Leading a Vacation- Walt Disney World Strategy

MiddleMan

Here's some background on my trip. Mrs. MM and I are definitely Disney-philes. We each went with our families when we were kids. We took our honeymoon there. When we had our daughter, we started looking forward to taking her there. Our trip next month will be our daughter's second trip.

We're going to be there for the first week of June, leaving on our daughter's last day of school. We'll be staying at the recently-refurbished Polynesian Village Resort. (It's long been a goal of mine to take my family to one of the deluxe Disney resorts on the monorail, so this is kind of a big deal for me.) Six nights; seven days. Park-hopper tickets and the regular Disney Dining Plan. Staying entirely on-property so we're not renting a car; we're taking Disney's Magical Express to and from the airport. (We just received our DME luggage tags in the mail this week.)

I had set up a separate savings account a long time ago and have had automatic deposits made into it every month. When I got good news about a work bonus in December, I decided that this year, we'd do one of the monorail resorts. Between my dedicated savings and the bonus, along with Southwest points and CapitalOne credit card miles, I've got it paid for in advance. The dining plan means I don't have to sweat what individual meals cost; we can order whatever we want. I've researched what the crowd levels are predicted to be each day. I know that we'll be there during Star Wars Weekends and also Gay Days. Dining reservations are all set up. I've got our FastPasses reserved and I've talked to some friends who have been there recently about how to get the most out of the new FastPass system.

Angeline

RebuildingHusband said:

Angeline said:

The great thing about staying in the park is that you park your car and then you don't need it again until you leave.

Park your car?

Fly into Orlando. Disney Magical Express straight to resort, luggage delivered directly to your room, go to park and begin enjoying. 

LOL ok good point. I lived in Florida when I went.

Tennee

@Angeline said:

@RebuildingHusband said:

Angeline said:

The great thing about staying in the park is that you park your car and then you don't need it again until you leave.

Park your car?

Fly into Orlando. Disney Magical Express straight to resort, luggage delivered directly to your room, go to park and begin enjoying. 

LOL ok good point. I lived in Florida when I went.

...And if you fly into Sanford vs. MCO - bummer DME won't get you.  Awesome - there's car services aplenty who will fetch you in a fancy ride (extended Town Car, Limo), carry your bags, drop you at your door (they're allowed on property), kiss your ass, and bring you back to the airport.  And far cheaper than a rental. 

BetaTester

We recently went to Disney.  My wife relishes the organizing and planning of such days.  If I were to take over too much she would be somewhat upset.  Plus she is much better at it as I am clueless about the parks and all the Disney entertainment.   However during the visit I enthusiastically participated in all the activities including a lunch with all the Disney Princesses.  The German beer garden at Epcot was great.  The one DHV activity I did was I paid the bill.  I wonder if anyone noticed? 

Athol_Kay

BetaTester said:

We recently went to Disney.  My wife relishes the organizing and planning of such days.  If I were to take over too much she would be somewhat upset.  Plus she is much better at it as I am clueless about the parks and all the Disney entertainment.   However during the visit I enthusiastically participated in all the activities including a lunch with all the Disney Princesses.  The German beer garden at Epcot was great.  The one DHV activity I did was I paid the bill.  I wonder if anyone noticed? 

The trick with that is you have to make at least one serious demand that she needs to account for.

"I don't care what we do, it's all good, BUT I want to do the [ride, attraction, park, restaurant, important thing that must be done]."

If pushed, on it... "I'm not going all that way and spending that much money and not get to do the one thing I want to do". 

Athol_Kay

Okay here's something of a pro tip for Magic Kindgom.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

It's one of the older rides, but still a pretty decent mine train roller coaster. Not too over the top, so younger kids do okay on it and if you're older, you don't get off it feeling like you were in a 10mph car crash like some of the bigger rides.

The "problem" is that it's in a moderately low traffic area of the park far away from the front entrance. Plus, compared to some of the other rides, it's unpopular.

Which means...

After the fireworks at night, we got to ride it at least six times in an hour. Teenagers LOVE getting off a ride, running down the exit path, and then running back up the entry path, to wait for about 2 minutes to get the next ride.

And the crowds had dispersed from the fireworks by then.

Mark72

MiddleMan said:

@Mark72, in his 911 thread, said: "If I am missing something, PLEASE let me know because I really have deer-in-headlights going on right now."

Mark, let's get a handle on the situation. It sounds like your wife has done some extensive planning of her own and you don't know how best to contribute. Let's start with the basics:

When will you be going and for how long?
How many adults and how many kids (and their ages) will be going?
Where will you be staying?

I dont check all my notifications... I should do that from now on.
We are taking our daughter, 8, and our two sons, 6 and 1.75.
We leave May 28th and coming back June 4th. We are staying at POR. First day there we have dinner reservations at Trex. 3 days MK, 1 day AK, and 1 day Universal.
We have magic bracelets. Mine is green. I am driving. She hates to ride, but agreed to take dramamine so I could drive. That's a win for me.

MiddleMan

All right! Looks like we'll overlap a little; we're going June 2-8.

I've heard good things about POR; that looks like a fun place to stay. 

Are you guys doing the dining plan?

Mark72

MiddleMan said:

All right! Looks like we'll overlap a little; we're going June 2-8.

I've heard good things about POR; that looks like a fun place to stay. 

Are you guys doing the dining plan?

No. We discussed and $1500 would go a long way elsewhere. We plan to stay 4 hours, go back to the room, nap/swim/eat, then go back for 4 hours.

Tennee

@Mark72   The break is an excellent idea,  esp. With smaller kiddos.  The pool break is mandatory. 

Room have a full kitchen?  Kitchenette?  Fridge/microwave? 

Mark72

Fridge, no kitchenette. That part sucks. I think a microwave would be nice though

Mark72

http://www.portorleans.org/rooms.php

MiddleMan

Our Magic Bands arrived in the mail today. It's getting real up in here....

MiddleMan

@Mark72, you mentioned that your wife gets motion sickness. Does that make you the Designated Ride Parent while she holds your youngest? 

For the rides you all want to ride (but your youngest is too small to ride), Disney has a ride hand-off procedure. Be sure you read up on that. 

When you're at Animal Kingdom, make sure you see "Flights of Wonder." It's a live bird show with some pretty awesome trained animals. That will be good for everyone in your family. 

Mark72

MiddleMan said:

Our Magic Bands arrived in the mail today. It's getting real up in here....

Maybe a beer is in order at WDW.

Mark72

MiddleMan said:

@Mark72, you mentioned that your wife gets motion sickness. Does that make you the Designated Ride Parent while she holds your youngest? 

For the rides you all want to ride (but your youngest is too small to ride), Disney has a ride hand-off procedure. Be sure you read up on that. 

When you're at Animal Kingdom, make sure you see "Flights of Wonder." It's a live bird show with some pretty awesome trained animals. That will be good for everyone in your family. 

She is the ride person. I am actively overcoming anxiety to the Gforce sensation that coasters give.
I started on the smaller coasters and am working my way up.

Tennee

@Mark72 Ok, small fridge, no freezer.  So you're eating out all meals - I know the plans are expensive,  but paying cash on property will be worse, and going off property frequently will really chew up time.  You can add a plan before you arrive.  You'll have to balance convenience and expense.  

Bring lots of snacks, bottled water, drinks, etc.   Big cooler to keep drinks in.  

MiddleMan

Mark72 said: 

She is the ride person. I am actively overcoming anxiety to the Gforce sensation that coasters give.
I started on the smaller coasters and am working my way up.

Sounds like Space Mountain would be a bad choice for you. But Big Thunder Mountain Railroad isn't too intense. I haven't been on the new 7 Dwarves Mine Train coaster, but everything I've read suggests that it's a tamer coaster, too. Expedition Everest (at AK) is awesome, but it's probably the most intense one you'll encounter at MK/AK. (I've never been to Universal; I'm told that the rides there are way more intense than at WDW.)

I'm assuming your wife has made all the FastPass reservations already. Even so, you should know that you can use the My Disney Experience app to change them if needed. And once you use your three pre-reserved FastPasses, you can get an additional one from the kiosks in the park. (And you can do that as many times as you want, provided there are time slots remaining for the rides you want). Get familiar with those rules and the kiosk locations.

Katt

@Mark72 ;

If you have a fridge, and you're going to have a car, you could always go to Publix (or God forbid another Supermarket) when you get to Orlano and buy things like cold cuts and bread, salads, fruit, yogurt, cereal and milk, etc.   That would save you on breakfast and lunch ) since you're heading back to the room midday anyway.

Tennee

@MiddleMan   You can now change/add FPs from the WDW app!!!  Kiosk-schmeosk!  Interweb app FTW!    Also, Everest rocks (Kiddo wouldn't ride it)  Mine Train is a fun coaster for small/medium kids, mine dug it.  Splash Mtn. & Big Thunder RR are great coasters.  My 8 y.o. had a blast on both.  Space Mtn lines were nuts so we skipped (not worth the time investment or burning a FP to me, YMMV)

@katt totally agree - his trick will be dealing with the size limits of the standard 'cube' hotel fridge (they always keep em at the highest - e.g. warmest- setting.  Adjust immediately if you intend to actually keep perishables cool).  This may mean multiple runs, which will eat time - every time.   I'd expect at least 1+ hr minimum for each run (get to car, drive off property,  park, shop, reverse) and that's if you don't dally.    I wouldn't stay on property without at least the minimum plan, especially without at least a kitchenette and full fridge,  because to me, I'm sacrificing way too much time.  That's me, YMMV.  

@Mark72 ;  The iced down cooler may become your best buddy on this trip for various reasons.