2015 Planning Disney Parks, Cruises, Universal & NY - Did I forget anything? **We're here! Upd 02/01

[lffam]

Well like I said over at my belated trip report , I would start a new threat dedicated to the planning for our next trip.

I had started some discussion over on the trip report thread and was getting some great feedback and ideas, so much so that it took over from me completing my trip report. The discussion started here for anyone interested but I will try and catch you up.

I had been suffering from major no travel sickness which coincided with the 12month anniversary of our last trip. I thought finally writing my trip report would help and it started out being quite cathartic, but soon I got sucked into the Disney planning vortex!

So our initial ideas were for a White christmas in 2015. After various incarnations our latest plan is as follows :

leaving end Nov early Dec 2015
Disneyland 4 nights
Disney Fantasy Cruise 7 nights
Universal Studios/IOA 4 nights (inc 1 day at outlets)
WDW 6 nights
Disney Magic Cruise 5 nights ( Cruising over Christmas - Disembark Boxing day)
Miami 2 nights
New York 4 nights
Home (maybe!)

Now I think this is option 5 on my spreadsheet and it wasn't the last one we tried out. The reason this one has front running at the moment is that it suits the direction of travel we want, ie not doubling back unnecessarily, it gives us something Disney for Christmas, we wont be at the parks at the busiest times, it includes New York which DW said we cant miss this time.

Now my first question is about the cruises. They say the board at 3:45pm. Is this the actual board time or the departure time? Do you board much prior to this? We are thinking of doing Kennedy Space centre and not sure if we should do it before or after the cruise. Different reports say KSC is 2hrs to a whole day, so I'm not really sure. if its more than half a day then we would likely have to do it the day before he cruise

They also say arrive back at 7:30am. Is this the case and then you are off early morning ?

Has any one boarded a cruise from Miami Port? the plane trip is about 1hr from Orlando , the bus is about 3-4hrs. When you add the extra time for the airports then its probably going to come out not that much different. I assume the Magical Express is only for Port Canaveral? Any experience in getting to Miami would be appreciated.

For Disneyland accommodation we want to stay at Grand Californian again. WDW is a toss up, we want to try AK(club), but to be honest we would be happy with any of the DVC resorts. New York accommodations haven't considered yet, but will definitely be looking for ideas.

Still too far out to book anything yet, aside from the Cruises, but need to firm up a few things before I can do that.

please drop me your ideas/suggestions /feedback etc

 

[Princess Jes]

Recommendations for accom in NYC:
We stayed at Row NYC, corner of 8th and 45th. One block from Broadway and times sure. Cheap, comfortable and great location (shake shack and cake boss across the road, the lion king around the corner)

 

[lffam]

Recommendations for accom in NYC: We stayed at Row NYC, corner of 8th and 45th. One block from Broadway and times sure. Cheap, comfortable and great location (shake shack and cake boss across the road, the lion king around the corner)

Thanks Princess Jess. NY is our least known destination and will be a bit of teaser for us for a longer stay in the warmer months next time. We haven't decided yet if we will stay for New Year's Eve in NY. As iconic as it may be I'm not sure we will be up to standing out for hours in the cold with the 1000's of people inTimes Square.

 

[losfp]

Looks like a great trip

I wanted to fit NYC into our trip next year, but with the kids being 2 and 7, it was going to be a bit too hard. I'm a bit of a musical junkie so I would have found some way of seeing 7-8 shows in a week if I went. That's a lot of babysitting I would have to organise!! Next trip, for sure

From my research, cruise boarding starts around 11am in the morning, 3:45 would be the departure time. We are going to drive from Universal to Kennedy Space Centre on the morning before the cruise, do the space centre all day, then have a night somewhere in Port Canaveral, ready to hop onto the ship in the morning without having to worry about traffic etc from Orlando.

 

[LisaAJ]

We are doing a similar trip next month! We are staying at NYC Salisbury in a 1 bedroom suite. It was the cheapest I could find, that still had good reviews

As for KSC, we are heading to Port Canaveral the day before our cruise to do Kennedy. We are then staying overnight and have a port arrival time of around 11am I think.

Looking forward to hearing more about your plans

 

[LisaAJ]

Oh and we decided not to stay in NY for New Years eve as the price of the hotels tripled and we didn't want to battle Times Square with two kids. We are heading to Orlando on New Years Eve instead and will celebrate there

 

[WanderlustNZ]

There isn't really time to visit Kennedy Space Centre on the day of the cruise.

My advice is to get the earliest Port Arrival time (PAT) you possibly can. This involves getting online the second your port arrival times open up.

Then once you board the ship, go straight to guest services and book all classes and tours that interest you. Mixology is one class that books out quickly but is extremely worthwhile.
I also thoroughly recommend the ship tour. It's called something like 'Art of the Theme Show Tour'. Book it for as early as possible in your cruise as you will learn fascinating facts that will make moving around the ship much more interesting for the rest of the cruise.
It's also the time to book the Galley tour if you are interested. From memory, there were only 2 Galley tours during my cruise with roughly 15 people on each tour. (A pretty small percentage of all the passengers on the ship). In saying that, I was disappointed by this tour, so don't be too upset if you miss out.

As soon as you board, you should also make any necessary changes or additions to your Palo bookings. You won't know until you arrive at the Port and get your keycard which nights you are eating in which restaurant. If a Palo dinner reservation clashes with Animators Palate, try to change Palo pretty quickly after boarding. You don't want to miss either of these experiences.

Through some random luck, I managed to get the earliest PAT available. From memory it was about 10am. It was wonderful. It was so quiet and we got to check in, get our key cards, sign my son into kids club, and pick up his wrist band, all within the first 30 mins. We also got into a very short line to have a picture with Mickey.
We then got to sit and quietly read the Navigator and ignore the increasing hustle and bustle around us. Within a few hours it was pretty manic. It did mean we had to wait around for quite a while until boarding started, but it was worth it.

If you couldn't care less about booking anything once you board the ship, then my advice would be to book a late PAT. That way the crowds will have eased and you will be able to walk on to the ship pretty quickly after check-in.

 

[Princess Jes]

Thanks Princess Jess. NY is our least known destination and will be a bit of teaser for us for a longer stay in the warmer months next time. We haven't decided yet if we will stay for New Year's Eve in NY. As iconic as it may be I'm not sure we will be up to standing out for hours in the cold with the 1000's of people inTimes Square.

My sister stayed at row NYC for NYE and it's the perfect location, close but not right on Times Square. However, they stood in -2*C weather for hours to get into Times Square and it was only 6pm... They went back down closer to midnight and loved it. She said its one of the best things she did on her honeymoon.

 

[lffam]

Looks like a great trip

I wanted to fit NYC into our trip next year, but with the kids being 2 and 7, it was going to be a bit too hard. I'm a bit of a musical junkie so I would have found some way of seeing 7-8 shows in a week if I went. That's a lot of babysitting I would have to organise!! Next trip, for sure

Thats what happened to us last year, couldn't quite fit NY in. When it was looking a bit tight this next time, I quickly got new directions from DW , it wasn't be missed again!

We are doing a similar trip next month! We are staying at NYC Salisbury in a 1 bedroom suite. It was the cheapest I could find, that still had good reviews

As for KSC, we are heading to Port Canaveral the day before our cruise to do Kennedy. We are then staying overnight and have a port arrival time of around 11am I think.

Looking forward to hearing more about your plans

Thanks heaps. I need to be ready to book the DVC & flights in January, so still have a little bit of time. The cruises Im not sure if I will wait till I have flights done or just book. I'll have to check out what the deposit/refund conditions are just to be aware.

Oh and we decided not to stay in NY for New Years eve as the price of the hotels tripled and we didn't want to battle Times Square with two kids. We are heading to Orlando on New Years Eve instead and will celebrate there

I hear that we are not certain we will stay for NYE in NY, seems an iconic thing to do, but not sure it really is wat we want to do.

There isn't really time to visit Kennedy Space Centre on the day of the cruise.

My advice is to get the earliest Port Arrival time (PAT) you possibly can. This involves getting online the second your port arrival times open up.

Then once you board the ship, go straight to guest services and book all classes and tours that interest you. Mixology is one class that books out quickly but is extremely worthwhile.
I also thoroughly recommend the ship tour. It's called something like 'Art of the Theme Show Tour'. Book it for as early as possible in your cruise as you will learn fascinating facts that will make moving around the ship much more interesting for the rest of the cruise.
It's also the time to book the Galley tour if you are interested. From memory, there were only 2 Galley tours during my cruise with roughly 15 people on each tour. (A pretty small percentage of all the passengers on the ship). In saying that, I was disappointed by this tour, so don't be too upset if you miss out.

As soon as you board, you should also make any necessary changes or additions to your Palo bookings. You won't know until you arrive at the Port and get your keycard which nights you are eating in which restaurant. If a Palo dinner reservation clashes with Animators Palate, try to change Palo pretty quickly after boarding. You don't want to miss either of these experiences.

Through some random luck, I managed to get the earliest PAT available. From memory it was about 10am. It was wonderful. It was so quiet and we got to check in, get our key cards, sign my son into kids club, and pick up his wrist band, all within the first 30 mins. We also got into a very short line to have a picture with Mickey.
We then got to sit and quietly read the Navigator and ignore the increasing hustle and bustle around us. Within a few hours it was pretty manic. It did mean we had to wait around for quite a while until boarding started, but it was worth it.

If you couldn't care less about booking anything once you board the ship, then my advice would be to book a late PAT. That way the crowds will have eased and you will be able to walk on to the ship pretty quickly after check-in.

This post is the reason i love these boards! thank you WanderlustNZ, exactly the info I needed and then some! I had read a review of Mixology earlier so that was def on my list.

My sister stayed at row NYC for NYE and it's the perfect location, close but not right on Times Square. However, they stood in -2*C weather for hours to get into Times Square and it was only 6pm... They went back down closer to midnight and loved it. She said its one of the best things she did on her honeymoon.

Thats what I have heard about NYE also. I'll check out Row, thanks for the tip.

The reason we are looking at two cruises, is my son is a massive Marvel fan. he really wants to goon the Magic because of the re-imagined Avengers Assemble Academy. The Magic in December only sails from Miami, adding a further variation. But hey he's only a kid once and our only one so we hough what the heck!

 

[lffam]

Back to a bit more planning for our next trip, while I'm on holidays at the beach!

still quite a few moving parts but thought I would try and lock down the cruise, but have a few questions that I hope people can help me with.

Choosing a stateroom - any tips? I've looked to see rooms available for the many categories that we are considering ( mainly category 4) looked for room reviews but these are quite sparse. If I don't choose a room right now can I add choose one later?

On Board Ship credit. Do people book with TA's to get the credit. If its the same price which they tell me it is, then seems like money for nothing. Am I missing something?

Still have to wit a while for the 11 month mark for Disney accommodation through DVC and also flights. We haven't settled on what we will do after the cruise yet, maybe NY, Washington or something totally different. Figured if we get the cruise booked, that's a peg in the sand to work around.

 

[lffam]

bit of an updated..

CRUISE HAS BEEN BOOKED!

this time next year we will be on our first Disney Cruise and spending Christmas on it to boot!

 

[lffam]

Well back to work today, but the good news is that...

Disneyland has been booked!! Grand Californian Studio Villa 6 nights to start the trip off! woohoo!

Next is filling in the time between leaving Grand Cal and the start of the cruise which will be USO & WDW.

coming together nicely

 

[lffam]

Thought I would summarise the current itinerary. Here is what it looks like so far :

Leaving end Nov
6 Nights Disney Grand Californian [booked]
13 nights in Orlando
- Split between 3 or 4 at Universal Studios
- 9 or 10 at WDW resort still TBA
7 night Cruise on Disney Fantasy - Disembark Boxing day [booked]
7 nights in New York including NYE

We will likely do Kennedy Space centre the day before the cruise.

Part after cruise is still a work in progress. we will definitely be going to NY. Been reading alot on Tripadvisor about NYE and the tips and traps and while there are many traps there are some good options also.

Still cant book any flights yet as have to book whole trip and return date not available yet.

 

[Zosha]

Oooh that looks amazing!!

 

[lffam]

Oooh that looks amazing!!

hey Zosha, welcome to the thread - thanks so much.Its taken a few turns but we are getting there. I need to finalise my WDW decision pretty soon as its coming up to 11 months out when DVC rentals become available. Feel a bit weird doing all this an not having flights yet but its not keeping me up (too much!)

thanks for dropping by.

 

[novice101]

Are you dvc members, or renting points? We would love to be members but wasn't sure if it was worth it when we live so far away (perth) and only get every other year possibly every year when there are two of us working.
We loved staying at the beach club resort last year, location was fab, walk to epcot and the boat to HS was fab.
Love hearing about all your plans. I will have to look at the avengers thing, I have a marvel mad son and hubby!

 

[lffam]

Are you dvc members, or renting points? We would love to be members but wasn't sure if it was worth it when we live so far away (perth) and only get every other year possibly every year when there are two of us working.
We loved staying at the beach club resort last year, location was fab, walk to epcot and the boat to HS was fab.
Love hearing about all your plans. I will have to look at the avengers thing,
I have a marvel mad son and hubby!

No not DVC members, we have rented points. If I knew before we went for our first Disney trip in 2010 (Disneyland -VGC) what I know now and that I was going to be so taken by Disney then it might be a different story. I looked at DVC recently, but for a number or reasons I chose not to go further with the investigations.

Good to hear a +1 for Beach Club, it is certainly near the top of our choice. Location looks great and we like the idea of of being able to walk to at least one park. I understand that HS is about a 20min walk so that might be a enough to burn off one of the Churos I will no doubt be scoffing down

Avengers Assemble on the Disney Magic does look rather cool. Both myself and DS in particular are Marvel fans, not to mention rather geeky so its right down our alley. While I would have loved to given him the experience of it, we will have to put in on the next time list as we just couldn't make it work for us this time.

This is your comment on my post over in the Disney Cruise Forum and my response regarding the non cruise queries

Your trip looks like the one I'm trying to plan for dec 2016 also from australia! Lol 14 nights disney a couple of nights in universal, a week disney cruise and a week in newyork! Although depends how much I can save! I heard the best way to upgrade is to be one of the first at check in and ask if it would be possible to upgrade as it's usually cheaper than if you pay for that level at the start.
Where are you planning to stay for your other part of the disney stay? And also New York? Is it mega expensive to do the cruise and newyork at Xmas / new year time, I thought of going early dec coming back for Xmas, but I don't really enjoy Xmas in oz compared to the uk would love to try America for the festive period just don't know how much extra I would have to budget! Do the hotels etc charge a lot more per night?
We went in sept but just did disney was too far for just 2 weeks hence wanting to more

Our trip does sound similar!

The other resorts we are considering are Beach Club, Bay Lake Towers, Grand Floridian and Wilderness Lodge. We stayed at WL lodge and just loved it. We would be more than happy to stay there again, but we also though it might be nice to try somewhere else.

I haven't really been able to price NY for NYE yet as most hotels don't have prices for then out yet, but yes it will be expensive. We will just find something that suits us and the budget accept and move on to just enjoy something that we may not experience again. We will likely look for a suite/apartment style room but I really haven't done too much research on that just yet.

I have to decide our WDW resort in next few days as it will 11 months out any day when the booking window opens up.

Was your trip in September to WDW or Disneyland? We went to DLR in Sept 2010 and it was wonderful.

thanks for dropping in!

 

[novice101]

We have done Disneyworld three times, never disney land. Would highly recommend beach club we loved it, the location is fab. So convenient being able to walk to epcot and HS or the boat was great. The only disappointment is the quick service restaraunt but we were spoilt by the POR, but a walk to epcot with heaps of quick service options. We did book the WL last trip but switched to the beach club as the pool was being refurbished. Hubby much prefers epcot resort location compared to MK. Not sure where we will stay next time, we are meeting friends there who have less of a budget than us, so it is a bit harder.

 

[lffam]

We have done Disneyworld three times, never disney land. Would highly recommend beach club we loved it, the location is fab. So convenient being able to walk to epcot and HS or the boat was great. The only disappointment is the quick service restaraunt but we were spoilt by the POR, but a walk to epcot with heaps of quick service options. We did book the WL last trip but switched to the beach club as the pool was being refurbished. Hubby much prefers epcot resort location compared to MK. Not sure where we will stay next time, we are meeting friends there who have less of a budget than us, so it is a bit harder.

I've been saying Beach Club but I mean Boardwalk Inn!. Beach Club is on our list also, just Boardwalk was the main one. Have you stayed there?

 

[novice101]

Never stayed at boardwalk but the location looks good