Travel: USA - Florida/Orlando

[Dnls_mum]

GLORYmum:

hi dnls, can u kindly pm me the itinerary for your latest trip. we will plan to go to Orlando in Nov. TIA.

Glorymum,
It is the same one that I PMed you before I left. We followed it more than 95% of the time. Did not make any major changes.

[GLORYmum]

Dnls_mum:

GLORYmum:

hi dnls, can u kindly pm me the itinerary for your latest trip. we will plan to go to Orlando in Nov. TIA.

Glorymum,
It is the same one that I PMed you before I left. We followed it more than 95% of the time. Did not make any major changes.

Ok thank you. How early do I need to make the bookings for hotel and park tickets if we plan to go in nov?

[Dnls_mum]

GLORYmum:

Dnls_mum:

[quote=\"GLORYmum\"]hi dnls, can u kindly pm me the itinerary for your latest trip. we will plan to go to Orlando in Nov. TIA.

Glorymum,
It is the same one that I PMed you before I left. We followed it more than 95% of the time. Did not make any major changes.

Ok thank you. How early do I need to make the bookings for hotel and park tickets if we plan to go in nov?[/quote]Hotel is subject to availability. Disney has many hotels. It is not difficult to get a room even one month out. The issue is do you have a particular hotel and room category in mind? So it really depends on what you want and how particular. I am particular as I only want themepark view rooms at either contemporary or Polynesian. So I book early to make sure I get what I want. These rooms are limited and popular even though they are quite ex because they have a direct view of magic kingdom and direct access to the monorail. In Disney it is not necessarily that only the cheaper rooms go first. I realize that generally, the cheapest in the deluxe, moderate and values and those expensive themepark views in the deluxe monorail hotels are the first to go. Those middle of the road no views are those that are left behind. People who pay more then std will pay for the view. Those on budget will book the cheapest. So the in betweens are those left behind, but they do get booked up towards the end too. It doesn't get cheaper the nearer the date. It is cheaper when u book earlier. But what can happen is that there maybe promo in Aug for year end.

If you book a hotel cum park package with Disney, you only pay $200 as deposit with balance due 45 days before departure. You can keep a look out for promotion if you are not particular which hotel to stay in. Otherwise, even if you have booked your package if a promo comes up that you want, just call Disney and they can apply that promo to your package. If the hotel you book is not under the promo, you have the option to switch. I did that.

The restaurants are available for booking 180 days ahead. But if you have booked a Disney hotel, you get to book your restaurant 180 days before your check in date and 10 days following it. This is the benefit to on site guest so that you don't have to call or go online daily to book the restaurants during your stay. This is very helpful as it technically allow you to book up to 190 days ahead unlike those offsite guest who need stick strictly to the 180 days window. This has helped me book a 8.05am bf at Cinderella royal table. So if you wish to take advantage of this benefit for on site guests, you should book your hotel before your 180days window open.

Hope I have not confused you.

[Wishace]

Hi dnls_mum


My DH is thinking of bringing our DS to Orlando immediately after his PSLE this Oct. We were searching for information and were very impressed by your post about your planning and trip. Do you mind sharing your itinerary with me ? You can pm me. Thanks !!

Wonder how’s the crowd and weather like in Orlando in October ? Anyone been there in October ? Kindly share your experience. Thanks !

[Dnls_mum]

Wishace:

Hi dnls_mum


My DH is thinking of bringing our DS to Orlando immediately after his PSLE this Oct. We were searching for information and were very impressed by your post about your planning and trip. Do you mind sharing your itinerary with me ? You can pm me. Thanks !!

Wonder how's the crowd and weather like in Orlando in October ? Anyone been there in October ? Kindly share your experience. Thanks !

PM'ed you my itinerary.
Weather in October in Orlando should have cooled down and Magic Kingdom celebrates Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween while Universal will have Halloween Horrors. Both are hard tickets events and you will need to pay separately for them. I have always wanted to try them, but never made it there during that season. Heard that they are fun. Epcot should be celebrating its annual Food and Wine Festival during this period too.

But by 1st week November or so, crowds may pick up because of Jersey week where some schools in US will have breaks. Then it's low crowds again until Thanksgiving.

But beware that hurricane season officially stretches from June to Oct, worst months are from Aug to Oct, so you may encounter it or perhaps just heavy rains. During hurricane season, Disney regularly has promotions for on site hotels, including free dining.

Have fun planning!

[Wishace]

Thanks dnls_mum for such great advises. I have received your pm

[ngl2010]

Hi dnls_mum,


We are thinking of going to Orlando this December. Do you mind sharing your itinerary (pm)? Thank you.

[Dnls_mum]

ngl2010:

Hi dnls_mum,


We are thinking of going to Orlando this December. Do you mind sharing your itinerary (pm)? Thank you.

PMed you.
We were there quite long and it is quite a relaxing plan with time to rest in most of the afternoons, and time for relaxing sit down meals etc. in case you wonder why I don't visit 2 parks consecutively, it is because I plan my days in the diff parks based on expected park crowd levels of each day and morning EMH. Eg If I have a pre - opening bf ressie, I make sure it is not a park with EMH. Also,this is particularly applicable to visits in Dec becos in Dec MK has the Mickey Very Merry Christmas Party on many nights and that affects crowd levels too and availability of night parades and fireworks for non party goers. We did not attend MVMCP last year as we attended it when we were there in 2007 already. The only really long day was our Hollywood studios day. We were totally exhausted that day. Have fun planning!

[ngl2010]

Dnls_mum:

ngl2010:

Hi dnls_mum,


We are thinking of going to Orlando this December. Do you mind sharing your itinerary (pm)? Thank you.

PMed you.
We were there quite long and it is quite a relaxing plan with time to rest in most of the afternoons, and time for relaxing sit down meals etc. in case you wonder why I don't visit 2 parks consecutively, it is because I plan my days in the diff parks based on expected park crowd levels of each day and morning EMH. Eg If I have a pre - opening bf ressie, I make sure it is not a park with EMH. Also,this is particularly applicable to visits in Dec becos in Dec MK has the Mickey Very Merry Christmas Party on many nights and that affects crowd levels too and availability of night parades and fireworks for non party goers. We did not attend MVMCP last year as we attended it when we were there in 2007 already. The only really long day was our Hollywood studios day. We were totally exhausted that day. Have fun planning!

I have received your PM. Thank you. :thankyou:

May i know what is EMH, MK and MVMCP?

[Dnls_mum]

ngl2010:

I have received your PM. Thank you. :thankyou:

May i know what is EMH, MK and MVMCP?

Sorry, sorry, I went too fast and just typed the abbreviations.
EMH = Extra Magic Hours. Everyday Disney will designate at least one park for morning EMH (1 hour before park opens to public) and another for evening EMH (3 hrs after park closes to public). On site hotel guests will then have exclusive access to these parks during EMH. What it means is that if you are not staying on site and you go to a park with morning EMH, then by the time you can go in, the park will already be very crowded with the EMH guests. And if i have pre-opening bf reservation, i want to be in the party before others, this if that park has AM EMH, it will defeat my purpose. Normally diff parks are designated for morning and evening EMH on any particular day.

MK = Magic Kingdom which is the main Disney park that is equivalent to LA Disneyland, HK Disneyland, Tokyo Disney etc. the other 3 parks are Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios (DHS) and Animal Kingdom (AK).

MVMCP = Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party. This is a hard ticket event which means you need to buy a separate ticket to attend. It happens from Nov to Christmas several times a week at MK. On party nights, the park closes early for day visitors, and so day visitors will not be able to see the fireworks and evening parade. The fireworks and evening parades at the party are diff from the usual ones. They have a Christmas theme and there will be fake snow along Mainstreet during the party. There will also be special Christmas theme shows and characters in Christmas theme costumes eg Belle will be in her red rather than yellow dress. We attended the party in 2007. Last year, we did not attend the party, but we saw the party fireworks from our room at the Polynesian resort. It was fantastic. Better then the usual one. Bigger and more grand. The whole expanse of the sky in front of us lit up. We probably would not have had such a good overall view at the park itself. The view from the Polynesian was excellent.

Crowd levels at MK during the day that has party night is normally lower then on non-party nights during this season. Most people want to be able to enjoy the full suite of offerings and shows and don't want to go MK on those days with parties.