saturday I happy your trip was a success! Any tips for us