PTR - SF, NY & WDW Oct/Nov

[CJ2001]

Sorry another question!! I read somewhere to allow an hour for the disney bus transport, we have a couple of early morning ADR's is it the same in the morning at 8am? Might have to catch a taxi otherwise!

Also still have to make another dinner booking - any suggestions? Will be at waterparks that day, so going back to the resort first.

 

[LivingforDisney]

We had 4 full days in NY last Sept, we stayed right in Times Square. Be prepared for plenty of walking, yes it is very, very crowded and noisy.
Would not advise you to take the subway to your hotel, especially with kids and 4 suitcases. Just join the taxi queue, they will ask you where u are going and then give a ticket with the taxi fare on it, u just have to add the tip.
They will call a maxi cab up to the front for you, we had 4 people and cases.
If you have a daughter, she will probably love the American Girl Store on 5th Ave, you can look it up online.
We booked a car service to get back to the airport as I was paranoid about being late for our flight to Orlando.
Are you going to the 911 memorial?
We decided to get the subway out to Coney Island, which was a great idea, it was a good 40 mins I think on the train, but saw a bit as it all wasn't underground. We had a walk along the pier, had hotdogs at Nathans ( sorry but they were awful lol) and sat on a bench looking at the Atlantic Ocean, it was quite a nice break to be away from the hustle & bustle of NY city.
I would say don't plan too much. We did happen to get lost a few times and you have to queue for everything, so take that into consideration.
Btw we stayed at POP Century in Orlando and had the free dinining QS, way, way too much food, we just payed for a few TS meals out of pocket.
I would not purchase it, but for free , yes ty.
have fun

 

[PrincessInOz]

I am looking forward to staying here, any room tips? Is it better to be near the bus stop or the pool?

I like to be near the bus stop and the food court.

I stayed in the Ranchos section and we were near the quiet pool; and within a very short walk of one of the bus stops at the back section.

I was hoping for the Cabana section; which can be closer to the Dig Site and El Centro.

Most people seem to want to request the Casitas.

Sorry another question!! I read somewhere to allow an hour for the disney bus transport, we have a couple of early morning ADR's is it the same in the morning at 8am? Might have to catch a taxi otherwise!

Also still have to make another dinner booking - any suggestions? Will be at waterparks that day, so going back to the resort first.

For an 8 am ADR, I would plan to be at the bus stop 30 - 45 minutes before hand. Disney knows that their guests will have early ADRs book and from memory, their transport starts to run an hour before park opens. It just depends on whether the right bus comes along or not.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Sorry another question!! I read somewhere to allow an hour for the disney bus transport, we have a couple of early morning ADR's is it the same in the morning at 8am? Might have to catch a taxi otherwise! Also still have to make another dinner booking - any suggestions? Will be at waterparks that day, so going back to the resort first.

For an 8am ADR I would be at the bus stop at 7. As mentioned, the buses start running about an hour before the restaurants open, but you can sometimes wait about 15mins for the bus to arrive. Then the bus can take up to about 30 minutes to get to the park (depending how many stops it needs to make) and you don't want to then have to rush to your reservation. Particularly if it's CP and you want some spare time to walk up the Main Street and take pics. Ask at the help desk at your hotel. They are pretty good at being able to tell you when to be at the bus stop.

All the resorts have great dinner locations. E.g. Sanaa is great if you get there at opening to get a seat near the window. Ohana was nice (although slightly overhyped). If you have a spare park day on your ticket, you can't go wrong by picking almost any of the places in Epcot. Also, bus wise, a park ADR is easier to get to. Biergarten was my favourite for atmosphere.
So many choices....

 

[CJ2001]

We had 4 full days in NY last Sept, we stayed right in Times Square. Be prepared for plenty of walking, yes it is very, very crowded and noisy.
Would not advise you to take the subway to your hotel, especially with kids and 4 suitcases. Just join the taxi queue, they will ask you where u are going and then give a ticket with the taxi fare on it, u just have to add the tip.
They will call a maxi cab up to the front for you, we had 4 people and cases.
If you have a daughter, she will probably love the American Girl Store on 5th Ave, you can look it up online.
We booked a car service to get back to the airport as I was paranoid about being late for our flight to Orlando.
Are you going to the 911 memorial?
We decided to get the subway out to Coney Island, which was a great idea, it was a good 40 mins I think on the train, but saw a bit as it all wasn't underground. We had a walk along the pier, had hotdogs at Nathans ( sorry but they were awful lol) and sat on a bench looking at the Atlantic Ocean, it was quite a nice break to be away from the hustle & bustle of NY city.
I would say don't plan too much. We did happen to get lost a few times and you have to queue for everything, so take that into consideration.
Btw we stayed at POP Century in Orlando and had the free dinining QS, way, way too much food, we just payed for a few TS meals out of pocket.
I would not purchase it, but for free , yes ty.
have fun

Thanks for all the info, we want to go to the 911 memorial - do we have to book?

I got my travel agent friend to get us a quote through our hotel and it was $92 one way by coach! Wont be going through them! What car service did you got to?

 

[CJ2001]

Thanks PIO and Wanderlust when I ring for the free dining I will ask for a room in that area, we have a standard room can I chose the location with a standard room?

We are terrible getting ready in the morning so hopefully we can get up in time for the bus! Otherwise it will be a taxi.

 

[zanzibar138]

I've never been to the east coast, so don't really have anything to contribute. But I'm interested in reading along for your PTR Sounds like a great trip!

 

[CJ2001]

I've never been to the east coast, so don't really have anything to contribute. But I'm interested in reading along for your PTR Sounds like a great trip!

Thanks Zanzibar & thanks for reading along

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks PIO and Wanderlust when I ring for the free dining I will ask for a room in that area, we have a standard room can I chose the location with a standard room?

We are terrible getting ready in the morning so hopefully we can get up in time for the bus! Otherwise it will be a taxi.

You should be able to request for a section. Whether you get it or not will come down to the scheduler.

 

[LivingforDisney]

cj, I think I used Dial7, I was looking for info on tripadvisor, and there were a couple mentioned, of course they all have bad reviews, but they were fine, and as I said preferred to book that to the airport, in case we could not find a maxi cab from the hotel.
The 911 memorial , you now have to go on line and book a timeslot and it costs $2 I think.
I went to the 911 site and actually booked a walking tour, with a guide. There were like 20 people and we had headphones so we could hear the guy talking. It was quite emotional as he was actually a firefighter that was in one of the towers when it collapsed. They are volunteers that do these tours. You also get to spend some time in the gallery before the tour ( if you don't do the tour you cant go in the gallery bit). The gallery had photos, information, parts of the planes ect. They were building a museum when we were there, not sure when that opens.
Not sure about your kids, but mine were 13 & 15 at the time and I told them what we were doing, thought they should hear what happened.
I totally recommend the walking tour, we skipped the lines to get in & yes they were long, still had to do all the security checks, but straight to the front.
Also as we had a guide you got the real hard facts of that day. The website is 9/11 tribute center.

 

[Zosha]

CJ2001, we stayed in Casitas 1 in a preferred room. Which put us near food court and bus stop and a small walk to main pool. We had a couple of early ADR's at other hotels which we just caught cabs too which turned out to be much simpler than messing around with buses early.

 

[CJ2001]

Got up this morning and found free dining offer available, checked my dates on special at CSR and its all sold out!! Does that mean I wont be able to get it even though I am already booked in? Have been trying to ring for the last 30 minutes but it is saying "all circuits are busy now try again later"!

Saw the room rate discount and that wont apply to my booking either.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Got up this morning and found free dining offer available, checked my dates on special at CSR and its all sold out!! Does that mean I wont be able to get it even though I am already booked in? Have been trying to ring for the last 30 minutes but it is saying "all circuits are busy now try again later"!

Saw the room rate discount and that wont apply to my booking either.

I hope you managed to get through and find out if you can get that FD offer.

 

[CJ2001]

I hope you managed to get through and find out if you can get that FD offer.

been on hold for 35 minutes!! i'm supposed to be working right now - this is nuts!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Keep at it. Everyone else is also after that FD offer.

 

[LivingforDisney]

Read on another page, people have been on the phone up to 5hrs trying to get through.
Can you not do another reservation on line, that's working ok and then cancel the other booking later?

 

[CJ2001]

Read on another page, people have been on the phone up to 5hrs trying to get through.
Can you not do another reservation on line, that's working ok and then cancel the other booking later?

Thanks LivingforDisney for letting me know had been on for an hour so just hung up. I just checked my phone bill from last time I rang and even though I have $600 worth of calls I can make on my mobile they put the international call as a separate amount and charged me extra. So looks like this call just cost me over $20 for nothing!

 

[zanzibar138]

Thanks LivingforDisney for letting me know had been on for an hour so just hung up. I just checked my phone bill from last time I rang and even though I have $600 worth of calls I can make on my mobile they put the international call as a separate amount and charged me extra. So looks like this call just cost me over $20 for nothing!

Hope you can get it sorted!

 

[CJ2001]

Thanks guys. Didnt get through to any CM's. Im kicking myself, I checked last night and I didnt look properly at the offers and was expecting to see it at the top of the list, if I had seen it last night I could of called. Bugger.

Will try again tonight, for first thing in their morning but from what I was reading it sounds like it has been really busy and may not be any left. I have tried online and there is nothing for my dates.

 

[dabecs]

Thanks guys. Didnt get through to any CM's. Im kicking myself, I checked last night and I didnt look properly at the offers and was expecting to see it at the top of the list, if I had seen it last night I could of called. Bugger. Will try again tonight, for first thing in their morning but from what I was reading it sounds like it has been really busy and may not be any left. I have tried online and there is nothing for my dates.

I really hope you can get onto a CM tonight and get it sorted