WDW hotels and planning Help.

[foolishmortal]

This will be only 1st and probably only trip to WDW for our family.

SO far I've read a ton of reports and reviews. The guides are helpful, but I'd like advise from those who go to and love WDW too!

So Here is my million and one q's!

We will be traveling with DD 13 and DS 9 .Then my parents (possibly) mom 67 and dad 68, Me 43, DH 44. We are huge walkers so the bus thing will be new to us.

My mom will need a EVC at times as her knee is really bad. Can you get a pass for the HC lines at WDW? Can we all go with her or does she have to wait for us to make it through the big Que to ride with us?

We are seasoned DL travelers , love staying on prop. at the PPH.

We are not huge "fancy" eaters but love good food.
Not sure if a dining plan would be a good idea or not. So you find it better to have one then to just pay as you go?

IS tables in wonderland worth it if you are not going to Boma or the higher end restaurants often? How do you find out just who takes TIWL and who does not?

We do plan on character meals at least twice and Whoop de do revue and whispering canyon.

My dad can get grumpy pretty fast with noisy people and crowds. Have no idea where to place him. LOL as long as you can shut out the noise with a closed door he's good.

We are looking at AKL for 4 nights for the animals, BWV or POFQ for 4 nights. My Q is I've looked at the studio rooms and wondered if any adults have slept on the pull out couch for any length of time and was it comfortable?

Would you stay at a DVC studio over the 2 queen beds at POFQ?

DO you book your trip yourself or use an agent? Is the airlines vacations packages any better value over AAA or other agents?

DO you find it more helpful to use Disney travel to book? I was considering a PAP or a primer pass to help save on dining etc.

We will take a small DL trip so A Primer maybe the way to go on this for either Dh or I.

Is the PAP worth it for room discounts and meals, souvenirs?

I was also wondering about the revues that the BWI and the BWV are noisy late into the night. If you have stayed at the BWV or inn how do you like it?


What is your favorite place to stay and why?


Thanks so much for all your help. Plus letting me ask a ton of Q's! Any advise at all will help so much!So not like planning a DL trip LOL

[Drince88]

We will be traveling with DD 13 and DS 9 .Then my parents (possibly) mom 67 and dad 68, Me 43, DH 44. We are huge walkers so the bus thing will be new to us.

My mom will need a EVC at times as her knee is really bad. Can you get a pass for the HC lines at WDW? Can we all go with her or does she have to wait for us to make it through the big Que to ride with us?
I don't think you need a pass if you're in an ECV, the ECV acts as your pass. I THINK most of the queues are accessible, but I really don't know for sure (thankfully). You're going to want to decide if you want the ECV 'full time' or just in the parks. Sometimes the walk to the buses/to your room can be long if your knee is already tired.



Not sure if a dining plan would be a good idea or not. So you find it better to have one then to just pay as you go?

I don't like the dining plans because they change how I would eat - and I don't need that. Big example, dessert is included for any non-breakfast meal, CS or TS. I don't need that. ESPECIALLY for CS!


IS tables in wonderland worth it if you are not going to Boma or the higher end restaurants often? How do you find out just who takes TIWL and who does not?
There's lists floating around - but basically the TS restaurants accept it, and the CS in AK (I think they still do) and CS at resorts that don't have a TS (values and POFQ)


We do plan on character meals at least twice and Whoop de do revue and whispering canyon. I think your family will enjoy those!
For deciding about dining plan/TIW/etc - my recommendation is to first decide where you're going to eat all your TS meals. A lot of people want to do a TS every day - personally, my sister and I don't. It can be a nice break, but it also takes time. You don't mention when you're going - that can make a difference in crowds as well as park hours. If you're going in October or first part of November, then the Food & Wine festival is going on in Epcot, and it's really fun to eat your way around World Showcase - it counts as a snack on the dining plan, if you have a bunch of those you haven't used on popcorn and Mickey bars - but it really can sub for a meal.


My dad can get grumpy pretty fast with noisy people and crowds. Have no idea where to place him. LOL as long as you can shut out the noise with a closed door he's good. Me too. There are quiet spots/attractions in all the parks that can REALLY help with that, though if you're there when it's hot, he's going to want AC, too, which can be a little more limited. As far as resorts, I think I'd recommend staying away from the Contemporary Tower and Wilderness Lodge 'central' rooms because of noise from Chef Mickeys and Whispering Canyon -- but other than that, all the resorts have nice quiet places (aside from your room) to just kind of 'chill'.



We are looking at AKL for 4 nights for the animals, BWV or POFQ for 4 nights. My Q is I've looked at the studio rooms and wondered if any adults have slept on the pull out couch for any length of time and was it comfortable?

Would you stay at a DVC studio over the 2 queen beds at POFQ?
For my sister and I - 2 Queen beds at POFQ -- because at a DVC studio, one of us would be on a pull out. I've heard they are 'better than normal' but it's not worth our risk, plus there's a decent price difference, and we don't need the other pluses with the studio (microwave, etc).



DO you book your trip yourself or use an agent? Is the airlines vacations packages any better value over AAA or other agents?
I generally use a TA - Disney specialist TA. I've used both Mary at MouseEarVacations and Leslie at Small World Vacations - and both are great and REALLY know their stuff. I don't think either will book your air for you, though - so you'd need to do that on your own, but that's so easy with the internet. If you go with AAA, make sure you get a Disney specialist - it's a REAL pain if you (as a newbie to WDW) know tons more than your agent, becuase you HAVE to work through them on anything related to your room.



DO you find it more helpful to use Disney travel to book? I was considering a PAP or a primer pass to help save on dining etc.
Get yourself a Passporter. I think it's a perfect match for your personality.

APs and discounts are VERY different at WDW than at DL. First, the Premium AP at WDW doesn't get you any more days at entrance, and a better discount at only a couple of places. Not worth the cost unless you will use it for the water parks and Disney Quest. A Premier may be an option for you, but the discounts really aren't 'everywhere' like they are at DL (it's taking me some getting used to to show my AP at DL everywhere!) AP discounts CAN be limited on rooms - and what I usually do is book my room with a AAA discount as soon as I decide, and then have the TA keep her eye open for AP discounts. Sometimes we've had to change resorts to match our dates - other times there just weren't rooms available for our dates with the discounts, so it was good to not wait. I book what I can afford before the AP discounts come out, and then any discount goes toward 'extras' (or the next trip) in my budgeting.

Also, if you do the premier, it'll expire when your DL AP expires, but that may not be an issue if you aren't planning on visiting WDW any time in the future.



Is the PAP worth it for room discounts and meals, souvenirs?
AP in generall CAN be worth it for rooms, but not really much for meals or souveniers, with the exception of being able to purchase the TIW, which is something you need to figure out your 'eating plan' first!


I was also wondering about the revues that the BWI and the BWV are noisy late into the night. If you have stayed at the BWV or inn how do you like it?
They do a pretty good job of not having entertainment out on the Boardwalk too late - MAYBE if you had something RIGHT under your room, but I wouldn't hesitate to book based on that.



What is your favorite place to stay and why?
POFQ. Then other moderates. Moderates are the right 'price level' for my sister and I. We have stayed at Values, but had some bad experiences with big groups (eons ago) and we like that the moderates 'transport us to another place' vs just the large icons - so it's a little more relaxing to us. Deluxes are nice, especially the locations, but just not worth the extra cash to us, generally.

[mom22gls]

Traveling with a three-generation family has it's joys and challenges, and you often need to cater more to the needs of the grandparents, than the children. Dad will probably need his down time, and it will be important to give your parents permission to take things at their own pace, and spend time away from the kids. Not that they don't love them, and enjoy their time with them, but they need their own quiet time and space. When I took my parents three years ago, I had a two-bedroom villa, because I'm a DVC owner. It worked out very well with my parents, who get up early, and could make their own coffee and light breakfast, and not have to go to a restaurant or food court to eat in the morning. My kids prefer breakfast in, also. My Dad could also sit out on the balcony to read quietly, and he did so often, whenever there was down time. When we were at the villa, we often took the kids to the pool, without them. It's expensive, but a DVC villa is more than just getting two hotel rooms and two bathrooms-it's more like a condo, on-site. Even assuming you go with two standard hotel rooms, plan for time apart, at least mid-day rest breaks. WDW is very large, and can entail walking miles every day-in the heat and crowds, it can be draining. Three or four hours at a park at a time may be the limit for many people. A table service lunch can often be restorative, sometimes more so than dinner-just sitting in air-conditioning, and not having to find a table at a counter service place. We use cell phones a lot, and often split up in a park, and some people end their day earlier than others. The on-site transportation services make it easy to get where you need to go, and it's safe to take buses at all hours.

[jennibell]

My mom will need a EVC at times as her knee is really bad. Can you get a pass for the HC lines at WDW? Can we all go with her or does she have to wait for us to make it through the big Que to ride with us?

When we were there in Dec. my MIL used an EVC the whole time, she also has a bad knee. First of all, the easiest way to transport one is on the Monorails. The buses have room for only 2 either EVCs or wheel chairs at a time. Be prepared to occasionally wait for the next bus. As for HC lines, the CM at the beginning of the line will tell you either where to park or to drive on in. We were also a party of 6 and we were all allowed to go in the HC line with her, however the rides were not overly crowded at the time and policies may be different when the parks are full.

[foolishmortal]

Thank you everyone! This is loads of help to me!:fez:

So we have it down to 4 nights at the CSR because we all liked the area and food court.
Plus the kids fell in love with the pool area and slide with spitting Jag.

Then moving to AKL for the last 4 nights. Dad and Mom want to have a balcony to sit on and watch animals when they get tired of the parks.

Plus I've always wanted to stay there with the kids.

So is there a service to have your bags moved for you? Or is it easier to just toss them in the rental car and move oneself?

We plan on getting a rental car for all week to let mom and dad come and go as they please.

Are there trams like at DL from the parking lots to the parks?

Where do I look for the menu's at WDW? I know MP has got to have them!;)

[mom22gls]

Thank you everyone! This is loads of help to me!:fez:

So we have it down to 4 nights at the CSR because we all liked the area and food court.
Plus the kids fell in love with the pool area and slide with spitting Jag.

Then moving to AKL for the last 4 nights. Dad and Mom want to have a balcony to sit on and watch animals when they get tired of the parks.

Plus I've always wanted to stay there with the kids.

So is there a service to have your bags moved for you? Or is it easier to just toss them in the rental car and move oneself?

We plan on getting a rental car for all week to let mom and dad come and go as they please.

Are there trams like at DL from the parking lots to the parks?

Where do I look for the menu's at WDW? I know MP has got to have them!;)

Bell services will transport your luggage to your new resort, but if you have a rental car anyway, and everything fits, you might as well just take your stuff yourself.

This site has some menus. The Disney site also has links to menus, if you go under the parks section and then dining. Another site, which is really easy to navigate, and keeps up to date on menus is www.allearsnet.com. Keep in mind that if you change hotels, you will have different reservations-keep that in mind if you decide to do the dining plan.

[Drince88]

You can have Bell Services move your luggage (though people who like to control things may wish to put them in the rental car - not that you know any of those types of people....)

There are trams from the parking lots to the park - though if you are going to the MK, you have to park your car, take the tram and then take a ferry or monorail to get to the actual park.

MP has menus, recently updated. Go to the WDW link at the top of the page, and then there's a section on 'dining' that lists the restaurants and menus.

[stan4d_steph]

Where do I look for the menu's at WDW? I know MP has got to have them!;)Menus are located on the MousePlanet guide pages for specific locations. Just navigate to the WDW Guide (http://www.mouseplanet.com/guide/2/Walt-Disney-World) and scroll down to the Dining section.

Also, it's a better idea to break up your questions to multiple threads in the applicable forums. You're more likely to get a variety of quality opinions in response.

[foolishmortal]

Thanks Steph! I just feel guilty starting lots of thread for my Q's.

LOL, I guess I don't want to be too much of a WDW planning pest!:p