Help me Plan my First WDW trip... I think its really happening this time

[mickEblu]

Congrats … Disney cruises are loads of fun. Totally different vibe than a parks vacation - not crushing crowds , great service, good entertainment and castaway cay is an awesome day. I’m flying to the west coast for Alaska cruise on the wonder next summer. Done the fantasy (sister ship to Dream) on the eastern Caribbean itinerary and it’s a beautiful ship - with kids that age you can actually relax , enjoy the ship, enjoy the ocean and beautiful eastern Caribbean islands. You will enjoy !

Thanks!! I was originally going to the cruise that stopped in Puerto Rico instead of St Thomas but unfortunately that one sold out. I’ve never been to Tortola or Castaway Cay but have been to St Thomas/ St. John. Megan’s Bay and Trunk Bay were stunning. Didn’t really enjoy the food at either island but didn’t really go out of my way to find good stuff either. I’m imagining Puerto Rico would have some good food and being more of a culture that intrigues me. Not like it matters all that much with the 6 hours you get on the island lol.

So what’s higher priority? Palo or Remys? My sister/ babysitter booked so looks like I’ll get to do at least one. Brunch or Dinner?

Which rotational restaurant between Animators Palette, Royal Palace and Enchanted Garden should I try to get 3 times?

Enjoy the Alaskan cruise! That sounds awesome.

 

[mickEblu]

some things to consider - if not already done make sure you get early dining - with kids that age you probably will be happier with that. You can always make a request once on the ship as well but no guarantees

Yes got the early dining! Glad I paid attention too because I was automatically assigned late dining and didn’t noticed until I logged into the Disney Cruise app.

 

[mlayton144]

Thanks!! I was originally going to the cruise that stopped in Puerto Rico instead of St Thomas but unfortunately that one sold out. I’ve never been to Tortola or Castaway Cay but have been to St Thomas/ St. John. Megan’s Bay and Trunk Bay were stunning. Didn’t really enjoy the food at either island but didn’t really go out of my way to find good stuff either. I’m imagining Puerto Rico would have some good food and being more of a culture that intrigues me. Not like it matters all that much with the 6 hours you get on the island lol.

So what’s higher priority? Palo or Remys? My sister/ babysitter booked so looks like I’ll get to do at least one. Brunch or Dinner?

Which rotational restaurant between Animators Palette, Royal Palace and Enchanted Garden should I try to get 3 times?

We haven’t done the palo or remy on any of our 4 cruises so can’t give first hand experience. However most people rave about palo - all depends on how much of a foodie you consider yourself - if it were me I would choose palo brunch - high quality ingredients but nothing overly adventurous. Plus with brunch you don’t miss any of the MDRs which have a different menu every night. If characters are important - they are all over the place . Do you have a theme night like Star Wars or marvel ?

 

[mickEblu]

We haven’t done the palo or remy on any of our 4 cruises so can’t give first hand experience. However most people rave about palo - all depends on how much of a foodie you consider yourself - if it were me I would choose palo brunch - high quality ingredients but nothing overly adventurous. Plus with brunch you don’t miss any of the MDRs which have a different menu every night. If characters are important - they are all over the place . Do you have a theme night like Star Wars or marvel ?

Yeah I’m liking the brunch idea. I wonder if having Palo will make the other food taste not so good lol. Like a couple weeks ago when we went out to a nice steakhouse for dinner at our hotel in Palm Springs. I enjoyed my food until I tried my grandmas ribeye.

No no theme on our cruise. How about yours?

 

[mlayton144]

All of the MDRS offer a nice atmosphere and the same menus so I wouldn’t stress about that. My wife liked enchanted garden the best. None of the MDR food will blow your socks off ,but will satisfy most pallets. The beauty is you can order multiple options for every course, so hard not to find something you like every day. The staff truly goes out of their way to make you and family happy; including entertaining the kids at dinner

We had both marvel and Star Wars days at sea on 2 of the cruises - was fun but didn’t make or break the overall experience.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

Resurrecting this thread from the dead to say…. It’s not really happening this time

I cancelled my WDW trip a couple days ago because we decided to go on a Disney Cruise instead. The Disney + subscriber deal was too good to pass up. $4,300 for a week cruise to the Eastern Caribbean (Tortola, St Thomas, Castaway Cay) for 4 people on the Dream in a larger room with a Verandah. Pretty good right? I briefly thought about doing a 5 day cruise and maybe 5 days at WDW but decided that it would be better to separate them. I want the full 7 day cruise experience and when I do go to WDW I want the full WDW experience. Don’t want it to be rushed. Plus this cruise leaves from Miami so it would not be very convenient. I’ll be staying in Miami for 3 days leading up to the cruise.

Overall the cruise sounds like much more of a relaxing trip and makes more sense with a 2 year old and 7 year old who go to Disneyland 25x a year. My son has a watched a few cruise vlogs with us and it’s all he can talk about. I came to the conclusion that a WDW trip was really more for my wife and I than it was for them. Nearly everything that we were prioritizing were thrill rides or stuff that would bore them. Everything they like we pretty much have at DLR. Right now it looks like WDW won’t happen until Spring 2025. Kids will be 9.5 and 4.5 (well out of terrible twos). Also hoping that by then WDW will be a little more guest friendly. They’ve been taking away quite a few perks of late.

Now of course I’m gambling that by April 2023 they’ll get rid of the vaccine requirement for adults like all the other major cruise lines did last month.

Thanks again to everyone for all the advice!! I will be coming back here to refer to all the tips for when eventually do go to WDW. Well, whichever ones are still relevant anyway. If anyone has done a Disney Cruise, I’d love to hear your tips. I already called them and requested a private table for our rotational dining and specifically those cool booths at Enchanted Garden. It’s too early to reserve any activities or make reservations for Remys/ Palos. I won’t be able to eat at either restaurant anyway unless my sister and her fam come so she can babysit while we dine at Palos and vice versa.

Aw that’s too bad, I was looking forward to ur thoughts on wdw but I’m sure you will enjoy the cruise, I took one several years ago and loved it!

 

[mickEblu]

Aw that’s too bad, I was looking forward to ur thoughts on wdw but I’m sure you will enjoy the cruise, I took one several years ago and loved it!

Thanks! I know a little bummed WDW will have to wait but I’m excited for the cruise.

 

[truecoat]

That sounds fun! Even though the Wonder is one of their older ships it seems to be a favorite of some of the more avid Disney cruise goers. Plus it’s super convenient. You just have to drive down to SD. They didn’t include the Wonder in any of the Disney + deals. Only the Fantasy, Dream and Magic.

I’ve only been on Carnival Cruises and to be honest I enjoyed most of them. But this was late 90s through mid 2000s to Cabo/ Mazatlan/ Puerto Vallarta. I didn’t enjoy the Carnival cruises I took to the Caribbean. Specifically the one I took in 2014. All the food tasted freezer burnt.

I’m looking forward to seeing how a Disney cruise compares.

You need to go on one of the newest Carnival ships. I have cruised a lot over the last 6 years and the Carnival Mardi Gras is one of the best ships I've been on.

On another note, I haven't taken a Disney Cruise yet. I can't get past the price point. I'm sure it's a great cruise but my kids are grown and I've enjoyed the cruises I've taken so much that I'm not sure it would be worth the extra money for me.

 

[mickEblu]

You need to go on one of the newest Carnival ships. I have cruised a lot over the last 6 years and the Carnival Mardi Gras is one of the best ships I've been on.

On another note, I haven't taken a Disney Cruise yet. I can't get past the price point. I'm sure it's a great cruise but my kids are grown and I've enjoyed the cruises I've taken so much that I'm not sure it would be worth the extra money for me.

If it wasn’t for that Disney + deal that was too good to pass up I’d probably still be going to WDW next Spring instead. A Disney cruise just checks a lot of boxes for us right now. I really enjoyed the Carnival cruises I took to Mexico way back when. The last one I took in 2014 to the Caribbean left a bad taste in my mouth literally as everything on that ship tasted like garbage. But it probably wasn’t a great ship on that 5 day cruise.

 

[PiratesMansion]

On another note, I haven't taken a Disney Cruise yet. I can't get past the price point. I'm sure it's a great cruise but my kids are grown and I've enjoyed the cruises I've taken so much that I'm not sure it would be worth the extra money for me.

That's exactly the piece-I would love to take a Disney Cruise, but I don't have children and I'm not sure I'll get twice as good of an experience as what I got on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas (one of those giant megaships) for twice the price.

Also I tend to travel solo, which really doesn't work as well on a cruise ship because of the dreaded single supplements.

And to be honest I'm not yet at the point where a cruise really appeals to me. I'd still prefer more active vacations (I can relax at home for free) and to see places on my own terms. Stopping at a city off of a Cruise Ship feels to me just barely removed from going to Epcot. All the stuff immediately off the ship, many of the shore excursions, and the nearest activities and trinkets are, more often than not, just tacky and super touristy (how many jewelry stores can one possibly need? Apparently dozens and dozens per port, not to mention the ones on the ship too!), and you don't have enough time to really explore the place you've stopped.

Maybe I'll get there, but if I'm going to give Disney a small fortune, I'd rather do the SoCal Backstage Adventure by Disney tour.

 

[mickEblu]

That's exactly the piece-I would love to take a Disney Cruise, but I don't have children and I'm not sure I'll get twice as good of an experience as what I got on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas (one of those giant megaships) for twice the price.

Also I tend to travel solo, which really doesn't work as well on a cruise ship because of the dreaded single supplements.

And to be honest I'm not yet at the point where a cruise really appeals to me. I'd still prefer more active vacations (I can relax at home for free) and to see places on my own terms. Stopping at a city off of a Cruise Ship feels to me just barely removed from going to Epcot. All the stuff immediately off the ship, many the shore excursions, and the nearest activities and trinkets are, more often than not, just tacky and super touristy (how many jewelry stores can one possibly need? Apparently dozens and dozens per port, not to mention the ones on the ship too!), and you don't have enough time to really explore the place you've stopped.

Maybe I'll get there, but if I'm going to give Disney a small fortune, I'd rather do the SoCal Backstage Adventure by Disney tour.

Yeah cruises in general aren’t really priced friendly for solo travelers so throw the Disney tax on top of that and doesn’t make a lot of sense. But the price I’m paying for a family of 4 on the other hand is a pretty good deal.

 

[Phroobar]

Yeah cruises in general aren’t really priced friendly for solo travelers so throw the Disney tax on top of that and doesn’t make a lot of sense. But the price I’m paying for a family of 4 on the other hand is a pretty good deal.

True. It helps to look at it as the price of a hotel plus food. Most cruise ships comes out really cheap. However, Disney you have to look for a deal.

 

[SSG]

Bumping this thread because I'm also taking the first-time-at WDW plunge. My wife's brother just retired and decided to spend the winter in Florida. He asked if we wanted to visit and we agreed. And I told my wife, since we were going to be in the state anyway, it would be irresponsible to not check out WDW. We're just doing 3 days in February at MK, EPCOT, & AK--no park hopping. More of a recon trip for a future longer visit.

Anyway, I went through this thread and found some good info. Thanks everyone.

 

[mickEblu]

Bumping this thread because I'm also taking the first-time-at WDW plunge. My wife's brother just retired and decided to spend the winter in Florida. He asked if we wanted to visit and we agreed. And I told my wife, since we were going to be in the state anyway, it would be irresponsible to not check at WDW. We're just doing 3 days in February at MK, EPCOT, & AK--no park hopping. More of a recon trip for a future longer visit.

Anyway, I went through this thread and found some good info. Thanks everyone.

Well you see, it really is going to happen this time… for you. Hahah

 

[SSG]

Well you see, it really is going to happen this time… for you. Hahah

We're all set. 4 nights at Port Orleans Resort - French Quarter and dinner reservations at Steakhouse 71 and Paddlefish. We're pretty excited!

 

[mickEblu]

We're all set. 4 nights at Port Orleans Resort - French Quarter and dinner reservations at Steakhouse 71 and Paddlefish. We're pretty excited!

Nice! Have a great time! That was going to be one of the resorts we stayed at.

 

[the_rich]

After a few failed attempts to get out to Disney World the past few years I think we're actually doing it this time. We're planning well in advance, we're not in a Pandemic and the kids are a little older. We also have another family going with us which was a MUST as I didn't intend on solo riding my way though WDW the first time. We want to go early next year. Right now we're looking at late February, early March or mid/late April after Spring Break. Ive been googling 'Best time to go to Disney World 2023" and Ive been seeing some discrepancies for best timeframes during these months when comparing different articles/sources. From a few days to even a couple weeks.

Our biggest two deciding factors are weather and crowds but moreso weather. From what I've gathered the crowds won't be too bad during any of those timeframes I mentioned... if I pick the right week that is. With that said, between holidays, festivals, marathons, and Spring Break finding that little gap between crowded days seems difficult. Don't get me wrong, I usually go to Disneyland on Saturdays so I'm prepared for crowds. Just trying to maximize our trip. From what I understand, I won't have to deal with any nasty heat/humidity from Feb to April. We're planning on staying in Orlando for about 10 days. 7-8 at Disney World and 2-3 at USO. We want to have some down days and for it to actually feel like a vacation. Between both families, we'll have a 7 year old, 4 year old and 2 year old with us. We're not too too worried about crowds considering the length of our stay and time of year we're choosing.

We haven't decided where we're staying yet but right now the price for the Polynesian is $750 per night for the days we're looking at. Yikes. In a few months they'll send out the 25% to 35% off deals but still pricey considering the the length of our stay. Also, not sure I want to stay at Poly for those prices while cranes and construction are going on for the new tower. We're leaning toward a Deluxe hotel or at least a Moderate only because we plan to spend some recovery time at the hotel and want to stay somewhere nice. If we go Deluxe we were thinking Polynesian, Beach Club, or Contemporary. For Moderate we're thinking one of the Orleans hotels.

I'm a little bummed that Splash will most likely be closed for the PatF conversion and that Tron may not be open either. Neither one is dealbreaker for me though.


Here are my questions... if you would be so kind

1. Is 10 days in Orlando overkill considering our party and what we're trying to accomplish?
2. For a long 10 day trip where we plan on having some hotel/ down days would it make more sense to go in April for the better pool weather? Looks like the highs in Feb - early March are high 60's/ low 70's. Then again Im not really a pool guy and get bored after an hour. I may enjoy the cooler weather just for exploring the parks and hotels in general.
3. Of the 3 timeframes we're considering, which is the best?
4. Would anyone recommend staying offsite since they've eliminated almost all perks of staying onsite? I guess the transportation between parks and hotels is still a big one though.
5. What hotel would you recommend for our group?
6. Should I expect any major attractions, outside of Splash to be closed during that time of year?

All advice is appreciated. Please let me know if there is anything important that I’m not considering.

Thank you in advance!

1. 10 days is perfect. It will allow you to do everything without running around like crazy.
2. I would go in feb-march. I usually go in August and can handle the heat, Feb is much more comfortable than April.
3. Late February or early March.
4. Wdw is the opposite of Dl. In Dl I wouldn't stay on site. In Wdw I wouldn't stay off-site. I feel like in wdw you are all encompassed in the disney bubble.
5. I would do a villa in the animal kingdom lodge or the wilderness lodge. Very similar to the grand californian and I would say the best disney hotels.
6. Probably kali river and rock n roller coaster.

 

[Jiggsawpuzzle35]

1. 10 days is perfect. It will allow you to do everything without running around like crazy.
2. I would go in feb-march. I usually go in August and can handle the heat, Feb is much more comfortable than April.
3. Late February or early March.
4. Wdw is the opposite of Dl. In Dl I wouldn't stay on site. In Wdw I wouldn't stay off-site. I feel like in wdw you are all encompassed in the disney bubble.
5. I would do a villa in the animal kingdom lodge or the wilderness lodge. Very similar to the grand californian and I would say the best disney hotels.
6. Probably kali river and rock n roller coaster.

I’m actually planning on going end of February/Beginning of March in 2024 but it doesn’t look like rooms are available to book yet for 2024. Probably staying at Pop Century for 4 nights and maybe one night at a deluxe resort so we can get an extra 2 hours at the Magic Kingdom.

 

[the_rich]

I’m actually planning on going end of February/Beginning of March in 2024 but it doesn’t look like rooms are available to book yet for 2024. Probably staying at Pop Century for 4 nights and maybe one night at a deluxe resort so we can get an extra 2 hours at the Magic Kingdom.

I can't stay at a resort that uses the gondolas. I tried it on my last trip and my fear of heights was giving me real problems.

 

[mickEblu]

1. 10 days is perfect. It will allow you to do everything without running around like crazy.
2. I would go in feb-march. I usually go in August and can handle the heat, Feb is much more comfortable than April.
3. Late February or early March.
4. Wdw is the opposite of Dl. In Dl I wouldn't stay on site. In Wdw I wouldn't stay off-site. I feel like in wdw you are all encompassed in the disney bubble.
5. I would do a villa in the animal kingdom lodge or the wilderness lodge. Very similar to the grand californian and I would say the best disney hotels.
6. Probably kali river and rock n roller coaster.

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately I’m not going to WDW anymore but I am going on a Disney Cruise in April + 3 days in Miami

I will hopefully one day soon be able to use all the advice from this thread. Or at least the advice that is still relevant.