Where do I start?!?!?

[txaggiemomof3]

I am so glad I found these boards. I've been lurking for the past week and have found some great information! We are finally going to take a much anticipated vacation to Disney World in the fall (early October). My husband and I went on our honeymoon there 11 years ago and had a blast. I can't wait for my kids to go!

We want to stay on-site but with three kids (ages 3, 5 & 8) we are a bit limited in where we can stay. We are leaning towards the Animal Kingdom Lodge with the Wilderness Lodge as a second choice. If I know the dates I want, should I go ahead and book the rooms now? I would hate to wait and not be able to get a room, esp. because we need a room with the daybed. If a discount code comes out later - will I lose money by changing my reservation? I'm leaning towards the Magic Your Way package with dining but since we are going in the off season, I'm thinking we might fare better by purchasing things individually. Can I switch to the package later if need be?

Any feedback would be much appreciated!

 

[Disney Dee]

Yes you can always change your ressies later. Welcome to the Dis!

 

[GIOny]

Hi and welcome!! I would definately make the ressies now, you may want to check out this site to see if you can save any money: http://www.mousesavers.com/ Do you mean you are limited because of the size of your family?? I assume you are looking into the delux rooms in either the AKL or FW, they are the rooms that provide a daybed. But FW is pretty expensive for a delux room. You may want to think about looking into some of the other deluxe resorts for rooms. In B&Y club,BW,Contemporary and GF you don't need a delux room to get the day bed. They come in the standard rooms. The GF would be the most expensive of these but I think around the same cost of the FW delux room. I think the Contemporary in the garden wing would probally be the cheapest. Wherever you go just make sure you ask for a refurbished room. Good Luck and I hope you find what you are looking for.

 

[txaggiemomof3]

If I make my reservation now and a code comes up later, do I just call and say I have a discount code and they will change my reservation? Is it worth it to go through a travel agent?

I will check out the other resorts Giony. I have to say that I wasn't expecting that being a family of 5 would make it so much harder to find accomodations on-site. When I keyed in my information on the Disney site for the Magic Your Way package, the AKL was the cheapest for a family of 5 (followed by WL) so I've kind of been focusing on that one. My son turns 3 less than a month before we go too! Anyhow, I know we will enjoy wherever we stay. I just want to get the best deal possible. I did check the Mousesavers site and it's terrific!

Thanks again!

 

[the kabuki]

We are a family of five, kids 11, 7 & 3 yrs. and found staying in 2 connecting rooms at POP Century to be a good choice for us. Although it's not a deluxe, the extra bathroom, TV & just plain extra room is real nice. And it's cheaper than staying one room at a deluxe.

 

[GIOny]

I've never gone through a travel agent so I really don't know if that would be beneficial in any way. I don't even like to go through the Disney Web site unless I already have decided what I want to do. They never seem to give you all the options. Are you a AAA member? They have AAA discount rates at the hotels. I am sorry to say I also am not sure about the discount code being applied after you make your reservations, although you may want to post that question on the budget board and I'm sure someone there will have an answer or you could call Disney 1-800-421-3732 and ask them. Also you mentioned that you were going in early October and according to the hotel fact sheets it looks like October 4th is the last day of the value season and the October 5th would start the regular season, so that would mean a difference in pricing. Hope this is helpful and not more confusing to you!!

 

[Colorado DISers]

Testing

 

[txaggiemomof3]

The adjoining room idea is definately a thought. I will talk to my husband about that. I have gotten a *little* attached to the AKL now though I need to price out both options and go from there.

We are actually planning to arrive on Oct. 2nd so I *think* because we would start our stay during the value season, our rate will carry over past the 4th. I need to check into that though. My kids have a school holiday at the end of that first week of October so that's one less day they would have to make up. And I'm definately looking into joining AAA. I found the "Codes and Rates" board last night and noticed the AAA discounts were pretty decent. I think I'm going to have a blast just planning this trip out!!

 

[swtnikki]

Just wanted to welcome you to DIS. There's lots of helpfull information here to get you started.

 

[Abba98]

I'm sure you'll get all the answers to your questions here!Have fun,and glad you're aboard!
Kirsten

 

[krdisneybound]

WELCOME to the Dis Boards.

You will find everyone very helpful in any questions you might have.

We would love to read any trip reports you have, when you visit WDW or DL

 

[ottawa-newbie]

Hi! Have fun planning

 

[KayleeUK]

Welcome to the DIS

 

[Bama mom to 3]

from one fellow family of five, to another, Welcome.

I am also trying to decide where to stay when we go next year. Last time we were at WDW, we were a family of four. Its amazing what a difference it is having another child this time....LOL

 

[txaggiemomof3]

Thanks for the very warm welcome everyone!

Bama Mom, I was really surprised at how much more limited the selection of rooms is at WDW once you go from 4 to 5 people! I just assumed that we would have more options

We ended up making reservations at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort. We also considered renting two rooms at Pop Century or one of the All Stars resorts as well as possibly renting a deluxe room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The Port Orleans rate ended up being the cheapest (we used AAA discount and got it down to $107/night). My son's teacher stayed there with her family of 5 over Christmas break and highly recommended it. I would love to get a great deal at the AKL and upgrade but I am thrilled that we are even getting to stay on-site. We stayed off-site when we went to WDW for our honeymoon 11 years ago and I've always said when we went back that we would stay on-site. Here we come!!!

Good luck to everyone else planning trips. I hope to see you all around on these boards over the next several months!

 

[Bama mom to 3]

Thanks for the very warm welcome everyone!

Bama Mom, I was really surprised at how much more limited the selection of rooms is at WDW once you go from 4 to 5 people! I just assumed that we would have more options

We ended up making reservations at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort. We also considered renting two rooms at Pop Century or one of the All Stars resorts as well as possibly renting a deluxe room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The Port Orleans rate ended up being the cheapest (we used AAA discount and got it down to $107/night). My son's teacher stayed there with her family of 5 over Christmas break and highly recommended it. I would love to get a great deal at the AKL and upgrade but I am thrilled that we are even getting to stay on-site. We stayed off-site when we went to WDW for our honeymoon 11 years ago and I've always said when we went back that we would stay on-site. Here we come!!!

Good luck to everyone else planning trips. I hope to see you all around on these boards over the next several months!

Thats what we are leaning towardsa also. We will be using our AAA discount as well. I knew the "value" resorts didn't offer any rooms for 5 people, but I also expected the rest of them to have more options as well. But if I can get a good price at POR I will be happy staying there

 

[txaggiemomof3]

We are getting excited about staying at POR. I noticed on the Codes and Rates board that some people have gotten into the moderate resorts for as low as $79/night in the past which I would really be thrilled with! I'll cross my fingers some discount codes come our way!