November travel

[kidsmakemetired]

Hello all, my family and I were hoping to be going to Disney November of this year. I was hoping for the free meal plan deal, but I see that it is only offered through September. My question is does Disney always offer some kind of deal? Would it be more beneficial for us to suck it up and go the end of September? We don't want it to be super crowded and we were also hoping to do the Christmas party, but obviously that won't happen in September so what week does trick or treating start? We are VERY limited on funds, but this is something we want to do for our family. Our daughters will be 10 and 6 and our son will turn 3 the beginning of September, so that will bump us up budget wise for him :-( ANY suggestions are welcome, the cheaper the better we will be flexible with dates if need be. Thanks so much and I look forward to "speaking" with all of you!

 

[starry_solo]

Have you thought about renting points? It might be cheaper to get a reservation at a studio/1 bd onsite with the rentals (there are lots of people trying to rent their reservations/points due to unexpected occurrences).

Plus, free dining doesn't work unless you pay full price for the room & tickets.

Tickets for your two older kids: Try the Disney YES program. See:
http://www.disneyyouth.com/individual-enrollment/

Rooms: Possibly stay off-site if you are driving (if not doing rental for DVC)

If it's your first time, maybe go with the basic tickets (MYW). Their 5-day tickets for kids (for the YES program) w/o hoppers is $151.41 per child (it's normally $237). I believe there are also discount tickets available online.

 

[starry_solo]

forgot to mention, your display name is super-cute!

 

[vicki_c]

I would go before your son turns 3. Then he is free for tickets and the dining plan, if you want that.

I would not plan on free dining in the November time frame, if it was me.

 

[Marionnette]

I would go before your son turns 3. Then he is free for tickets and the dining plan, if you want that.

I would not plan on free dining in the November time frame, if it was me.

Children under 3 get into the parks for free but they do not have a dining plan for them. They eat for free at buffets and can share from their parent's plate at tableservice restaurants. But they don't get free meals at counterservice locations. Nor do they get a free child's meal at tableservice locations.

I think going in August is a good idea for saving on the little ones costs - free admission and you can stay in a value resort since 2yos don't count toward the total number of room occupants. However it will be hot and humid.

 

[egail]

I am also waiting for a November deal. I have called Disney reservations a few times and I am told that if a deal will be offered I may see it around June. Also, if you book the trip now (which I haven't done) and a deal comes out like free dining or discounted rooms or you get a pin code, they will amend your reservation IF your dates are available for the promo.

Also, my son was just under 3 last time we went (he turned 3 while we were there) and while it was nice not to pay for tickets.... you can't even buy a dining plan if you request it for a child under 3 - and Marionette is correct - they only eat free at buffets, so his meals cost us a lot because he eats (alot of) adult food.He eats more than I do, so he ended up using most of my dining plan!

 

[tinkmom2]

I am waiting for them to extend the free dining too. We are going in October. We got the free dining for our November 2009 trip and added one TS to it. If I remember correctly they offer it during the summer.

 

[LaDonna]

Yeah if you go before he turns 3 that will be your cheapest option, but as others have said it will be hot, we went in September the last 3 trips, and they were all hot but fairly manageable for us, but our last September trip was super crowded, I was just beyond baffled the whole week with just how crowded it was compared to our other September trips. I had a 12, 11, and almost 3 yr old and we stayed in the Values and had no problems with him sharing off everyones plates, between all of us sharing he had plenty of food, and we had so many snack credits we shared those with him too.
Now we don't have the option at one room at Value and that bumps the price up quite a bit. I'm actually already planning our next trip for November 2012, we are going to try and do the week before Thanksgiving week, I'll hope on free dining(we'll do 6 nights and that will cost us around $2,400) but if it doesn't show up I'm looking at just staying offiste(for 9 nights) and will try and stay somewhere in this price range http://www.vacationcentralflorida.com/home.html but you can't forget the $15 a day for parking we should get off a few hundred dollars cheaper

 

[vicki_c]

Children under 3 get into the parks for free but they do not have a dining plan for them. They eat for free at buffets and can share from their parent's plate at tableservice restaurants. But they don't get free meals at counterservice locations. Nor do they get a free child's meal at tableservice locations.

Yes, sorry - what I wrote wasn't that clear. I just meant if the family would be purchasing the DDP, going before their son turned 3 would save them the price of his DDP.