Kind of a budget-y, kind of flexible, too many choices available Trip Planning

Walt Disney World
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So - having few parameters is a very different situation for me and it’s making it HARDER to figure out a trip.

When to go:
With one kid married and three embroiled in college, DH and I have just two kids’ schedules to work around as I plan a trip to WDW. My 11 and 14 year old girls have very limited memories of WDW and I very much want to get them there once more.

I can pretty much go anytime, but would avoid missing one of the non-travelers’ birthdays. I also would avoid peak heat of June-August so DH doesn’t melt. (Honestly, May-September…)
I know that “lowest crowd levels” isn’t really that important if I tour well. But I don’t want to hit holidays either. I think the weather in late-February may be nice for touring? I hesitate to do September with rain… I could wait til October-December… but that is a really long time away. :stuck_out_tongue:

Then there is where to stay:
I don’t need space for 8-10 people anymore. Although I loved the All Star resorts, I really am having trouble even FINDING availability on random times and when I do it is always well over $200 a night. I believe we would get a rental house for a few reasons. We could spread out - I will definitely sleep better if I am not sharing a room with my kids. I also often wake at night and need to get up and sit UP somewhere to alleviate sinus headaches. And, the availability of laundry and a kitchen always makes DH happy. He is an early riser and likes coffee ASAP and tiptoeing in a hotel room is okay for 1-2 nights. The cost of rental properties, plus parking fees, is still than $200 a night.

Then there is length of stay:
I spent part of the day reading through the LL threads to try to understand them. The cost is irritating to me. And it feels complicated. So, what I am thinking is, since vacation time isn’t an issue for DH, we could go for 10 nights and get 7- or 8-day hopper passes and maybe avoid dealing with LLMP or whatever it’s called now. If we have lots of time in the parks and are willing to wait, I could probably still get a lot done. @EMgoblue you did this, right? Has anyone else gone sans LLMP or whatever they are called.

We would drive our own car, so flights are a non-issue.

I would use MouseDining or try to get some special meals. We did CRT in 2016, but the girls were 3 & 6. I’d also try for Akershus. I think they’d like Sci-Fi; Woody’s. I guess I can worry about that later. First I need a date.

The older DD has been to WDW in 2011 (1), 2016(6), 2019(9). Youngest DD 2016(3), 2019(6). We did DLR in 2018, and DCL 2014 and 2024.

I love that I have flexibility, but it is somewhat helpful to have some guidelines…

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Remember Mardi Gras is March 4th. That means Disney will be busy Feb 28th - March 9th.
I love going in March! You don’t have the threat of super cold days and usually some days will be more than warm enough to swim but never super hot either.
March is around the corner though! Spring is becoming a busy time for WDW so I can imagine room availability is tight.
Beginning of October (I know- such a long time away!) is also a nice time to visit.

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This makes sense! If there’s no pushback about not staying on property - do it!!
It is likely to feel more like a vacation (especially for you and DH) if you have space to roam and space to snuggle up privately.

I plan to do the same next trip. I am not above buying ILL’s, or whatever it is called now, for anything I can’t stand in line or join a VQ to enjoy. Otherwise, I am not messing with it.
And with a 10 night stay - there’s no reason your fam can’t fit everything in without the extra expense.

As far as when to visit - that’s a hard one. I understand how you feel about planning a trip that is “a really long time away.” I have no advice … :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Also, with 8 park days and a good RD strategy I think you could really make it work. Would you consider PHer tickets? This could maximize the rope dropping.

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I promise it isn’t that bad to use WRT LLs. But I get the disdain for pricing and all of that. It is pretty nice during the park day though to avoid some lines

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Good to know! That would not have stood out to me.

Yeah - if it came down to only getting on Tron or GOTG that way, I’d do that, too.

Definitely for this trip I would.

I don’t recognize this abbreviation.

One reason to go before 5/29 is DD14 will still be 14 and could wear a costume. That said, she’s more about Disneybounding, so that isn’t a big issue. October is a great suggestion @drvillarejos

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With regard to or respect to

WRT" is an abbreviation for “with respect to” or “with regard to”. It’s often used in written communication, particularly in emails and online discussions, to introduce a topic or subject. It can also be used to indicate a relationship or comparison between two things.

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TY for your encouragement!

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thank you!

The cost is a big part of it. It’s also that I am the only member of my family who would bother to figure it out and DH is already so -meh- on Disney that stuff like that is a turn off. He’d rather spend the money on dining experiences.

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I find it irritating too. We had a great trip in October without buying any LLs. It’s quite doable.

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oh Thank you @Dreamer ! I didn’t realize you did a trip without them!

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if it were just me and Marie on a power trip, maybe I’d do them. She’d help me deal with it and it would be just two of us and we’d have a shorter trip.

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Lizzy and I did. We got BGs for Tiana and GOTG. I don’t know how those will be a thing. We waited in the regular line for everything else. I think 60 minutes for TRON was our max wait. Totally worth the cost savings to me.

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I’ve done days with and without the new system. Just depends on priorities. We skip some of the headliners I out of preference. AK was the easiest for us to do without the MPLL. If we could go without Remy and Frozen, I could do standby at Epcot too. We visit MK much less than the average person. If I had 2 days there I would buy LL for 1 day and the second to standby. But we rarely do 2 full days at MK.

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That’s a fair point.
But as an off property guest, I don’t know if anything would be available ?

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Agreed, lol. The girls are old enough to handle a line. We would bring travel games for long lines- Hangman, scattegories, etc. Disney Taboo sounds like a fun pastime!

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Some things would be. But if y’all are ok with 30-40 min lines I wouldn’t bother. Especially since you are targeting dates that aren’t super busy.

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They wait well. We waited well over an hour for FEA in 2019 and they were 3 & 6.

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If you decide to splurge for LLMP for a day, my recommendation would be HS and (to maximize potential availability on booking) for the last day of your trip. HS is the most challenging park with many rides with long lines.

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We did just about everything we wanted to with not a ton of waiting. Honestly, the longest waits were the VQs that we did in the afternoon, especially Tron. But now that Tron isn’t VQ, I haven’t been following how that is going.

Park-hoppers were a huge help. We were able to go somewhere else when one park was getting too busy.

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