Marshay
I'm Goofy for Mickey.
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2007
- Messages
- 13,479
My final thoughts on our trip:
1) I am
Disney Vacation Club. This is probably the best thing we ever did, vacation-wise. I am so happy with both the Beach Club and the Animal Kingdom Villas. The rooms are very large, well-equipped and just so relaxing. It actually makes staying in the room enjoyable. We can easily put DD down for a nap and have another room all to ourselves. The bathrooms are unbelievably large and there is plenty of counter space and closets (and remember all those doors!!). I really liked have a washer and dryer in the room -- we could put something in before heading to the park and finish it when we got back -- no more dirty, sweaty clothes.
And another good thing is that we don't have to wait for resort codes or wonder when we'll return to Disney.
We are sooooo blessed to have the DVC.
2) I liked going in September. The crowds were very manageable even in the prime times 11-3pm and if you were able to get to a park on opening, you really could do practically the entire park from 8-1pm.
The weather was anywhere from warm to hot so on those HOT days you just had to be smart and go early and leave right after lunch.
3) We took naps or rested almost every day -- since my 2 yr old needed it, but both DH and I did too. Whether we were swimming in the pool or sleeping in the middle of the afternoon, it was a well-deserved rest.
4) I would recommend the DDP IF you plan to eat at a sit-down meal every day. The 2008 package is not as good as last years (no appetizer and you have to pay tip) but it'll still save you money instead of paying for the same thing OOP; it eliminates the need to look at prices on the menu; and encourages you to try new restaurants.
Of course this was a better deal for us since my DD was only 2; therefore she ate for free and could share our food.
5) We bought too much snack and drinks from Wal-mart. We decided to eat breakfast nearly every day in the room but still we ended up with cereal, waffles, milk, oj and muffins we had to throw out. Also, we really didn't need a lot of snacks since the DDP provided a dessert at both lunch and dinner.
6) We planned a lot more sit-down dinners than we did lunches or breakfasts (since dinners cost more and we'd get more value out of the DDP -- besides just enjoying what they offered for dinner more). However, that tied up our evenings since we tried to get back to the room for 9pm bedtime. So by the time we finished our dinner it was usually 7:30-8pm and I felt like we never really enjoyed the parks that much at night.
7) Staying a week at Disney is not long enough! I always want to stay longer!
When we stay 7-10 days, I try to plan a few "non-parks" days -- usually the day we check in and one or two in between, plus check-out day. This trip we also went to Sea World so I didn't feel like we spent a lot of time in the Disney parks (i.e., never got to DHS (MGM), AK only one day).
Also, I should have traded off a part of a day with DH on watching DD to give myself time alone in the parks to shop or go on rides. Having a young child means you can't just browse in the shops as long as you want because you are worried child will break something, child wants to leave or stay only in the toy section.
8) Since we stayed at BCV, we should have taken two days to sleep in (or as much as DD allowed) and taken advantage of the International Gateway entrance at Epcot, walking in around 11am when the World Showcase section opens. The countries would be rather empty since most of the people would still be over in the Future World yet.
9) Once again, I am glad we get a rental car. I really like the convenience of driving and not waiting for a bus/boat. Maybe if we were at Poly or Contemp and had easy access to the monorail, I'd change my mind, but when the lines for a boat or bus were long, I loved breezing by them and out of the parking lot to our room.
10) A stroller is a wonderful item to have! Even if DD was not using it, I loved being able to put our water, sunglasses, wipes, snacks, sunscreen, jacket, etc in the stroller. A few times we just parked the stroller in a convenient area and then did the rides and came back for it later.
However, when it got crowded, the stroller was a handicap because it could become difficult to move around with so many people.
11) I really liked doing the PhotoPass. Unfortunately we had difficulty with getting our photos in a timely manner, but I would definitely do the CD again. I liked not having to always lug out a camera, or at least knowing I had a back-up in case my DH's snazzy camera failed. And this is the first trip since 1992 where we had LOTS of photos of all of us together!
I'm sure there is lots more, but I'll stop now so we can get to the photos!!
1) I am
Disney Vacation Club. This is probably the best thing we ever did, vacation-wise. I am so happy with both the Beach Club and the Animal Kingdom Villas. The rooms are very large, well-equipped and just so relaxing. It actually makes staying in the room enjoyable. We can easily put DD down for a nap and have another room all to ourselves. The bathrooms are unbelievably large and there is plenty of counter space and closets (and remember all those doors!!). I really liked have a washer and dryer in the room -- we could put something in before heading to the park and finish it when we got back -- no more dirty, sweaty clothes.And another good thing is that we don't have to wait for resort codes or wonder when we'll return to Disney.
We are sooooo blessed to have the DVC.
2) I liked going in September. The crowds were very manageable even in the prime times 11-3pm and if you were able to get to a park on opening, you really could do practically the entire park from 8-1pm.
The weather was anywhere from warm to hot so on those HOT days you just had to be smart and go early and leave right after lunch.
3) We took naps or rested almost every day -- since my 2 yr old needed it, but both DH and I did too. Whether we were swimming in the pool or sleeping in the middle of the afternoon, it was a well-deserved rest.
4) I would recommend the DDP IF you plan to eat at a sit-down meal every day. The 2008 package is not as good as last years (no appetizer and you have to pay tip) but it'll still save you money instead of paying for the same thing OOP; it eliminates the need to look at prices on the menu; and encourages you to try new restaurants.
Of course this was a better deal for us since my DD was only 2; therefore she ate for free and could share our food.
5) We bought too much snack and drinks from Wal-mart. We decided to eat breakfast nearly every day in the room but still we ended up with cereal, waffles, milk, oj and muffins we had to throw out. Also, we really didn't need a lot of snacks since the DDP provided a dessert at both lunch and dinner.
6) We planned a lot more sit-down dinners than we did lunches or breakfasts (since dinners cost more and we'd get more value out of the DDP -- besides just enjoying what they offered for dinner more). However, that tied up our evenings since we tried to get back to the room for 9pm bedtime. So by the time we finished our dinner it was usually 7:30-8pm and I felt like we never really enjoyed the parks that much at night.
7) Staying a week at Disney is not long enough! I always want to stay longer!
When we stay 7-10 days, I try to plan a few "non-parks" days -- usually the day we check in and one or two in between, plus check-out day. This trip we also went to Sea World so I didn't feel like we spent a lot of time in the Disney parks (i.e., never got to DHS (MGM), AK only one day).
Also, I should have traded off a part of a day with DH on watching DD to give myself time alone in the parks to shop or go on rides. Having a young child means you can't just browse in the shops as long as you want because you are worried child will break something, child wants to leave or stay only in the toy section.
8) Since we stayed at BCV, we should have taken two days to sleep in (or as much as DD allowed) and taken advantage of the International Gateway entrance at Epcot, walking in around 11am when the World Showcase section opens. The countries would be rather empty since most of the people would still be over in the Future World yet.
9) Once again, I am glad we get a rental car. I really like the convenience of driving and not waiting for a bus/boat. Maybe if we were at Poly or Contemp and had easy access to the monorail, I'd change my mind, but when the lines for a boat or bus were long, I loved breezing by them and out of the parking lot to our room.
10) A stroller is a wonderful item to have! Even if DD was not using it, I loved being able to put our water, sunglasses, wipes, snacks, sunscreen, jacket, etc in the stroller. A few times we just parked the stroller in a convenient area and then did the rides and came back for it later.
However, when it got crowded, the stroller was a handicap because it could become difficult to move around with so many people.
11) I really liked doing the PhotoPass. Unfortunately we had difficulty with getting our photos in a timely manner, but I would definitely do the CD again. I liked not having to always lug out a camera, or at least knowing I had a back-up in case my DH's snazzy camera failed. And this is the first trip since 1992 where we had LOTS of photos of all of us together!
I'm sure there is lots more, but I'll stop now so we can get to the photos!!
