Question for the pros about trip

[dudedisney]

DS's high school band is scheduled to march in Magic Kingdom for their spring trip in April. We're thinking of coming down (12 hr trip) separately with DD who's 11. We may fly if we can get some cheap tickets, otherwise we'll follow the buses (which I dread!). This would be our second trip to WDW. The first was in 2005 and we did an 8 day family group trip that was very thorough so we don't feel like we HAVE to do everything this time.

The band's supposed to stay at the Fairfield in the Mariott Village. Would you suggest trying to stay there (looks a little bit pricey for regular rooms) or stay somewhere nearby that's a bit less costly? We stayed at Pop Century before and I still miss the icey drink machine! I saw a Hilton across the street from a Wendy's and not far from a grocery store...what about that? Any suggestions on something close would be appreciated.

Also, we're thinking that we could go do other things than the band like SeaWorld. Should we wait to get there to get tickets because we don't know the band's schedule yet?

 

[Purseval]

If you drive you can set your own schedule and stay wherever you want at whatever price you want to pay. No matter where the band stays there will be dozens of other hotels to choose from. Priceline bids have been in the $30-$40 range for a 3-star hotel all year, 2010 doesn't shape up to be any different.

You should wait to see the band schedule because they may not have much free time and their schedule tends to be tightly controlled for liability purposes.

 

[rebecca06261]

If you prefer to stay at the Fairfield, call them and ask if they will just give you the hotwire rate. 90% of the time, they will. I stayed here after getting a rate of $55 a night on hotwire.