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.

5 more sleeps ⭐️😀

2 more sleeps for me. I've finished work now for 3 weeks yippee!

Ooh, can I join? I am going in Oct half term and sooo excited! Anyone got any first timer tips?

Hi purpletears

We went for the first time last year and my main piece of advice would be to plan, plan, plan!!

Have you looked on the Dibb website? There's lots of helpful stuff on there like the Busy Day guide where you can decide which parks to avoid/visit on specific days. We used this for August last year and it never felt too busy to me.

Have a lovely time everyone setting off this week. I am SO jealous - I wish I was going now.

Less than 10 weeks though, nearly at FP+ booking time.

Just finished on the WDW website booking our next DW trip! 271 days to go, lol :)

We are going for a week in February half term.
It will be the 8th visit for me, dh and 14y DD!
And the first time for DD's friend who has been allowed to come with us :D The girls are so excited already - dd's friends parents only confirmed this afternoon she could definitely come, so have 9 months of giddy teens!

We are staying at Old Key West resort with a DDP. We've chose a 1 bed villa to give us and the girls a little more privacy.

We've never done the DDP before but thought it would be ideal when having an extra child coming along, as its an all in cost that way. So that will be interesting!

We plan to do all 4 Disney Parks, and the two Universal parks - we always do all the parks, and usually some form of park, regardless if there for a week or 2. Give DD's friend a good overview of everything.

I think the girls are most excited by the Memory Maker they get as part of the package - they will be practising their poses for each camera, lol - dd knows where they all are now for maximum effect!

We are at Disney Caribbean Resort now it's amazing. The weather is hot and sunny and we are having a fab but very hectic time. We've hired a stroller from Orlando stroller rental as the parks are just too much for our 6 year old twins and it's so hot that it's better not to have moaning kids.

Today we've had breakfast at chef mickeys and lunch at Cinderella's castle the kids love it

TheKingSits - get a clip on fan for the hood of DS's pram. Disney ones are stupidly expensive, but when we had them for DD (eek - 9 years ago) they kept going wrong, so basically every day we would go into a random shop and swap the broken one for a new one with new batteries

We've never eaten at the castle but plan to use a couple each of our DDP (also new to us) vouchers to do so, so long as we can get a place!

Just done my FP+.

It is so strange to totally immerse in everything Disney and then come back to a regular, grey Bank Holiday Monday .

60 days...

Hi everyone, I'm joining in as we've just booked to go in August 2017. We're going with Thomson and staying in a Fort Wilderness Cabin.

Its our first time (and probably only time) going to Disney as a family and I'm really over excited. DH is excited too but as its over a year away doesn't really seem keen on discussing everything in minute detail right now. Although there was some interest when I told him he could meet Star Wars characters - for the kids you understand.

I've got so many questions I don't even know where to begin!

"my main piece of advice would be to plan, plan, plan!!"

Sigh. I hate planning holidays. I prefer to just turn up and be spontaneous about everything, but I realise I will have to plan for this one. DD is in the middle of GCSEs and we will have put off the planning until after 17th June. We fly on 15th July, so I hope it isn't going to be too late to book fast passes.

Neither of us likes white knuckle rides, so there will be a lot that we won't be going on, and I hope those will be the ones with the longest queues.

Sigh. I hate planning holidays. I prefer to just turn up and be spontaneous about everything, but I realise I will have to plan for this one. DD is in the middle of GCSEs and we will have put off the planning until after 17th June. We fly on 15th July, so I hope it isn't going to be too late to book fast passes.

Nah, that'll be fine. If you're not staying onsite then you won't be able to book before then anyway (you can do 30 days out). You don't have to do lots of planning unless you really want to make the most of it all. The best thing to do is to look at a busy day guide and work out which parks you're likely to want to visit on which days and then book a few FPs accordingly. I know that in itself probably sounds like a lot of work but it's SUCH a good idea to do - a park can be really crowded one day and fairly quiet the next so it makes sense to go on the right days. If you decide the night before that you want to go somewhere else instead then you can always amend your FastPasses (only a few rides 'sell out' in advance).

Neither of us likes white knuckle rides, so there will be a lot that we won't be going on, and I hope those will be the ones with the longest queues

I'm afraid not :( The longest queues are for Seven Dwarves Mine Train, meeting princesses, Toy Story Midway Mania, Peter Pan's Flight and Soarin'.

You can only book a limited number anyway. I'm hoping that queues generally are a bit better because of FP. One can dream!

The planning is an arse. The only reason I'm stuck in is we're on site and know there's certain restaurants we want to go to. Nothing posh, we really aren't that fussy, more faves from last time.

I have an Excel sheet with coloured boxes. If only the rest of my life could be that organised.

LOL, I'm with you on that one, Kinky - if I put half as much effort into housework as I do Florida planning, my house would be immaculate :D

What restaurants are you wanting to book? Am wondering if there are some goodies that I've missed :)

I am normally ultra organised for Disney holidays, and will be for the DW trip we have booked in February. Come September we will be booking a restaurant a day for each Disney day. DD and her friend will be upset though - as of 2017, DDP (other than deluxe) are no longer valid at the Royal Table, inside the castle. They'd been hoping to cash in two DDP tickets to go there. Frustrating! Maybe see if they can be persuaded to go to the one at Epcot instead.

However, we are going to DisneyLand in LA in July and have nothing planned, bar the hotel and tickets. You can't do FP in advance - its the old system, and you can't use your magic bands or anything. And restaurants can only be booked 60 days in advance - still not done that yet, need to decide which to go to as never been there before.

LucasNorthsTwiglets - which ADR places have you booked so far?

DD (not 14y but been going since she was little) top choices are:

Magic Kingdom - Be Our Guest, Crystal Palace
Animal Kingdom - Tusker House, Rainforest Cafe
Hollywood Studios - 50s Prime Time Cafe, Sci Fi Diner
Epcot - Teppan Edo. She also has enjoyed: Chefs de France, Monsieur Paul, Nine Dragons, San Angel Inn and Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria. We were;t overly impressed with the Rose and Crown.

As said above she really wanted to go to The Royal Table in February, and it looks like we can't go to Akershus Royal Banquet Hall either. Argh! Although she is a teen she still loves Belle, as she did when little - not sure we will get to do either now. Wonder if DL, LA has them?

"I'm afraid not sad The longest queues are for Seven Dwarves Mine Train, meeting princesses, Toy Story Midway Mania, Peter Pan's Flight and Soarin'."

DD will be 16. I doubt that some of those would appeal to her. We are staying at the Universal site as it has more that appeals to DD. She is a massive Harry Potter fan. I will have a car and will be happy to drive out to eat somewhere that won't be full of small children. She has her eye on a veggie restaurant that looks good.

I wasn't planning on booking dining ahead because I don't know where we will be or what we will want to eat. I don't want to live on fast food for 11 days though.

DD will be 16. I doubt that some of those would appeal to her. We are staying at the Universal site as it has more that appeals to DD.

Don't discount rides based on the themeing - Toy Story and Mine Train are fantastic rides for any age! The Buzz Lightyear ride is DH's favourite ride despite him being waaaaaay too old to be interested in the film/characters. Universal is brilliant - we always have a night or two onsite there; you will love it!

She has her eye on a veggie restaurant that looks good.

Is it Sweet Tomatoes? If not, could you let me know the name of it, as we have a few veggies in our party.

I wasn't planning on booking dining ahead because I don't know where we will be or what we will want to eat.

Yeah, there's really no need to book dining ahead unless there are specific places where you want to eat. You'll always find something available.

San Angel in Epcot was DD's and DH's favourite last time, so there.

Sci-Fi Diner in Hollywood Studios for theme.

O'Hana for breakfast with Stitch for DS.

Chef Mickey's for breakfast requested by DH.

I've managed to get into T-Rex at Downtown Disney which I missed out on last time for DS.

I've also just booked Rainforest Cafe on an evening at Animal Kingdom for new shows there.

We're staying at Beach Club, so have also booked Cape May Cafe for breakfast and an evening meal, plus Beaches and Cream for tea one evening.

Others we haven't been to include Mama Melrose at HS, Crystal Palace for lunch (did breakfast last time) and character breakfast at Grand Floridian, which I suspect will lead to me having bad thoughts about wanting the stay there...

We are on DDP this time. Last time we had DxDDP and it was too much - ate all the snack credits and had loads of meals left. Felt like the whole time was eating! We are foodies, but there was a limit even for me. This time, we are in walking distance of Epcot and the boardwalk, so will wander out for quick service options rather than book in loads of sit down meals. I also like ordering pizza from a local takeaway as a treat when we're there. They bring it into the lobby for us.

Nickname it is easy enough to cancel reservations through My Disney Experience if you wanted to book some and then changed your mind. We went after DD finished chemo, so energy levels were unpredictable and we cancelled a few reservations. Never had any issues. It doesn't need to be set in stone, but if you want character experiences at all, it's probably worth putting something in. Also, variety in food was decent enough so no need just to eat fast food. Some of the signature dining is lovely, though $$$.

Thanks for the tips. No we won't want character experiences. DD absolutely hates being around noisy children, and I'm not a fan, so we will go for the quieter places if any exist. I have the Brit Guide to Florida so I will check out the veggie restaurant DD likes the look of.

I really don't have the time and inclination to plan anything until after the exams are over. DD likes me to test her on various subjects, and I think she will enjoy planning more than I will.

Kinky - we had no idea that there was a Stitch character dining - O'Hana will definitely be on our to do list. 14y DD's favourite characters are Belle and Stitch! She's going to be very excited!