Disney vets on the CHEAP??? Um, maybe not---April, 2010--UPDATE Got a great food deal

[daisyx3]

BACKGROUND:We are seasoned WDW vets who have decided to throw together a trip at the last minute for our spring break. I'm a teacher so I can't ever "pull kids out of school" or I would not have a paycheck! And the schools here don't have winter breaks, or jersey week--just Christmas, Easter, and summer.
We weren't going to go at all this year--saving our DVC points for June of 2011 when we celebrate our 25th anniversary. Things were tight last year but DH got a nice raise in December. This is the last spring break our oldest can go with us, as she will be in college next year and on a different schedule. This will be the 3rd Easter in a row we are at WDW, and possibly the last for a few years (often, the school district where I live and where I work have different breaks, as is the case in 2011).
We know enough to handle the crowds, get there early, use fastpasses, etc.
There are 5 of us: DH and I are both 46. DD#1 is 17, DD#2 is 14, and DS is 11. We are staying this time at POR. I know, I know, we'll be cramped! But we aren't in the room much, and we are trying to save a little. It is over a thousand less than the deluxe resorts for the 5 days. I don't get any codes or gift cards because it's Easter week. We will have an air mattress and sleeping bag in case the trundle is inadequate.
We plan to book the QSDD about 10 days before we go. We've never done that before, either--we've done the regular DDP, but we often feel bloated and gross by the end of the week. We have, however, booked Chef Mickey's for Easter--it's a family tradition to eat there at least once every trip--I tried to suggest something else, but the kids and DH wouldn't hear of it.
So here's where we are so far:
We have booked the 5 nights at POR. We will arrive early Saturday. We are driving, which we've only done once before. My plan is to hit the road at 4PM on Thursday 4/1 after school and get to somewhere about 2 hours out of WDW on Friday afternoon--hit a hotel and chill--and leave early Saturday to go check in. Room may not be ready, but we can hit a park. I want to do Epcot that day to see the Turtles at the Flower and Garden festival.
Sunday: Our Easter tradition the last 2 years has been a front row chair at typhoon lagoon! So we'll do that and then eat later in the evening at Chef Mickey's, and close down MK.
Monday: DHS at open. We like to do the big rides first, then chill and relax--best way to do it is at rope drop.
Tuesday: Epcot at open--since we'll have done a lot of WS our first day, we can do the stuff in FW.
Wednesday: MK at open (we will take the bus for this one). On the 3 park days, we can take breaks and go to the room or DD as we want to. We won't spend the whole day at one place.
Thursday: check out and hit a park before we leave about 4PM. Stay in McDonaough (sp?) Georgia or somewhere closer. Drive all day Friday--spend Friday night in with some relatives near Cinci--drive home Saturday.
As you see the driving part is a rough plan--I have a trip tik ordered. But the important stuff is taken care of--we have our water view room reserved with a 2nd floor river view request.
Wish us luck!
Daisyx3

 

[daisyx3]

Well, what a difference a day makes......
I'm sitting here, off sick today...and DH calls me. He's been playing around with expedia (never a good thing). He never really wanted to drive and only was doing it to appease me.
So he wants me to price out airfare. I tell him the dates of our trip are ridiculous--mostly $400 and up, and that's with crappy times. He still wants me to play around with dates, even if we add dates. Figures it will cost $1500 to drive down in the truck with hotels one night each way and food.
So I play around and the best deal I found was going Thursday to Thursday, 4/1 to 4/8. That would add 2 nights to our hotel which would be about another $480 total at POR water view. Plus a small amount to make our 6 day base tickets into 7 day base tickets. And if we do the QSDP it would add another $330 for the 5 of us for 2 days. Plus a rental car--last year we did ME but rented a car onsite for 5 days to get to the parks more quickly and it worked great.
See how the "cheap" starts to disappear?
I found airfare at good times Thursday-Thursday, getting there by 11AM and leaving at 6:30ish, for $1480 at Airtran and $1584 on Southwest--no baggage fees. I'm leaning to Southwest because we can each have a bag that way, and I promised whoever used the trundle we'd take an air mattress and some bedding.
I guess we're still saving $ because we booked POR instead of a deluxe (240 vs. $490-550 a day) and we'll do the QSDP if we do one (the regular DDP would be $45 more a day for the 5 of us, since it's a holiday period).
Updates later.
Daisyx3

 

[marriedtothebeast]

I'm subbing! Can't wait to find out how it all works out and what you ultimately decide to go with for transportation. We are only a 4 hour drive from Orlando, so it's really nice for us. We leave early in the a.m. and arrive with a full day to enjoy. I keep telling my DH he should appreciate the little things like that instead of complaining about my so-called Disney obsession all the time. At least I'm not obsessed with Paris, right?

 

[daisyx3]

Well, the dye is cast....we just booked flights. Actually the southwest flights went DOWN $10 a person since this afternoon so they were $1534. I have found a decent car under $230 for the days we need it but haven't booked it yet.
We now arrive April 1 and leave April 8. So we need to book 2 more days of hotel and 1 more day on our base WDW ticket. That's for tomorrow.
Daisyx3

 

[DLR29]

Ooh, I'm subbing too! We're using the QSDP a couple months after you, so I can't wait to hear how that goes. It's funny how quickly a trip can change (from driving one minute, to flights the next)!

If only the flights went down for our dates! *crosses fingers*

 

[daisyx3]

I added 2 more nights to POR, so we have the full week booked to match our flights. I have rental cars priced out--and am disgusted that my entertainment book deals are nowhere near some other deals I've found! And I set up our ME. We will take ME to the resort and then get picked up by enterprise to get the car--that way we don't have to rent one big enough for our luggage. We also will take it back on day 5 or 6--that way we do every park at rope drop at least once, then just chill and trust the bus system the rest of the week.
I changed our 6 day base tickets to 8 days, since we will be at POR around noon and not leaving on our last day until 3:20. With early hours, we can at least pop into a park every day.
We are still debating QSDP or not! When I bring up possibly sharing meals with the girls (17 and 14), I get whining and long faces--but the reason we booked POR instead of the Dolphin was to get the QSDP! Now, with flying, we want POR anyhow because we can use ME.
Daisyx3

 

[daisyx3]

UPDATE--things are going well--I still haven't started walking and I know I have to make sure I can do Disney distance without blisters or being winded. Our departure date is 2 months from Monday.
So far we still have only booked Chef Mickey's for Easter dinner. We eat at Chef Mickey's every trip. We don't expect gourmet meals, but it's a tradition that even my oldest is not willing to give up. Our last two Easters we have eaten at Yachtsman and Narcoosee's (on the DDP) so this will be different! I have read they do some special things at Easter. I could only book it at 8PM or later. Easter is our Typhoon Lagoon day, so I thought an 8PM time could give us time to rest anyhow--we are usually pretty tired after hours in our favorite thing, the wave pool. Then since we have a car we'll just drive over to the CR, and maybe go to MK after dinner.
My oldest is understanding why we are at POR. She says she'll miss our DVC room from last year, but since we have to pay OOP for a room, at least we will be in Florida for vacation and not Ohio!! And that leaves June of 2011 (our 25th anniversary trip) to look forward to--I will book our home at SSR 11 months out, but hope to switch to a 1BR (they sleep 5) at BLT lake view at 7 months out!)
We did rent our car--Enterprise at the Marriot World Center. They will pick us up at POR. We will have it enough days to do Epcot, DHS, AK and TL at rope drop. Then we'll take it back and chill the rest of the week with the bus system (just the last 2 1/2 days). I got a good rate with the car and driver dsicount code on mousesavers. Much better than my entertainment book!
Still debating QSDP.
Daisyx3

 

[daisyx3]

OH...and found out DH and I will have 4 nights in Orlando ALONE in August for his company convention! We did that last year too. They will put us up at Bonnet Creek resort (which is nice). Last year they paid for a night at Universal, and DH and I bought the front of the line passes (we just had to pay for the upcharge) and got to ride all the major universal rides, since we'd never been there. I'm really hoping this year they take us to Disney, but if we go to Universal again, I'll concentrate on Harry Potter.
We did have a free night last year but we didn't want to pay for one day passes,so we went to DD--it rained like crazy!
Daisyx3

 

[wdwgirl03]

Subbing, we're going in April too right around the same time as you guys!

 

[daisyx3]

Well it's been a while--we've been busily working away and doing kid stuff--one is on the crew of the junior high musical, the middle one finished the high school one act plays and got into the chorus of the spring musical, and the oldest is finalizing college choice.
Today DH decides he wants me to "see" if we can do the regular DDP. Problem is, I doubt I can get what I want, even the places that aren't wildly popular:
Epcot: either Japan, or England, or Mexico, or China (in that order)
DHS: 50s PTC (kids favorite of all time)
resorts: Boma, maybe Kona (a nice alternative to MK places)
and one signature place--I'd like to try California Grill, or Citroico's, or Artist's point. We've been to yachtsman, Narcoosees and flying fish, and those would work too.
But we are only 5 weeks out! So I'm going to play around a little on the website and see if any of it is remotely possible!
Daisyx3

 

[daisyx3]

Well I don't update often....I try to save it until I actually have some plan changes. Here are our latest:
I have decided to cancel the rental car. It was really only to get us to Epcot, AK, DHS and TL at rope drop or before. For $260, I can sweat a couple of bus rides and just pray they run early enough! We actually are going to take a cab to TL and maybe to DHS as well to make sure we get there when we want to. But even at $20 a ride, we save money.
I did spend $100 getting us into the early bird check in club at Southwest for both trips. At our 24 hour mark going I will be at work and sometimes the internet is very slow. At our 24 mark coming home I'll be at Magic Kingdom. This way I don't have to worry about finding somewhere with internet to check in at 24 hours.
We usually have a car drive us up to the Detroit airport but I think we'll just drive up and park the truck for a week--although that entails leaving at about 330, since the plane leaves at 7.
Still no decision on food! I booked some reservations in case we decide to do the regular dining plan (don't worry, I'll cancel them when we make the final decision next Friday). Still debating that, or QSDP, or just paying as we go this time. If we do the DDP, I have us booked at Boma, Teppan Edo, 50s PTC (a favorite of the kids), Chef Mickey's for Easter, and Narcoosee's.
Daisyx3

 

[daisyx3]

BONUS!!!!!
I EMailed our travel agent about getting a specific price to add on quick service or full service dining.
She replied after calling Disney that if we were willing to give up the $500 gift card (for which we added $200 onto our original price, so we were only gaining $300), we could add the full service dining plan for only $888!!!
That is 7 days, for 5 people! By my figures, over Easter, that should cost $1682!!!!
Turns out there is a "broad offer" deal (that is the phrase my TA used) going on now through Saturday. It's not a dining deal, but the package as a whole went down. With the new pricing we could get a week of dining for $888.
We give up the gift card---but by my numbers, we are doing pretty well! If we would have kept the gift card, it still would have cost us another $1682 for dining. So although we lost the $300 we had previously gained, with the food we are saving $500.
(I know--would we have saved if we had given up the gift card and NOT added food--who knows--we wanted to add some kind of food plan and this was cheaper than adding QS!)
Now I'm glad I made those "just in case" TS reservations. I am, however, still trying to add the dessert party--although it begins again on Sunday, as of 10:30 this morning it was not in the computer.
Daisyx3