Hi everyone!
I have an interesting dilemma....or maybe it's not at all!
I want to follow the rules but can't seem to find what they are in regard to this issue.
Here is the nutshell:
My daughter and I are planning a "quick" 5 day trip in September (Sa-Thur)
My BFF will have been in West Palm Beach watching her daughter's house for the week prior. She has not been to WDW in 30 years and really wants to extend her stay in FL by a day to come with us for the first 2 days of our stay. We would pick her up in WPB and drive up to WDW . We would have about 3/4 of a day in one park and a full day in another before she leaves the following day (Sa-Sun , Leaves early morning Mon)
3. My cousin has not been to WDW in about 40 yrs! She's had a rough few months and thought this quick trip would be perfect for her. But she is arriving the day after we get there - prob mid-afternoon and staying with us the rest of the time we are there. (mid Sunday-Thu)
My questions:
Do I need to book the room for 4 guests when my BFF is leaving the next day?
I would have to book tickets separate from the Room, correct? Is there any ramifications to this that I'm not thinking of? i.e. dining plans, multi-pass?
My daughter and I are Disney adults and know what we like. We want to get my BFF and cousin the biggest bang for their buck while they are there without overwhelming them. Do you suggest park hoppers or maybe not?
Thanks for the advice!
Diane
Hi Diana! I’m a bit late to the party on this one, but wanted to throw in my two cents. I agree with Craig that renting DVC would be a great option for you because the pricing is the same as long as you don’t exceed the max capacity of the room. It’s also often a good value. The downside of not getting a “package” is just that you wouldn’t qualify for certain incentives that Disney may be offering. One great perk to getting a package is that if you pay for it with a Disney Visa, you can essentially finance it interest free for a number of months. That only applies to packages, not room-only or ticket purchases. As for park hoppers, I think that really depends on how you think they want to approach the parks. Are they thinking rope-drop-to-park-close “let’s do everything we can with the time we have.” Or are they just looking for a pleasant day at the parks? If it’s the former, I’d say park hoppers and if it’s the latter, I’d say skip the hopping. Hope you have a great time!
Hi Diane, sounds like a great trip! Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of direct experience booking rooms and packages (I have DVC and they do things a little differently). I started trying to answer your questions and realized there’s a lot of things that may come into play. I’m not sure how the dining package works, but I think everyone on the reservation has to have the same package for the length of stay. If you leave your BFF off the reservation, you could get the dining plan for 3. As far as LLs, as long as your BFF has a date based ticket, you shouldn’t have any issues with multi-pass etc. if you leave them off the reservation. Do you know where you’re planning on staying? Have you looked at renting DVC points?
As far as bang for your buck, that all depends on your stamina haha. I tend to try to keep things on the light side when bringing ‘newbies’. If they fall in love with the place, they’ll come back. Show them some different experiences and see what they respond to (This mostly applies to your cousin of course lol). I hope this helps a little, and hopefully someone else can chime in!