The first set of what will be 47 bazillion questions as we plan The Epic WDW Trek

[Ms B]

DH and I want to take The Biscuit to WDW next year. He will be 5 at that point and will be in Pre-K, so it seems the right time for a trip (especially because do we plan to go back again when he is older).

We are starting our planning now and, based upon the posts from the very knowledgeable parents here, that is not overly early. We always have been "planners" and this seems the perfect trip to test out skills.

On advice from this board, we have looked at a couple of the websites and are reading The Unofficial Guide, but we already have questions.

1. Should we go ahead and subscribe to the on-line site associated with The Unofficial Guide, or should we wait?

2. Is staying at a resort that is "within" one of the parks essential with a smaller child, or will something like Animal Kingdom be manageable?

3. Is it crazy to think about going during The Biscuit's spring break next year? His break will be March 13 through 17. Or is it really important to wait until the crowds allegedly die down in April after Easter? Easter is April 16 next year, so it is possible that a lot of spring breaks will be later next year? And, if so, then should the March dates be all right?

Thanks in advance!

[nfceagles]

1. I like TouringPlans.com and do subscribe but it's not urgent. I like easywdw for crowd calendars if you're trying to decide which week and it's free. I like TouringPlans for game planning out days when the trip gets closer.

2. I think it makes for a much nicer trip, but I'm sure if you didn't know better you could have a lovely vacation at AK. We own at BLT and LOVE the location. I have also stayed at AK twice but only for an extra night in each case. I adore the resort but wouldn't stay there for the duration of our trips.

3. If I had a preschooler and no other restrictions on when we went, I would go during the very lowest crowd periods. Not March regardless of when Easter is. I would consider September, early December, early February if my kids were still that age.

[123LuckyMom]

I agree that low crowd times are the way to go! We just came back from a trip 2/27-3/5, and it was a great time of year to go. The crowds were low, the weather was great (although there's never any guarantee of that. Last year we went at a similar time, and it was FREEZING!!!), and the costs were lower, too. The downside of the low crowds is that the bus transportation from the monorail hotels to AK and DHS gets shared, and that lengthens the trip.

With a preschooler in a stroller, it's nice to stay close to the action unless you rent a car and travel that way (which I've never done). AKL is pretty far from everything except AK, so even with a rental car, going to and from the hotel for naps and such might take a chunk of time. It is a really beautiful hotel, though, and the food is good! Right now Wilderness Lodge is under construction. I'm not sure how long that construction will go, but you might want to avoid that hotel this trip.

I would subscribe to Lines (the app) but you can wait until closer to your dates. That app is spectacular for creating touring plans and optimizing the plans on the go. We used it extensively!

If you know you want a meal at Be Our Guest, Chef Mickey, or Cinderella's Castle, book those the moment you can! We didn't book meals far in advance, and we ended up getting meals everywhere we wanted except BoG and Cinderella's, but our dining times weren't ideal. Mostly we got late (for us) lunches (1:20pm, 1:45pm), which threw off dinner and parade plans a bit. Next time I will book those as far in advance as I can.

Do subscribe to Mousesavers. It will tell you about hotel discounts. Don't be afraid to look for deals on sites like Orbitz. We saved an extra $250 or so on our hotel (the Contemporary) by buying through Orbitz. We still got a fabulous room and had no problem at all linking our hotel reservation. We just had to make one extra phone call. Mousesavers described the process perfectly.

ETA: when deciding when to go, look at Disney's price structure rather than guessing at dates like Easter. Choose a time that's at a lower price tier, and you will be choosing a lower crowd time. The pricing varies by hotel level, too. You want to choose a value or regular season time.




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[klwa]

1. Should we go ahead and subscribe to the on-line site associated with The Unofficial Guide, or should we wait?

2. Is staying at a resort that is "within" one of the parks essential with a smaller child, or will something like Animal Kingdom be manageable?

3. Is it crazy to think about going during The Biscuit's spring break next year? His break will be March 13 through 17. Or is it really important to wait until the crowds allegedly die down in April after Easter? Easter is April 16 next year, so it is possible that a lot of spring breaks will be later next year? And, if so, then should the March dates be all right?

Thanks in advance!

1) I'd wait a little bit longer, closer to your 180 days out. The subscription is for 1 year, and you don't want to be cutting it close at the end as lots of things change closer to the date. So, at maybe 210 days out (so 7 months), think about subscriptions. (I'll admit, I've used both the Touring Plans crowd calendars and Josh's over at easywdw.com. I prefer Josh's, so I didn't get a subscription on our last trip.)

2) Are you asking about the difference between a monorail resort & the other resorts? We've stayed at Port Orleans-Riverside and All Star Music. Both were extremely manageable with getting kids up & out. If you would really like AKL, go for it.

3) Since he's only in pre-K, I'd go during a lower crowd time rather than worrying about spring break. We went during our school's spring break in 2014, when Easter was April 20 and we went in mid March. It was STILL much more crowded than when we went the first week of December. The early December time frame is my favorite, but if I were you, I'd also consider going in late February. http://www.easywdw.com/easy/crowd-calendars/ will give you info for a year's worth of data (future 7 months ish & past 5 ish), without a subscription, so it's a good place to start.

ETA: Actually, I just remembered that by booking through AAA, I DID end up with a subscription to Touring Plans last time. I just didn't use it. If you're thinking about using AAA or another travel agent, you may want to hold off & see if they're running a special like that again.

[georgiegirl]

Don't go during spring break. It will be very crowded. We have the same sprung break as you. If you can swing a different week, do that.

I always use easy WDW because it's free.

[123LuckyMom]

Another thing to consider when choosing the time of year you'll visit is what resorts will be under construction and what rides will be closed. If there's a ride you MUST ride, make sure it's not scheduled for refurbishment during your visit. Try to avoid staying at resorts that will be under construction during your dates.


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[acmom]

I would definitely go off peak times with a preschooler. I'd aim for a time that has low crowds. We have had great trips in Nov, Jan and Feb. Weather in the winter can be hit and miss, but we have had more good weather than bad and still had lots of fun even on the trip that it wasn't super warm.


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[kristenk]

For DD's school district, the scheduling of Spring Break is not related to Easter (except that it's typically NOT the week before Easter, for some reason). Next year, DD's tentative spring break is March 13-17.

If I were you, I'd take advantage of the opportunity to go to WDW whenever I wanted! I'd look for low crowds/low costs. WDW is so much nicer if you don't have to wait in lines - especially for young kids!

Not sure what you mean for question 2. None of the resorts are located inside of a park. There are some that are much closer to the parks than others. I'd skip Animal Kingdom Lodge just because it's so far away from EVERYTHING else. If I could pick any resort to stay at with a young kid, I'd pick the Poly. It's close to the Magic Kingdom and the TTC and on the monorail. The pool area looks fun, too. We've also loved Wilderness Lodge and its theming. It's still considered a deluxe hotel, but it's much less expensive than the other deluxes. I don't think the pool area is as nice as some of the others, but we've stayed there when it wasn't really pool weather for us.

Definitely look at scheduled refurbishments for hotels and rides. It would be a bummer to miss something that you wanted to do, especially since your schedule is flexible.

[acmom]

Not sure what you mean for question 2. None of the resorts are located inside of a park. There are some that are much closer to the parks than others. I'd skip Animal Kingdom Lodge just because it's so far away from EVERYTHING else. If I could pick any resort to stay at with a young kid, I'd pick the Poly. It's close to the Magic Kingdom and the TTC and on the monorail. The pool area looks fun, too. We've also loved Wilderness Lodge and its theming. It's still considered a deluxe hotel, but it's much less expensive than the other deluxes. I don't think the pool area is as nice as some of the others, but we've stayed there when it wasn't really pool weather for us.



I agree with both these choices...we have stayed at both and really liked both especially due to their locations near MK. Poly has the advantage of being able to walk to the transportation center and you can get to any place easily and quickly from there. You can also watch the fireworks from the Poly beach which was great when our kids were younger and might not be able to stay up for the show in the park. WL was beautiful and had a very convenient boat ride to MK, which we liked. We watched the fireworks from the boat once too!

[ahisma]

I'd pull him from school and go during a slower period. My DH is a teacher and even we did that (he didn't come, but the kids and I went).

[SummerBaby]

I will echo the advice to go during a slower time. Our first time we went the last week in April and last year we went mid-May. We had no problems with crowds at all. People I know who go during 9-10 crowd levels seem to not enjoy it nearly as much.