|
|
Post by tjanca22 on Jan 9, 2019 18:40:27 GMT -6
sophiegrace I may need some help planning a Disney trip for Oct this year. My bro works for a company owned by ABC and can get us park passes and nice discount at Disney properties. A few days ago, I emailed him a big list of questions to look into, so I’m waiting for him to get back to me, because it will somewhat dictate what we can spend and if it’s doable! What’s your opinion on dining options? Do we need sit down? If I can bring my own food into the parks is it worth it? Any recommendations on these hotels: Art of Animation, Pop Century or All Star Movies/Music? If the kids love swimming at all then the Art of Animation is the way to go. Their pools are amazing and the resort itself is themed fantastically. As for dining, it’s all what you really want. We’ve never went with the dining plan because I get groceries delivered to the hotel for breakfasts, snacks, and drinks (because I’m not spending $10 on a bottle of water) and then because of nap time we always headed back and ordered Uber eats or grub hub for lunch. That’ll probably change as nap time ends and we can spend some more solid chunks of time at the park. We would probably do a lot more of the quick eats at lunchtime that don’t require a reservation. Because it was really only one meal in the parks we did do sit down places for dinner that required reservations...my Cinderella’s castle and Be Our Guest reservations were actually snagged through a reservation finder program I joined because they were both already booked up by 7 am 180 days in advance. It’s insane. It’s really up to you and what the experience is you want. Amazing food (if you’re a foodie) and fun kid experience won’t usually be found at the same place, unfortunately. Cinderella’s castle is insane and has to be paid at time of reservation, but it’s always the highlight for M and hard to be upset about. Epcot has amazing amazing food, but I suggest doing that on a weekday and not making a reservation somewhere. They have their food and wine fest that time of year and you can literally eat and drink around the world at dozens of stands they have set up around the world showcase. Always our favorite place to grab stuff. If you want, download the Magic Guide app. All the restaurants are listed by park or hotel and you can get a better idea of where you would want to go. They have all the prices listed, whether a reservation is recommended, if it’s a character meal, how many Disney dining credits it takes up, etc. This is a big help and super informative! We’re hoping my brother’s discount is decent enough that we can make this work! Are the groceries marked up a lot knowing that people are limited on food choices during vacation? How is Hollywood studios a must for kids at this age? What character meals are musts? Are character meals only in the parks? I’m assuming I need a park pass for that day if I’m scheduling a character meal? I’ve heard some mixed reviews on breakfasts vs. dinners? We’re thinking of going first or second week of Oct, Sun-Sun, with travel days being on both the Sundays. Days at MK, AK, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and a down day. Do I need two down days and skip Hollywood Studios? Does this seem reasonable or am I waaay off base? |
|
|
|
Post by tjanca22 on Jan 9, 2019 18:41:36 GMT -6
What a pain goldenlove! I’m glad you got it figured out, but geez, it shouldn’t have to be this hard! |
|
|
|
Post by jubilantsquirrel on Jan 9, 2019 18:45:41 GMT -6
You guys are making me want to go to Disney World! But also no thank you to a cross country flight with my kids.
Maybe we'll do Disneyland soon. I think that might more manageable for us.
|
|
|
|
Post by sophiegrace on Jan 10, 2019 12:32:02 GMT -6
If the kids love swimming at all then the Art of Animation is the way to go. Their pools are amazing and the resort itself is themed fantastically. As for dining, it’s all what you really want. We’ve never went with the dining plan because I get groceries delivered to the hotel for breakfasts, snacks, and drinks (because I’m not spending $10 on a bottle of water) and then because of nap time we always headed back and ordered Uber eats or grub hub for lunch. That’ll probably change as nap time ends and we can spend some more solid chunks of time at the park. We would probably do a lot more of the quick eats at lunchtime that don’t require a reservation. Because it was really only one meal in the parks we did do sit down places for dinner that required reservations...my Cinderella’s castle and Be Our Guest reservations were actually snagged through a reservation finder program I joined because they were both already booked up by 7 am 180 days in advance. It’s insane. It’s really up to you and what the experience is you want. Amazing food (if you’re a foodie) and fun kid experience won’t usually be found at the same place, unfortunately. Cinderella’s castle is insane and has to be paid at time of reservation, but it’s always the highlight for M and hard to be upset about. Epcot has amazing amazing food, but I suggest doing that on a weekday and not making a reservation somewhere. They have their food and wine fest that time of year and you can literally eat and drink around the world at dozens of stands they have set up around the world showcase. Always our favorite place to grab stuff. If you want, download the Magic Guide app. All the restaurants are listed by park or hotel and you can get a better idea of where you would want to go. They have all the prices listed, whether a reservation is recommended, if it’s a character meal, how many Disney dining credits it takes up, etc. This is a big help and super informative! We’re hoping my brother’s discount is decent enough that we can make this work! Are the groceries marked up a lot knowing that people are limited on food choices during vacation? How is Hollywood studios a must for kids at this age? What character meals are musts? Are character meals only in the parks? I’m assuming I need a park pass for that day if I’m scheduling a character meal? I’ve heard some mixed reviews on breakfasts vs. dinners? We’re thinking of going first or second week of Oct, Sun-Sun, with travel days being on both the Sundays. Days at MK, AK, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and a down day. Do I need two down days and skip Hollywood Studios? Does this seem reasonable or am I waaay off base? Hollywood Studios is kind of a downer right now. People seem to love Toy Story Land, but I was throwing up nonstop at that point so we left without exploring it because it really didn’t seem worth it. Three rides and a quick eats place. The Star Wars section should be ready by mid to end November and IMO it’s going to have to be absolutely spectacular to even make the drive the Hollywood Studios worth it. I would probably choose a down day over going there until the kids are old enough for the big rides like tower of terror and rocking roller coaster. Even then it’s a half day park at best...not worth the $$$$ passes to get in. We’ve only done Cinderella’s castle for character meals the last two years and it’s pricey but my gosh at M’s reaction when each of the princess comes to talk to her. There’s a ton of them though and you could probably find one based on the kids’ likes. They’re also spread out just about everywhere between parks and the different resorts (off the top of my head Lilo and Stitch at Poly, Mickey and friends at Contemporary, Alice and wonderland and crew at Grand Floridian). The other big princess one is in the Norway pavilion at Epcot. If L is into frozen you could probably spend a good chunk of time there between the character meal, frozen Viking ship ride, and Anna & Elsa meet and greet. M’s not into frozen yet (thank God) so we’ve been skipping it other than a quick walk through. The groceries are hit and miss. A lot of the stuff is normal price, but then other things like diapers were double the price. Amazon now is an option there though so you could always peruse the options ahead of time to make sure they have what you want and just place the order when you’re on your way to the hotel. Garden Grocers only delivers to Disney so I’ll be using amazon for the universal trip next month. Prices are better, but the selection isn’t as big. Either way it’s nice to have some of your normal food and snacks available to eat. There are people that have done research and run programs on crowd control at Disney so if you want to let me know the dates once you pick them I can tell you which days are better for each park based on how busy they’re projected to be. |
|
|
|
Post by tjanca22 on Jan 10, 2019 13:54:10 GMT -6
You are the best sophiegrace! I’ll be back after my brother can do his research! |
|
