Winnipeg to Disney World!

[aljay]

Hi everyone

I'm new here, and just yesterday we booked our first ever DW vacation!!!! We are going in August 2012 (when the free dining plan is offered) and are staying at Port Orleans French Quarter. I've heard some good things about this resort, so I hope it's all true!
We have everything but our flights booked, so hopefully there will be some seat sales later on. I'm not sure we'll be flying out of Winnipeg, as there tend to be better deals from Fargo or Minneapolis.
Anyone have any experience with flying out of either of those place?

Our daughters will be 8.5 and 4.5 when we get to DW. We are surprising them the day of (or maybe the day before) the trip!
I'm bouncing off the walls already, not sure how I'm going to keep this a secreet for 10 month months!!!!!!!!

Alison

 

[monkey30]

Oh have fun, its hot there at that time, but I am sure you will be prepared!!

As for reviews you will always find them mixed, try not to base your trip on them just take the suggestions! I have never been to the resort, we had planned a day to tour resorts when we were there in September, but do to a passport mishap we spent that day in Miami!

Have fun!!

 

[jwcollin]

We are also going next August for free dining and staying at POFQ!! This will be our 3rd time staying at that resort. Last year we tried Coronado Springs, I loved it but my husband and two daughters (ages 17 and 19) want to go back to French Quarter. They love this smallness of the resort and they loved the food court better as well. Don't get me wrong, though! I love French Quarter too!

You'll have a great time there!

 

[aljay]

Yes, the 'smallness' was one of the reasons we chose FQ. Friends of ours stayed there 2 years ago and loved it too! As with any resort, there will always be people who love it and hate it, but that's just life.
Are there certain 'buildings' that you prefer being in there?

Thanks!

Alison

DW August 2012!!!

 

[jwcollin]

Funny thing is we have always stayed in building 7! We actually quite like it because it's close to Riverside and we would walk there a fair bit. The walk to POFQ main building is only a couple of minutes, I really don't think there is a bad building!

 

[cab0899]

Another Winnipegger here!
Congratulations on your trip! We have stayed at POFQ and really enjoyed it!

We have flown out of Grand Forks to Las Vegas and that worked out well. Allegiant Air now flies GF to Sanford, FL as well as out of Fargo. FYI, Allegiant Air fly to Sanford, Florida not the Orlando airport so you won't be able to use Magical Express.

We really enjoy the direct flight from WPG to Orlando with WestJet. The flight leaves 7:30 in the morning and you're in Florida by lunch! Love the convenience and being able to use Magical Express. Athough I don't think they have direct fights during the summertime.

 

[aljay]

That's good to know about Allegiant not flying in to the Orlando airport, I didn't realize that.
I'm hoping Westjets prices will come down a bit, as it's certainly handy not to have to drive across the border. I think in the summer, the WJ flight connects in Toronto.

Thanks!

 

[dis_guy]

I'm not a big fan of connecting through Pearson. You have to get your luggage, go through US customs, re-check your bags, then get to security again.

For us it's much easier to clear US customs at our home airport and connect in the US. Way less stress and hassle. Connecting in MSP, IAH, or DEN is much easier on you. Chicago is about equal to YYZ for lack of user friendliness.

My 2 cents worth.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

We usually fly Winnipeg to Chicago on United.
We used to go the first week of December and last year we were able to get a non-stop return flight home (WestJet). It was so nice.
This year we went Oct 13-22 and will be returning the same time next year. The weather was perfect.

DH is the flight guru in our home and he is always checking. We looked at flying Allegiant but it didn't save us too much money and their flight times weren't great. We try and maximize our time with the mouse.

If you fly Allegiant you will have to rent a vehicle or get taxi transportation to get from the airport to the resort.

I have no comments about the resport you are staying at. If it's in the world you will be happy. I would never ever stay off site but that is us.

Welcome fellow Winnipegger. Enjoy your trip planning!

 

[buckbart]

Another Wpger here ... planned the most awesome trip to DisneyWorld this past January! Flew WestJet and got a great seat sale $129/one way. That sale is offered for the months of Jan/Feb/early March and Nov/Dec - not sure about August though. When we flew directly out of WPG - it was a direct flight - left at 2pm and got in at 7ish. Return flight was the same - left at 7ish their time (fabulous cause we hung out in the pool at the hotel till we had to leave for the airport) and got in at 11pm our time. I hate using part of my days for travel so this is the best situation for our family.

Definetely check out tourguidemike.com to plan your holiday. It costs $20, but it will be the best $20 you spend. We had the most AMAZING trip and I consider that site to be 99% responsible for the success of our holiday.

We stayed off site at the Sheraton Vistana Villages ... AMAZING condo accomodations and only a short 20 min drive to Disney. We had a full sized kitchen so we ate at the condo most of the time after doing grocery shopping at the nearby store. WE loved it there and would return in a heartbeat. For flight and accomodations out of Wpg, for 1 week, it cost us $2100 total (week of January 12th) We travelled with our 2 children (7 & 4) We used hotwire.com and got a mini van rental, 1 week for $147.

If you have any questions please contact me - i love to share what made our trip such a success.

 

[SaskDisNut]

We have everything but our flights booked, so hopefully there will be some seat sales later on. I'm not sure we'll be flying out of Winnipeg, as there tend to be better deals from Fargo or Minneapolis.
Anyone have any experience with flying out of either of those place?

Hi Alison, we have flown out of Minneapolis before. We drove from Regina and stayed in a hotel that offered a stay, park, and ride deal. Flight prices were so cheap flying from Minneapolis compared to here that we probably saved a $1000 by doing that. I probably wouldn't do it in the winter but when we went in the fall it was great. We were able to do some shopping at the Mall of America the day before we flew out. We booked the earliest flight out of MSP and were in MCO before noon. I think we were in the parks by mid afternoon.

If you are going to fly into MCO then you can take advantage of Disney's Magical Express since you are staying at POFQ. It is a free bus service that takes you from the airport to your Disney resort. They will even deliver your luggage for you if you choose to do that.

Have fun planning!

 

[snarfieca]

Another fellow Winnipeger here.

When we've flown to Orlando, we've flown with Northwest thru Minneapolis and Westjet thru Toronto.

We'll NEVER go thru Toronto again. We had 90 min between the flights and had to get our luggage and go thru customs and security. Very stressfull.

The travelling thru Minneapolis was more relaxing. We had time for a meal. I can't remember why we didn't drive to Minneapolis; maybe it was winter and we were worried about the weather. We did drive to Minneapolis when we went to Anaheim. That worked really well. We stayed in a hotel that had free Park & Fly and free airport pickup.

We're driving to Orlando for our next trip in May.
We're flying out of Minneapolis to Seattle for our Disney cruise to Alaska.

Next year's looking good - as long as it ends after our cruise

 

[aljay]

Ya, I definitely don't like the idea of connecting in Toronto, with having to go through customs, collect our bags, etc.
So ... it'll probably be Fargo (but not on Allegiant, as I would really like to fly in to the main airport and use the Magic Express) or Minneapolis. Since it'll be August, I don't mind the drive to MSP, if I'm saving a lot of money. If it's only saving us a few hundred, we'll fly out of Fargo, as it's more convenient.
Unfortunately WJ doesn't do the direct flight from Winnipeg in the summer.

Thanks for all the advice so far!