Planning our trip...

[LaurenTheSLP]

My husband and I will be flying down to WDW in September 2014, and I'm trying to decide what parks to visit. We are flying in on Monday Sept. 22 and departing Friday September 26. Thought that we'd spend any time on Mon/Fri just hanging at the resort/pool and do a different park each of our 3 midweek days. My husband is also interested in possibly adding the water park option to our tickets. I've never been to any of the water parks, is it worth it?? As for main parks I am thinking MK, Epcot, and HS. Any advice would be appreciated. I haven't been to WDW since 2003 and it's my first time planning a trip.

 

[jlsHouston]

Welcome to the boards
What resort are you staying at ? I think during your visit their might be the MNSSHP happening on select nights at MK and everyone thinks that is worth the extra ticket. If you want to do any special dining I would make my reservations based on how I was doing the parks.
My must eat at TS meals at WDW are:
Cape May character breakfast
Ohana dinner
BOG dinner and I swear I am making it there next trip for lunch and having the turkey sandwich
BOMA lunch or dinner buffet, the soups are really good
Flying Fish best steak, best bread, great crabcakes...best service..I could go on and on
SCI Fi Diner...because nothing beats the atmosphere eating a burger there
Fresh Med Market lunch I am addicted to the salads at this place...
Fresh Med Market breakfast buffet really really good

You might go to DtD and check out House of Blues your first day since you are skipping the parks..

As far as the water parks..well my kids and grandkids love them but me not so much...
Have a wonderful trip.

 

[LaurenTheSLP]

Thanks for the ideas jlsHouston! I was thinking about staying at Pop because we'd like to save money on our resort, but I almost wonder if staying at a moderate resort would be worth it. DtD is a good idea for Monday evening after we fly in. I will check out those dining options, that's something I haven't thought about yet!

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

My husband and I will be flying down to WDW in September 2014, and I'm trying to decide what parks to visit. We are flying in on Monday Sept. 22 and departing Friday September 26. Thought that we'd spend any time on Mon/Fri just hanging at the resort/pool and do a different park each of our 3 midweek days. My husband is also interested in possibly adding the water park option to our tickets. I've never been to any of the water parks, is it worth it?? As for main parks I am thinking MK, Epcot, and HS. Any advice would be appreciated. I haven't been to WDW since 2003 and it's my first time planning a trip.

If you plan on spending time relaxing at your resort, I would spend a little more for Moderate. Personally Coronado is great for adult only groups. The pools are often never crowded to empty and it is beautiful.
Also keep checking disney's website, Sept is normally when they offer free dining plans or 15% - 30% off your room.

Based on last years calendar, I would go...

22nd - Resort/DTD or Magic Kingdom for a few hours.
23rd - Epcot (morning emh)
24th - Hollywood Studios
25th - Magic Kingdom (morning emh)
26th - DTD again or if you want to check out AK at all since this is a morning emh day for AK.

Me and my fiance enjoy water parks. But unless you cant swing an extra day, I wouldn't go to the water park. Also it is cheaper to buy a one day ticket than add the water park option if you are only going for one day.

Dining wise, I would recommend:
MK - Be our guest
HS - Mama Melrose or Sci-fi
EP - Pretty Much anywhere but Coral Reef, Via Napoli, and Teppan Edo are some of my faves.
DTD - We tend to quick service here but people recommend Raglan Road all the time.
Me and my fiance often have a "welcome to disney" dinner at one of the signature restaurants on our first night. So if you are willing to splurge a little Yachtsman Steakhouse, Narcoossee's, or California Grill are amazing!

 

[LaurenTheSLP]

I'm curious as to when the Disney website might start offering fall travel discounts. I am going to keep an eye out before I book anything. I think a moderate resort may be an option, especially if there was a discount--fingers crossed! So should we be going to the parks based on extra magic hours, projected crowd levels, or something else? I want to make sure we hit the right park on the right day.

 

[jlsHouston]

Last year the fall ones came out when the summer were close to ending which I think was late July. You can book now put your deposit on and then when the discounts come out you can call in and get your rate adjusted. I think that times you are planning usually have free dining too and that alone would make it worth upgrading to a moderate resort.

Personally our first trip we did POP but we spent all our time at MK or character dining or sleeping, never hit the pool once. The pools at POP are not as elaborate as those at the mods or the deluxes. I did spend some time at the little bar out by the bowling pin pool sipping on some fruity drinks and visiting with strangers and it was fun. I agree with @PrincessNelly_NJ that if you are going to spend time at your resort you should look at the mods. I have never stayed at the Port Orleans resorts but you can do the boat ride from the resorts there into DTD. I have stayed at CBR and CSR and I loved CSR. It has beautiful grounds, some nice food options, a great big pool with hot tub and really nice quiet pools too. I stayed Cabana side right in front of the sandy beaches with the hammocks.

Most people to get the most out of their park experiences do plan their park days by EMH and crowd levels. Since it will probably still be very warm days end of September, using the EMH in the evening has always been how we toured the parks when we visit during the warm months.

Planning our disney trips are almost as much fun as the actual trip for me so enjoy!

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

I'm curious as to when the Disney website might start offering fall travel discounts. I am going to keep an eye out before I book anything. I think a moderate resort may be an option, especially if there was a discount--fingers crossed! So should we be going to the parks based on extra magic hours, projected crowd levels, or something else? I want to make sure we hit the right park on the right day.

Normally Sept offers are released in May, mousesavers shows all the historical discounts and release dates. You can pretty much expect a room discount offer of some kind. But if free dining is offered, it is always the better deal and would allow you to spend a few more dollars on the room. It is what we do every year if we can.

http://www.mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/#2013

@jlsHouston is correct about emh. Since you are only spending one day per park I would utilize emh and fastpass+.
Crowd calendars will almost always recommend avoiding parks with emh but Sept is low crowd season and so you should go to parks that will allow you to make the most of your day.

Also remember that when booking dining reservations, 180 days advance is best!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Also, with that 180 day mark...if you have your trip booked by that point...you can book dining 180+10. This can be really important if trying to get popular ADRs like BOG. If you're booking a pkg...you could put the $200 down to secure that package, but still wait until the 45 day mark to pay off the trip. You can also contact Disney to rebook your package if a deal comes out for your dates after you've booked.

Edit- the same applies to booking room only. Your deposit would instead be the cost of your first night of lodging + tax...it would still enable you to get the 180+10 perk...and you could still have them rebook everything if discounts come out. The rebooking will not impact your dining reservations.

 

[LaurenTheSLP]

I never even thought about booking and then being able to get the discounted rate later, hope that happens! That makes sense about emh, better plan around that because we were already planning on getting to the parks before opening to make the most of the day. Definitely will be going with fast pass+ also! Now I need to start looking into those restaurant ideas, the only one I know of is Be Our Guest which I want to do for sure.

 

[LaurenTheSLP]

What exactly is "free dining"?

 

[joejccva71]

I actually have a question about the restaurants inside the parks, and I apologize in advance if this is a stupid question. If we wanted to go to the BOG restaurant, we'd have to plan it on the day that we use the MK ticket correct? Meaning we can't just enter the park at night JUST to eat at that restaurant.

 

[Weather_Lady]

What exactly is "free dining"?

It's a promotion where WDW offers the standard WDW dining plan (which provides credits totaling 2 meals and a snack per person, per day), for no extra charge, to guests staying on property. At other times of year, they don't offer "free dining," but instead offer room discounts to draw guests in. (And then there are the times of year with no discounts at all!) Some argue that free dining is never really "free," because WDW only offers it when there is no room discount, so that at any given time, you're overpaying for either your room or your food.

If and when you book a WDW vacation package or room reservation, start watching for promotions like free dining and room discount. (These are generally listed on the WDW official website -- click the "Special Offers" link at the bottom of the page to see the current deals.) If you see one that applies to your dates, call and see if it can be applied to your reservation. Sometimes you have to switch your resort or room category to be eligible, but it's worth the phone call!

 

[Weather_Lady]

I actually have a question about the restaurants inside the parks, and I apologize in advance if this is a stupid question. If we wanted to go to the BOG restaurant, we'd have to plan it on the day that we use the MK ticket correct? Meaning we can't just enter the park at night JUST to eat at that restaurant.

Right! You need a valid ticket to enter any park, even if it's just for dining purposes. (The restaurants at the resorts, however, can be visited at any time, even if you're not staying there.)

 

[LaurenTheSLP]

Thanks weather_lady! Good to know--now I'll be on the lookout for those special deals

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

I never even thought about booking and then being able to get the discounted rate later, hope that happens! That makes sense about emh, better plan around that because we were already planning on getting to the parks before opening to make the most of the day. Definitely will be going with fast pass+ also! Now I need to start looking into those restaurant ideas, the only one I know of is Be Our Guest which I want to do for sure.

The Disneyfoodblog.com is a great place to start checking out places to eat.

 

[LaurenTheSLP]

I started browsing restaurants last night, and I think we'll go with Coral Reef, Be Our Guest, and Sci-Fi for dinners during the week at the parks. Not sure what we'll do for breakfasts/lunches at this point, need to check out quick services.

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

I started browsing restaurants last night, and I think we'll go with Coral Reef, Be Our Guest, and Sci-Fi for dinners during the week at the parks. Not sure what we'll do for breakfasts/lunches at this point, need to check out quick services.

If you are able to snag the dining plan, you will be able to have 4 table service credits, 4 quick service credits, 4 snacks per person. Coral Reef, Be Our Guest, and Sci-fi each take 1 credit, so you still have one more to use. Also you can use snacks for breakfast... like muffins, bagels, or items from Starbucks.
Columbia Harbor House, Sunshine Seasons, Earl of Sandwich, Cookes of Dublin, and Wolfgang puck express are some of the best quick service places. And Pop Century and neighboring Art of Animation have highly rated food courts!

 

[LaurenTheSLP]

So when choosing what days to visit parks...looks like the best bet so far is:

Tuesday-Epcot for EMH
Wednesday-Hollywood Studios
Thursday-Magic Kingdom for EMH

I couldn't find a site listing the 2014 September EMH info, but from what others have said this seems likes a good plan. Hope the EMH don't change!

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

So when choosing what days to visit parks...looks like the best bet so far is:

Tuesday-Epcot for EMH
Wednesday-Hollywood Studios
Thursday-Magic Kingdom for EMH

I couldn't find a site listing the 2014 September EMH info, but from what others have said this seems likes a good plan. Hope the EMH don't change!

Sept hours won't be released for a while. WDWINFO has calendar for years past through sept. 2013 and you'll notice from year to year they stay pretty much the same. I wish you luck in your planning. Good luck!

 

[luv]

What exactly is "free dining"?

You pay a lot more for your room and get your food "for free."

Water parks - I love them. I really do. A lot. Love. Yes. But if I were visiting Disney World for four or five days, I'd concentrate on the four main parks. There is more to do than you'll be able to fit in even without taking time out to visit a water park.

My advice is to skip the water parks until you've done what you want to do in the main parks. But if you decide to go to the water parks, I doubt you'll be disappointed in them. They're great, too!