WDW Veteran, Staying On Site NEWBIE!!!

[KimBean]

Okay, so my plans yesterday went from Off Site January trip to ONSITE December trip with Free Dining at Coronado Springs. I booked it at Midnight last night with hardly any research at all (usually I do months...)

I know some of you will say I didn't save any $$$. But my OOP expenses before were week Condo $500, 2 nights at Value Resort $200, Tickets for 9 Days $1450, Food and Snack Budget $2000, Parking $150. Total of $4300.

Now, I get to stay on site. Eat at a few nicer restaurants (order what I want to instead of always being sacrificial and ordering a lower priced entree or sharing) and my OOP for the same above is $3700.

Not saying I couldn't do cheaper than above. I've done a week at Disney with 4 for under $2500. But this is my 20th Anniversary. Not a budget week. I know still a budget week for some of you MONEY BAGS!!! HAHA!

I'LL TAKE IT!!!

Okay - so I need to know more than dining (and of course I'm reading through the threads) But, I've never stayed onsite or had DDP. My DH has but it was 22 years ago and he was 15. LOL!!

Things I know I don't know:

- How to get the most bang for your buck with DDP.

- Disney Transportation, the good, the bad and the ugly.

- Early/Evening Magic Hours


Give an on-site DDP newb your best tips!! And expect me to be chatty. This will be a surprise for my 2 girls (6 & 14 when trip comes) so it is so hard to keep it all bottled in! I want to shout from the roof tops!

 

[maryandtyson]

Your trip sounds great!! We have stayed at CSR 3 times and really loved it there. Make sure you make ADRa 180 days out. With free dining, the restaurants really book up.

For us, the value of free dining is having our food pre-paid. It takes the stress off of us. Each receipt you get will show how many credits you have remaining, so track them carefully. If you or your kids share QS meals, you can stretch your credits. Also, snack credits can buy you breakfast: muffins, cinnamon rolls etc. Use your free mug for your drink. Don't waste a snack credit on something super cheap like a banana. Not worth it. Pay OOP for those.

I think buffets are great with kids. They can get a good variety at them, including fruit and veg.

Have a great trip!!!!

 

[hemosprius]

Me and my family loved CSR! Even though people say its "not a kids resort", it was still a lot of fun for all of us. But then again, when is Disney not fun?

Anyways, are you taking a plane to Orlando? If you are and you're not renting a car, you'll go on the Magical Express. It takes about 40 minutes to get to Disney from there. You won't get your luggage for another few hours, so plan accordingly! (it took ours 5 hours... and our plane landed at 10pm, so we got our luggage at 3am)

Alright, so the first thing is dining. I highly suggest you don't eat anywhere that takes two dining credits, unless its a show that you really want to see. For example, CRT is totally not worth it on the dining plan. You're better off eating at Akershus.

The dining plan lets you have one drink, one meal, and one dessert per quick service, and the same for table service. Breakfast obviously doesn't come with desserts, though. You get one table service meal, one quick service meal, and one snack per person per day with the dining plan. You also get a refillable mug! You can refill your mug inside the quick service food place (not Pepper Market, I forget what its called) as many times as you want during your stay. Theres also a place to fill your mug at the main pool area, but I've yet to find it. (I went searching at 1am which wasn't a good idea since everything was already closed) You might be wondering, how do they know if I fill this mug up when I'm not staying here? The answer is, I don't know! I have this theory that theres some sort of sensor in the bottom of the mug, but I'm not sure honestly. Anyways, the drinks available are: sodas (your average coke products), water, lemonade, and hot chocolate. Tip: make sure the lid clicks on... I've spilled entire cups of sprite because I didn't realize my lid wasn't all the way on)

Okie dokie, so. Most likely, you'll be eating at Pepper Market every morning. I'm not sure if you know how the Disney resort food courts work, but basically, as you walk in someone hands you a piece of paper. You then go up to one of the little booth-things (they're not really booths, I just can't think of the right word to describe them) and you tell them what you want, and they stamp your paper with whatever you got. Don't use your snack credits here, because small things like muffins and whatnot are not worth it. After you get your food, go to the drink section. I believe you can ask for a coffee cup here (?) or get it somewhere else, but here is where you would get all of your cold drinks. You'll also get a stamp here. Then after that you go and sit at your table and enjoy your meal. Once you're done, you take your paper with what you got on it and you bring it to the cash registers. Its probably better to pay out of pocket for this meal here, because at the parks it'll be easier to just scan your MagicBand than to hold up the line to find the exact amount of money.

In order to maximize your value, I suggest not doing any character breakfasts. You get the same food at character breakfasts as you do elsewhere, and you most likely won't eat too much because its only the beginning of the day. However, character meals for dinner (or even late lunch) are great. Not only do you get a buffet of whatever you want, but you get to meet characters without any waiting! (okay, thats sort of a lie. You have to wait for them to come to your table. And it does take awhile if you watch the character from the moment they walk into the room, because they do interact more at character meals than they do in the parks. But its worth it!)

Other good value table service credits include: Tutto Italia Ristorante, 'Ohana, Chef Mickey's, The Crystal Palace, Boma, Garden Grill, 1900 Park Fare, and all of those restaurants you see most talked about on this website.

Now quick service is a little different. I'm sure you know how these work, though, so I won't go too into detail. Basically, quick service meals are regular entrees. Like, you can't get a turkey leg and call it a quick service meal. (but it should be one, considering its price) If you want any sides or anything, you have to pay out of pocket, or use a snack credit if you're able to. (btw, you've probably know this, but the purple things next to the snacks on menus mean that you can use snack credits for them) The desserts you might get are things like a cookie, or pudding/jello. (Restaurantosaurus has mini cheesecake cups!)

As for snacks, I sort of explained it above, but snack items have purple squares next to them. In order to maximize your value, try to find something above $5 to use for a credit. They're usually hard to find, though.

Ahh, now its time for transportation. You'll be taking the buses, which are great but also not so great. First off, the bus stops at Coronado Springs are pretty spread out. They also don't go in order- stop 1 isn't the first stop, its actually the last. (I'm almost positive this is true. I could be lying, but this is what I remember) You could spend up to 45 minutes waiting for a bus (this has never happened to me, the longest I've spent waiting was 28 minutes). Apparently they run on "15 minute intervals" but they really don't. The buses can get pretty crowded if you go within two hours of park opening. And don't even think about getting on the first bus after Wishes or Illuminations. (to be honest, I think I did get on the bus right after Wishes, but I had to stand) Theres a very high chance that at one point you'll be on a bus with a screaming toddler. And if you have as bad luck as me, you'll be sitting next to the screaming toddler. Whatever, it happens. But anyways, there really isn't that much room on the buses to sit. If you're at one of the last stops in the morning, you may have to stand. Its not that bad really, but whats bad is when you have to stand at night after you've walked around the park for 12 hours straight. If you're wondering about where the stops are at the parks, they're usually fairly close to the entrance but off to the side. Each resort has a number (its not the same everywhere and some resorts have the same number) and you have to wait by that number at the bus stop. Buses run about an hour after the park closes, so you won't be stranded.

The extra magic hours are different all the time. Some times the parks will open late, sometimes they'll open early. I may be mistaken, but AK never stays open late- its always early for them. Theres a page on WDW.com where you can find what the the EMH are. If the park stays open late for EMH, you will have to scan your magic band at every ride entrance, regardless of whether you have fastpasses or not.

Soooooo, thats it! If you have any more questions, feel free to ask, I'd be very glad to help! I hope you and your family have a wonderful vacation!