WON a TRIP

[jjhaze]

So here it goes, my first post!! WE won a trip to DISNEYWORLD! Would love some feedback, we live in Canada! Staying 4 nights in Polynesian and one night in Cinderella's castle suite!!!! What a dream come true.. We have extended our trip a couple nights at Art of Animation! We do not qualify for free dining since we won our trip.. any thoughts on cheap dining, ect would be greatly appreciated!!!!

 

[FiggieFan]

Wow! Congrats! A night in Cinderella's Castle Suite is a dream come true! Some of the quick service places are really good - we really liked Columbia Harbor House in MK and EPCOT has great places to eat. A lot of people like Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney. To keep costs down, we usually eat a cheaper, quick service breakfast at the hotel and then do an early dinner (usually table service). If we get hungry before then, we pick up a snack such as a smoothie, pretzel, etc. We find it is actually too much food to get three full meals a day, but that is just us. If you are looking to cut costs and want to some table service restaurants, maybe you could avoid buffets and split some entrees and appetizers. We love Raglan Road which is in Downtown Dis but it is a lot of food so we always split the shepherd's pie so we can have some bread pudding. Have a great time!

 

[MEK]

Congratulations! That is really wonderful and I hope you and your family have a fantastic stay.

One thing I have found that works well for me when I'm not on a dining plan is to put money on a Disney gift card before I leave home. I use that to pay for meals. It give me a better idea of how much I am spending.

You could consider doing a grocery delivery to your resort. There are several in the area. This could supply you with breakfast items, water, and snacks.

One again, congratulations for your good fortune.

 

[papertraveller]

So wonderful -- that truly is a dream come true!

Not sure how long until you leave, but my advice is to do some quick research on the restaurants and decide on whether you'd like to have any character meals. Since you won the trip, perhaps Disney can offer some more pixie dust.

For regular meals around the monorail line, we love the 'Ohana dinner, and since you're at the Poly it's worth doing. We also love Narcoosee at the Grand Floridian, and The Wave at the Contemporary.

In Epcot our favourite is the Biergarten, followed by Via Napoli. In Hollywood Studios our favourite is Brown Derby, followed by 50s PrimeTime Diner (with a shout-out to Sci Fi for the kids).

Read up as much as you can here, and keep asking questions. We all love to help!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I just wanted to say a big congratulations on winning such a wonderful prize! But the curiosity is killing me.....how did you win it? What contest did you enter?

Do try and make an ADR for the character breakfast at Ohana while you are at the Poly. Its a family favourite for us, and a must-do on each trip.

 

[weswife]

AWESOME!!!! Congrats!

I agree what are the details? How did you win a Disney trip!!!!

 

[jjhaze]

I won the trip through a travel agent contest. I am a travel agent and love everything Disney, it was a timed quiz, daily for about a week regarding the new Fantasyland! I did my best and about a month ago received word that I was the Grand prize winner! We are very excited. I have kids ages 5 &8! Thanks for all the input. I have tried to make reservations that week at Ohana and am not having any luck
What are your thoughts on the luau at the poly? Kona? Generally how many sit down meals do you have during a week stay? I like the idea of the grocery to the resort! Thanks again for all your input

 

[Fivers]

I also have to say congratulations, that is so exciting!

As for dining there, for breakfasts I usually bring some cereal and oatmeal with me in my suitcase, then just buy milk there and/or use the coffee maker to heat up water for oatmeal. Usually once or twice a trip we'll grab a cookie and a muffin or something the day before either from the parks or from DtD and have that the next day for breakfast. Otherwise we usually do quick service, with two or three nicer meals a trip. And I concur with the PPs that suggested sharing, at most of those restaurants there's usually more than enough food, and you can indulge in some yummy Disney snacks that way too!

When is your trip? I've only been to WDW twice, both times in off-season (early April and early May), but for ADRs I've found that most places will be completely booked up, but then starting around two weeks out from when we leave, people will start shifting around their reservations and spots will start opening up. Last trip we went from not being able to get anything a month or so out, to having reservations open at almost every restaurant (except for Be Our Guest of course!) a couple of days before we left. With kids it's probably tougher, but if you can be a little flexible on timing, hopefully something will open up for you!

I hope you have an absolutely fantastic trip!

 

[MEK]

What are your thoughts on the luau at the poly? Kona? Generally how many sit down meals do you have during a week stay? I like the idea of the grocery to the resort! Thanks again for all your input

I have not done the luau, but it does tend to get mixed reviews.

Kona has an excellent breakfast and also dinner. I don't think you would be disappointed.

The Wave (at the Contemporary) also have very good food - breakfast and dinner. It's not as popular as some other themed restaurants, but the food quality is good.

If I have the dinning plan I will do one sit down a day. Now I have TIW (tables in wonderland) but I don't necessary feel I have to do a sit down every day. I do think they tend to be time consuming. So, it depends on your preferences. You can always make one a day and cancel if you find you don't want to go. Some of the more popular restaurants regular credit card holds.

You can also switch it up and do a sit-down character breakfast or a sit-down lunch.

One thing you may not think of is the breakfast buffet at Cape May Cafe. I often schedule a late breakfast here on my Epcot day. Head to Epcot in the am, do some rides then around 10:30 -ish head out the IG over to the Beach Club. It's a great meal and also a nice opportunity to see a different resort area.

 

[My 2 princesses]

Congrats! How cool is that

 

[littlenellbell]

Congratulations on winning a trip! I also won a trip and get to stay in the Cinderella Castle Suite!!! Isn't it so exciting! We go on our trip in September and stay in the castle on September 24th during MNSSHP! The other nights we get to stay at the Yacht Club. Seems we had a lot in common, I also have 2 kids ages 8 and 5. We just took a trip in February and I never expected to be going back so soon! This will be the first time we don't have the free dining plan, so I'm also researching ways to save and the best counter service meals. We'll probably do 1-2 table service and counter service for the rest of the meals. We won our trip through a Delta Vacations Sweepstakes.

I just had to share in your excitement! When is your trip?

 

[dennise]

We have done the luau, it was the only thing Disney that did not impress us, we actually left before it was over. I don't like chicken cooked well and what we were served was quite pink, in fact red at the bone. Pink is good in steak, but not chicken. The Hoop de Doo was fantastic, the food was good and the entertaniment really funny.

 

[jjhaze]

Sorry for the delayed response, I am getting so excited!!!!
Thank you to everyone for their advice!! We are staying at the castle on the
25th, one night after you!!!! I am so pleased to have won
But to be honest a little scared. I have lupus and worried about
My stamina, this is a trip of a lifetime for us and I want it to be perfect.
Everyone I know says "rent a scooter" but I'm resisting. I'm young. This wasn't
In the plans...

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Sorry for the delayed response, I am getting so excited!!!!
Thank you to everyone for their advice!! We are staying at the castle on the
25th, one night after you!!!! I am so pleased to have won
But to be honest a little scared. I have lupus and worried about
My stamina, this is a trip of a lifetime for us and I want it to be perfect.
Everyone I know says "rent a scooter" but I'm resisting. I'm young. This wasn't
In the plans...

My personal opinion....rent the scooter. For the trip of a lifetime, its a small thing on your part that will probably make a HUGE difference on how you enjoy your amazing vacation. And it will help your family's enjoyment, too, I'll bet, 'cause I know for my fellas, if one of us is suffering in any way, it impacts the enjoyment for everyone.

Be kind to your body. I don't have lupus, and a day mugging around the Disney parks (or any of the Orlando parks) can severely test MY stamina . Rent that scooter .

 

[Babsy]

saving money on food is something that we work on every visit because we never find free dining to work economically for us. RO discounts work much better in our experience.

We like to eat breakfast "on the run' while we get ready in the morning. We have small boxes of cereal, peanut butter, a loaf of bread, milk and fruit in the room and make breakfast from that.
Then we eat a large buffet lunch midday when the parks are busiest, followed by a rst/swim at the resort. Then it's back to the parks where we pick up an inexpensive dinner at counter service, or snacks as we stroll around world showcase in Epcot.

We do sometimes have one day with a character breakfast and a fancy sit down dinner with little or no lunch. Only drink water, don't waste money buying drinks and you bwill save $$$ as well. Buy or brink a water bottle and fill up at fountains or as for water at counter service and fill bottle from that.

If you really need a soft drink, you can get free sample ones (small cups though) in Epcot. perhaps not typical ones for North America, but we like them. Yes, even Beverly!

If your fridge is working you can get Garden grocer or WeGoShop to deliver some grocery/snack items to your hotel.

Enjoy you experience! I am so jealous about the Cinderella Castle suite! I would love to stay there someday!!

 

[littlenellbell]

Sorry for the delayed response, I am getting so excited!!!!
Thank you to everyone for their advice!! We are staying at the castle on the
25th, one night after you!!!! I am so pleased to have won
But to be honest a little scared. I have lupus and worried about
My stamina, this is a trip of a lifetime for us and I want it to be perfect.
Everyone I know says "rent a scooter" but I'm resisting. I'm young. This wasn't
In the plans...

WOW how cool you get to stay in the castle the night after us! I was secretly hoping no one would be checking in after us so we could beg to stay another night. Seriously we are just so thankful for the night we do get.
I think you should get the scooter. You can always park it and it will be there if you need it. One thing we are planning on doing to help with our stamina is to relax the whole morning prior to checking into the castle. They are not picking us up until 3pm, so we are going to sleep in, relax and maybe do some swimming. We have a park hopper pass for that day, but I want the kids to be fully rested so they are able to enjoy the night without being so tired. If we do get tired, at least we will have a gorgeous suite to relax in. I think it will be awesome to be out enjoying MNSSHP with our private guide, yet at the same time hard not to leave the castle. I also want to get the family up and moving pretty early the next morning so we can get some good pictures out in front of the castle without any people. We have breakfast at CRT scheduled for 9am.
Hope you have a great time!!

 

[susanv]

Congratulations!!! That sounds like the trip of a lifetime! I would definitely go with the scooter. I don't know what Lupus is like, but I have been when very pregnant and if you are worried about stamina would love the back up - even if you don't use it.

Have been to the Luau 3 times. 7 year old son requests it EVERYTIME. It's not the food that attracts us it is the firedancer at the very end that mesmerizes us (although the food is decent, not fantastic but decent). One way we have found to save money is to book a really late lunch buffet - like 2 pm - and then use it like a combination lunch/dinner and then just have a snack in the room or parks later.

Have a SUPER time!