Ryan Holt
New Member
We are planning on taking a 7 day cruise out of Port Canaveral and then spending 4 nights / 5 days at WDW (Nov 28 - Dec 9) afterwards. We have two boys age 3 & 4 and this is my families first cruise and first trip to Florida WDW (I went when I was 7 years old but first for everyone else).
A couple questions... since this is probably the only time we'll do this trip (maybe one more time in +10 years) is 4 nights / 5 days enough time at the parks or should we extend a bit? I feel like for our family this will be more than enough time for us, but I haven't been and most info on the internet suggests spending more time. We plan on spending two half days (first day and last day) and one full day at MK plus one night at the Mickey Christmas Party, then one day each at Animal Kingdom and Disney Hollywood. I plan on having park hopper passes in case we decide to change it up. We're not very excited about Epcot, just because the kids are so young and I remember even at 7 didn't find it all that exciting. Has anything changed? Does this seem like a reasonable time table overall? I am assuming after relaxing on a cruise for 7 days we should be able to hit the parks pretty hard and do as much as we want to without feeling rushed. I am even thinking this should be enough time to take a few breathers at the resort between parks and not feeling like we are missing out.
Resort hotel. We have pretty much decided on the Wilderness lodge for a resort, though I am having trouble deciding which room to book. We like the idea of a rustic wilderness lodge all done up for Christmas and the boatride to MK park. I tried to rent DVC points for a 1 br villa but those are all booked up. So options are a regular hotel room, a regular room on the club level and a 1 br villa at rack rate. The villa and club level rooms are about $150 more per night and each has pros and cons. I really need some advice here about what to do. I am leaning towards a 1 br villa.
The regular hotel rooms are not much bigger than the stateroom we are staying on for the cruise, so a 1 br unit would be excellent to stretch out in. Plus, having laundry in the room would be really nice after 7 full days at sea. How practical is the kitchen? Where is the nearest grocery? Our family would do very well with instant oatmeal, cereal, PB&J's in the room, we would save a lot of time / money waiting in line for food at the park. Our little ones like to eat right when they wake up and it can be nerve racking trying to get everyone up and at 'em quickly in the morning to go find someplace to eat. Will the hotel stock up on groceries if we give them a list before we check in? Taking a cab to the nearest A&P to buy food while on vacation doesn't sound appealing.
The club level seems good because of all the food provided on that level. Mini bar, cereal, cookies, etc. I am not sure if it is worth an additional $150 per night though. Especially since the rooms are still very small.
A regular hotel room isn't out of the question. I don't mind getting some room service in the morning, but it just seems like for the price a 1 br is the way to go.
A couple questions... since this is probably the only time we'll do this trip (maybe one more time in +10 years) is 4 nights / 5 days enough time at the parks or should we extend a bit? I feel like for our family this will be more than enough time for us, but I haven't been and most info on the internet suggests spending more time. We plan on spending two half days (first day and last day) and one full day at MK plus one night at the Mickey Christmas Party, then one day each at Animal Kingdom and Disney Hollywood. I plan on having park hopper passes in case we decide to change it up. We're not very excited about Epcot, just because the kids are so young and I remember even at 7 didn't find it all that exciting. Has anything changed? Does this seem like a reasonable time table overall? I am assuming after relaxing on a cruise for 7 days we should be able to hit the parks pretty hard and do as much as we want to without feeling rushed. I am even thinking this should be enough time to take a few breathers at the resort between parks and not feeling like we are missing out.
Resort hotel. We have pretty much decided on the Wilderness lodge for a resort, though I am having trouble deciding which room to book. We like the idea of a rustic wilderness lodge all done up for Christmas and the boatride to MK park. I tried to rent DVC points for a 1 br villa but those are all booked up. So options are a regular hotel room, a regular room on the club level and a 1 br villa at rack rate. The villa and club level rooms are about $150 more per night and each has pros and cons. I really need some advice here about what to do. I am leaning towards a 1 br villa.
The regular hotel rooms are not much bigger than the stateroom we are staying on for the cruise, so a 1 br unit would be excellent to stretch out in. Plus, having laundry in the room would be really nice after 7 full days at sea. How practical is the kitchen? Where is the nearest grocery? Our family would do very well with instant oatmeal, cereal, PB&J's in the room, we would save a lot of time / money waiting in line for food at the park. Our little ones like to eat right when they wake up and it can be nerve racking trying to get everyone up and at 'em quickly in the morning to go find someplace to eat. Will the hotel stock up on groceries if we give them a list before we check in? Taking a cab to the nearest A&P to buy food while on vacation doesn't sound appealing.
The club level seems good because of all the food provided on that level. Mini bar, cereal, cookies, etc. I am not sure if it is worth an additional $150 per night though. Especially since the rooms are still very small.
A regular hotel room isn't out of the question. I don't mind getting some room service in the morning, but it just seems like for the price a 1 br is the way to go.
