YAY! So Happy I found this thread! We are going March 17-March 25 and staying for the first time at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We have stayed previously at Contemporary and Grand Floridian, but those monorail prices for next year are 2 arms, 2 legs, and maybe a spleen, LOL...Anyways we are SOOOO excited to stay Animal Kingdom Lodge...my kids are looking forward to seeing the Giraffes. We booked a standard view room, bc we really don't need to see the animals from our room bc how much are we really going to be in the room anyways, lol. I also called Disney this morning to request that we have the bunks in our room instead of 2 queens so heres to hoping for some pixie dust! We also booked the Deluxe Dining plan. We have been going back and forth with either paying OOP or paying for the dining plan, but when I worked out all the numbers the dining plan was only about $300 more, and that was not including drinks (soft drinks and such for adults), apps at some places, the daily snack allowance plus the refillable cup, and also my price was with me calculating getting stuff for my 10 yr old off the kids menu. With that all being said that $300 really didn't look like a HUGE difference and with the convenience of the dining plan and now my hubby will get what he wants and not the cheapest thing on the menu, lol, I think its totally worth it. Anyways super excited to get planning and hearing about everyone elses plans!