Please help a Newbie out!

[Bellerella]

Hi everyone!

I am in the midst of trying to plan our first vacation to Disney World. Whew...what a lot of work, I absolutely cant wait!

Anyway, this will be the first time we've ever been. We are traveling as a family of 4, myself, dh, dd (4) and ds (almost 2) from upstate NY. Our tenative plans are to stay at the Poly. We had planned on arriving December 4th and staying until December 11th.

I have made some ADR's already. Cinderella's breakfast, Chef Mickey's, 'Ohana, Donald's Breakfastosaurus, Princess Storybook Dining.

We have been thinking about the MVMCP as well.

A couple questions...

What do you think is the best day to arrive at Disney?

Is MVMCP a must see?

Are there any other ADR's that you would say we HAD to make?

I have not yet booked our resort...hoping that we could find a good deal at the Poly, any suggestions there?

Thank you all again so much. I look forward to hanging out here for the next 5 months soaking up as much Disney info from you pros as I can!

 

[grinningghost]

You are going to love WDW! It's always exciting to hear of someone who has never been there before - I actually get jealous - it would be great to experience it for the first time all over again.

If I were you, I would call and book the Poly NOW. Christmas time is very busy at WDW. Don't wait another minute or you could be disappointed.

I think your ADR's look good too.

 

[kittythepoohbear]

Welcome! The planning is half the fun, so enjoy the anticipation!
If you are a member of AAA you would probably be able to get about a 10% on the Poly in December. Sometimes you may even be able to get a larger discount. Call Disney and ask if there are AAA discounts for the Poly on your travel dates. If you decide to purchase an Annual Pass for yourself, you may be eligible for some room discounts as well. Your best bet would be to make a reservation now and keep checking both the DIS and sites such as mousesavers.com for any codes or special promotions.
As for travel dates, I happen to arrive and depart in the middle of the week (usually a Thurs. - Tues.) due to my work schedule. I find airport/hotel/parks to be a little less crowded when I come in, but that may just be a fluke cause by pixie dust! I honestly don't think your arrival day will affect your plans too much. Early December is usually has fewer crowds anyway.
Your ADR's so far seem great. My only suggestion (and it is definitely not a must-see-or-die!) is the Lilo and Stitch character breakfast at 'Ohana. It is a very fun meal with family style breakfast brought to your table. The character interaction is great as well. They hand maracas out to the children (and some fun loving adults), then have a parade through the restaurant led by Lilo, Stitch, Mickey and Pluto. Its a great way to start your day!

 

[Bellerella]

Thank you for your input!

Would everyone suggest that I book a regular Garden view room at the Poly...and then inquire when we arrive about paying for an upgrade??

Thanks again!!

 

[DisneyArk]

Welcome! I'm sure you're going to have so much fun planning and anticipating your trip.

On our first family trip (Dec 2001) my sons were 18 months and 3 years old. It was such a fun trip during December and seeing the Christmas decorations. I'm sure you're going to love it!

I'm not sure if the MMVCP was worth the extra money for us. My sons were getting tired before the party even started. The park was very crowded and there were long lines for everything. We tried to ride rides during the party and in hindsight I think we should have concentrated on the special Christmas party events and the characters. My sons fell asleep at 11:30 and when we left we noticed tons of characters at the very front of the park (in the circle) and we had missed seeing them when the boys were awake.

We have not stayed at the Poly, so I can't help you there. You might start watching www.mousesavers.com for discounts. And we haven't eaten at any of the princess meals (my boys say no! ).

We love Chef Mickey's and 'Ohana for breakfast with Stitch. On our first trip the boys loved Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh and friends.

 

[Madi100]

I think I might enjoy planning more than goin....welll, not quite. I still love going. Our last trip was in December, and we loved it.

We can't decide about the Christmas party. Well, DH can. I can't. He didn't like it. He thought it was too expensive and too many people. The park was very packed. LOVED Wishes fireworks. LOVED the Christmas parade. Those made it worth it to me. The shows are cute, but we only saw one, because our kids just wanted to ride rides. We stayed 'til the end. If you can't spend most of the night there then maybe it's not worth it. My kids were 4 and 8. It was great for them. They did make it all night.

But no matter what, make sure you see the Osborne lights at MGM. This is free, and it's awesome. Don't want to miss. My suggestion for you, find a spot towards the back and watch them turn on. Then give it ten, fifteen minutes before you walk through. We saw them turn on, and it was beautiful. Then we went into the coffee shop that was close by and ordered hot chocolate. By the time we got back outside the crowds were gone, and we could walk around without the pushing and shoving, and we had more opportunity for pictures.

I loved Christmastime. Very magical.

 

[DLBDS]

We're saving exactly 15% with AAA on the WL in Nov/Dec. We'll be there for 8 nights and the cost is $1,971 ($246.42 per night). Rack rate was $2,319 ($289.90 per night)! AAA savings: $348. I would expect you would get the same discount at the Poly. I have an AP so I'm hoping to do better on the discount later. AP holders have been known to save up to 40% on resorts. ($1,391.52 or $173.94 per night. Now THAT is a great discount! Savings: $927.68!) I won't hold my breath for that 40% but the closer the better. I'll be happy with anything that's under $200 per night. AP discounts will come out sometime around August. Only one person needs the AP to get the room discount. There are other benefits with the AP.....Go here to see what they are....

http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/apass.htm

One more thing to consider is the DDA (Disney's Dining Experience). AP holders can get this for $60 and it will provide a 20% discount on food....INCLUDING alcoholic beverages! For more detailed info on this go here....

http://www.allearsnet.com/din/dde.htm

I hope this info comes in handy for ya.

 

[rrkman]

We went with DS (almost 2) last month. Stayed at the Poly and we were very happy that we did. The monorail was so easy to use compared to the bus service. Being able to roll the stroller right on instead of folding it up for the bus was great. We stayed in Tahiti and it turned out great. The proximity to the TTC was great...could catch monorail to MK or Epcot. This also allowed us another option for buses...could either catch a bus back to Poly or TTC, usually helped out on the wait time. The best part of Poly was the MK view...put the kid to bed and sit on the balcony watching the water parade and the fireworks. Worst part was the bus service...seemed like long waits and usually very crowded buses...didn't seem that way when wife and I stayed at ASsports a few years back. Liked the Poly but might try GF or CR next time...still have the view and monorail but maybe the bus service is better. Also, caption cooks was still at old location so I would be interested to see what improvements are made when the remodel happens....it wasn't bad, just a little small and didn't have a large selection. Forgot one other thing, the ferry boats from TTC run very late (and early) and every time one leaves or arrives, the horn goes off. If your sliding door closes tight, you can hear it but it didn't really keep us up. The first night it did wake us up numerous times but I don't think the door was shut as tightly as it could have been.

Also, you won't hear this as often but, don't miss Garden Grill in the Land (Epcot). We went to Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace and once again, Garden Grill was the best restaurant experience of our trip. Character interaction was great (Mickey, Pluto, Chip, and Dale) and the food was delicious. Not as many options as a buffet but with small children, it is much easier when they bring the food to you...and the food was very good. Also, if I remember correctly, they also brought DS a kids meal (mac/cheese and chicken strips). Chef Mickeys was just too chaotic...food was good (breakfast is my favorite food group) but buffet lines were long and even with ADR, we had to wait about 30-40 minutes for a table. Actually, if I understood the hostess correctly, ADRs are only used for the the earlier time (7:30?) and that for 9:30 all of the stand-by and ADR groups are in the same line and no preferential treatment is given to ADRs. Crystal Palace was mediocre. Food was not as good as I expected, wait was a little chaotic (mostly due to walk ups trying to get a table)...had to wait about 20 minutes. Also, this is a pretty large place so characters are most likely only going to get to your table once but even with all those people, the buffet lines didn't seem too bad. Forgot to mention, at Garden Grill, we were even about 30 minutes early for ADR and still only had to wait about 5 minutes.

hope this helps....

 

[Bellerella]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

We do have AAA (as of yesterday...lol!)

How do most of you make your reservations? Do you make room only reservations and then try to see if they have any specials on tickets later?

Has anyone used Small World Vacations?

Any other tips as far as reserving goes?

Again, thank you so much, you all have been extremely helpful!

 

[DLBDS]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

We do have AAA (as of yesterday...lol!)

How do most of you make your reservations? Do you make room only reservations and then try to see if they have any specials on tickets later?

Has anyone used Small World Vacations?

Any other tips as far as reserving goes?

Again, thank you so much, you all have been extremely helpful!

I'm actually using Small World Vacations for my trip in Nov/Dec. So far, I'm very pleased with my TA. She's really nice. We communicate mostly through email but I did have the pleasure of speaking to her over the phone in the beginning. She's very fast with replies and jumps on any requests I make of her. I can't complain. I told her what I wanted (where and what room requests I wanted) and she booked it for me. She mailed the paperwork to me once she recieved it from Disney. She also answered all questions I had and made recommendations when asked. This is our 1st time in the World. I've decided to buy AP's so we can go again next year with the rest of our family (BIL and family/SIL and family). We'll take advantage of any AP holder discounts that become available for both trips. I'm making payments through Small World Vacations on the resort (based on the AAA rate) so it's paid for by the time we go. If and when the AP discount becomes available, she'll apply it to my reservation and get me a refund. She doesn't handle the AP's for me. I have to order those through Disney's website. I only have 1 more to purchase so far.

Editing to add....We're also doing MVMCP. I can't really comment beyond that as we've never done it before. I only know what I see reported in the forums. I'm doing everything I can schedule into our itinerary to make this a "magical" trip.