Newbie questions - and is it too late to go this February?

[magnoliaparadise]

Hi,
I would love anyone advice on very basic Disney stuff - I think I get too overwhelmed with Disney World and then don't go with my kids!
A couple of questions... if anyone has advice to any or all of these questions, I would be SO grateful. I went years ago before I had kids.
Thank you!

1) Is it way too late to book this year? We could ONLY go during President's week school vacation, which I realize is crowded anyway (schools of the eastern half of the country takes off that week), but I'm ok with that. It's really whether there is anything (fares, tickets, etc etc) left.

2) Is there one phone number or agent anyone could suggest whom I could call and just ask dumb questions? I don't know the first thing about setting things up. (I can't even muster beyond my overwhelmed feeling to go to the Disney site, but is it super user friendly and explains how on earth to set up your vacation in an easy to understand way?)

3) If we went, I was thinking we would try to book a hotel near the Magic Kingdom (not Animal Kingdom) - but is that super expensive, especially this late?

4) Have we missed all the character meals at this point? While Frozen would be nice, it's not necessary. Honestly, character meals would be great, but I am ok if we miss out.

5) We would not have missed the fast tracks, right?

6) Do you recommend the 'meal on the go' thing I've heard about?

7) How many days would you go for? I have a 3 and 6 yo and my parents would be coming. I am thinking... 3 or 4 nights? I was thinking
Magic Kingdom for 2; Animal Kingdom for 1; and... not sure what to do with the other 2 days.

8) And finally... does anyone know a good airport to go to besides Orlando? That one is super expensive at this point. There are websites
identifying others, but no quick 'second best' comes up ever. I would want a large and nearby one, so maybe it doesn't exist...

Hope this wasn't too much - I just can't seem to get a grip on how to start planning for Disney and poof, I think this year might be (almost) out for February so want to jump if it's still possible. If you are still reading this, THANK YOU. If you have any thoughts, or anything else you can think of, please let me know. Or if you happen to love talking about Disney, I'm always always happy to talk about it with you! Thank you!

[Chitowngirl]

I'm no Disney expert as I am planning my first trip, but I think I can answer a few of your questions and leave the rest to people who know more.

I am also planning a trip in Feb with a young child (2.5) and my mom. We are going a different weekend (not Presidents' Day so not as busy). Although I have been thinking about going for a while I just made my reservations a week or two ago and just made my flight reservations a few days ago. I actually just made my dinner reservations yesterday. I found that while there were many things taken, many were still available. I had no problem getting character meals at a few different places. Some of them weren't at optimal times (ex one breakfast was at 7:15 when I would have liked closer to 8:00 or 8:30) but I could still make it work if needed. Also, it seems both hotel and dining availability changes quickly so I made that reservation just in case but plan to keep checking to see if anything else opens up. Same with the hotel, when I first checked they didn't have one room in the hotel I wanted. Two days later it opened up. The biggest thing I noticed about president's day weekend was not that the availability was so much worse, but that the prices were a LOT higher than the weekend before or after - like almost twice as much for some rooms. If it makes you feel better, I don't think the room would have been cheaper if you booked earlier - it would have been high anyway since its a premium weekend.

I too was overwhelmed at the thought of planning, and I will probable be here asking many questions between now and when I leave, but one thing that helped me immensely was getting a Disney travel agent. So far she has been wonderful about answering my questions and making sure I think of everything. She said she will help me book my fast passes when the time comes. It's relatively easy to work the disney website so I could actually book it myself, I just don't know which rides are "in demand" or which times are best. She says she will help with all that.

We actually initially were going to go for a long weekend, but just decided last week to make it a whole week. My mom is 70 and my son only 2.5 so I was worried about both of their stamina. I figured the longer we were there the slower we could take things without ever feeling too rushed. I am actually more worried about my mom than my DS. I can always just throw him in the stroller, but my mom would never ride in a wheel chair (there is nothing "wrong" with her - just arthritis and age) and I don't know if she can do a lot of standing/walking. I am determined to make this happen though. After losing my dad suddenly last year, I want to "make as many memories" with my mom and my DS as possible - especially since she lives out of state.

Hope this helps! Maybe us first time Disney-ers can help each other muddle through it!

[magnoliaparadise]

Thank you! Could you let me know the name of your Disney Agent and how you got her? Do you think she is great?
Thanks!

[klwa]

Fast passes are just starting to open up for that time period I believe (90 days out, right?), so you won't have missed too much there.

The time period your going is one of the more expensive and crowded times: http://www.easywdw.com/category/calendar/02-february-2015-crowd-calendar/ but the discounted rates for that time period haven't really opened up yet. Usually, they start sending out deals between now & January. BUT, that week may be blacked out from most deals. The closest hotels to MK are some of the more expensive hotels, since they're all deluxe. The cheapest option near MK would be Wilderness Lodge, which is just a boat ride away from MK. We've stayed at Port Orleans Riverside, and more recently at All Star Music (family suites) & not regretted it. Both of those choices would be cheaper that the MK resorts.

Just doing a quick search, I can find multiple openings at quite a few character meals still for that week. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/#/character-dining/
We really like Garden Grill in Epcot. :)

Honestly, I've always used a travel agent because I've gone through AAA in the past and I could get their discount. However, AAA doesn't get a discounted rate anymore, so I wouldn't hesitate to book on my own. Just try using their website & decide if you need a travel agent. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/

The meal plan: look into it carefully. It may or may not save you money. Or, if you're staying in different rooms, it may save your family money, but not your parents. The kids are the ones that you "save" money on. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/media/wdw_nextgen/CoreCatalog/WaltDisneyWorld/en_us/PDF/2015Dining.pdf and current menus and prices (or fairly current) are here: http://allears.net/dining/menu/

Consider hitting each of the parks once & doing MK twice. That should get you a good feel for the whole place.

And, finally, check out http://www.easywdw.com/ for crowd calendars ( http://www.easywdw.com/category/calendar/02-february-2015-crowd-calendar/ ) and rough plans for what order to do things. Oh, and for what you need to fastpass.

Oh, and the only other nearby airport that I know of is the Sanford airport. http://traveltips.usatoday.com/airports-near-disney-world-florida-42754.html However, there is no Magical Express service from Sanford, only the main Orlando airport. So, if you weren't planning on renting a car, that could be problematic.

[Tinkerbell313]

The time period your going is one of the more expensive and crowded times: http://www.easywdw.com/category/calendar/02-february-2015-crowd-calendar/ but the discounted rates for that time period haven't really opened up yet. Usually, they start sending out deals between now & January. BUT, that week may be blacked out from most deals. The closest hotels to MK are some of the more expensive hotels, since they're all deluxe. The cheapest option near MK would be Wilderness Lodge, which is just a boat ride away from MK. We've stayed at Port Orleans Riverside, and more recently at All Star Music (family suites) & not regretted it. Both of those choices would be cheaper that the MK resorts.




The discounts for that time period have opened up. They are listed here:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/

[Tinkerbell313]

Hi,


3) If we went, I was thinking we would try to book a hotel near the Magic Kingdom (not Animal Kingdom) - but is that super expensive, especially this late?



Disney World On-site hotels don't work like regular hotels when it comes to pricing.

They price their hotels according to season. Examples include New Years Day, Value, Summer, Presidents Day Weekend, Regular Season, Easter, Christmas, Fall Season, Columbus Weekend, etc. Not only are the prices according to season, the different rooms are priced according to room type...standard, gardenview, pool view, water view, Magic Kingdom View, etc. They come out with their hotel prices the year before and those hotel prices do not increase the closer you get to the date.

Here is a link to the 2015 Rack Rates for the deluxe hotels: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/disney-rates-deluxe-2015.htm. These are the maximum rates you would pay for a room per night no matter when you had booked the room.

Using the link I provided in the post above: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/, you can possibly get the room cheaper...if there are still rooms available for your dates. Disney only sets aside a certain amount of rooms for the discounts.

[flashy09]

The character meals seem to fluctuate availability within the hour! It's seriously addicting seeing what opens up with hotels and dining. I have changed my resort 3x (got insurance and it's considering "modifying" so no charge) and now have 2 breakfasts with Doc Mcstuffins. Two weeks ago there were no openings and no villas. Today there were 3 villas to pick from and I changed my mom to a room with great view at Animal Kingdom Lodge! I am a month out so February you should be fine unless it's a way busier time in general.

[klwa]

The discounts for that time period have opened up. They are listed here:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/

Thanks, Tinkerbell! I was going based on the Allears list for previous years & didn't think to check for this year!

[magnoliaparadise]

Thanks, everyone - this was super helpful!

[brittone2]

I think last year we booked in Oct for a Feb trip (early Feb, not busy like President's Day) and it was totally fine. We had all of the ADRs we wanted, and openings definitely popped up constantly. So I just booked what I could and tweaked as necessary. That took some work, but I imagine I would have done that just as much even if we booked way in advance.