Orlando Visit October November:

YES… flights are booked. We will be at Orlando in October/November. WDW, Mickey’s, not so scary Halloween party, Halloween Horror Nights and more… But to start planning the rest of the trip, here some questions…

14 days in Florida, WDW on site. Would it be a better option to get an AP and then book a room? What would be the WDW AP discount?

If I book room only at WDW, will I still get the privilege to enter the park early?

My son will be 6 years old. Is swimming with the Dolphins at Discovery Cove a good Idea?

How far in advance do you have to book into the Kennedy Space center to see a launch. There will be one on 28/10? Is it worth the extra trip? What do we need to know and what do we need to do…

More questions soon… But thanX for everybody for helping me out here.

"My son will be 6 years old. Is swimming with the Dolphins at Discovery Cove a good Idea?"

If he is a good swimmer, yes. I had a wonderful time there last spring, and the majority of your day will be spent snorkeling, laying out, checking out the bird aviary, and eating some good food. The actual dolphin swim only lasts about 1/2 hour, but it is quite remarkable. The majority of it takes place in shallow water, and if he wants to, he can "ride" the dolphin back to shore, but only if he can tread water for a little whileand is not afraid of deep water.

Also, if you visit Discovery Cove, you are given a week's pass to Sea World. The parks are right next door to each other, and it makes a nice addition to your vacation.

"How far in advance do you have to book into the Kennedy Space center to see a launch. There will be one on 28/10? Is it worth the extra trip? What do we need to know and what do we need to do…"

As far as shuttle launches go, you can see them from miles and miles away. I drove over there to see one YEARS ago, and it was a blast seeing people from all over the world and seeing license plates from all across the USA. You can just drive east on Route 528 as far as you can go and once the traffic starts getting bad, just pull off to the side of the road and watch the launch. But be prepared for a MAJOR traffic jam on the ride home.

To make the launch enjoayble and tolerable, bring a cooler with snacks. The Space Center is only an hour's drive east of Orlando. If you want to make a day of it, you could spend it at the Space Center checking out the exhibits. I don't know if they have a shuttle or special viewing area on launch days, but it would be worth inquiring about.

Hope this helps you! The weather that time of year is PERFECT, and the crowds seem to be non-existent, except for the special events at Disney and Universal. If you can, try to do either one of these on an off night. That is, visit the parks during a week day and EARLY in the Halloween season. If you go to HHN on a weekend, be prepared for lots of people and long lines.

Also, as an Orlando native, may I suggest some better places to eat rather than the chain restaurants on International Drive. For good food and good pricesm check out the Orlando Ale House. There is one in Lake Buena Vista near Downtown Disney.

On Disney property, my favorite buffet restaurants are Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Ohana at the Polynesian. Both have great food, and Ohana really makes an effort to entertain the kids there.

We took Dallas to Discovery Cove when he was 6 and he loved the rest of the park and swam in the 'reefs' and the 'river' and went in with the stingrays, but the Dolphins were big, strong and fast, and he wanted no part of it.

The trainers were awesome though...they waited till everyone was done, let Dallas stay in about 8 inches of water and had one of the better trained Dolphins come right up to him.

As for the AP Discount for Disney Hotels...it depends what hotel you want to stay at. If you're going to stay at a Value the discount usually isn't more than about $15 - $20. When we stayed at Boardwalk last October we payed $204 with all taxes and stuff which was about a $100 savings on the AAA price.

Also keep in mind that the AP discounts are never a given, and you might have to call early to get them, or be willing to take your 2nd choice hotel.

Any Disney hotel guest is able to use the "Extra Magic Hour".

Elissa "let me know if you have any other questions" Alvey

Would it be a better option to get an AP and then book a room? What would be the WDW AP discount?

You'll save a good deal if you get the annual pass (even if its just for you and not the whole family). However, keep in mind that a lot of the Disney deals don't happen until closer to the actual time of the trip, usually by season. For example, your trip in October will probably have the hotel deals posted right after Labor Day. The deals are best for places like Boardwalk, Animal Kingdom Lodge, or Wilderness Lodge, but rarely at Polynesian or Grand Floridian.

How farin advance do you have to book into the Kennedy Space center to see a launch. There will be one on 28/10? Is it worth the extra trip?

Just because there is a scheduled launch for October 28, doesn't mean its necessarily going to happen. Rain, wind, some random former Six Flags employee who did the wiring for the shuttle screwed up, etc all can scrub the launch. You can take your chances by planning a trip there that day, but don't be disappointed if the launch doesn't happen until like 4 days later. You can usually see the launch from Orlando if you know where to look. I used to live about 100 miles north of Orlando, and I could see the launches, though they aren't as impressive as they are close up. If you go and the launch is cancelled, just go back to Disney and hang out at Mission: Space.

Derek-also going to Orlando in mid-October

My son will be 6 years old. Is swimming with the Dolphins at Discovery Cove a good Idea?

My husband and two stepdaughters did Discovery Cove back in June of '01. They were thrilled about the dolphins but all three complained about the fact that, for what we paid, their time in the water with the dolphins was extremely limited. I think the whole thing would have seemed to be better value if the could have utilized the Sea World pass more, but they literally only went for the one day, and their evening was cut short due to a storm.

Shari

thank you for the replies so far... some answers will influence my bookings... (Now don't start being and give me bad tips... hahaha

pianojohn

"...my favorite buffet restaurants are Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge..."

I love that place. I ate there in 2003 (my last Halloween visit)... a great place

We would love to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, but with the flight tickets already putting is back a good $2400, there is not much left for comfort. I guess we will have to go for the $99 a night rooms at the resort... I won't complain about it though... Even if I would love to stay at the AKL, we will not see our room to much... just to sleep... I will visit AKL for a meal and a walk around anyway...

More TIPS always welcome....

Hi all...

I have some more questions to get to the next stage of booking...

Could any of you let me know when you book with Disney Direct when the payment is due? Is it done during booking? 1 month in advance?

I also noticed that Expedia.com is cheaper then direct WDW booking? I seen a difference of about 20%. How come Expedia is cheaper? how do they do this?

And in case I would order via Expedia, I have the same question as above? When is payment due?

Needing a room for 23th october (14 nights). When should I book the room? Is it save to wait a couple of weeks, even months, or should I book as soon as possible. Still over 6 months but I would not want to miss out having a room onside.

ThanX for all your help everybody.

I'm not sure how Disney does their payments. I'm pretty sure that they charge at least one night at the time of your booking, and then the rest once you arrive but if you are doing a package with them it might be different.

Expedia will Immediately charge you and you cannot make any changes or cancellations to that booking so be a little careful with that.

The way I have done Disney hotels in the past (when booking just the room only) is to go ahead and book with disney even if it is a bit more expensive, then keep looking (once a week!) for any discount codes or emails, or passholder rates.

For example:

I had booked the Boardwalk for 2 nights for October 04. I used the AAA rate in late August at $312/night. They have like a 14 day cancellation rate or something so I knew that I would just cancel if I couldn't get a better rate. They had already charged my card but right around labor day I got an email about special passholder savings ($200/night!) and a code. I immediately called up and asked to apply the code to my reservation, they did and I ended up just paying less once I got there (they kept the initial $312 as a deposit).

I hope this makes some sense! If not, ask, and I'll try to clarify!

Elissa "silly disney pricing!" Alvey

What would be the WDW AP discount?

I'm not a fan of the new deluxe resorts, they have small rooms (Wilderness Lodge, AK Lodge).

But with the AP discounts, they go as high as 45% off (according to mousesavers.com . . . sometimes though you don't need the AP to get great discounts...

Check it out: http://www.mousesavers.com/annualpass.html

Edit: When I've bought rooms, I've done an initial charge as low as a dollar...you can pay when you get there I think...

I'm not sure how Disney does their payments. I'm pretty sure that they charge at least one night at the time of your booking, and then the rest once you arrive but if you are doing a package with them it might be different.

 

Expedia will Immediately charge you and you cannot make any changes or cancellations to that booking so be a little careful with that.

 

The way I have done Disney hotels in the past (when booking just the room only) is to go ahead and book with disney even if it is a bit more expensive, then keep looking (once a week!) for any discount codes or emails, or passholder rates.

 

For example:

 

I had booked the Boardwalk for 2 nights for October 04. I used the AAA rate in late August at $312/night. They have like a 14 day cancellation rate or something so I knew that I would just cancel if I couldn't get a better rate. They had already charged my card but right around labor day I got an email about special passholder savings ($200/night!) and a code. I immediately called up and asked to apply the code to my reservation, they did and I ended up just paying less once I got there (they kept the initial $312 as a deposit).

 

I hope this makes some sense! If not, ask, and I'll try to clarify!

 

Elissa "silly disney pricing!" Alvey

ThanX Elissa, this was some good help for me... I guess I should try to stay away from Expedia.

At this time I am also checking with http://www.wdwvacations.com/ and see what they can do for me. They are linked from the mousesavers site and looks like they are realy good... So it will either go via them (anybody has some experience) or direct with WDW...

Thank you to all for the help.

and see you in WDW

My son will be 6 years old. Is swimming with the Dolphins at Discovery Cove a good Idea?

Discovery Cove (DC) is really great for kids, but bear in mind that dolphins are bigger than many people think. Many times very young children get freaked out by all the teeth in the dolphins mouth (they have over 100). Most kids do fine though, but if you think your son might be overwhelmed SeaWorld also has day camp programs that are great for little ones.

DC has a cool program geared to families, it is a camp out over night on the beach by the animals. You stay the night and then spend the day at the park. DC is a unique expereince and I highly reccomend it.

With the 7 day pass, you can also choose Busch Gardens as an option (or upgrade for both BGT and SWF), then you could run down to Tampa and ride Shiekra!

Some other Orlando tips; don't forget about hotels at Universal, they have great fall specials and are some of the best resorts. The Royal Pacific has the best resturant in Orlando, Emeril's Tchoup Chop (prob. the best meal I've ever had- sorry Mom).

The best meal I have had at Disney was at the California Grill in the Contemporary- and what a view!

My persoanl favorite in park resturant is Sharks Underwater Grill at SWF. Great food and the most uniue dinning expereince anywhere.

Tuesdays are the best night to go to 'Jelly Rolls" (a dueling piano bar) at the Boardwalk- there usually is a fun crowd on Tuesdays.

Hope this helps- have a great trip!

Discovery Cove (DC) is really great for kids, but bear in mind that dolphins are bigger than many people think. Many times very young children get freaked out by all the teeth in the dolphins mouth (they have over 100). Most kids do fine though, but if you think your son might be overwhelmed SeaWorld also has day camp programs that are great for little ones.

My son is not scared of anything it seems (I am lucky)... He is to small to go on the extreme roller coasters but when we checked last time how many inches he has to grow he got very exited as it isn't far of anymore before he can start rides like R'nR coaster... with that said... he won't be scared of the Dolphins either and is very exited about that too (even if it is still 6 months away)

DC has a cool program geared to families, it is a camp out over night on the beach by the animals. You stay the night and then spend the day at the park. DC is a unique expereince and I highly reccomend it.

I check the dates a couple of weeks ago a and it is not on when we are there. I guess that will be for another day

With the 7 day pass, you can also choose Busch Gardens as an option (or upgrade for both BGT and SWF), then you could run down to Tampa and ride Shiekra!

I can't believe I didn't think about that one myself... I will look into that as Bush Garden has been on my list of parks I would love to visit. Didn't think it would get on my list of parks I'll do during this visit. thanks for the tip!

Some other Orlando tips; don't forget about hotels at Universal, they have great fall specials and are some of the best resorts. The Royal Pacific has the best resturant in Orlando, Emeril's Tchoup Chop (prob. the best meal I've ever had- sorry Mom).

I would love to put they are to high priced! with already $1800 in flight tickets alone I'll be going for something less expencive. Sorry Universal but you have to get some cheaper rooms if you want me to stay onsite. I wanted to stay for the first night as we arrive around 17:00 at the airport. If we would have booked for a Universal hotel I would have made it for the HHN that night! but, like I said... price is to high... I will be visiting HHN on some other days during my stay.

The best meal I have had at Disney was at the California Grill in the Contemporary- and what a view!

Past thru it with the Monorail.... might look into that... thanks for the tip

Hope this helps- have a great trip!

thanks for all these and your other tips... PEOPLE PLEASE keep those comming our way... can't wait and still 6 weeks to go...

Keep in mind that WDW hotel prices are based on the day of arrival. If you check in on a sat. for instance you will be charged the peak rate for your entire stay.

Arrive on a monday and your price per night may be much lower. You can check their scheduals to know what day of the week falls into which "season".

If you can avoid arriving on a peak night just make two or more reservations. We've done that before where we've stayed our arrival night(Peak) then checked out and checked back in the next day (Value) and lowered our rate for the rest of the stay.

Once the clerk realized what we were doing they let us keep the same room and keys and everything.

The reservation people are very friendly and helpful but they will NOT volunteer any discount information unless you specifically ask them for it. Then they spill their guts like crazy!

Have you picked up the Unnoficial Guide to WDW yet? http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0764559729/qid=1113778003/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-4256009-5723143?v=glance&s=books

Its packed with great info like this for WDW, UNI, and I believe BGT and SWF now. Just stay away from the Birmbaum Official guide unless all you want are pretty pictures. Stupid propaganda advertisement book.

-Jeeze

(Used to be a Disney travel consultant)

Keep in mind that WDW hotel prices are based on the day of arrival. If you check in on a sat. for instance you will be charged the peak rate for your entire stay.

Arrive on a monday and your price per night may be much lower. You can check their scheduals to know what day of the week falls into which "season".

If you can avoid arriving on a peak night just make two or more reservations. We've done that before where we've stayed our arrival night(Peak) then checked out and checked back in the next day (Value) and lowered our rate for the rest of the stay.

Once the clerk realized what we were doing they let us keep the same room and keys and everything.

The reservation people are very friendly and helpful but they will NOT volunteer any discount information unless you specifically ask them for it. Then they spill their guts like crazy!

We are checking in on a Sunday. I'll check this before I pay, but I think the price are the same when checking in on a Monday. But thank you for pointing that out, so I will double check on that before putting down the deposite

Have you picked up the Unnoficial Guide to WDW yet? http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0764559729/qid=1113778003/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-4256009-5723143?v=glance&s=books

Its packed with great info like this for WDW, UNI, and I believe BGT and SWF now. Just stay away from the Birmbaum Official guide unless all you want are pretty pictures. Stupid propaganda advertisement book.

 

-Jeeze

(Used to be a Disney travel consultant)

I admit. I do have the Birbaum one as it is a nice book.... The book mentioned above is on my to buy list though....

thanks for the extra tips. Keep them coming.