**September 2019**

I booked the Cabins for 9/23-9/27 but don't tell my husband (yet)! When we're 6-9 months out, he always says heck no (he's a serious crowd-hater though he acknowledges the Disney magic), and then when we get closer (like within the 60 day FP window) he changes his tune. I figure worst-case I can just take the kids and maybe convince my SIL to join.
 
Just popping over to check in with my September friends. I know y'all are tired of the snow but it sure would have been nice to have actually gotten some down here in the south. My hubby loves the snow and is like a little kid when we actually get some.

Yes, my kids (NW of Atlanta) would also have killed for a snow day! Actually, we got one, but it was 42 degrees so (shocker) it did not, in fact, snow. I was pretty annoyed that the schools had told them it was going to snow and they came home excited and I had to explain that no, it was just going to rain for the 5000th time this winter.
 
Finally, finally, FINALLY going back to the World! DH, DS (9) as well as my sister and her BF are all going Sept 17 to 24 - staying at WL! Can NOT wait!!

Can anyone tell me if we know specifics on end date of Illuminations vs start of new show? I'm afraid we're going to fall in between the old one ending and something new starting...
I haven't seen dates yet. Added to roll call!

We will be staying All Star Music September 17-23.....My first trip! :tongue::tongue:
Added to roll call - first trips are so exciting!

Hi. Looking forward to September and have already started about thinking where we are eating. I believe we make those reservations next month, is that correct?
Can I please ask you to update my stay?
js and karensi - September 6-14 Grand Floridian Villas (we just booked last week since we are DVC and had to wait for 7 months).
Thank you!
Roll call updated. I check in Aug 31st and can start booking March 4th so you are about a week after me.

We do Deluxe Dining and ALL I think about is where my ADRs will be!
Deluxe was so fun! Where are you booking ADRs?

I booked the Cabins for 9/23-9/27 but don't tell my husband (yet)! When we're 6-9 months out, he always says heck no (he's a serious crowd-hater though he acknowledges the Disney magic), and then when we get closer (like within the 60 day FP window) he changes his tune. I figure worst-case I can just take the kids and maybe convince my SIL to join.
lol at least you know how to make it work
 
Most of us here can book next month - you can make your ADRs on March 10th. We don't arrive till 9/28, so I have to wait till April 1st to book.

We do Deluxe Dining and ALL I think about is where my ADRs will be!

We normally do the Standard plan but we’re foodies so I thought about trying Deluxe. How do you plan your ADR’s and make it worth it? (We have Free dining so we would have to pay to upgrade.)
 


We normally do the Standard plan but we’re foodies so I thought about trying Deluxe. How do you plan your ADR’s and make it worth it? (We have Free dining so we would have to pay to upgrade.)

DH is a huge foodie, and I often go along for the ride. We were there last September and even though he loves food, deluxe would've been a waste for us. We were so hot and felt so gross that we didn't eat very much at a time. We drank so much water trying to stay hydrated that we just didn't want to eat a lot. I was kind of sad about that because we skipped a lot of places (and things!) we wanted to eat. It was unseasonably hot last September, so I'm really hoping it's not that hot this year. Surely it can't be!

Also, on trips we've done 1 TS meal every day, I felt like I was planning my life around the next meal & they seemed to take a lot of time away from touring. I like to eat but I need to be able to enjoy the parks, too. I would say that if you are ok with the time it takes for the TS meals and won't be bothered by the heat, go for it! Everyone enjoys things differently, and there's plenty at Disney for everyone to enjoy!
 
We are from Canada and I am starting to lose track of how many days the kids have been off from school these last couple of weeks. We are from the Niagara region so we have weather similar to Buffalo and Niagara Falls N.Y. Our oldest DS is in Grade 6 and he has never had this many snow days before! We pull the kids out of school for WDW almost every year for 7-10 days. Our deal with them is long as they don't have any trouble catching up when they get back and get good grades it's not a big deal. We drive from Canada so we consider it a mini Geography lesson.:teeth:

I hear you. Hamilton Public Board has had 4, they had a snow day yesterday again yet the Catholic school board just cancelled busses and the schools were open. The Catholic Board and Burlington have had 3 in 2 weeks. Winter can be over with at any time now.
 


We normally do the Standard plan but we’re foodies so I thought about trying Deluxe. How do you plan your ADR’s and make it worth it? (We have Free dining so we would have to pay to upgrade.)

We pay to upgrade with free dining, too. Last trip (in December) we stayed at AKL so we only had to pay from the regular plan so it was not too much more...this trip we we're staying at POP so we had to upgrade from quick service. It still saved me a TON. When I first booked POP I could only get the Sun & Fun discount, which was a whopping $10/off a night I believe, and I paid for park hoppers. Then 1 day last week I checked for Free Dining and poof it was there! Even with my upgrade to Deluxe I saved hundreds.

When we vacation anywhere we always eat out for breakfast and dinner, so in December we did almost all pre-park opening breakfasts and 2-credit dinners. It was awesome getting in early and having the head start on other guests for rides like 7DMT, Soarin, & Frozen. Only 1 day did we have 3 meals and it was because we did the Tony's Parade Package to get front row for the Festival of Fantasy Parade. We're the type of people who enjoy steak/scallops/lobster etc for dinner on vacation, plus we like desserts and apps, so we have no problem always picking expensive items to make the dining plan worth it. We did California Grill for my husband's birthday brunch and when the check came I almost choked - after tip it was $450...if we had paid out of pocket! I could not fathom spending what we spent at places like Cali Grill, Narcoosee's, the Boathouse, & Jiko if we paid out of pocket. Sure, some meals we skipped dessert or my kids just ate mac n cheese, but we don't care. The main thing to remember is tipping will really add on - you're getting apps, entrees, and desserts everywhere (though you can decline), so that adds up. Some places let my kids order off adult menus because the server knows they'll get a better tip that way. Some places let us have 2 drinks. We spent about $800 in tips.

Besides doing Signature places, one way we stretch our plan is our arrival and departure times. We fly in at 9:30am and fly out at 8:30pm, so both our arrival and departure days are 2 meals that we use the plan for. I say go for it!!!
 
We have booked Sept. 27th-Oct 5th!!!! It will be my husband and I, our daughter and her husband, and our other daughter and 3 year old grand daughter!!!
We will be staying in a family suite at All Star Music!!!!
SUPER EXCITED :jumping1:
Added to roll call :)
 
Deluxe was so fun! Where are you booking ADRs?

We LOVE Deluxe! This trip we are vacationing with our in-laws (who haven't been to Disney in maybe 20 years), so we are doing some repeats and hitting spots we know they'll enjoy. On my plan is:

Homecoming, Rainforest Cafe (daughter's birthday choice), Crystal Palace, Le Cellier, Garden Grill, Brown Derby Fantasmic package, BOG, Tony's parade package, Cinderella's, Akershus, Artist Point, Trattoria al Forno, Ohana (other daughter's birthday choice), Tusker House, & Yak & Yeti.
 
Also, on trips we've done 1 TS meal every day, I felt like I was planning my life around the next meal & they seemed to take a lot of time away from touring. I like to eat but I need to be able to enjoy the parks, too. I would say that if you are ok with the time it takes for the TS meals and won't be bothered by the heat, go for it! Everyone enjoys things differently, and there's plenty at Disney for everyone to enjoy!

Yeah we haven't previously done the dining plan, but I tried plotting out where/how we'd normally eat and doing a price comparison and I think in the end, even paying for tips, the dining plan comes out $100-$200 cheaper than paying OOP and also gives us a little more than we'd normally get (paying OOP we are far too cheap to buy alcohol and dessert and special lemonades; we drink a lot of free park ice water!) so I think I'm probably going to add it on. We usually do a sit-down dinner anyway because little kids and don't try to do much after dinner.
 
Welcome! You'll be there the same time as me, except we are arriving the 14th. Where are y'all staying. I also have to ask, because of your user name, are you Auburn fans? If so I have to say Roll Tide :rolleyes1


I am definitely an Auburn fan as my hubby is an alum. So in the spirit of good hearted rivalry I say to you WAR EAGLE! hehe
 
Yeah we haven't previously done the dining plan, but I tried plotting out where/how we'd normally eat and doing a price comparison and I think in the end, even paying for tips, the dining plan comes out $100-$200 cheaper than paying OOP and also gives us a little more than we'd normally get (paying OOP we are far too cheap to buy alcohol and dessert and special lemonades; we drink a lot of free park ice water!) so I think I'm probably going to add it on. We usually do a sit-down dinner anyway because little kids and don't try to do much after dinner.

I've used a few websites to help compare the difference between DP and OOP. Sounds like you've done your homework! And $100-$200 is worth saving! I love that everyone can customize Disney so much. We're all going to the same place, but we're doing it so differently.
 
DH is a huge foodie, and I often go along for the ride. We were there last September and even though he loves food, deluxe would've been a waste for us. We were so hot and felt so gross that we didn't eat very much at a time. We drank so much water trying to stay hydrated that we just didn't want to eat a lot. I was kind of sad about that because we skipped a lot of places (and things!) we wanted to eat. It was unseasonably hot last September, so I'm really hoping it's not that hot this year. Surely it can't be!

Also, on trips we've done 1 TS meal every day, I felt like I was planning my life around the next meal & they seemed to take a lot of time away from touring. I like to eat but I need to be able to enjoy the parks, too. I would say that if you are ok with the time it takes for the TS meals and won't be bothered by the heat, go for it! Everyone enjoys things differently, and there's plenty at Disney for everyone to enjoy!

I agree! Last September was brutal at Disney! The more I think about it, I think we will just stick to the Standard plan. There is no way we would be able to eat 3 sit down meals a day to even make the plan or upgrade worth it. That is A LOT of food!
 
We pay to upgrade with free dining, too. Last trip (in December) we stayed at AKL so we only had to pay from the regular plan so it was not too much more...this trip we we're staying at POP so we had to upgrade from quick service. It still saved me a TON. When I first booked POP I could only get the Sun & Fun discount, which was a whopping $10/off a night I believe, and I paid for park hoppers. Then 1 day last week I checked for Free Dining and poof it was there! Even with my upgrade to Deluxe I saved hundreds.

When we vacation anywhere we always eat out for breakfast and dinner, so in December we did almost all pre-park opening breakfasts and 2-credit dinners. It was awesome getting in early and having the head start on other guests for rides like 7DMT, Soarin, & Frozen. Only 1 day did we have 3 meals and it was because we did the Tony's Parade Package to get front row for the Festival of Fantasy Parade. We're the type of people who enjoy steak/scallops/lobster etc for dinner on vacation, plus we like desserts and apps, so we have no problem always picking expensive items to make the dining plan worth it. We did California Grill for my husband's birthday brunch and when the check came I almost choked - after tip it was $450...if we had paid out of pocket! I could not fathom spending what we spent at places like Cali Grill, Narcoosee's, the Boathouse, & Jiko if we paid out of pocket. Sure, some meals we skipped dessert or my kids just ate mac n cheese, but we don't care. The main thing to remember is tipping will really add on - you're getting apps, entrees, and desserts everywhere (though you can decline), so that adds up. Some places let my kids order off adult menus because the server knows they'll get a better tip that way. Some places let us have 2 drinks. We spent about $800 in tips.

Besides doing Signature places, one way we stretch our plan is our arrival and departure times. We fly in at 9:30am and fly out at 8:30pm, so both our arrival and departure days are 2 meals that we use the plan for. I say go for it!!!

We are staying at Contemporary so would only upgrade to Deluxe. It would be around $840ish for us to do the upgrade for 7 nights. We are arriving around 5am (we drive) and our departure day, we stay till after dinner and leave around 8ish. I have 3 small children (8,5,3) and wasn’t sure if the 2 credit meals would be too fancy for them? They are not quiet, by any means lol! We mostly do character meals so I know that would help and we’d like to do CRT again. I know all the other ones seem like little kids wouldn’t enjoy or it would be such a dress up/classy meal. What do you think? Even with our standard plan, we will end up paying for a couple meals out of pocket.
 
I have 3 small children (8,5,3) and wasn’t sure if the 2 credit meals would be too fancy for them? They are not quiet, by any means lol! We mostly do character meals so I know that would help and we’d like to do CRT again. I know all the other ones seem like little kids wouldn’t enjoy or it would be such a dress up/classy meal. What do you think?

My girls are 5 and 7 and we did several Signatures. Remember - it’s WDW and they expect kids to be there! Everywhere has kid-friendly food, too. In regards to how fancy they are, we chose to follow the minimum dress codes at each one - my husband in a polo and golf shorts and my girls and I in sundresses. The dress code wasn’t enforced anywhere which sort of disappointed me because we made the effort to follow the rules and were still comfortable at the parks. I also think sit downs will be a welcome air-conditioned break in September!
 

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