<p>Could DisneyLAND in CA be a cheaper option?</p>
<p>There are only 2 parks, Disneyland and California Adventure. You could look for cheap airline tickets, cheap rental car and spend 2 days at disney (both days at disneyland or one at each park), then go to the beach for the rest of your vacation.</p>
<p>There certainly are more affordable lodging options at Disneyland - multiple suite style hotels within a short walk to the park. You would want a car under this scenario. </p>
<p>I’d also say, having been to Disneyland, Disneyworld and Disneyland Paris, that the original Disneyland is clearly my favorite.</p>
<p>I gave a slight thought to the Disneyland idea - I’d love to take my kids out to California cause they have never been…but I know time will be limited and while Florida itself doesn’t interest us alot other than Disney, CA has LOTS of sightseeing I"d love to do - so that trip will be best to wait I think. Though actually, we have some family in CA we could bum a night or two off in San Diego and San Bernadino area.</p>
<p><a href=“although%20I%20don’t%20understand%20how%20we%20would%20get%20around%20during%20the%20day%20once%20we%20are%20to%20a%20park%20-%20if%20we%20want%20to%20park%20hop…SO%20many%20issues%20to%20consider!!!”>quote</a>
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This is not a problem, no matter where you stay. There is either monorail transportation between parks (Magic Kingdom & Epcot), bus transportation between all the parks (MK, Epcot, Animal Kingdom & Hollywood Studios), and walking paths & distances between two parks (Epcot and Hollywood Studios). Anyone can use this transportation. </p>
<p>And it’s not hard at all. On our first day, we started out in Animal Kingdom, hopped a bus to Hollywood Studios for dinner and a couple of rides, and then hopped another bus to Magic Kingdom. Transportation took us about 45 minutes all told, and it looked like it would have taken us just as long to take the trams back to the parking lots to get a car.</p>
<p>While we never stayed in them, I would also recommend the Cabins at Fort Wilderness. They are lovely and while they may be a bit cramped, they’ll have a lot more space than a single hotel room off property that allows 5! And then you also get your Extra Magic Hours and the free Magical Express service from the airport.</p>
<p>When you went to AAA, did they include non-discounted tickets and the dining plan in your costs? You may want to price out a room only with the discount at the cabins, and buy groceries or have them delivered by [GardenGrocer.com</a>, The Selection of a SUPERMARKET Delivered to Your Door!](<a href=“http://www.gardengrocer.com%5DGardenGrocer.com”>http://www.gardengrocer.com) to save money on food. Here’s a review from one of the many Disney newsletters about the cabins:
[Fort</a> Wilderness Cabins: My Kind of Camping • Magically Speaking](<a href=“http://www.themouseforless.com/tripplanning/news/ms/2009/FortWilderness.shtml#more]Fort”>http://www.themouseforless.com/tripplanning/news/ms/2009/FortWilderness.shtml#more)</p>
<p>Chedva, the cabins look like a lot of fun. They look like a great solution to a family with more than 4 people.</p>
<p>When they priced it out it was for a value resort or the cabins, a meal plan and tickets. </p>
<p>That is good news to hear that once we are in the parks, we can use their transportation to go between the parks - I wasn’t sure about that…</p>
<p>abasket- Disneyland has some good things going for it. As someone else said there are tons of motels right near Disneyland. Most have family suites which are quite large. Another nice thing about Disneyland is you are not far from the beach. You could even stay out in Newport or Laguna Beach and drive to Disneyland for the day. Since I think you are from Ohio your family might enjoy the ocean. Plus staying at the coast is much cooler.
A couple of summers ago we stayed in a nice place right on the water in Laguna Beach. The town is totally walkable. We were right above a really nice swimming beach. In the summer they have something called Pagent of the Masters. It sounds strange but it is actors bringing works of art to life. We had done Disneyland several times so we went to Knots Berry Farm instead. Also you have the option of several different airports including John Wayne which is quite close to Disneyland. Southwest flies into John Wayne and Jet Blue into Long Beach.
Also our Costco sells Disneyland multi-day passes at a discount.</p>
<p>Going to Disneyworld in June should be less expensive than most any other time. We went one year the last week in June and were there for 10 days. It was our “bargain vacation”. We actually stayed at a Quality Suites Maingate (but that was 13 years ago…it’s not new anymore…), and that was back in the day when the Entertainment Book gave you 50% off of the rooms. We had a two bedroom suite, with a living room (there were seven of us) for $70 a night including breakfast.</p>
<p>BUT I would suggest staying ON the Disney grounds if you can afford it at all. It will give you MUCH more flexibility in coming and going from the parks. You can come and go separately. Some can meet you later, etc. </p>
<p>One way we saved money…and boy did my husband make fun of me…I took a suitcase full of breakfast “stuff”…small boxes of cereal, applesauce and fruit cocktail, juice boxes, granola bars, etc. We just got milk at the little convenience store in the hotel and put it in ice. In the morning we made coffee, and had breakfast in our hotel before going to the park. Then we’d go to the park early. Mid morning we would have a snack…a bagel, danish, fruit…something like that. By about 1, it was HOT so we would go back to the hotel and go to the pool and rest. Then we would eat an early dinner in the food courts. Do they still have those? They were a bargain. Then we’d head off to do evening stuff in the parks. The only food we bought in the parks themselves was snacks. We did have one or two restaurant meals but not too many. They are pricey.</p>
<p>We rented a car when we stayed off site. But when we’ve stayed on the Disney grounds…no car…just isn’t needed.</p>
<p>Thumper, yes they do have food courts, but they also offer a meal plan as an option. Last summer they offered a free basic meal plan (“counter service” meals only) with your hotel stay. You needed to book by a certain date to get that. You were able to upgrade that meal plan to another plan so that you could eat in restaurants for “table meals”. They seem to currently offering some other special now. </p>
<p>I think that if you can at all afford it you should try to stay on site. It allows for the extra hours for hotel guests only. This helps avoid standing on line in the heat of the day. I don’t know how much those Fort Wilderness cabins are, but they look like a good option to me.</p>
<p>abasket, I suggest getting the discount tickets from Undercover Tourist. I just used the UT tickets for our trip, saved about $20/ticket, and was able to upgrade them when I wanted to do so. They’re exactly like the tickets Disney sells. (BTW, when you look at the websites for ticket prices, please note that Disney’s website prices do not include either tax or shipping; UT’s prices include both.)</p>
<p>As far as the meal plan goes, you might want to skip it entirely. You can have breakfast and snacks at the cabins, and an occasional barbecue. Many dishes at both counter service and at table service restaurants are big enough for sharing; my d and I did a lot of sharing - one appetizer or one dessert, and one entree was often enough for both of us, and we’re not unusually small eaters. </p>
<p>Also, keep your eyes open for any additional discounts, which I believe will be coming down the pike. Every so often, go to <a href=“http://www.disneyworld%5B/url%5D”>www.disneyworld</a>. com, and click on the link at the top called Special Offers, and see what’s up. Or subscribe to the Mousesavers newsletter, and they’ll e-mail you immediately with any “hot offers.”</p>
<p>We also just got back from Disney…my wonderful 49-year-old sister just ran the Disney Marathon! What an experience! It was so beautifully planned, so full of spirit, and so much fun! They’ll have it again next January if any of you out there are in the mood to train.</p>
<p>We usually stay at a rented timeshare (Vistana, Blue Tree, or Cypress Pointe, all in Lake Buena Vista and a fastfast drive to the parks) but this time we rented a 7-bedroom house in Kissimmee and had a family reunion. It was so relaxing to have our own pool, hot tub, kitchen and multiple bathrooms. I don’t know if we’ll be able to go back to not having all that!</p>
<p>We hadn’t been to Disney for a couple of years and were appalled at the $12 parking charge. Still, we like not waiting for transportation, and we like going to the outlet stores, Downtown Disney for shopping, and my favorite, PUBLIX.</p>
<p>Have a great trip. Any planning you do now will pay off a hundredfold when you get to Florida.</p>
<p>Went to Disney yearly for many years - we live close enough to drive. When the kids were school age and could buy into the concept of only going to 1 or 2 parks over a long weekend, we started going once a year at different times of the year.</p>
<p>There are 2 kinds of Disney vacations - the kind that we took with the kids and the kind where you probable won’t ever go back, or not for many years.
If this is the second kind, I recommend the Unofficial guide, their hotel recommendations are spot on, particularly the value lists, sometimes the cheapest hotel is not the best value.
Also, poll the family several times, and set ground rules for the 11 year old - can s/he go around with one of the older kids? Does everyone ride rides, or do you need to split up based on who gets motion sickness? what does everyone want to see? Do you want to go to Universal? I highly recommend Universal for this slightly older group.
Staying on property has the most advantages for a mobile family with different interests who wants to see everything. Port Orleans, for example, is a great bargain, but wait times for the buses can get to be very annoying. By June they should have late opening times, that coupled with early arrival for property guests should allow you to take long days with naps or swims in the hottest part of the day - 30 min bus rides cut way into that.
If you don’t want a resort feel, I would recommend the Dolphin or Swan, you can walk onto Epcot, and since Epcot is the biggest walking park, it is a good one to take in small chunks - like in the evenings after the nap or swim.
The Hawaiian hotel on the monorail is also a good bet for families, and it fills up fast for that reason.
If you decide to go to Universal, it is much better set up than Disney - I recommend the Royal Pacific, you can walk to either park or ride the water taxi, the Universal entertainment area is in the middle, and that might be very good for your slightly older crowd - dining, shopping, dancing and movies. Have fun!</p>
<p>We Disney’d for years, staying on and off property. We are CHEAP and always brought our lunch with us (they say you can’t but we rented a locker and kept lunch there with frozen water bottles to keep it cool) - we usually ate lunch while waiting for a parade or show to start. No one ever said anything to us. I’d second Mousesavers as an excellent resource.
When DD turned 16 she wanted to take a friend to Florida in lieu of a party/presents. This turned out to be the best value ever. We stayed on the club level at the Hard Rock Hotel for 4 nights and did Universal instead of Disney. The club level is about $100 more/night than a regular room. The benefit was we never paid for breakfast or dinner. They have breakfast each morning and a cocktail time in the evening with substantial hors d’oerves with free beer and wine (adults only!) and later on dessert. Staying at the Hard Rock meant a special line for all the rides which moves you to the front (not a timed thing). The girls had a great time.</p>
<p>I just read some of the other posts - Downtown Disney would be a good option, also look at the Summerfield Suites, NOT the one on International Drive, the OTHER one - this one is almost as close as Downtown Disney, and I believe it has transportation.
International Drive is where the Convention Center is, those hotels run transport to the parks, but it is probably too far for easy park skipping. Downtown Disney and the area where the Summerfield Suites and The Pebbles restaurant are, is quite conventient - there’s a grocery store there, too, or used to be, so you wouldn’t have to haul the suitcase of food.</p>
<p>One suggestion - don’t park hop. Go to a park early (say the Magic Kingdom) with a plan - here is what we are going to do in this park (the unofficial guide is a great way to put together that plan). Do everything related to that park in one day - and don’t plan on going back. If you get to the end of the plan with time left over, then go ahead and start another park - but going back and forth is simply a waste of precious, expensive time.</p>
<p>Although it’s probably too late for anyone going this year, if Disney is in your future plans, it may be worthwhile to get a Disney Visa from Chase. Because we’re fools for Disney, we got one several years ago. Like other frequent-whatever cards, you earn points which are translatable into money usable at Disney properties, including the stores. The last time we went, we ‘paid’ for our tickets, all food, all merchandise, etc., until the last day of a week’s stay. Add to that our stay at a Disney Vacation Club property and our trip cost us Airfare and Car Rental (we always rent a car 'cause the DH can’t stand to be at the mercy of other people’s schedule.)</p>
<p>I think scualum has a great point about planning to just do one park in a day and not think about park hopping. If you do that, then staying off site with a rental car would make sense. We’ve found that renting a time-share property was wonderful because our family of 5 could spread out a bit and the pools were always a big hit with the kids.</p>
<p>I just got this special offer via e-mail - [Walt</a> Disney World® - Walt Disney World® - Special Offer](<a href=“http://bookwdw.reservations.disney.go.com/ibcwdw/en_US/specialOfferDetails?name=Promo&promotionCode=b4g3f&market=b4g3f&CMP=NLC-YSCFY09Q2NLMakeGd@05-01D134]Walt”>http://bookwdw.reservations.disney.go.com/ibcwdw/en_US/specialOfferDetails?name=Promo&promotionCode=b4g3f&market=b4g3f&CMP=NLC-YSCFY09Q2NLMakeGd@05-01D134)</p>