Hi all!
I found this forum this evening while sitting online again searching all things WDW!! My husband, my son (will be 5) & of course I will be going May 7-13. We are going to surprise my son on his 5th birthday on valentines day with a box of balloons, a disney countdown and a couple other things Disney with the trip.'
I am struggling with a couple of things...the main thing is staying onsite for my son's first trip or staying off. We would do a value resort for sure if we stayed on. I am up in the air about the dining plan, but i do want to do a couple of character breakfasts/dinners. If those are included with the dining plan it may be worth it. Other than a value resort I could stay offsite in Davenport in a 5BR house with pool & hottub all to myself....
Second, use a
travel agent or don't? I also have
AAA.
I would appreciate any input, since I am a newbie! This is going to be our first real family vaca!
Welcome! We are currently planning our 3rd trip to WDW and let me tell you... I've learned sooooo much stuff from this forum! I hope it's as helpful to you as it has been to me! And what a great age for your son's first trip! He is going to absolutely love it!
We have never stayed off-site, so I can't really give you any information on that... but after staying on-site twice, I don't know if I will ever stay off-site! There is just something about staying on property that makes you feel like you're really part of the magic! Besides being immersed in Disney, there are other perks I love too! The Magical Express (free transportation to and from your resort that they take care of your checked bags too!), Extra Magic Hours (extra hours either before or after opening/closing time that are only available to Disney resort guests) and of course, the dining plan! You may save money by staying off-site, but all of those reasons I just mentioned make staying on-site the choice for us!
And as far as a value resort goes... I don't think that's something you need to worry about at all! Really, we only use our rooms to sleep in so what's the big deal when it saves you some cash? Our first trip we had a standard room at Art of Animation and loved it. Our second trip we booked there, but then the discounts came out and we switched to Port Orleans Riverside because AoA doesn't qualify for a discount, but POR did... and after the discount they were pretty much the same price! This time we are planning a 10 day trip, so to make that a little easier money-wise we are planning to stay at Pop Century. I've heard of a ton of people that love Pop... so I don't think it's a poor choice at all!
We do get the dining plan... but I make sure I REALLY get the bang for my buck by planning a ton of character meals/all-you-can-eat/buffets! We just love knowing that everything is paid for up-front so it has that "all inclusive" feel to it. If I was paying for it on the spot I might not get that steak that looks amazing to me, but since I'm not "paying" for it I don't think twice! And even while in the parks when my 5 year old wants a Mickey Ice Cream bar I don't have to think "Oh honey, you don't really need a snack because snacks cost money" because it's already paid for! We love that!
We have never used a travel agent for either of our trips so can't really give you any advice on that! My daughter's dance teacher that has been going to Disney since she was a baby just recently became a Disney TA. So I think this next trip we may go through her so she gets credit for it... but she's still going to let me be in charge of my ADR's because I'm too Type A to let her have control of that! Ha ha! I'll make sure that she puts in our room requests because she said sometimes Disney TA's have an edge on that stuff. Basically all the "not fun" stuff I think I'm going to have her do for us!
I hope this helps a little! There is also a Facebook group for people going in May! It's a closed group, so you have to request to join so I'll give you the link! It's a little quiet in there right now, but as more people start planning May trips it should get busier!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/May2014WDW/