Won a trip to Disney, now need help choosing dates

[wfeddern]

After many years of wanting to take a trip to Disney in Florida, but not having the funds, I was lucky enough to win an LG sponsored contest, where the prize includes a trip for 4 to disney.

I now have to provide them with some dates I would like to take the trip, and I am assuming they will make a choice (probably based on the cheapest option).

If anyone can suggest what times of year are best to visit, based on weather, crowds, special events, etc. I would really appreciate it.

The prize includes an offsite hotel for 6 nights, car rental, 4 4day park hopper tickets for disney, and airfare from closest airport. Since we are a family of 5, I will be needed to cover the extra cost for our third child. I am hoping that they put me in touch with a travel agent, and that I can make changes and maybe even just stay at one of the Disney resort hotels. I also like the idea of the meal plans and would like to do those.

I am also trying to decide whether we should spend the other days at disney, or maybe universal or other attractions in the area. Or since this will be our first visit, will we likely need the full time to explore the Disney parks?

Our kids are 4, 8, and 15, and everyone is very excited and looking forward to this trip.

Any other advice on planning this trip would be greatly appreciated too.

Walter.

 

[Kae]

After many years of wanting to take a trip to Disney in Florida, but not having the funds, I was lucky enough to win an LG sponsored contest, where the prize includes a trip for 4 to disney.

I now have to provide them with some dates I would like to take the trip, and I am assuming they will make a choice (probably based on the cheapest option).

If anyone can suggest what times of year are best to visit, based on weather, crowds, special events, etc. I would really appreciate it.

The prize includes an offsite hotel for 6 nights, car rental, 4 4day park hopper tickets for disney, and airfare from closest airport. Since we are a family of 5, I will be needed to cover the extra cost for our third child. I am hoping that they put me in touch with a travel agent, and that I can make changes and maybe even just stay at one of the Disney resort hotels. I also like the idea of the meal plans and would like to do those.

I am also trying to decide whether we should spend the other days at disney, or maybe universal or other attractions in the area. Or since this will be our first visit, will we likely need the full time to explore the Disney parks?

Our kids are 4, 8, and 15, and everyone is very excited and looking forward to this trip.

Any other advice on planning this trip would be greatly appreciated too.

Walter.

First Congrats.

We love May. Crowds are Low. Weather can get hot but you can really enjoy the pools. Epcot is beauifull in because of the Flower Fest.

Kae

 

[phabric]

The timing will depend on if you want to take the kids out of school for the trip outside of school breaks.

 

[maryliz]

CONGRATS! Early-mid Nov is awesome! It's after Food/Wine Festival and the Halloween stuff but before US Thanksgiving. GREAT time to go ... weather is usually perfect.

Have fun planning!

 

[Disney-Chick]

We always go every year the beginning of Dec. The weather is a hit or miss but the crowds aren't that bad. Then again I don't like the heat. We went in Feb. and it was hot. I didn't mind it but I would rather have sat in the shade then stand in line.

As for doing other parks (universal etc) I found when we went the first time for a week doing the Disney parks was enough. But if you really want to do Universal then you could do what we did. Universal in the day and a Disney park at night. If you go non-peak as we do the lines aren't that bad at Universal. For instance the first week of Feb just before President's Day the lines for Universal were short (DD did the hulk 10 times with only a 5 min wait) then the week of President's Day the Hulk was 80 min wait.

We also like to see Disney along with the other parks done up for Christmas.

Congrats on the win. I would love to win a trip.

 

[twinz]

For early December just make sure you check and see when the Cheerleading convention/competition is on. We've been a few times around then and found it a bit more busy due to the teens and preteens in the parks.

 

[minnie mum]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
You have so many decisions to make, so take it slow and have fun with it!!
1. Picking dates: check out the various sites that show when the resorts have value season. These are generally during the least crowded times of the year (we like early Feb or late Sept). A free site to look at is easywdw.com.
2. Extra park pass- naturally you will choose to pay for your youngest child. You should be able to manage the parks easily without park hoppers if you plan well. And the Dis boards is a fabulous way to learn tips.
3. I would seriously consider spending the whole trip at WDW for two reasons. First: you havent been before, and WDW is HUGE. You really need 2 days each at Magic Kingdom and Epcot to experience everything. Plus a day each at AK and HS. Look into how much it will cost to expand your park tickets from 4 to 6 days. You may be surprised at how little it costs.(But then everything is relative) Second: US/IOA is REALLY expensive as a one or two day side trip. We had looked at going this trip for just one day to see WWOHP and it was $300 just for the 2 of us for tickets and transportation.
4. Meal plans- we have used the DDP (1 CS, 1 TS, 1 snack) for the last 3 or 4 visits. Wouldn't be without one. Since we enjoy a relaxing table service dinner every night it more than pays for itself. If you can get by with counter service meals, it may be more affordable for you to buy the Quick Service plan. Highly recommend them.
5. Hotel site: if you can persuade them to change your hotel to an onsite value resort then go for it. They have family suites that I believe can sleep 5.

Good luck and I hope you all have a fabulous and magical vacation

 

[DaniB]

Congrats Walter!!

I agree with the PP who suggested making this a Disney only trip. We went last year for the first time, and there is just so much to do. You really do need to spend at least a full day at each of the 4 parks at the minimum. An extra day at Epcot and MK are definately recommended. Epcot itself is like 2 parks - Future World & World Showcase. Each can take their own day of exploring.

6 nights = 7 days. Depending on your flight times, you may find yourselves unable to visit a park on our arrival, depature or even both of those days. Mostly like you'll be able to spend at least 1/2 a park day on 1 or both of those days.

As for the park tickets, it only costs $5.33 per person to add a 5th day. $10.66 per person if you were adding a 5th & 6th day. Well worth it! You can do this once you are at Disney.

If you can pull the children out of school, we found September great! Everyone says it's very very hot, but I never found it worse than here (Toronto area). And the crowds are at the lowest.

If you need to go during summer - go the last couple weeks of August. The crowds will be slightly less than the rest of summer as kids are back-to-school there. And the low resort rates start Aug 14th to sept 29th.

Mid-Sept starts Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party on select nights at MK. It requires a seperate ticket however that costs about $50-$55 each.

If they'll let you stay on-site, that would be really nice! The only value resort that allows 5 people currently is the All-Star Music suites ($195). Staying on-site lets you have access to the EMH (morning is great) and allows you to purchase the DDP.

 

[snowangel72]

wow. congrats. That is so cool.

My g/f always goes the week before American Thanksgiving and there are NO LINES. OMG. I am always so envious.

We have never been to Universal. It's WAY too expensive!

 

[Happy Mom2]

Congratulations!!! How exciting this must be for you and your family!

We just went to Disney for the first time last December. The best advice I can give you is to read everything you can get your hands on. These boards were a huge help to me.

We went the week after American Thanksgiving. We got to enjoy all the wonderful Christmas decorations, attend the MVMCP, had wonderful weather and little to no lines!!!

Dining plans are only available to those staying at Disney resorts.

Have fun with your planning!!

 

[Sue M]

Congrats on winning! How cool. I don't know what dates you can go with kids in school. Spring Break & Christmas vacation are very crowded times to go to Disney. I go late January - I have a semester break. Crowds are low after New Years in Jan & Feb. I've heard early Dec or Nov (excluding U.S. Thanksgiving) are good too. We also go late August, it's hot, but crowds are lower.

I don't know if your going to be able to switch to a WDW resort for your prize package, as the WDW resorts are much more expensive then off site. Also there is only 1 moderate resort that will fit a family of 5, or the deluxe resorts.
There are family suites at one of the AllStar value resorts.
Whether they would let you switch, and pay the difference plus you would also have to pay for the dining plan too. You can ask, all they can say is no.

I agree with upgrading your park tickets when you get there to a 5 day- or 6 depending on flight times, but you'll have 5 full days + 2 travel days.
You won't have time to go visit elsewhere. So I'd just plan on going to Disney. There are 4 parks within WDW, and it's big. Ideally you should go to
MK 2 days
Epcot 2 days
DHS 1 day
AK 1 day

If you only have 5 days, I'd go to MK 2, & all the rest 1 day.

Lucky you! Have a great time.

 

[sahmoffour]

Congratulations! What an awesome thing to win!

My advice;

We're going at the end of September. Crowd levels are at their lowest, weather is starting to get a bit cooler. Not so much cooler temperatures, but lower humidity so it doesn't feel quite as hot. Highs around 30 but humidity's back down to 50%ish versus the 90% that they have in the summer.

Subscribe to touringplans.com!! It's been a lifesaver for me in terms of deciding which park to visit on which day. It tells you what the projected crowd levels will be for each park, and recommends which park will be the best park to visit that day.

Pour over these sites! I've learned soooo much information here that will make a huge impact on our holiday! That's the best advice I can give you.

Upgrade to staying on-site and adding the dining plan if you can. The dining plan really does save you money and is convenient. It's also nice to be able to look at a menu and order anything off of it, versus scanning to see what the lower priced options are.

To look at what crowd levels are generally like, you can have a peek here:
http://**************.net/planning-your-first-family-trip/when-to-go/next-best-dates/weeks-to-visit-ranked-in-order/estimating-walt-disney-world-crowds/

Have fun!

 

[alohamom]

WOW-congratulations Walter and family! What a lovely thing to have happen. All the above posts have great advice, keep in mind the hurricanes can come anything between mid July/early August straight through to mid-October. We have gone a few times in the first week of December and the crowds are usually fairly light.This can make such a huge difference in your park experience so you are very wise to have asked this. The time between American Thanksgiving and a few weeks before Christmas are tradionally good. Enjoy your great win!

 

[Nahanni]

Congrats!

It doesn't sound like they have given you all the logistics yet so I'm sure planning will be easier once you know who you are dealing with and what you can book. Hopefully you get more input than here's our dates and they assign everything else. Keep us updated and I'm sure you'll get more tips.

If you can, you might want to book your prize flights as 1A & 3C (and park tickets as 3A & 1C) with the other parent booking separate flight - just in case you can't get on the same flight.

Agree with others, you will find plenty to do at Disney for a 6 nights stay and you can add more days to your 4 day pass onsite at low cost. Universal or SeaWorld will add $70+ per person.

If we did not have to consider missing school, my favourite time would be mid-November as well. The weather is generally mid to high 20's, crowds lower, Christmas decorations are very festive and the extra attractions (Osbourne lightshow at HS, Candlelight Processional at Epcot).

Summer is really crowded until mid-August when Florida students return to school (you will see the changes in park hours and resort pricing). It will still be unbelievably hot but makes it really nice to enjoy the pools.

 

[3pletprincesses]

Beginning of May or October are the best in my opinion. Try to avoid summer months as it's HOT and humid

 

[networktek]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! we love going in december or for holloween

 

[wfeddern]

They are offering us the option of taking a cheque for the value of the vacation, so that will make things much easier. We are now thinking maybe late September, and staying at one of the Disney resorts.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far on dates. Will be doing a lot more reading to work out the rest of the details. I think planning everything will be half the fun though

 

[minnie mum]

Getting the cash value for the prize WILL make planning your vacation SO much easier. Unfortunately, I believe all of the special vacation sales have finished for now. But hang in there, they are bound to come out with a new promotion soon. Don't know, from past promotions,what the next one might be:room discount or free dining.
I think your choice of late Sept is a great one. I just finished making all of our ADRs today for our visit that starts Sept 25th. I'm excited already.
If your children don't already have passports, you might want to get on that soon (since they won't be eligible for the shorter passport renewal forms). They can sometimes take a while to come through. I know it's still 6 months away, but you definitely don't want to leave it too late.
Have fun with your planning. I sometimes think I get as big a charge out that as I get out of being there!!

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

Congrats on the trip. I'm another one for May. Great weather and low crowds. We have taken our kids out of school 2 times for may and one time for christmas and that was a zoo. May for me from now on. If you don't purchase the extra day park tickets. there is universal, the space center, sea world, busch gardens. As others have said lots to do but for me i would get the extra days in disney.