DISNEY1975
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 5, 2008
Welcome to my 03/24 - 04/03 trip report I hope this is informative to a family like me, somewhat on a budget looking to take a wonderful vacation! We spent 4 nights off site, 6 nights onsite and conquered many theme parks and restaurants along the way.
A little background...
This trip was for myself, my husband and the youngest of my 3 children, DD13. We were given a 6 month, 1 week notice that my nieces would be performing 2 days at Disney World, April 1 - 2. I had just one week to scramble and make my hotel reservation in order to book my dining at the 180 mark, a feat that usually takes me about 4 - 6 months of planning, reading menus and reviews! Somehow I got it done, with many changes in dining during the waiting period for our actual trip.
My boys are no longer interested in going to Disney. The youngest of the 2 is 10 years older than my DD. I think they lost interest in going when my daughter came along and I started including princess meals and attractions when they were teenagers Oh well...they are now 23 and 26 and are free to take their own vacations!
I did quick research as to which week might possibly be less crowded, the week before 04/1-04/02 weekend, or the week after. I even started a thread on DIS to try to calculate the number of states on break each week throughout the year. The week prior won out by a state or 2. According to the chart I made, I think there were about 8 states on school break beginning 03/27, compared to 9 or 10 the week after.
So my starting point was picking dates, then choosing a hotel. Typically we go to Disney end of September thru October. Most recently, it has been end of September for our past couple of trips. My jaw dropped when I saw the price difference of what I paid in Sept. 2015 vs. March 2017. Literally a 50% increase. OK, so maybe we wont stay our typical 10 - 11 nights! I looked at just a one week vacation. Not ideal for me, as I dont like to pound the pavement 2 days in a row, but I would try to squeeze in everything in 8 days. That price, to me, was still not what I considered a very good value. I then thought maybe we could stay at a moderate resort and go for the 10 nights. That price was better, but I wasnt thrilled with the idea of not staying at the Poly!
Equally less than thrilled was my husband! He vowed, after our last trip, we would not be going back to WDW anytime soon. Of course I was not going to miss the performances of my nieces, so I convinced him to go on the condition that we would try a lot of new things and not go to all my favorites for the 10+ time! I mentioned Poly for $10K and got a big "No Way". And that started a little loud conversation about not doing the same things over and over. I told him there were lots of other things to do, and he said its the same parks over and over and over again. Then a lightbulb went on! Ive never been to Discovery Cove or Universal Studios, so maybe we could stay offsite a few nights, then go to the Poly for a week . He liked the first half of the idea, but said "No Poly". I asked him where he wanted to stay and my daughter quickly entered the conversation and asked if she could pick. My husband said he would listen to her suggestion.
She went onto the computer and I almost cried tears of joy when I saw her reading reviews and looking at all the pictures! After a couple of days, she announced she wanted to stay at the Beach Club! Great! Something new !!! Ive been wanting to stay there, but something has always happened that another resort won over. Usually price, or not being a resort for free dining etc...
I priced the Beach Club for 7 nights only to find Lagoon View and Club level were the only categories available. Ughhh...how do I convince Mr. Tightfist to pay for that? I then looked at Yacht Club and they did have availability in a garden view for a somewhat reasonable price ($700 less than standard view at the Poly). It wasnt necessarily new to us, but my daughter had never been and it has been about 15 years since our last stay, so that is what we chose. Im so glad we did because when Disney finally announced their spring promo a couple of months later, Yacht Club was offering 30% off, while Beach Club and Poly only had a 10% discount!
Needing to be at Disney for the performance 04/01 - 04/02, we decided on a 6 night stay 03/28 - 04/03, and to extend our stay to make it a little more relaxing, we stayed offsite 03/24 - 03/28.
That is how our planning happened and I will soon share all the fantastic details in posts to follow.
Anyone sticking around to hear about Universal Studios, you will be disappointed! We didnt make it there. I will be telling our tales of Discovery Cove, Sea World, Aquatica, all 6 Disney Parks, 16 TS Disney restaurants and 8 offsite restaurants, Disney Springs etc..etc..etc....
See ya real soon
Day 1 - Arrival & Disney Springs - click here ---> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03
Day 2 - Discovery Cove - click here ---> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03
Day 3 - SeaWorld - click here ---> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03
Day 4 - Aquatica - click here ---> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03 2017
Day 5 - Yacht Club & Epcot - click here ----> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03 2017
Day 6 - Blizzard Beach and MK - Click here ---> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03 2017
Day 7 - Animal Kingdom - Click here ----> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03 2017
Day 8 - Typhoon Lagoon and Epcot - Click here ------> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03 2017
Day 9 - Hollywood Studios - Click here ------> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03 2017
Day 10 - Magic Kingdom - Click here ----> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03 2017
Day 11 - Cape May Cafe and Departure Day - Click here ----> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03 2017
A little background...
This trip was for myself, my husband and the youngest of my 3 children, DD13. We were given a 6 month, 1 week notice that my nieces would be performing 2 days at Disney World, April 1 - 2. I had just one week to scramble and make my hotel reservation in order to book my dining at the 180 mark, a feat that usually takes me about 4 - 6 months of planning, reading menus and reviews! Somehow I got it done, with many changes in dining during the waiting period for our actual trip.
My boys are no longer interested in going to Disney. The youngest of the 2 is 10 years older than my DD. I think they lost interest in going when my daughter came along and I started including princess meals and attractions when they were teenagers Oh well...they are now 23 and 26 and are free to take their own vacations!
I did quick research as to which week might possibly be less crowded, the week before 04/1-04/02 weekend, or the week after. I even started a thread on DIS to try to calculate the number of states on break each week throughout the year. The week prior won out by a state or 2. According to the chart I made, I think there were about 8 states on school break beginning 03/27, compared to 9 or 10 the week after.
So my starting point was picking dates, then choosing a hotel. Typically we go to Disney end of September thru October. Most recently, it has been end of September for our past couple of trips. My jaw dropped when I saw the price difference of what I paid in Sept. 2015 vs. March 2017. Literally a 50% increase. OK, so maybe we wont stay our typical 10 - 11 nights! I looked at just a one week vacation. Not ideal for me, as I dont like to pound the pavement 2 days in a row, but I would try to squeeze in everything in 8 days. That price, to me, was still not what I considered a very good value. I then thought maybe we could stay at a moderate resort and go for the 10 nights. That price was better, but I wasnt thrilled with the idea of not staying at the Poly!
Equally less than thrilled was my husband! He vowed, after our last trip, we would not be going back to WDW anytime soon. Of course I was not going to miss the performances of my nieces, so I convinced him to go on the condition that we would try a lot of new things and not go to all my favorites for the 10+ time! I mentioned Poly for $10K and got a big "No Way". And that started a little loud conversation about not doing the same things over and over. I told him there were lots of other things to do, and he said its the same parks over and over and over again. Then a lightbulb went on! Ive never been to Discovery Cove or Universal Studios, so maybe we could stay offsite a few nights, then go to the Poly for a week . He liked the first half of the idea, but said "No Poly". I asked him where he wanted to stay and my daughter quickly entered the conversation and asked if she could pick. My husband said he would listen to her suggestion.
She went onto the computer and I almost cried tears of joy when I saw her reading reviews and looking at all the pictures! After a couple of days, she announced she wanted to stay at the Beach Club! Great! Something new !!! Ive been wanting to stay there, but something has always happened that another resort won over. Usually price, or not being a resort for free dining etc...
I priced the Beach Club for 7 nights only to find Lagoon View and Club level were the only categories available. Ughhh...how do I convince Mr. Tightfist to pay for that? I then looked at Yacht Club and they did have availability in a garden view for a somewhat reasonable price ($700 less than standard view at the Poly). It wasnt necessarily new to us, but my daughter had never been and it has been about 15 years since our last stay, so that is what we chose. Im so glad we did because when Disney finally announced their spring promo a couple of months later, Yacht Club was offering 30% off, while Beach Club and Poly only had a 10% discount!
Needing to be at Disney for the performance 04/01 - 04/02, we decided on a 6 night stay 03/28 - 04/03, and to extend our stay to make it a little more relaxing, we stayed offsite 03/24 - 03/28.
That is how our planning happened and I will soon share all the fantastic details in posts to follow.
Anyone sticking around to hear about Universal Studios, you will be disappointed! We didnt make it there. I will be telling our tales of Discovery Cove, Sea World, Aquatica, all 6 Disney Parks, 16 TS Disney restaurants and 8 offsite restaurants, Disney Springs etc..etc..etc....
See ya real soon
Day 1 - Arrival & Disney Springs - click here ---> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03
Day 2 - Discovery Cove - click here ---> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03
Day 3 - SeaWorld - click here ---> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03
Day 4 - Aquatica - click here ---> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03 2017
Day 5 - Yacht Club & Epcot - click here ----> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03 2017
Day 6 - Blizzard Beach and MK - Click here ---> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03 2017
Day 7 - Animal Kingdom - Click here ----> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03 2017
Day 8 - Typhoon Lagoon and Epcot - Click here ------> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03 2017
Day 9 - Hollywood Studios - Click here ------> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03 2017
Day 10 - Magic Kingdom - Click here ----> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03 2017
Day 11 - Cape May Cafe and Departure Day - Click here ----> Our Off Site, On Site, Out of Sight Vacation 03/24 - 04/03 2017
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