Trip report: First timers July 2016 Conclusions, tips, final thoughts

[liz-paul]

Conclusions:
It was an amazing holiday! There is no doubt about that and we are all in agreement. It cost an absolute fortune (around the £9000 mark plus some personal spends like Xmas money) but it really was worth every penny. It was the first time my hubby has had three weeks off together since we had kids and unbelievably he had to do barely any work at all while we were away. We really enjoyed spending so much time together and overall it was pretty relaxing. It was definitely a full on and busy holiday but we did have time to slow down as well. Disney is a great destination for a family holiday.

Dining plan and food:
I really liked the dining plan during our onsite week. I upgraded to the full plan and I’m glad we did but I’m not sure if I would on a second trip. The QS food is pretty good. Yes, there are plenty of burgers and chicken nuggets but we also had sandwiches, pasta, pizza and salads. The dining plan was nice because we weren’t watching our spending and we never had to say no to the kids. Is it enough food? Yes absolutely! On our checkout day we got meals to takeaway (sandwiches etc) and a load of snacks to take with us from the shop like trail mix. I got free iced water all the time in the parks because it was free and also it stayed cold longer than buying a bottle. When we ate in the hotel (which was quite a bit) we generally got a bottled drink to take away or swapped the drink for a snack to take with us like tortilla chips, cookies or something for breakfast the next day. As far as offsite dining goes we were pathetic! We had Mcdonalds once for breakfast, ate at the Kennedy Space center, the food court in the Florida mall and twice at Sweet Tomatoes (which we all really loved!). I had grand plans for all the places we were going to eat but generally we were just too tired to eat out or we had bought so much food at Walmart that it seemed a waste! I'll add although it's been said many times before: Disney is great at special diets. It was so nice knowing I could get something to eat without dragging my family round for an hour while I find a restaurant that serves GF food.

Accommodation:
We loved the Caribbean Beach Resort. Yes, it was very spread out but were very close to the main buildings and pool so were lucky. It was really gorgeous and there were various activities available that we mostly didn’t get time to do! Some paid for like tie dye printing a T shirt, some free like roasting marshmallows or movies under the stars. The food court was absolutely fine for our weeks stay and would have been fine for a longer stay assuming you’re not eating all your meals there. If you ate in there twice a day for two weeks it would probably get repetitive.
The villa we stayed in was OK but I was disappointed with it. It was pretty expensive and I thought it was going to be amazing so maybe I just built it up too much in my head. I’m not sure what I didn’t like but it was nowhere near as clean as the hotel and had little niggles like the dishwasher didn’t clean properly, the vacuum cleaner was full, there was unbagged trash from the previous guests and hubby to clean out the trash bin because of it. To be fair to the owner I emailed her about some things and she did sort some of it. However, that was a bit unnerving because it meant that we came back to the villa one day to find that someone had been in to fix stuff and we had no prior warning that someone would be in the house while we were gone. In Pauls opinion the villa part was much better because he feels claustrophobic if we all have to share one room for too long and it was nice having extra space (for all of us) but if I went back I’d much rather stay onsite.
I also felt like the driving was time consuming. I think we stayed pretty close to the parks (we stayed in Windsor Palms resort) but it seemed to take a lot longer to get to the parks than it did using Disney transport. I think as well that in our onsite week apart from the night Christopher was sick I didn’t do a single thing like housework and for me that is a real holiday! In the villa I was cooking, doing laundry, cleaning up etc. Those are just my opinions and I’m sure many would disagree! I also think that chances are if you booked with free dining you wouldn’t save much being offsite once you add in food, car hire and fuel. Although that is only really relevant if you’re happy doing a solely Disney Holiday, if you’re doing lots of other stuff staying at Disney would be a waste.

Best things:
WDW is a great place! I’m converted The boys and I love theme parks anyway but there really was so much more to do than just rides. The scale of the place is unfathomable and it’s a really easy destination to enjoy. CMs are almost always very helpful and it was just great. I loved the memory maker package, we got it free but I would definitely consider paying for it. This was the only trip we’ve done where we have loads of pictures of all four of us which was lovely. We probably got 300 photos and some are just brilliant! This, along with the magic bands meant that during our onsite week we could head to the parks without a single bag if we wanted! Bands held the room keys and allowed us to pay for stuff and save all of our photos and we just got water and food as we went along. You can even have your purchases sent to your room if you don’t want to carry them. We did take a little bottle of sun cream sometimes.

The not best things:
The heat was really tough at times. I didn’t realise how tiring it would be. We managed and it wouldn’t put me off going again but it needs to be factored in to your plans. The plane ride home and the days after we got home were really tough, but again, not really anything you can do but suck it up! That’s really about it though. Apart from the costs….

Would we go back?
Now, that is the million dollar question isn’t it? In the first few weeks after we got back I thought that no, we probably wouldn’t. We had had an amazing time but didn’t really feel the need to repeat the trip, especially considering the costs. Gradually over a few months I started to change my mind…..! I would love to go back and have a 2 week ‘Disney Bubble’ onsite stay. I think it would be fun, relaxing and generally great. However, I don’t see a way to do that for under about £6000 and that is not a normal holiday budget for us, that would be a once every few years…… So maybe we’ll save again and go in the future? Maybe, but the boys would like to do Universal as well if we go again (so would I!) and that will hundreds/thousands to the trip and hubby isn’t that fussed about going either way….. We have other trips that we’d like to go on as a family that will also require saving lots of money so I guess it’s a case of priorities, it’s possible that we’ll go back but not definite. On my part it will be a case of keeping an eye on flights, offers etc over the years and continuing my habit of squirreling money away for future trips to somewhere and maybe if we’re lucky that will include WDW again.

My top tips:
You’ve probably read all the tips on The Dibb already so I’ll keep it brief and generally related to going with kids.
1. Be prepared to change plans. I could not have predicted how many inconvenient toilet stops we would need, or the occasions when someone just couldn’t take the crowds, heat or tiredness any longer. There are many things I wanted to do that we didn’t, but don’t hold on to that or blame anyone else in your group.
2. You have to go at the slowest speed of the group and/or be prepared to split up sometimes. Go with it.
3. At some point your family will irritate you. Accept that and move on. You will also irritate your family and you want them to move on right?

Would I recommend it?
100% absolutely! It’s difficult to express how amazing it really was! Yes, we had a few niggles and issues, yes we sometimes got hot, tired and grumpy and moaned at each other but overwhelmingly it was probably the best three weeks we’ve ever had. My friends who have seen my holiday photos all comment on how happy we look, and we really were. Even though I said Paul wasn’t fussed about going or returning he also says it was fantastic. I would recommend to any family considering it, if you have any way of saving the money to go then do it!

I hope my report wasn’t too long and rambling. It’s been really nice to write it and I’ve enjoyed reading back over the diary I kept and expanding into this report. Say hi

[liz-paul]

Introduction:
https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1002232

Week one:
https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1002234

Week two:
https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1002412

Week three:
https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1002435

[Red]

I've loved reading your report as first timers - it's lovely to read how much you enjoyed it as a family. I remember taking our children for the first time - them arguing as we were waiting for the rope to drop in MK on our first day! They loved it though :-)

Thank you

[Guest]

Lovely to hear your experience as a first timer. I have been a few times before but this year will be the first time in July as I'm taking my niece and nephew. i'm not looking forward to the heat but at the end of the day your in Florida

[liz-paul]

Thanks both for your comments

Yeah, the heat was hard work but definitely not a holiday wrecker! All the usual advice: go out early and/or late, keep nipping into shops, inside queues and cafes for air con, make time for the pool/waterparks & drink drink drink! Water, not booze that is

[Squiggly2902]

Loved your report, I've definitely taken notes for our July visit later this year!

[mick]

Glad you had a great time thanks for taking the time to do your trippie really enjoyed reading along

Joan

[collybird]

So glad your holiday was everything you imagined. I hope another trip can be a reality for you in the not too distant future.

I totally agree with you about being prepared to change plans. Our first stay onsite in 2013 I had planned for almost two years leading up to the trip, then on the very first day I realised that it just wasn't realistic plan. Now I still plan but we go with the flow a lot more.

[Jaynew]

That was a fab trip report. Thanks for writing it. X

[GALE88]

Great report! 😀