Now its my turn for help

[lisavet]

We (family of 4) are planning our trip to WDW and need as much info as possible. We are flying in from Pgh, PA in Feb. Is it real crowded in Feb? We want to stay at a central location close to MGM, Magic and Animal - any suggestions? We are like everyone looking for the best deals we can get - flight, hotel, food and all. Any help would be greatly appreciated. We will only be there for 3 nights - arriving on a thursday and hitting one park on thursday, one on friday and one on Saturday - we only want to go to MGM, Magic and Animal... We would hope to spend no more than $3,000 seeing we would only be there for 3 days so any help shout it my way. Thanks, Lisa

 

[myhandd]

Go to mousesavers.com for hints on hotel discounts, if you are wanting to stay on property I would suggest the Polynesian or the Contemporary (because it is close to Magic Kingdom by monorail). I'm sure others can give you their thoughts.

 

[lisavet]

thanks for the input - i will surely do that.

 

[shelleyz]

I don't know when in Feb you are going but disney has a special from Feb 12 thru sometime in April on hotels and on package deals. Here's the link. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/tickets/packageListing?id=SpecialOfferListingPage

Also 4 day park hoppers are $192 in advance for 10 and over and $152 in advance for ages 3-9. Also from the Disney site. If you don't use all the days they never expire. I've heard of a 3 day park hopper but don't know where to get them.

Not sure what type of hotel you are looking for but the Values are close to AK and MGM.

 

[lisavet]

ShellyZ - thanks. I am going from 2/5 to 2/8 or 2/9. Looking to get into MGM, Animal and Magic. Looking to stay in close distance to all of these. Was thinking of one of the WDW resorts but did not know anything about what is around them such as eating so i do not have to spend a fortune on room service or the hotel restaurants. What site do you think i could book the best deals since we do not want all the parks just the three of them.

 

[shelleyz]

I don't know what restaurants are around Disney as I've only been once and stayed on property with no car. We always ate in the parks or at our hotel food court. Heres a site for Disney park and resort restaurants. It has menues and prices. http://allearsnet.com/din/dining.htm Very good site for other info too. Disney has value, moderate and deluxe resorts. Just depends what you are looking for and willing to pay. We stayed at All Star Sports in October and are satying at Pop Century the last week of January. They are both value resorts. Check the disney site for info on the resorts. I have only booked through Disney directly and only bought my tickets through disney. Maybe someone else can help you out also.

 

[topgumm]

Did anyone mention the Visa "kids play and stay free" deal? I don't know all of the particulars but I do know it saved us a huge chunk of cash! I have seen a few web sites with the details. Try to Google for the info. My travel agent told us about it. I do know it is valid Jan 6th thru Jun (something). Hope that helps.

 

[jcemom]

We will be there at the same time!

I checked Expedia for your dates (I find it easier to navigate than the WDW site) and they are showing 299/night Polynesian, 219 Wilderness Lodge, Beach Club 289, Pop Century 77, Animal Kingdom Lodge 199, Caribbean Beach Resort 133 -- just to give you an idea of the price range available.

You could try dreams unlimited for a rate quote http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/ as they would probably be able to get you the best rate available.

There's a lot of information and pictures of the different resorts here http://allearsnet.com/acc/faq_hot.htm if you would like to check it out to help decide what you're looking for.

There is just about every restaurant imaginable not too far away if you will have a car. If you won't have a car you would be limited to WDW restaurants. However, if I didn't have a car I would not want to stay outside of Disney because of the shuttle difficulties back and forth to the parks.

 

[lisavet]

keep the info coming - i am taking it all in. we will not have a car so prefer a hotel that has shuttle service to and from and a hotel that has some reasonable restaurants around. thanks to all of you.

 

[jcemom]

Originally posted by lisavet
keep the info coming - i am taking it all in. we will not have a car so prefer a hotel that has shuttle service to and from and a hotel that has some reasonable restaurants around. thanks to all of you.

"Reasonable" is probably a relative term at Disney...LOL I'm not sure about the shuttle services from off-site hotels. I haven't used them personally, but I haven't read anything good about them either. The consensus seems to be (and you could probably get more info about it on the Orlando Hotels board) that if you are staying off-site you will need a car.

So, in my opinion, without a car you should be looking at onsite resorts, maybe one with a good food court that would have lower prices on food. Here are some price examples from the All Stars: 16 inch Cheese Pizza $13.99, Cheeseburger with Fries $5.49. From Pop Century: Mom's Night Out Specials! Thursday-Friday: Homemade Meatloaf $8.99 Saturday: Sliced Roast Beef $10.99, For Young POP Stars (11 and under) Chicken Nuggets and Fries $3.99, Macaroni and Cheese $3.99, Penne Pasta with Meatball $3.99 (Those are both in the Value category). You can check out full menus and prices for all the resorts here: http://allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm#res

 

[jcemom]

Oh, what are you including in the $3000 budget? Is that for airfare also? Or do you already have that?

 

[lisavet]

JCEMOM - From what I am seeing I can get airfare for $200 round trip per person so for the 4 of us $800. The tickets to get into each park is like $55 a person so for three parks that would be about another $650 so far now with tickets and airfare we are at $1450.00 - now for the room for 3 nights - looks like i like the WDW Pop Century at about $100 a night for $300 - now we are at airfare, room and tickets = 1800.00 and the rest $1000 or so for just us for three days. That is what I am seeing. The hotel offers a shuttle service so we are okay there. And I see if offers for a few extra dollars - Magic Hour and E-ride nites for Magic Kingdom. Am I doing okay?

 

[jcemom]

Yep, it's looking good. I would still check with DreamsUnlimited if you haven't just to see what kind of room rate they quote you. (It's all done via email, no need to talk to anyone.)

I would also consider checking out Mousesavers.com for tickets. They have a 3 day hopper plus for only a few dollars more than buying 3 one-day tickets and that would allow you to visit more than one park in the same day. Here's why I think that would be useful (you didn't mention the ages of your party, but with only three days for parks, I would plan something like this): Thursday - arrival day (how early or late will you be getting to Disney?) If you arrive before check-in time you can leave your bags at the resort and head to the parks - I would choose MGM and stay for Fantasmic at 7pm. Friday - since you have a full day, I would spend it at the Magic Kingdom, you can see Wishes fireworks at 7pm or hop over to Epcot for Illuminations fireworks at 9pm. Saturday - Animal Kingdom, then hop over to Magic Kingdom later for Spectro Magic Parade at 7pm and Wishes at 8pm.
Of course, if you're not interested in SpectroMagic (Animal Kingdom closes at 5:00) you could head to downtown disney that evening and stick with the one-day tickets. I've read that if you buy your second day before leaving the park the first day, they will discount it. Ditto for the third day. It may make those tickets even a little bit cheaper.

This is assuming a Sunday departure, of course. If you have kids, you may even want to schedule Chef Mickey's for breakfast before you leave if you have time.

You also don't want to forget the cost of transfers to/from the airport. You can find out a lot about that over on the transportation board. Sorry, but I have no idea who is good and what the cost is.

It looks like you'll have plenty of spending money left over! I'm not sure how much you like to eat, but certainly not $300 a day's worth, I wouldn't think...LOL

 

[jcemom]

Extra Magic Hour for the Magic Kingdom is on Thursday (which you would miss) and on Sunday (your departure day) so I don't think that would work for you. Unless of course your return flight was late enough to allow for going on Sunday morning (8am), that would also mean you would need a 4 day ticket.

E Ride nights haven't been announced yet, but I'm not looking for one to be held during our stay. Last year they were later in the month.

The best day of your stay for Magic Kingdom would be Friday, because Thursday is EMH and may be more crowded because of that. Saturday is always crowded.

Friday is EMH for Animal Kingdom, but I would be at Magic Kingdom that day if I were you, so that doesn't really help.

Saturday is EMH for MGM so you may want to consider that one, then go to Animal Kingdom on Thursday. The thing is that Animal Kingdom closes at 5pm. I'm not sure what time you're arriving, but if it's not early and you can't hop to another park, you would be using a ticket for only a couple of hours in the park.

 

[lisavet]

hello jcemom - by the way my name is lisa, thanks for all the info. I think i just hit it good. i looked in our local paper and there was a number to call for discounts at all the WDW resorts and I got a deal now for 4 nites. I will be arriving afternoonish on thursday - i will book an early flight - the check in time for Pop Century is 11 so that is good. I will now stay thurs - fri - sat- and sunday and leave on monday late day. I got 4 nights at a premium room for $388 at the Pop Century - and (4) 4 day hopper passes for $600. Now I will need to see what parks to go to on each day - thur - fri - sat - and sunday. The guy told us that the beginning of Feb will not be that crowded so we will not have a problem. Did I do good? So my room is $388 - my hopper passes are $600 and my flight is $800 total $1800.00 - not counting money to eat and things.... How is that?

Also what is a hopper pass? Can I use them to hop each park my entire 4 days?

 

[shelleyz]

A hopper pass means that you can visit more than 1 park in a day, say if you wanted to split your day into 2 parks. You can use them at all four parks any day you want. If you go from one park to another in the same day, I read to make sure you get your hand stamped though. They know if your park hopper has been used so if you go to another park without a stamp they'll think someone else used your hopper, which isn't supposed to happen.

 

[lisavet]

shelly - do they take the pass though - since it is a 4 day hopper pass - i dont want to give it up and then have no pass the rest of the days. Or do you just show your pass and get a stamp and then go to another park and show your pass and get a stamp etc.. Can I go to the same park on different days or when i go to one park is that it for that park or can i hope for all 4 days?

 

[jcemom]

It sounds like you're doing great Lisa! With the hopper pass, once you've entered any park it gives you unlimited admission to all four parks for the entire day. So, with a four day hopper, you will be able to come and go between all four parks for your entire four day stay. When you leave a park they will stamp your hand, then when you enter another park you will need your ticket and to show your hand stamp. (You keep your pass.) You can go to the same or different parks, whatever you want. You are going to have such a great time!

I have only been once at the beginning of February and it was not crowded at all, though that has been a long time ago. That's why we chose to go then on this trip, hoping to avoid long lines. From what I've been hearing, for the most part the longest waits we encounter should be only 10-15 minutes. I can live with that! (Heck, we waited 45+ minutes to ride the Exterminator at Kennywood this summer, then it made us all queasy! lol)

You can check out http://www.touringplans.com/BestDays.htm for the best days to visit each park.

We will be at Epcot on Thursday evening for dinner and Illuminations. On Saturday we're planning on Epcot in the morning, then hopping over to Magic Kingdom for dinner and SpectroMagic/ Wishes. Right now we don't have any parks planned for Friday or Sunday. We'll be there for 10 days though, and with three kids I want to make sure we have some "down time" if needed.

$388 for 4 nights at Pop Century sounds pretty good! It just opened last month, so it should be nice staying in a brand new resort. I've read nothing but good reviews about it, too!
Here's a link to some great pictures if you haven't seen them yet... http://allearsnet.com/acc/g_pop.htm

 

[lisavet]

Kennywood - how funny...I live near Pgh in Moon Twp. That ride makes me laugh outloud. I love the big coasters at Cedar Point. I usually am not scared of any ride so this trip to disney should be fun. I have two kids and they usually arent chicken either so we all should have fun. I am excited to go - i have not been there since i was a kid - many moons ago....I could not find the Jurassic Park ride though - what park is that in? What park order do you think I should do, or does it not matter since i have the hoppers. Are shuttles easy to get from park to park? This will be an adventure for us seeing we usually just do the beach vacation without any thinking. You have been great - thanks so much. Maybe I will run into you.

 

[jcemom]

Jurassic Park is at Universal Studios, that's probably why you couldn't find it listed anywhere!

The order you choose the parks depends on what you want to see to some extent. Are you interested in Wishes fireworks at MK? Fantasmic show at MGM? The Spectro Magic nighttime parade at MK? Do you still want to skip Epcot, or try squeezing it in? How old are your kids?

I'm by no means an expert, but rather a compulsive planner...LOL I've planned and replanned my trip to the point of everyone in my house "tuning me out" every time I say Disney. LOL So I'm more than happy to help plan your trip!

Edited to add: I haven't used Disney transportation before, though we plan to use it this trip. We will have a rental car, but think taking the Disney buses will be less stressful for hubby, not needing to look for signs, parking spaces, and all that. From what I've read/heard they're pretty good.

Tracey