Back from Disney

[BluePoodle]

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@One7 wrote:

Just flew back in from Orlando this morning, went out there last Thursday. My entire trip was basically paid for from all my sign up bonuses I've accrued over the past year. Thanks to these forums I've saved a boatload of money taking my family to Disney.  

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Congrats and welcome back. We are headed there in Dec. So I am curious, did you stay on Disney property of offsite?  I am trying to figure out how I can get better savings with my CC's.  Only the Dolfin and Swan Hotels are owned by Starwood so you could use points at them but as for the rest, you can not.  So I am planning my cash back to help offset the costs. Any suggestions or thoughts you have from your experience, I would love to hear.

[wacdenney]

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@BluePoodle wrote:

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@wacdenney wrote:

I am heading to WDW in mid September.  We are soooo excited!!  We haven't been in 9 years and have never done the princess type experience.  The last time we went we took our son and this time it's for the daughter.  We expect it to be a totally different type of trip for the most part.  I'm still trying to book reservations for Cindarella's Royal Table and not having much luck.     I was able to book Akershus Royal Banquet Hall though finally!!  Woot!!

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I like Akershus better than Cinderella's Royal Table. I know eating in the castle is a thrill to eat at but I felt rushed there. At Akershus the character interaction is better, there are more princess and the food was really good and the inside is like being in a castle as well. I think you won't be disappointed.

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Thank you!  That makes me feel a little better.  I guess I just want to be able to tell her that she is going to be Cinderella's special guest at the castle.  lol

I'm sure Akershus will be wonderful and I am very much looking forward to it!!

[wacdenney]

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@BluePoodle wrote:

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@One7 wrote:

Just flew back in from Orlando this morning, went out there last Thursday. My entire trip was basically paid for from all my sign up bonuses I've accrued over the past year. Thanks to these forums I've saved a boatload of money taking my family to Disney.  

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Congrats and welcome back. We are headed there in Dec. So I am curious, did you stay on Disney property of offsite?  I am trying to figure out how I can get better savings with my CC's.  Only the Dolfin and Swan Hotels are owned by Starwood so you could use points at them but as for the rest, you can not.  So I am planning my cash back to help offset the costs. Any suggestions or thoughts you have from your experience, I would love to hear.

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We're staying at the Marriott.  I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my Marriott card so I can earn some rewards while we are there. 

Going to Disney will certainly make meeting my spending for the bonus easy!

[BluePoodle]

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@wacdenney wrote:

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@BluePoodle wrote:

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@wacdenney wrote:

I am heading to WDW in mid September.  We are soooo excited!!  We haven't been in 9 years and have never done the princess type experience.  The last time we went we took our son and this time it's for the daughter.  We expect it to be a totally different type of trip for the most part.  I'm still trying to book reservations for Cindarella's Royal Table and not having much luck.     I was able to book Akershus Royal Banquet Hall though finally!!  Woot!!

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I like Akershus better than Cinderella's Royal Table. I know eating in the castle is a thrill to eat at but I felt rushed there. At Akershus the character interaction is better, there are more princess and the food was really good and the inside is like being in a castle as well. I think you won't be disappointed.

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Thank you!  That makes me feel a little better.  I guess I just want to be able to tell her that she is going to be Cinderella's special guest at the castle.  lol

I'm sure Akershus will be wonderful and I am very much looking forward to it!!

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How old is your daughter? I would definetly try Cinderellas RT some time if you can. We had a window view seating for breakfast. It was expensive and that was quite a few years ago. But I loved seeing all of the princesses at Akershus and we had dinner there. It is half buffet with your main entree that you order off the menu.  I really loved my dish but it is a bit of an unusual choice menu, my daughter was older for that visit so we did not look at the kids menu by then. But if it is for the Princess interaction, then Akershus will be a better choice no matter the age.  I want to go back some time but we won't get to this trip. We are doing Garden Grill and Teppan Edo in Epcot.  We have been to GG many times and it is one of my favorites but Teppan Edo is a new place for us to try.

Have a great trip.

[BluePoodle]

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@wacdenney wrote:

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@BluePoodle wrote:

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@One7 wrote:

Just flew back in from Orlando this morning, went out there last Thursday. My entire trip was basically paid for from all my sign up bonuses I've accrued over the past year. Thanks to these forums I've saved a boatload of money taking my family to Disney.  

---

Congrats and welcome back. We are headed there in Dec. So I am curious, did you stay on Disney property of offsite?  I am trying to figure out how I can get better savings with my CC's.  Only the Dolfin and Swan Hotels are owned by Starwood so you could use points at them but as for the rest, you can not.  So I am planning my cash back to help offset the costs. Any suggestions or thoughts you have from your experience, I would love to hear.

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We're staying at the Marriott.  I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my Marriott card so I can earn some rewards while we are there. 

Going to Disney will certainly make meeting my spending for the bonus easy!

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I will be looking into how I can use points for Starwood at some time to visit Swan and Dolfin. If I wasn't so lazy driving to parks I would consider Marriott. What kind of nightly rates did you get? I usually get up to 30% off disney properties during spring/summer but only free dinning during Christmas. We are taking daughter's bf this trip so the free dinning is decent cost savings. 

When you get back from your stay, let us know what you thought of the Marriott.

[Networth]

We go almost every year lately, and just got back from a quick trip to WDW stayed at Wilderness Lodge for 3 days. It's really a great place especially if you know the "tricks". We always stay on-site. Usually the Grand Floridian I realize that might be out of many peoples price range but look into one of the Moderates or other Deluxe resorts if so. Staying onsite it very nice. People call it staying "In the bubble" and let me tell you after having been over 100 times (born and raised Floridian) in my life both staying off site and onsite, the bubble sentiment is true. Book your dinning reservations 180 days in advance to guarantee you get the restaurant you want their is some very good food to be had don't get sucked into the chicken tenders and fries crowd. Check out places like Narccosee's, Victoria and Albert’s, Bluezoo, Yachtsmen, Jiko, Flying Fish, Artist Point, California Grill for great meals without all the characters. Also charge everything to the room if you have a card that gives double points for travel. Disney charges the whole sum of your trip as travel (even merchandise, photos, tickets etc.) EVERTHING you purchase gets you double the points if your CC gives double for travel not just the hotel. We are heading down again in December for 8 night at the Grand Floridian. 

Enjoy your trip I am sure you will have a great time. 

[One7]

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@Mr_Icky wrote:

Too funny, I just did exactly the same thing except on the west coast!

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How is Disneyland? Was thinking about visiting there sometime next year. I loved WDW,  how does it compare?

[One7]

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@Ron1 wrote:
Welcome back! Did you have a good time?

Ron.

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Thanks Ron! Forgot to message you when I got back. Had an absolute amazing time and I'm already looking forward to going next year.

[One7]

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@nachoslibres wrote:

Congrats - we are about to go on a Disney cruise as a family early next month - in fact - in exactly one month.  I've already paid for it, thanks to budgeting - but thanks to my Barclaycard Arrival + I will be getting reimbursement for almost all of it.  Since I have 120 days to redeem my "miles" against a charge I'm just trying to get as many of them as I can from my other purchases in order to get the maximum redemption against it.

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Awesome!  Hope you have a blast, it's great how CCs pull through and save us tons of money. Even better when we can use it on our family vacations

[One7]

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@wacdenney wrote:

I am heading to WDW in mid September.  We are soooo excited!!  We haven't been in 9 years and have never done the princess type experience.  The last time we went we took our son and this time it's for the daughter.  We expect it to be a totally different type of trip for the most part.  I'm still trying to book reservations for Cindarella's Royal Table and not having much luck.     I was able to book Akershus Royal Banquet Hall though finally!!  Woot!!

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I wasn't aware of the pre-booking of those and ended up missing out on all those, including the beauty and the beast one as well. We will definition be more prepared for it on our next trip, we had such a great time though. My daughter got to play the role of the beast in the beauty and the beast play and was able to dance with Bealle and my son's favorite part was when he was able to battle with Darth Vader on stage. Such an amazing time. My favorite part was meeting Gaston haha, he was funny