2018 Trip planning...

[NEEN09]

We planned and had a very magical 7 day trip to WDW at the end of April/ early May 2015 and are excited to go back! We stayed at the Polynesian and at the time, my family consisted of a 4y.o., 22m.o., DH and me.

We are planning to return in 2018 with our 7y.o. DD, almost 5y.o. DS, and 22m.o. DS. We were thinking of going around the same time frame to skip spring holiday crowds, though I'm a little unsure of pulling my 1st grader out of school for a week... doable/ appropriate?

The Poly was great for our last trip but I'd at least like to look into other family of 5-friendly options. Are the suites at AoA really worth the price compared to a standard room at somewhere like the Poly? Also I felt like our meal plan got wasted on our last trip, but our kids were a bit younger... have things changed? Would we be better off paying out of pocket or just sticking to quick meals?

Finally, we rented a double stroller on our last trip but with a (6 weeks shy of) 5 year old and 7 year old, we could probably get away with just an umbrella for the 22 m.o.?

 

[kniquy]

pulling my 1st grader out of school for a week... doable/ appropriate?

I think at this age take advantage of the fact that school is not as demanding as it would be pulling an older junior high child out for a week.
We are going next April and it will include my boys (6th grade) spring break, but 2 extra days. I'm a little worried about just the 2 days, but figure right after a vacation they are just getting back into the swing of things.

meal plan got wasted on our last trip, but our kids were a bit younger... have things changed?

The meal plan, once your kids are Disney adults doesn't make a lot of sense. when they are your kids ages it make sense when you are doing a lot of character meals. You can play with the numbers and look up menu prices. It is often nice to have a TS meal for lunch or dinner for a break during the day. If you don't think your 22 month old will do well with sit down longer meals then it might not be worth the aggravation.

For my family of 5 (4 Disney adults 1 kids) i priced out the TS meals, QS meals and snacks and mugs and i didn't feel it was any significant savings and we honestly felt it was too much food for the regular plan. You have plenty of time to think about it, you can always make dining reservations at 180 days and cancel if you don't need them. Take some time and price out what your family might spend at certain restaurants and compare to the cost of the dining plan. I think you can add the dining plan on up until a few days/weeks of your trip (I am not sure the exact time frame)

You can take a look at renting DVC to get a 1 BR villa that sleeps 5, has a full kitchen and laundry - might be a bonus with little ones. They do have studios that would accommodate your family too, but only a kitchenette and no laundry. If you haven't done this in the past check out davids DVC rentals. Their website will tell you the resorts and occupancy, although any studio room will work because your little one is under 3. There can be a significant savings compared to direct from Disney, but you would want to book the room soon as once we are 7 months from your dates things will get booked up.

Good luck!! Planning is just as fun as the actual trip!

 

[Hikergirl]

I would have no issues taking a child that young out of school for a week. I used to take my kids out up until 6th grade.
I have never found the DDP to be beneficial to us, financially or otherwise. We have saved paying OOP, and we aren't tied to eating at a TS if we don't feel like it one night. I think in your situation if you are planning alot of character meals it can be a savings with kids that little. If you are not planning too then you can probably do better OOP, especially if your kids aren't big eaters and able to share meals.
The stroller is a very personal decision. It depends on your kids and how you tour. We never used one after the kids turned 3 and they were fine in the parks from afternoon to night. We were not open to close when they were little and we didn't mind taking it slow and stopping for breaks instead of rushing around to do everything.

 

[BarbMike821]

Just chiming in on the week out of school thing ... someone once said on here "My child will learn more during a week at Disney than they would a week in school" and it really resonated with me. It's so true as there are a ton of incredible learning opportunities integrated into the fun when you're there.

 

[monorailsilver]

I can't give you an opinion on AoA vs Poly. I haven't stayed there and prefer the Poly. We are a family of 5 as well. My kids were roughly the same age as yours when I took all 3 for the first time (7, almost 5 & 2 1/2). I also go in the summer so I don't have to worry about my kids missing school, even that young of age, I can deal with a day but not a whole week.

We don't do the meal plan. I usually have an abundance of free Disney gift cards that I use for meals, etc... I have on pool days given 2 of my 3 (one is allergic) the mac and cheese microwavable bowls. They don't care, they like it, eat it and then have ice cream after. So I save $15 ish on them. We don't do many sit downs/character meals, a max of 2 per visit. I calculated menu prices and estimated the amount we would spend with each meal and paying OOP was cheaper and it ended up in the end being cheaper. We also bring our own water and don't buy soda, etc.. in the park. They are allowed all they want on pool days with their refillable mug.

The first trip with all 3 of mine, my 7 yo sat in the stroller at times. We had a sit and stand so she and my ds split the back (both combined weights were probably 70 lbs max) and my youngest sat up front. I was glad we had that.

 

[TheCakePopLady]

I am pulling both of mine in January for a week (they will be 6 and 11 at the time we leave) and I have no problem doing it. I already spoke with their principal and the Disney Planner booking our trip is a first grade teacher at their school. She said people do it all the time.

 

[kboo]

We have done the math with littles (to date, only 1 Disney kid and 1 infant) and even doing lots of character meals the DDP never worked out for us. We always pay OOP. One thing you see on these boards is that people are always trying to use up their credits. No one ever complains they ran out of credits and were hungry! That in itself tells me something.

We pulled our kindergartener out for a week in January to go to Hawaii. She goes to a public G&T school that's pretty intense, and that REALLY frowns on pulling your kids out. She did fine. I did "make" her do her "homework" which consisted or writing Valentine's Day cards to her classmates and keeping a journal with one entry per day.

I would also second DVC rentals - whether you go with an agency or a private renter, you can save a lot of money and get more space. And if you rent a 1-BR, you can get a full kitchen and washer dryer in the unit, and some 1BR come with 2 baths. For the PP who said there's no laundry in the studios - there's no w/d in the unit, but there is a laundry room in the villas that is free. And transportation to/from the parks is usually pretty good (the DVCs are usually close to at least 1 park or DS).

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

I agree about pulling the kids out of school - we too did it until high school. We have never stayed at the AOA - but with a kid in a stroller I like either the MK resorts or the EPCOT resorts. You aren't subject to opening and closing the stroller for the buses. We love the Poly - it is our favorite resort - but if you want to try another hotel - why not the BC or the BWI. The BC has a great pool and we love the BWI. With those two hotels you can walk to EPCOT and take the boat to HS. We also do enjoy the CR - we love walking to MK.

We did the dining plan once and several times after that we paid OOP and kept records of what we spent - we saved money each time not doing the dining plan and we ate at least 1 TS meal per day. Plus we did lots of character meals. I just don't see the savings - until you do not do a pay one price meal and order a high priced entrée.

Enjoy the trip.