Pre-Trip Our "Feels like we haven't been in forever" Trip

Hi All! Please allow me to introduce myself, my name is Heather and you are reading my very first (in a long line of more to come I am sure) post in our pre-trip report! Our last trip was in 2010!!!!! And honestly, so much seems to have changed since then! Also, our last trip was girls only, which we had so much fun! But, this time, we are bringing the husbands (or as of right now we are?). So, first things first, let me introduce you to our cast of characters:

Myself: Heather, Mom & Medical Biller, LOVES Hollywood Studios, The Muppets and Character Breakfasts
Richard: Husband & Beer Man (no, really...he is a beer delivery driver), LOVES just being on vacation & thrill rides
Alexandra: 19, college student, LOVES the princesses and Tower Of Terror
Savannah: 15 High School Student, LOVES Pirates & Small World
Terry: Grandma extraordinaire, LOVES small World & O'Hana Breakfast
Gary: Grandpa, Just LOVES spending time with the fam

We live in a very small town in PA about an hour outside of Philadelphia. It takes about 2 hours to fly non-stop to Orlando which (crossing our fingers) is hopefully the plan. Terry & Gary are my in laws and Terry is a HUGE Disney lover too, so it just seems appropriate that we take this adventure together

Our dates: May 12-18 2019 (I know, I know! This is so far away but if I start the planning now...it will be the most precise trip ever right?) We usually plan our trips at least a year in advance. Disney is not cheap by any means so the earlier you get started, the more time you have to pay off.

That is all I have squared away as of right now. I am working on the best option for where to stay and whom to book through? I am looking at renting DVC points for a 2 bedroom, or booking through AAA, or just booking myself through Disney at a Value. Any opinions would be much appreciated and I will update as soon as I know more!

See ya real soon!

 

[ELeigh]

Hi All! Please allow me to introduce myself, my name is Heather and you are reading my very first (in a long line of more to come I am sure) post in our pre-trip report! Our last trip was in 2010!!!!! And honestly, so much seems to have changed since then! Also, our last trip was girls only, which we had so much fun! But, this time, we are bringing the husbands (or as of right now we are?). So, first things first, let me introduce you to our cast of characters:

Myself: Heather, Mom & Medical Biller, LOVES Hollywood Studios, The Muppets and Character Breakfasts
Richard: Husband & Beer Man (no, really...he is a beer delivery driver), LOVES just being on vacation & thrill rides
Alexandra: 19, college student, LOVES the princesses and Tower Of Terror
Savannah: 15 High School Student, LOVES Pirates & Small World
Terry: Grandma extraordinaire, LOVES small World & O'Hana Breakfast
Gary: Grandpa, Just LOVES spending time with the fam

We live in a very small town in PA about an hour outside of Philadelphia. It takes about 2 hours to fly non-stop to Orlando which (crossing our fingers) is hopefully the plan. Terry & Gary are my in laws and Terry is a HUGE Disney lover too, so it just seems appropriate that we take this adventure together

Our dates: May 12-18 2019 (I know, I know! This is so far away but if I start the planning now...it will be the most precise trip ever right?) We usually plan our trips at least a year in advance. Disney is not cheap by any means so the earlier you get started, the more time you have to pay off.

That is all I have squared away as of right now. I am working on the best option for where to stay and whom to book through? I am looking at renting DVC points for a 2 bedroom, or booking through AAA, or just booking myself through Disney at a Value. Any opinions would be much appreciated and I will update as soon as I know more!

See ya real soon!

If you are renting DVC points you are going to have the best selection for the best price at 11 months out. Price compare because for my May 2018 trip I would have been able to get a Deluxe (Animal Kingdom Lodge) for the same price I paid for a value (Art of Animation) but by the time I was confident enough in my plans there wasn’t availability at AKL. Also, May has been my favorite time to go to WDW so far, good choice

 

[heatherhy01]

If you are renting DVC points you are going to have the best selection for the best price at 11 months out. Price compare because for my May 2018 trip I would have been able to get a Deluxe (Animal Kingdom Lodge) for the same price I paid for a value (Art of Animation) but by the time I was confident enough in my plans there wasn’t availability at AKL. Also, May has been my favorite time to go to WDW so far, good choice

Thanks for the tip! Since there are 6 of us, I wasn’t sure if it would be better to just get a 2 bedroom through DVC or just rent 2 rooms at a value?

 

[ELeigh]

Thanks for the tip! Since there are 6 of us, I wasn’t sure if it would be better to just get a 2 bedroom through DVC or just rent 2 rooms at a value?

Thanks for the tip! Since there are 6 of us, I wasn’t sure if it would be better to just get a 2 bedroom through DVC or just rent 2 rooms at a value?

I put in your dates at dvcrequest.com and it looks like your cheapest option if going that route would be renting 2 studio rooms (prices here are for Animal Kingdom Lodge but check the website for all of the options) this would be more expensive than value but cheaper than moderate from the prices this year for May.

 

[heatherhy01]

I put in your dates at dvcrequest.com and it looks like your cheapest option if going that route would be renting 2 studio rooms (prices here are for Animal Kingdom Lodge but check the website for all of the options) this would be more expensive than value but cheaper than moderate from the prices this year for May.

OMG! Thanks so much! I never thought of renting 2 studios instead of one 2 bedroom. 2 studios would definitely be cheaper!

 

[heatherhy01]

Hiya!!

After much research and calling back and forth with Disney, we had made the very difficult decision to stay off site this time!

We have never stayed off property before as a family and have ALWAYS purchased the dining package, so this trip will be something completely different for us. We just could not justify the almost $10,0000 price tag for the 6 of us.

We LOVE Disney but that is just too steep for us.

We agreed to do 2 meals inside the parks/restaurants. One being a dinner and one being a breakfast. The rest, we will cook at the house for ourselves and get snacks in the middle of the day at the parks. (We are not big lunch eaters but love breakfast and dinner)

I am now researching homes in the Kissimmee/Lake Buena Vista area for rent on our dates. I have a short list of MUST HAVES for the house: (I figure with the price being so low, we could splurge a little)

1. MUST HAVE 2 en suites. (it does not have to be 2 kings but I would love to have 2 rooms with bathrooms attached.

2. MUST HAVE 3 bathrooms! (With 2 teenage girls and 2 senior parents, we definitely need more than 2 bathrooms for when we are all getting ready for the parks.)

3. MUST HAVE a private pool! (We love the idea of being able to swim whenever we want, even if at midnight. Also, my sister and her family live in Jacksonville and I would love for them to be able to come, even if for a day, and spend some time with us tooling around the pool and just hanging out)

There are a few pros to staying off site that I had never even considered until this time and they make me even more excited for our trip:

1. LAUNDRY FACILITIES!

We can pack light and just throw in a couple loads of laundry at night. We do this on our beach vacations and ALWAYS come home with clean clothing.

2. LESS BAGGAGE! See #1 regarding laundry facilities...we can pack less and have a whole suitcase just for our purchases to take home!

3. PRIVATE POOL! We are very excited to have a pool all to ourselves

4. NEEDING A CAR RENTAL! We never had a need to rent before so never really checked out what the rest of the area had to offer? So now, we will be able to go to Gatorland or even Universal if we want?

I am currently checking into all options for house rentals but will most likely either go with a VRBO or a Wyndham Bonnet Creek condo. I am guessing we will lean towards the VRBO since we can get all of our MUST HAVES but will check out Wyndham just in case. If the price is right...we may forego a few things

See ya real soon!

 

[skek2570]

Staying off site has it's perks but I always found that staying on site fully immerses you in the magic. We are staying off site just outside AK. About 5 minutes from the welcome sign. My brother let me know about the community and had rave reviews for the places. It's been many years since I have stayed off site so we are apprehensive but with 6 the cost is so high we had no choice.

 

[heatherhy01]

Staying off site has it's perks but I always found that staying on site fully immerses you in the magic. We are staying off site just outside AK. About 5 minutes from the welcome sign. My brother let me know about the community and had rave reviews for the places. It's been many years since I have stayed off site so we are apprehensive but with 6 the cost is so high we had no choice.

I feel your pain. It was a VERY difficult decision to stay off site. We have always stayed on as a family and took advantage of the dining package. We just liked the fact that our whole trip was paid for and all we needed was spending money. Can I ask where you booked? We are still in the process of looking at where we would like to stay.

 

[tiredsportsmom-nana]

We have never stayed onsite, I could never justify the cost to my husband who does not like going to theme parks. I just checked to see what our June trip would cost on site total. 2 adults 11yr old & 10 yr old All Star Music standard room 14 nights, 5 day base tickets, memory maker, and parking $4486.38 with QS meal plan $7426.02! This is just Disney doesn't include any of the other things we are doing!

We have already booked and paid for 4 bedroom, 2 bath condo, 5 day Disney base tickets, memory maker, 1 day Universal Park to Park, 1 day Sea World with all day dining and express pass, Medieval Dinner Show, All day deep sea fishing and parking for all the above for total cost of $5125.30. We will have breakfast in condo most mornings. My crew is more about the shows and rides so they don't want any sit down meals when we are in the parks. Feeling pretty go about our trip in 87 days!

Have fun planning and good luck in getting it just right for you guys!

 

[Fankle]

Following along! We stayed off-site on our last trip at the Terra Verde resort and we'll spend most of our next trip in August offsite too (Veranda Palms). There are pros and cons. Next time we're doing an on/offsite split so we get some of the benefit of both.

Particularly if the trip is for more than 3 or 4 nights, what I enjoy most about offsite is:
- the space - for a larger, group of mostly adults and teens, fewer people to a bedroom and more bathrooms makes life much easier. Any time we lose driving to Disney, we probably gain in everyone being able to shower and get ready faster!
- the ability to do a little self catering more easily. Eating out 2-3 times per day, every day just gets to be too much for us.
- the cost - no doubt about it it helps the budget.....

On-site I enjoy:
- The 'bubble'
- The theming
- Access to earlier ADR and Fastpass booking
- The transport, particularly in the evenings if we choose to eat out onsite. Someone has to miss out on their pre dinner drink or wine with dinner to drive back.

After lots of thought, we have opted for a couple of days on-site first (earlier ADRs and fastpasses that way) then offsite so we can step down a gear (a little) and split activity then between Disney and Universal.

Might be worth looking at renting DVC points. We tried this for the on-site portion of our trip but we left it too late so there was no availability.

 

[ScarletBegonias]

I'm in!

 

[skek2570]

I feel your pain. It was a VERY difficult decision to stay off site. We have always stayed on as a family and took advantage of the dining package. We just liked the fact that our whole trip was paid for and all we needed was spending money. Can I ask where you booked? We are still in the process of looking at where we would like to

I feel your pain. It was a VERY difficult decision to stay off site. We have always stayed on as a family and took advantage of the dining package. We just liked the fact that our whole trip was paid for and all we needed was spending money. Can I ask where you booked? We are still in the process of looking at where we would like to stay.

We are staying at Windsor Hills. Nice gated community with rental homes. Worth a look. Especially at the prices we got. I have got to help out a fellow NEPA person if I can. We are in LV.

 

[eliza61nyc]

Hi Heather,
You're from my neck of the woods. I always rent a car, lol. I think it's my growing up in NYC and now living in Philly. I'm always on some type of bus or train and don't want to do it on vacation.

 

[heatherhy01]

Hi Heather,
You're from my neck of the woods. I always rent a car, lol. I think it's my growing up in NYC and now living in Philly. I'm always on some type of bus or train and don't want to do it on vacation.

Our big dilemma now is if we want to rent something from home and drive down or fly and rent when we get there? I think a road trip would be so much fun!

 

[heatherhy01]

We are in LV too! Hellertown, I see you are from the Nazareth area, my grandparents live in Jacobsburg. Thanks for the info, I will definitely check them out

 

[skek2570]

We are in LV too! Hellertown, I see you are from the Nazareth area, my grandparents live in Jacobsburg. Thanks for the info, I will definitely check them out

Let me know if you find it. We are also starting to look at where we are going outside of Disney. We want to try some new stuff. Any suggestions besides the obvious big parks?

 

[heatherhy01]

Let me know if you find it. We are also starting to look at where we are going outside of Disney. We want to try some new stuff. Any suggestions besides the obvious big parks?

My husband has always wanted to go to gator land zoo. He was there when he was younger and really enjoyed it. We have not been as a family as of yet but I would love to!

 

[heatherhy01]

Ugh! So, now we are rethinking our plans....AGAIN! I checked in with AAA and may be able to swing a package through them We will not have any details until the end of June but it looks like we may be staying on site after all??

Stay tuned and See Ya Real Soon!

 

[tiredsportsmom-nana]

My husband has always wanted to go to gator land zoo. He was there when he was younger and really enjoyed it. We have not been as a family as of yet but I would love to!

We went there in 2013 when our DS was 6, he loved it! He's ask if we can go back this time so we are adding that to our list! It's not very expensive and you can find coupons. It does close early though somewhere between 5-6. DS was really upset when we had to leave!

 

[tiredsportsmom-nana]

Our big dilemma now is if we want to rent something from home and drive down or fly and rent when we get there? I think a road trip would be so much fun!

We are driving 11-12 hrs from Tennessee. We always rent from Enterprise, we are in their rewards club so we have 3 days free rental. Ours always offers unlimited miles. We like being able to stop along the way if something catches our attention!