No room for us?

[mouseketeer mom]

My DH has to take a business trip to Colorado Springs the second week of August. It is a fortune for the 5 of us to fly with him (close to $4,000 on both Southwest and Continental)..so even tho we wanted to go., we don't think that will work!
So, while he goes, I'm thinking I would take the kids on a small trip to WDW. Like 3 or 4 days. I have never travelled on my own, and I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited! I tried every resort on WDW's site, and all resorts with the exception of a big suite at Coronado is booked! Is that accurate?????? Since I'm alone with the kids, I want to stay on site, and I would love a familiar resort., but I suppose any resort with the exception of the cabins will do. I tried all the DVC resorts too! All booked! Help!
Maybe we can't have this adventure after all!

[Tigerlilly]

I would not rely on that website. Try one of the online travel agents. This site promotes Magical Journeys and Where I did not book with them, I found them to be friendly and helpful.

I also find it hard to believe the whole resort is booked. Keep trying:)

[disneymom15]

Don't be nervous about traveling without your husband. My daughter and I have done Disney many times without husband. I also suggest trying Magical Journeys.

[sashiroo]

I took my DS's (5 & 2) by myself this past April. We did just fine! We had such a great time. i would do it again in a heartbeat. The worst part about it was my DH pouting because he didn't get to go. He was on a business trip which is the whole reason I took my kiddos to WDW. I would definately contact Magical Joourney's. Good luck, I hope it works out for you!:thumbsup:

[LauraF]

The WDW site can be a bit tricky, because they don't awlays allow you to see oter options. Currently for one adult and 3 kids, I see POR and ASMusic with a Standard for 3n, 4d. (Beginning of the week and end of the week respectively.)

I suggest seeing if your dates are flexible and defintely giving MJ a call. If anybody can help you, they should be able to.

[DisneyDudet]

Just give Disney a call. They only allow a certain amount of online bookings, so the alloted number of rooms may be sold out.

I'm sure you can find something by calling.

If you can't, try MJ.. they have amazing luck!

[Darbylew]

I have been to WDW with just one of my grand
daughters when she was nine and we had a
great time. It was just fine. I suggest that you
call Disney direct to check on a room. I always
just call the main number to book my room. I
hope things work out for you. I know you will
have a fun time. :mickey:

[DisneyorBust]

Give Magical Journeys a try, I think that you might be pleasantly surprised. They are friendly and very helpful with your planning needs. The are an Intercot sponser, so everyone benefits!:thumbsup:
Have a great, impromtu vacation!:mickey:

[TammiMcMan]

It used to be no problem to book a last minute Disney trip, but with few exceptions, now you usually need to do it a few months in advance. Especially with promotional programs going on like free dining.

You mentioned 5 of you, is that number excluding your husband? If that's the case, you're already limited to where you can stay with just one room. With having to relocate so many AKL guests, it's a very good liklihood that the deluxe resorts (which most accomodate 5 per room) are all booked that week.

You can fool around with arrival and departure dates and even reducing the number of people in a room and booking 2 rooms instead. The easiest thing to do though, is get in touch with Magical Journeys (http://www.yourmagicaljourneys.com). They'll do all that for you and come up with the best possible option. It will save you a lot of time and stress.

[mouseketeer mom]

Umm...I meant that there was 4 of us. Just me and the 3 kids..so used to saying 5!
Thats why it was neat to try to book other resorts,...not just the ones who accomodate 5 as this would be the first time just 4 of us are going.

[TammiMcMan]

Okay, that makes sense now. I would definitely give Magical Journeys a try then. The Disney booking system can be majorly quirky and sometimes it's just a matter of changing a date by a day or two to get things to work. Instead of going nutty trying to figure it out, they'll do all that for you. Considering it sounds like you can be flexible with your plans, that seems the best way. Let us know how it all works out for you.

[hokies4life]

MJ is definitely the way to go. We ran into the same problem when we had to reschedule our trip from July to June (and at the time it was only like 2 weeks away). The Disney website gave us the same info that you got, but MJ was able to get us pretty good rooms (we split our stay btwn Coranado Springs and Fort Wilderness).

Hope it works out!

:chipdale:

[moe513]

Did you get a reservation yet??

[mouseketeer mom]

No, not yet. My DH is putting the squeeze on me to spend the $$$ and head to the rockies with him. Its close to $4,000 for the flight alone for the 5 of us now, and I don't think its smart. He, on the other hand, thinks its a great chance for us all to see the rockies, and it would be a tax write off. Can you tell were having some issues with this???? I feel like I can be savvy and pull off a fairly inexpensive trip for the kids and I to WDW if he heads to the rockies alone..however, I am feeling a bit shaky about the whole travelling alone with the kids, as much as I'd like to do it. Believe it or not, its the airport situation that has me the most shook up! Just getting there, figuring out where were going., getting on that plane, handling our luggage...My gosh, I know people do it every day! :blush::blush::blush: What's the matter with me? I think nothing of travelling when DH is with me, as a matter of fact, I love it!! Oh, what to do????

[meandmydog1]

I would definitely try Magical journeys. I was having a hard time figuring out which way to go, where to stay etc, in June and Terrisue from MJ helped me out tremendously! She was on top of everything. Hope it all works out for you and you have fun!

[snifflesmcg]

Well, it can't hurt to call Disney themselves and get a quote on the trip. Then compare that with what you'd be paying to go with your husband.

[DisneyDudet]

You should only worry about your bags on the way to the airport... use DME and you won't have to worry about it!

Are some of your kids old enough to carry bags?

[TammiMcMan]

I definitely understand the airport issue, what age range are your children? I think that's a big factor in deciding on whether to go it alone. You have to figure that even taking a car service, you need to at least get the luggage over to the skycap. If the kids aren't old enough for you take your eyes off them for a few minutes, that might be a problem. Going through security can also be challenging. Do you go first and hope the others can shuffle along after you, or do you go in the middle and hope the ones that go before you don't run off. Seating on the plane isn't too bad, if you're able to get 4 seats in a row. You'll have the aisle separating one of your children, but at least you'd still be beside them all. You know your kids best though and how well they can handle themselves.

In defense of Colorado, it's absolutely stunning. I would go back there in a heartbeat.

[vamaggie]

I can see pros and cons for both trips but I would go with WDW. Traveling to WDW should be fairly easy. If the kids are big enough to carry a bag, each take a carry on. Check 1-2 big bags (make sure they are not >50 lbs) and let DME handle them. Depending on how old your kids are, CO and the rockies may not be that "stunning" to them. Unless they are old enough to appreciate natural beauty, the trip may be lost on them. Plus you are traveling further, across time zones and into a higher altitude. If your kids are little, that may throw off their sleeping (when we too DS to CO when he was 16 mos old he kept waking up at 4am-which was 6am our old time zone time-and never adjusted the whole week we were there!) Plus what would you and the kids do while DH was at this business commitments? The money difference alone whould make me go with WDW but I am way frugal. Good luck and whatever you decide--HAVE A GREAT TRIP!

[Clotho]

If I can offer a little inspiration?

My father was a pilot when I was growing up. More precisely, a young pilot with four children! He flew a lot, and was on call a lot and was gone for long periods of time. SO when my Mom wanted to take a vacation with the family, we could rarely if ever plan on Dad being there. In fact, we would usually plan a trip to a place where he had a stopover between trips, so he could fly in, spend some time with us, and fly out!

So here was my Mom, wrangling FOUR KIDS! Two were tweens and two were toddlers. My brother and I were a decade behind the first two kids. So there was nothing easy about it. And she didn't go to nearly as kid-friendly, easy-peasy places as Disneyworld! We went to places like Honolulu! Five hour flight with four kids, then no one to handle the bags. She never rented a car, we always took buses. And somehow those manage to be some of my favorite childhood memories, and I looked up to my Mom like my complete hero for her moxie in handling situations like that so confidently.

YOU CAN DO THIS! HAVE FUN! Guaranteed the Rockies ain't as much fun. I seen 'em. Meh. Now THUNDER MOUNTAIN.... ;)

[mouseketeer mom]

If I can offer a little inspiration?

My father was a pilot when I was growing up. More precisely, a young pilot with four children! He flew a lot, and was on call a lot and was gone for long periods of time. SO when my Mom wanted to take a vacation with the family, we could rarely if ever plan on Dad being there. In fact, we would usually plan a trip to a place where he had a stopover between trips, so he could fly in, spend some time with us, and fly out!

So here was my Mom, wrangling FOUR KIDS! Two were tweens and two were toddlers. My brother and I were a decade behind the first two kids. So there was nothing easy about it. And she didn't go to nearly as kid-friendly, easy-peasy places as Disneyworld! We went to places like Honolulu! Five hour flight with four kids, then no one to handle the bags. She never rented a car, we always took buses. And somehow those manage to be some of my favorite childhood memories, and I looked up to my Mom like my complete hero for her moxie in handling situations like that so confidently.

YOU CAN DO THIS! HAVE FUN! Guaranteed the Rockies ain't as much fun. I seen 'em. Meh. Now THUNDER MOUNTAIN.... ;)

OOOH! LOVED your response! Exactly! I would love to show my kids I have that confidence. If I do this, I will print out your response and take it with me!!!!! Loved it!
Thank you!!!