Big Red and DD's Cheap, No Planning Pre-Trip Report

[BigRedDad]

My daughter is in a year round school (on 9 weeks off 3 weeks). We lost our sitter for this time and needed a new plan. Camps are about $250 per week and we needed 2 weeks. I found an offer for Wyndham Bonnet Creek 2BR for $500 for 7-nights. This is not a timeshare sales pitch. It is a great deal through someone we rented from previously at another Wyndham resort. I was able to swing it with work to work from home this week and use the money saved from camp to book the resort. I know we lose EMH. You can argue that we lose bus service, but you don't need to be onsite to use Disney buses. We have APs for free parking anyway.

We leave Sunday 12/14 at about 4AM. It is about a 9.5 hour drive. Hopefully it is an uneventful drive which will put us there about 2PM. The plan is to check in at the resort, maybe go to Downtown Disney, hit Walmart for groceries, dinner somewhere, and bed relatively early to get ready for a fun long day at the parks. We will go to which ever park we want each day, hop if we want, and avoid the EMH parks.

We have done almost no planning. I booked FP+, but not even sure we will be at the specific park on those days. The only real scheduling we did was the Candlelight Processional dinner package. We have a very late lunch or early dinner planned on 12/18 at Via Napoli. Our entire trip is going to be do what we want when we want.

Here are some of the Must-Do's:
1. Meet Anna and Elsa without FPs. We will get there first thing in the morning and deal with the wait.
2. Candlelight Processional - Dinner package booked
3. Osbourne Lights

[KylesMom]

With all of the incredibly detailed planning you need to do to schedule a Disney World vacation these days, I like your idea of "doing what you want" and going with whatever comes.

I have heard some really great things about Wyndham Bonnet Creek - I am sure you will enjoy your stay there. Great price, too .

Have a safe drive and a wonderful trip! Be sure to share your memories with us upon your return.

[disneymom15]

Sounds like alot of fun...

[faline]

Enjoy! Sounds like fun!!

[princessgirls]

You rebel!!!! I LOVE IT!!!

Have a great trip!!! Enjoy!

Juile

[VWL Mom]

Have a wonderful trip!

[PunkyBBB]

I would know how or where to get that deal at Bonnet Creek, I was there two years ago, love this place, specially being able to see the Fireworks at night with not having to be in the parks!

[Janmac]

I will be interested to hear how Anna and Elsa work out for you as we're going to try the same thing next month, going straight to A&E at park opening and saving our fp+ for afternoon at DHS.

Jan

[minnie04]

Sounds like a good time will be had by all!!! Love the fact of no planning. Just wing it and enjoy the parks without the rush from this ride and that ride... have a great time

[BigRedDad]

Things are hectic. We are now leaving TODAY!!! Not to get to excited. We are driving to Kingsland, GA, staying the night there and only have about 3 hours to drive Sunday morning.

Work has gone crazy with everyone wanting to get all of their work done next week so they can go on vacation for the rest of the year. They expected me to give up my vacation. Manager backed me up and told them if they are taking my vacation, they need to give up theirs. They are either working XMas week or they are not able to dump it to me.

I think we have everything ready. If not, Walmart is only 10 minutes away. DD still has no clue. Not exactly how we are going to surprise her this afternoon other than "Go to the bathroom, give mommy a hug goodbye, and lets go to Disney World!!!"

[BigRedDad]

OK, we have been back for a little over a week. XMas, work, and other things got in the way. Let me give a trip report and answer a few questions.

First, Anna and Elsa. They walk the entire crowd through Main Street and to the attractions. There is no running. If it were only kids, it would be perfect. The problem is with the parents. The Stroller Brigades are try to run people down, parents pushing others and kids out their way. All in a rush to get there first. A dad pushed me into a CM that is controlling the crowd. I caught him before he hit the ground and he brought us up to the front of the cattle crawl with him. The same dad and his old mother kept pushing me and my daughter out of the way. The CM told them to stop or they would be taken out of the park. I told them the next time they push me, they would be getting stepped on by the crowd because I was going to knock them both down. All of this was because they were running to the front while their stroller brigade was in the back. They wanted to get their first and then have 20 people jump in front. The CMs fixed them by not allowing them in the line.

Anna was the best. She was so energentic, engaging, and peppy. She was completely in character. Elsa was more proper and less energetic. I am guessing this is to be in character as the queen. Just made it a little awkward. Definitely worth it.

As for WBC, I cannot say enough positive things about this resort. There are only 2 cons and you can take those any way you like. Con #1: Our keys demagnetized too much. A call to the front desk fixes it and bell services came up quickly with new keys. Once is OK, but 3-4 times gets old. Con #2: No Disney theming. This is known since it is not a Disney resort. This may be a con to some, but it wasn't to us. This resort has everything a Disney resort has to offer and more. The size of the rooms and cost cannot be compared. It is literally a 5 minute drive if you hit all of the lights to DHS and Boardwalk. If you make the lights, it is 3 minutes. Close to everything, especially local dining which is at least 50% less than Disney dining with better food and drink choices/prices.

[BigRedDad]

Tips for getting better deals at WBC. Find a timeshare rental person you can trust. We risked it this past Summer going to Williamsburg VA. This risk has paid off. She has booked and found us other vacations for pennies. Through her, we got a 1BR suite in Williamsburg for $409 for 7 nights. She hooked us up with the guy who got us the 2BR Delux at WBC for $500. She hooked us up with another lady that got us a 1BR Pool View room at Boardwalk for 7-nights for $1,200. Simply put, there is nothing that Disney can offer that the timeshare rental market cannot completely destroy.

As for the trip itself, it was excellent. The weather was perfect. I loved seeing people wrapped up like Ralphie's brother going to school in A Christmas Story and I am there in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. It was primarily 50s/70s. We were able to get a few pool afternoons in. Parks were a little more crowded than I am use to. but I survived. Parking was a little more of a pain the Disney buses for the MK. If you consider the Monorail as the first ride of the day, then it makes up for it.

MK: 80% of the people at opening are going to Anna and Elsa or 7DMT. I will only ride 7DMT one more time on my wife's 40th BDay. Other than that, I will not waste my time. What a waste for something that could have been great. Because the herds go to these two, you can zag and do almost every ride with no lines. We did all of Fantasyland and Tomorrowland in about 4 hours with multiple rides on everything. We also pin traded for about an hour as well.

Epcot: Nothing really changed here. It is what it is and a lot of fun. We will see a lot more on our next trip because my DD will have to do a homework assignment by visiting each country and doing mini reports.

AK: I love this park. You have to take in the street shows to really enjoy it. We will do the kids activity the next trip. This is because my mother had extreme difficulty walking and we were slower than a snails pace. The Dance A Palooza was fun to get involved. Avatar and the night time river show will make this a complete park.

DHS: I will limit my negativity. This park is horrible and use to be a favorite. There are 4 rides and the rest are shows. Because crowds are limited where they can go, lines are going to be long. They need to get 8 rides installed quickly and then 4 E rides built over time. You can only see B&TB, Under the Sea, Muppets 3D, and Indiana Jones so many times before skipping them.

[faline]

Glad your accommodations worked out for you. Sorry you had to run into such "pushy" (literally) people!! Still, you clearly had a good trip!!

[mudpuppysmom]

I've come to enjoy trips with little to no planning!! I used to plan plan plan and I was always stressed, but this past summer I did what you did and went with the flow.....the day trips we took while visiting family about an hour away were much more enjoyable with each child/day....I will agree that 7DMT is something I don't need to do again and again unles DS2 (he's 6) really wants to! We also ate at BOG twice for lunch as walk ups! I'm glad I have boys tho so I don't have to deal with the Frozen calamity.....

Glad you enjoyed BC also!! We've stayed there and even though it's not ON PROPERTY per se, it's a great substitute! I'd love to get the deal (or similar) that you did!!

[Janmac]

Thanks for the info on Anna/Elsa. We will already be in the park as we have an 8:05 ADR at Crystal Palace, and it's after MLK day, so hopefully we won't have as big a stampede.

Jan