Decision overload! Help! My DH has made this soooo complicated.

[Jacquellie]

Some of you really helped when I was planning a WDW trip for 2015 a hubby who thinks he'll hate it. Well, there's been a development. I decided to take a cheeky wee trip to DLP by myself with our DD who will be almost 3.
I was all excited with my low key plan for four nights at Santa Fe cos DD loves Cars. Then DH decided he wants to come too. This is after about Disney resorts for years (having never been to any of them).
I was pretty confident I could wow him at AKL and WDW, but DLP is a different matter. I've been once 20 years ago and of course I loved it, but I wasn't as blown away as when I went to orlando.
Now I'm tying myself in knots thinking I should upgrade to Sequoia Lodge, buy a dining plan, factor a trip to Paris...
My plans are getting more and more elaborate and expensive as I try to impress him with Disney and now I'm confused and stressed.
I know it's me who's making it complicated but I just want him to love it - I'll be gutted if he hates it. Wish I could not care, but I really do, I know that's a bit nuts.
My dilemmas are:
1) Santa Fe doesn't look very comfortable - with a nice lobby - which some disney hotels do so well. Would sequoia be worth the difference? Is is anything like wilderness lodge? Is the pool lovely (my pal is just back, says the water was freezing.
2) when to go. Aiming for October 1-4 but wondering if sept would be much nicer.
3) dining plan. DH loves to eat so this could really win him over, but WHICH dining plan? Was gong to do standard Half board, but will that give us the best experience? I'm into good theming over food, so blue lagoon looks exciting, what other restaurants have a cute setting? Thinking by the time we have breakfast, all u can eat buffet and a pause gourmande, we'll be full, but think my DH will be wondering what our dinner plans are. So, tempted to go full board ... Can't decide!
4) our dd will be 2 years 10 months.... I'm looking for a comprehensive list of what she can do. I can only really find height restrictions of what she can't do.
5) is rainforest cafe included on dining plan?
6) is disney village like downtown disney at WDW? Is there any music on anywhere?
7) is 2 full days and a half enough to see everything so we could go to paris on last day?

8) any advice on how to just flipping chill out about whole thing would be much appreciated. My husband is just so serious, it's really difficult.

 

[marni1971]

Sequoia is absolutely worth the upgrade. It's like WL vs All Stars. And was completely refurbed three years ago. It's not as "posh" as WL but is comparable and is above an Orlando mod.

September is far better. October is getting colder and probably wetter. If you can make it before end of August even better for guaranteed longer hours, better weather and guaranteed Dreams (though the latter will hopefully still be nightly regardless). But def earlier than October.

Dining plan- don't know. We usually just get hotel breakfast included. Blue Lagoon is nice, but the setting we found was the best thing. Walts is a must though. Aubergine de Cellier (?) is the signature eatery but expensive.

DTD is a smaller version than Orlando. Some stores, large World of Disney and a half dozen restaurants. Also has the Buffalo Bills Wild West dinner show you may want to look into.

3 days is a minimum. A day in each park plus another half day in DLP and maybe Buffalo Bills or a hotel meal.

 

[Ralphlaw]

A few warnings:

1. Some sit down meals like Walts could be several hours long, which may be too much with a little one in tow.
2. Men like to eat, usually, and would probably welcome plenty of buffets. That's why we never go with a dining plan. You just don't know how hungry you'll end up being on any given day.
3. The hotels offer day trips to Paris. I would consider something kid friendly that your husband might also like.
4. Don't stress out too much. Men hate displays of undue stress on relatively minor decisions.

Good luck.

 

[marni1971]

Huh? You can lunch at Walts in an hour.

Also, don't think you need ADRs everywhere. You'll get lots of walk ups or same day tables.

 

[Jacquellie]

Sequoia is absolutely worth the upgrade. It's like WL vs All Stars. And was completely refurbed three years ago. It's not as "posh" as WL but is comparable and is above an Orlando mod.

September is far better. October is getting colder and probably wetter. If you can make it before end of August even better for guaranteed longer hours, better weather and guaranteed Dreams (though the latter will hopefully still be nightly regardless). But def earlier than October.

Dining plan- don't know. We usually just get hotel breakfast included. Blue Lagoon is nice, but the setting we found was the best thing. Walts is a must though. Aubergine de Cellier (?) is the signature eatery but expensive.

DTD is a smaller version than Orlando. Some stores, large World of Disney and a half dozen restaurants. Also has the Buffalo Bills Wild West dinner show you may want to look into.

3 days is a minimum. A day in each park plus another half day in DLP and maybe Buffalo Bills or a hotel meal.

Wow thanks so much for that x

 

[peep]

1. Some sit down meals like Walts could be several hours long, which may be too much with a little one in tow.

I totally agree with this, sorry marni, every time I've been to Walts it's been so relaxed it's taken us over 2 hours from seated to leaving.

I agree that September would be the best month to go, kids tend to be at school and the weather tends to be decent. Meaning nice weather in a rather empty park, you then don't have to rush around to try and see everything you want to.

Dreams should still be performed every night of the year as far as I'm aware.

I have no idea what the dining plan is like in Paris, never needed it and the only time I've seen people using it is occasionally in the fast food restaurants and in Cafe Mickey (a character dining restaurant in the village). Reservations aren't a big thing in Paris, if you're worried it's too busy on the day then just pop into the Guest relations desks at either park in the morning and reserve a table for the restaurant of your choosing.

What's nice about Paris is that the two parks, the village and all the hotels are right next to each other, you can walk between them all very easily.

Does your Husband like thrill rides? Could be a good idea to make sure he uses the fast pass system for rides your Daughter can't ride that he might enjoy (like, Tower of Terror, Space Mountain etc).

Most of all, don't worry, just relax and have a fantastic time.

 

[Ralphlaw]

Huh? You can lunch at Walts in an hour.
\.

An hour when there's a park out there to explore can seem like an eternity to a little one. In my experience, and I come from a big family, kids become very impatient when food isn't on the table very quickly after sitting down to eat.

 

[Swissmiss]

I find the best person to answer the "to take the time for a sit down meal or not" question is the person who will be eating the meal! Personally I prefer to take the time, but I also view touring the parks differently than many - my DD8 and I decide what we absolutely must see and do and we make sure to always accomplish what is on the list so anything else is icing on the cake. With an almost 3 year old, mid-week and not during school holidays I would say that 2 and a half days is plenty to see and do all that you'll want to do. We sometimes skip the Studios altogether or only go for a very short while as there is much less that interests us in the Studios than in the Magic Kingdom, whereas we have friends with kids the same age who prefer the Studios to Magic Kingdom. It's all about focusing on what you like best rather than what other people tell you they like best! Enjoy your planning and your trip!