TRIP PLANNING - HELP! - MARCH 2020

[TMarie415]

Hi there I've been a long time lurker of DIS for fun, but this is my very first post! I'm planning a trip on my own for the first time (yay), and I'm realizing how overwhelming this all is... help!! Looking for any advice or tips you expert trip planners can offer... as everything is currently super tentative with our plans, I'm open to any and all suggestions!

Some Background: We live in California, and though we frequent Disneyland regularly, our hearts are in really in the World . DH and I took our last trip in summer 2012 with my family when we were in college... I know that SO much has changed since then! Fast forward to now, we're 4 years married with a 10 month old DS and so excited to show him this magical place.

We'll be taking this trip with my Disney-loving SIL and her fam of 4. I totally lucked out - my SIL is my best friend, and our kiddos get to grow up together! She has a 2.5 y/o DD, and a 9 month old DS (the boys are 1 month apart).

Trip Details:
- March 2020, I'm thinking the first week but we're very flexible
- 7 days, 6 nights
- In total: 4 of us adults, and 3 kiddos
- DS will be almost 2 y/o (taking advantage of the free ticket AND flight ), and my niece/nephew will be 3.5 y/o and almost 2 y/o
- We have a timeshare, and are looking at booking a 2-bedroom unit at the Sheraton Vistana Resort, BUT I am having FOMO of all the fun and perks of staying at a Disney resort, so thinking twice about this

ALL THE QUESTIONS!
1) Anyone who has traveled with multiple families - would you recommend staying in 2 different studio hotel rooms, or staying all together in a multiple bedroom condo? Like I said, love my in-laws (and we were actually roommates before we were all married), BUT... we also like our space. Especially with the kids. Anyone have serious feelings either way?

2) Anyone that has stayed at Sheraton Vistana Resort - would you recommend? How difficult is transportation? Or does anyone have an alternative amazing suggestion of a timeshare-type off-site resort or condo?

3) How worth it is it to stay in a Disney resort?? Based on my calculations, it looks like its a $1000 difference in total cost for each of our families (regardless of whether we stayed in 2 rooms or one big one). Are there any cost-saving benefits to staying on-site that I'm missing? Anything I can use to convince my budget savvy DH that it's the only choice?? Obviously there's fun benefits like EMH and FP+, but looking for $$$ saving perks.

4) When is the best time to begin the booking process - if we were to stay at a Disney resort? I'm having a hard time keeping up with when FP+ and dining reservations can be made... is it 180 days in advance?

5) Anyone know of any specials that go on for travel dates between Feb-March? I know we'll miss out on free dining... but is there anything else I'm missing?

Feel free to chime in on anything, really! Just excited and a little overwhelmed and anxious and all these feelings. Thanks in advance for any info you can share or suggest

 

[momma2ethan]

4) When is the best time to begin the booking process - if we were to stay at a Disney resort? I'm having a hard time keeping up with when FP+ and dining reservations can be made... is it 180 days in advance?

If staying on site, dining reservations can be made at 180 days and FP can be made at 60 days out for the length of your stay. Off site guests can book dining at 180 days and FP at 30 days, both on a rolling window.

 

[Darcy03231]

Hi there I've been a long time lurker of DIS for fun, but this is my very first post! I'm planning a trip on my own for the first time (yay), and I'm realizing how overwhelming this all is... help!! Looking for any advice or tips you expert trip planners can offer... as everything is currently super tentative with our plans, I'm open to any and all suggestions!

Some Background: We live in California, and though we frequent Disneyland regularly, our hearts are in really in the World . DH and I took our last trip in summer 2012 with my family when we were in college... I know that SO much has changed since then! Fast forward to now, we're 4 years married with a 10 month old DS and so excited to show him this magical place.

We'll be taking this trip with my Disney-loving SIL and her fam of 4. I totally lucked out - my SIL is my best friend, and our kiddos get to grow up together! She has a 2.5 y/o DD, and a 9 month old DS (the boys are 1 month apart).

Trip Details:
- March 2020, I'm thinking the first week but we're very flexible
- 7 days, 6 nights
- In total: 4 of us adults, and 3 kiddos
- DS will be almost 2 y/o (taking advantage of the free ticket AND flight ), and my niece/nephew will be 3.5 y/o and almost 2 y/o
- We have a timeshare, and are looking at booking a 2-bedroom unit at the Sheraton Vistana Resort, BUT I am having FOMO of all the fun and perks of staying at a Disney resort, so thinking twice about this

ALL THE QUESTIONS!
1) Anyone who has traveled with multiple families - would you recommend staying in 2 different studio hotel rooms, or staying all together in a multiple bedroom condo? Like I said, love my in-laws (and we were actually roommates before we were all married), BUT... we also like our space. Especially with the kids. Anyone have serious feelings either way?

2) Anyone that has stayed at Sheraton Vistana Resort - would you recommend? How difficult is transportation? Or does anyone have an alternative amazing suggestion of a timeshare-type off-site resort or condo?

3) How worth it is it to stay in a Disney resort?? Based on my calculations, it looks like its a $1000 difference in total cost for each of our families (regardless of whether we stayed in 2 rooms or one big one). Are there any cost-saving benefits to staying on-site that I'm missing? Anything I can use to convince my budget savvy DH that it's the only choice?? Obviously there's fun benefits like EMH and FP+, but looking for $$$ saving perks.

4) When is the best time to begin the booking process - if we were to stay at a Disney resort? I'm having a hard time keeping up with when FP+ and dining reservations can be made... is it 180 days in advance?

5) Anyone know of any specials that go on for travel dates between Feb-March? I know we'll miss out on free dining... but is there anything else I'm missing?

Feel free to chime in on anything, really! Just excited and a little overwhelmed and anxious and all these feelings. Thanks in advance for any info you can share or suggest

Keep in mind that March is prime spring break time, so the parks could be crowded.

1. We've traveled with multiple families and tend to rent a vacation villa through VRBO. We find it's easier if everyone has their own space to spread out. We also like the private pool, enough bedrooms for everyone, full kitchen and washer/dryer.

2. Never stayed there so I can't help with that one.

3. For us, unless we're only two people traveling we don't find it worth it to stay on-site.

4. You can start making your room reservations about now. If you stay on-site, 180 days for dining reservations and 60 days for FP+.

5. Since March is prime spring break time, there aren't a lot of discounts. Sometimes you can pick up a room discount.

If you're looking for lower crowds, the first two weeks of February tend to be a bit slower.

 

[jeepnjudy]

Despite Spring Break, Easter is on April 12th that year so you will avoid the week before and the week after Easter. Those tend to be the 2 busiest weeks during Easter. Otherwise, have FUN!

 

[VicarJT]

Have you considered renting DVC points for a Villa on site? With all of those littles, staying on property might be worth the extra cost.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

1. With 2 families we've stayed at SSR (DVC) 2 bedroom suite, enough space for everyone and privacy. Resort pools, washer/dryer in each suite, full kitchen, dining, living room.
2. Never been there
3. Disney on-site is our preferred option with family. If one of the kids has an afternoon meltdown or sick, the whole family doesn't have to pack up and drive back to the hotel.
4. 180 days for dining and 60 for FP+
5. February less crowded than March. I don't know if the ticket prices vary seasonal like the Disney resort prices do.
Look at the Disney Gift Card Deals and start saving now: https://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-gift-card-deals.2941964/
With some savvy shopping and best use of credit card rewards, you could save 10%- 20% on Disney GCs.

 

[kaytieeldr]

BUT... we also like our space

Two separate rooms.

 

[Shughart]

I'd like to point you can still make ADR 180 in advance if you're staying off site, but you cannot make them all at once, you have to make them one day at a time. Also for fast passes off site, you can still make them 30 days before your trip (think of all the people cancelling and rearranging as their plans firm up/change).

 

[Tiggerlover91]

3) How worth it is it to stay in a Disney resort?? Based on my calculations, it looks like its a $1000 difference in total cost for each of our families (regardless of whether we stayed in 2 rooms or one big one). Are there any cost-saving benefits to staying on-site that I'm missing? Anything I can use to convince my budget savvy DH that it's the only choice?? Obviously there's fun benefits like EMH and FP+, but looking for $$$ saving perks.

4) When is the best time to begin the booking process - if we were to stay at a Disney resort? I'm having a hard time keeping up with when FP+ and dining reservations can be made... is it 180 days in advance?

5) Anyone know of any specials that go on for travel dates between Feb-March? I know we'll miss out on free dining... but is there anything else I'm missing?

Feel free to chime in on anything, really! Just excited and a little overwhelmed and anxious and all these feelings. Thanks in advance for any info you can share or suggest

3) Staying onsite will get you free parking at the theme parks if you drive. Seeing as you're coming from California, driving is probably not going to be an option for you guys. I live in FL, so of course I drive. I have to now pay for resort parking, but $13 a night doesn't really hurt my pocket that bad. If I get free parking while in MK, EPCOT, or AK....it balances out for me. Will I drive everyday....probably not. But son does want to ride the monorail or ferry into MK so one of our MK days I'll be doing the driving. How worth it is it you ask? Financially or figuratively speaking? Figuratively....I need my Disney bubble. We do a lot of offsite dining when in Disney so it's nice to have that bubble to come back to after a dinner or lunch offsite. Also...the theming of the values really gets my son and I into the "Disney mood". We're doing Sports this time as my son plays basketball and the choice was his on the resorts.

4) I would book as soon as you have your dates and the window opens for booking on the website. I didn't book our June trip till mid January of this year, but that's because I was waiting on 2 things.....the discount to hit for FL residents for the time we are going and for my hubby's pay to slide through so we'd have that one night deposit. FP+ ressies are easy. 60 days from your check in date if you're onsite or 30 days from you check in date offsite. I don't do ADRs as our restricted diet makes it hard to really "enjoy" sit down restaurants in Disney, but that's 180 days on our offsite. If you're going March of next year. You would be making your ressies in September I believe of this year.

5) Here is a link to Mousesavers that gives you historical listings on Disney discounts. It's what I used when booking my trip this June! GOOD LUCK! And hope I've helped a little. https://www.mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/

 

[tzeitel]

Won't save you a huge amount but Disney does provide free transportation from MCO to Disney resorts.
When we go to DLR (which has been our home park for the last 5 years) we rent a car, but when we go to WDW we just stay on property and use Disney transportation.

You did not mention if you are getting hoppers or not. At DLR we get PHs (unless we get APs), we do not get them at WDW. The parks have enough to keep us busy for a full day - especially if you have toddlers. That could save some $.

We have gone to WDW during Spring Break (as a group of 11!) and we actually did not find it super crazy. The weather was the best we have ever had while at WDW - maybe that helped it not feel so busy.

 

[DCLfam]

We love WDW and go about once a year, when crowds are low, but I wouldn't pick March. If you are flexible look at touringplans com or one of the other crowd calendar sites to find dates with low attendance.

 

[hsmamato2]

A couple of opinions....separate spaces for each family to have their personal time- don't share one big room/suite. That's asking for trouble.
I like onsite for groups only b/c it makes it easy to come/go as you please without needing a car,etc. (other than that there isn't much to recommend it beyond a 60 day FP) And since you're planning ahead,avoid the major spring break times like the plague(esp around Easter) and you'll be happier. If you do stay offsite(2nd choice IMHO for groups as noted) sharing a whole house or condo might work out,as long as everyone has private rooms etc.

 

[TMarie415]

Have you considered renting DVC points for a Villa on site? With all of those littles, staying on property might be worth the extra cost.

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it! I was actually looking at renting DVC points for the first time this morning... have you had much experience doing so? Any tips/recommendations??? I think that if we went this route we would go for 2 studio rooms vs. a larger condo.

 

[TMarie415]

Won't save you a huge amount but Disney does provide free transportation from MCO to Disney resorts.
When we go to DLR (which has been our home park for the last 5 years) we rent a car, but when we go to WDW we just stay on property and use Disney transportation.

You did not mention if you are getting hoppers or not. At DLR we get PHs (unless we get APs), we do not get them at WDW. The parks have enough to keep us busy for a full day - especially if you have toddlers. That could save some $.

We have gone to WDW during Spring Break (as a group of 11!) and we actually did not find it super crazy. The weather was the best we have ever had while at WDW - maybe that helped it not feel so busy.

Ahh, thank you! I was curious about the hoppers. In my opinion PHs are necessary at DLR (though we've had APs for awhile now), so I assumed we would get them at the world. But I could see how, with enough planning, it wouldn't be necessary with so many parks to visit.

We're lucky enough to all have very flexible, not typical M-F 9-5 jobs, so we can literally go anytime! Spring Break for us in Southern CA is mid-March this year, vs. being around Easter - strange. So it'll probably be busy all through March-early April, but I feel like it can't be half as bad as DLR on a Friday night

 

[TMarie415]

1. With 2 families we've stayed at SSR (DVC) 2 bedroom suite, enough space for everyone and privacy. Resort pools, washer/dryer in each suite, full kitchen, dining, living room.

3. Disney on-site is our preferred option with family. If one of the kids has an afternoon meltdown or sick, the whole family doesn't have to pack up and drive back to the .

Thanks so much for these! I've been browsing SSR (purely because it looks like one of the cheaper resorts of that tier, I'm not a huge fan of the theming, but oh well). Did you enjoy staying there?

I didn't even think about the convenience of access of onsite resorts throughout the day. Definitely would create an easy opt out for cranky toddlers if necessary.

 

[wendow]

Ahh, thank you! I was curious about the hoppers. In my opinion PHs are necessary at DLR (though we've had APs for awhile now), so I assumed we would get them at the world. But I could see how, with enough planning, it wouldn't be necessary with so many parks to visit.

We're lucky enough to all have very flexible, not typical M-F 9-5 jobs, so we can literally go anytime! Spring Break for us in Southern CA is mid-March this year, vs. being around Easter - strange. So it'll probably be busy all through March-early April, but I feel like it can't be half as bad as DLR on a Friday night

We get PH'er at DLR and not at WDW. They are so easy to use at DLR and more difficult at WDW and just not worth the cost for our fam.

So, for your resort questions, we are a fam of 6, so almost as big as your travel party. We absolutely like staying onsite and find the value there. There is a 'bubble' that doesn't really exist at DLR but is so fun to be in at wdw, plus there are some perks for staying onsite, as you have read. However, I would make sure each family has their own space. We have traveled with different families a few times and being able to have your own space is important. Each of you could do a value room (or mod, depending on budget). Or rent dvc for two studio villas.

As for timing of your trip, all of March is pretty busy at wdw. The first week will maybe less but I've booked several March trips as a TA and everything about their trips is busier...so I'd suggest going either in Feb (stay away from president's weekend) or pushing your trip into April and well away from Easter.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Thanks so much for these! I've been browsing SSR (purely because it looks like one of the cheaper resorts of that tier, I'm not a huge fan of the theming, but oh well). Did you enjoy staying there?

I didn't even think about the convenience of access of onsite resorts throughout the day. Definitely would create an easy opt out for cranky toddlers if necessary.

SSR is our home base for DVC. We've stayed at other other resorts around WDW but come back to SSR because it isn't as "themed" as the newer ones. You wouldn't even understand the theme if you weren't a horse person (which we are, Registered Quarter horses). It's quiet and relaxing, easy access by boat to Springs (Downtown), pools, spa, really nice and did I mention, quiet.
One kid has a meltdown or suddenly sick, even an adult that is not feeling well because of the heat, etc., means the whole group has to pack up, get in the car and drive to the off-site hotel. It's the convenience, for us, to take the bus to the resort and parks and not having to deal with a rental car, parking, and the logistics if Plan A fails. Time is also money.

 

[Minniemoo15]

We travel with multiple families annually and I much prefer separate rooms than a large villa. The large villas usually mean one couple ends up sleeping on a sofa, and if I'm paying $$$ for a room I am sleeping on a real bed. If you stay on Disney, it's actually cheaper to get multiple rooms. We usually rent points and get studios. Our favourite is Beach Club Villas, but we also really enjoyed Animal Kingdom Lodge. Saratoga was nice as well, though definitely more of a time-share feel than resort-style.

By staying on site we don't have to rent a car or pay parking which is a considerable savings. For us, it's worth it. Especially with young kids - it's incredibly convenient. I don't even need to bring car seats with us and it is very easy to take mid-day breaks.

The other thing I like about staying on site with a larger group is everyone is free to come and go as they please since we use Disney transportation. If the grandparents want to go back to the resort with a couple of kids for a swim, the adults can stay and enjoy the parks. If one group ends up running a bit late in the morning - no worries, they can just meet everyone else at the park when they're ready. When we stayed offsite it was definitely more coordination and everyone needed to commit to the same time frame in the parks.

 

[VicarJT]

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it! I was actually looking at renting DVC points for the first time this morning... have you had much experience doing so? Any tips/recommendations??? I think that if we went this route we would go for 2 studio rooms vs. a larger condo.

I will be renting points for the first time for our trip next year, and this will be our first time doing so. I have DisFriends who do this every year and have been really happy with the process and with their rooms.

 

[MermaidMommy]

The first week of March is a great time to go. The weather is usually very comfortable, you'll have Flower and Garden Festival, and you'll beat the spring break crowds. The crowds will hit in earnest starting the second week of March (with Texas' spring break).