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

[hsmamainva]

My friend and I are staying at a value resort (probably AofA). I want us to experience the monorail, though, so I devised a plan...

On one of our two MK days, we will hit RD, have a later lunch around one, then mosey on out the park. Then, we'll go to the monorail and ride it! It'll be our own afternoon break - air conditioning and pretty spectacular views. We'll get off at the Contemporary and the Polynesian (maybe the Grand Floridian) and explore the resort. Then, at the Polynesian, we'll take the water taxi back to Magic Kingdom to finish off the day with more park fun.

You'll ride the monorail, even if you're staying in a value or off-site.

That's one of the surprises I experienced during our first trip! You park your car (or get dropped off by the resort bus) at the TTC. From there, you take a monorail to either Epcot or Magic Kingdom, depending on your park of the day.

I figured you got to the parking lot and there was the park entrance. Nope. Not at all!

 

[BearcatsFan]

It has been almost 3 years since our last trip and we are going in May this year...and as of Sunday, we're planning for July 2014 as well!!! Thank goodness DH is as addicted as I am!!!

Hopefully our friends are going with us this time - another couple who has never been to WDW, but love DLR! I think we have finally convinced them!! We have been going to DLR together for a few years (they are AP holders as well), so this is so exciting for us!

I am a teacher and so is one of our friends, so we are pretty limited to when we can go, which is why we're looking at July. I'll be honest though, the heat and crowds are kind of scaring me!!

We don't know the exact dates yet, but it will probably be somewhere around the third week of July.

I have questions, many many questions... (Sorry!):

1) How bad will the heat really be? (We went the third week of June in 2010 and the highs were between 95 and 99 every single day. So will this probably be about the same?)

2) How bad will the crowds be? Much worse than mid June? (Keeping in mind that crowds don't really scare us so much being DLR regulars - DLR tends to feel much more crowded than WDW because of its size. Last time when we went in June we heard people complaining about the crowds and were genuinely confused - it seemed fine to us!)

3) What week should we go in July? We are actually pretty open. I'm assuming 4th of July week is a bad plan.

4) Since we have two couples going, what would you recommend for resort accommodations? We have only stayed in POR. Should we just get next door rooms somewhere? I looked at AoA suites but there's only one real bed! Deluxe is not an option- can't afford that!

5) I've been considering the Swan or Dolphin since I would love the proximity to Epcot and both couples have a teacher so we could get the discount...but I'm thinking they should probably stay in a true Disney resort their first time?

6) Any other July tips?

Words cannot express how excited I am to be planning a 2014 trip when we haven't gone on our 2013 trip yet!!!! After 3 years of waiting for this trip, it's like a dream come true!!!

Ack, this got way too long. Many thanks to whoever reads this and can help me out!

to our group! Glad you decided to join us!

I can't help you in any way with July info - I've never been that time of year. As far as accommodations go, I say go with whatever appeals to you the most. Just remember, you can request connecting/adjoining rooms, but they are not guaranteed. If you want to make that request, make it your ONLY request to give you a better chance of getting it.

I'll put you on the July list - post when you get your dates and resort figured out and I'll update then.

 

[mamabear0222]

You'll ride the monorail, even if you're staying in a value or off-site.

That's one of the surprises I experienced during our first trip! You park your car (or get dropped off by the resort bus) at the TTC. From there, you take a monorail to either Epcot or Magic Kingdom, depending on your park of the day.

I figured you got to the parking lot and there was the park entrance. Nope. Not at all!

How do u get to HS?? Monorail too?

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[hsmamainva]

How do u get to HS?? Monorail too?

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No...if you have a car, you drive to HS. Same with AK. Same with Downtown Disney. Or you take a resort bus if you're staying on-site. For those parks, you do walk from the parking lot to the park entrance.

The monorail only goes to Magic Kingdom & Epcot.

 

[BearcatsFan]

Has anyone stayed at WBC? I know there's a huge thread over on the Orlando Board, but I didn't want to wade through all that information, KWIM?

I'm considering going through VU instead of directly through the hotel site, but I'm a little afraid - we've never done anything like that before.

I'm so torn - I'm heavily considering WBC for 2014, but only at the price I can get by going through VU, not at the price from booking direct. I'm still considering SVR and SVV as well. I'm absolutely torn.

Any info/advice appreciated!

 

[hsmamainva]

Has anyone stayed at WBC? I know there's a huge thread over on the Orlando Board, but I didn't want to wade through all that information, KWIM?

I'm considering going through VU instead of directly through the hotel site, but I'm a little afraid - we've never done anything like that before.

I'm so torn - I'm heavily considering WBC for 2014, but only at the price I can get by going through VU, not at the price from booking direct. I'm still considering SVR and SVV as well. I'm absolutely torn.

Any info/advice appreciated!

Never stayed there. I would see if there's a difference between the WBC and the Bonnet Creek timeshare section. I know the regular BC is a timeshare and that means that you'll be hit up for a timeshare group session as soon as you register.

We stayed at Orange Lake for our first Disney visit (my BIL has a timeshare) and, yep, they hit us up as soon as we went for our parking pass and then it was high pressure all the way. We turned them down repeatedly...only to have them CALL US the next morning at 7:30am!

Boy were we mad! So we looked into BC, because it has a lazy river, which Windsor Hills doesn't have, but the moment we heard "timeshare", we ran in the other direction.

Now, WBC, because it's owned by a hotel chain may be different -- but those rooms aren't the "cheap ones". I believe they run around $275 a night for a suite. The ones that rent for $700 a week are the timeshare ones.

 

[angelmichelle]

You'll ride the monorail, even if you're staying in a value or off-site.

That's one of the surprises I experienced during our first trip! You park your car (or get dropped off by the resort bus) at the TTC. From there, you take a monorail to either Epcot or Magic Kingdom, depending on your park of the day.

I figured you got to the parking lot and there was the park entrance. Nope. Not at all!

...Really? I'm sort of disappointed now, haha. I had this grand plan. We can still go look at resorts, though.

 

[lovingeire]

...Really? I'm sort of disappointed now, haha. I had this grand plan. We can still go look at resorts, though.

Are you staying on site or off? Memory leads me to believe you said AoA. In which case your plan will help you ride the monorail because from AoA you take buses to each park, not to TTC so you only ride the monorail if you made an effort unless you're driving to the parks each day. We stayed at AoA in Dec and this was the case for us. HTH.

 

[angelmichelle]

Are you staying on site or off? Memory leads me to believe you said AoA. In which case your plan will help you ride the monorail because from AoA you take buses to each park, not to TTC so you only ride the monorail if you made an effort unless you're driving to the parks each day. HTH.

That's what I thought...
I thought only monorail resorts use the monorail to get to MK/Epcot.
We'll be staying at AoA, and I thought buses took you straight to the park.

 

[lovingeire]

That's what I thought...
I thought only monorail resorts use the monorail to get to MK/Epcot.
We'll be staying at AoA, and I thought buses took you straight to the park.

They do! We took the bus to Magic Kingdom one morning, walked to Contemporary for breakfast at chef Mickeys then road the monorail back to MK for our day in the parks. The only reason we ever ended up at TTC was because the monorail broke down and we had to go there to get a bus to Epcot (we were at MK). But I can confirm that you take a bus to MK and EP, as well as the rest of the parks from AoA so you could catch the monorail from either MK or EP.

 

[angelmichelle]

They do! We took the bus to Magic Kingdom one morning, walked to Contemporary for breakfast at chef Mickeys then road the monorail back to MK for our day in the parks. The only reason we ever ended up at TTC was because the monorail broke down and we had to go there to get a bus to Epcot (we were at MK). But I can confirm that you take a bus to MK and EP, as well as the rest of the parks from AoA so you could catch the monorail from either MK or EP.

Yay my magical midday break is a go! Thanks!

Does anyone have a particular favorite deluxe resort? We'll want to explore one or two of them...

 

[mamabear0222]

So you'll all be happy to know I'm 99% sure we are sticking with our original dates. Spoke to the hubby and we'll make the best of it. we won't be in the park all 14 days anyways and I can't imagine every place we go outside if orlando will be unbareable. (I hope) we are likely getting a 5 or 7 day pass. The first week we will do a few parks spread out and week 2 we may go back on the lower projected days just for 2 days. We will avoid the weekend. I will save one last day for MK for the day before we fly home. That's the plan anyways. Feb 22-Mar 8 2014 here we come!!

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[disneycat321]

to our group! Glad you decided to join us!

I can't help you in any way with July info - I've never been that time of year. As far as accommodations go, I say go with whatever appeals to you the most. Just remember, you can request connecting/adjoining rooms, but they are not guaranteed. If you want to make that request, make it your ONLY request to give you a better chance of getting it.

I'll put you on the July list - post when you get your dates and resort figured out and I'll update then.

Thanks!! And I will be sure to do that!

 

[BearcatsFan]

Never stayed there. I would see if there's a difference between the WBC and the Bonnet Creek timeshare section. I know the regular BC is a timeshare and that means that you'll be hit up for a timeshare group session as soon as you register.

We stayed at Orange Lake for our first Disney visit (my BIL has a timeshare) and, yep, they hit us up as soon as we went for our parking pass and then it was high pressure all the way. We turned them down repeatedly...only to have them CALL US the next morning at 7:30am!

Boy were we mad! So we looked into BC, because it has a lazy river, which Windsor Hills doesn't have, but the moment we heard "timeshare", we ran in the other direction.

Now, WBC, because it's owned by a hotel chain may be different -- but those rooms aren't the "cheap ones". I believe they run around $275 a night for a suite. The ones that rent for $700 a week are the timeshare ones.

Thank you for your honest opinion and advice - I appreciate it! I know that at SVR they'll hit us up for a timeshare presentation, also (our friends got hounded there). I'm wondering if that's standard for the majority of these places.

 

[mamabear0222]

Can I ask...I thought I read one of this group has used 5mins2disney at WH??

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[hsmamainva]

Can I ask...I thought I read one of this group has used 5mins2disney at WH??

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We're staying in Windsor Hills, but not at 5mins2disney -- we're at Storytime Orlando.

As for which resorts we are looking at when we visit Disney in May:

Art of Animation (my daughters LOVE this resort! It's less expensive to stay in the Little Mermaid section than in the Finding Nemo suites...but the Nemo suites are right there by the food court and the bus station...decisions, decisions).

Port Orleans Riverside (hubby's big college reunion is in April 2015 in St. Augustine so he wants a split stay -- 4 nights in Disney & 4 nights in St. Augustine and the POR is the *only* resort he's researched online that he likes)

And my top two deluxe resorts -- Beach Club & Polynesian -- don't want to pay the $$$ required to stay there, but...hey, doesn't cost anything to walk through them. Maybe we'll win the lottery.

I'll have to post a "mini-resort review" when we get back and let everyone know what we find out!

 

[middlesista]

I love the Poly!!!

But I priced a package the other day and for 2 adults (me and oldest dd) and 2 children (14yo and 12yo)...a garden view room at the Poly (the cheapest room they have)...round trip flights from Virginia...8 day park tickets (no hoppers or waterparks)...no dining plan -- and it was $6,000!!!! And THAT was with the 20% off Spring discount!!

By the time you add in our dining expenses and spending money, it could end up costing $8,000 - $9,000! I can't pay that to stay on-site. Not when our entire family can go to Disney and stay off-site at Windsor Hills for less than $5,000.

The Poly is so pretty!! Too bad I can't justify the expense.

I so agree hsmamainva. My husband aches every time we are anywhere near the POLY he wants to stay there so badly but I can not see spending so much $$ and he does agree. We have not even returned to enjoy a meal at the Poly although the reviews on OHANA have been tempting. For our next trip my daughter and I are for sure going to OHANA and the Lilio and Stich Bkst - granddaughter loves them. Husband will have to get over it

 

[tmrose03]

Hubster just green lighted a 2014 trip!! We love the fall season, so thinking November. We are taking a Disney cruise that Jan. maybe book a cruise and add a couple days at Disney to the end of our cruise. So excited!!

 

[BearcatsFan]

We're staying in Windsor Hills, but not at 5mins2disney -- we're at Storytime Orlando.

As for which resorts we are looking at when we visit Disney in May:

Art of Animation (my daughters LOVE this resort! It's less expensive to stay in the Little Mermaid section than in the Finding Nemo suites...but the Nemo suites are right there by the food court and the bus station...decisions, decisions).

Port Orleans Riverside (hubby's big college reunion is in April 2015 in St. Augustine so he wants a split stay -- 4 nights in Disney & 4 nights in St. Augustine and the POR is the *only* resort he's researched online that he likes)

And my top two deluxe resorts -- Beach Club & Polynesian -- don't want to pay the $$$ required to stay there, but...hey, doesn't cost anything to walk through them. Maybe we'll win the lottery.

I'll have to post a "mini-resort review" when we get back and let everyone know what we find out!

Definitely do!

 

[BearcatsFan]

Hubster just green lighted a 2014 trip!! We love the fall season, so thinking November. We are taking a Disney cruise that Jan. maybe book a cruise and add a couple days at Disney to the end of our cruise. So excited!!

to our group! Glad you decided to join in!

My trip is also planned for November - it does seem like a great time of year to go. Once you get the details figured out, make sure you post your dates and what resort you have chosen and I'll get you added to the list!

Meanwhile, jump on in to the conversation!