Pre-Trip September 2024 - The adventure continues

Soooooo.... I might have booked a WDW holiday last Friday night while my brother and I were just supposed to do some "Benchmarking"... we call all analyses we do when we compare stuff benchmarking but for some reason I just though, why the hell not?!

Via the Ireland website of WDW, we booked a 14D stay in the Wilderness lodge, arriving September 9th and going back home on September 23rd. I know booking for flights is waaayy too soon but Lufthansa does daily routes from Frankfurt to Orlando with what seems fairly good prices..

BUT, I still got some questions that probably are for you incredibly stupid but Gaëtan and I were wondering about various stuff/items/possibilities:

- My sister, Alix and her boyfriend Jef are maybe also interested in joining us but not for the whole stay, can they stay in our room and leave like earlier? Or do they need a separate booking etc.?

- If a better deal for 2024 is offered (I now have 14D ticket for 7D paid) in the near future, can I also apply for this? Can this be done through the app or do I need to call?

- How are you guys on the Mears thingy bus accommodations?

- Anyone that wants to share their experience with the WL? We fell in love with the resort and it just felt a LOT quieter than other resorts we visited in August and I think September is a bit quieter than the last weeks of holiday in the US? We booked a nature view given that me, myself and I need to pay for the hotel accommodation and adding another 500 EUR for courtyard, we'll see...

- Do you need to order appetizers/entrées and main courses or can you only order one course and be done at a table service? we felt like we have over eaten ourselves during the last trip and might look into decreasing the food we have :D

- Can a non-US resident also use apps like InstaCart etc. to order some food to the hotel? how does this work? We would really like to safe some time (and money) in ordering some breakfast items for days following a large evening Table Service event.

- Is it me or does the Dining reservation webpage of Disney is just not practical? You need to scroll through the whole set of locations but can't filter by typing the location in a search bar? .. maybe that's me but when looking up menu's of things that might interest us, this frustrated me a bit.

- I have a draft planning made up in excel based upon our arrival date and what our experiences were last time:
1. Added a lot more MK given that last time we had too much EPCOT just to have Virtual queues for Guardians​
2. No HS on weekend days - Took AK & MK in week 1 & EPCOT & MK in week 2​
3. Tried to add as much different restaurants in the Disney bubble​

- Anyone experience with September crowds? Is Genie+ needed during this period?
- How are the offered after-hours for Deluxe hotel guests?

That's it from the top of my head.. I feel like a rookie but I gotta start somewhere :)

To all of you already, thank you!

L.
 

Laurenciaa

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Additionally:

- Can anyone give me some more insights or their experiences with following TS/QS places:
° Ohana - Dinner menu​
°Gasparilla Grill - Dinner​
°Yak & Yeti - Lunch probably​
° Kona Café - Dinner​
°Winebar George​
I assume the TS locations are a pain in the to get ADR's? Should I first book those at the end of the trip or how does it work? 60 days before arrival days the window for my whole trip becomes available to book ADR's?

L.
 

networkpro

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
These are my and my wife's opinions:

O'hana for dinner. You'd have a better meal for less if you ate directly downstairs at Captain Cook's or just had some appetizers at the Tambu lounge. The food isn't that good and pretty greasy.

Gasparilla Grill. Small menu, a small location, and good food though. It's out of the way as you have to exit out the back of the main building and follow the walkway around to the far left behind the Sugar Loaf building.

Y&Y - Good Asian fusion food run by a third-party vendor Landry's. We eat there regularly.

Kona Cafe- Southeastern Asia-inspired food. We like it enough to eat there a few times each trip.

Winebar George- Strange menu (kind of Mediterranean-ish) , but good food and an extensive drink list.
 

Laurenciaa

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Great that you are going back!

I recommend Y&Y.

Ohana's - the food quality has declined with prices increasing dramatically over the years but the experience is still great. If you've already been to Ohana's I would skip it.
Did Ohana back in 2018 and we did the Lounge in August, so I can conclude, together with the comment from @networkpro that the Lounge or Capt. Cook would be better and more cost efficient. :)
 

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Instacart is a great money saver. I am not sure if they will take your credit card but I assume they will accept a US bought visa or mastercard gift card. You might be able to purchase some on line, if not, almost every food/convenience/target type store in the US sells them. Maybe once you get here you can purchase what you need.
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
My sister, Alix and her boyfriend Jef are maybe also interested in joining us but not for the whole stay, can they stay in our room and leave like earlier? Or do they need a separate booking etc.?
If you are booked on a ROOM ONLY reservation (with tickets purchased separately) not a package (room and tickets bundled) then yes, Alix and Jef can stay in your room for a partial stay. You need to add them at the Front Desk. There is an extra person charge of $25 plus tax per person, per night. The morning of their departure you need to go to the Front Desk and have them removed to avoid the extra person(s) fee for the remainder of your stay.

If you and your brother G are booked on a package, Alix and Jef would need to be on that SAME package and your travel dates would have to align. Otherwise they would need to book their own room and tickets.

If a better deal for 2024 is offered (I now have 14D ticket for 7D paid) in the near future, can I also apply for this? Can this be done through the app or do I need to call?
You can check the website (not the app) for any discounts that may be offered for your dates. If you find one, you can try modifying your existing reservation with the discount (again, on the website). Note that while a discount may be offered for your dates, it does not mean you will get it. You might have to change your room category (nature to courtyard for example) or even resort. Discount offers are never "blanket offers" for all resorts or rooms.

How are you guys on the Mears thingy bus accommodations?

The Sunshine Flyer is another bus competitor with Mears.


Anyone that wants to share their experience with the WL? We fell in love with the resort and it just felt a LOT quieter than other resorts we visited in August and I think September is a bit quieter than the last weeks of holiday in the US? We booked a nature view given that me, myself and I need to pay for the hotel accommodation and adding another 500 EUR for courtyard, we'll see...
You disappoint me, L. Have you not read all my trip reports singing the praises of WL?!! ;) 🤣 I have 3 WL stays booked for this year.
If you want quiet, stay with the nature view. Courtyard view overlooks the main pool and is noisier, unless your room is on a high floor.

Do you need to order appetizers/entrées and main courses or can you only order one course and be done at a table service? we felt like we have over eaten ourselves during the last trip and might look into decreasing the food we have :D
As long as the TS restaurant is not prix fixe, family style or buffet, you can order whatever you wish.

Is it me or does the Dining reservation webpage of Disney is just not practical? You need to scroll through the whole set of locations but can't filter by typing the location in a search bar? .. maybe that's me but when looking up menu's of things that might interest us, this frustrated me a bit.
It is not you. Disney removed the ability to search restaurants by name.

How are the offered after-hours for Deluxe hotel guests?
AWESOME. Very, very low crowds.

I assume the TS locations are a pain in the to get ADR's? Should I first book those at the end of the trip or how does it work? 60 days before arrival days the window for my whole trip becomes available to book ADR's?
Depends, as some popular restaurants (Space 220, Cinderella's Royal Table, Sci-Fi Dine In) are harder to book than others. Those are the ones you want to book towards the end of your trip to have a better chance of getting an ADR. 60 days prior to your check in day your window to book will open, but you will only be able to book the first 10 days of your vacation. You'll need to log on again subsequently for the next 4 days to book days 11-14.

Hope this helps,
Orange Monster GIF by The Masked Singer UK & The Masked Dancer UK
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Excited to see you are going again.

I have used Mears, but only on transportation to the airport and it worked out fine. I like using Uber to WDW, it's so quick.

At restaurants you can most certainly order just appetizers or share main dishes (you just can't share at a buffet).

In my opinion 'Ohana used to be very good but the last few times (pre-pandemic) I was disappointed in it.

I love Yak and Yeti at Animal Kingdom. The Korean fried chicken at the sit down restaurant is very tasty. My husband and I usually share that and get a side of chicken friend rice to share too.

I really like Kona Cafe for breakfast, the dinner I had there was good too.
 

Swissmiss

Premium Member
My only "expert" help to you is the question about using Apps as a person with a European telephone number of a smaller country: it will depend on whether the App exists in the Belgian app store. Numerous times I’ve wanted to download an app for something only to find it does not exist in the Swiss store (most recently was 2 weeks ago in DLP … for an App add-on proposed in their own App 🤦🏼‍♀️).

Also, my experience is that flight prices from Europe only go up, so if prices are good now and you are sure will take the trip, book the tickets.
 

Laurenciaa

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
If you are booked on a ROOM ONLY reservation (with tickets purchased separately) not a package (room and tickets bundled) then yes, Alix and Jef can stay in your room for a partial stay. You need to add them at the Front Desk. There is an extra person charge of $25 plus tax per person, per night. The morning of their departure you need to go to the Front Desk and have them removed to avoid the extra person(s) fee for the remainder of your stay.

If you and your brother G are booked on a package, Alix and Jef would need to be on that SAME package and your travel dates would have to align. Otherwise they would need to book their own room and tickets.


You can check the website (not the app) for any discounts that may be offered for your dates. If you find one, you can try modifying your existing reservation with the discount (again, on the website). Note that while a discount may be offered for your dates, it does not mean you will get it. You might have to change your room category (nature to courtyard for example) or even resort. Discount offers are never "blanket offers" for all resorts or rooms.



The Sunshine Flyer is another bus competitor with Mears.



You disappoint me, L. Have you not read all my trip reports singing the praises of WL?!! ;) 🤣 I have 3 WL stays booked for this year.
If you want quiet, stay with the nature view. Courtyard view overlooks the main pool and is noisier, unless your room is on a high floor.


As long as the TS restaurant is not prix fixe, family style or buffet, you can order whatever you wish.


It is not you. Disney removed the ability to search restaurants by name.


AWESOME. Very, very low crowds.


Depends, as some popular restaurants (Space 220, Cinderella's Royal Table, Sci-Fi Dine In) are harder to book than others. Those are the ones you want to book towards the end of your trip to have a better chance of getting an ADR. 60 days prior to your check in day your window to book will open, but you will only be able to book the first 10 days of your vacation. You'll need to log on again subsequently for the next 4 days to book days 11-14.

Hope this helps,
Orange Monster GIF by The Masked Singer UK & The Masked Dancer UK
@Tuvalu , I need to apologize, my Dory memory is short term and I will get back to your reports to get more info on the WL.
Further on, thank you for the in-depth info! will take all info and copy it to my spreadsheet!

I also conclude that if any relatives want to join on our reservation, its of the style "you're in for the 14D or you need to book somethin' yourself"

We are not planning on doing the super super popular restaurants like you mentioned beside maybe 50s Prime Time but I have foreseen this in the beginning of the trip so to be booked in the first window of 10D.

Enough items to think about but yet.. excitement of a new trip far exceeds any "issues/questions" etc :D

Thank you again, for your thoughtful info!
 

Laurenciaa

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Excited to see you are going again.

I have used Mears, but only on transportation to the airport and it worked out fine. I like using Uber to WDW, it's so quick.

At restaurants you can most certainly order just appetizers or share main dishes (you just can't share at a buffet).

In my opinion 'Ohana used to be very good but the last few times (pre-pandemic) I was disappointed in it.

I love Yak and Yeti at Animal Kingdom. The Korean fried chicken at the sit down restaurant is very tasty. My husband and I usually share that and get a side of chicken friend rice to share too.

I really like Kona Cafe for breakfast, the dinner I had there was good too.
Hi Amy,

yes maybe, given it will be a bit of low-season, We'll use Uber or we'll see what method of transportation is the cheapest.
Think all Magicians agree that Ohana is not the place to go anymore but alternative are far better at the Poly.

Thanks for the input!
 

Laurenciaa

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Hi
It is great you are going back to WDW

I knew if I waited long enough others would answer your questions
( which they did!!)

Cat Procrastinating GIF


But when it comes time to be snarky…

I Will Reaction GIF by MOODMAN


Max
Divide and conquer is a good strategy :p

Really hoping some of you all will be back in 2024, September 2024 .. I know its far far away but my brother and I are already totally worked up and ready to go .. jusst need to settle the astronomical bill of WL :D dear god good thing I booked it in euro's, can't handle any additional foreign currency top-ups :D
Make It Rain Money GIF by SpongeBob SquarePants
 

Laurenciaa

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
My only "expert" help to you is the question about using Apps as a person with a European telephone number of a smaller country: it will depend on whether the App exists in the Belgian app store. Numerous times I’ve wanted to download an app for something only to find it does not exist in the Swiss store (most recently was 2 weeks ago in DLP … for an App add-on proposed in their own App 🤦🏼‍♀️).

Also, my experience is that flight prices from Europe only go up, so if prices are good now and you are sure will take the trip, book the tickets.
I checked for flights and Lufthansa does not offer any flights yet for that time range but we'll check back in the summer, normally prices for Sept 2024 will become available!

Yes, local App stores like BE, are nothing compared to what the US app-market has :D

Enjoy the day!
 

Swissmiss

Premium Member
I checked for flights and Lufthansa does not offer any flights yet for that time range but we'll check back in the summer, normally prices for Sept 2024 will become available!

Yes, local App stores like BE, are nothing compared to what the US app-market has :D

Enjoy the day!

Clearly was reading this morning before coffee kicked in … now at lunchtime and post-run I see that your trip will be in September 2024, not this year 🤦🏼‍♀️🤣
 

Tiki Traveler

Well-Known Member
Greetings from a newer member! I’ve gotten in trouble when just looking around/checking things out on the Disney website too. Before I know it we have a vacation booked like the trip DH and I took in November!

My thoughts are that Gasparilla Grille is small as mentioned above but there should be outside seating, although the weather may be hot and humid in September. Would you consider the Grand Floridian Cafe?

Enjoy your planning! :)
 

Laurenciaa

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Greetings from a newer member! I’ve gotten in trouble when just looking around/checking things out on the Disney website too. Before I know it we have a vacation booked like the trip DH and I took in November!

My thoughts are that Gasparilla Grille is small as mentioned above but there should be outside seating, although the weather may be hot and humid in September. Would you consider the Grand Floridian Cafe?

Enjoy your planning! :)
Hi @Tiki Traveler , well good suggestion -> I'm having lunch with my brother this Friday to finetune all that has been shared on here the last couple of days! Thanks for the tip!
 

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