Trip planning for 2019

[Scarey]

Hi there

I'm planning a trip for myself, hubby, 2 daughters and niece. Hoping to go near end of September for 2 -3 weeks with 2 weeks in the Florida area for WDW and Universal and then a couple of days in Anaheim for Disneyland as the new Star Wars land should have calmed a little by then I hope.

I have a few questions.

1. Is it better to book flights online or through a travel agent?

2. Has anyone booked through an american disney travel agent like undercover tourist and was it cheaper then what you could book yourself?

3. I'm hoping for free dining as a holiday is less of a holiday when you have to cook, has anyone used this and if so how was it?

4. If I have to stay offsite and hire a car to keep costs down where is a good place to stay which has a pool either on grounds or your own private pool?

5. Staying onsite i'm thinking either Art of Animation or Fort Wilderness Cabins or a week at both, though I'd rather not move, for the whole stay, has anyone stayed at either and what are your thoughts?

6. I'm budgeting between $20000 and $30000 for this trip, is this realistic?

7. My daughter has egg, dairy and nut allergies, I've read that Disney is awesome with allergies, has anyone had any experience with this?

I'm really excited that I finally convinced hubby we need to go.

Cheers

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Congrats, it sounds like a great trip.

1. There are some benefits to an agent, but generally I like to maintain control of my own booking and book myself.

2. I’ve used Undercover Tourist a lot for tickets and their prices are good. However, to get free dining, you often have to purchase your tickets through Disney as part of a package.

3. I have never tried free dining. For our family of 3, it has worked out cheaper to rent DVC points and buy our food out of pocket. Especially since we like trying the deluxe resorts. However, for a family of 5 like yourselves, free dining (if it’s offered) could save quite a lot of money.

4. I have never stayed offsite, so sorry I can’t help with this. I love the Disney ‘bubble’ and the Universal express passes too much.

5. No, but the cabins in Fort Wilderness look lovely. Also price up a 1 bedroom deluxe resort renting DVC points. It might be comparable.

6. Seems realistic to me. My family is spending approx 30k on our upcoming holiday. While there is only 3 of us, we are travelling for 5 1/2 weeks.

7. No, sorry - no experience.

I hope that helps.
Happy planning.

 

[LivingforDisney]

Hi there

I'm planning a trip for myself, hubby, 2 daughters and niece. Hoping to go near end of September for 2 -3 weeks with 2 weeks in the Florida area for WDW and Universal and then a couple of days in Anaheim for Disneyland as the new Star Wars land should have calmed a little by then I hope.

I have a few questions.

1. Is it better to book flights online or through a travel agent?

2. Has anyone booked through an american disney travel agent like undercover tourist and was it cheaper then what you could book yourself?

3. I'm hoping for free dining as a holiday is less of a holiday when you have to cook, has anyone used this and if so how was it?

4. If I have to stay offsite and hire a car to keep costs down where is a good place to stay which has a pool either on grounds or your own private pool?

5. Staying onsite i'm thinking either Art of Animation or Fort Wilderness Cabins or a week at both, though I'd rather not move, for the whole stay, has anyone stayed at either and what are your thoughts?

6. I'm budgeting between $20000 and $30000 for this trip, is this realistic?

7. My daughter has egg, dairy and nut allergies, I've read that Disney is awesome with allergies, has anyone had any experience with this?

I'm really excited that I finally convinced hubby we need to go.

Cheers

Is that for next year?

 

[Sinders99]

Hi there

I'm planning a trip for myself, hubby, 2 daughters and niece. Hoping to go near end of September for 2 -3 weeks with 2 weeks in the Florida area for WDW and Universal and then a couple of days in Anaheim for Disneyland as the new Star Wars land should have calmed a little by then I hope.

I have a few questions.

1. Is it better to book flights online or through a travel agent?

2. Has anyone booked through an american disney travel agent like undercover tourist and was it cheaper then what you could book yourself?

3. I'm hoping for free dining as a holiday is less of a holiday when you have to cook, has anyone used this and if so how was it?

4. If I have to stay offsite and hire a car to keep costs down where is a good place to stay which has a pool either on grounds or your own private pool?

5. Staying onsite i'm thinking either Art of Animation or Fort Wilderness Cabins or a week at both, though I'd rather not move, for the whole stay, has anyone stayed at either and what are your thoughts?

6. I'm budgeting between $20000 and $30000 for this trip, is this realistic?

7. My daughter has egg, dairy and nut allergies, I've read that Disney is awesome with allergies, has anyone had any experience with this?

I'm really excited that I finally convinced hubby we need to go.

Cheers

1. For a first time trip I'd recommend using an Australian agent for the booking of your airfare. Once you're more familiar with the Disneyworld/Universal/Orlando flow you'll be confident but it's one less thing you'll need to worry on your first trip.

2. We did a lot of research before our first WDW trip in 2016 and enlisted a US based agent to help us book our WDW accomodation, tickets and Disney cruise. We did this because the US agents will watch your booking for any free dining promotions or price reductions. Australian agents are clueless about these and you'll end up paying a hell of a lot more and missing out on these valuable promos.

3. We got the Standard free dining plan for free when we went in 2016 (thanks to our US based agent). The plan at that time included a quick service meal per day and a table service meal. We loved it but it was a hell of a lot of food and we really felt like we lost a lot of time eating meals. We also felt like we over ate a lot because we didn't want to waste any part of our credit. On our next trip (we're currently planning too for a 3 week December 2019 trip) we won't be getting the dining plan. People either love it or hate it. We loved it when it was free but paying $75USD a day we feel like it's going to be quite restrictive especially because we want to spend some of our days off-site at Universal but we will have already paid for meals at WDW. It's just not flexible enough for us.

6. Does your budget include spending money or is it just allowing for travel costs? My husband and I are doing 3 weeks WDW (staying at POP Century 2 weeks & 1 week Bay Lake Towers) & 1 week Vegas and our costs are coming in around $19,000 before spending money.

7. I have some food intolerance myself but mine are quite easily identified and controlled just through avoidance. I'm lucky not to have anything as severe as egg or nut but dairy I'm familiar with. Disney are amazing with allergies and intolerances. Whenever you go into a table service restaurant be sure to mention the allergies to the person initially seating you. That person will then speak to the Chef for you and the Chef will often come to the table and brief you on what's safe on the menu or prepare something especially for you. If it's a quick service location ask your register attendant if there's an allergy menu to suit or if someone can make recommendations. Disney really are excellent with these kinds of things. If you're looking to order in groceries I'd highly recommend Garden Grocer as they carry a lot more allergy friendly options than a lot of other supermarkets. Plus they'll deliver to the resort for you.

I hope this helps. I'm sure you'll have an amazing time and I know all the friendly Disney crew lurking on these pages will have heaps of great advice Have a magical time!

 

[Brisbanemum]

1. Is it better to book flights online or through a travel agent? Sometimes better through a travel agent and sometimes better by yourself online. We have done both. The only time the travel agent got us a better deal was when we went to the Travel Expo and they saved us hundreds! I would definitely recommend going to all the Expo's for a great deal through them.

2. Has anyone booked through an american disney travel agent like undercover tourist and was it cheaper then what you could book yourself? I book everything ourselves directly through he WDW site usually.

3. I'm hoping for free dining as a holiday is less of a holiday when you have to cook, has anyone used this and if so how was it? We love Free Dining. Keep in mind that for AOA you only receive the Quick Service dining plan. You can pay the difference however to upgrade to the next level Dining Plan which replaces 1 of the QS meals with a 1 table service. We did this one year and really enjoyed trying new restaurants that we would normally not try. This year however, we are happy with the normal QS dining plan and will just pay out of pocket for a few select restaurants that we just cannot miss.

4. If I have to stay offsite and hire a car to keep costs down where is a good place to stay which has a pool either on grounds or your own private pool? Sorry, we have never stayed off site. The convenience of using Disney's free Magical Express bus from and back to the airport, along with the free transportation from the resorts to all parks and properties, makes on-site a must for us every time.

5. Staying onsite i'm thinking either Art of Animation or Fort Wilderness Cabins or a week at both, though I'd rather not move, for the whole stay, has anyone stayed at either and what are your thoughts? We've never stayed at either. Our boys love Pop Century and I love keeping the accommodation price down by staying at the values which leaves me more to shop with! lol We are at the parks from open to close every day usually, so it's also hard to justify the higher prices for somewhere we spend so little time in.

6. I'm budgeting between $20000 and $30000 for this trip, is this realistic? The top end of your budget sounds right... depends how many in your entire party and what extras you want to do eg MNSSHP

7. My daughter has egg, dairy and nut allergies, I've read that Disney is awesome with allergies, has anyone had any experience with this? Sorry, no allergies like that here. I've also heard they are great with it though.

 

[Montanabel]

Hi Scarey

Here is my two cents

1. Is it better to book flights online or through a travel agent? I usually use an Australian based travel agent, although for our last trip I booked directly with an Australian airline.

2. Has anyone booked through an american disney travel agent like undercover tourist and was it cheaper then what you could book yourself? I have used them to buy tickets for Universal Studios Orlando a couple of times. I found them really good and yes the prices were good (although the Aussie dollar was also good at the time).

3. I'm hoping for free dining as a holiday is less of a holiday when you have to cook, has anyone used this and if so how was it? I have done this a couple of times, and it works really well for our family. It allowed us to try some restaurants I never would have paid for out of pocked (our last trip to Disneyworld was for 14 days so lots of restaurants). The only issue for you may be if they actually offer it for September next year. On our last trip we just qualified, and we arrived on 4 September, a few more days and we wouldn't have gotten it. Each year Disney seems to offer less and less days in September (and I don't think they offer it at all in October anymore).

4. If I have to stay offsite and hire a car to keep costs down where is a good place to stay which has a pool either on grounds or your own private pool? The last time we stayed offsite was 20 years ago so my advice will be out of date! We tend to stay onsite so we can stay in the 'Disney bubble' even when not at the parks.

5. Staying onsite i'm thinking either Art of Animation or Fort Wilderness Cabins or a week at both, though I'd rather not move, for the whole stay, has anyone stayed at either and what are your thoughts? We haven't stayed at Fort Wilderness Cabins but have stayed at Art of Animation a few times. The first time in 2014 where we did 9 nights in one of the Little Mermaid Rooms, which was a tight squeeze with two adults and two kids, but was themed so beautifully. Then we moved over to the Cars Suites for 5 nights which was so much more space and again themed fantastically. We liked the Cars suites so much, we stayed there again in 2016 for 4 nights (after spending 10 nights at the Carribean Beach Resort). Art of Animation is great, fun theming, great staff, fun pools, and lots of huge characters to take photos of. We enjoyed walking around the resort looking at the other themed suites (Finding Nemo and Lion King) but liked the Cars theme the best. If you get tired of that, Pop Century is a short walk over the bridge (and has the famous tie-dyed cheesecake - yum!)

6. I'm budgeting between $20000 and $30000 for this trip, is this realistic? I think this is doable, it comes down to how much you like to shop! There is always ways to save money if you think you budget is getting a bit tight (and the Aussie dollar keeps on dropping )

7. My daughter has egg, dairy and nut allergies, I've read that Disney is awesome with allergies, has anyone had any experience with this? My husband doesn't strickly speaking have an allergy to glutten, but it does effect him so he prefers to avoid. At both Disneyland and Disneyworld when he has asked if a menu item has glutten in it, the waiter/waitress has been able to provide advice (and often asked my husband if it is an allergy or rather a dietary decision). A counter service meals, he was able to request hamburgers with lettuce leaves rather than buns and it was never any trouble. I am sure they will be happy and able to handle any requests you make.

 

[Franrose]

Hi Scarey!

Most of your questions have been answered a few times, so just briefly - I am a control freak, and I have time, so I like to book everything myself. I watch and wait for good prices as far as airfares go. I have used a US travel agent once on someone's advice, but I hated having to hand over the control to someone and dealing with the time difference and won't do it again. I can do whatever I need with my WDW booking myself (there are no financial advantages to using a TA in the sense that you can access all the deals they can), and it is so quick & easy. For our next visit, we have added on a cruise and I am using a US travel agent for that booking, purely because doing so gives us US$300 in cruise credit - no other reason. It is still painful trying to deal with them to pay for it and I am still doing whatever I can on the website myself (stalking the cabin and dining time I want, lol). As others have said, using an Australian-based TA for a Disney booking could get expensive and I have seen friends lose money this way because their TA just didn't know enough about how it all worked.

Offsite - I have stayed at the Hilton right across the road from Disney Springs years ago, back then it was super easy to get to all the parks from DS. Not sure if the transport is the same these days, but it was a huge saving. Otherwise I have looked at some of the places over on Bonnet Creek. But not willing to give up onsite perks (fastpass, extra magic hours etc).

Free dining - we have it coming up in December. I wouldn't personally pay for the dining plan, but I'm happy with free (and have priced up the same stay in all sorts of other configurations, and with other deals as they come out - free dining has remained the best deal so far).

We have stayed at both AOA and Fort Wilderness (my parents have an RV in the US, so we have stayed once with them in that, and once in the cabins). AOA we did for a couple of nights in 2015 because my daughter is a big Lion King fan. She adored it and the suite concept is a good one but I didn't love AOA myself - too much concrete, I remember it being louder/busier than the other places we stayed that trip, and also I remember coming across sneaky smokers and things like that. Most people probably love it though, and I came to it knowing my choice of resorts was still to come (and we'd just been at FW a week or so earlier) so I was a tough customer so to speak. Fort Wilderness... Ah, I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE that place. It is amazing. But very different to other WDW resorts! Firstly because it is massive, both times we have been there we have hired golf carts to get around. Which adds to the appeal because although I don't drive in the US, I love to drive the golf cart. I know there are regular busses that go around the resort though if you don't have a cart (and you could hire a car too), so not having one isn't a deal breaker. Secondly, you are in the woods: you might literally see a bear. (We didn't, but we did see typed up notices around that indicated one had been seen recently and to be aware!) You could go kayaking. You can also take a boat to the Magic Kingdom, Wilderness Lodge or to the Contemporary, where you can catch the monorail. I have really really fond memories of our stays there and making s'mores and watching movies under the stars with Chip & Dale (though you can do some of those things at other resorts too, just without Chip & Dale lol). It's an amazing setting.

The cabins have more kitchen facilities than the AOA suites do if that's something you are after, although they removed their full size stoves in a recent refurb. But at the end of the day, AOA is generally easier on the budget than the Fort Wilderness cabins are. AOA has a bigger/wider variety of food options with its big QS foodcourt, though FW is closer to other food options if you resort/park hop and does have a number of food options itself (and the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue is there).

Food allergies I am not much help with though a friend with a daughter who has Coeliacs was very impressed, and your budget - I think you could do it, perhaps at the $30,000 end of things though once you add in Universal.

Oops, "briefly" turned into not-so-brief.

 

[Yanevernoinoz]

Hi Scarey,

How exciting to be organising a Disney holiday!!! Yay!!!

I'll add my thoughts next to your questions

1. Is it better to book flights online or through a travel agent? I prefer to do my research online then go to the travel agent and have them match or beat the price. This way I get the best of both worlds in that if something changes or heaven forbids, goes wrong while I am overseas, the agent is just a call away to sort things out for me.

2. Has anyone booked through an american disney travel agent like undercover tourist and was it cheaper then what you could book yourself? Haven't book through them so interested to hear other responses

3. I'm hoping for free dining as a holiday is less of a holiday when you have to cook, has anyone used this and if so how was it?

4. If I have to stay offsite and hire a car to keep costs down where is a good place to stay which has a pool either on grounds or your own private pool? We found it was cheaper to stay onsite when we went because the cost of the car and the parking at Disney only saved us about $20 a day so for the convenience of the buses and to stay in the Disney bubble, it was worth the extra. However, it does depend on how many you have in your room to share the cost or if it's you have to bear the total cost of the accommodation. Look forward to hearing others thoughts on staying off-site.

5. Staying onsite i'm thinking either Art of Animation or Fort Wilderness Cabins or a week at both, though I'd rather not move, for the whole stay, has anyone stayed at either and what are your thoughts? Both times I've been to WDW we stayed at Pop Century and I loved it there.

6. I'm budgeting between $20000 and $30000 for this trip, is this realistic? All depends on number of people in your party.

7. My daughter has egg, dairy and nut allergies, I've read that Disney is awesome with allergies, has anyone had any experience with this? Yes, just tell your server. Disney is amazing at going out of their way to make your experience a good one.

Have fun planning

Yanevernoinoz (Deb)
Townsville Queensland
https://www.youtube.com/user/Yaneverno63
https://www.facebook.com/Yanevernoinoz

 

[Yanevernoinoz]

Congrats, it sounds like a great trip.

3. I have never tried free dining. For our family of 3, it has worked out cheaper to rent DVC points and buy our food out of pocket. Especially since we like trying the deluxe resorts. However, for a family of 5 like yourselves, free dining (if it’s offered) could save quite a lot of money.

5. No, but the cabins in Fort Wilderness look lovely. Also price up a 1 bedroom deluxe resort renting DVC points. It might be comparable.

Where do you rent your DVC points from Wanderlust? I've just started to research that for our 2021 trip

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Where do you rent your DVC points from Wanderlust? I've just started to research that for our 2021 trip

It’s possible to save even more money by renting directly with the points owner, but for a number of reasons, I’ve always done what’s comfortable for me and used brokers.

I’ve used both David’s and DVCRentalStore a couple of times each and liked them both. My upcoming reservation was made through the latter as I’ve found one of the staff members there particularly helpful, but you can’t go wrong with either.

As DVC rental becomes more popular, it has become a bit more challenging to get points. But as long as you get onto things early and maintain a bit of flexibility (ie have second and third choices as back ups) I think it’s a great way to get a deluxe at an affordable price.

 

[AussieNSW]

You will be going to WDW during the time of there Halloween parties. They have already started this year. It will affect your planning with party nights having shorter hours at Magic Kingdom.crowds may be heavier on other days due to people avoiding party days.
Follow all the posts about WDW for this year it will give you a good idea about next year.
I don’t know what your flights plans are but we always when we are going to WDW fly Qantas Sydney-Dallas- Orlando
Southwest Airlines Orlando to SNA ( closest airport to Disneyland) allows us to avoid LAX and then
Qantas LAX - Sydney
If you keep an eye out you get some great deals and sign up to their websites.

In regards to accomodation. We always stay on sight at WDW. Have tried off property but it was just so much easier onsite. I love being in the Disney bubble.
In Anaheim we are the opposite have tried onsite didn’t feel it was worth the money. Didn’t get a bubble feel.
We always stay at Homewood suites convention centre. It is walkable but we prefer to catch the toy story parking lot bus to Disneyland. The parking lot is a short stroll in fact they share a back fence. It has free hot breakfast every morning and free evening hot food on mon- Thursday. It also has a kitchen and has a seperate lounge and sleeping area.
If you decided to stay here something we have found is book early and then keep an eye on the website as prices can go and do go down during the year. You can alter your booking for the new rate.
Read up on these boards about fast passes and ADR’s( advanced dinning reservations) at WDW. It does take some planning.
At Disneyland dinning reservations do not have to be made as early and they have a few different systems fast pass and maxpass. Once again have a read up. Max pass may be useful with Star Wars opening. We used it during our trip this year in July.

 

[Yanevernoinoz]

It’s possible to save even more money by renting directly with the points owner, but for a number of reasons, I’ve always done what’s comfortable for me and used brokers.

I’ve used both David’s and ************** a couple of times each and liked them both. My upcoming reservation was made through the latter as I’ve found one of the staff members there particularly helpful, but you can’t go wrong with either.

As DVC rental becomes more popular, it has become a bit more challenging to get points. But as long as you get onto things early and maintain a bit of flexibility (ie have second and third choices as back ups) I think it’s a great way to get a deluxe at an affordable price.

Thanks so much for the info WanderlustNZ ☺

 

[Scarey]

Thank you all so much for the info

Just found out I get holidays at the time I wanted for next year, we plan ahead at Aus Post. So I have from the 23rd of September 2019 for 4 weeks. This is exciting as usually that will be including the tail end of free dining and if you book even on the last day it still covers your whole stay.

Still haven't decided on where we will be staying, i'm a bit of a ditherer when it comes to choices and there are so many choices. I have a spreadsheet with different resorts and different options on it for similar pricing in 2018 just to get an idea and atm with just flights, tickets for themeparks, food, accommodation and travel it's looking around $20000 give or take a couple of $1000. Kids will have saved their own spending money, we learnt early on that kids spend our money way faster then their own. We probs wont buy much in the way of souvenirs as it's not really our thing but I may change my mind on that lol especially at that disney outlet store.

There is 5 of us on this trip, 2 adults and 3 teens, with a possible 4th teen.

I'll certainly be re-reading this post often and other posts in the lead up to booking.

 

[Scarey]

Is that for next year?

yes

 

[LivingforDisney]

yes

Ok, I used Undercover Tourist for Universal Tickets, no problems.

 

[LivingforDisney]

Thank you all so much for the info

Just found out I get holidays at the time I wanted for next year, we plan ahead at Aus Post. So I have from the 23rd of September 2019 for 4 weeks. This is exciting as usually that will be including the tail end of free dining and if you book even on the last day it still covers your whole stay.

Still haven't decided on where we will be staying, i'm a bit of a ditherer when it comes to choices and there are so many choices. I have a spreadsheet with different resorts and different options on it for similar pricing in 2018 just to get an idea and atm with just flights, tickets for themeparks, food, accommodation and travel it's looking around $20000 give or take a couple of $1000. Kids will have saved their own spending money, we learnt early on that kids spend our money way faster then their own. We probs wont buy much in the way of souvenirs as it's not really our thing but I may change my mind on that lol especially at that disney outlet store.

There is 5 of us on this trip, 2 adults and 3 teens, with a possible 4th teen.

I'll certainly be re-reading this post often and other posts in the lead up to booking.

Sounds g, u will have to look at the resorts to see which ones accomodate that many in your party. We have one travelled as 4, stayed at Pop a Century obey eat and Caribbean Beach a Resort another year with 3 night at the a Boardwalk. We had free dining both times, first time QS in September, 2nd time TS in Dec, loved it and it was free for 14 nights both times. The TS was good as we got to eat in some great resturants and saved us heaps of money.

 

[LivingforDisney]

Sounds good, u will have to look at the resorts to see which ones accomodate that many in your party. We have one travelled as 4, stayed at Pop Century one year and Caribbean Beach Resort another year with 3 nights at the Boardwalk. We had free dining both times, first time QS in September, 2nd time TS in Dec, loved it and it was free for 14 nights both times. The TS was good as we got to eat in some great resturants and saved us heaps of money.

 

[lffamDSon]

Hi there

I'm planning a trip for myself, hubby, 2 daughters and niece. Hoping to go near end of September for 2 -3 weeks with 2 weeks in the Florida area for WDW and Universal and then a couple of days in Anaheim for Disneyland as the new Star Wars land should have calmed a little by then I hope.

I have a few questions.

1. Is it better to book flights online or through a travel agent?

2. Has anyone booked through an american disney travel agent like undercover tourist and was it cheaper then what you could book yourself?

3. I'm hoping for free dining as a holiday is less of a holiday when you have to cook, has anyone used this and if so how was it?

4. If I have to stay offsite and hire a car to keep costs down where is a good place to stay which has a pool either on grounds or your own private pool?

5. Staying onsite i'm thinking either Art of Animation or Fort Wilderness Cabins or a week at both, though I'd rather not move, for the whole stay, has anyone stayed at either and what are your thoughts?

6. I'm budgeting between $20000 and $30000 for this trip, is this realistic?

7. My daughter has egg, dairy and nut allergies, I've read that Disney is awesome with allergies, has anyone had any experience with this?

I'm really excited that I finally convinced hubby we need to go.

Cheers

Re: travel agent
I keep hearing good things about Mickey Travels, May be worth a look.

http://mickeytravels.com/