<p>I swear I’ve seen some Disney World threads before, but apparently I’m a poor “search” person cause I can’t find them…</p>
<p>Anyway, we are hoping to plan a family trip to Disney World early this summer. It’s a trip I’ve always wanted to do with my kids and even though they are getting older, I’m (and they) are determined to make it happen before it’s too late (i.e. - they have kids of their own!) . They are currently 11, 16 and 20 - husband is not real eager, but he will come along for the ride. :)</p>
<p>Being quite honest, $$$ is a factor and we are looking to go and enjoy a nice trip but must be reasonable $$-wise. If any experienced Disney-ers can share ANY tips re: places to stay, transportation, theme park tips, I’d love to hear them. Share your one GREAT Disney tip!!!</p>
<p>Our tentative plans/thoughts:
-Will go early June right after all are out of school.
-Will fly there and will NOT have car transportation while there.
-Will be looking for inexpensive lodging as we are able - but not cheap. Since there are 5 of us, we’d love a hotel that offers a bit more than a standard hotel room - perhaps an extra alcove or room with a sofabed (think Embassy Suites or a little lesser).<br>
-Lodging does not have to be on the Disney property but would like transportation available to the parks.
-Will be staying 4-5 days. Don’t know if time wise (summer jobs, internships) and money-wise we can afford more time. </p>
<p>My research is teaching me alot, but is also overwhelming. We belong to AAA and I’m thinking I will invest some time with an agent there to see what kind of deal they can offer and use their experienced knowledge. Anyone booked through AAA before?</p>
<p>I’ll stop there for now. Bring on the suggestions!!!</p>
<p>Your kids are older, I would consider spending a few days at the universal studio. We were there when our kids were 15 and 10. We had a lot of fun.</p>
<p>Check out Vistana resort (timeshare). They have 2 bedrooms and very close to Disney. When my kids were younger, we used to go down a lot. We usually stayed at the park because it was easier for us because they were so young. Another nice feature of staying at the park is it’s easier to enjoy the night life. Most people think it’s only for kids, but they actually have a lot of entertainment for older kids/adults at night. The good thing of staying at a place like Vistana is you could have breakfast and dinner at your condo, which could save you a lot of money. Food outside of Disney is also a lot less expensive. Check out Ebay to see if anyone is selling their left over park tickets cheap.</p>
<p>I recall those threads also, but I couldn’t find them either. ??? My recollection is that people made a variety of suggestions from staying in Kissimmee to staying in the Park. I guess we’ll have to do it all over again.</p>
<p>Our family has stayed in the park and also in Kissimmee. We prefer the latter, and stay at a suites-type hotels that offer free shuttles to/from the Transportation Center. Magic Kingdom is great for smaller children, but our teens preferred Sea World and the Universal Studio them parks. Good luck. Enjoy!</p>
<p>NewHope can you share what suite-type hotels you stayed at? I’m especially interested since it sounds like they have transportation to the parks.</p>
<p>Universal is completely seperate from the Disney parks, right??? (Yep, I’m a novice.)</p>
<p>I give 10 stars on Universal too. The technology on the rides are a lot newer & superior than Disney. We got free park passes w/ Royal Pacific Hotel. It was a very reasonable package & felt luxurious.</p>
<p>Check out Vistana. It’s very close to the park, they also provide shuttles to the park, we have stayed there. Universal is separate from Disney.</p>
<p>Check out disboards.com. Lots of information there and they are happy to answer any questions.</p>
<p>If you are an educator, government employee or nurse, the Dolphin which is located in the Epcot area offers some great discounts - sometimes as low as $149/night. It is a non-Disney owned hotel, but yet it is on property so you can use all the Disney transportation.</p>
<p>I tried going through a AAA agent and found I did much better doing my own research and bookings. It just takes a lot of time to become familiar with all the options. Disboards was a great help. Check it out.</p>
<p>We went a couple of times when our kids were younger. We found the suggestions in a book called “The Unofficial Guide to Disney World” very helpful. If it is still available and has been updated, you NEED a copy. (A quick check over on Amazon shows that it is and it has.) </p>
<p>Disney itself publishes “The Official Guide to Disney World” and we found that to be OK but not as useful as the other.</p>
<p>We went there once but didn’t go to DisneyWorld - went to Epcot and Universal Studios instead. I’d heard that DisneyWorld is too much like a spread out Disneyland and we have one of those 90 minutes away. Epcot was okay but not as interesting as I’d have liked it to be. Universal Studios was good - we had fun there. If your family’s never been to DW or Disneyland before, definitely go - it’s fun.</p>
<p>We stayed at a Marriott Courtyard that’s just outside of the DW property. They run a bus to DW so no car was required. I rented a car since we cruised all around Florida on that trip but used the bus to go to Epcott since it was easier than hassling with parking.</p>
<p>Have you been to Cape Canaveral before? It’s not all that far from Orlando and is worth renting a car for IMO. The rest of Florida was nice as well.</p>
<p>are you sure about not wanting to rent a car? There are tons of vacation homes, and the money you save by not staying at a hotel would probably pay for the car rental. Plus you would have more space to spread out, and with 3 kids that might be useful. Most of the homes, with a pool, are ~150 or less per night, and that includes ~3 bedrooms plus a full sized kitchen and living room. You can get houses that are ~10-15 minutes from the parks. </p>
<p>I’ve rented with villadirect.com and had a good experience.</p>
<p>I would only stay on a Disney property. Also, last summer they had a special where dining was free with a stay (had to book by a certain deadline). Don’t remember all the details, but the “free” meals were the fast food type, but you could pay the difference for table service meals. We had a meal plan the last 2 times we were at Disney and found it to be worthwhile. </p>
<p>Other advantages of staying on site: parks have extra hours for their hotel guests. This is a very nice feature. Also, 2 of your children are old enough to use their transit system if they want to do something and mom and dad want to nap! For example, we would nap midday in June because it gets hot (unless we were at a water park)! If our kids wanted to go to one of the parks, or stay longer than we do, if you are on site it is so easy for them to use their transportation system (boats, buses, monorail).</p>
<p>Their value hotels are not very expensive. The rooms are regular hotel rooms, but the themes outside make it special. The last time we went we got a good enough deal to upgrade from a value hotel to the Coronado Springs. There is a big difference in ambiance between this hotel and the value hotels. Additionally we found eating our counter service meals there to be excellent value and to be quite good.</p>
<p>I found a 5-night/6-day package for 3 adults, 2 children at the Disney Port Orleans Resort in a water-view room that includes Park Hopper passes for everyone and round-trip airport transportation-</p>
<p>Total is $2750. (Add $200 if you want the water-park option) Which comes to $550/person which I think is a pretty good deal considering you’re staying on-site and will have greater access to the transportation services offered. I’m sure you can find something cheaper off-site but without a limit, it’s hard to tell. I personally recommend staying on the property but it’s your choice. When I stay at Disney, I opt for the Contemporary or Grand. I love the monorail access right in the resort.</p>
<p>This is probably one of those trips that you might want to seek the advice of a good travel agent. No matter what you choose, have a great vacation!</p>
Agreed – the meal plan for our honeymoon was (IIRC) $200/person for a week, and it included lunch (entree and dessert), dinner (appetizer, entree, dessert), and a snack/breakfast per person per day, which is a lot of food. We definitely ate better than we would have if we’d been worried about paying for each individual meal, although the downside is that we may have brought home a few extra pounds around the middle. :)</p>
<p>Keep this in mind if you decide to stay more than a few days - for my family we’re ‘done’ with Disneyland (or Epcot) in a day and really have no desire to go back a second day. Some of the Disney package deals seem to revolve around visiting the park for multiple days which is something we haven’t been interested in. Of course in Florida they have multiple parks to choose from.</p>
<p>In 4 or 5 days you cannot see it all at Disney, IMO. There is MK, Epcot, AK, MGM, and 2 big water parks. Water parks require an extra fee over park hopper passes, so that is another decision you will need to make. Our family would never be “done” in one day.</p>
<p>My personal favorite restaurant is a buffet in the Animal Kingdom called Boma.</p>
<p>ucsd_ ucla_dad, I understand, but I just wanted to explain how much there actually is at Disneyworld. You can spend 4-5 days there, never leaving Disney without being bored. There are golf courses, pools, various classes that can be taken, boats that can be rented, etc. Even if one is not going to ride Space Mountain 17 times or even once, there is plenty to do. It only takes $$.</p>
<p>I think that it would take me at least 2 full days just to get through everything at Epcot.</p>
<p>Great advice and food for thought already - thank you!</p>
<p>We really will need to limit our stay to 4 or 5 days - so we’ll have to deal with that. We’ve already talked about taking a mid-day break so we don’t burn ourselves out. But yes, it’s a once in a lifetime for us, so we want to use our time wisely.</p>
<p>I have heard about the mealplan thing and was curious about opinions on this. Didn’t know if this was still a good value for us since our kids are older. </p>
<p>I can see us splitting up a bit as well. My two D’s will both want to see the Magic Kingdom at least “briefly” and I don’t think Animal Kingdom will be somewhere we will spend tons of time. I see Epcot as being a big hit as well as Hollywood Studios and maybe Universal. Don’t know if we’ll do a waterpark - we’d be satisfied with a nice pool area. </p>
<p>There is just SO much to learn that I’m a little overwhelmed at planning it myself. That’s why I thought at least I’d go to AAA and see what they have to say. I suppose we can still book things ourselves and get AAA rates right?</p>