Your Thoughts and Suggestions Please

[WSussex]

Hi All,

It's been a while so a quick intro - we are a family of 4, me, hubby and Holly(16) & Bailey(13) we have been to Disney Florida 4 times as a family but hubby and I went pre kids so 7 trips in total (1992-2013). We have never stayed on site - started with hotels on I drive then broadened our horizons with villas and staying at Universal (HRH).

We are planning a trip late July early August 2017 for 3 weeks (longest prev stay 17 nights) - this is a rough plan and please share your thoughts pros/cons etc.........

(Planning 2017 so we can save that bit extra to make it epic as eldest will be 18 - youngest 15 so possibly last big holiday all together plus hoping Avatar Land will be open)


Direct Flight likely Virgin PE return plus full size SUV (PE is a treat)

First night at Hyatt at MCO - discovered this on our last trip and really worked well for us - always feel so dry eyed and slightly nauseous after flight and time difference etc and just rolling off the plane and walking straight in to the Hyatt - having a swim in the roof top pool followed by a meal in the airport followed by bed works and when we get up at stupid o'clock there is no queue at the car rental desk

2 nights at Hard Rock Hotel in a Deluxe room - we always get here around 06.30 so we check in and get our room keys (front of the line passes) leave the luggage have a bite to eat and head straight to the early opening at Universal and hit the rides early leaving around lunchtime to unpack and then spend mid afternoon onwards by the pool

Next day again at Universal

Day 4 - leave universal and for the very first time for us stay onsite!!! AKL for 5 nights really appeals to us, I know it's a bit further out with transport etc but if you have been used to staying offsite the travel time is nothing to worry about - hoping to get the free disney dining as well (again brand new at this bit)
Staying onsite will allow us the magic band experience and we are hoping Avatar Land will be open so EMH will benefit us and pre booking fast passes etc in the height of the season is also a big draw!

We will cover all over Disney Theme parks over the next 5 days

Day 9 - Villa

12 days to relax and spread out and do disney waterparks, Busch gardens and return to universal and Disney to re do our favourite bits!

Day 21 - return Virgin PE

Any tips re free Disney dining etc would be great - of course keeping fingers crossed it will be offered - does this have to be booked direct with disney? Do you have to purchase your Disney passes from Disney to qualify??

Sally x

 

[scoobydooby]

Hi welcome back! I can tell you we have paid £6,200 for four 'adult' Virgin PE seats for this August flying Manchester to MCO (18 nights) if that helps you plan. Four nights Club Level at HRH has cost £980 via Hotels4U and a full size (7 seater) SUV via Alamo Brits was
£573. I have stayed at AKL and the transport is the best I have ever had a Disney resort. The only place that was a genuine pain in the bum to get to was DTD. That was a looong bus ride. Everywhere else was great If I was you the only change I'd make to your plan is to do 7 full days on site. Personally I would not pay an extra load of money for a Savannah view. There are many lovely places to view the animals for free. Sounds like a great trip. Happy planning

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Hi Sally, love the holiday plan. We are going this July for 3 weeks as the schools break up.

If you have Virgin air miles, my tip would be to keep saving as many as you can. We managed to get flights using our miles for 2 people, and then paid for 2 other seats using m+m. We fly out economy, and return PE.

We are staying onsite and then offsite. I bought our tickets from the UK and had no problem linking them to the MDE account, although if you want free dining I think you have to book your tickets when you book the hotel to qualify.

 

[WSussex]

Thank you both for your replies! Good to know a ball park for flights - Mrs Doubtfire - we have used virgin miles and money in the past for flights to Las Vegas - our first taste of PE but dates were so limited it has put me off doing again especially in height of the season so think we are just going to save save save - another reason why it's 2017 and not 2016 - we could do 2016 but it would be a scrape and we would be thinking about all the costs carefully whereas if we wait just a bit longer we can make it epic . Still a total newbie at the whole onsite thing - Scoobydooby did you suggest 7 nights just to give us more time at Disney? We would head back to Disney once settled in the villa but just at a calmer pace so to speak - we now know what is worth and not worth the queue time for so we can use our magic bands to the max whilst onsite for all the really popular stuff and be more laid back later in the holiday for the rest (and keeping that part in budget!)

Sally xx

 

[scoobydooby]

Hi. I think AKL is worth a whole resort day so would add one day for that. A week is also a nice amount of time to fit in four rope drop days with three later starts. Just my logic!

 

[WiganTony]

When we flew MAN to MCO last year, we found PE flights through the Delta website on a Virgin Codeshare to be £500 each cheaper than booking with VA, so worth keeping an eye on the various airline/agent websites if not using VA miles.

The UK free dining offers tend to be made available around April the previous year, so keep your eyes on this site next April for people posting news. To qualify for free dining, you do need to book your Disney hotel and tickets as a package - note that you can get around 3% cashback through Quidco. We had 13 nights worth of dining last year and certainly made the most of it!!!!

 

[chmurf]

we now know what is worth and not worth the queue time for so we can use our magic bands to the max whilst onsite for all the really popular stuff and be more laid back later in the holiday for the rest

I don't understand that part
what do magic bands have to do with that ?

you might be confusing Fastpass+ and magic bands.
magic bands is just another way of saying "park tickets", you'll be keeping them after your onsite stay, and will still be able to use them while you stay offsite, as they will allow you to access your MDX account, hence your tickets.

the difference will be that you'll be able to book fastpass+ at 60 days from your check in at AKL, and only 30 days for the offsite part (unless there is still a glitch and you get to book length of tickets at 60 days)

if you know what's worth queuing for, then I agree with scoobydooby, a couple of days more onsite would allow you to take full advantage of the onsite perks, with a more balanced stay (7 on, 10 off, instead of 5 on, 12 off)

 

[WSussex]

Hi chmurf

The magic bands comment was regarding booking fast passes way in advance etc as staying onsite and there are rides that have long queues that we have done in the past and not thought much of so wouldn't bother next time.

Thanks Wigantony that's a great tip!

Sally x