Onsite Hotel for Family of 5?

[DisneyOma]

My family stayed off site and went to Disney the week between Christmas and New Year a few years ago with no ADRs booked and did indeed have a magical time. We were fortunate to be able to book some ADR's on the day, including one for Cinderella's Royal Table. We went with the plan that we would enjoy the parks and go on any ride which was available. The only problem we had was the drive to and from the parks, it was horrific.

Was this trip before FP+?

 

[meohmy]

Was this trip before FP+?

Yes it was.

The point I was trying to make is that you can be lucky and pick up fastpasses and ADRs on the day but as the OP four weeks before her trip , she should be able to make some fasspass bookings and ADRs, if she wishes, before she goes.

I did post a list of character meals that are still available during the OPs dates to give her an idea of what she could book now if she so desires.

I, as always, hope the OP has a great trip whenever and wherever she decides to go.

 

[maxiesmom]

You are up to 7. Way more than anyone else.

Thank you.
Informative as always[/QUOTE]


As a question and I will try to help if I can.

 

[Accident]

Yeah, this year 2015. I realize now, after a discussion on Reddit, that I probably should have planned months in advance!

This is a perfect situation to get a really good disney specific travel agent to help you. I personally have not used them but disunplugged, wdwinfo and these forums are in part because of pete's desire to help everyone with a great disney vacation, even if you don't want to use the travel agent he started. I have a lot of appreciation in how much effort they make to leave these neutral and not throw dreams unlimited travel all over the place to try and upsell us. Give them a ring and if you want to learn more about pete and why these forums were started check out last weeks podcast that the disney movie review website did with him. http://www.thedisneymoviereview.com/DisUnplugged/

to be more specific, generally the really good discounts are for the next season and there is things more difficult to plan, especially if your new when your tighter to your travel date but you can still make it an amazing first trip to disney. Don't let starting the planning late change your plans when you can afford to be there with your family. Even if it's a few days in a resort, 1 day in each park and nothing special with meals it's still a magical first trip and you just learn more in the event you can afford another future trip.

 

[Sunnywho]

What my kids really want is to see some princesses, dine with Beast if possible, see fireworks, do some calm/chill rides (no crazy rides, they're not into them), perhaps visit the Harry Potter area at Universal, eat, shop, hang out in a pool. We're from Maine, it's cold, they're ecstatic to be able to swim at Christmas!

It seems like finding a place to sleep a family of 5 is going to be hard. I'd love to do the Disney Dining Plan and stay at an onsite Disney hotel but I haven't been able to figure out how to do that. Most onsite hotels don't seem to accommodate families of 5, and ones that do I can't see where to add the Dining Plan option. Should I be booking with the hotels directly, or through something like Expedi

See some princesses -- this can be done in Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland and there are also princesses such as Mulan and Belle around the world showcase at Epcot
Dine with the beast -- not likely as those reservations are really hard to get. The beast used to meet guests in France in Epcot but maybe he still does?
See fireworks -- yes, easily done
Do calm rides -- lines will be longer the closer it gets to Christmas, you can make Fastpass reservations as soon as you add your tickets to MDE if it's within 30 days
Do Harry Potter world -- it's really expensive to visit both Disney and Universal in a short time period, tickets are front-loaded so that the first day or two costs the most
Swim -- this is dependent on weather, on our last trip in December, it was too cold to swim in the evenings when we were back from the parks

 

[tzolkin]

I agree that it would be much better to go (especially on a first trip) a different time, but I was assuming from the post that plane tickets had already been purchased and the OP was looking for advice on how to make the best of a situation that she realized was not ideal after she had already spent the money on the tickets.

The average person doesn't know much about Disney. The OP realized her mistake in not planning/researching and will now know better for the future.

I have met many people who thought that Disney at Christmas would be empty. ("No one travels over Christmas unless they are visiting family.") It never entered their minds that it would be the busiest time. Some who even after their trip believed that was a "slow" time. ("There were so many people, I can't imagine how crowded it is at other times of the year when it's busy.")

I hope the OP wasn't completely scared off and will find some helpful information.

 

[4crazykidz]

Family of five...Port Orleans all the way! It's a really cute resort.