We got back over a month ago, and I'm just now getting around to digging through the 1000+ photos I took!
In lieu of having done a proper pre-trip report I'll summarize briefly how we planned. We brought our boys (DS 7, DS 9) to the World for the first time last year (March 2013) and stayed offsite at Orange Lake resorts. Prior to that, my wife & I had been as kids but neither of us had ever stayed on-property.
Less than a year after the boys' first trip, we were all itching to find a way to get back. I overheard my aunt & uncle discussing with my cousin & her two kids (DD 10, DS 6) that they would be going February 2014, so we all agreed it would be super fun to head down at the same time. My aunt hadn't researched nearly as much as I've been since she hadn't been since the mid-80's. I offered to help since I've been reading and listening to podcasts pretty steadily since the first trip.
We agreed to head down the week of 2/1-2/8 2014, which was great timing to not only escape our dreadful Midwest winter, but also to capitalize on some very low crowd levels (mostly 1's - 4's of 10 on TP Crowd Calendar). So our next decision was where to stay. I shared the option to rent an AllStar Vacation home and have our own pool etc, but my aunt didn't want to deal with any driving. Onsite it was!
I discussed her budget and we agreed to shoot for something in the $150-200/night range. While we could have hit Art of Animation or a value, I figured we were in the range to explore some of the moderates. I even asked the guys over at WDW Today what the differences were between moderates and they dedicated an entire episode to help me out! Huge thanks to Matt Hochberg, Len Testa, Mike Newell and Mike Scopa for taking the time to focus on my dilemma!!
MODERATE RESORT WDW TODAY PODCAST BREAKDOWN:
http://www.wdwtoday.com/article.php?story=201309012020195&query=moderate
Was super great to hear such experienced dudes weigh all the pro's and cons. I settled on Port Orleans French Quarter since it hit our budget and required the least walking. I knew my aunt & uncle liked the vibe of New Orleans as they'd visited before. Excited, I called up my aunt to share the recommendation.
Little did I know, she'd already went and booked a theme park view room for the 5 of them in the Contemporary, just 10 min walk from MK! Clearly the budget had expanded "just a bit" but we were excited to try it out as I still have memories of wanting to someday stay at "that resort the monorail goes through" dating back to my first trip in 1983. We booked a Bay Lake view room of our own and began counting the days until we could make our ADR's.
Rather than retype the whole story, I'm going to cheat and post a link to a podcast interview trip report I recorded shortly after getting back. I'll be focusing mostly on posting pics up here to round out some of the details and hit bits & pieces that the podcast glosses over.
MY TRIP REPORT DISDAD INTERVIEW PODCAST:
http://disdads.com/archives/4691
Pics To come soon!
In lieu of having done a proper pre-trip report I'll summarize briefly how we planned. We brought our boys (DS 7, DS 9) to the World for the first time last year (March 2013) and stayed offsite at Orange Lake resorts. Prior to that, my wife & I had been as kids but neither of us had ever stayed on-property.
Less than a year after the boys' first trip, we were all itching to find a way to get back. I overheard my aunt & uncle discussing with my cousin & her two kids (DD 10, DS 6) that they would be going February 2014, so we all agreed it would be super fun to head down at the same time. My aunt hadn't researched nearly as much as I've been since she hadn't been since the mid-80's. I offered to help since I've been reading and listening to podcasts pretty steadily since the first trip.
We agreed to head down the week of 2/1-2/8 2014, which was great timing to not only escape our dreadful Midwest winter, but also to capitalize on some very low crowd levels (mostly 1's - 4's of 10 on TP Crowd Calendar). So our next decision was where to stay. I shared the option to rent an AllStar Vacation home and have our own pool etc, but my aunt didn't want to deal with any driving. Onsite it was!
I discussed her budget and we agreed to shoot for something in the $150-200/night range. While we could have hit Art of Animation or a value, I figured we were in the range to explore some of the moderates. I even asked the guys over at WDW Today what the differences were between moderates and they dedicated an entire episode to help me out! Huge thanks to Matt Hochberg, Len Testa, Mike Newell and Mike Scopa for taking the time to focus on my dilemma!!
MODERATE RESORT WDW TODAY PODCAST BREAKDOWN:
http://www.wdwtoday.com/article.php?story=201309012020195&query=moderate
Was super great to hear such experienced dudes weigh all the pro's and cons. I settled on Port Orleans French Quarter since it hit our budget and required the least walking. I knew my aunt & uncle liked the vibe of New Orleans as they'd visited before. Excited, I called up my aunt to share the recommendation.
Little did I know, she'd already went and booked a theme park view room for the 5 of them in the Contemporary, just 10 min walk from MK! Clearly the budget had expanded "just a bit" but we were excited to try it out as I still have memories of wanting to someday stay at "that resort the monorail goes through" dating back to my first trip in 1983. We booked a Bay Lake view room of our own and began counting the days until we could make our ADR's.
Rather than retype the whole story, I'm going to cheat and post a link to a podcast interview trip report I recorded shortly after getting back. I'll be focusing mostly on posting pics up here to round out some of the details and hit bits & pieces that the podcast glosses over.
MY TRIP REPORT DISDAD INTERVIEW PODCAST:
http://disdads.com/archives/4691
Pics To come soon!
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