*The OFFICIAL February 2012 Thread!*

[pilotwife_02]

So I'm up early to make my dining ressies in a few, will let you know how I do!

Hope you got what you wanted!

 

[BethR9]

Is there a good place at Disney to watch the Super Bowl?

 

[pilotwife_02]

ESPN Club at Boardwalk

 

[clintswifeymomof4]

This will be great for getting pictures of the family in front of the castle without a crowd. We went 2 years ago and did Crystal Palace at 8:15 and we have pictures of us on Main street without a single other person in the background. Those are some of my favorites.

Your schedule looks good to me! Enjoy.

Thanks! I originally planned for dinner at CRT for that day and reserved the bfast as well... the more I thought about it and discussed it with my husband- the more I knew I wanted to do the bfast ressie instead.

This is our kids first trip to Disney, 4 girls and 1 boy, ages 9, 9, 6, 3, and 1. To my kids- "Disney World" is the MK... the Castle is the main iconic symbol to them... I can just imagine walking into the park early on Main Street and not having anyone around, and just watching their faces light up when they see the castle and get to go in like little guests of honor. Brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it. Priceless moment and I can't wait and I know they can't either!

PS- I cancelled the other reservation that same day to open it up for another family. I'm not one for hoarding reservations until the last minute... lol

 

[MMrules]

I have been trying to price airfare from NE for 2/18 and the prices are ridiculous !!! We usually fly southwest out of Manchester, NH. There are no online special tickets and the only ones available are the business ones for about $400 each. It is going to cost us about $2000 in air. I have tried other airports and they are even more. Does this always happen???I mean I looked at air around Thanksgiving and Christmas and they have all price categories and are cheaper. Why would Feb. cost more than the holidays???? It isn't like everyone has school vacation in Feb on the same day??? Do airlines hold tickets when they first go on sale to try to sell more expensive ones?

Thanks fellow Dis'ers!

 

[Mumph39]

We always travel somewhere President's week. The airlines know our kids are off from school and they always raise their prices. We now leave on the Thursday before to get at least one way a bit cheaper. It's crazy, but they know that they have you. My advice is to book now. The prices will only go up from here. Friends of ours once drove to Philadelphia from Long Island just to get a cheaper fare. Good luck!

 

[TwoIfBySea]

Why would Feb. cost more than the holidays???? It isn't like everyone has school vacation in Feb on the same day???

Pretty much all the schools in New England DO have school vacation in Feb on the same day. Flights from elsewhere in the country are perhaps lower, but all the public schools in Mass., NH, etc., take Presidents' Week off.

Just looked at JetBlue. Saturday takeoffs are running $500 roundtrip from Boston, but Thursday (2/16) to Thursday is only about $300 (this is pre-tax prices, i.e. what they advertise before you price the full ticket).

But Christmas prices are no better (about $500 rt from Sat. 12/24 for a week, but much less if you can leave Thursday instead), and April vacation week is only slightly better. It isn't just February break.

 

[LBL26]

I booked our flights on 7/27. I bought 2 tickets for $248 each, and then went back on the Jet Blue site and booked 4 more tickets (within 5 minutes) and they had increased to $265 each round trip! At last check, the same flights were $288. I was surprised to see the fare go up within minutes (and it is not even School Vacation Week)

 

[clintswifeymomof4]

And for this reason alone I am so happy that we are within driving distance from WDW... about 8 hours I think.

IF we had to fly- we wouldn't be able to afford it with our large family.

 

[macbitt]

In my experience you won't see lower cost flights until you're closer to your dates. I'm monitoring lower than normal flights to Orlando for myself and the furthest into the future any discounts have been is December. A month ago no deals any later than the week before Thanksgiving. That tells me I have two more months to wait until February comes into play. This isn't a hard and fast rule, but more times than not 90 to 120 days out is when you'll find the best deals.

Also note who the lowest cost carrier is at your airport, even if you don't fly with them. They often put up the lower prices (for a brief time) that force the big boys to come down as well. My low cost carrier (AirTran) doesn't even post schedules until 6 months out.

To get alerts for unusually low fares from Point A to Point B check out Airfarewatchdog. They will (for free) email you an alert when they see a lower than normal price, but you need to pay attention to the details as it often includes limited dates.

 

[MMrules]

In my experience you won't see lower cost flights until you're closer to your dates. I'm monitoring lower than normal flights to Orlando for myself and the furthest into the future any discounts have been is December. A month ago no deals any later than the week before Thanksgiving. That tells me I have two more months to wait until February comes into play. This isn't a hard and fast rule, but more times than not 90 to 120 days out is when you'll find the best deals.

Also note who the lowest cost carrier is at your airport, even if you don't fly with them. They often put up the lower prices (for a brief time) that force the big boys to come down as well. My low cost carrier (AirTran) doesn't even post schedules until 6 months out.

To get alerts for unusually low fares from Point A to Point B check out Airfarewatchdog. They will (for free) email you an alert when they see a lower than normal price, but you need to pay attention to the details as it often includes limited dates.

Thanks for the info!! I will check out the watchdog site. My DH says that they will come down in price as the flights just came out not too long ago. However, the planner in me, tends to worry about these things.

I did try pricing to go down the Thurs/Friday before but the money we would save on flights will then be spent towards hotel which doesn't make any sense (and my son will miss some school). We have DVC so we aren't paying for the room and have AP. So I really don't want to pay extra for a room just b/c of the flight. So I will have to play the wait and see game....

 

[zetachi]

Thanks for the info!! I will check out the watchdog site. My DH says that they will come down in price as the flights just came out not too long ago. However, the planner in me, tends to worry about these things.

I did try pricing to go down the Thurs/Friday before but the money we would save on flights will then be spent towards hotel which doesn't make any sense (and my son will miss some school). We have DVC so we aren't paying for the room and have AP. So I really don't want to pay extra for a room just b/c of the flight. So I will have to play the wait and see game....

You can also try yapta.com. enter the flights you want to watch or have booked and they will email you if the price drops and how to get a credit/refund from the airline.

 

[Figmificent]

Hope you got what you wanted!

I did, all but one is at a good time, since we are traveling with our BFFs DD1.5 I'm gonna keep trying to make it a bit earlier

 

[tinkerbell1984]

I'm new to posting, I've lurked as a guest for quite sometime though. We booked Feb 4-11 under the old free dining dates, but from what I'm reading they aren't going to take back the discount so we should be fine.

We have ADR for the 8th at CP 8:30 breakfast, hoping for that castle picture before the park opens.

I was wondering though, especially now that they moved back the free dining to the 2nd, if anyone knows of anything going on the 5-11. Disney doesn't seem to want the promotion used that week nor need the extra business, and the reason we are going in February is because I heard it was the slowest time to go, so I'd like to know if anything big is going on that week that's going to make it busy???

 

[BethR9]

It's official for us now also. We're going back February 11-16!!! We wanted February 4-9 but then Disney changed the dates on us so one week later it is. No big deal, I just think Feb 11-16 will be a tad busier (at least according to the park #s). It's the same time we went last year and it wasn't that bad at all.

The only thing I know going on for Feb 5 is a cheer competition that weekend.

 

[tinkerbell1984]

The only thing I know going on for Feb 5 is a cheer competition that weekend.

Oh wow. I wonder if that will affect the whole week or do they usually compete and then go on their way? We are staying at the Sports also, which may cause this to affect us more.

I wonder which will be less busy then, that weekend or the Friday/Saturday before Presidents Day? I just don't want to deal with crowds with two young kids who aren't going to want to wait all day in lines.

updated: it actually looks like the dance competitions will be going on the 4-5 and cheerleading the 11-12, so either way, we'd get in the middle of something. I'd def like to know how long these girls are running around and if this affects park crowds.

 

[BethR9]

I'm pretty sure it won't affect park levels at all. It will however, probably effect the hotels. I believe they stay at the All Stars and also CBR. We went last year when one was going on and besides just recognizing them in the parks (same shirts, girly girls, etc), it wasn't that big of a deal. But we didn't stay at the same hotel as them so not sure how they are there. I have read they can get loud at night or just loud in general at the hotels but not sure how true that is. I'm sure they could but not all the time and may not even be near you.

I would say Pres Week will be much busier than a few cheerleaders. I wouldn't be changing my dates from cheerleaders to pres week...

How old are your kids?

 

[tinkerbell1984]

I'm pretty sure it won't affect park levels at all. It will however, probably effect the hotels. I believe they stay at the All Stars and also CBR. We went last year when one was going on and besides just recognizing them in the parks (same shirts, girly girls, etc), it wasn't that big of a deal. But we didn't stay at the same hotel as them so not sure how they are there. I have read they can get loud at night or just loud in general at the hotels but not sure how true that is. I'm sure they could but not all the time and may not even be near you.

I would say Pres Week will be much busier than a few cheerleaders. I wouldn't be changing my dates from cheerleaders to pres week...

How old are your kids?

Well we were originally going to go the 12-18, which ended up being a bad week for my mother, so we changed it to the 4-11. We got to add a day because it was cheaper, at first I was freaking out thinking we wouldn't get FD our entire stay (checking in last day) and freaked out more when they changed the dates, but from the looks of what everyone is saying, we will still be okay in both ways. And there are competitions going on both weekends, so it looks like either way we are in it and my week seems to be slower as the 16-18 will probably be getting busy due to holiday. I wonder how long they stay though, hopefully I'll just have to deal with them 1 or 2 nights.

My kids are 5 and 2. It's my sons 3rd time and my daughters 2nd. We went the 2nd week of December the last time and the crowds were awesome, we didn't have trouble at all after our first day there. That's what I'm hoping for, or possibly even better. As my daughter...Well....She's a mess...The last time we went she was under a year old and I wore her in a front carrier so she was fine.

 

[Gamegrl1]

Technically we arrive in FL on 2/5, Lord willing, but are traitors (haha) who are going to IOA to see the Wizarding World of HP on 2/6...hooray! Then four days at Disney, ASMu.

The thing is, it's all booked - flights, hotels & tickets - and good thing it's refundable because I've been having really severe back pain all year. If I am not pain-free and able to walk several miles a day by January we will suck it up and just reschedule (no, I've thought it through and a wheelchair isn't an option because if I'm not all well, I don't want to injure myself and plus, my mum would have to help wheel me around and I don't want her to have to do that.). It'll be ok...if we go later in the year my auntie may be able to go, which would be SO cool as she is so fun and nice.

If you're reading this I'd sure appreciate prayers and/or good wishes...seem to be possibly on the mend but recovery is a long process...started acupuncture yesterday and PT begins next week. *REALLY* want to get well and go to WDW in February with the rest of you!

P.S. re: the cheerleaders...yeah, we scheduled our dates (4-11) to avoid the cheer competitions. There's one that starts the day we leave but no big deal. To second what another poster said, I read somewhere that no, the cheer stuff doesn't affect the park crowds but yes, it affects the hotels, esp. the Disney Value Resorts. Just picture hundreds of teenage girls running around your hotel...noisy, crazy, keeping you up when you're trying to sleep and get ready for your park day. Bleah!!!

 

[THEVACATIONFAMILY]

My prayers are with you, I know exactly what you're going through, I still have back problems, but years ago, I went through the same process and let me tell you, it's stinks. If you are up to it, when your Magical time comes, you can always rent a wheelchair for your entire vacation. I know it'll damper your vacation spirits, maybe, but at least you'll get to enjoy the magic of Disney. I don't know what it's like to be in a wheelchair during your vacation, but my wife does. She was pregnant at the time and asked her to get one and she did, but she really didn't enjoy our vacation, she's a doer, not the kind of person to just sit back and watch. Well hope you have better luck with your back then I did, my prayers are with you. Good Luck and have a Magical day and hope your vacation will be Magical

Technically we arrive in FL on 2/5, Lord willing, but are traitors (haha) who are going to IOA to see the Wizarding World of HP on 2/6...hooray! Then four days at Disney, ASMu.

The thing is, it's all booked - flights, hotels & tickets - and good thing it's refundable because I've been having really severe back pain all year. If I am not pain-free and able to walk several miles a day by January we will suck it up and just reschedule (no, I've thought it through and a wheelchair isn't an option because if I'm not all well, I don't want to injure myself and plus, my mum would have to help wheel me around and I don't want her to have to do that.). It'll be ok...if we go later in the year my auntie may be able to go, which would be SO cool as she is so fun and nice.

If you're reading this I'd sure appreciate prayers and/or good wishes...seem to be possibly on the mend but recovery is a long process...started acupuncture yesterday and PT begins next week. *REALLY* want to get well and go to WDW in February with the rest of you!

P.S. re: the cheerleaders...yeah, we scheduled our dates (4-11) to avoid the cheer competitions. There's one that starts the day we leave but no big deal. To second what another poster said, I read somewhere that no, the cheer stuff doesn't affect the park crowds but yes, it affects the hotels, esp. the Disney Value Resorts. Just picture hundreds of teenage girls running around your hotel...noisy, crazy, keeping you up when you're trying to sleep and get ready for your park day. Bleah!!!