~*~The OFFICIAL 2014 Dates Thread - Come Join Us!~*~

[BDL]

Glad I could help!

The thing to remember with the "free" dining plan is that it isn't really free - you pay full rack rate prices for the room to get that promo. Then you have to do the really complicated Disney math (how much the dining plan you're getting costs vs how much you could save on a room discount vs how much you'd really be eating) to see if you really save by going with that discount.

Saving money on the dining plan is something that's hotly contested around here, so I'll keep my advice simple and friendly. Look over the menus, see what you would likely eat. Remember, Disney portions are HUGE. Do you sometimes like to get an appetizer instead of an entree? Not an option on the dining plan at TS restaurants. There's a lot to consider before jumping into a dining plan that may or may not work financially for your family.

If it's the convenience factor of it all that appeals to you, here's an idea for you. Check out the menus. Figure out what you'd likely eat every day, keeping in mind the portion sizes. Take the money and buy Disney gift cards with it, then use those to pay for your meals. Alternately, if you want to just have one thing to keep track of instead of juggling a bunch of gift cards, you can set it up at the front desk to charge to your KTTW card (or MagicBand, whatever they're using now), then pay that balance before you leave with the gift cards you purchased. This way you have the ease of the dining plan (not having to whip out cash every time you buy something and cringing every time you do so) without trying to max out the value of it by ordering things you really don't want in order to justify what you paid for it and get your full money's worth.

Bearcat is right.

Like I said before in 1 of my posts. It's all about the math. Granted, that was OOP vs DxDP, but it still holds true. But it can be used as well, for Room Discount vs. DDP. But also remember there are different degrees of dining. There's the QS, DDP, DxDP and then you have the high end dining plans which seem kind of lofty to me. If you prefer the food of counter service over sit-down, or just like the flexibility of eating when you want, the QS is for you. If you like mix and match, than DDP. If you and your family are big eaters AND might use dinner/show combos or do signature dining, then DxDP is for you (also appetizers are included in DxDP vs DDP). NOTE: Resort mugs are included in all.

But, like I said, all comes down to math. If you plan on doing your lunches/dinners as counter service, and breakfasts will be your sit downs. Then you may want QS and pay for the breakfasts OOP. However, if you just grab a snack or pastry in the morning, and prefer your sitdown for dinner, depending on the restaurants, DDP or DxDP may be preferrable.

 

[jimjenkids]

I've heard the line for the QS BOG is horrible! People lining up early in the morning, waiting for hours, etc. I hope you're able to get an ADR ... or that it's popularity has waned some by then!


We did QS for BOG-during xmas, and the line was scarrrrry(11:00)....I honestly thought we would be in line forever. it was all the way out to the stroller parking for STWB....To our surprise, we were in quickly! I think that we were in line for maybe 15 min,. It is well worth the wait! we went twice(once at 11:00 and the other time @12:30) on our vacation and are already planning on there again for the next trip. May even try to get resi for supper. by far, my Fav!

 

[Holly324]

Just joined the boards! DBF and I are planning an early February 2014 trip at POR and I cannot be more excited!! Our last trip was Mar '12, and before that was Dec/Jan '09/10. Needless to say, I'm happy to be going at a more relaxing time of year! Looking forward to reading these boards as I plan

Welcome!! You will LOVE these boards as you plan. They were a lifesaver for us on our last trip, and I am sure they will be again. Have fun!!

Glad you decided to jump on over and join us! I'll get you added to the list - update me on the resort when you decide.

Will do! We have been planning on staying onsite, but now we are looking into off site. We will see!

ONE YEAR MARK!!!!!!!!!! Oh Happy Day!!!!

Only 365 days to go!!

Woooooooohooooooooooo!!!!!!!


This board is going to be so much fun, I can see already. Looks like there are a couple people that will be there the same time we will. How fun!! We just found out that we might be able to stay off property for substantially cheaper than staying on site. We are currently making pro/con lists to decide which would be better. And this over a year and a half out...... You all understand my craziness, right?

 

[hsmamainva]

I've heard the line for the QS BOG is horrible! People lining up early in the morning, waiting for hours, etc. I hope you're able to get an ADR ... or that it's popularity has waned some by then!


We did QS for BOG-during xmas, and the line was scarrrrry(11:00)....I honestly thought we would be in line forever. it was all the way out to the stroller parking for STWB....To our surprise, we were in quickly! I think that we were in line for maybe 15 min,. It is well worth the wait! we went twice(once at 11:00 and the other time @12:30) on our vacation and are already planning on there again for the next trip. May even try to get resi for supper. by far, my Fav!

There's a thread on the Theme Board main site about BOG QS for lunch and, apparently, it's not that long of a wait. Look for the thread titled, "Enchanted Tales / Be Our Guest".

Most folks said that, even though the line looks horrific, it moves quickly, especially if you're not going at very crowded time. Most are waiting an average of 15-20 minutes to get a seat. That's not too bad!

We are following one poster's suggestion and asking the CM how long of a wait to expect. If we hear 30 minutes or less, we're going to do it.

I tried to get dinner reservations on our MK night for this year's visit (May 13th) and they're sold out. Also tried on our "off-day" (May 15th) and they were sold out that night, too. But I'm hearing also that lunch is better than dinner so we're just going to try and get in and cross our fingers!

 

[tlkscott]

We are planning a trip for Jan. 31-Feb. 9. We are looking at staying at Coronado Springs. My husband would really like to stay at AKL. I'm just not sure that I want to drop that kind of money. We are major foodies so we will be doing the deluxe dining plan. I have crunched numbers and we will come out somewhat ahead even if we have to pay full price for the dining plan based on 2013 numbers. Our dates are a little flexible so we are really hoping for free dining and just have to pay for an upgrade. We took our son for on a one day trip to MK last year and stayed at the POP. My husband did NOT like the POP he thinks that the decor is over the top. Our son will be 5 at the time of the trip. Right now our plans are for character meals every morning for breakfast. We are planning on ADR in the parks before open for breakfast every morning. We will be doing a park every other day. Breakfast character meals on non park days will be much latter and then we will be doing shows later in the evening for dinner. I am going to be booking a room only next month and then will change that when rates come out for next year. I need/want to start paying ASAP. I know that plans will change but I already have have tables made with parks and ADR's that we want made for them. Of course this will change as crowd levels/rates and so on become available.

Is it 2014 yet?

 

[mamabear0222]

Im part of the 2014 club too, Im just so undecided what weeks to book!
I really wanted mid-Feb to celebrate my kids birthdays there, but then someone alerted me to the fact this *may* be spring break?!?!?!
Does anyone know if I can verify this info?
Thanks!

 

[BearcatsFan]

Im part of the 2014 club too, Im just so undecided what weeks to book!
I really wanted mid-Feb to celebrate my kids birthdays there, but then someone alerted me to the fact this *may* be spring break?!?!?!
Does anyone know if I can verify this info?
Thanks!

to the group!

AFAIK, Spring Break isn't until end of March, beginning of April. February you should be okay, just don't book around President's Day because it can get busy the weekend before and the week of.

HTH Once you get the details figured out, post them and I'll add you to the list.

 

[BearcatsFan]

We are planning a trip for Jan. 31-Feb. 9. We are looking at staying at Coronado Springs. My husband would really like to stay at AKL. I'm just not sure that I want to drop that kind of money. We are major foodies so we will be doing the deluxe dining plan. I have crunched numbers and we will come out somewhat ahead even if we have to pay full price for the dining plan based on 2013 numbers. Our dates are a little flexible so we are really hoping for free dining and just have to pay for an upgrade. We took our son for on a one day trip to MK last year and stayed at the POP. My husband did NOT like the POP he thinks that the decor is over the top. Our son will be 5 at the time of the trip. Right now our plans are for character meals every morning for breakfast. We are planning on ADR in the parks before open for breakfast every morning. We will be doing a park every other day. Breakfast character meals on non park days will be much latter and then we will be doing shows later in the evening for dinner. I am going to be booking a room only next month and then will change that when rates come out for next year. I need/want to start paying ASAP. I know that plans will change but I already have have tables made with parks and ADR's that we want made for them. Of course this will change as crowd levels/rates and so on become available.

Is it 2014 yet?

to the group! You sound like me on our last trip - I had stuff figured out so far in advance!

I'll put you on the list as CSR, but if it changes just post and I'll update.

 

[BDL]

Im part of the 2014 club too, Im just so undecided what weeks to book!
I really wanted mid-Feb to celebrate my kids birthdays there, but then someone alerted me to the fact this *may* be spring break?!?!?!
Does anyone know if I can verify this info?
Thanks!

In the northeast (at least) 1 of the middle 2 weeks, in Feb are usually the public schools' Feb vacation

 

[BearcatsFan]

In the northeast (at least) 1 of the middle 2 weeks, in Feb are usually the public schools' Feb vacation

I was unaware of this! So sorry if I passed on bad information - thank you for correcting me.

Learn something new every day!

 

[uagirl]

Sounds like you have the exact same time frame as me! We're going the 15th - 22nd for those reasons. Look forward to see what dates you decide on. Any resorts in mind?

I'll eventually be starting an individual thread for us November people, but I'm going to wait until it gets a lot closer so we can have plenty of people to keep it going.

s

We are thinking Nov 8-16, but that isn't set in stone yet. My mom works in retail management, so that may be the latest week we can go due to the holidays.

DH, mom and step-dad are hoping to stay Poly CL again. I wouldn't mind going back to the WL, but the Poly monorail access is hard to beat when travelling with a small child.

 

[mamabear0222]

Is President's *day* actually a super busy *week* at Disney?
I was planning on Feb 16-March 1 but we'd be likely going to the MK the week of Feb 16th at some point ... and again the following week of course.
I would like to celebrate our kids birthdays at WDW....

 

[mamabear0222]

to the group!

AFAIK, Spring Break isn't until end of March, beginning of April. February you should be okay, just don't book around President's Day because it can get busy the weekend before and the week of.

HTH Once you get the details figured out, post them and I'll add you to the list.

Thank you for the warm welcome! Of course our kids birthdays are the week of President's week. We will be there for 2 weeks though (in Florida) so Im thinking we might just go anyways and suck it up ...

 

[mamabear0222]

Im so glad for research.
Now my DH thinks we should go either Feb 1-15 or Feb 22-March 8


any advise? does it even matter?

 

[hsmamainva]

Im so glad for research.
Now my DH thinks we should go either Feb 1-15 or Feb 22-March 8


any advise? does it even matter?

I would lean toward the Feb 1-15 dates.

Many colleges (including my oldest daughter's) have spring break the first week of March (this year it's March 2nd - 10th). We went last year during her spring break week and it was VERY crowded. Much more so than we were anticipating and other posters on the disboards were surprised by it, too. I think we ended up encountering crowds of "9" during 2 of our park visits.

I don't see any holidays during your February dates. President's Day weekend should be busy, but that's the 15th-16th-17th and you'll be heading out by then.

 

[mamabear0222]

I would lean toward the Feb 1-15 dates.

Many colleges (including my oldest daughter's) have spring break the first week of March (this year it's March 2nd - 10th). We went last year during her spring break week and it was VERY crowded. Much more so than we were anticipating and other posters on the disboards were surprised by it, too. I think we ended up encountering crowds of "9" during 2 of our park visits.

I don't see any holidays during your February dates. President's Day weekend should be busy, but that's the 15th-16th-17th and you'll be heading out by then.

Thank you for your input. People have told me to rule out the whole week for President's week ... Im pretty sure we're leaning towards Feb 22-March 9 now. It'll run into our spring break and our kids can come home, be off the week and go back to school. That and Im told the first 2 weeks of Feb a lot of things can be closed for refurbishment. We have small children, so Im not concerned if there's long waits for the older kids for spring break. Chances are they wont be on Dumbo, Monster's Inc laugh floor, etc (I hope! lol)

Also, we'll be going to the parks moreso during the first week and relaxing the 2nd week we're there and doing daytrips elsewhere. We might save one or 2 days of our MYW pass for the last week but we will go moreso the first week ... after all, I cant be in Orlando and hold off on going to see Mickey, my kids would kill me LOL I appreciate any and all advice given ...

 

[hsmamainva]

Thank you for your input. People have told me to rule out the whole week for President's week ... Im pretty sure we're leaning towards Feb 22-March 9 now. It'll run into our spring break and our kids can come home, be off the week and go back to school. That and Im told the first 2 weeks of Feb a lot of things can be closed for refurbishment. We have small children, so Im not concerned if there's long waits for the older kids for spring break. Chances are they wont be on Dumbo, Monster's Inc laugh floor, etc (I hope! lol)

Also, we'll be going to the parks moreso during the first week and relaxing the 2nd week we're there and doing daytrips elsewhere. We might save one or 2 days of our MYW pass for the last week but we will go moreso the first week ... after all, I cant be in Orlando and hold off on going to see Mickey, my kids would kill me LOL I appreciate any and all advice given ...

That's true about the ride closures! Everything was pretty much open by the end of February, beginning of March. The only exception was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (but that was due to a major refurbishment). And it was only MK that was really crowded those two days we visited the park. The other parks weren't bad...especially Epcot. It was practically deserted.

 

[mamabear0222]

That's true about the ride closures! Everything was pretty much open by the end of February, beginning of March. The only exception was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (but that was due to a major refurbishment). And it was only MK that was really crowded those two days we visited the park. The other parks weren't bad...especially Epcot. It was practically deserted.

Thank you!! I see you've been to Windsor Hills which is where we're thinking of staying ... I didnt want to be rude and PM you without asking .. Can you give me your thoughts on the resort please? It looks nice and we want to stay offsite... thanks again!

 

[hsmamainva]

Thank you!! I see you've been to Windsor Hills which is where we're thinking of staying ... I didnt want to be rude and PM you without asking .. Can you give me your thoughts on the resort please? It looks nice and we want to stay offsite... thanks again!

I love Windsor Hills!!!!

The resort is gorgeous. Large pool with slide, game room, etc.

We always rent from the same folks - Storytime Orlando. The rates are great! We've stayed with them before so they discounted the normal $105 per night rate to somewhere in the $90-range for our upcoming May stay. If you stay for at least 7 nights, they throw in the cleaning fee for free (fewer than 7 nights and it's $80). If you go off-season you can have the small splash pool on the screen-in patio heated for around $10 a day. If you don't use it (say it's really warm that week) you're refunded the pool heat deposit.

We have a 3 bedroom townhouse with a full kitchen and the Disney decorated room upstairs is just beautiful!

Here's a website for Storytime Orlando:

http://storytimeorlandorental.com/

Btw...it's been an interesting morning in our house today! My oldest was all excited about staying on-site next August (we've never done that before) and going with the Finding Nemo suite at the AOA resort. Today, she came to me and pointed out that, for less money, we could stay at Windsor Hills again and take our 13 year old son's best friend. They've known each other since they were 6 years old and his family doesn't have a lot of money and could never afford to take him to Disney...so she now wants to stay off-site at Windsor Hills again and take him with us.

So our location may change to Windsor Hills for the 3rd year in a row -- we'll see!

 

[mamabear0222]

thank you for the input! I will look into this!!
how was the weather for you last year btw??