Returning after 3 years. Have some questions - taking grandkitten this time.

[Disneyliscious]

Last trip (all adults) was in October 2015.

Considering returning for a short trip this October . Will be my first ever trip with children under 6 years old (my 2.5 year grandkitten and my then 2 month old grandcat - Yes, I'm a cat lady but these will be human babies).

I have a few questions and will also be searching the boards and Google for answers myself but sometimes its easy to come across outdated information.

1) Is parking and magic bands for your entire group included with a stay at the Ft. Wilderness Campgrounds still?

2) We have never stayed on site, and I don't really want to, but we will have a 2 month old with us so I'm considering it in case the baby/mama want to go rest while everyone else is in the park. Are there any Disney hotels that are $200/night or under that have separate bedrooms off from the main hotel room? Our party will consist of a few different families so privacy is a must. We can rent a 6BR home for $99 a night so I'm only willing to "give" on this so much.

3) Is Avatar Land any less chaotic now? I don't expect to ride everything but even just walking around to see the scenery. Has it calmed down any? We'll be there sometime during the week of Oct. 13-20.

4) In order to cut back on costs, we will only be attending 2 parks instead of 3 this time. Haven't attended MGM since 2004 and still can't justify the ticket cost for that park until SWL is open. This time we will also be skipping Epcot. We only plan to do one MNSSHP and AK. However, due to taking my grandkitten, what is the best dinner/lunch/meal for her to see or be photographed with Princesses. She loves Belle and Ariel but any will do as she is still quite young. We are not interested in the Cinderella meal at the castle and will not be going to Epcot so is there anything else?

Thank you for your advice.

 

[Tksolomom]

You can do breakfast at Tratoria al Forno with Rapunzul and Arial.That is the only place to eat with princesses other than CRT and Akershus

 

[Capitalangel]

You can see Ariel and Rapunzel with Prince Eric and Flynn Rider at Tattoria al Forno at the Boardwalk.

 

[CAS239]

1) yes

2) if privacy is a must and you don't want to spend a fortune on something like a villa, then I would rent a house off property. This means though you have to pay once a day for parking. You're not going to find anything roomy with privacy for anywhere close to $200 a night

3) it's calmed down compared to opening week, but it won't be calmed down anymore for another few years at least. There's 2 rides, a quick service, and shop. You'll want a FP for flight of passage. But you can easily walk around and look at stuff

4) if you don't want to go to epcot and don't want to do Cinderella's Royal table, then there's not much option left for a princess meal. You can eat at Tusker house in AK and meet mickey and friends or Crystal palace and see Winnie the Pooh and friends.. But like others have said as far as princesses then you'll have to head toward the boardwalk

 

[mamamelody2]

Pretty much the only Disney onsite lodging under $200 a night is the campsites or the value resorts which gets you one small room.

As to Avatar land, we were at WDW last November and went several times, both during the day and at night and had no trouble walking around seeing the sights. I don't think you'll have a problem.

 

[ChristineOH]

Cinderella meets at 1900 Park Fare for dinner in the Grand Floridian. If you don't want to do princess meals, you can always do the princess meets in MK. Many of them you can fast pass. That costs nothing extra and tends to be more personal interaction. Both Belle and Ariel have their own meets at MK.

 

[MermaidMommy]

Cinderella meets at 1900 Park Fare for dinner in the Grand Floridian. If you don't want to do princess meals, you can always do the princess meets in MK. Many of them you can fast pass. That costs nothing extra and tends to be more personal interaction. Both Belle and Ariel have their own meets at MK.

Belle doesn’t actually have a traditional meet at MK. If you go to Enchanted Tales with Belle and participate in the show, you’ll get a picture with her at the end. Sometimes, they invite people who weren’t in the show to get a picture as well, but that’s not guaranteed.

 

[Linkura]

Belle doesn’t actually have a traditional meet at MK. If you go to Enchanted Tales with Belle and participate in the show, you’ll get a picture with her at the end. Sometimes, they invite people who weren’t in the show to get a picture as well, but that’s not guaranteed. Otherwise, you can only meet her at Cinderella’s Royal Table in MK.

Actually, Belle is at Akershus in Epcot, not at CRT.

 

[dachsie]

Art of Animation and one of the All Star resorts have suites I believe that might give you the private room.

1900 Park Fare has dinner with Cinderella nd Prince Charming and the stepsister that might be a fun one to do to for your GD

 

[leebee]

If you want to stay onsite and need privacy/separate bedrooms, you might be able to get 2 value rooms and ask for the ones with a connecting door. No guarantees, on either the door OR the price, but maybe. Another option might be one of the family suites at ASMu, but once again, the price is a roll of the dice. I've had luck getting decent prices through Orbitz; they offer the same "discounted" prices as Disney, but often run a special of their own where you can take an additional 10% or 15% off (depends on what Orbitz is using as their special at the time). Once again no guarantees... but if you are onsite you won't have to pay $20 a day to park- which means you are actually spending $119 a night to stay offsite, plus the cost of a rental car and gas. (Just trying to justify spending a little more to stay onsite. I am not a huge onsite fan, not enamored with "the bubble," but with an infant along it might be worth the extra money just for the convenience of using a bus instead of juggling going back and forth midday to an offsite rental if mom/baby need to leave).

 

[MermaidMommy]

Actually, Belle is at Akershus in Epcot, not at CRT.

You’re right, of course! I’ll edit my answer.

 

[Robo]

2) We have never stayed on site, and I don't really want to, but we will have a 2 month old with us so I'm considering it in case the baby/mama want to go rest while everyone else is in the park. Are there any Disney hotels that are $200/night or under that have separate bedrooms off from the main hotel room?
A. Our party will consist of a few different families so privacy is a must.
B. We can rent a 6BR home for $99 a night so I'm only willing to "give" on this so much.

A. You don't say how MANY people, total.
B. Six bedrooms or six rooms?

 

[karen4546]

Last trip (all adults) was in October 2015.

Considering returning for a short trip this October . Will be my first ever trip with children under 6 years old (my 2.5 year grandkitten and my then 2 month old grandcat - Yes, I'm a cat lady but these will be human babies).

I have a few questions and will also be searching the boards and Google for answers myself but sometimes its easy to come across outdated information.

1) Is parking and magic bands for your entire group included with a stay at the Ft. Wilderness Campgrounds still?

2) We have never stayed on site, and I don't really want to, but we will have a 2 month old with us so I'm considering it in case the baby/mama want to go rest while everyone else is in the park. Are there any Disney hotels that are $200/night or under that have separate bedrooms off from the main hotel room? Our party will consist of a few different families so privacy is a must. We can rent a 6BR home for $99 a night so I'm only willing to "give" on this so much.

3) Is Avatar Land any less chaotic now? I don't expect to ride everything but even just walking around to see the scenery. Has it calmed down any? We'll be there sometime during the week of Oct. 13-20.

4) In order to cut back on costs, we will only be attending 2 parks instead of 3 this time. Haven't attended MGM since 2004 and still can't justify the ticket cost for that park until SWL is open. This time we will also be skipping Epcot. We only plan to do one MNSSHP and AK. However, due to taking my grandkitten, what is the best dinner/lunch/meal for her to see or be photographed with Princesses. She loves Belle and Ariel but any will do as she is still quite young. We are not interested in the Cinderella meal at the castle and will not be going to Epcot so is there anything else?

Thank you for your advice.

ToyStory land will be open when you go and it has age appropriate rides for your grands. Maybe check into renting a DVC villa through a broker or through these boards(I use a broker just for a little peace of mind). Maybe check the price for 2 studios or one 2 Br. If you can get value studios at AKL-they are very affordable.

Akershus is a good place to meet multiple princesses.

Someone mentioned a place where you can rent RVs that sleep 12-14 for a week for $1300ish plus the cost of camp space this includes set up at the campground (they deliver the RV and take it down).

The MNSSHP I see great! I hope you have a wonderful time.

 

[Amanda999]

I thought this was going to be about bringing a service or therapy cat!

(No offense at all to any disabled persons with service or therapy animals - my DS is disabled. Don't want my post to sound insensitive.)

 

[Farro]

grandkitten

oh my goodness, I thought it was funny a typo!

 

[Skippyboo]

How many people are in your actual party?

A large group is going to be cheaper off site.

 

[Disneyliscious]

grandkitten

oh my goodness, I thought it was funny a typo!

Lol, no. I have always called her my grandkitten (yeah, I'm that cat lady everyone talks about).

How many people are in your actual party?

A large group is going to be cheaper off site.

6 adults, a 2.10 year old and a 6 week old.

 

[Best Aunt]

Maybe check into renting a DVC villa through a broker or through these boards(I use a broker just for a little peace of mind). Maybe check the price for 2 studios or one 2 Br. If you can get value studios at AKL-they are very affordable.

I wouldn't count on getting a value studio at AKV at 7 months out. I don't even know if you can get them at 7 1/2 months out. My understanding is that they go fast.

If OP is considering DVC, she needs to be aware of the room layouts and number of real beds as opposed to sofa beds, sleep chairs and small beds that pull down from the wall. Some people need a certain number of real beds.

This shows pricing if you want to rent points through this agency: http://www.dvcrequest.com/

 

[Skippyboo]

Lol, no. I have always called her my grandkitten (yeah, I'm that cat lady everyone talks about).



6 adults, a 2.10 year old and a 6 week old.

With that many adults, you aren’t going get anything onsite in the $200 a night that will fit your whole party. You would have to go DVC rental for onsite. Nothing on-site will beat your $99/night offsite. Maybe combine off site with what your first question was about for parking, magic bands, 60 day FP access.

 

[kwdw]

With 6 adults and needing separate rooms - you will need to stay off-site if you want this trip to be cheap. If those adults can group into 3 rooms - you could consider 3 rooms at an All-Star or Pop - but that's still going to run you probably $350-500 per night.

As an FYI - unless you KNOW the folks giving you a 6 bedroom house off-property at a rate of $99 per night - I'd be suspicious of that rate. Yes - off-property house rentals can save money - but that seems exceedingly CHEAP - hence - I'd question what you are getting. 6 "rooms" seems more likely.

Since you are only planning MK and AK park days - and want a character meal (not CRT) - I might skip the "princess" character meal - and consider going to the character breakfast at Beach Club - Cape May. The food here tends to be decent (and appealing to adults) - and you see four characters. For the 2-3 yo - they do tend to know these characters and at that age - it should be REALLY sweet to see her meet them for the first time. And you can do this one without a park ticket - so if you want to make your Disney trip feel longer without buying more park days - this might be an option.

You might consider splitting up your group at AK - some get FP's for FOP - and if a couple adults are willing to forgo FOP - maybe a couple get FP's on Navi - and take the kids on that. With the exception of the line for FOP - it's not crazy anymore.