Planning help!

[*JoGo*]

I'm sure posts like this are a dime a dozen and I apologize.

Last Jan/Feb my dh, 2 sons, and I went to Disney - first time! - w/ IL's. MIL booked the trip thru AAA. We stayed at PO French Quarter. Parkhoppers. Dining plan. Magical Express. 5 days. It was a great trip, but we have things we'd like to do differently.

Next Jan, dh and I would like to go back w/ our sons and MY mom & stepdad. Should I book thru AAA or attempt doing it on my own? How hard is it to book on your own? Will I get better rates thru AAA? Or is it sort of hit or miss if I get a person that's knowledgable about Disney?

We enjoyed POFQ and wouldn't mind staying there again, since we know it. But we're open to staying somewhere else, as long as it isn't more expensive. That's basically our top price range for resort. And we'll need 2 rooms.

We know which places we'd like to eat at again and to make ressies. I feel like I'm making this harder than it is, lol. I just want to be sure to get the best for our money and to make the trip a wonderful one for our family. My mom has never flown or been to Disney. I guess I feel like I need to prove to her how wonderful it is. I think she sees it as a kid place.

Any planning advice is greatly appreciated!
resort reviews?
book thru AAA? myself?
Places to eat at Epcot? We ate at Electric Umbrella last time, it was late, didn't see World Showcase.

 

[nancy drew]

i booked through aaa last time and if booking with someone knowledgable it can be great. however, if they dont have rooms available at certain rates you may be better off booking yourself. this year i booked through american airlines vacations (and i did that in 2005, too) because i got extra miles for it and they had rooms available at lower rates than aaa. so i would take an afternoon and price things out online, use the disney site, expedia, american airlines vacations (or any vacation booking site) and get some price quotes, then call aaa and see if they can get you anything better. sometimes they will only have the "view" rooms available, which cost more. so you dont end up saving money. if you do call, let them know whether you are flexible with your dates, because sometimes switching one day earlier or later can make a difference. americans website has an availability calendar which shows when each type of room is available. very helpful

as far as dining in epcot, we ate at the biergarten and it was fun. my kids loved the band, and we all loved the german food. we also ate at the counter service restaurant at the land, not the character meal but the one next to it. it was decent but very crowded.

we stayed at the wilderness lodge and loved every minute of it. its a little pricier but soooooo nice.