Hello from Massachusetts!

[lebeauc]

My wife and I are planning on taking our Triplets (2 girls 1 boy ) to Disney World next April (2014) to celebrate their 5th birthday. My DW and I have been 3 times each before (last was in 2006) and are really looking forward to going with the kids.

We've already started looking and 'guess-timating' what the pricing might be. We are planning on possibly staying at AOA in a Nemo Suite since all the kids love Nemo. We don't want to get 2 rooms and have to be split between them (even if they were adjoining).

[Metro West]

Welcome!

[magicaldisney]

[Pea-n-Me]

There are a lot of people from MA here.

[jesswindsor]

Welcome!!!

[goofeygirl]

You will already know when you book your room what that cost will be including tax...and you can pay it up front if you want...its what I do to ease the financial pain of later on!

How much you will spend will depend on what you do and how long you are there for. With five year old triplets I would say to focus on the Magic Kingdom (MK) and perhaps AK. Epcot is not for the real young in that it might be really boring and to be frank Hollywood Studios is desperately small.
The entrace fee for each park per day right now is around 100.00 and a cheaper for kids. That adds up. You will want to check in about a hopper pass too...more money but allows for another park access...if you are on a budget.

The hotel you chose does have a very reasonably priced cafeteria there.

For a week it might run you from 3000-5000 which is a guesstimate.

[ccgirl]

Originally Posted by lebeauc

My wife and I are planning on taking our Triplets (2 girls 1 boy ) to Disney World next April (2014) to celebrate their 5th birthday. My DW and I have been 3 times each before (last was in 2006) and are really looking forward to going with the kids.

We've already started looking and 'guess-timating' what the pricing might be. We are planning on possibly staying at AOA in a Nemo Suite since all the kids love Nemo. We don't want to get 2 rooms and have to be split between them (even if they were adjoining).

Welcome! You will find lots of great tips on this board. Are you planning on going during the MA School vacation? Because, unfortunately, next year it happens to coincide with Easter so the parks will be more crowded that usual during the April vacation. The suites sound like they will be perfect for your family. Check at the ones at the All Stars as well. Not sure if there is a price difference.

[lebeauc]

Thanks GoofeyGirl and CCGirl,

We are planning on going either before or after April vacation. The kids will still be in pre-school, so it won't be a big deal if they miss a week.

I didn't realize the All-Stars had suites, so I'll have to check into that.

goofeygirl, the estimate you came up with, is about what I came up with. We will probably be there for 7 nights or maybe 6, and get 5 day passes. The hopper option is $300 more, so we may go without it. I can't see spending $300 if we won't use the hopper option, or only use it once. We are thinking at least 2 days for MK and 1 day each for the other parks. Epcot might take a full day, and we want the kids to see Illuminations. I know HS will probably not take a full day, but we also want the kids to see Fantasmic, since I thought it was the best of the 3 night shows. The one thing we are worried about is them not all being 40 inches tall. One of the girls is a little smaller than the other 2 and she may not make it. We are hoping for a growth spurt some time this year.

We still have over a year to plan, so I'm sure some of our plans will change. My in-laws are also planning to go the same time we do, and they are also looking to stay at AoA. I just hope they are far enough away that they aren't right on top of us.

*Also, thanks for all the welcomes from everyone else

[ccgirl]

Originally Posted by lebeauc

Thanks GoofeyGirl and CCGirl,

We are planning on going either before or after April vacation. The kids will still be in pre-school, so it won't be a big deal if they miss a week.

I didn't realize the All-Stars had suites, so I'll have to check into that.

goofeygirl, the estimate you came up with, is about what I came up with. We will probably be there for 7 nights or maybe 6, and get 5 day passes. The hopper option is $300 more, so we may go without it. I can't see spending $300 if we won't use the hopper option, or only use it once. We are thinking at least 2 days for MK and 1 day each for the other parks. Epcot might take a full day, and we want the kids to see Illuminations. I know HS will probably not take a full day, but we also want the kids to see Fantasmic, since I thought it was the best of the 3 night shows. The one thing we are worried about is them not all being 40 inches tall. One of the girls is a little smaller than the other 2 and she may not make it. We are hoping for a growth spurt some time this year.

We still have over a year to plan, so I'm sure some of our plans will change. My in-laws are also planning to go the same time we do, and they are also looking to stay at AoA. I just hope they are far enough away that they aren't right on top of us.

*Also, thanks for all the welcomes from everyone else

All Star Music has the suites. It is $208 weekday/$243 weekend night full price for the 2013 rates.

My kids always loved the World Showcase at Epcot as they loved the KidCot stations and the boat rides in Mexico and Norway.

You can wait to add the hopper option until once you get there. It will be the same price but if you decide not to hop you don't lose anything.

Have fun planning.

[travisx4]

another option would be to rent a house off property,you could save money by eating breakfast in and making lunch to pack..we did this when our son was young it worked out well just remember to factor in your parking fees when working your numbers.

[lebeauc]

Originally Posted by ccgirl

All Star Music has the suites. It is $208 weekday/$243 weekend night full price for the 2013 rates.

My kids always loved the World Showcase at Epcot as they loved the KidCot stations and the boat rides in Mexico and Norway.

You can wait to add the hopper option until once you get there. It will be the same price but if you decide not to hop you don't lose anything.

Have fun planning.

Thanks ccgirl. So if we decide to, we can add the hopper option but not pay unless we use it?

Originally Posted by travisx4

another option would be to rent a house off property,you could save money by eating breakfast in and making lunch to pack..we did this when our son was young it worked out well just remember to factor in your parking fees when working your numbers.

I considered this, but since its the kids first time, we wanted to give them the full Disney experience, and the AoA rooms look awesome. We also don't want to have to worry about renting a car for the 5 of us, and they will also still be in booster seats which we don't want to have to bring those along with us.

Thanks for the info though. If we end up going some years later, we will probably rent a house / condo. I've looked at them, and it does look like a great deal.

[richard39]

By getting 2 smaller rooms you do save $250 to about $400 depending on the resort and time you go the allstars resorts are good I stayed at all three last year and used the savings towards sourvenirs good luck and have fun....with that said I also went and checked out the new AOA resort to stay there next time and it looks great alittle more walking involved to get from the outside of the hotel to where the busses pick up/ drop off and my 4 yr and 7 yr old it would have been alittle tiresome plus walking in the parks all day so for oh and to save alittle money if you have the target red card you can save 5% on disney gift cards ( usually placed in electronics or by registers) they sell them in $25 or $50 and again on $3000 it saves $150 and again I used the savings for things for the kids at the parks

[cricket12960]

Originally Posted by lebeauc

My wife and I are planning on taking our Triplets (2 girls 1 boy ) to Disney World next April (2014) to celebrate their 5th birthday. My DW and I have been 3 times each before (last was in 2006) and are really looking forward to going with the kids.

We've already started looking and 'guess-timating' what the pricing might be. We are planning on possibly staying at AOA in a Nemo Suite since all the kids love Nemo. We don't want to get 2 rooms and have to be split between them (even if they were adjoining).

Welcome Neighbor! We are also from Southeastern Mass. We go every year during April Vacation. We have stayed at the All Star Music Suites. They are affordable and settled right by the pool area and food court. As far as park hopper passes go, I would absolutely add them because if the kids get too tired from all the walking you can go back to the pool for a rest and then go back to the parks later in the day... I personally would not go without the hoppers. Also Jet Blue is pretty much the cheapest airline to fly and they have the tvs in each seat so the kids can enjoy the flight even more....So plan away and most importantly ENJOY......Also you can get some much needed advise here on the boards.

[melmar136]

Welcome! Another MA resident here.

A couple of other options for rooms that will fit 5 are the Cabins at Fort Wilderness, and renting points for a 1 bedroom DVC villa. Both of those would give you the option of a full kitchen, if you wanted to make some meals in the room to save $. But AoA does have a great food court!

This year, there is a room only discount for spring, up to 30%, so make sure you look at the special offers when it is time for you to book. You can either then add your park tickets through WDW or there are a couple of places that offer a little bit of a discount if you want to get them separately.

I think you're right in not getting the park hoppers with 5 year olds, unless you don't mind spending the extra $. You can always leave the park to go back to your resort midday, then just return to the same park that evening. It just takes a little bit more planning to know which parks you want to do on which days.

Also, not sure if you're thinking of adding it, but personally, I would not get the dining plan, especially the quick service one. I think you can do better on your own, cost-wise.

As far as airfare, we had great luck with AirTran out of Boston last year, and Southwest for this summer, out of Providence. I always check right when airfare is released on each site. I love Jet Blue, but we never seem to get lucky and get the lowest rate with them.

If you do book a package with Disney, another way to save a little is to get a Disney Visa card. I believe you get 6 months 0% financing when you book a room and tickets together. And, with the $ you spend you get points for reward dollars you can then use at the parks.

You probably know, but if there are places you are sure you want to eat, like a character meal, just make sure you book those at 180 days before your trip.

So many options, have a great time planning!!!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

[lebeauc]

Thanks for all the info!

I wasn't aware about the 5% discount on Disney GCs at target. My wife does have a REDCard and we also have a Disney Visa account, so we will take advantage of those extra perks the cards come with.

As for the park hoppers, I think we will go down without them and add them if we decide we want to while we are down there. I just can't see spending over $300 for 5 hoppers to only use them once. It will be the kids first time, so we probably will take a day for each park.