The Unofficial Guide to MRYPPNS' WDW Vacation: TR link is up!

[Mickey_Mom]

Wow, very impressed you've been planning this out since 2005, I really wish we'd done that too.

We've done arrival days both with visiting a park and with just relaxing at the resort and I really prefer the relaxing route. Getting organized and just letting everyone unwind is a great way to start off.

It took me until our third trip to plan a non park day or resort day in the middle of the trip. Laundry day and more organization!

 

[brookelizabeth]

You are so stinkin' smart! Work that system!! We have a couple tickets from 2008 stashed away as well, I haven't a clue exactly where they are, but I have an idea. You will have water park tickets forever! 14 EACH! Wow.

Your plans are looking great. As I plan for our March trip, this will be our first trip not to "Kill a park in a day" as we call it. We are going to do the AM/PM mix-up of parks. It's a total mind-change for me, we'll see if I can do it!

Why no DHS?

 

[TarzansKat]

Look, I don't mean to stroke your ego...well, maybe I do, but I love reading your reports for this reason. You are an amazing planner! I always learn something new from you, and I think it's great the way you figured out how to get the most out of tickets, and what to do for Liam.

You are one smart cookie, m'dear!

 

[Flossbolna]

I am really impressed by the detail of your ticket planning!! But it sounds like you really have it all covered.

And your planning resources are extremely similar to mine! You listed exactly the ones I like most - I just would also add the wdwmagic.com forum for the best news and rumors board (as recommended by the UG) and I also listen to the DISunplugged podcast.

Oh you have to dig out your 1998 edition and share some of it with us!!! We'd probably get a good laugh just over the ticket prices.

Just a simple price comparison: There is the "How much does a day cost" box in every UG (Part Two, Allocation Money). In 1998 a day for a family of four was calculated at 356.35 $, in my 2010 UG it is 558.31 $. And you know what the largest increase is? Not the tickets, the dinner for four at Italy in Epcot! The tickets went up 18 $ per day per person, but dinner in Italy went from 88 $ to 188 $

Also, the 1998 UG was written before AK opened and just browsing through the AK section, I realize how little there was to see and do when it openend. I guess this is where it gets it reputation as a half-day park from!

 

[eandesmom]

Your update makes me think that I really need to crunch numbers on how I upgrade my ticket in May!

Hmmnnnn

Good plans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Just a simple price comparison: There is the "How much does a day cost" box in every UG (Part Two, Allocation Money). In 1998 a day for a family of four was calculated at 356.35 $, in my 2010 UG it is 558.31 $. And you know what the largest increase is? Not the tickets, the dinner for four at Italy in Epcot! The tickets went up 18 $ per day per person, but dinner in Italy went from 88 $ to 188 $

WOW!!!!!!!!!! What is the change? They used to have Alfredo's there, right? Was it a TS? It Tutto THAT much more expensive???

$88 for a family of four is $22 EACH. That's a lot already!! I'm guessing they factor in appetizer, entree, dessert, drinks?

 

[DisMomAmy]

Day Itineray************ Night Itinerary

Sa 2/26 TRAVEL *************TRAVEL

Su 2/27 TRAVEL *************CHECK- IN AT RESORT

Mo 2/28 TYPHOON LAGOON *************BOARDWALK and/or DTD

Tu 3/1 ANIMAL KINGDOM ************MAGIC KINGDOM

W 3/2 EPCOT ********** EPCOT

Th 3/3 TYPHOON LAGOON ********Monorail ride and watch Wishes from Poly Beach

F 3/4 MAGIC KINGDOM ********** DHS and/or EPCOT

Sa 3/5 ANIMAL KINGDOM *********** MAGIC KINGDOM

Su 3/6 BEACH/POOL *************TRAVEL

M 3/7 TRAVEL ********** TRAVEL


Couple notes:
1. We still don’t know if we are going to DHS at all this trip.
2. We’ll arrive just as the gates open or a few minutes after….Liam does not do well waiting in one spot for very well. Lesson learned from our 2008 trip.
3. We’ll take a break at the resort each park day from 1pm to about 430pm.
4. We’ll go out for the evenings by 5pm and (hopefully) stay to close.[/COLOR]

I love how you are dealing with the tickets!

Looks like we might have some evenings scheduled in the same parks! MK Tuesday, MK Saturday and DHS on Friday if you end up there.

I love your notes too... Rope drop for us pretty much means the same thing... opening or a couple minutes after. Even TSM was fine at 9:10. Mid-day breaks were a MUST for us when the kids were littler, now we still take one most days, but not always. Sometimes if we are going to spend 3/4 of a day in a park and be "home" in the evening, we'll skip the break.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Our plans are super loose - so a couple of our days might match up - March 4 I have us at MK - or "whatever we feel like doing" and then "No Plans" for the evening so we can pack up for our move to BLT; however, I have a feeling we'll end up in a park at some point that night too.

I have us in AK on March 2 - it's a AM EMH, but the crowds are only at a 4.2 for AK that day. It's the lowest AK crowd day for the entire trip - but it still makes me nervous due to the AM EMH. The only things on our "Must Do" list would be Flights of Wonder, the Boneyard and a jalapeno pretzel. So I think we'll be fine if we miss out on the FPs for the Safari or EE - we can just do single rider on EE - Joe can't really enjoy the Safari, so it's not a huge deal to us, plus we've ALWAYS been able to get on the Safari - even during NYE when we got to the park later in the day.

Since you are an amazing planner, I'm seeking your advice! On the day before it's a recommended day by UG, but we having a "No Plans" day on that day that I don't want to move back....but I'll consider it.

Whatcha think?

 

[MRYPPNS]

My goal for today is to get caught up with my replies so I can work on getting an update posted this week.

Looks great Heidi

the ticket thing is a crazy good kind of organized...

and I love the start of your itinerary...many of your "rules" I have adopted since our '08 trip the no park days, major goals on the travel day and the break day is something every family w/ little kids should live by IMHO (too)

and now that we forked out the extra points for 1 more night to travel hm on a non-park day I think will be great.

I am so glad you are easing in this trip and I really think that now that you know for the most what Liam can do and handle...it will make this trip almost like the first one you had wished for

can't wait for more

J~

Thanks Julie-

At this point just getting away for a week will be great for us....even better if we can manage everything else.

I'll be looking forward to your traveling with two young children tips as we are also driving to WDW in March.

Looks like GREAT plans

Right now our only plans with driving is to do most of it thru the dead of night and we're getting a dual screen DVD player for the car.

 

[MRYPPNS]

I totally think if I knew I had a DH more onboard with my Disney obsession, and knew I'd be getting to go more often than I do, I'd plan very similarly to you- using all the money saving pre-purchasing, banking tickets, etc...

I do love your itinerary this time around. Lots of chill time mixed with park time.

Unfortunately the no expire ticket option is really expensive now compared to when I bought the bulk of my tickets. But getting Liam's ticket the way I did was mostly for the water park tickets. I think that will save me at least $250 over the course of the next 5 trips.

Loved the pland!!When I go with the family we don't get hoppers as Judy doesn't like going from one park to another which makes the planning alot different !!She LOVES the DDP !! For us it is a must!!The girls are sooo happy to be able to order steak whenever they want and now Kyle has added Shrimp to his favorites I see some changes in his ordering !!!Judy also likes a NON park day in the trip, she mainly wants to relax at the pool!!!Next year we are getting waterpark tickets ans DQ I think they will love them!!

I actually like NOT hopping on a long vacation when the parks are open later at night....sort of finish what you start mentality. But we are fighting some really short park hours plus only going to the parks for 4 days too.

 

[MRYPPNS]

I have always been in awe of your ticket stash! I wish I had been as far thinking as you -- I miss the days when multi-day tickets were park hoppers and didn't expire automatically.

If the Genie ever granted me a wish but it had to be used on something Disney related.....I'd go back in time and buy tons of tickets (and maybe DVC too!)

As usual I'm late to the party!! But I'm really enjoying reading your updates! You are super organized...WOW!!! Really impressive!! Looking forward to hearing more about your plans!

Thanks for joining us on my slow moving PTR!

"...the loaded baked potato of tickets!"

I love it!!

Hmmm. Possible AP purchase in the near future...

Now that's planning ahead!


Kathy

Oh I have a bunch of ideas swirling around in my head!

 

[MRYPPNS]

Wow, very impressed you've been planning this out since 2005, I really wish we'd done that too.

We've done arrival days both with visiting a park and with just relaxing at the resort and I really prefer the relaxing route. Getting organized and just letting everyone unwind is a great way to start off.

It took me until our third trip to plan a non park day or resort day in the middle of the trip. Laundry day and more organization!

The other good thing about have a Park-Free day scheduled for the middle of your vacation is that it can act as a rain-day make-up if thing got messed up earlier.

You are so stinkin' smart! Work that system!! We have a couple tickets from 2008 stashed away as well, I haven't a clue exactly where they are, but I have an idea. You will have water park tickets forever! 14 EACH! Wow.

Your plans are looking great. As I plan for our March trip, this will be our first trip not to "Kill a park in a day" as we call it. We are going to do the AM/PM mix-up of parks. It's a total mind-change for me, we'll see if I can do it!

Why no DHS?

I think you'll like mixing it up with hopping....it makes it a lot more fun to plan!!

Maybe no DHS. The short answer is time and so few attractions for my kids.

Look, I don't mean to stroke your ego...well, maybe I do, but I love reading your reports for this reason. You are an amazing planner! I always learn something new from you, and I think it's great the way you figured out how to get the most out of tickets, and what to do for Liam.

You are one smart cookie, m'dear!

Why thank you!

 

[MRYPPNS]

I am really impressed by the detail of your ticket planning!! But it sounds like you really have it all covered.

And your planning resources are extremely similar to mine! You listed exactly the ones I like most - I just would also add the wdwmagic.com forum for the best news and rumors board (as recommended by the UG) and I also listen to the DISunplugged podcast.

Oh I like wdwmagic too! Got to know fact from fiction on the rumors but it's the best place for up to date info and pictures of construction and such.
Just a simple price comparison: There is the "How much does a day cost" box in every UG (Part Two, Allocation Money). In 1998 a day for a family of four was calculated at 356.35 $, in my 2010 UG it is 558.31 $. And you know what the largest increase is? Not the tickets, the dinner for four at Italy in Epcot! The tickets went up 18 $ per day per person, but dinner in Italy went from 88 $ to 188 $

Some, if not most, restaurant prices are just really over priced.


Also, the 1998 UG was written before AK opened and just browsing through the AK section, I realize how little there was to see and do when it openend. I guess this is where it gets it reputation as a half-day park from!

Plus I think a lot of people never bother to stop and look at the animals. I do think it still needs another "land" with more rides but there is plenty to do for a full day.

Thanks for digging out the 1998 edition!

Your update makes me think that I really need to crunch numbers on how I upgrade my ticket in May!

Hmmnnnn

Good plans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ticket upgrades could really work for you if you see another "solo" weekender trip in your future

 

[MRYPPNS]

I love how you are dealing with the tickets!

Looks like we might have some evenings scheduled in the same parks! MK Tuesday, MK Saturday and DHS on Friday if you end up there.

I love your notes too... Rope drop for us pretty much means the same thing... opening or a couple minutes after. Even TSM was fine at 9:10. Mid-day breaks were a MUST for us when the kids were littler, now we still take one most days, but not always. Sometimes if we are going to spend 3/4 of a day in a park and be "home" in the evening, we'll skip the break.

I really need to stick to the plan with our mid-day breaks....I think park hopper every night will help with that.

Our plans are super loose - so a couple of our days might match up - March 4 I have us at MK - or "whatever we feel like doing" and then "No Plans" for the evening so we can pack up for our move to BLT; however, I have a feeling we'll end up in a park at some point that night too.

I have us in AK on March 2 - it's a AM EMH, but the crowds are only at a 4.2 for AK that day. It's the lowest AK crowd day for the entire trip - but it still makes me nervous due to the AM EMH. The only things on our "Must Do" list would be Flights of Wonder, the Boneyard and a jalapeno pretzel. So I think we'll be fine if we miss out on the FPs for the Safari or EE - we can just do single rider on EE - Joe can't really enjoy the Safari, so it's not a huge deal to us, plus we've ALWAYS been able to get on the Safari - even during NYE when we got to the park later in the day.

Since you are an amazing planner, I'm seeking your advice! On the day before it's a recommended day by UG, but we having a "No Plans" day on that day that I don't want to move back....but I'll consider it.

Whatcha think?

I think you'll be fine with going the EMH am day....just really try to be there for rope drop. I am really starting to pick my park days with the over all week plan in mind too not just the best/worst recommandations.

 

[Native NYer]

I need to reread how you handled Liam's ticket for your trip.
We have to get my younger nephew a ticket for August. The rest of us have APs that expire on our check-out day in August and J will turn 3 in June. Since he only needs 10 park days, I figured a 10 day hopper would be the best bet, not an AP. I'm thinking of just ordering from UT.

Oh, I'm headed to the post office this week with your goodies. Sept. was a crazy busy month.

 

[Flossbolna]

I have us in AK on March 2 - it's a AM EMH, but the crowds are only at a 4.2 for AK that day. It's the lowest AK crowd day for the entire trip - but it still makes me nervous due to the AM EMH. The only things on our "Must Do" list would be Flights of Wonder, the Boneyard and a jalapeno pretzel. So I think we'll be fine if we miss out on the FPs for the Safari or EE - we can just do single rider on EE - Joe can't really enjoy the Safari, so it's not a huge deal to us, plus we've ALWAYS been able to get on the Safari - even during NYE when we got to the park later in the day.

Since you are an amazing planner, I'm seeking your advice! On the day before it's a recommended day by UG, but we having a "No Plans" day on that day that I don't want to move back....but I'll consider it.

Whatcha think?

Hi Brook, I just saw your question and thought that I might add some insight. As far as I understand the UG crowd calendar, they never choose an EMH day as best day because it would not be the best day for non-resort guests. So even if it has the lowest crowds, it will not be the best day. And they mentioned that there are some EMH days which will have very low crowds. The thing is just that with the touringplans working best if you start them right when the park opens, those people who can't be there for the morning EMH, will already be one hour behind crowd wise. I think for you and your family's touring style and goals for the day it won't matter much at all. For you the overall crowd level at the park would be much more important! That's what I love about the new per-park crowd levels, you can make much more your own decisions!

 

[All7OfUs]

Yeah, I guess it didn't take Disney long to figure out that the NoExpire Option was going to get used to its fullest capacity. Bummer.

 

[MRYPPNS]

I need to reread how you handled Liam's ticket for your trip.
We have to get my younger nephew a ticket for August. The rest of us have APs that expire on our check-out day in August and J will turn 3 in June. Since he only needs 10 park days, I figured a 10 day hopper would be the best bet, not an AP. I'm thinking of just ordering from UT.

Oh, I'm headed to the post office this week with your goodies. Sept. was a crazy busy month.

September and October have been CRAZY!!

Without doing any math, I would think a 10 day ticket would be best because otherwise his AP would have a totally different expiration date then the rest of the family....that could be a pain.

Hi Brook, I just saw your question and thought that I might add some insight. As far as I understand the UG crowd calendar, they never choose an EMH day as best day because it would not be the best day for non-resort guests. So even if it has the lowest crowds, it will not be the best day. And they mentioned that there are some EMH days which will have very low crowds. The thing is just that with the touringplans working best if you start them right when the park opens, those people who can't be there for the morning EMH, will already be one hour behind crowd wise. I think for you and your family's touring style and goals for the day it won't matter much at all. For you the overall crowd level at the park would be much more important! That's what I love about the new per-park crowd levels, you can make much more your own decisions!

Yeah, I guess it didn't take Disney long to figure out that the NoExpire Option was going to get used to its fullest capacity. Bummer.

I'm surprised it doesn't cost more to hop. But that will probably be the next thing to go up in price.

 

[MRYPPNS]

Part Three
Accommodations

I think picking your resort for your Disney vacation has to be the biggest decision you make. Not only can it be the biggest expense, but it can really shape the tone of your trip and can influence a lot of your other planning.

Here’s some of my thought process for choosing a resort for this trip….and it does change from trip to trip.

* I did actually consider staying off site for this trip. Mainly for the savings. We’ll have our own car with us so transportation in one sense wouldn’t be an issue. But in the end I decided it was important to have the flexibility of Disney transportation to the parks and DTD if it became necessary for us to split up because of the kids. (One planning tip if you are considering staying off site: You must include the cost of parking at the parks and any resort fees when making your comparisons to Disney resorts. I was a bit shocked at how some “deals” weren’t much of a deal after adding park parking, hotel parking and a resort fee!)

* Disney Values were OUT – rooms are too small

* Disney Deluxes were OUT – too expensive

* Disney Moderates were IN:

POFQ – OUT – stayed there before…doesn’t scream “fun for kids” to me
CBR – OUT - stayed there last family trip …..great resort but we were there in 2008
POR – IN – DH really liked the idea of a boat to DTD
CSR – IN – newly refurbed rooms with Queen beds

And the winner is…….
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..

Port Orleans Riverside!

Sort of….

I currently have a ressie for POR (with a AAA discount) but I mainly made it so I could make my ADRs on time and I figured POR would be harder to get later if that’s the resort I ended up wanting.

But I’m really leaning towards CSR. They have refurbed rooms with queen sized beds. And did I mention that they have queen sized beds? So I think we’ll stay at CSR…

….well unless I can score a killer deal on DVC points for OKW. OKW has refurbed rooms AND a boat to DTD.

I was also considering a stay at SSR too. But I think I want to wait on staying there because they are going to be getting a whole new pool complex (sort of like the one at Kidani Village) next year.

So to sum it up: I have a ressie at POR that I’m probably going to change to CSR, unless I can rent DVC points at OKW for a studio for the same price or less than what CSR will cost me.

I’d love any insight that anyone has on those resorts because I hate feeling “homeless” on my resort choice!

UG stuff: I love Love LOVE the resort room diagrams in the UG. I’m a very visual person so those diagrams really help me “see” what the rooms are like and how my family might “fit” into one.

 

[brookelizabeth]

I think you'll be fine with going the EMH am day....just really try to be there for rope drop. I am really starting to pick my park days with the over all week plan in mind too not just the best/worst recommandations.

Hi Brook, I just saw your question and thought that I might add some insight. As far as I understand the UG crowd calendar, they never choose an EMH day as best day because it would not be the best day for non-resort guests. So even if it has the lowest crowds, it will not be the best day. And they mentioned that there are some EMH days which will have very low crowds. The thing is just that with the touringplans working best if you start them right when the park opens, those people who can't be there for the morning EMH, will already be one hour behind crowd wise. I think for you and your family's touring style and goals for the day it won't matter much at all. For you the overall crowd level at the park would be much more important! That's what I love about the new per-park crowd levels, you can make much more your own decisions!

Thanks for the tips! Magdalene, that is kinda what I was figuring too...there is a very, VERY slight chance we'd ever make an AM EMH (considering we can't make the regular RD ), but with what we choose to do, I think we'll be okay. We won't really be following an actual Touring Plan, just doing our own thing and want the lowest crowds possible. I think I'll stick with what I have due to your advice, thank you!