Disney people-- why won't the WDW website let me book for 2020?

[Shellydon]

I am considering a trip to WDW in February or March 2020.   The WDW website will not let me pick dates past December 2019?  Any ideas?

[PeterPan]

6 months? Look for the pattern for when things open. Have you been before? You might talk with a travel agent. If you're actually going to stay on property (which I'm not saying I recommend, just saying if you are), you want to be taking advantage of fastpasses, dining reservations, etc. When you make that ressie you're also able to book all your dining reservations. So if there's something you really want, like Be Our Guest or whatever, you can do it. Costs nothing to make a reservation and cancel. The window on most is midnight the night before, so anything you think you would want you should snag.

Have you looked at the festivals? Check the dates, but there's festival of the arts (really fun with photobooths) and the garden which is also amazing. TouringPlans will have your crowd level predictions and the things listed that will be going on. That way you don't end up on marathon weekend or something, lol. 

2/4-2/12 looks really good on TouringPlans. After that the levels shoot up to 7-10 and stay that high. 3/1-3/8 is mostly 6s, which to me feel high but you can make it work. Late January, early February are much better for crowds. Of course those are just estimates. The new Star Wars stuff may rearrange all that. Nobody knows. 

Anyways, Touring Plans has a terrific app, terrific site, well worth the nominal fee for the help it will give you. 

[My4arrows]

I’m guessing because the 2020 prices aren’t out yet. You can call 499 days in advance to get a reservation but will pay the difference  in cost when the prices come out. I also don’t believe you can get 2020 tickets yet but may be wrong about that  

The 2020 prices will be out soon though. Maybe mid June I heard?  If staying on property is work with a travel agent. They are free for you and can help so much!

[Shellydon]

On 5/20/2019 at 11:13 PM, PeterPan said:

6 months? Look for the pattern for when things open. Have you been before? You might talk with a travel agent. If you're actually going to stay on property (which I'm not saying I recommend, just saying if you are), you want to be taking advantage of fastpasses, dining reservations, etc. When you make that ressie you're also able to book all your dining reservations. So if there's something you really want, like Be Our Guest or whatever, you can do it. Costs nothing to make a reservation and cancel. The window on most is midnight the night before, so anything you think you would want you should snag.

Have you looked at the festivals? Check the dates, but there's festival of the arts (really fun with photobooths) and the garden which is also amazing. TouringPlans will have your crowd level predictions and the things listed that will be going on. That way you don't end up on marathon weekend or something, lol. 

2/4-2/12 looks really good on TouringPlans. After that the levels shoot up to 7-10 and stay that high. 3/1-3/8 is mostly 6s, which to me feel high but you can make it work. Late January, early February are much better for crowds. Of course those are just estimates. The new Star Wars stuff may rearrange all that. Nobody knows. 

Anyways, Touring Plans has a terrific app, terrific site, well worth the nominal fee for the help it will give you. 

Thanks!  Yes, we've been twice.  Not sure about on or off site yet.  We have always stayed onsite, but would consider off.  I would like to price out a vacation, but the WDW website won't let me!

[Shellydon]

On 5/21/2019 at 12:14 AM, My4arrows said:

I’m guessing because the 2020 prices aren’t out yet. You can call 499 days in advance to get a reservation but will pay the difference  in cost when the prices come out. I also don’t believe you can get 2020 tickets yet but may be wrong about that  

The 2020 prices will be out soon though. Maybe mid June I heard?  If staying on property is work with a travel agent. They are free for you and can help so much!

That is weird to me.  I know that the last time we went, I reserved everything on the website a full year in advance.

[katilac]

2 minutes ago, Shellydon said:

That is weird to me.  I know that the last time we went, I reserved everything on the website a full year in advance.

Maybe you booked early in the year for the end of the year? Not being able to see the new year at this time is par for the course. Packages for the next year are never available until sometime in summer (and it will usually be the first 'batch' of packages).  

 

The 2019 room rates will give you a pretty good idea: https://www.mousesavers.com/2019-disney-world-room-rates-season-dates/

Package specials tend to be better if you are staying at a value resort, whereas a room discount might be worth more at a moderate or higher resort. 

15 minutes ago, Shellydon said:

We have always stayed onsite, but would consider off.  

Nooooo! I'm Team Onsite, 100%. 

[Shellydon]

7 minutes ago, katilac said:

Maybe you booked early in the year for the end of the year? Not being able to see the new year at this time is par for the course. Packages for the next year are never available until sometime in summer (and it will usually be the first 'batch' of packages).  

 

The 2019 room rates will give you a pretty good idea: https://www.mousesavers.com/2019-disney-world-room-rates-season-dates/

Package specials tend to be better if you are staying at a value resort, whereas a room discount might be worth more at a moderate or higher resort. 

Nooooo! I'm Team Onsite, 100%. 

We have always gone end of Feb, beginning of March.  It has been 4 years since the last visit, so maybe the way they let you book has changed. When we stay onsite, it is at a 2 bedroom villa, since there are 6 of us.  Those are $1K a night right now.  That $150 at Bonnet Creek looks nice (and cheap!).

[katilac]

2 minutes ago, Shellydon said:

 since there are 6 of us

Mickey really isn't kind to families of more than 4, is he? 

[Shellydon]

13 minutes ago, katilac said:

Mickey really isn't kind to families of more than 4, is he? 

Everything is definitely built around 4 people there, for sure.

[lmrich]

Bonnet Creek is really nice. We have stayed there twice. 

[Farrar]

We've done on and off and found the on was nice, but not worth the $$. YMMV depending on what you value though. And if you want to do the Disney dining, then on site has the edge for sure. I'd call them and figure it out though... I'm nearly positive you can book a year ahead.

[Shellydon]

If you do not stay on site, how do you handle food?  We have always had a dining plan. The dining plan is $75 per day per person (6 of us).  We do not ever return to the resort once we leave, even with young children. We arrive at the park around 9:00 and stay until 9:00 at night.  If a single buffet is $60 per person, it seems like the dining plan would be worth it. 

[PeterPan]

1 hour ago, Shellydon said:

If you do not stay on site, how do you handle food?  We have always had a dining plan. The dining plan is $75 per day per person (6 of us). 

I've never done the Disney dining plan. There are some calculators to see if it's worth it for the way you eat. Remember, Disney is there to MAKE money, not save you money. They're not saving you money. You end up with a lot of snack credits and you may or may not like/want the dining tier you'd have associated with the resort level you'd be staying at. So that $75 I'm thinking is the economy tier, right? 

Ds has ASD and needs breaks from the noise and heat. We eat full sit down meals almost exclusively. I ALWAYS have reservations or plan on mobile orderi, ng. There are quick service restaurants (lowest price, lowest tier, what you're probably getting for that $75 a day) that include reservations (Be Our Guest!!!!) or mobile ordering (Flame Tree BBQ, Satuli Canteen, an ever-expanding list). We ate at the T-Rex restaurant last time we were there, and for the price tier it was really nice! Sometimes we're flush and sometimes we're not. I'm saying you can get good food at all the tiers, so it's more just whether you want to be in air conditioning, what kind of break you need. 

Our preferred thing, or the one that is most economical, is for us to stay off-property at a place with included breakfast. We eat heavy there and then eat snacks and one full sit-down meal mid-day like 2-3pm. We've done a condo (instant oats, fruit from the Publix), Hyatt Place which we get on Priceline stupid cheap (LOVE their breakfast, totally cooked fresh, oatmeal, greek yogurt, beautiful fruit salad, you won't be hungry afterward, lol), Residence Inn (carry-out breakfast of pre-wrapped foods, wasn't to my taste but it was food), and some on-property. The food on-property is fine, but in the economy resorts you're in this huge cafeteria like herded cattle, noisy, dealing with people's spills and little kids. I don't go on vacation for that. 

So anyways, we usually budget for 4-5 snacks per day. My ds really likes them, and that's just how we roll. And every snack will be $5. Well that was beforthe price increases, so look them up, lol. Everything has tiers and tends to fall in price brackets. So it could be a snack or it's a quick service meal (plan $15) or it's a sit down dinner (plan $35 to sky is the limit). So if we take our own water in and have already eaten breakfast and do a counter service lunch ($15 for me, $10 for him) and 4 snacks for him ($20) and 3 for me ($15), I just spent $60 for BOTH of us. That's about as low as I can take it, and I might end up picking up something to split on the way out (another $15 maybe). You can obviously take that higher. But for that $15 that's eating lunch at Be Our Guest, kwim? It's not like this HAS to be off the charts expensive. You can get nice food on the cheap there, but you have to understand the tiers, look at the menus, and pick what suits you.

Sometimes we do buffets like Biergarten. Sometimes we order at a sit down meal and I'll get a full meal for me and only an appetizer or side for him. That can be enough food for both of us. Sometimes he doesn't LIKE the cool sit down meal I want, so I'll feed him somewhere cheap and then go together to our $35 a person meal, lol. 

I've done Disney with lots of table service meals and with almost all counter service. It's all fine if you pick around a bit. It's the fun and adventure, so it's not like oh we're going with the lower tier so it will suck. But CAN you get it down super low? Yes. But we weren't ordering drinks even. Like literally that was free water and one table service meal.

Everything in Florida is stupid expensive btw, at least compared to the midwest. If you want to save money, your other trick is to use Publix. They have a lot of already prepared foods or things they'll make in front of you.

2 hours ago, Shellydon said:

If a single buffet is $60 per person, it seems like the dining plan would be worth it. 

No, you need to look at the tiers. Do you have the Unofficial Guide from the TouringPlans people? You need to get it. Your library will have it or buy. Their site and app are awesome too. Anyways, the buffets can be character ($$$$) or not ($$) and they're sit down meals. That means your lowest tier, which is all counter service food and snacks, will not include those. Now I think they have gigs where you can combine credits, right? I don't know. But no Disney is not giving you a deal. You might break even if you use all your credits. Depends on what you like to eat.

I think doing a buffet is really fun. The food is usually good and the character ones are adorable. We did the one with Cinderella and it was so nice. My ds hates characters, so we didn't do anything like that again, sigh. But it's really fun and crazy $$$. Biergarten is cheaper and SO SO SO fun. We do that almost every time we go. So just do what strikes you, kwim?

Your other trick to save money is to go to a place and just do dessert. Like go to Sci-Fi Drive-In and just have milkshakes. Now I have to say their food was REALLY GOOD!! But you could do just milkshakes and still get to go in and have the fun. You can use the dining reservation finder on Touring Plans and snag Be Our Guest and just do dessert. There I would definitely do the full lunch because it's the best counter service in MK and cheap and SO relaxing and amazing. Cheapest way to get in there. But yeah, you can go do just dessert.

It's not like you're going to do it all on one trip, lol. I would plan for snacks and splurges. The hotter it is, the more you're going to need them. They have refillable popcorn buckets that are a deal. But yeah, if it gets hot, suddenly you're gonna whip out that card for anything cold. They'll literally have stands ever 200 feet ready to take your money, lol.

[PeterPan]

The other thing I find with food at Disney is the lower tier places tend to have mostly junk food for kids. Like we're talking mac & cheese, chocolate milk, nuggets. They have these healthy whatevers that my ds would never eat. There's not a lot of in-between, like say a kid-size of something from the adult menu. That's why I was saying sometimes I order a meal and a table service restaurant and share. My ds actually likes nice food. At the 50s diner he got a caesar salad. 

I'm just saying look at the kid menus and think about where your littles fit in with them. You're an adult, so you'll like everything. If your littles hate burgers and nuggets, it gets trickier as that's what Disney thinks they want to eat, lol. My ds didn't even like the loaded tater tots from Friar Tucks! I kid you not. I think Disney is going pretty mainstream on their kid food and it's very generous, definitely. Just gets tricky. He didn't like any of the kid options at Satuli Canteen. It could blow up your whole dining plan if some of yours need to eat an entirely different way or decide to live on Mickey bars, lol.

[mumto2]

Just my 2 cents on Disney Dining pricing........I seriously doubt you are getting a deal even if you pick the most expensive item at every venue.  Disney will always make a profit.  When the plans were created my family was living near Disney with annual passes and used to go into the parks for dinner and a couple of rides frequently.  We used to get a couple of kids meals and a nice entree or two that Dh and I would share.  I knew many of the menu’s prices well.  When Disney Dining was officially up and going many of the prices doubled.  They also streamlined the menus and the quality went down imo.  We try very hard not to eat at Disney now, we always get Dole Whips but just found those up in St. Augustine (Woot!).

[katilac]

31 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

 There are quick service restaurants (lowest price, lowest tier, what you're probably getting for that $75 a day)  

 

No, Quick Service is $52/day for 2 QS meals, 2 snacks, and the drink mug. 

The Standard Plan is $75/day for 1 table service, 1 quick service, 2 snacks, and the drink mug. 

So, yes, the Standard Plan will save money if you want to do character buffets or some of the themed restaurants. It was always nice to knock out a lot of characters at one meal, and we always found they went above and beyond to take cute pictures and really have fun with the kids (but it's been a long time since my kids were that young). 

Children's pricing applies to 9 and under. There is no difference between one Quick Service credit and another on your account - you just have so many assigned to your room. So, we just never had the kids order QS, the adults always ordered. 

[Shellydon]

1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

I've never done the Disney dining plan. There are some calculators to see if it's worth it for the way you eat. Remember, Disney is there to MAKE money, not save you money. They're not saving you money. You end up with a lot of snack credits and you may or may not like/want the dining tier you'd have associated with the resort level you'd be staying at. So that $75 I'm thinking is the economy tier, right? 

Ds has ASD and needs breaks from the noise and heat. We eat full sit down meals almost exclusively. I ALWAYS have reservations or plan on mobile orderi, ng. There are quick service restaurants (lowest price, lowest tier, what you're probably getting for that $75 a day) that include reservations (Be Our Guest!!!!) or mobile ordering (Flame Tree BBQ, Satuli Canteen, an ever-expanding list). We ate at the T-Rex restaurant last time we were there, and for the price tier it was really nice! Sometimes we're flush and sometimes we're not. I'm saying you can get good food at all the tiers, so it's more just whether you want to be in air conditioning, what kind of break you need. 

Our preferred thing, or the one that is most economical, is for us to stay off-property at a place with included breakfast. We eat heavy there and then eat snacks and one full sit-down meal mid-day like 2-3pm. We've done a condo (instant oats, fruit from the Publix), Hyatt Place which we get on Priceline stupid cheap (LOVE their breakfast, totally cooked fresh, oatmeal, greek yogurt, beautiful fruit salad, you won't be hungry afterward, lol), Residence Inn (carry-out breakfast of pre-wrapped foods, wasn't to my taste but it was food), and some on-property. The food on-property is fine, but in the economy resorts you're in this huge cafeteria like herded cattle, noisy, dealing with people's spills and little kids. I don't go on vacation for that. 

So anyways, we usually budget for 4-5 snacks per day. My ds really likes them, and that's just how we roll. And every snack will be $5. Well that was beforthe price increases, so look them up, lol. Everything has tiers and tends to fall in price brackets. So it could be a snack or it's a quick service meal (plan $15) or it's a sit down dinner (plan $35 to sky is the limit). So if we take our own water in and have already eaten breakfast and do a counter service lunch ($15 for me, $10 for him) and 4 snacks for him ($20) and 3 for me ($15), I just spent $60 for BOTH of us. That's about as low as I can take it, and I might end up picking up something to split on the way out (another $15 maybe). You can obviously take that higher. But for that $15 that's eating lunch at Be Our Guest, kwim? It's not like this HAS to be off the charts expensive. You can get nice food on the cheap there, but you have to understand the tiers, look at the menus, and pick what suits you.

Sometimes we do buffets like Biergarten. Sometimes we order at a sit down meal and I'll get a full meal for me and only an appetizer or side for him. That can be enough food for both of us. Sometimes he doesn't LIKE the cool sit down meal I want, so I'll feed him somewhere cheap and then go together to our $35 a person meal, lol. 

I've done Disney with lots of table service meals and with almost all counter service. It's all fine if you pick around a bit. It's the fun and adventure, so it's not like oh we're going with the lower tier so it will suck. But CAN you get it down super low? Yes. But we weren't ordering drinks even. Like literally that was free water and one table service meal.

Everything in Florida is stupid expensive btw, at least compared to the midwest. If you want to save money, your other trick is to use Publix. They have a lot of already prepared foods or things they'll make in front of you.

No, you need to look at the tiers. Do you have the Unofficial Guide from the TouringPlans people? You need to get it. Your library will have it or buy. Their site and app are awesome too. Anyways, the buffets can be character ($$$$) or not ($$) and they're sit down meals. That means your lowest tier, which is all counter service food and snacks, will not include those. Now I think they have gigs where you can combine credits, right? I don't know. But no Disney is not giving you a deal. You might break even if you use all your credits. Depends on what you like to eat.

I think doing a buffet is really fun. The food is usually good and the character ones are adorable. We did the one with Cinderella and it was so nice. My ds hates characters, so we didn't do anything like that again, sigh. But it's really fun and crazy $$$. Biergarten is cheaper and SO SO SO fun. We do that almost every time we go. So just do what strikes you, kwim?

Your other trick to save money is to go to a place and just do dessert. Like go to Sci-Fi Drive-In and just have milkshakes. Now I have to say their food was REALLY GOOD!! But you could do just milkshakes and still get to go in and have the fun. You can use the dining reservation finder on Touring Plans and snag Be Our Guest and just do dessert. There I would definitely do the full lunch because it's the best counter service in MK and cheap and SO relaxing and amazing. Cheapest way to get in there. But yeah, you can go do just dessert.

It's not like you're going to do it all on one trip, lol. I would plan for snacks and splurges. The hotter it is, the more you're going to need them. They have refillable popcorn buckets that are a deal. But yeah, if it gets hot, suddenly you're gonna whip out that card for anything cold. They'll literally have stands ever 200 feet ready to take your money, lol.

We will go in Feb or early March, so it won't be hot, thank goodness!  I looked up the prices at the places we like to each like Tusker House, Askerhus, Park Fair and it was $60 per adult per buffet. I will explore the tier idea some more so that I understand it. We typically do what you do, breakfast at the room, snack around 12:00 and a meal at 3:00 with snack at night. My Touring Plans book is from 2012.  I need to get a new one. 🙂

[Shellydon]

1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

The other thing I find with food at Disney is the lower tier places tend to have mostly junk food for kids. Like we're talking mac & cheese, chocolate milk, nuggets. They have these healthy whatevers that my ds would never eat. There's not a lot of in-between, like say a kid-size of something from the adult menu. That's why I was saying sometimes I order a meal and a table service restaurant and share. My ds actually likes nice food. At the 50s diner he got a caesar salad. 

I'm just saying look at the kid menus and think about where your littles fit in with them. You're an adult, so you'll like everything. If your littles hate burgers and nuggets, it gets trickier as that's what Disney thinks they want to eat, lol. My ds didn't even like the loaded tater tots from Friar Tucks! I kid you not. I think Disney is going pretty mainstream on their kid food and it's very generous, definitely. Just gets tricky. He didn't like any of the kid options at Satuli Canteen. It could blow up your whole dining plan if some of yours need to eat an entirely different way or decide to live on Mickey bars, lol.

I agree.  My kids are foodies and won't eat on the kids menu. They want the fancy stuff!

[Shellydon]

Off to look at condos close to the resort, thanks all!

[shawthorne44]

38 minutes ago, Shellydon said:

Off to look at condos close to the resort, thanks all!

Or a house.  Didn't you say that there are 6 of you?   I've heard that they are relatively reasonably priced. 

 

[PeterPan]

1 hour ago, Shellydon said:

I looked up the prices at the places we like to each like Tusker House, Askerhus, Park Fair and it was $60 per adult per buffet.

Yup, those are character meals, so they're $$. 

1 hour ago, Shellydon said:

I agree.  My kids are foodies and won't eat on the kids menu. They want the fancy stuff!

Yup!! But then my ds sees mac & cheese and wants to live on that for a week, which is SO bad for his behavior. 

1 hour ago, Shellydon said:

Off to look at condos close to the resort, thanks all!

Check out the Hyatt Place beside Disney Springs. We also really enjoyed the condo in Reunion but you could probably save money and do well as there are SO many of these things around. There's a hotel at Disney Springs that has bunks and can accommodate 6. Sometimes you can even get a whole house. Just play around with VRBO and see what strikes you. 

[katilac]

1 hour ago, Shellydon said:

I looked up the prices at the places we like to each like Tusker House, Askerhus, Park Fair and it was $60 per adult per buffet. I will explore the tier idea some more so that I understand it.🙂

All of your examples would be included on the Standard Dining Plan, the $75/day one. There are some restaurants that require two dining credits per person, which can be worth it if you really want a specific experience. You probably won't have to pay for additional meals if you do that, either, because the majority of places give you so. much. food. that we frequently split meals (so you can use 2 table service credits one day and then just split some quick service meals the next day). 

Below is the 2019 list of restaurants that require two credits. Le Cellier is the steakhouse that gets a lot of chatter, Cinderella's Royal Table is the best-known princess dining experience, and the Brown Derby is where they do Dine with an Imagineer. We actually tried to do the Imagineer thing a couple of times and were never able to make the available times work (all of these are very hard to get reservations for). We could never get the Cinderella meal, either, but Akershus is a worthy substitute. Cinderella isn't there, but she is a super-easy princess to meet. 

Be Our Guest (Magic Kingdom, 2 credits at dinner only)

Le Cellier (Epcot)

The Hollywood Brown Derby (Hollywood Studios)

Tiffins Restaurant (Animal Kingdom)

The BOATHOUSE (Disney Springs)

California Grill (Disney's Contemporary Resort)

Cinderella's Royal Table (Magic Kingdom)

Citricos (Disney's Grand Floridian Resort)

Flying Fish (Disney's Boardwalk)

Jiko - The Cooking Place (Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge)

Monsieur Paul (Epcot)

Morimoto Asia (Disney Springs, 2 credits at dinner only)

Narcoossee's (Disney's Grand Floridian)

Paddlefish (Disney Springs)

STK Orlando (Disney Springs)

Yachtsman Steakhouse (Yacht Club)

Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue

Spirit of Aloha

 

[Shellydon]

3 hours ago, katilac said:

All of your examples would be included on the Standard Dining Plan, the $75/day one. There are some restaurants that require two dining credits per person, which can be worth it if you really want a specific experience. You probably won't have to pay for additional meals if you do that, either, because the majority of places give you so. much. food. that we frequently split meals (so you can use 2 table service credits one day and then just split some quick service meals the next day). 

Below is the 2019 list of restaurants that require two credits. Le Cellier is the steakhouse that gets a lot of chatter, Cinderella's Royal Table is the best-known princess dining experience, and the Brown Derby is where they do Dine with an Imagineer. We actually tried to do the Imagineer thing a couple of times and were never able to make the available times work (all of these are very hard to get reservations for). We could never get the Cinderella meal, either, but Akershus is a worthy substitute. Cinderella isn't there, but she is a super-easy princess to meet. 

Be Our Guest (Magic Kingdom, 2 credits at dinner only)

Le Cellier (Epcot)

The Hollywood Brown Derby (Hollywood Studios)

Tiffins Restaurant (Animal Kingdom)

The BOATHOUSE (Disney Springs)

California Grill (Disney's Contemporary Resort)

Cinderella's Royal Table (Magic Kingdom)

Citricos (Disney's Grand Floridian Resort)

Flying Fish (Disney's Boardwalk)

Jiko - The Cooking Place (Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge)

Monsieur Paul (Epcot)

Morimoto Asia (Disney Springs, 2 credits at dinner only)

Narcoossee's (Disney's Grand Floridian)

Paddlefish (Disney Springs)

STK Orlando (Disney Springs)

Yachtsman Steakhouse (Yacht Club)

Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue

Spirit of Aloha

 

Splitting a meal is a great idea.  We almost always hit buffets, but would be interested in Le Cellier.  So if 6 people go in, they are okay with only buying 3 meals?

[katilac]

28 minutes ago, Shellydon said:

Splitting a meal is a great idea.  We almost always hit buffets, but would be interested in Le Cellier.  So if 6 people go in, they are okay with only buying 3 meals?

I actually suggested splitting some quick service meals to make up for doubling up on table service, but I will also say that I've never had a problem with splitting meals at table service either, even using dining credits. We've never asked for extra plates or anything, but some places have offered them. Now, I have seen people post that you aren't supposed to do this, so you have to go in with the mindset that it may not work. Another way to do it would be to say, these 3 are on the dining plan (and order meals) and these three are paying cash (and order just an appetizer). You may well need the appetizers at a place like this, I haven't eaten there but I'm guessing the servings of steak and seafood aren't quite as generous, lol. 

[Shellydon]

So I did some calculations for meal--  The Polite Pig quick service would be $93 for the family (Southern Salad, Caesar Salad (2), Cobb Salad and 2 Chicken Sandwiches).  Yorkshire Fish Shop would be $60 (5 entrees to share with 6 people).  Columbia Harbor would be $70 for 6 entrees. We generally need an entree for each person.  My kids each it all.  They are tall, skinny and hungry 🙂  

Table service looks like this- Boma 6X$49.00 is $294.  Teppen Edo and Park Fare would be $210 for 6.

So off to calculate...

[Farrar]

When we stayed off property, we stayed at the Liki Tiki, which was shabby on the outside, but our room was spotless and very nice and the pools were basic but totally fine. The kitchen was very well stocked in terms of plates, appliances, pots and pans, etc.

What we did was... breakfast at the hotel in the room cooked by me or things like cereal, etc. I brought in sandwiches and snacks and so forth for lunch. I know how to pack a small soft cooler and make it really work and last. Dinner, we did different things. Sometimes we didn't close the place down and left to go back to the hotel for a late dinner. Other nights, ate a quick service meal, though obviously some of those are substantive and good. Like, quick service at AK is yummy stuff in my opinion. We did do two nice meals out, but we were doing four days at WDW and two at Universal and because eating nice at Universal is dramatically less, we did those there (Mmm... Mythos). I would have splurged on a nice WDW meal if we'd just been doing WDW for that trip. Then, we often got a small treat like an ice cream or something there. All that walking deserves something, after all! Oh, and one night we ate a million funnel cakes while watching the light show because they had extras and we ended up with like four. Because Disney is like that.

Basically, it's doable. I never even felt like I was carrying too much. My kids are good at rolling with that sort of thing though. Like, this is the sandwich, no we're not buying that $12 burger... they're cool with that and don't make a fuss and never have about needing more of whatever a place is trying to sell.

Edited May 31, 2019 by Farrar

[Shellydon]

I think I am going to need a travel agent to run numbers.  Anyone know a Disney travel agent on this board?

[Farrar]

Yes... @StaceyinLA used to be one, IIRC?

[PeterPan]

On May 29, 2019 at 11:17 PM, Shellydon said:

would be interested in Le Cellier.

I really liked the salad we had there, but I thought the poutine was way too salty. The soup that is supposedly theirs that they serve during the Food & Wine fest is also pretty strong. Like it's popular, but it may not be to your taste. Apparently I'm not meant to be canadian, lol. 

The Touring Plans book will have lists of restaurants recommended with kids. Part of it is going to be the wait. Now I'm not saying Cellier is bad, just that some restaurants are more kid-friendly than others. I would take littles in something a little more fun like Biergarten or Garden Grill with Chip and Dale.

[PeterPan]

On May 30, 2019 at 2:35 PM, Shellydon said:

So I did some calculations for meal--  The Polite Pig quick service would be $93 for the family (Southern Salad, Caesar Salad (2), Cobb Salad and 2 Chicken Sandwiches).  Yorkshire Fish Shop would be $60 (5 entrees to share with 6 people).  Columbia Harbor would be $70 for 6 entrees. We generally need an entree for each person.  My kids each it all.  They are tall, skinny and hungry 🙂  

Table service looks like this- Boma 6X$49.00 is $294.  Teppen Edo and Park Fare would be $210 for 6.

So off to calculate...

How old are the kids? Park Far is crazy fun. We enjoyed House of Blues at Disney Springs. 

I don't think Columbia Harbour is that great. If you can get Be Our Guest for lunch, do that instead. People pack out CH and it's really just ok, kinda ho-hum. They have a couple nice sandwiches. The lines are always HORRIBLE, even if you mobile order. Like really, really horrible. I've eaten there maybe 5 times, I don't know, a number of different trips, and I just decided to give up. Friar Tuck's has these ridiculous loaded tater tots that are cheap and sinful and a must do. And you won't wait so long.

Ooo, I hadn't seen that Polite Pig! Sounds fun. Florida has a lot of BBQ. 

Yorkshire fish shop is kinda funky. The restaurant is tight, runs late, and it just isn't all that. You can pick up the same fish at the window. I thought it was too bready. I like to eat fish when I eat fish, kwim? It was one and done for me, a flop, and I really like fish. There are several british fish n chips places around Orlando, so you could just pick that up cheaper off-property maybe. 

I don't know if you've caught this, but some of the quick service or counter service restaurants (I forget) have these really nice *topping bars* that you get access to. And we're talking like INSANELY nice, like a whole salad added onto your meal. It was like 10 feet of veges and bacon and this and that, I don't know, tons of stuff. The one I did was T-Rex in AK, but I think MK has some restaurants with topping bars like that too. Pecos Bill and a burger place. Those can really stretch your money. And at T-Rek the fries came in a nice sandpail, making them easy to take around the park. 

If you go on TripAdvisor, you can see pictures of the food at every restaurant. 

Did you look at Be Our Guest? You have a reservation there, even though it's quick service for lunch. When you get there, you'll be like oh THAT'S why she said that, lol. No long waits like Columbia Harbor House. And you order your food the night before through the app, so you literally walk in, are given a rose, swipe, sit down, boom your food comes. So much faster. And it's beautiful and cool and restful. You can get ressies by using the reservation finder on Touring Plans.

When I do Be Our Guest, I go a little nuts, because it's all so good. I usually get the onion soup AND a sandwich AND 2 desserts, and I just sit there in the West room with the thunderstorms and the drooping rose and enjoy myself.

Well anyways, this is a fun stage. Have fun planning. 

Edited June 1, 2019 by PeterPan

[scholastica]

I was talking to a friend this week. She is a Disney consultant. She mentioned that she will be really busy this next week because the 2020 bookings will be released on Monday. 

[StaceyinLA]

I'm a Disney Travel Agent. The 2020 bookings came out today. 

You may have some trouble booking due to the traffic on the site, but that should let up within a couple days. Beware the price increases!

[Storygirl]

Just in case you are not aware -- All-Star Music value resort does have rooms that sleep six people, called family suites. We've stayed there in the past (we have six in our family). For this last trip, we did stay off site for the first time and saved thousands.

[Shellydon]

I thought I would update, I did manage to figure out how much a WDW trip staying onsite would cost-- $11k 😜🤪 this includes 7 days of tickets, staying at OKW 2 bedroom Villa and a dining plan. Basically the exact same trip we took 3 years ago has increased by almost $4,000. So..... No. 

[katilac]

10 hours ago, Shellydon said:

I thought I would update, I did manage to figure out how much a WDW trip staying onsite would cost-- $11k 😜🤪 this includes 7 days of tickets, staying at OKW 2 bedroom Villa and a dining plan. Basically the exact same trip we took 3 years ago has increased by almost $4,000. So..... No. 

Did you have a special last time? You'll only be seeing the regular rates for now, they won't have the February specials out yet. 

[Storygirl]

If you are willing to do things differently, you can enjoy a Disney vacation for a lot less money. We stayed off site this spring, and our hotel for a week for six people was less than $1000. Even if you stayed in a two-bedroom villa before, you could choose another way this time.