Booking a trip, advice desperately sought

[rhysd2]

Hello all

Phew where to start. Last trip was in 2004 and due to a variety of reasons have been out of the loop since then. After initially planning to not take the children when they got older we've decided next year we'll go earlier than planned and treat us all. Have been three times before but never stayed on site and have many many questions I'd appreciate some help with.

1. Do you save much typically booking things separately? IE book the hotel with disney then wait for flights to be released. Virgin are offering packages already for the time of year we're going but everyone else seems to be waiting for flights.

2. We plan to go mid/late sept or early October. Generally are these periods all similar busyness wise and price wise? Or is there another time period around then thats worth considering?

3. We're looking at a moderate hotel (with maybe upgrading the dining plan from quick service to standard). Initially I was looking at the Caribbean resort but the idea of building work has put me off so now looking at Port Orleans French Quarter. My main concern with the moderate hotels is they seem fairly far from the parks. Is the bus journey as short as they claim or do the buses tend to be infrequent? I am not adverse to upgrading to a nicer hotel if the travel times are that much better (my children will be 6 and 3 so dont want to be waiting long times to get back to the room for rests etc).

4. Is the port orelans hotel a nice hotel/good choice? (assuming the answer above is the journey to parks isnt awful).

5. Will the dining plan offer really end Oct 19th as claimed on the site or will a similar offer just replace it? mindful my flights might not be out by the time the offer ends. The dining plan isn't essential for us but just makes planning and budgeting easier whilst booking, and whilst there.

I think thats all for now but I'm sure I'll have more to add as I go along. Thank you in advance for all the help.

Rhys

 

[rhysd2]

Sorry thought of some more.

6. Premium hotel wise the option I looked at was animal kingdom lodge. How is this hotel and hows transport to and from it?

7. Has anyone used touringplans.com to choose a time and plan their visit? a colleague did and raved about it but was curious of other reviews.

 

[pickers1982]

my experience is booking it yourself is much cheaper. just did a comparison on a virgin holiday and it was over 30% more expensive for 6 less days. gives you the option of being creative with various frequent flyer schemes. it does add a layer of stress but you can save a lot. disney are great if you need to change dates too.

loved animal kingdom as a hotel, but for me some of the bus journeys seemed a bit long (some people don't mind).

I 've signed up for touring plans and is useful but must admit I probably haven't really delved into it yet other than the busy day calendar.

 

[disneyholic family]

Hello all

Phew where to start. Last trip was in 2004 and due to a variety of reasons have been out of the loop since then. After initially planning to not take the children when they got older we've decided next year we'll go earlier than planned and treat us all. Have been three times before but never stayed on site and have many many questions I'd appreciate some help with.

1. Do you save much typically booking things separately? IE book the hotel with disney then wait for flights to be released. Virgin are offering packages already for the time of year we're going but everyone else seems to be waiting for flights.

2. We plan to go mid/late sept or early October. Generally are these periods all similar busyness wise and price wise? Or is there another time period around then thats worth considering?

3. We're looking at a moderate hotel (with maybe upgrading the dining plan from quick service to standard). Initially I was looking at the Caribbean resort but the idea of building work has put me off so now looking at Port Orleans French Quarter. My main concern with the moderate hotels is they seem fairly far from the parks. Is the bus journey as short as they claim or do the buses tend to be infrequent? I am not adverse to upgrading to a nicer hotel if the travel times are that much better (my children will be 6 and 3 so dont want to be waiting long times to get back to the room for rests etc).

4. Is the port orelans hotel a nice hotel/good choice? (assuming the answer above is the journey to parks isnt awful).

5. Will the dining plan offer really end Oct 19th as claimed on the site or will a similar offer just replace it? mindful my flights might not be out by the time the offer ends. The dining plan isn't essential for us but just makes planning and budgeting easier whilst booking, and whilst there.

I think thats all for now but I'm sure I'll have more to add as I go along. Thank you in advance for all the help.

Rhys

1. we usually book the hotel/ticket package separate from flights...but i know there are people who do it all together... .hopefully others will offer opinions on this

2. personally, i like sept/october a lot...you have the halloween party, and the parks are slightly less crowded than the summer...and the weather maybe be a bit more manageable - of course, you can get a hurricane as evidenced by irma..

3. why do you say the moderates are far from the parks?
while some deluxe resorts are close to one park, they're also a distance from the others...
there is no resort that will be near all the parks...the parks are spread out on disney property...
if price is no object for you, and you plan on upgrading to the full free dining, then by all means, look at the deluxe resorts....
since your kids are small, you may want to be close to the magic kingdom.....
the closest you can be is the contemporary resort - you can actually walk from there....or you can take the monorail...

4. the port orleans resorts are nice....there are two - port orleans riverside and port orleans french quarter.....they're both nice....
french quarter is much smaller than riverside so more manageable i think....and the pool at french quarter is nice for little kids...
i don't know about bus service from the port orleans resorts as i always hire a car..

5. the UK free dining plan will indeed end on the day they say it's going to end.
No they will not replace it with another free dining plan....
they will probably offer some other sort of incentive (lower rates, etc).
As far as free dining goes, it's sometimes offered by disney.com (the american disney, rather than disney UK).
The american free dining offer is usually much closer to the dates. if they offer it, it's offered say at the end of april for that september.
But by that point, you're late to make your restaurant reservations (which can be made 6 months in advance)..

6. Animal Kingdom Lodge is very nice. both adults and kids like it. However, keep in mind that the cheap free dining rate does not have an animal view from your room.
animal kingdom lodge is the resort that is the furthest from all the disney parks - other than animal kingdom of course. I don't know how bus service is, as i always hire a car.

7. i know lots of people use touring plans. We didn't, but that doesn't mean what we did was the correct thing to do.

 

[rhysd2]

Thank you both. Lots to think about there. Sounds like animal kingdom lodge might not be our best option. Looking at an actual road map of disney port orelans is a lot closer to things than I thought and the french quarter does sound appealing (I should have looked at a road map rather than assuming as the crow flies). I guess I could hire a car but would prefer to avoid it as it's nice to have a break from driving for me when away.

I did find some good prices for animal kingdom lodge for mid sept with the savannah upgrade on virgin but if we'll save 30% booking separately that would for sure be worth looking at. Just so hard to gauge then what the cost is without knowing the price of flights. Do you have a rough guide on what flights per person tend to cost you in sept? Appreciate they are likely to change, but a guide price is useful.

I guess the only downside there is having to pay for your flights all up front.

thank you for all the help so far.

 

[disneyholic family]

i'm not in the UK, so i can't give you an idea of what good flight prices are....(i'm in israel, so i have completely different flights)...

one of the board moderators is on holiday right now - he's very knowledgeable about flight pricing......hopefully, you can pick his brain when he gets back..

you don't have to hire a car....i know lots of people who only use buses...
in fact, for many years, i used only buses....and it's fine..
and there are alternatives if you have to get to a restaurant or something and you don't want to use the buses (uber/lyft/disney's new minnie vans for money -currently only offered at a few select resorts)...

good luck....i know how very daunting all of this is...

we just got back from 3 weeks at WDW - on the UK free dining package (followed by a 3 night cruise on the disney dream)...
planning for that trip had me freaking out more than once along the way!!!
..

 

[disneyholic family]

i forgot to say that our 3 weeks at WDW on the UK free dining package was at the saratoga springs resort - in a 2 bedroom....really nice...
we really enjoyed that resort...

my kids used the buses there a lot and were happy with them most of the time

.

 

[rhysd2]

Thank you that's incredibly helpful. If it was their second or third trip I wouldn't be so worried. But desperately want to get this first one totally spot on. Plus with so many years out of the loop there's a lot to catch up on. Going to google some average flight prices I think and then give do Disney a call tomorrow evening to see what's available as there seem to be limited hotels on the website for the time period I'm looking at.

Had I kept up with flight prices I wouldn't be finding it so hard!

 

[Skippyboo]

What parks would you be spending most of your time at? Based on the ages of your kids, MK and/or AK I would guess. If travel time to the parks is your main priority, then look at the parks right around MK-Contemporary, Poly, Grand Floridian and Wilderness Lodge, AK- AKL.

The moderates are normally pretty spread out so you may have a 10 to 15 minute walk from your room to the main building where the bus stops and food court are. You can pay more for a preferred building to get closer.

I love AKL. I will be there next week for my third visit in the last three years. The theming is excellent, the restaurants are really good. I love the interior corridors and the relative quiet halls. Plus all the animals to see. The buses are not to bad. There are separate covered waiting areas for each park. The bus to AK is super quick. Epcot/HS is about 10-15 minutes. The longest trip is to MK. So if you are planning only a day at AK but 5 at MK, then you probably don't want to stay at AKL.

 

[rhysd2]

What parks would you be spending most of your time at? Based on the ages of your kids, MK and/or AK I would guess. If travel time to the parks is your main priority, then look at the parks right around MK-Contemporary, Poly, Grand Floridian and Wilderness Lodge, AK- AKL.

The moderates are normally pretty spread out so you may have a 10 to 15 minute walk from your room to the main building where the bus stops and food court are. You can pay more for a preferred building to get closer.

I love AKL. I will be there next week for my third visit in the last three years. The theming is excellent, the restaurants are really good. I love the interior corridors and the relative quiet halls. Plus all the animals to see. The buses are not to bad. There are separate covered waiting areas for each park. The bus to AK is super quick. Epcot/HS is about 10-15 minutes. The longest trip is to MK. So if you are planning only a day at AK but 5 at MK, then you probably don't want to stay at AKL.

How long is the bus from AKL to MK Skippyboo? Until I looked at the road map earlier I don't think I appreciated how far AKL is away. Though like you I love the look of it and the theming.

I'm not adverse to paying for a preferred room. I love also the idea of New Orleans themeing.

I see us visiting MK a lot with a smattering of studios and then animal kingdom thrown in and maybe a day in Epcot. I did look at staying at one near MK but the price jump from AKL upto those was considerable online. I think I'll be giving Disney a ring tomorrow evening to see if what's online is all there is or if there's other offers/rooms available. Or other date combinations or some such that would give me that option of being near MK. It maybe I've left it too late and the rooms for this offer on my time period are just gone. Hopefully not though. Pretty much all the resorts around MK look fantastic so wouldn't be picky as to which.

 

[rhysd2]

Aha I see why now. All the places around MK are club level rooms. A phone call tomorrow night is definitely in order!

 

[Skippyboo]

I would say the bus ride is about 20 minutes. It will take a little longer at park closing because they will load that bus up until it's full. What about Wilderness Lodge? It has boat access to MK and it's usually less expensive than the monorail resorts.

 

[Monorail_Man_NJ]

As far as moderates go POFQ is the best choice IMHO. It also has the boat ride to Disney Springs which is nice.
For a few dollars more you could book AKL (standard view) and stay in a deluxe.

Always check to make sure FREE DINING is cheaper than ROOM DISCOUNTS. With free dining you need to pay full price for room and also need to purchase park hoppers. Also if you go the Free Dining route remember that Deluxe resorts give you TS credits whereas Moderates do not. Also POFQ is very often NOT INCLUDED with certain discounts due to its small size and hidden gem status.

 

[elaine amj]

How long is your trip? We were just there and booked under UK free dining for 2 weeks. We stayed at Saratoga Springs. It was 15 mins from AK, 20 mins from MK, 10 mins from DHS and Epcot. Sure we had to travel but it was no big deal, especially since we were in no rush given that it was a longer trip.

It was the absolute best discount for us. SSR was lovely and having a Villa was so nice. I considered WL and AKL because I love them, but ultimately decided it was better to save the money.

 

[disneyholic family]

As far as moderates go POFQ is the best choice IMHO. It also has the boat ride to Disney Springs which is nice.
For a few dollars more you could book AKL (standard view) and stay in a deluxe.

Always check to make sure FREE DINING is cheaper than ROOM DISCOUNTS. With free dining you need to pay full price for room and also need to purchase park hoppers. Also if you go the Free Dining route remember that Deluxe resorts give you TS credits whereas Moderates do not. Also POFQ is very often NOT INCLUDED with certain discounts due to its small size and hidden gem status.

what you wrote about the tickets isn't true for a UK visitor.
we have different tickets from those available in the US.
our 14 and 21 day ultimate tickets include park hopper in them....we have unlimited entry into all the parks on any day..
our tickets also include memory maker which the US tickets do not.

 

[disneyholic family]

Thank you that's incredibly helpful. If it was their second or third trip I wouldn't be so worried. But desperately want to get this first one totally spot on. Plus with so many years out of the loop there's a lot to catch up on. Going to google some average flight prices I think and then give do Disney a call tomorrow evening to see what's available as there seem to be limited hotels on the website for the time period I'm looking at.

Had I kept up with flight prices I wouldn't be finding it so hard!

since you have been out of the loop for so long it is very important for you to read as much as you can about pre-planning...
a disney holiday now requires a great deal of pre-planning for it to be completely successful...
if you're going to be on the full dining plan (not quick service), then you will need to book your ADRs (AKA restaurant reservations) 180 days before your arrival..

and then at 60 days you'll have to book your fastpasses..
fastpasses are now electronic and linked to your ticket..
go to the theme park disboard and read the Fastpass thread to learn about what they are, how you book them and how you use them..

on our 3 week UK free dining holiday we just returned from, as i mentioned, we were at the Saratoga Springs Resort..
there were 8 of us on this trip....6 adults and 2 young toddlers - ages 2 and 3.5

we were in two 2 bedroom villas there....my son, daughter in law and the two grandkids in one, and my daughter, son in law and us in the other...

saratoga has great swimming pools and fun activities....
the two grandkids were just as happy at the resort as at the parks...
swimming and going to the community hall for activites...
and also taking the boat to disney springs..

you didn't mention how long you're planning to be there..

.

 

[pickers1982]

akl is a lovely resort if you plan to spend a lot of time at resort and has my favourite restaurants there. In disney a lot of what you pay for us location. I think it would be very expensive if it was slightly nearer things so you get a lot for your money.

when we went out view was of the car park which isn't magical however we asked if there were any views available and the moved us but lots of viewing areas available

buses really aren't too bad just means if I was staying there I'd be less likely to nip back to the hotel.

Will definitely stay there again when my kids are older.

easier said than done but try not to stress as I love all the hotels.

 

[disneyholic family]

i agree about loving all the hotels..
since my first visit in 1974, i've stayed in almost every one and they're all nice in their own way...
your children will not be disappointed in any of the resorts..

.

 

[rhysd2]

Morning all. Phew that's a lot of info to digest thank you!

Firstly. We'll be there 14 nights.

AKL and saratoga springs do sound very nice but if I can get a shade closer to MK that'd be preferred as I think the ability to nip back and forth would be beneficial with my children being on the younger side.

Hotel wise while I'd like a deluxe I think we'll not be in the room a ton so happy to sacrifice duplexes for location.

Planning wise thank you for the heads up on that. I'd already read up on the pre booking meals and fast passes ahead of time just seems like my last hurdle is the hotel itself.

From speaking to a friend last night (and some googling) who goes every year around £550 per person seems an average flight price to budget. So I need to give Disney a ring today and price up what hotels I can get as part of this free dining plan offer and then maybe get some prices outside of that offer to see how they compare. As based on that flight price looks a good saving to book separately.

 

[disneyholic family]

if you're not going deluxe, then all of the resorts are pretty much near each other...

since you're doing free dining, my picks for you (assuming they're available during your dates) would be either Port Orleans French Quarter, or a studio at Saratoga Springs..

Keep in mind that the rates for Saratoga Springs and Old Key West are the only ones that are discounted for the UK free dining package.

The studios at Old Key West are especially roomy. And with Old Key West and Saratoga Springs you get the full dining plan included for free. At Port Orleans you'll have to add on money to upgrade to the full dining plan.

Make sure you compare apples to apples when you look at the rates.

.