What will it be for trip #3? (August 5-14, 2012) About This Page:

[debrabrown]

Unfortunately I can't answer your questions as we have never done a split stay or rented a car and have always gone with a the free dining plan. We will have to make those OOP vs DDP decisions for our next trip next year though.

Personally, I love TH for lunch. I prefer it over breakfast. Lots of good choices for both adults and kids. It's one of our faves.

We also really like the 1900 PF dinner. Have not been there for any other meal but I think they have some of the best choices around.

I missed the thread about why buffet prices went up.???

[benjiboo25]

Originally Posted by OneLittleSpark

I am so glad you started this and can't wait to hear about your savings. Wish I could help with the kids clubs or the pirates league questions, but I have no idea about that stuff.

As far as your ADR selections, that is always the hardest part for me! I will say that CMC is a must do on our list...thanks to your TR. I also love 1900 park fare for dinner. I haven't done breakfast there yet.

Can't wait to hear more...Got to love the survey sites!

Thanks Sparky! I loved 1900 dinner so much I can only imagine the breakfast would be wonderful. I really like the idea of seeing the less common characters. At this point, we have plenty of photos with the fab 5...I look forward to my kids seeing other characters.

Originally Posted by lissybri

Hi Shelly. My boys did the GF pirate cruise for the second time last year. If I remember correctly, I think we had somewhere between 1.5 -2 hours to ourselves. We didn't plan well,plus I was afraid not to make it back on time, so we ended up just hanging out at GF. It was a nice time. We had CS breakfast. I shopped at Basin. Then we hung out on the "beach". Unfortunately, the boys were less than thrilled. They said it was way too hot. We were there in August. I just got to work, but I will chime in about the kids clubs at lunch, lol.

Ooooooohhhhh...I had not considered the weather....we will be there in August (as we were last time). I wonder if the 9:30am launch would be as miserable? Too much money to spend for 3 kids to be sweaty and miserable!

Originally Posted by lissybri

As far as the kids' clubs, we tried Sandcastle Club at BC for the first time last summer and the boys loved it. DH and I went to dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse for our anniversary. When it was time to get the boys, they were so upset. They wanted DH and I to leave and "find something else to do". They later told me they had so much fun. They played with other kids and CM's. They even got dinner from Cape May Cafe. I got to pick what they'd eat when I dropped them off. I can't wait to do it again in June (neither can the boys). I will try a different club since we are staying at WL.

Thanks for that feedback! We stayed at BC for our last visit and we wished we could have used the kids club there. My youngest was not yet 4 at that time. We are thinking of checking out the kids club at the poly this time...Let me know about your experience in June.

Originally Posted by debrabrown

Unfortunately I can't answer your questions as we have never done a split stay or rented a car and have always gone with a the free dining plan. We will have to make those OOP vs DDP decisions for our next trip next year though.

Personally, I love TH for lunch. I prefer it over breakfast. Lots of good choices for both adults and kids. It's one of our faves.

We also really like the 1900 PF dinner. Have not been there for any other meal but I think they have some of the best choices around.

I missed the thread about why buffet prices went up.???

Well...dave talked about it in regard to the DDP....buffets did not seem like a good use of the DDP if a buffet meal would be $22 while other TS could cost as much as the price of the DDP for the day. With higher prices, they seem a better value with the DDP. Another poster mentioned that what I was seeing may just the seasonal price increases? Not sure...but I will keep watching it. We did TH on our first trip with the Nemo package. We really liked it...but that was our STRESSFUL trip and the specific details about food are a bit of a blur. I recall my dd(now 7) kept stealing the shrimp from my seafood stew....so I am pretty sure she will like returning to TH!

[lissybri]

We did the 930 pirate cruise as well, but my kids don't like the heat. I think you should try it at least once. They said they never wanted to go back, but now that their cousins will be with us on our next trip, they're reconsidering, lol.

[benjiboo25]

How crazy would it be to drive from MN to FL?
This has never been something I have realistically considered. DH has asked about a few times but I have always been able to make a good point for flying. Yuck!

BUT---I am a little freaked out by the high airline price I am seeing for our August 2012 trip. Last trip (August 2010) our flights were $147 ROUND trip (before taxes and everything...but they were still under $200 each). Now I am seeing things just below $400. With 5 people flying...that is a difference of close to $1,000.

Driving "pros":
-DH drives for his job and thinks nothing of 12 or more hours of driving. He is pretty confident we could drive 16-18 hours a day.

-We plan to rent a car for our WDW trip this time as we want to drive to southern FL to visit DH's sister and her family during the trip.

-I work in a school and have summers off. I have nothing the requires me to have a shorter vacation.

-Our ressie and value season start Aug 5. DH sometimes works Sun-Thur and that shift falls the week we would leave. That means we have Fri and Sat at home anticipating our vacation but not leaving for it.

-We are used to a minivan. In fact, DD (ASD, age 7) really needs her own row in the car LOL. Renting a minivan in FL looks very expensive. This would assure we have the ride we are comfortable with.

-Our van can hold lots of gear. The kids can sleep in the van. Not having to worry about how much we pack is also very appealing.

Driving "cons":
-Ug. So many hours in the car. SO much time.

-DH is worried about the miles added to the car. About 3,000 total. We already live in an "exurb" and I have long commutes to work. We put on over 15,000 miles/year in a normal year.

-Hotel-How can we plan for how far we will really get and where we will need to stop to sleep?

-Although we planned to drive the 3.5 hours from WDW to southern FL to visit DH's sis, the return drive home would cut into that time as DH needs to get back to work on Saturday 8/18. We planned to stay with them for 3 nights, which would be only 2 full days with travel time. Not sure I want to drive all the way down for the visit for one day only to add an extra 4 hours to the trip home? They come to MN once or twice a year to visit all of our family up here. Seems wring to be in FL and not see them but I also do not want to cut the WDW part of our trip short. Last visit, they stayed at BC with us for 2 days. They said they would never again go to WDW in August (They are "season pass" holders. August was too hot and too crowded). Its kinda our turn to reciprocate...

[Colexis Mom]

Good luck with your decision Shelly! I'd still give the airfare some time to come down before you count it out for good. We're 1200 miles from Disney, and it's not something I'd want to drive, but we have friends that do it all the time and enjoy it!

[JKnott17]

Good luck making your decision, Shelly! I also think that you should wait a little while to see if airfare comes down any.

That being said, we've driven from NJ to FL for the past 3 years. It's about 1100 miles one way, which translates into about 18 hours of driving (not including stops). I know we are in the minority here, but we actually enjoy driving. I love road trips, but I've been taking them with my family since I was a kid. Both of my girls are used to long trips in the car, we started them young One of the major factors to think about when deciding are your children. How do they typically do when you take long drives? What is the longest distance you've ever driven with them? If they normally do fine, then I wouldn't worry about it, but if they sometimes get restless or unhappy in the car that's something to take into account. Trust me, in that confined space, one miserable traveller will only end up making you all miserable.

For our first two trips, my husband was working a night shift schedule, so we actually made the 18 hour drive straight through overnight. We left late in the evening, arriving in Orlando the next day late in the morning. This really worked out, especially for my girls, since they slept most of the ride. There were not as many hours of them being awake that I needed to worry about keeping them entertained. This last trip, we decided to split the ride up into two days. We left fairly early on Friday morning (around 7 am) and drove about 13 hours that day through to the end of GA, leaving us with a short 3 hour drive to Orlando the next morning. The girls did really well, but honestly, I was exhausted when we did finally arrive. I'm not sure why, but I was more tired this time around than I was after driving straight through for the previous 2 years.

Hope this helped you somewhat, good luck in making your decision!

[HiddenMickey]

I actually think your family might be better off driving given what you write. You'll save a lot of money. You can make it an adventure, not a chore if you go in with the right attitude. Having your own car is really nice especially if you do go south in Florida....and I think you should. Perhaps drop one day at wdw to add time for the relatives?

[benjiboo25]

Originally Posted by JKnott17

Good luck making your decision, Shelly! I also think that you should wait a little while to see if airfare comes down any.

That being said, we've driven from NJ to FL for the past 3 years. It's about 1100... One of the major factors to think about when deciding are your children. How do they typically do when you take long drives? What is the longest distance you've ever driven with them? If they normally do fine, then I wouldn't worry about it...

For our first two trips, my husband was working a night shift schedule, so we actually made the 18 hour drive straight through overnight. We left late in the evening, arriving in Orlando the next day late in the morning. This really worked out, especially for my girls, since they slept most of the ride. There were not as many hours of them being awake that I needed to worry about keeping them entertained. This last trip, we decided to split the ride up into two days. We left fairly early on Friday morning (around 7 am) and drove about 13 hours that day through to the end of GA, leaving us with a short 3 hour drive to Orlando the next morning. The girls did really well, but honestly, I was exhausted when we did finally arrive. I'm not sure why, but I was more tired this time around than I was after driving straight through for the previous 2 years.

Hope this helped you somewhat, good luck in making your decision!

The most we have ever driven with the kids is just shy of 4 hours. They did just fine. I know 26 hours is a bit more....If my kids were little, it would be a no-brainer....all of them could have gotten miserable. But the youngest one is actually the most easy-going. They are all old enough to "understand" what we are facing. I think I would tell them we will have 3 days in the car so we will not have to deal with the "how much longer" questions and it will be a surprise when we arrive so early! (I would likely clue in my oldest who would love being a part of the "grown-ups" secret!)

Originally Posted by HiddenMickey

. Having your own car is really nice especially if you do go south in Florida....and I think you should. Perhaps drop one day at wdw to add time for the relatives?

I know that is the right thing to do....sigh.....And....we LOVE our family and this cousin is the "age-match" cousin for my youngest. We want to see them...I just do not want to sacrifice our disney days...

So...If we make good time on our drive in and arrive Saturday evening instead of Sunday when we can check into POR...What would we do?????

[Cam22]

and for making the travel decision!

[debrabrown]

I hope airfare comes down. That is such a huge difference from last year.

[KMB733]

making a decision!!! I can remember as a kid making several trips to Florida driving. We always had a lot of fun, and it was a great way to see so many places along the way!

[mfirst]

We drive - though for us, it's a shorter trip (straight down I-75) we know that our crew can last up to four hours at a time so we'd plan our stops around every 4 hours starting with our breakfast stop at 7 am. When we knew it was time to stop, we'd look for either a rest area with room for the kids to move around or a McD's with a playground for the same reason. We also knew that we'd stop for at least thirty minutes to let the boys burn off some energy. A couple of times, Brian and I would eat while the kids played and then we'd feed them when we got back in the car.

Each has a portbale DVD player, and I pack their bags full of "car goodies" - snacks they can munch on, movies to choose from, coloring stuff, toys etc. I also leave an empty seat in the middle row of the van so that I or hubby can move back and entertain, etc. Being 5 feet tall has an added perk that it's easy for me to climb into the middle/back of the van. On our drive down, I'd reserved a hotel room in Atlanta and one in Valdosta - because I was unsure of when we'd need to stop for the night. I ended up canceling the Atlanta room (fully refunded) because we were making better time than I'd anticipated. Vladosta was great for us because we arrived around 4:00 and spent the remiander of the day hanging out in the swimming pool with the boys. The next morning, we had only a short 3 hour or so left before arriving at WDW.

[OneLittleSpark]

Good luck with your decision Shelly. I have no advice to offer in this area, just .

Hopefully the airfare will go down.

[benjiboo25]

We have never done the water park add-on but are looking forward to it this time. We thought about it last trip, but with SAB at BC...we did not find it necessary.

We are planning 6 days of park tickets with the add on (no hopper). We will be at WDW for 9 days. We obviously plan 6 park days and then will have 3 full days where we can visit the water parks, DQ and have "down time" at our resort. What is the best way to do this?

Thinking about water parks and Disney quest on the same day. Would it be better (for crowd considerations) to start at the water parks and then go to DTD and DQ? Or the other way around? I know water parks are busiest in the afternoon, but that is also as DTD and DQ start to get crowded.

Are there certain days that are better than others for crowds at the waterparks and DTD/DQ? My current plan (still subject to change once the official August hours are released) has no-park days on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Those would be our "flex days" for visiting the add-ons and having necessary down time. Thursday is also the day we move from POR to OKW, so I think it would be agreat day for DTD/DQ but probably not the waterparks. How are Saturday crowds at those places? Are they busier because of locals? Or is is relative to increased Saturday crowds at the theme parks?

Has anyone ever used the water parks or DTD/DQ as the "afternoon break" from the high August heat of the parks? Is this only feasible if you have your own transportation? (We live in MN and are likely driving to WDW unless airfares come down significantly. Even if we fly, we will have a car the latter portion of our trip, as we would also drive to southern FL to visit family). Transportation/logistics-wise, which would be the easiest parks to use it as a mid-day break? AK for the water parks and DHS or Epcot for DQ?

[B.M.]

You can definately use the buses to get to both the water parks and DQ. Since you have allotted 3 days "off" from the parks; I would be tempted to spend 1 day at the water parks (arriving when they open) and one day at DQ (arriving when it opens). I'm a fan of arriving at opening to avoid crowds.... I'm sure it will be great whatever you do.... If you are going to both water parks; you could either do them on seperate days or do both water parks in one day saving 1 of your "off" days for a true rest day....