First trip, birthday and proposal

[Jabro]

Hey!

I'm thinking of booking a 7 day trip to WDW in the beginning of April 2016 for my girlfriends birthday. And my plan is to also ask her to marry me, she loves Disney so I think that she would really love getting engaged at WDW! We live in Europe and this would be both our first visit to WDW.

My main concern is the dining, I understand that you can book reservations 180 (+10) days ahead. And this will not be possible if we are to go in early April (now 137 day until April 1).

Will it be possible at all to get reservation for the signature dining? Like California Grill, Citricos, Narcoossee's etc? Think that are restaurants we would enjoy for dinner. And the crystal palace for breakfast and Be our guest maybe for lunch one day (Her favorite Disney movie is Beauty and the beast). But most important I thing is getting reservations for V&A for dinner the day i'm planing to propose. But i read that reservations to V&A get booked up right away. We both enjoys good food and that is normally a big part of our vacations.

Im looking at booking the Grand Floridian or the Beach Club resort and hoping that most of the spring break peaks will be over when we arrive. Going later in the year wont be possible for me with work.

Should i book the trip? Can I by calling and keeping an eye out for cancellations score some good reservations or is that a very long shot? Thanks in advance for input!

[VWL Mom]

You can make dining reservations anytime between day 180 and day 0 just not before 180 days. Looking real quick there seems to still be for the start of April with the exception of BOG which is tough even at 180 days. Just be flexible and you should be able to get what you're looking for. V&A doesn't show availability online, you need to call for that. I would say if you know your dates go online and book the dining. If you decide against the trip remember to cancel them so you don't get billed a no show.

[Kairi_7378]

Welcome to Intercot! It sounds like you have the groundwork for an amazing trip planned.

In regards to dining, I would make them soon, but don't worry about not getting everything that you want. I have never booked an ADR more than 60 days out from a trip. I have always gotten what I wanted. (We tend to eat dinner earlier, which seems to help.) If you can't get something that you have your heart set on, keep checking back. Cancellations happen frequently.

We went during peak spring break time for my first "grown up" trip to WDW. (I had been once before, but I was 3.) Yes, it was crowded, but we managed our expectations and took breaks, and had a lovely time.

Happy planning!

[Strmchsr]

:welcome: to Intercot!!

Easter in 2016 is March 27 and you usually get some huge crowds the week before and a couple of weeks after Easter so if you're going to try to get in you'll definitely want to go ahead and start booking now. I wouldn't expect crowds to calm down until mid to late April. You can definitely look at the online system and see what's available now before you book. You can book without a resort reservation. Just make sure you cancel if you don't go or your credit card will be charged. On some of those harder to get ones, I wouldn't count on it. Especially Be Our Guest. But you can definitely keep calling and checking for cancellations. If you're flexible with your times it's always possible.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I agree with all of the above posts! Firstly, :welcome:, we're glad you're here.

My now husband proposed to me on our first Disney trip, and we only booked meals about a month ahead (I didn't know I was going with him until then) and although we didn't get the "popular" meals, we still ate, and I still enjoyed it, and I still said yes when he proposed.

So yes, go online and see what you can book. But, there are more than just the "popular" places, and you can have a special meal at a number of places. Don't panic, but I would start looking and making some plans.

[Imalismom]

Also - if you are planning on proposing at WDW - You tube if you search on WDW proposals can give you some great ideas of what other guys have done. Excited for you!!

[Jabro]

Thanks everyone for the advice and input! Maybe you could help me again? Is resort splitting a bad idea? As I wrote earlier I was planning to book either Grand Floridian or Beach club, I'm been looking at the contemporary as well.

We will probebly spend a lot of time in Magic Kingdom. That's how the contemporary became an possibility, I like the look of the rooms in the contemporary but not the rest of the hotel. Grand Floridian I know we will like, when we visit Disneyland Paris we always stay at the equivalent hotel. And the monorail near magic kingdom sounds nice, but I do not like the pool-aerial and it feels like the resort is very large and slit up with al the buildings not connected.

I know my girlfriend would love the look of beach club and the pool but this resort is not near magic kingdom. I like that the resort has two large building and the pool looks awesome, think we both would enjoy it. The room décor my girlfriend will love at beach club.

So I'm think if I should split our stay up, 4 nights at grand Floridian and 3 at beach club so the first days we can do magic kingdom and the resort restaurants. Probably visit the other parks to, getting park-hopper for flexibility.

And the last four days have some downtime at the beach club pool and visit the parks close to it more. And also try the transport to MK from there so we know for our next visit! How long does it take to go from beach club to magic kingdom if I book the hole stay there?

We will not rent a car put no problem paying for cab for transportation if the busses are slow. Anyone know if cabs/uber is hard to get at wdw? Long wait?

At Disneyland Paris you can walk everywhere so this transportation need at wdw feels very restricted to me but maybe it's not as bad as I'm imagining.

So many decisions, all input, tips and thoughts are very much appreciated!

[Imalismom]

Cabs are very easy to get - UBER was not an option (not even an APP) the last time I was there. However, I am an UBER lover!!

Splitting a stay is not hard at all - but I am one that really likes to unpack only once and pack only once. I have stayed at all three of the resorts you are considering. I loved the GF, the beach club pool was indeed nice, but I loved the rooms at GF more than Beach club. The monorail at the Contemporary cant be beat in my opinion. But unless you are in the main building - getting to it is a hike at times.

If I was going to pick out of all of them, I would do Sugar Loaf section at the GF. It is the second tier concierge and has a great location and great rooms.

A resort you have not mentioned and my personal favorite is Wilderness lodge - GREAT pool (not as good as beach club though), a boat ride to any of the MK resorts, and just the best kept secret at WDW in my opinion... their concierge level is the best around - hands down.