Planning a Trip with my two Adult Daughters.

[Mark Brown]

Hi All,

I'm new to these forums. I stumbled upon them while I was planning a trip to Disneyworld in Florida.

My family consists of myself, my wife and my two daughters (23 & 20).

Recently, I lost my sister who was in her early 40's. This got me thinking about how life is too short and how I should make an effort to do more things with the girls and my wife, Sarah. Our family loves Disney, we've been there five times but haven't been since the girls were 12 & 15, the reason: having two kids in college.

I am so proud of both of my girls, somehow, with little help from myself of Sarah, both of my girls ended up in Med school after doing very well in their pre-med undergraduate courses. Sarah and I have always said that when the girls are done in college, and there's a little more money to spare, we'll have a huge family trip to Disney to show the girls just how proud of them we are. Both of the girls went to college at 16 so my eldest is almost done at med school, the youngest however, is only starting out so we would have to wait four years at least for her to be done at school to have our giant trip to disney.

Once my sister died, I decided there was no point waiting for our trip. Yes, we're more strapped for cash than we used to be but why should I wait to do this with my girls when there's a chance I won't be around?

Sarah and I want to surprise the girls with a trip this summer. For about two and half weeks. In our last trips to disney, we've stayed mostly at the Grand Floridian and once at the Wilderness Lodge. We can see now that these will probably be out of budget but we would still love to stay at a disney property. Have any of you stayed at a slightly lower down disney property and what have your experiences been. We've also been playing with the idea of staying off-site in a non-disney property. We are afraid however that this will mean we'll lose some of the disney magic. Has anyone had experiences of staying in a non-disney property and are there any you'd recommend.

Our girls are a lot older than they were on our last visit. Although we often spend hours reminiscing about our disney trips, they've grown up a lot and what they enjoyed then, they might not necessarily enjoy now. My wife and I want to plan a few things in advance for the girls but we're unsure of what caters to their age. Is there anyone that might have a few pointers of places the girls might enjoy?

We want this trip to be special, that's our no.1 goal. We love dining out so we were wondering what restaurants you guys would recommend for our family? We're all fairly adventurous and will try most things. We just want something really really special to look back on. What restaurants would you all recommend.

Finally, it has been eight years since we lasted visited Disney so to say we are a little rusty would be an understatement. Add that to the fact that Disney changes all the time and you've got one very confused man!! I was wondering if someone could outline for me the new things at Disney over the last few years and whether or not I need to be aware of anything else new that would assist me with planning a fun trip.

Thanks in Advance, I look forward to getting some replies, I'm terribly excited!

 

[docdebbi]

first, so sorry on the loss of your sister.
second, have you checked with your oldest daughter about whether she has 2 weeks free to go and when they will be assigned.
having been to med school I know that your life is not your own. if she is graduating, there are usually only 2 weeks between finals and starting internship and you graduate then. if she is going into her fourth year, she will be doing rotations and does get one month vacation, but not at a time of her choosing. just be sure before booking a vacation

but assuming you have worked this out, a trip with adults only is REALLY great.

I have stayed off property, value, moderate and deluxe.
been there, done that. obviously, the more you can afford, the better you get treated.
I do recommend staying on property. more magic as you said, and just EASIER !!!
if you decide to go moderate, I love Caribbean beach. although port Orleans is also fantastic.
if you go value, and there's nothing wrong with that, I recommend Art of Animation little mermaid rooms. the walk to the main building is pretty far, but I think the theming and atmosphere has it all over Pop Century and the All Stars.

but you will see on this board, that everyone has their own favorite, that's why there is vanilla AND chocolate. decide what you are looking for in your resort, what type of style (e.g. Caribbean vs souther charm), and chose based on what you like, not what we tell you.

with adults only, you can spend more time on leisurely dinners. and probably only have to do one character meal. but do a character meal, many folks without kids do them, and it makes it DISNEY, act like a kid and do it. chef mickey is the hallmark, has the fab five
also, consider some of the epcot country restaurants and resort restaurants. things like jiko or boma at animal kingdom lodge are different and leisurely. citricos and artist point are also outstanding. if you are trying to watch the budget consider the resort restaurants that are not signature, but still nice.

even though you are all adults and don't need naps, I still recommend hitting the parks at rope drop, and going back to your hotel for the afternoon for a few hours of rest or pool and then going out for dinner and a show. meaning, at DHS- fantasmic, at Epcot- Illuminations, at MK- the electric light parade and wishes. either eat in the park, or at a resort and head over to the park.
late nights, a trip to a monorail resort for a nightcap and atmosphere and wind down are great.

yes, My Magic + is all new and hard to work with and understand the ever changing rules as they roll it out. there is an entire section on this forum with information. read it, read it again, cry and read it again. you'll get it. and if you have troubles setting up your account and functions, don't be shy about calling Disney's IT department. they are very helpful. (not like they've fixed five or ten or twenty problems for me!)

if you are talking about going this summer, book your dining reservations QUICK! choice are getting very limited. you need to act now, it costs nothing to get a reservation and if you don't go, you can cancel.

have fun

 

[Disneydreamer23]

I'm sorry to hear about your sister and I think you guys will have a great timeI have stayed at two values the pop all star movies and I stayed at a moderate Caribbean beachto be honest I stayed at pop when I was 18 19 20 21 22 and I still love it even they had bigger than life toys I starred at the Caribbean beach last year for the first time and I loved it I think if you are paying for two children to be in college maybe a value is better for you I would suggest maybe going on the dining plan and having some good foodwhen I stayed at the pop or Caribbean beach both was enough room for 4 people I wouldn't be worried about that it's obviously going to be a little different from the other two places that you Stayed since they area lot higher up I think you'll have a good time and enjoy

 

[wdwmagic]

Consider staying at the Swan or Dolphin. They are perfectly located on the Boardwalk area, so are walking distance to Epcot and the Studios, and have lots of dining opportunities in walkable range. The hotels are deluxe level, but in many cases are much cheaper than the Disney operated deluxe hotels.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I was also going to suggest Swan or Dolphin. To save some extra $...look into using ebates and then book the hotel through whichever travel site is offering the best cash back % via ebates. Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, etc. are all on there and while the top %s for cash back are usually around 6%, Orbitz has gone as high as 20%. Many of these sites also have the Disney hotels on there and every now and then, the hotel prices via these external sites fall well below Disney's discounted prices. Hey- can't hurt to look. I know some people have even used these sites with ebates to buy their park tickets. I'd still price this out and compare it to Undercover Tourist's tickets to see which comes out cheaper. You might even compare the pricing to annual passes as sometimes annual passes wind up being cheaper if you're going to Disney for a longer trip. An AP would also make you eligible to buy into Tables in Wonderland, which would save you some $ on your table service meals.

As for special things...well, as you can see in my signature, I'm big on cakes. I'm also big on nice/fun dining or well timed experiences. California Grill timed with Wishes is always nice, but you could also head to the Poly- grab some drinks - and have a nice relaxing time watching Wishes from the Poly beach. I was living in FL around the time I was your daughters' respective ages and I would have even loved a character meal at that time (hey, I love them now too). If you have time, I'd also recommend heading over to AKL and trying lunch or an early dinner at Sanaa or maybe heading to DTD for dinner at Raglan Road so you can also take in the Irish entertainment.

Since the girls are now older, you might even consider a tour...maybe one of the ones with an age limit that you wouldn't have been able to take when they were kids.

It's hard to cover everything that may have changed. I took a hiatus from WDW from June 1998 - December 2010 and just found it best to ask questions as they came up. You may also want to check out Allears- lots of info on there...and Mousesavers, which has discount info. While the info is probably in threads on here somewhere, I know the summer room discount details when booking directly through Disney are on Mousesavers right now.

 

[Wisconsin]

Port Orleans French Quarter has an adult vibe, is a bit cheaper, and has the fun boat to Downtown Disney for shopping and dining (REALLY fun after dark!). Be sure to do Raglan Road! Follow the girl's lead! Once you surprise them, they'll start thinking of things they would like to do at Disney. Most of all, enjoy the family time!!

 

[Weather_Lady]

I would recommend one of the Port Orleans resorts, as well. They are beautifully themed and more "adult" and also have the ferry boat to Downtown Disney (a/k/a Disney Springs). If you stay at PORS, do get a preferred room or request one near to the main building to save yourself some longer walks.

 

[rt06]

http://dvcrentalstore.com/

I already booked through Disney, but was curious about the prices from what other people on this board have said. You might just find what you need.

 

[ginadee]

Welcome! I loved reading your story and your trip sounds like its going to be great no matter what. I'll chime in on my favorite restaurants. Good for adults I think, Chefs De France and Coral Reef both in Epcot. Raglan Road at downtown disney. Grand Floridian Cafe. Caseys Corner in MK has the best hotdogs. My boyfriend loved the food the best at Whispering Canyon in the Wilderness Lodge. Will look forward to your trip report.