Where to start?!? Newbie needs help

Book it - you know you want to!
Another bonus of staying onsite is being able to pop back to the hotel in the afternoon for a swim, wind-down or a nap - especially with your children being so young. We loved doing that and then hopping on the bus to go back to the parks in the evening. Pop Century looks great.:thumbsup2
 
I'm going to go home tonight and discuss it with the boss :rotfl2:

Hopefully she'll say yes.
 
Hi

I would definitely stay on site with your children the ages they are.

We stayed in Kissimee when our daughter was 4. Didn't hire a car to keep costs down and hotel had a shuttle. The only trouble with the shuttle was that it left the hotel at 7:30 and 10:00 in the morning and left disney at 7:30pm or 10pm. For a 4 year old this was a long day especially if you wanted to see fireworks.

We have only stayed on site since so we can go back for an afternoon siesta if required!
 
It is worth waiting for free dining if it may come; and booking a moderate where you'll get the free DDP. SSR and OKW also have recently had good deals on, 35% off plus the free regular DDP. It actually made it a lot cheaper than POP or any of the moderate resorts!

The DDP is one of our favourite parts of WDW holidays so please look into any free promotions. The WDW site also has some percentage discounts at the moment but it could be worth waiting for free dining as often you can combine the two.

It is worth getting park tickets WITH your hotel reservation because then your room key acts as a durable ticket. You can also charge things to your room (no need to carry cash) and pay for meals with DDP credits stored on your card.

With the DDP you get loads of options for character meals etc which are to us an essential part of a WDW holiday. It's a great way to meet the characters with no wait.

Meg~ Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards
 

I agree that given its just a few weeks away now (probably....), wait and see if there are free dining deals in 2014. That said. The very last free dining deals were not for the regular plan at moderates but for the Quick service plan. Safe to say there will be zero free dining for value resorts unless the backtrack two years.
 
Hello!

I'm new to this section of Dis and need some help! I'm very familiar with how to book for DLP and get the best price but I'm a little lost with WDW.

I went to Florida as a kid but that seems like a lifetime ago and this will be the first time I'll be booking the holiday. I'm still not convinced I'll be able to afford it so

Some info:
Party: 2 adults, 2 children (DS 3, DD 1),
Dates: June 2013 or School holidays 2014

I have a few questions that I hope you can answer:

  • Where to stay and why? I-Drive? Maingate or WDW resort. I think we'll probably spend a week hitting the Disney parks, and a week to do the rest.
  • What's the boards favourite budget hotel? We're on a very tight budget!
  • Are there likely to be any offers (free dining?) any time soon for the resort hotels?
  • When is the best time to book? I appreciate it's getting late for June but is it best to leave it until the last minute or try and get something now?
  • Is a car essential?
  • Has anyone seen any great offers?!?
  • After park tickets, how much spending money do most people take?
  • Any other tips would be much appreciated, especially budget related ones!

Thanks to anyone who can offer any help!


:wave2: Some of your questions are more about personal preference than hard and fast rules, but I will do my best to give you my honest opinion! :thumbsup2

Staying off site, on I-Drive or US192 will almost certainly be cheaper but there are pros and cons, especially if you're not sure about driving. Two key things to consider when choosing off site are getting around and whether or not free dining becomes available at the end of the month as expected.

If you don't have a car, you will be relying on public transport or free shuttle services which will have some minimal costs but what you lose in costs you gain in inconvenience. Given that you have 2 very young children and you may want to take breaks during the day. Staying on-site would probably be your better option. Equally, if you are on-site your need for a car drastically reduces and you may get free dining which will reduce your costs further. It's a balancing game, staying on site costs more, but when you factor everything in, an on site stay will probably work out better for your circumstances.

For the best deals in 2013, you've kinda missed the boat. The best prices for on-site were in April -June last year for stays this year. However, you're right on time for the 2014 deals, so all things considered, booking for next year would be better for you, because you can get the best price and you'll have a little longer to get the money together. Rumour has it the free dining and best deals for on-site stays will be released at the end of the month.

Spending money is a difficult one because it depends on the package you get and what you're holiday spending habits are. If you were to book a package on-site with free dining, you won't NEED huge amounts of spending money, because your food is all taken care of. Staying off site has added costs for food so you'd need more. We are a family of 4 (my kids are older and want everything they see!) and when we have free dining, we take around £1200 spending money. I always take a credit card for emergencies too.

Budget tips, again, it depends on what your package is. If you're on site with free dining there are ways to maximize your dining plan. There is a ton of information available online about this so I won't add to the pot! Off-site, there are some good places to eat very reasonably but you are in many ways tied to the park prices which are not very reasonable at all! It's not like you can just leave the park to get some lunch and head back later if you don't have a car and you're staying off-site.

In your situation, I would look at the deals for 2014 at the end of the month. I'd probably opt to stay on-site with no car and free dining (as long as it becomes available). If there is no free dining, I'd look at staying off-site with a car, either on I-Drive or in one of the neighbour hotels in Lake Buena Vista.
 
Thanks again for all the help.

I'm massively tempted to wait until next year as free dining would be great and my kids would be a bit older to enjoy it.

The trade-off is that we'd have to go in the school holidays as my son starts school in September. Plus my daughter would be 2 so we'd have to pay for a seat on the plane for her.

I've a few questions about the dining plan:

If I look up the prices for hotel only for next summer it's £1,754.00 for 2 weeks at Coronado Springs. Is it likely to be the same price as this with free counter service dining?

My daughter would be 2 years old and therefore wouldn't get any credits. Can we use spare credits from my son to buy meals for her?

Can counter service credits be used against the value of a table service meal? e.g. I use the credits + $'s to make up the difference?
 
Thanks again for all the help.

I'm massively tempted to wait until next year as free dining would be great and my kids would be a bit older to enjoy it.

The trade-off is that we'd have to go in the school holidays as my son starts school in September. Plus my daughter would be 2 so we'd have to pay for a seat on the plane for her.

I've a few questions about the dining plan:

If I look up the prices for hotel only for next summer it's £1,754.00 for 2 weeks at Coronado Springs. Is it likely to be the same price as this with free counter service dining?

My daughter would be 2 years old and therefore wouldn't get any credits. Can we use spare credits from my son to buy meals for her?

Can counter service credits be used against the value of a table service meal? e.g. I use the credits + $'s to make up the difference?

Why don't you get a quote from Ocean Florida - there is a thread on here about it. Personally I would not want a one year old on my lap for 9 hours. I thought the quote you had included tickets, so I would hold fire and see what deals are offered for next year as they will be released in a few weeks.

We had the DDP and could not use up all of the credits - it's a lot of food, so you could share with your DD. Check out SSR and OKW, we stayed at OKW and loved it.
 
Thanks again!

I've called Complete Orlando for the dining plan this year and they said that offer ended a couple of months ago.

I'll price up a trip for next year and see how it compares.
 
Thanks again!

I've called Complete Orlando for the dining plan this year and they said that offer ended a couple of months ago.

I'll price up a trip for next year and see how it compares.

Complete Orlando get a lot of good reviews, also get a quote from Val Ramsay - she was excellent when she booked for us and I will be booking with her again. https://www.facebook.com/#!/ValRamsayTC

SSR and OKW are duluxe resorts. If I had two children, I would also check out Port Orleans as that is a popular choice on the Dis, or maybe Art of Animation if you can't get the free DDP.:confused3
 
Happy Tappy said:
Thanks again for all the help.

I'm massively tempted to wait until next year as free dining would be great and my kids would be a bit older to enjoy it.

The trade-off is that we'd have to go in the school holidays as my son starts school in September. Plus my daughter would be 2 so we'd have to pay for a seat on the plane for her.

I've a few questions about the dining plan:

If I look up the prices for hotel only for next summer it's £1,754.00 for 2 weeks at Coronado Springs. Is it likely to be the same price as this with free counter service dining?

My daughter would be 2 years old and therefore wouldn't get any credits. Can we use spare credits from my son to buy meals for her?

Can counter service credits be used against the value of a table service meal? e.g. I use the credits + $'s to make up the difference?

Yes, the price should be the same. It is truly worth waiting for! I would recommend booking at a moderate resort, getting the free quick service dining plan, and paying extra to upgrade it to the regular DDP. It is worth it to get a TS meal every day. Character meals are amazing and eating around the world at World Showcase, Epcot, is pretty fun too!

With your two year old, buffets are a good idea- she is allowed to eat off of your plate. So you wouldn't have to limit your food to let her eat- seeing as it is all you can eat. She can also eat of your plate at regular restaurants but of course this food is limited.

It really is wonderful not worrying about money when eating out! That's why we love the DDP so much! :)

As I said before its worth waiting to see what the discounts are like at SSR and OKW too. With the 35% discount and free dining, they should actually work out cheaper than the moderates AND the values when factoring in free dining! (With the moderates you get the QSDP and SSR and OKW get the DDP regular.) :)

Meg~ Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards
 
I agree with all of the above post but would just add. Remember free dining which includes table service meals is not free. You pay rack rate for the room and have to pay tips for all your table service meals. I just guessed our tips for our next 15 day trip and will need to budget a (generous $600). This is based on four of us on the adult plan. So not free! It cost us £900 to upgrade all four of us, 2 adults and 2 kids over 10, from the QS plan to the regular plan.
 
scoobydooby said:
I agree with all of the above post but would just add. Remember free dining which includes table service meals is not free. You pay rack rate for the room and have to pay tips for all your table service meals. I just guessed our tips for our next 15 day trip and will need to budget a (generous $600). This is based on four of us on the adult plan. So not free! It cost us £900 to upgrade all four of us, 2 adults and 2 kids over 10, from the QS plan to the regular plan.

ITA, which is why I'm suggesting they wait to see if SSR and OKW have the 35% off discount as well as free dining. We have got that deal for this year- so it certainly isn't rack rate. And with SSR and OKW you get the regular DDP so no upgrade fees unless you want deluxe. :)

But yes, you should factor in tips. We really struggled tipping people who we didn't feel deserved it. It's an uncomfortable feeling... Tipping is expected so do budget for it.

Meg~ Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards
 
ITA, which is why I'm suggesting they wait to see if SSR and OKW have the 35% off discount as well as free dining. We have got that deal for this year- so it certainly isn't rack rate. And with SSR and OKW you get the regular DDP so no upgrade fees unless you want deluxe. :)

But yes, you should factor in tips. We really struggled tipping people who we didn't feel deserved it. It's an uncomfortable feeling... Tipping is expected so do budget for it.

Meg~ Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Yes. I meant apart from the two resorts you mentioned you will pay rack rate for the room. I didn't bother noting those as you'd already done it!
 
scoobydooby said:
Yes. I meant apart from the two resorts you mentioned you will pay rack rate for the room. I didn't bother noting those as you'd already done it!

Oh okay. Sorry :)

I've never seen a discount for the values along with free dining- but last year the moderates offered a free DDP and 10% discount... I hope that comes back! There are some really good discounts right now- 30% off BCV. Maybe they'll offer free dining ontop of that soon, but somehow I doubt it. :(

Meg~ Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards
 
Oh okay. Sorry :)

I've never seen a discount for the values along with free dining- but last year the moderates offered a free DDP and 10% discount... I hope that comes back! There are some really good discounts right now- 30% off BCV. Maybe they'll offer free dining ontop of that soon, but somehow I doubt it. :(

Meg~ Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Well I was obviously wrong so don't be sorry!!!!! I have never seen room discounts and free dining (apart from the OKW and SS ones) but I must have kissed those based on your post. I am with you too. Would like to see them bring back free dining and a moderate discount.
 
Well I was obviously wrong so don't be sorry!!!!! I have never seen room discounts and free dining (apart from the OKW and SS ones) but I must have kissed those based on your post. I am with you too. Would like to see them bring back free dining and a moderate discount.

Hello, just wondering were the OKW and SS discounts along with free dining offered on the Disney site? Or did you book through someone else? Thanks
 
missnic07 said:
Hello, just wondering were the OKW and SS discounts along with free dining offered on the Disney site? Or did you book through someone else? Thanks

They were offered on the Disney site. It's always cheaper to book flights separately and then a room, ticket and dining package with Disney. :)

Meg~ Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards
 


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