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Old 07-29-2011, 01:41 PM   #1
DisneyLuv
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Seriously considering a quick trip for F&WF in October!

Crunching the numbers now to see if it could work for a quick mother-daughter trip (yippee no kids or hubbies!!!!) in late October. So excited to even be seriously contemplating this. Mom and I really need the break. First of all, trying to decide if we should stay on or off site. If onsite, would probably do a value resort (maybe POP) to keep it cheap (no stay at my beloved POR this time!), but since I won't have my own children, am sorta reluctant to stay somewhere where there will mostly be kids (sorry if that makes me sound horrible, but again, am really looking forward to having a break from my precious children!). If offsite, was considering the Buena Vista resort close to DtD. Anyone stay here or know if it it's a good place to stay? Would have a car, so transpo not a problem. The plan would be to do a quick two-night visit with the first day spent at DtD and maybe touring some of the resorts, and the 2nd day spent doing the F&WF (yum!!!), and then checkout the 3rd morning with maybe a nice breakfast at Boma before leaving. Any suggestions on doing a short trip like this would be much appreciated, especially from anyone who has visited during the F&FW before. Sorry for the rambling long post, but right now I'm just kinda putting it together. Oh, almost forgot, any rumblings of some room discounts being offered in October?
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Old 07-29-2011, 05:23 PM   #2
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I would stay onsite. I heard rumours about some free dining dates coming out Aug 3, but it's only rumour, and don't know if the dates are during F&W either. Do you have AAA? Maybe you could get a room only AAA discount?
What about the Dolphin? If there's availability. I know the Epcot resorts fill up during F&W. But Sheraton is running several discounts, and if you are a teacher or work in a school, you can get a fairly good discount sometimes.
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Old 07-29-2011, 06:23 PM   #3
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Definitely stay on-site if you're planning on having adult beverages at the F&WF. There are children at all the hotels. The ratio may seem higher at POP since it's so large. Most children are around the pool though. Hope the numbers work out for you. Mother/daughter trips are great!
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Old 07-29-2011, 09:53 PM   #4
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If you will have a car and want to save money, the Buena Vista Suites would be a good choice. The cost is about the same as at the Value resort on Disney property, but the rooms are much larger. Check Mousesavers.com for possible discounts. The free breakfast is quite good -- not at the level of Chef Mickey's, but far better than a food court that's you'd have to pay for. We've staying there several times when we had a car and wanted to spend a day or two at Disney World.

There is a bus that runs to the parks that you could take on the day you go to the Food and Wine Festival, but when you go to Downtown Disney and Boma you can drive yourself in about the same amount of time as driving from a Disney resort would take.

Sure, the Disney resorts are more interesting and have perks such as extra magic hours, the Dining Plan, and charging privileges, but it sounds as if you wouldn't use those this trip. This is the only off-property resort I've stayed at lately, so I don't know much about other hotels nearby. We chose Buena Vista Suites because it had separate beds for my husband and me, our daughter, and our son. If you need just 2 beds there are other choices, but I don't know if they're appreciable less expensive.

Happy planning!
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Old 07-31-2011, 01:33 PM   #5
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Hope it works out for you.
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Old 07-31-2011, 10:56 PM   #6
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....I've have also expressed DEEP INTEREST to my wife about getting to WDW for some of the F&WF. (translation: I whined at her).

It seems that we were always at WDW for Jersey Week (1st week of Nov)...and one of the benefits of that..was that F&WF was going on...and we loved it. Now that my youngest daughter is in High School...and has mostly honors and advanced placement classes...she really can't miss even a day of school without falling behind. So...my wife said, "let's see how the money goes"...and maybe WE (her/me)..can get there for a long weekend". ( gee...I hope her business REALLY DOES WELL this fall ).
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Old 08-01-2011, 08:51 AM   #7
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Go for it!!! But I would stay onsite......
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Old 08-01-2011, 10:58 AM   #8
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Thanks for the responses! Checked out rates on Mousesavers this morning and looks like we would be able to get a really good rate for Buena Vista. This may be a good option for us as they also advertise included breakfast. Still working on putting together exact costs. We have AAA which may also be an option if we can get a good discount to stay on-property (always preferred if possible!) so I'm going to check that too. The good news is that more and more it looks like this will be a go after a few more number crunches!!!
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