Anyone got a Disney World/Florida holiday planned? Part 3

[McKayz]

I thought I'd start a new thread as number 2 is nearly full.

Links to old threads:

thread 1

thread 2

We haven't got ours booked yet. But we are planning on going August 2016. DH and I both turn 30 in the next 11 months so it's like a big birthday holiday.

Thanks Lucas,

I haven't seen any sandals for me. I'm going to look at hiking sandals at weekend I think.

I have been considering these for Florida. They aren't beautiful, but visiting theme parks is more about comfort than being fashionable.

The Go Walk slip-ons don't look as grannyish on as they do on their own BTW. I have some and they are amazingly comfortable.

Dont buy any footwear in the UK. I went straight to the Mall and got some really comfy Adidas trainers to wear that were half the price of UK ones.

I won't want trainers in summer. We will be staying on the Universal side of the area. Is there a shopping mall there?

this one is about 10 mins away in a car

www.premiumoutlets.com/outlet/orlando-international

I'm going to have trouble going shopping straight away unfortunately as the children absolutely hate shopping and I can't think of anything worse than making them do it in the first couple of days of a big holiday like this.

Those sandals look good though, I could wear those for work in school over summer too.

Thank you for the link. I'm surprised at how many British stores there are there.

Bun, those sandals aren't bad, I might have a look at those. I have these sandals which look as nice as walking sandals can look, imo. They are incredibly comfy for about 85% of the time but just sometimes I find them a bit narrow and they irritate me so I'd like to get some others.

I'd like to wait until we get there to shop but I think I need to wear shoes in first...

Are the GoWalk trainers slip-ons sweaty? I always feel like I need open sandals there...

In those temperatures they would be which is why I am looking at sandals as well.

I wear crocs flip flops with cotton dresses. They have always been comfy enough for me and they at least don't look so awful as the go walks- I get mine from amazon. Plus you can get them wet without worry and they are really light!

Having said that at the moment it's 59 degrees and I'm in jeans and crocs flats! It is still fabulous though!

I had Nike rift to wear, but my feet were buggered by a few days of walking around the parks. Need at least two pairs of different comfy shoes to swap.

I once wore some shorts on a ride at IoA and got very wet. I had leopard print pants on which were visible to all who walked behind me. Something to keep in mind :)

Were they white shorts HRH?

I dislike Crocs and don't care for flip flops for all day wear if walking around all day.

I agree you need to find the right thing for you- trainers kill my feet when worn all day.

It's freezing here at the moment, hoping it warms up tomorrow as I have run out of warm clothes...

15 degrees today.

Loving the weather forecast reports - all these warnings of such a cold front and wind chill. Literally every 5 minutes on morning tv. Seems such a panic but it's still warm enough for lightweight jeans and a hoodie. We didn't even bring coats over with us let alone worn one!

Warmer forecast tomorrow at 18/19 and up to 23 on Friday. Dd will be back in shorts.

Yes weather is improving -thank god! I went to the Disney store yesterday and looked at the horrible Disney clothes but couldn't bring myself to buy them. I shall wait it out, looks ok after today. Think there's frost predicted this morning.

Of course ds still insists the pool is necessary- I nearly froze solid

Disney springs is looking much better. I plan to visit the Indiana Jones bar at some point - dp marched us past it yesterday on the way to Disney quest and it looks very inviting.

bunbaker I wore a pair of equally questionable sandals last year in Florida and they were a blooming godesend, soooooo comfortable!

I wouldn't be seen dead in them in the UK!

Lovely and warm today - woohoo! Dd and dh were back in shorts, and Dd is currently having a dip in the pool whilst me and dh sit and have a drink at the outdoor pool bar. Early birthday drinks for me - it's officially my birthday in the UK even if I've a short time to wait here.

We are here now

Arrived last night, and checked into Animal Kingdom. Saw giraffes right outside our window, even in the dark, so can't wait for it to get light today so the dc can see them - they will be so excited! Not sure dd2 will want to actually go into the parks at all once she realises she can sit and watch her beloved giraffes right outside her bedroom!

Got our magic bands and dining plan stuff sorted, and all set to hit Epcot today, once everyone wakes up. It's just me and dd2 awake at the moment, as it's only 5.30am (damn jet lag!). Off for breakfast at Boma in a little while, then Test Track here we come

I already love being back, even though we haven't done anything at all yet expect settle into hotel. This will be ds' first 'proper' visit, as last time we can he was about 15 months old so has no memories at all. He is 3.6 now, so will be good to see what he makes if it all.

I keep reading about these dining plans. What are they exactly? DD will be 16 when we go so we wouldn't be interested in eating anywhere with characters or loads of noise.

If you stay inside at Disney, you have the choice of pre-purchasing (or we got ours free in an offer which runs most years) a dining plan.

There are 3 levels:

Quick service. You get 2x QS credits and a snack credit per person, per night of stay. A quick service restaurant is a cafeteria style/self service style (or you get your food at the counter, then find a table to eat). The range of foods is enormous, it's not all burgers and chips.

Regular dining plan. You get 1 tables service and 1 quick service credit, and 1 snack credit per person per night of stay. A table service restaurant is a typical restaurant - waiter service. Again, huge range of styles, not all character meals (we go tongue character meals, but my dc are small and want to, and it saves queuing in the parks for meet and greet).

Deluxe dining plan. 3x meals credits per person per day. Plus 2 snack credits. Credits can be sued for either quick service or table service, as you choose.

You don't have to have a dining plan, you can just pay as you go. I don't think I'd buy a dining plan if I booked when the free dining offer wasn't running, but we've always had the free dining offer, and want table service meals, so it makes sense for us.

Thanks for that. I don't think a dining plane would suit us as I know the portion sizes are ridiculous and I can see DD and me sharing meals. I feel it would be too restricting as well.

Portion sizes are huge, but you can still share meals/credits. The only time you can't share is at a buffet style restaurant, where price is per head.

It can be restrictive, especially booking the popular table service restaurants up to 6 months ahead of time.

Planning suits us (3x children with ASD!) and we know we need to eat, so all is good.

I do sometimes wish we could be a go-with-the-flow family, and eat when hungry wherever we happen to be, but we have to eat at expected mealtimes, and need to know we will be able to sit down easily, so booking ahead works for us.

Thank you Pandas. We are very much a go with the flow family as far as meal times are concerned. DD is always hungry and often just after a big lunch asks what's for tea, when I haven't even thought about eating again for a week.

We've never bothered with the dining plans when we stayed at Disney itself as don't think we'd ever eat that amount and can't be fussed with carrying a refillable cup thing around.

We do book an ADR for each Disney day, 180 Days in advance, but usually only one a day around lunch time. We then grab breakfast and dinner wherever we are, normally just a snack.

But even when at the restaurants we rarely eat a main and a dessert, and the plans don't include alcohol so you'd have to pay for any beers or whatever on top as well anyway.

You do see lot of people on the plans though so they obviously work for many.

We had the QSDP when we went two years ago and it worked really well for us as the plan is so flexible and you don't need to pre book anywhere. Dd and I sometimes shared a credit which made them stretch further, or for breakfast if we only wanted a croissant or pastry used our snack credit instead of a meal credit.
Some restuarants such as Wolfgang Pucks in Disney springs are table service but still take QS credits.
We managed to stretch ours to cover all meals for the fortnight ( and DH has a large appetite).
We have got the free QSDP again this year, as having considered the DDP decided that we like the flexibility and also the tips on the DDP cost soon adds up.
We will probably book a couple of TS meals and just pay out of pocket this time.
If you have any snack credits left you can use them to buy sweets etc in the candy shop to bring back as presents.