Orlando Win - Update

sparkling_gal

How wonderful. I haven't stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel but it's meant to be awesome. And it is great that you are able to take advantage of the free dining at Disney too. I've done the paid dining package before and it worked out well with kids but free is even better

October is a brilliant time to go too - nice weather and low crowds. To help you plan your trip, it's well worth checking out the forums at wdwinfo.com

I haven't done Discovery Cove but I've heard great things about it. It seems pricey but I think the price includes all food and drinks and 14 days admission to Sea World.

WillowMuse

Glad you sorted everything, Never been myself but I hear its wonderful:D
Have a fantastic time:j

stikiuk

We did Discovery Cove in December and I can't reccomend it enough. My children will never forget there day.
It's not really that expensive, we got the ultimate pass for £159 each and with that we got 14 days passes at Bush Gardens, Sea World & Aquatica. It was an amazing day.
If you go ahead with it make sure you shop around as I got lots of different prices. Enjoy your hols x

1972

sparkling_gal wrote: »

How wonderful. I haven't stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel but it's meant to be awesome. And it is great that you are able to take advantage of the free dining at Disney too. I've done the paid dining package before and it worked out well with kids but free is even better

October is a brilliant time to go too - nice weather and low crowds. To help you plan your trip, it's well worth checking out the forums at wdwinfo.com

I haven't done Discovery Cove but I've heard great things about it. It seems pricey but I think the price includes all food and drinks and 14 days admission to Sea World.

Thanks for the website information. I have also registered for the DIBB website too.

What was the dining package like. Did you eat breakfast as part of it? You have to book all the restaurants in advance don't you?

1972

stikiuk wrote: »

We did Discovery Cove in December and I can't reccomend it enough. My children will never forget there day.
It's not really that expensive, we got the ultimate pass for £159 each and with that we got 14 days passes at Bush Gardens, Sea World & Aquatica. It was an amazing day.
If you go ahead with it make sure you shop around as I got lots of different prices. Enjoy your hols x

Everyone I speak to said it is the thing they most remember from their holiday.

Did you not book it direct with Doscovery Cove? Can you remember who you booked it with?

stikiuk

1972 wrote: »

Everyone I speak to said it is the thing they most remember from their holiday.

Did you not book it direct with Doscovery Cove? Can you remember who you booked it with?

I booked them through the travel agent who we got our villa & flights with, he's only a small independent one. When you add the cost of the other tickets it's actually not that much for DC. Plus you get all food and drink for the whole day, it was really nice food to & all cooked to order not buffet style.

sparkling_gal

Hi 1972 - You need to reserve all sit down meals in advance - I think you can do it three months out but check on wdwinfo or dibb, as they do seem to keep changing the rules. I would highly recommend booking exactly three months ahead if you can.

The dining plan is great - there's some really nice places to eat. You get one counter service, one sit down meal and one snack each day. We could rarely manage to eat more than that but on the days we could we just paid for a cheap out of pocket meal for breakfast.

Do check out the restaurant reviews on the disney forums to help you choose the sit down meals. With kids the ages of your little ones I would highly recommend booking a breakfast or dinner at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary Resort (near the Magic Kingdom).

For the snack credits, I thought it was mostly just an icecream or drink you could get but if you check out the restaurants forum on wdwinfo folks post pics of all kinds of snacks you can get.

Have fun planning - you will have a brilliant time.

1972

Thank you Sparkling_gal and stickiuk for your tips.

jojogirly

Fab win - congratulations, Hope you all enjoy.

kimmy393

Have you considered staying in a villa for the first 7 days. I have been 4 times and have stayed in both disney hotel and a villa and much preferred the villa. Not only is it cheaper but you get your own pool, and more freedom. And the villas are lovely