Please help me plan our trip!!

[blessedmommyX4]

We have been all over the board on what to do, how long to stay, where to stay, drive or fly, etc...

Here is what is important to all of us:
kids want to go to the beach
older kids would like to go to the nick hotel

i want to spend all the time i can at the World!!

Husband wants to save money!- wants to fly

youngest daughter wants to see and eat with Cinderella!
youngest son doesn't care

-------------------------------------------------------
So, here is what I have tried to come up with to make us all happy!
fly there on Dec 6th, rent a mini van, and check in at an off-site condo. that night we will probably get settled in, go to the store, and maybe go site seeing.

OPTION #1

Dec 7th- go to SeaWorld
Dec 8th- go to SeaWorld
Dec 9th- go to the Beach
Dec 10th- Disney
Dec 11th- Disney
Dec 12th- Disney
Dec 13- return mini van, catch ME to stay on-site at Disney (can we do this?)

we will check in at Disney on Dec 13th and check out on the 18th. While we stay on site, we will get the DDP. Can we purchase 9 day tickets if we are only staying on site for 5 nights and getting the DDP for 5 nights?

here is our estimated budget:
airfare for 6- around $1800
condo- $225
grocery store- $150
value resort with coupon X 2 rooms for 5 nights- $492+ taxes
DDP- $860
9 days MYW base tickets- $1264
van rental $250

total is $5041
************************************************

OPTION #2
my itinerary before changes was check in at the POP on Dec 7th- check out on the 17th. DDP and MYW base tickets for the whole time. Not including airfare the quote was for $4318.38.
+ airfare of $1800= $6118

option #1 is a savings of $1077

the first option doesn't have the nick hotel on there at all. We might arrive on the 5th and stay one night at nick. I could really care less for anything Nick- except Dora, Diego, and Blues Clues for the little ones. If so, our hotel stay for night would be right at $200.

thank you!!

my daughter has been very patient in waiting for me to let her type something for you all....

amelia gru9v;sarjfj5kgtgtfgfhhldfwww

 

[wilde_oscar]

you have a lot going on in this question, so instead of an answer... I'll ask more questions...

how important is it to stay onsite? someplace like dreamsvillas.com is affordable and close to WDW, and a short drive to SeaWorld.

Define goto the beach... goto which beach?

tickets, hotel, etc. can be part of a package, or separately in infinite combinations. you might check on the ticket brokers...

http://www.mousesavers.com

http://www.undercovertourist.com

http://www.ticketmania.com/

http://www.mapleleaftickets.com

yeah, it is possible to do the whole return the car and ME to WDW, but you could also for select rental agencies drop the car off at WDW I think it is Dolphin that has a rental car agency, and there are several rental car locations on property.

doing two rooms on property gets pricey fast, the offsite location on 7 dwarfs lane... Dreamsvillas.com will save a bunch, but then you don't have some of the perks of staying onsite.

With CRT... good luck, this is not an easy get.

A travel agent might be able to combine and recombine this a lot easier.

 

[blessedmommyX4]

you have a lot going on in this question, so instead of an answer... I'll ask more questions...

how important is it to stay onsite? someplace like dreamsvillas.com is affordable and close to WDW, and a short drive to SeaWorld.

Define goto the beach... goto which beach?

tickets, hotel, etc. can be part of a package, or separately in infinite combinations. you might check on the ticket brokers...

http://www.mousesavers.com

http://www.undercovertourist.com

http://www.ticketmania.com/

http://www.mapleleaftickets.com

yeah, it is possible to do the whole return the car and ME to WDW, but you could also for select rental agencies drop the car off at WDW I think it is Dolphin that has a rental car agency, and there are several rental car locations on property.

doing two rooms on property gets pricey fast, the offsite location on 7 dwarfs lane... Dreamsvillas.com will save a bunch, but then you don't have some of the perks of staying onsite.

With CRT... good luck, this is not an easy get.

A travel agent might be able to combine and recombine this a lot easier.

I personally really wanted to stay on-site. Also, I know we don't have to do the DDP, but we would be saving money that way since we are planning to do a few (2-3) character meals.

the beach...LOL! I have no clue what beach or which ones are near. They want to go see the ocean. We live in OK and there are no oceans here!

thanks for the tips on the car and the possibilites of going through an agent. I have always thought they would be more expensive since they are getting a 'cut'. I will see about checking them out.

another thing about staying on site is that we would get extended park hours.

I went to check out dreamsvillas.com and the price for 7 nights (required to ahve 7 nights stay) is $850.89- so staying On site is cheaper for that.

CRT is really hard to get? even if I call on the 180th day? this makes me sad

 

[blessedmommyX4]

I personally really wanted to stay on-site. Also, I know we don't have to do the DDP, but we would be saving money that way since we are planning to do a few (2-3) character meals.

the beach...LOL! I have no clue what beach or which ones are near. They want to go see the ocean. We live in OK and there are no oceans here!

thanks for the tips on the car and the possibilites of going through an agent. I have always thought they would be more expensive since they are getting a 'cut'. I will see about checking them out.

another thing about staying on site is that we would get extended park hours.

I went to check out dreamsvillas.com and the price for 7 nights (required to ahve 7 nights stay) is $850.89- so staying On site is cheaper for that.

CRT is really hard to get? even if I call on the 180th day? this makes me sad

I also forgot to add in out Sea World tickets- for all 6 of us, the price is $347.70 for 2 days.

 

[Tracie]

The CRT ressie can be done you need to cll on the 180 out day at 6am central time. and have your CC ready (just to hold) don't chit chat say hello[
I want to make a dining res for Cindy's for day at time. You can also eat with Cindy and step sisters at 1900 PF at the GF

I don't think the Nick hotel is really all that (although I have never stayed there, we did drive over and check it out before)

The closest beach I think is Melborne about an hour away. We visited friends in there 1 trip and the bech was nice.

If you want the dining plan amd want to use a ticket broker you can book the package with dining and get a 1 day park tickets for everyone and then buy the other days from the broker. I would suggest signing up for the mousesvers news letter at allears.net for the undercover tourist discount ticket link for mousesaver members.

 

[Tracie]

If you want to use ME after dropping off car at the airport look for a flight coming in that day at the time you need and book it with that info, but I think wildeoscar's suggetion of renting from a Co with onsite drop off would be easier and then you could just book ME for your return flight.

Can we purchase 9 day tickets if we are only staying on site for 5 nights and getting the DDP for 5 nights?

You can,if you want to use the extra days for another trip you would need to buy the no expiration option for each ticket.

 

[Tracie]

sorry double post

 

[rusafee1183]

THIS MAY BE A CHEESY ALTERNATIVE, AND YOU MAY NOT BE INTERESTED BUT HAVE YOU CONSIDERED MAYBE RETHINKING YOUR OUTLOOK AND GETTING A LITTLE CREATIVE? I MEAN, INSTEAD OF SPENDING THE EXTRA MONEY ON SEAWORLD TICKETS GET THE WATERPARKS AND MORE OPTION AND GO TO TYPHOON LAGOON (THEY HAVE A CUTE LITTLE PART OF THE PARK WHERE YOU CAN GO SNORKLING AND IT DOESN'T TO MY KNOWLEDGE COST ANY EXTRA) THAT WAY YOU CAN SAVE A LITTLE MONEY (FOR YOUR HUBBY) BECAUSE RIGHT NOW AT WWW.WDWINFO.COM THEY HAVE FREE WATERPARK AND MORE OPTION WITH DISCOUNT CODE, AND YOU GET TO SPEND MORE TIME AT THE WORLD WITH THAT CODE YOU ALSO GET TO GO TO DISNEY QUEST AND THAT MAY BE GREAT FOR YOUR YOUNGER SON WHO DOESN'T CARE AND FOR THE OLDER ONES BECAUSE IT IS FULL OF AWESOME STUFF FOR ALL AGES...YOU MAY WANT TO CONSIDER SKIPPING THE "BEACH" AND STAYING AT THE CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT I KNOW IT'S NOT THE SAME, BUT THEY DO HAVE A LITTLE BEACH WITH SAND AND BEACH CHAIRS AND IT'S REALLY CUTE AND HAS A GREAT VIEW. I HAVE STAYED THERE BEFORE AND IT'S A GREAT MODERATE RESORT WITH A LITTLE MORE ROOM THAN THE OTHERS AND IF YOU SPEND A LITTLE MORE ON YOUR RESORT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO CUT OUT A LOT OF LITTLE SIDE TRIPS AND SAVE MORE IN THE END...

FOR YOUR YOUNGER DAUGHTER WHO WANTS TO EAT WITH CINDERELLA, IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU CALL EXACTLY 180 DAYS FROM YOUR TRIP AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR CREDIT CARD READY... IF THE OTHER KIDS DON'T CARE YOU MAY WANT TO GO WITH JUST THE TWO OF YOU BECAUSE IT COSTS 2 MEAL TICKETS PER PERSON, AND WITH A TIGHT BUDGET YOU MAY BE BETTER OFF JUST HAVING "MOMMY AND ME" TIME WITH HER AND SAVING THE EXTRA MEALS FOR LATER FOR THE REST OF YOUR FAMILY...

HOPE THIS HELPED EVEN A LITTLE BIT

 

[rusafee1183]

OH, AND I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT ALTHOUGH CRT IS REALLLLLLLLYYYYY HARD TO GET... AKERSHUS AT NORWAY IN EPCOT IS ALSO A "PRINCESS" BREAKFAST, SO IF YOU THINK THAT WILL DO I HEAR IT IS FANTASTIC AND SINCE IT'S SMALLER YOU MAY GET MORE PRINCESS INTERACTION FOR YOUR DD WE ARE GOING TO BE TRYING IT IN MAY FOR OUR HONEYMOON, BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO USE 2 MEALS FOR CRT...

HOPE THAT HELPS

 

[blessedmommyX4]

THIS MAY BE A CHEESY ALTERNATIVE, AND YOU MAY NOT BE INTERESTED BUT HAVE YOU CONSIDERED MAYBE RETHINKING YOUR OUTLOOK AND GETTING A LITTLE CREATIVE? I MEAN, INSTEAD OF SPENDING THE EXTRA MONEY ON SEAWORLD TICKETS GET THE WATERPARKS AND MORE OPTION AND GO TO TYPHOON LAGOON (THEY HAVE A CUTE LITTLE PART OF THE PARK WHERE YOU CAN GO SNORKLING AND IT DOESN'T TO MY KNOWLEDGE COST ANY EXTRA) THAT WAY YOU CAN SAVE A LITTLE MONEY (FOR YOUR HUBBY) BECAUSE RIGHT NOW AT WWW.WDWINFO.COM THEY HAVE FREE WATERPARK AND MORE OPTION WITH DISCOUNT CODE, AND YOU GET TO SPEND MORE TIME AT THE WORLD WITH THAT CODE YOU ALSO GET TO GO TO DISNEY QUEST AND THAT MAY BE GREAT FOR YOUR YOUNGER SON WHO DOESN'T CARE AND FOR THE OLDER ONES BECAUSE IT IS FULL OF AWESOME STUFF FOR ALL AGES...YOU MAY WANT TO CONSIDER SKIPPING THE "BEACH" AND STAYING AT THE CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT I KNOW IT'S NOT THE SAME, BUT THEY DO HAVE A LITTLE BEACH WITH SAND AND BEACH CHAIRS AND IT'S REALLY CUTE AND HAS A GREAT VIEW. I HAVE STAYED THERE BEFORE AND IT'S A GREAT MODERATE RESORT WITH A LITTLE MORE ROOM THAN THE OTHERS AND IF YOU SPEND A LITTLE MORE ON YOUR RESORT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO CUT OUT A LOT OF LITTLE SIDE TRIPS AND SAVE MORE IN THE END...

FOR YOUR YOUNGER DAUGHTER WHO WANTS TO EAT WITH CINDERELLA, IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU CALL EXACTLY 180 DAYS FROM YOUR TRIP AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR CREDIT CARD READY... IF THE OTHER KIDS DON'T CARE YOU MAY WANT TO GO WITH JUST THE TWO OF YOU BECAUSE IT COSTS 2 MEAL TICKETS PER PERSON, AND WITH A TIGHT BUDGET YOU MAY BE BETTER OFF JUST HAVING "MOMMY AND ME" TIME WITH HER AND SAVING THE EXTRA MEALS FOR LATER FOR THE REST OF YOUR FAMILY...

HOPE THIS HELPED EVEN A LITTLE BIT

? for you- are the water parks even open/warm/fun in December? I do think the kids would like it there, but wondered about the warmth.

Funny you say Caribbean Beach Resort- we ended up booking our stay there! I had asked for POFQ, but they were booked up. I am happy to hear that CBR has a 'mini beach'

We actually ended up booking with Dreams Unlimited. we had a 40% off code, staying at the CBR Dec 7th-17th, got the DDP and 10 day park hoppers. hubby was just happy a decision has been made!


My TA will be making my ADRs for me. I will be in Africa on a mission trip and hubby wanted no part. he said he would 'scew it all up'! lol my TA has assured me that she will call at 180 days first thing that AM.

*crossing my fingers!!*

thanks for your info!

 

[wilde_oscar]

so you know, you can't swim in the water at the "beach"... there is no swimming in any of the natural bodies of water.

 

[blessedmommyX4]

If you want the dining plan amd want to use a ticket broker you can book the package with dining and get a 1 day park tickets for everyone and then buy the other days from the broker. I would suggest signing up for the mousesvers news letter at allears.net for the undercover tourist discount ticket link for mousesaver members.

I haven't seen any ticket brokers be much cheaper than buying from Disney. you save like $3 or something. Am I looking in the wrong place?

I get the mousesavers newsletter. I clicked on the link for Undercover Tourist to get their special pricing (not on mousesavers.com)

our tickets puchased from disney direct are for 10 day base tickets: $1274*6.5% tax = 1356.81

if we go to undercover tourist-
our 1 day ticket from disney is 403.26 w/tax for everyone
plus 1291.70 for 8 day tickets

we would be paying more and loosing one day.

am i missing something? i would love to save money if i can!!

thanks

 

[anl]

Just wanted to add...I've never been to SeaWorld Orlando but I have been to SeaWorld San Antonio and it doesn't take two days to see it all. Orlando may be different but I would assume they have a lot of the same shows and stuff. We ate with the princesses in Norway and had a great time. So I would definitely use that as a back up for CRT.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

The concern I have with the top option is that you won't get your tickets until you check in to WDW. The reverse would work, doing WDW, THEN going to the Nick hotel. One thing I will say about the Nick hotel, I've never stayed there exactly, but I did stay at the MWC acroos the street. One thing I'll say about those two is that they are very easy in/out to WDW. The Vistana looks like ti is also just off property, too, but the drive from Vistana to the four parks was much longer.

Second, as others have said, In Dec, the weather may not mesh with your plans. It might, but it could be too cold for the pool/water park at Nick, the beach, etc. You'll probably get some days that are warm enough, but not all. If you are flexible on the first few days as to which one you want to spend where, you'll have much better odds of getting ONE day which works for water or beach.

I've done offsite and on, and for my family I strongly prefer onsite. Other have different opinions, and thus Orlando has plenty of resorts. But I think if you look at the market, onsite resorts do very well.

Now I have been to WDW over thirty times...so maybe my perspective is a bit different, but for me, if I wanted to save some dough, I'd shorten the trip a bit. I think going from Dec 7th to the 18th is a LONG trip. I went to WDW many times as a kid..then didn't go for 15years. Since '99, I've gone at least once a year. In '99, I stayed for two days. Since then I aim for at least four days, but really if you are intense about seeing parks, six days is a good number. After six, I personally start to get tired of the theme park environment. Four days in WDW is not quite enough, and you have to be very intense. I LOVE WDW!, but it's a pretty intense thing: lots of noise, crowds, lines for everything, lots of public restrooms.
I've been to Orlando for nine days twice since '99. Both of those trips started with three days of non-theme park time. It's great to relax inOrlando, but honestly, outside of WDW, most of the other attractions just aren't as great. If you've never been to SeaWorld, thenI would say Sea World is very worthwhile, and Universal has some excellent rides. Downtown Disney is fun.

As far as staying offsite ina condo...I've stayed at offsite hotels, and as I said above, I stayed at Vistana in '06. The room at Vistana was perfectly nice. HUGE, clean, a good value, a full kitchen, nice pools....the problem I have with it is hard to describe or appreciate. The trouble is that it was too nice in itself. I went with alarge familiy group and it was very hard to motivate everyone to do anything. The kids wanted to sit and watch tv, the adults got sucked into slow eating, laundry, taking a LONG time to get ready..the never ending cycle of 'just-one-more-thing-before-we-go.' Mind, some folks go on vacation to sit around and do little. If that is goal, then offsite is great, and will save money.

My goal when I go to WDW is to make every minute count. I go to the beach to relax. I go tothe mountains to stare at the scenery. I go to WDW to do things I can only do at WDW. If I want to sit around eating and watching tv, I stay at home and it costs me nothing. I don't personally spend a $1000 getting to Orlando to sit around watching tv. (Besides, I get a LOT more channels at home!) On the flip side, you could encounter cooler weather at that time of year, and allowing one non-park day in your trip to accomodate cool weather is wise at that time of year. In '06, our arrival day was very cold, Orlando had snow flurries and frost that night! Later in the trip it was in the 80's. Theme parks, IMO, are not so much fun in cold, windy weather. Conversely, the decor at the WDW resorts in December is FANTASTIC! You could easliy spend an entire day just visiting the WDW resorts: taking all the decor and holiday fun.

Last, the last few trips we've stayed totally onsight with out a rental car. It works fine. If you get the dining plan, then you really won't need to stop for groceries. WE did end up getting a few snacks out of pocket, but not much. The few 'snacks' we did pay for were all under the $2. On both trips we used the dining plan fully on our first and last day (early arrival,late departure), and still we has plenty of food. In fact, on the second trip, we ended up with extra snack credits. The only thing we wanted in warmer weather was water. In December, you don't get nearly so dehydrated.

Last time I chenked, calling for CRT started at 7am EST, not 6am.

The way tickets are priced - no matter where you get them - it is not worth while to get tow seperate tickets. Days 4through 10 are minimal - It's days 1-3 that are the most expensive. If you are getting the dining plan than your best deal is to just buy the tickets for your total stay through WDW. The only time the one day thing makes sense is for folks who have AP's.

If going tothe beach is important to you, and you choose to stay at Pop the entire time, then what you can do is rent a car for one or two days through an onsite office. There are several on WDW property. (I think it's Enterprise) Probably your best plan would be to look carefully at cancelation policies. Set up tow one day rentals, and when the dates get close, cancel one - the one that's on the day that's got less favorable weather. Or you could maybe rent a car for like four days and pick the day that's best. Then you could do your grocery store run...

I also agree that Sea World can probably be done in one day - unless you are doing the Swim with Dolphins one of the days. I've not been to SeaWorld in many years though, so I'm not an expert there.

 

[MontanaZoo]

I do think it takes two days to see Seaworld in Orlando. They do have a deal though that you can take your tickets that you buy for one day (and online is cheaper usually) and exchange them for a 2nd day for free sometime in the next week. We stayed onsite at Disneyworld, went to AK our first day, Seaworld the second day, went to the other Disney parks on the day in between and then on our last day went back to Seaworld. We did go to a tour on our first Seaworld day and hit repeats of our favorite shows on the second Seaworld day.

 

[rusafee1183]

i'm an idiot... i guess i didn't really read throughly enough and i didn't realize you would be there in december... i don't think that the water parks would be any good at that time of year, so seaworld may be a great option if you still want that "water park" (kinda) experience... but now i definately think that you can get away with skipping the beach... it would be just as cold there and if you are just going to go there to look at the beach, just look out your window at the CBR and also i think that the nearest beach is 2 hours away...? is that right guys disney's vero beach... i'm not sure... but, my only concern is that you will spend so much of your trip running back and forth between driving to the beach, nick hotel, seaworld, and trying to spend time at wdw that you won't feel satisfied with any of it, because you know that no matter what you never have as much time as you want somewhere... i would try to limit the trips if i were you, but i also know what it's like once you have your heart set on something... good luck!!!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I haven't been in quite a while, but it's about an hour to Cape Canaveral and about an hour and a half to Melbourne. CC is a direct route tot he shore, but I'm not sure there's a beach there (Kennedy Space Center is there). I think Melbourne is one of the nearest real Atlantic beaches. I think it's also about the same distance to the nearest west coast beaches.

If the op plans accordingly, it is a very doable daytrip to hit either coast. Again, her best plan would be to have some flexability. IF she's there for a week, then on e .or two days is likely to be nice enough to visit a beach. But she's also likely to have some cooler days.

If she has to commit to a beach day, and it turns out to be cool day, they could easily make a visit to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. There is a lot to see there, and it's a popular side trip from Orlando. And if there happens to be some sort of launch that day, it would be an event to remember for a lifetime!

 

[Tracie]

Last time I chenked, calling for CRT started at 7am EST, not 6am

That would be 6am CST in OK where they live I think I put central time if not sorry