Who's already planning for 2017 or 2018

[mdsouth]

Mamamegan841

It is great when kids are out of daycare. It frees up some funds. The Contemporary is a great choice for its convenience to MK.

I have always wanted to stay in a cabin at Fort Wilderness so you trip in April sounds fun too.

QUOTE="mamamegan841, post: 54482883, member: 563391"]We have a trip planned for April 2016 at Fort Wilderness, but we will be going back in October 2017 and staying at a deluxe resort for the first time. My youngest child will start school that year and we will be saving $400 a month in daycare costs, so we are going to finally be able to afford it. My first choice is the Contemporary, but we'll see![/QUOTE]

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Jumping on the planning bandwagon! We have not been since 2011 and are planning to return in 2017. My mom, youngest DS and niece (14 1/2 & 13 at time of trip) will be going right after school gets out so probably arriving on Monday (Memorial Day) and staying for 10 nights. We want to do the water parks now that the kids are older and we have never been to either. Also trying to decide between bigger room/beds at CBR and paying out of pocket for mostly QS meals with a couple of our favorite TS or squeezing into POP with an air mattress and doing DDP. We have lots of time to debate that though!

I am a little worried about this trip with all of the changes especially to FP. The cost of this trip will be more than we have ever spent and if we are locked out of some of our favorite rides it will be disappointing and will put an end to any future trips.

 

[mdsouth]

Jumping on the planning bandwagon! We have not been since 2011 and are planning to return in 2017. My mom, youngest DS and niece (14 1/2 & 13 at time of trip) will be going right after school gets out so probably arriving on Monday (Memorial Day) and staying for 10 nights. We want to do the water parks now that the kids are older and we have never been to either. Also trying to decide between bigger room/beds at CBR and paying out of pocket for mostly QS meals with a couple of our favorite TS or squeezing into POP with an air mattress and doing DDP. We have lots of time to debate that though!

I am a little worried about this trip with all of the changes especially to FP. The cost of this trip will be more than we have ever spent and if we are locked out of some of our favorite rides it will be disappointing and will put an end to any future trips.

trvlgirl!

I am glad you found our thread. I understand your concerns with the FP and the magic bands. I was unsure myself before my trip in 2014. But it actually worked out well for us. I chose to make the FP reservations for the afternoon and early evening times since the rest of my family are late risers and I figured the lines for the rides would be longer in the afternoon and evenings. When we did get the parks in the mornings, we just rode standby. I actually used the early morning extra hour to our advantage one day and we knocked out a lot of our favorites in the MK before the main crowds arrived around ten.

Your son and my daughter are the same age. They are both twelve now and will be fourteen when we are both there in 2017.

Back in 2009, we were at WDW around Memorial Day too. I actually was able to get a discount on the room for that time period. Hopefully, they will do the same in 2017. The late spring deals typically run through the end of May. Maybe there will be some sort of discounted package for the dining plan too. As you said, you have plenty of time to weigh the cost and benefits of each one. I think I am leaning towards quick service plan and possibly paying out of pocket for a few TS. I want to go to Ohana's again.

The weather was great too, but it did get really hot on our last few days. You should definitely be able to enjoy the water parks.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Thank you mdsouth!

I did check Mousesavers and saw that historically there may be a room discount for our dates. This would be very nice because the queen beds are much preferable when sharing and the murphy bed would be nice for DS. It gets much more difficult and expensive to travel when the kids are not the same gender and the boys become too old to share with mom or grandma!

We talked a bit about the FP plan as you have mentioned. We are early risers so would probably do standby pre-lunch and book our FP for late afternoon after a swim/nap break (nap for grandma!). I still have much to learn about all of the changes.

 

[mdsouth]

Thank you mdsouth!

I did check Mousesavers and saw that historically there may be a room discount for our dates. This would be very nice because the queen beds are much preferable when sharing and the murphy bed would be nice for DS. It gets much more difficult and expensive to travel when the kids are not the same gender and the boys become too old to share with mom or grandma!

We talked a bit about the FP plan as you have mentioned. We are early risers so would probably do standby pre-lunch and book our FP for late afternoon after a swim/nap break (nap for grandma!). I still have much to learn about all of the changes.

You are right in that when kids get older and different genders it makes it harder to fit into one room. I totally get it!

Late afternoon and early evening are good times to arrange the Fastpasses. Like you said, it really gives you a chance to head back to the resort to relax a bit. I know on my next trip, I need to plan more downtime for my DD because she loved swimming in the pool so much. Hopefully, next time we go we can also spend one day at one of the water parks.

I think we will have to watch videos of the parks to determine which parks has more of the type of rides we would like. My kids and I are not really huge thrill seekers when it comes to water rides. I wish Disney would devote more of their planning videos to showing you more of the actual parks and rides. They just show you a quick glimpse of the waterparks and do not really give you a good idea of the rides.

I just don't think Disney is making the most out of the planning videos. I think they could really walk around the water parks and give you a better feel for what each ride is like. They need to do this with the resorts too.

 

[Anna.banana]

I completely agree about the planning videos!!! They spend so much time showing kids meeting the princesses in the courtyard for private time when it is completely unrealistic. My girls (5 and 2) were disappointed when they saw it was one princess at a time with a line of people waiting behind you. No dancing in the grass area with all of them

 

[mdsouth]

I completely agree about the planning videos!!! They spend so much time showing kids meeting the princesses in the courtyard for private time when it is completely unrealistic. My girls (5 and 2) were disappointed when they saw it was one princess at a time with a line of people waiting behind you. No dancing in the grass area with all of them

That is what I always think when I see the videos or the commercials. I expect a lot of people are really disappointed when they get to the parks and find out what it is really like to see characters and princesses. So, Anna.banana where do you think you will stay on your next trip?

 

[Anna.banana]

We are staying at the Port Orleans french quarter. Did AoA in May and it was fun, but so much walking and pushing the stroller I was pouring sweat by the time I got from the little mermaid suites to the bus stops!! Little resort sounded amazing.

 

[mdsouth]

We are staying at the Port Orleans french quarter. Did AoA in May and it was fun, but so much walking and pushing the stroller I was pouring sweat by the time I got from the little mermaid suites to the bus stops!! Little resort sounded amazing.

I understand your thinking! Especially with the Florida heat! That is the big downside to going in the summer, even in the early summer/late spring time as May.

I stayed at POR French Quarter on my last trip and loved it!!! It really was nice to get off the bus from the parks and just have a short walk to the room. The pool and food court are all really close to rooms too, so no matter where your room is it a short distance.

I liked the smallness of the resort so much that I plan to stay there again next time I go.

My DD and I walked over to the other POR and used their pool. The walk was really pleasant along the river and much shorter than what I expected. It was more in line with walking from our room to the pool and back when we stayed at CBR long ago.

 

[Anna.banana]

Yay I'm glad for the good reviews. And nice to know the walk isn't too far to head over there for the pool and food!

Everything I have read said those were the only drawbacks to such a small resort. It was the only one with any rooms left in moderate category too so that it nothing!

 

[mdsouth]

Yay I'm glad for the good reviews. And nice to know the walk isn't too far to head over there for the pool and food!

Everything I have read said those were the only drawbacks to such a small resort. It was the only one with any rooms left in moderate category too so that it nothing!

We did not try the food at POR but the food at FQ was good. Nothing special but good. The Po Boy sandwich is huge and can easily be split between two people.
The FQ pool was being renovated while we were there so we did not get to try it out. We both like POR's pool. It is big and Haley enjoyed the slide.

To me, it is the beautiful, peaceful scenery and the compact size that will bring me back. It really is nice to not have to walk miles at the resort before or after walking a ton in the parks.

 

[Kelly31002]

Just got back on Sunday from a week stay and planning a 2 week stay for Jan-Feb 2018. Usually do value but stayed at CBR this time and loved it. Aiming for Wilderness Lodge next time (hence the 2 year wait!) Went there for quick service breakfast a couple times this trip and Whispering Canyon and loved it. This will probably be the last trip before my son, who will be almost 16 at the time, will really want to hang out with his mom and little sister!

 

[Estella]

Hi - glad to know there are folks out there planning into 2017. We just got back from our first November trip at Coronado Springs. We really liked Coronado and would stay there again. Since we will be visiting in August next time, we like the idea of the pool. We only used it once this visit and it closed early since it was fall season. We haven't tried a value resort before, but may need to so we can use our $$ for our fav food spots!

 

[mdsouth]

Just got back on Sunday from a week stay and planning a 2 week stay for Jan-Feb 2018. Usually do value but stayed at CBR this time and loved it. Aiming for Wilderness Lodge next time (hence the 2 year wait!) Went there for quick service breakfast a couple times this trip and Whispering Canyon and loved it. This will probably be the last trip before my son, who will be almost 16 at the time, will really want to hang out with his mom and little sister!

Hi Kelly and Estella!

Kelly, for each of my two previous trips, I have tried to arrange a time to go to Whispering Canyon but just have never made it. I have heard such great reviews of it and know that the antics and jokes would just be perfect for my son and his sense of humor. But with the limited amount of time I have at WDW i just haven't made it there. The Wilderness Lodge looks beautiful and on my dream list of resorts to stay at. But realistically, my budget calls for the values or mods with a discount.

I think Disney trips are great with older kids because it is a place that even teenagers don't seem to mind hanging out with their family. I think this is probably because everywhere you look there are families hanging out together. Like you, it is why I want to take my own kids back there. I would love to plan an extended family trip. I think it would appeal to my adult nieces and also to my both my brothers kids too. But I just don't see it happening for awhile. But I am going to work on them all! We all try to get together every two years sometimes each year and tend to go to SC and the beach there since one of my brothers lives about two hours from the coast. I think it is time we all head to Disney and do something than just head to the beach and play mini-golf.

You know, I think I might just go ahead and start making some initial dream plans, so that I can have some cool details to share when I try to convince them. I love to spend time on the Disney website, checking out the different resort options and prices.

Hi - glad to know there are folks out there planning into 2017. We just got back from our first November trip at Coronado Springs. We really liked Coronado and would stay there again. Since we will be visiting in August next time, we like the idea of the pool. We only used it once this visit and it closed early since it was fall season. We haven't tried a value resort before, but may need to so we can use our $$ for our fav food spots!

The pool at CSR is great! I think I like it best out of the three mod pools that I have tried. I have stayed at Caribbean Beach, French Quarter and Coronado Springs. I like each of the three for different reasons. The only pool that I have not swam in is the French Quarter one. While i was there it was closed so we swam in POR's pool. I liked how CSR's pool had a much larger main area to swim. So it did not seem as crowded as the other two. I loved the theming of all three. I would be happy to stay at any of them.

I have now been in the summer and in the winter months. The winter was nice because it was more pleasant temperature wise, warm but not super hot and sticky) but the parks closed down early on some days and it definitely was very chilly on the days we went swimming.

I just don't know which is the better time to go.

 

[NYEmomma]

We're planning for September 2017! October that year will be our 15th wedding anniversary so we're planning a 4-day get away. It'll be the first time we've ever been away from our kids (considering the oldest will be almost 9 at that point, I say it's long overdue!). October is getting to be too crowded for us so we're trying September this time. Planning on staying at Boardwalk this time, which I'm really excited about.

 

[mdsouth]

We're planning for September 2017! October that year will be our 15th wedding anniversary so we're planning a 4-day get away. It'll be the first time we've ever been away from our kids (considering the oldest will be almost 9 at that point, I say it's long overdue!). October is getting to be too crowded for us so we're trying September this time. Planning on staying at Boardwalk this time, which I'm really excited about.

Spending a few days with just your hubby at WDW sounds like the perfect way to celebrate your 15th wedding anniversary!

The crowd level in Sept should be very manageable

 

[mdsouth]

In just a little over a week it will be 2016! The long wait to 2017 and 2018 is getting that much closer

 

[wannabee]

So great to run across this thread. I'm planning for 2018. DH is not a fan so I went on a girls trip this summer. my sister, niece and cousin stayed at the GF. The great thing aout a girls trip instaed of family is that you split the cost. They kep saying that we should do it again in 5 years but I think 3 is my max. So 2018 and then 2021 for WDW 50th anniversary . Not sure who is coming with me yet but I'll figure that out.

 

[mdsouth]

So great to run across this thread. I'm planning for 2018. DH is not a fan so I went on a girls trip this summer. my sister, niece and cousin stayed at the GF. The great thing aout a girls trip instaed of family is that you split the cost. They kep saying that we should do it again in 5 years but I think 3 is my max. So 2018 and then 2021 for WDW 50th anniversary . Not sure who is coming with me yet but I'll figure that out.

I am glad you found this thread. Your DH and mine are alike in that neither one is a fan. I only got him to go on our last trip in 2014 because my son's marching band was marching in the Magic Kingdom. I ended up going down four days early with my daughter and then my DH joined us for the last three days when the band was there.

I enjoyed the trip, and now want to plan a trip with me and some friends who love Disney or else just go with my kids. I also have a sister-in-law that loves it. Her kids, not so much.
So, it would be nice to plan a trip with her. It just seems like something always gets in the way.

But like you, I am planning on going in 2018 at least for my own sake. We just have to figure out who will be the lucky ones to join us!

Do you think you will stay or GF again or try something else?

Now that you said 2021 will be WDW's 50th Anniversary,
I need to start planning a trip for that!
I think that would be a great one to go on with other Disney fans like myself.

Here it is Christmas Eve morning and I am on the Dis dreaming of my next Disney trip! I love to get on the Dis in the early morning hours before anyone else in my family is awake. Lots of things to do today but for now I am enjoying my Dis time. Instead of my two front teeth, all I want for Christmas is a Disney trip.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

 

[MochaDrinker]

We're planning for November 2017. My niece will be two and a half then and we think that's a good age to take her.