"Last minute" WDW Trip in April!!

[NemoCat]

Hello Everyone,

I have very few posts here on the boards, but I have listened to the Dis Unplugged podcast since 2007.

I am posting because my mom just came to me today after doing some figuring(thanks to income tax money coming!) saying there is a possibility we can go to Disney World in April for my 30th birthday!

I am excited at this possibility, but also freaking out a bit. I last went to the world back in November 2010 with a friend. We planned that trip about 6 to 12 months in advance. April is 2 months away! My family is me(adult), my mom(adult), and brother(adult). We would be looking at going roughly 4/16 to 4/23. i can get a 7 day ticket for $372 through my work discount site. my mom found a package through southwest that includes airfare and hotel(The Best Western near Disney Springs) for $1833. So this leaves food. I was thinking to do the dining plan, but i see that we have to stay on property for that. Would it be better to stay at one of the value resorts and get the quick service dining plan included? Also how are the crowds that time of year?

I hope this is enough information to get some help from you guys. when i went back in 2010, my friend did most of the planning. plus things have changed so much since then too. ahh!!! thank you in advance for any help, tips, and/or suggestions!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Congratulations on having this opportunity!

Usually my trips are planned far ahead, but last year I planned a July trip just six weeks ahead. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get all the dining reservations I wanted. (Granted, some of the more popular restaurants didn't happen to be on my wish list for that trip, anyway.) But it worked out well.

Since Easter is in March this year, I'm hoping the April crowds will be lighter. I'm going this April 8-21. I think April weather is usually a more mild time of year.

I haven't done any dining plans, so will leave it to others to comment on that.

But instead of freaking out, how about celebrating?! That sure is nice of your mom!

 

[NemoCat]

Congratulations on having this opportunity!

Usually my trips are planned far ahead, but last year I planned a July trip just six weeks ahead. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get all the dining reservations I wanted. (Granted, some of the more popular restaurants didn't happen to be on my wish list for that trip, anyway.) But it worked out well.

Since Easter is in March this year, I'm hoping the April crowds will be lighter. I'm going this April 8-21. I think April weather is usually a more mild time of year.

I haven't done any dining plans, so will leave it to others to comment on that.

But instead of freaking out, how about celebrating?! That sure is nice of your mom!

Thank you for replying.

It is good to know that you got most of your dining reservations you wanted. At this point there are only a few restaurants we really want to go to.

Per wdwinfo.com the cost of the quick service dining plan is about $42 a person per night. I personally really would like to do it since i loved the convenience of it before. i am thinking if we do the dining plan, it would have to be all 3 of us or none of us, correct? I don't think my mom wants to do it and i am not sure if my brother wants to do it or not.

I am simi-celebrating. my mom and I just spent the last 3 hours or so talking and planning. It still is up in the air if we will be able to go, but it will still fun planning.

One more follow up question; we figured it would be better if we stayed on property, but still get the tickets through my work's discount website. how would the magic bands work? would we still be able to get them in the mail or would we take our tickets and link them to a band at the resort? also, we wouldn't have to pay for them since we would be staying at a disney resort, correct?

 

[com_op_2000]

EPCOT F&G will be on-going during this time period. There will be food booths set-up around World Showcase a great way to take some time and enjoy the EPCOT park.
I have never done the DPs and most likely never will; when I have priced it out I found that getting one meal in the room a day and eating OOP is less costly.
As of the MBs, once you get a reservation made and get your tickets purchased place both with your MDE account. Then you can customize your MB and make FP+s choices at 60 days before the start of you stay.
As far as last minute goes, you are no where near me:
DW and I several times have been at DTD for the day and decided we wanted to stay the night. Called the resorts directly (back before MS was open on Sundays) or MS and checked in within 15 minutes.
At MK for the day in Feb ’14 for our anniversary, called MS @09:00, and booked a room at BLT for that night. Checked-in @11:00 and the room was ready. We did not plan on this day going like this until @05:00 while still in bed.

 

[catmom46]

I wouldn't book a value resort unless it's cheaper than the Best Western, especially if your mom and brother may not be interested in the dining plan. I agree with the PP that you could easily stay at or under $42/day without it. Have a great trip if you do go!

 

[marchingstar]

congratulations! and I hope you can make it to celebrate your birthday.

We have always wanted to plan a trip really far in advance, but our work schedules are a bit unusual (contract work), so we've always planned "last minute" (as in, under 180 days) including an April trip we decided on this week. there's still lots of time to get planning in

it sounds to me like you have a pretty good deal at the offsite hotel. you could always price things out and see what a Disney hotel would run--right now there are discounts for April travel (the % off drops after feb. 28, I think) so you
might find a good deal? as for the dining plan, you're right that everyone in the room would have to have it. if your family isn't into that idea, you could always preload a gift card with the equivalent dollar value and use it for your meals? this might even be better (to my
mind) because you would have the option of sit down meals along with quick serve ones. if you're sticking to a tight budget quick serve is a good option, but I think you could also make some great budget meals at less expensive table service restaurants work too (some examples: burgers at Sci Fi are a couple bucks more than quick serve, the bread service at Sanaa is about 12$ and its huge--we usually order it and a couple appies to split and end up stuffed). those options wouldn't be possible with the dining plan, but with a gift card equaling the same amount they would be.

happy planning!