excel budget planner and how to organise a multi trip

[TC Devon]

Originally Posted by DisneyFoodie

Yep you can upgrade. I would look at and price up the meals you want to do first and then look at the different options. Depending on length of Disney stay and the number of character meals you could even upgrade to deluxe dining plan and get two free table service meals per day - although make sure to price up tips as not included. Also if you are in multiple rooms you can upgrade one and not the other and share dining credits.

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It’s four of us in one wrong. My daughter will be just ten. According to Disney shes an adult. Does she have to have adult dining or can she have child one. No way she can eat adult food and portions. She’s a chicken nugget kid!

[duchy]

Originally Posted by TC Devon

Thanks, had nt thought about cheap hotel first night. It would save wasting a Disney day.
So free dining is only QS, can I opt to upgrade? Character meals are a must for us. We did one last time at Crystal Palace, and DH was nt happy at the cost but kids loved it!
Hope Disney offer free dining for 2021. Not sure we would bother with Disney hotel if they don’t offer it.

Holiday planning is stressful!

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Last year our plans changed and we needed hotel for before we moved to Disney with free dining.

We booked one night at All Stars through hotels.com for £85 (Disney was showing direct for £140 for the same night). As we were booked at AS we had DME included. we were able to link it on MDE as well as our Disney booking, no passes so we went over to Wilderness Lodge for a meal and explore , next morning we checked out mega early , left our bags in the room by the door and the Bell picked them up and transferred them for free to our next Disney resort, leaving us free to hop into an Uber to the Boardwalk unencumbered to check in so our meal plan and passes were activated on our Magic Band's (as it happened our room was ready but it wouldn't have mattered if it wasn't) and we headed off for the parks and breakfast.
When we got back to the BWI later on our bags were waiting for us . Much the easiest way to do it especially as with jet lag everyone was awake early.

If you are staying in a moderate dining is QS but you can pay to upgrade it to TS , if staying in a deluxe included free dining is TS. One tip , when I compared staying at a moderate with the TS upgrade with staying at AKL (the cheapest deluxe) there was only £50 difference , so once prices come out it's worth playing with prices to see if it works out that way for your dates.

I loved having the Disney stay for the first attack the parks days , early entry etc and then when we moved to the villa the pace changed to a more relaxed dipping in and out of the parks, more water park time and even pool days and just going to the parks much later for the evening experience.

[DisneyFoodie]

Originally Posted by TC Devon

It’s four of us in one wrong. My daughter will be just ten. According to Disney shes an adult. Does she have to have adult dining or can she have child one. No way she can eat adult food and portions. She’s a chicken nugget kid!

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She pays adult prices at table service restaurants. For non buffets you may be better off paying out of pocket for a child meal and saving her credits. For buffets she will pay adult price or adult credits regardless of how much she eats unfortunately.

[duchy]

Originally Posted by TC Devon

I ve got quite a specific requirement for villas so think that’s what I will book first. Asd daughter so she likes to know in advance what our plans are and I’m a bit of a control freak who likes to know what we see doing and when! It’s just knowing which part of the three weeks to book villa for! I was aiming for last two weeks. Thought if Disney at first so we can use magic express. (That’s Disney transport from airport is nt it?) Make most of jet lag and early starts to get to parks early.
Then I guess it’s booking disney, flights and car. Not sure what our back up plan is if free dining is nt offered and villa can’t extend our booking to three weeks.

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Magic Express really isn't a deal breaker Uber XL (the bigger sized one to allow for luggage)from MCO to Disney will be less than $60 with tip and will take you straight there.

[TC Devon]

Thanks so much. Had nt even thought of looking at Delux resort or getting a Uber.

[Procrastinator]

Your disney tickets will only activate on the first day at the disney hotel. So you can't do villa first if you want to do disney while at the villa.

My suggestion for booking disney. Is book when it is released. Book for an extra day either side of when you want to go. But book for 1 person.

Then when you firm up dates and book flights later, reduce the dates to what you need and add the other people.

Even though you reduce the length of stay, the total price goes up because of extra tickets and dinning for extra heads. You then dont get charged amendment fee. Plus you have given yourself flexibility on the disney dates.

[duchy]

Originally Posted by TC Devon

Thanks so much. Had nt even thought of looking at Delux resort or getting a Uber.

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You are pretty much looking at doing what we did in September , shout if I can help.

[DollyDimples]

If you are hoping to book disney with free dining then your disney tickets will only be valid from your check in day at disney as you have to book them as part of the package to get free dining. The cost difference between 14 and 21 day disney tickets is very small in the great scheme of things so if you do disney first and buy 21 day tickets you will have valid tickets for your whole time in orlando. You also have the advantage of using the Magical Express to transport you from the airport so don't need to worry about a car while staying on site at disney. If you do universal first what tickets would you be planning to buy? The standard 14 day tickets would not last your whole stay. I think if I was looking at booking a disney for 1 week and a villa for 2 weeks I would probably do week 1 at disney, week 2 and week 3 in a villa and do two separate one night stays at universal in the middle of week 2 and the middle of week 3. That way you would be able to have 4 days FOLP but only pay for two nights hotel stay.

[TC Devon]

Originally Posted by duchy

You are pretty much looking at doing what we did in September , shout if I can help.

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Thanks Duchy, I will more than likely take you up on that! How much did your Disney portion of your trip cost? I really need to sell this bit to my husband.