Disney 2016

[xanthepants]

I think a lot of us were planning on a 2016 trip. So what are you plans? I'm just starting to look and indoctrinate myself. I need to reach out to MsDonati as I think she is a authorized planner.

We are planning on Disneyworld with a couple who has an older daughter who we do some playdates with and thinking October-ish. Then the boys can watch the girls for a day and we (adult girls) can have an afternoon to ourselves and then swap and the boys can have a night to themselves.  And We will each take a night so that the other couple can have a date night as well. We haven't finalized anything more than that! My husband wants to fly by the seat of his pants (yet have everything paid for in advance), and I'd like to at least have some reservations, fast passes, character dinners reserved and a general outline. Should be interesting! Oh and now the pressure is on to lose 50 pounds by October. HA! totally doable.

I know sarahandeddie head soon (right now?)  and others have already been. But I was thinking there were quite a few planning on going this year or maybe 2017. What are your plans?

[britbratjf]

We are going next September! I would love to do October but with it being election season there's no way my H can get away. We are going to drive & just take D. I'm planning on 6 days/5 nights. I would like to stay at the Caribbean Resort (I remember the awesome pool from when I was a kid) but am hoping our dates fall during free dining or a room promo so will switch if needed.

I'm planning character meals & some other fun show meals (German restaurant in Epcot is really fun & the Hoop de Doo Revue). I plan on having reservations for every sit down meal I want. I don't want to try & deal with walking in places because it's Disney so it's crowded! My plan is to bookend the trip with the Magic Kingdom and hit each of the other parks as well.

The character meals I want are the Cinderella dinner at Grand Floridian, the Winnie the Pooh breakfast in the Magic Kingdom & a Be Our Guest dinner. I was contemplating a princess breakfast at the Norway restaurant in Epcot but a good number of the princesses do meet the character spots in the World Showcase so I thought those greetings could be a good way to keep her entertained during that part of Wpcot so we will probably skip that breakfast.

I absolutely LOVE Disney & am so so so excited to take Dagny. We have taken her to Disney on Ice & a Disney Live show & she loves them so I can't wait for her reaction.

[mrsdonati]

Yep that's me! October is a great time of year to visit. I don't recommend "the seat of your pants" approach when it comes to dining and Fastpasses. Your dining reservations can be made up to 180 days in advance and your fastpasses are 60 days. The popular ones go fast!
Definitely let me know, I'll be more than happy to help you

[origamimommy]

Tyler's favorite thing to do was meet characters. He died for Mickey Mouse. He waited patiently for 45 minutes. He also loved Donald Duck, Minnie, and Daisy Duck. The princesses were a big hit too.

We made sure to meet characters everywhere we went. Our favorite restaurant was Hollywood and vine at Hollywood studios because they had an awesome brunch and characters.

Tyler really wanted to go in the castle (at be our guest) but we didn't get reservations.

The Hoop De Doo review was a show at the animal lodge that was really cute! The food was good, the show was cute, and it was a nice sit down dinner for us.

[somethingcleverer]

We just went at the end of September and it was awesome. You can NOT fly by the seat of your pants. My parents and sister were annoyed everything was so timed but the one day I left somewhat open was a royal pain in the ass! I highly recommend splurging for a ticket to mickeys not so scary Halloween party even if it is way past bedtime. We got to do everything we wanted at magic kingdom by doing the party. Aubrey made it until midnight which shocked me. We did Chef Mickey's brunch, Cinderella's table (I thought that was just meh) the princesses at Akershus in Epcot (loved) and Be Our Guest which was very nice too.
I used a planner and thought the wdwprepschool website was super helpful for planning our days.

If I could go back I would like to eat at Ohana and the Italian restaurant in Epcot. I think the one I wanted was via Napoli.

[heatherbee]

This thread is totally making me want to go to Disney ... Would you guys mind sharing an idea of how much to budget for a trip with a family of 4? Sorry to high jack the post, just curious how much i should be saving!

[starfishy]

We are planning to go when the kids are 4-8. So 2020? Let's see if we end up doing it.

[roo1582]

We may aim for 2017. I think Andrew will still be too young to get a chance really understand for next year. At least he will still be under 3 at that point so he will be free. We'll have to figure out how to work it since Kayleigh will be in Kindergarten (I really can't wrap my head around that). Keep good notes because I'm sure I'll be asking all these questions then

[britbratjf]

Nov 30, 2015 20:17:13 GMT -5 heatherbee said:

This thread is totally making me want to go to Disney ... Would you guys mind sharing an idea of how much to budget for a trip with a family of 4? Sorry to high jack the post, just curious how much i should be saving!

I'm planning on $4,000 for 6 nights/5 days for 3 of us. We are driving, staying at a moderate level resort & will get basic tickets (no park hopper/no water park option). I'm assuming around $1,000 for tickets, $1,000 for hotel, $1,500 for food/drinks & $500 for misc. expenses (gas, souvenirs, etc). Kids under 3 are free ticket wise which won't apply for me but may apply for you depending on when you go.

[xanthepants]

I'm totally a planner and there is just no way that I can fly by the seat of my pants, hahahah. I saw the whole 180 day ahead planning, so I wanted to research what people really liked and make some notes. It's hard because I don't want to necessarily rope the other couple into totally doing our agenda either, so it will be interesting what we all come up with. britbratjf, you know a lot o disney! somethingcleverer, origamimommy, cool that you just went, it's good to hear what they liked at this age.
heatherbee, we are planning on $2000-$2500 per person, for a week travel included after talking to friends here in MN.(balancing out adult verses kids). We estimate about 7-8000 for the 3 of us right now staying at a Disney resort and using a dining plan. I could be way off but it's an early budget number for us.

[britbratjf]

xanthepants my parents took us about every 4 years so a lot of what I want to do is what I remember (I looooved the Hoop de Doo Revue & the German restaurant!). Also I'm so excited about taking D I've been obsessively reading blogs/planning/budgeting for about a year.

And no you can't do Disney by the seat of your pants. Even back in the 90s we always had dining reservations. Especially for character dining - I'm pretty sure it's impossible to just walk into character dining.

I like the wdwprepschool blog & Disney Tourist Blog

[junkytrunk]

I can't wait to take M and #2 to WDW someday! Probably when they are older since we have DLR right here and have passes. It's a totally different experience though. I've only ever been once as well as my H. I love hearing about all the plans and will definitely keep them in mind for the future!

[somethingcleverer]

heatherbee we spent around 3600 not including air fare.

xanthepants going in October there's a good chance of getting the free meal plan which will save you a decent amount. That's an area that was really helpful to have a Planner because we originally were staying in a hotel that wasn't included in the free dining but she was able to rebook us into the resort next door. (We ended up staying at the Riverside)

[sarahandeddie]

We arrive tomorrow! You need to make your dining reservations 180 days out if you want to get the popular places. It's a good idea to know what parks you want tondo each day so you can schedule dining in that park. You make fast pass selections 60 days out if you're staying on property. You'll definitely need a decent plan before you do fast passes. You can't "wing" Disney! I'll let you know how everything goes once we get back.

I think October is food and wine festival at Epcot, so may be a great time to go.

[sarahandeddie]

Nov 30, 2015 20:17:13 GMT -5 heatherbee said:

This thread is totally making me want to go to Disney ... Would you guys mind sharing an idea of how much to budget for a trip with a family of 4? Sorry to high jack the post, just curious how much i should be saving!

We are staying 8 nights at a value resort and have the dining plan with 1 quick service and 1 table service per day. It was right around 4K. I was able to get round trip flights for $700.

[xanthepants]

Very cool about the free dining plan. I couldn't quite wrap my head around what that was and didn't want to necessarily depend on it. We are locked in with when the older kid is out of school for teacher MEA week up here. But it may coincide. We will probably upgrade our hotel to a moderate or nicer resort since it's a once in a lifetime sort of thing for us and we kind of want to splurge. And I'm thinking we will do the park hopper but not the water parks. So much to think about. Now to think about all the dinners and such that we want to plan!

[britbratjf]

xanthepants I've heard great things about Animal Kingdom Lodge if coco is big into animals. Our neighbors are DVC members & that's their home base. Coronado Springs is also nice, a more adult moderate resort. And like I said I remember staying at Carribean Beach as a kid and loving the pool - it's a huge pirate themed pool with cannons! I'm pretty sure it was recently renovated too.

[jennmm]

We are hoping to go next October. You can start making restaurant reservations 180 days out and for table service, it's highly recommended. We stay on property and use Disney transportation. It's awesome to park our car when we arrive and not have to fool with it again until we leave. There are some message boards my sister likes to go on that are quite informative. There is also an official app for you phone that will keep all your plans centralized.

[Riverdong11]

We are aiming to go (back) for Christmas time next year. My husband and I both really want to see Disney decorated for the holidays.

I agree about the planning in advance. It really helps. I made reservations for 2 out of our 3 character meals and it was so nice having a minimal wait vs the 1.5 wait we had after a last minute decision. We had breakfast at Chef Mickey's, breakfast at Hollywood and Vine and dinner at the Crystal Palace (our spur of the moment decision ). We all enjoyed Crystal Palace the most even though Liam wasn't really into Pooh before we went.

[trixi282]

I definitely want to save to go to Disney when Emme is a bit older - maybe when she's 2.5 (so in 2 years?!). I've been once, we camped at a disney camp ground, and I can't remember what specifically my mom planned, but we had a great time. She got it organized through AAA i think. We didn't do any character meals, but I still had a blast (it was the summer before 4th grade).

Ryan's never been to Disney world, only Disney Land once for a day I think... They went when they were in CA visiting his aunt once.

If we do Disney, I want to really do Disney and experience it all!

[vanessalc]

Now I really want to go! I was hoping to squeeze in a visit to Tampa to see my Dad, so I was thinking about going to magic kingdom while we were visiting. But what you guys are planning sounds way more fun!!!

[cookiesandwine]

We are looking at spring 2017. MIL has talked about taking us and I've never had more conflicting emotions about something.
Anyway, I want detailed reviews from all of you who go in the next year!!

[britbratjf]

Dec 1, 2015 19:49:04 GMT -5 cookiesandwine said:

We are looking at spring 2017. MIL has talked about taking us and I've never had more conflicting emotions about something.
Anyway, I want detailed reviews from all of you who go in the next year!!

Look at it this way...free babysitting if you go with MIL! Disney has some really nice restaurants that I would love to go to sans kids. Plus you could go on rides with your H that your kids can't!

[lainikins]

MH wants us to go next year or the year after. I hate big crowds. If the place was empty it would be a blast, but the crowds make me have no urge to go. After reading that you need to make all reservations half a year in advance is not making it sound any less crowded. I would rather a nice, peaceful beach vacation. I am sure I will suck it up for them though.

[barefoot84]

Dec 1, 2015 21:06:49 GMT -5 lainikins said:

MH wants us to go next year or the year after. I hate big crowds. If the place was empty it would be a blast, but the crowds make me have no urge to go. After reading that you need to make all reservations half a year in advance is not making it sound any less crowded. I would rather a nice, peaceful beach vacation. I am sure I will suck it up for them though.

That's me too...

[mrsdonati]

Dec 1, 2015 21:06:49 GMT -5 lainikins said:

MH wants us to go next year or the year after. I hate big crowds. If the place was empty it would be a blast, but the crowds make me have no urge to go. After reading that you need to make all reservations half a year in advance is not making it sound any less crowded. I would rather a nice, peaceful beach vacation. I am sure I will suck it up for them though.

If you go in the beginning of September (like right after labor day) the crowds aren't bad.

[sarasansh]

Dec 1, 2015 21:06:49 GMT -5 lainikins said:

MH wants us to go next year or the year after. I hate big crowds. If the place was empty it would be a blast, but the crowds make me have no urge to go. After reading that you need to make all reservations half a year in advance is not making it sound any less crowded. I would rather a nice, peaceful beach vacation. I am sure I will suck it up for them though.

This is how I feel too. Also I love vacations where you can be spontaneous. Disney sounds way more stressful than when I was a kid!

We probably won't go for 4 or 5 years though. I'd like to wait until both kids can handle a full day in the park and the days of strollers, naps, etc. are long behind us.

[lainikins]

Dec 1, 2015 23:51:46 GMT -5 mrsdonati said:

Dec 1, 2015 21:06:49 GMT -5 lainikins said:

MH wants us to go next year or the year after. I hate big crowds. If the place was empty it would be a blast, but the crowds make me have no urge to go. After reading that you need to make all reservations half a year in advance is not making it sound any less crowded. I would rather a nice, peaceful beach vacation. I am sure I will suck it up for them though.

If you go in the beginning of September (like right after labor day) the crowds aren't bad.

Good to know, thanks.

[xanthepants]

September might still be a possible for us since the other couple is self employed and the kiddo is pretty young and I'm not sure that the school thing is too terribly that big of deal at that age. We will see. I'm not a huge crowd person either, but I still remember it from my childhood. My parents surprised us by taking us to the airport and telling us we were flying to KC on our first flight. The bigger bro and sister figured out we were going to Disneyland and CA. Happy dance ensued. I just want the kids not to be too disappointed so hopefully we will be able to hit a few planned things and a few spontaneous things as well since we are there a while. You all have some great suggestions already.

[xanthepants]

mrsdonati, Can I PM you in a week or so after I meet with my friend and pick your brain about all this?