We have a WDW reservation!

[symphonymom]

I called today and booked room-only at All-Star Movies. We decided to stay in the park  (thanks to very good advice from my friends :) since this is our last shot to stay in one room and also the only/last time napping will be an issue. We decided against the dining since we are staying 4 nights, but will only be in the parks 3 days. I really don't

Comments

[juptonrd]

DO NOT buy tickets on eBay. There is no way to actually verify how many days are left on them until you get to the gate. I'd hate to see you get there and find out you've wasted a few hundred dollars. There really is very little in the way of discounted tix. http://www.mapleleaftickets.com/Index.htm offers a very slight discount and I'd trust them. Otherwise, just buy them from WDW

[red_ruby]

I'll echo what Jen says, and add that the Undergeround Tourist is another supposedly reputable ticket agent. If you sign up for the mousesavers newsletter (at mousesavers.com) you'll get links to their latest discounts. (They usually list links to undercover tourist and mapleleaf tickets)

FWIW, we booked a regular room at Pop Century and got a preferred -- it was nice to be closer to the check in/food court and buses but a PITA to be so close to the pool (pool=nose) OTOH, we were staying there specifically because of illness so being close to the self-serve laundry was a big plus at that particular time. (our bonus night at Disney courtesy of the stomach flu)

I wouldn't pay more for preferred, personally.

Can you remind me of your dates? Have you looked at the restaurants and menus to figure out where you might like to eat?

[red_ruby]

Oh, and BTW, if you're looking for the cheapest value resort rooms, those would be the standard rooms at Pop Century. IIRC, Pop is in a different county and thus their rooms attract a slightly lower tax rate. It's also the newest, and has its own buses (rather than sharing with all the All-Star resorts), but I can see the appeal of All-Star Music to a couple of musicians (and their kids)! :-)

[symphonymom]

I'll check out Pop Century, thanks!

[tara_scraps]

As Jen said, the preferred rooms aren't any nicer; they're just closer to the resort center where the food court and bus stops are. This is a good thing as you do enough walking as it is, so it's nice to not have quite so far to go at the end of the day. However, those buildings are also closer to the pool, which means that they can be noiser

[symphonymom]

Thanks for the link to the map. We will have our car, and I'm not sure if it will be better to drive around or take their transportation.

[brodyjen]

We never did take any of the Disney transportation (except for the monorail) - we used our rental car every day, so I can't really say how they compare. But it seemed very convenient for us.

It didn't cost anything to park at the hotel or in the parks, and we had the AAA placard for the preferred parking, so we got to park fairly close to the entrances.

It was very nice to be able to leave bottled water, snacks, the stroller, Chloe's hip hammock, etc in the car, rather than dragging it in the stroller, or on and off the shuttle each time. For that reason alone it was worth having a car. Plus, we kept thinking that one of us would be going to the hotel with Chloe while the other one stayed with Jenna at the park (which never happened :), so the parent going back with Chloe would have the car/seat available, while the other parent/Jenna could take the shuttle back. It never actually worke dout that way but it was a nice option to have.

[red_ruby]

And here's a different take on the rental car v WDW transportation. We took the car only a handful of times -- for that mega early AN breakfast, when we needed to shuttle my sister (and usually her wheelchair) around, and our last day when we were supposed to be leaving FL straight from the park. Dh drove to Pop to collapse, I took the bus later. Otherwise we used the buses (and occasionally monorail) and didn't have a problem. We did use the strollers just about everywhere, though - and so could stow stuff in/around them. I also had a number of mornings when I was alone with C&J, and so wouldn't have been able to use the car.

DH did use the rental car to go off site (Kennedy Space Centre), but were it not for my sister's wheelchair, we probably wouldn't have used the car much for actual park visits. (Getting from one resort to another is generally much better by car/taxi because WDW transportation usually just runs between resorts and parks -- though the boats are