WE'RE GOING HOME!!

[Sinders99]

I know what you mean about too many choices. It’s exciting, but can also be overwhelming. And I agree that WDW is hell expensive. The food prices have gone up so much since we were last there and I’ve really had to be much more selective with my ADRs this trip.

Oh my goodness food is so expensive at WDW!!! On our road trip today I think we've settled on booking a cruise out of Miami or Ft Lauderdale so that we can go on one of the big Royal Caribbean ships that we don't see here. We love cruising and we did the whole Disney cruise thing in 2016 for 4 nights. Although it was unbelievable we felt it was ultimately overpriced and as a couple with no kids we really did feel like we were paying a premium for everyone else's kids club. We figure we can catch a fairly reasonably priced 7 night cruise for half of what it would cost us to transfer to another WDW resort or even Universal. I looked up Universal resorts the other day and found that 7 nights checkin in on the 21st December was going to set us back a whopping $3,900 which includes tickets and a front of line pass (FOLP). I feel like the FOLP would be pretty essential at that time of year to deal with the crowds.

Right now the cruise prices for December 2019 are still high and barely discounted but we're not in a hurry to book. We figure we'll wait until this time next year to seriously consider booking a cruise t pickup a last minute deal. If the worst happens and we can't get a spot (impossible I know) we have friends who live 10 minutes from WDW or we'll book at an offsite hotel and we'll have annual passes. There could be worse choices in life right LOL!!! ​

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Funny you mention this. My hubby and I have just spent the day in the car together driving back from Canberra after seeing friends and we were discussing trip plans One thing I mentioned is that we might have to split our stay into 3 x 7 night bookings because finding someone with enough points to cover a full 14 night stay might be pretty difficult at any time of the year. I imagine that would be a pretty big DVC contract.
So, we thought we'd spend 7 nights at BW or BC, 7 nights at SSR or KW and then finish off with 7 nights at BLT, WL or POLY.

Plus getting to try 3 different resorts would be fun.

Just wondering though if you’ve considered swapping 4+ nights out with a stay at Universal?
I’m biased as I love it there as much (if not more so) than Disney, especially because of express passes.
But, express passes aside, not only is food there quite a bit cheaper than Disney, but the Xmas decorations and experiences there look fantastic. I can’t wait for the Macy’s parade, the HP Castle projections, and some of the Christmas time food offerings.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Oh my goodness food is so expensive at WDW!!! On our road trip today I think we've settled on booking a cruise out of Miami or Ft Lauderdale so that we can go on one of the big Royal Caribbean ships that we don't see here. We love cruising and we did the whole Disney cruise thing in 2016 for 4 nights. Although it was unbelievable we felt it was ultimately overpriced and as a couple with no kids we really did feel like we were paying a premium for everyone else's kids club. We figure we can catch a fairly reasonably priced 7 night cruise for half of what it would cost us to transfer to another WDW resort or even Universal. I looked up Universal resorts the other day and found that 7 nights checkin in on the 21st December was going to set us back a whopping $3,900 which includes tickets and a front of line pass (FOLP). I feel like the FOLP would be pretty essential at that time of year to deal with the crowds.

Right now the cruise prices for December 2019 are still high and barely discounted but we're not in a hurry to book. We figure we'll wait until this time next year to seriously consider booking a cruise t pickup a last minute deal. If the worst happens and we can't get a spot (impossible I know) we have friends who live 10 minutes from WDW or we'll book at an offsite hotel and we'll have annual passes. There could be worse choices in life right LOL!!! ​

Regarding food, perhaps you could consider getting the dining plan for one of your DVC weeks and then using that week to cram in all the most expensive TS options. Then in the weeks surrounding you can save money on cheaper options.
I just booked an ADR for Minnie’s Holiday Dine and I am still balking at the fact that it’s going to cost my family of 3 roughly NZ$100 pp. At just 1 TS credit on the dining plan, it has made me rethink whether getting the dining plan might be worth it. However, because I’ve purposefully chosen much cheaper TS meals on the other 2 days, I don’t think it would make financial sense. I may need to crunch the numbers again though.

As for the cruise, one other company to keep an eye on is Celebrity. We are cruising with them on the Reflection and it will be our second Celebrity cruise.
Price wise, I find them to be one of the better value cruise companies out there. Keep an eye out for their promotions as they have a lot where they include perks with your booking. We booked during a 2 perks promotion and have our drinks (including alcohol) and unlimited wifi included in the price of our cruise.
Prior to booking this cruise, I was booked on Celebrity Edge and had booked during a promotion that included the drinks, wifi and $600 OBC. Reluctantly, I cancelled that cruise as I liked the Reflection’s itinerary better. But either way, the point being that they do offer some good deals from time to time, so keep an eye out.

 

[Sinders99]

Plus getting to try 3 different resorts would be fun.

Just wondering though if you’ve considered swapping 4+ nights out with a stay at Universal?
I’m biased as I love it there as much (if not more so) than Disney, especially because of express passes.
But, express passes aside, not only is food there quite a bit cheaper than Disney, but the Xmas decorations and experiences there look fantastic. I can’t wait for the Macy’s parade, the HP Castle projections, and some of the Christmas time food offerings.

We really wanted to concentrate on that first 3 weeks at Disney seeing as though the crowds should be quite reasonable and then we thought we could do a couple of evenings at Universal to see the parades and Hogwarts illuminations but perhaps you're right and we should schedule some time at Universal. We did 2 days at Universal in 2016 and loved it. We were so surprised as we've been to the Universal park in LA and hated it. Universal Orlando was fantastic. We really spent 90% of our time in the two Harry Potter parks and saw very little outside of those areas. Hmmmmm might need to research some more.

 

[Sinders99]

TRIP PLANNING UPDATE

So with a whole month off - 30 November 2019 until 6 January 2020 - we were originally going to do 3 weeks at WDW and come home but after much debating we've decided to economise a little on our WDW accomodation and stay on in the US after our initial 3 weeks at WDW but what to do?

We had lots and lots of choices but we've decided to do a cruise on one of those really big cruise whips out of Miami or Ft Lauderdale and then return to Orlando for a couple of nights and crash with friends so that we can enjoy New Years Eve at Disneyworld all together

So the current itinerary is as follows:

30/11/19 - MBN-LA-ORL-Pop Century
30/11/19 - 14/12/19 Pop Century
14/12/19 - 21/12/19 Bay Lake Towers Renting DVC Points
21/12/19 - 22/12/19 Travel to Miami or Ft Lauderdale ready to embark cruise
23/12/19 - 29/12/19 Cruise to the Bahamas/Mexico or Caribbean area
29/12/19 - 1/1/20 Return to Orlando to stay with friends & enjoy New Years Eve at WDW!
1/1/20 - ORL-LA-MBN

Seeing as though we're spending so much time at Disneyworld this time we'll be investing in Annual Passes and making the best use of the merchandise discounts, tour discounts and we'll buy the Tables in Wonderland card for the 20% discount of food & drinks (including alcohol).

I'd love to hear tips/hints or feedback from anyone who's:
Invested in an Annual Pass
Purchased a Tables In Wonderland Card
Cruised out of Miami or Fort Lauderdale
Spent New Years Eve at WDW

Thanks everyone and I can't wait to here all your experiences ​

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Your plans sound great and the idea to get a Tables in Wonderland card is a great one. Unfortunately I have no personal experience, so can’t comment.

I’ll be able to share my cruising experiences early next year, but in the meantime I do know from the research I have done that Miami is a busier airport/city/port and to the most part, it’s also the most expensive.

I got sticker shock pricing up hotels in Miami and our one night there is costing us more than a night at Disney. In all fairness though, we could of booked something cheaper, we just desperately wanted a room with an in room washer/dryer to clean almost everything in our suitcases before we board a 2 week cruise that has no self-serve laundry. Overall though, be a bit prepared for high costs. FLL is also on the slightly expensive side, but definitely cheaper if budget is the main concern.

Incidentally we are flying into Miami (the flight option was better), staying on the outskirts to do an exciting night of washing and visiting Walmart and then getting an Uber to Port Everglades the next morning.

At the end of the cruise, we are flying out of FLL, but not until the evening. Celebrity (and presumably most cruise lines) offer day tours of Miami on the last day of your cruise, where they look after your bags, and then drop you at the airport at the end.
I don’t think I could be that close to the gorgeous Art Deco that is Miami and not get a chance to see it.

 

[ColinA]

Here is a link to an old thread about AP and TIW

https://www.disboards.com/threads/is-an-annual-pass-really-economically-viable.3001900/

If you are planning on NYE make sure you get there early as you may not get in. Sometimes easier if you are staying at a Disney Resort. Be prepared as you might find it hard to move anywhere all day!

 

[ColinA]

9.30am on NYE entrance to MK. We were only trying to board the boat to Fort Wilderness.

 

[Franrose]

Hi Jennie! We are almost sorta doing your trip, except in 2018. This will be our fifth stay at WDW with kids and our sixth in total, the novelty never really seems to wear off and it is SUCH a great break away from home/work/regular routine... I don't think people who've not done it before can quite understand how much of a recharge it is lol, escapism at its finest. And you do all the work before you go so a) you get to do that awesome anticipation, and b) when you're there you just go with the flow you've already prepared for yourself, and it's easy! We are doing a Disney cruise because our kids have always wanted to try that and I'd always said we would lol, but we have done an RCCL Caribbean cruise too and really loved it. I'd have zero hesitation in cruising with them again and I imagine if we do Alaska sometime, that's who we'll choose. We were on Independence of the Seas. I loved it - I personally wouldn't go bigger as I have had family travel on either Oasis or Allure (I can't recall, I was in denial while they were away ) and from what they've said - they were on Independence with us the year before - I think they can get *too* big. But that is absolutely entirely subjective of course. Independence was plenty big though and a beautiful ship, we loved it. I probably wouldn't go smaller with RCCL if I could help it either 'cos I loved that ship so much lol but we have gone smaller on other lines.

We have rented points through David's before, but this time I've booked a 1bdrm at SSR directly through Disney because we were eligible for free dining and I loved that idea lol. My children are in heaven thinking about the idea of snack credits and what they are going to be able to use them on. I am going to have to rein them in on a daily basis, I can tell already lol. We usually stay at one of the PO resorts, or in the Fort Wilderness cabins when with family (my parents have an RV in the US so will stay there in that). We are doing two weeks at SSR because I cannot be bothered packing up and moving - our last visit to the US/Disney was a busy one with road tripping and lots of one night stays and I want to do the cruise control version this time, lol. We have done the same length of time before and it was perfect. We'll be there 15 - 28 Dec, a busy time of year so we'll take it easy.

Like you, we had the 'Christmas in the US, or at home?' dilemma when planning and decided to go for it because we are originally from NZ and have no family here, so we might as well be our little family at Disney rather than at home remembering our trip lol. We have done a December trip before, that time we did early-mid Dec at WDW, then a week in NYC (cold!! Snowy!!) and then a last week, including Christmas Day, at Disneyland. It was different (doing actual Christmas day in another country) but special. We had talked to another NZ family we knew through friends who were going to be there at the same time with similarly aged kids, and when we met we got on really well and spent that week and Christmas together.

Universal, shopping and the Kennedy Space Centre will take up the first week of our trip (KSC has always been a huge highlight for me!) and then the cruise is week two, with week 3&4 at WDW. Cannot wait.

 

[Franrose]

I am trying to remember which trip (ETA: I think it was our December trip), but I did do a premier pass one year to get discounts & get a Tables in Wonderland card. It was just me who got the pass, and the rest of the family got 10 day passes at both WDW and DL. I think I saved some, but I did a really thorough analysis lol and it wasn't *that* big a saving. And that was back when Victoria & Albert's was included with Tables in Wonderland!!

 

[Sinders99]

@ColinA OH MY LORDY!!! That's a serious crowd. The other idea we're toying with is just booking dinner at the Poly or California Grill so we can still enjoy a nice dinner, the fireworks but without the crazy crowds

 

[Sinders99]

@Franrose This will be our 2nd WDW trip and our 4th Disney parks holiday (Disneyland 2010 and Tokyo Disneyland 2003). We did a Disney cruise on the Dream in 2016 and although we loved it we just can't justify the price tag a second time around. Because we don't have kids we did kind of feel like we were paying a premium for everyone else's kids club. The food was amazing though.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

9.30am on NYE entrance to MK. We were only trying to board the boat to Fort Wilderness.View attachment 338355

Colin, I bet you felt quietly relieved that you were on your way elsewhere.

 

[ColinA]

@ColinA OH MY LORDY!!! That's a serious crowd. The other idea we're toying with is just booking dinner at the Poly or California Grill so we can still enjoy a nice dinner, the fireworks but without the crazy crowds

I would say unless you are staying at a Disney resort you would have no chance of getting a booking at California Grill. The guests booking at 180 + 10 days get the ADR's first. You would have no chance of parking at Polynesian or Contemporary as you would need to be staying there or have a late ADR to get past security.

A couple more photos of traffic.

The photo on World Drive is early in the morning and the traffic is banked up to the Epcot Resort area. The other is the 536 leading to Epcot Centre Drive towards the WDW sign.

 

[ColinA]

Colin, I bet you felt quietly relieved that you were on your way elsewhere.

Yes.

If NYE is on the weekend we go to Brunch at Trails End in Fort Wilderness. We used to catch the bus to MK and then boat across to Fort Wilderness. Now we walk from The Boardwalk to HS and catch the bus to Fort Wilderness Outpost and another bus to Settlement. The crowds are much better that way.

 

[Sinders99]

TRIP PLANNING UPDATE

As I'm sure we all do in our trip planning we've gone back and forth and back and forth regarding the length of our stay and adding on a possible cruise. When we began looking into it adding a cruise, even a short one, wasn't really as cheap as we'd hoped. Because the cruises we were considering all ran over Christmas Day the average additional cost was $3,000-$4,000 for a basic inside cabin. Although we know our food and much of our entertainment would have been included we know we'll probably add another $1,000 or more on top of the cruise cost to cover things like shopping, activities, specialty dining and tours.

So we began prioritising what was important to us for our trip and we've decided that the cruise really is an after thought and not something we 'have' to do. When it all boiled down we're returning to enjoy Disneyworld and all that it has to offer (AND BOY DOES IT HAVE A LOT!!). We believe that we'd be better off sticking to our original 3 weeks at Disneyworld and upgrading our resort choices instead of economising to fit in a cruise we never really planned to take.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who's wrestled with this dilemma? I'm the kind of person who's terrible with making choices but I feel pretty comfortable with this one.

After seeing ColinA's photos and experience of WDW at New Years we also decided to steer well clear of this. We're ok in crowds but I'm sure that prolonged exposure to should to shoulder crowds, huge lines for everything (including toilets) and tired cranky people are not a combination that makes for a happy experience

Our revised trip dates are:

30/11/19 - Melbourne-LA-ORL-WDW
1/12/19 - 20/12/19 - WDW (with side trips to Walmart, the Outlets, Universal etc)
21/12/19 - WDW-ORL-LA-Melbourne

We'll be back before Christmas and enjoy a relaxing break with our fur babies before returning to work on 6/1/20.​

 

[ColinA]

1/12/19 - 20/12/19 - WDW (with side trips to Walmart, the Outlets, Universal etc)
21/12/19 - WDW-ORL-LA-Melbourne

We'll be back before Christmas and enjoy a relaxing break with our fur babies before returning to work on 6/1/20.​

Are you still staying at Pop Century or looking for DVC resorts?

 

[Sinders99]

Are you still staying at Pop Century or looking for DVC resorts?

We're definitely going back to looking back to our DVC plans. I know we'll definitely be including an EPCOT area resort and at least a week at Bay Lake Towers. We may need to throw in a third resort as well depending on what availability we can find. I think if we do have to have a third resort it'll be a Disney Springs area resort. We've done the math a few times and DVC rental only works out slightly more than staying in a value and cheaper than a moderate.
We also know we don't want to get the Dining Plan. We got it on our last trip in the Free Dining promotion and we found it quite restrictive, too time consuming for sit down meals and too much food. We felt obligated to over eat to get the best value.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Please tell me I'm not the only one who's wrestled with this dilemma? I'm the kind of person who's terrible with making choices but I feel pretty comfortable with this one.
​

​

Then that is all that matters

But, for what it’s worth, you’re not the only one who is indecisive.
This whole trip has been nothing but indecision, right back to the start where it took us months to even decide what locations and countries we’d visit. I booked and cancelled two cruises before finally being happy with the one we’ve booked.
Plus, I’ve been terrible the last month, cancelling and rebooking ADRs what feels like every other day as I try to decide which of the 4 parks we won’t visit this trip. I’ve got two of our days sorted, but the 3rd is still up in the air.

It doesn’t help that when I first asked DH whether he wanted to go to AK or HS, he said HS. I asked him again a week later if he was sure and he said “Yes, I didn’t really like Animal Kingdom”.
So based on that, I completely changed our plans.
Then a few days ago, I said to both DH and DS, if there was one ride in WDW you wouldn’t want to miss, what is it. They both had the same answer... Expedition Everest.

 

[Sinders99]

@WanderlustNZ OMG I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one. Our first Disneyworld trip I must have cancelled 50 ADR's before I finally settled on our final dining schedule. It's all so exciting and crazy and expensive. For me it's a fear of making a bad choice and wasting money or missing out (FOMO is real).