Disney Vacations...

rockcity

rockcity

everyday is a chance to get better
Joined
Apr 10, 2005
Location
Greenville, NC
Anyone have any recommendations for anything?

We want to stay right in/on the park.
Going for 6 days
Going end of April to avoid too many crowds

This is a family trip with me, Bri, and my 2 4year olds.

Thoughts from anyone that's been recently?


Thoughts on additions to packages (fast pass, magic armbands, etc)?
 
When we go this next time( me, wife, daughter 7 and mother in law) I want to schedule a "down day" in the middle of the trip to just chill at the pool and relax, because if you have park passes its hard to not go to a park. Its a vacation but also a lot of walking and or running to catch buses and see as much as possible. We had park hopper passes time before last and could go from park to park but last time we just got one park per day and dedicated that whole day to each park. It worked better for us and was cheaper too. Get you an "unofficial" park guide and they will tell you a lot of tricks and tips to planning a trip. We stayed at the All Star resorts last trip and I liked it best. We have also stayed at the Wilderness Campground in cabins before. Either way buses will haul you to and from everything.
 
apparently there is a whole science that has been developed over when the best and worst times for each park are, and when certain rides are down for maint. and such.

DO a search for " best time to visit Disney World " on the google, lots of info, probably lots of mis-info too. I've been toying with this for awhile.

It's been suggested that you start making reservations for various things at LEAST 6mos in advance. al the reading I have done, I can see why.
 
Carry double the spending money you think you need. Mickey digs deep into your pockets...
 
We done the snack and meal packages, so all that was inclusive and bought souvenirs at the resort (same stuff mostly) so we didn't have to tote them. This helps manage costs for us.
 
We didn't see the need to hop between parks, seemed like there was plenty to do at each one each day. I think animal kingdom was an early one, but we just went back to our room and relaxed, maybe watched some playoff football. This was back when our kids were 3 (x2) & 5 yrs old, maybe the park hopping would (will) come into play when the kids are older. We brought the twins double stroller, then borrowed an umbrella stroller for the 5 yr old. That was a lifesaver, we were able to cart tons of crap, including lunches, snacks, in the bottom of the stroller, plus the kids didn't have to walk all over. We were able to cover a lot of ground. The kids were still exhausted by 5-6pm most days.
We're headed back in a few weeks, I'll post an update then. I'm going to search for my Disney thread and bump it.
Edit; oldest kid was 5 not 4...right before kindergarten
 
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Check for the Magic Hours. If you stay at one of the Disney hotels they open early and/or stay open just for hotel guests. We walked into MGM at 7am with a handful of others. Had the park to ourselves. It was a virtual ghost town. The go back to the hotel and hang out at pool. Then go back late for evening magic hours. Avoiding the crowds and lines.
 
Curious to know what it costs. I looked briefly a while back, and it looked like if you stayed on site for a week, you could drop $5-8k pretty easily.
 
great place to go..expensive...
we stayed at fort wilderness too.- with the 4 year olds, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom will be your destinations. I know it's hard, but try and plan your meals before you go.- make reservations- otherwise you may wait- and we know that's not cool with kids.
Disney has an app if you do that stuff- you can schedule anything with that, plus fast passes, etc...

good luck and have fun!

brian
 
Looks like Bri is looking at September as it is supposed to be one of the slowest months.

Looking at the Grand Floridian resort in Disney (maybe the villas at contemporary)

Right now we are looking at 5 days (7 nights) and it is about $450/night. 4, 5 day basic passes are $1250; more if we add fast pass or the hopper options. Haven't really checked on food yet.

Park passes are what they are, not really changing much there. The hotel is the $$$. I'm trying to figure out what justifies $450+ night other than its "Disney" and I haven't really figured it out yet. We could save a few $ by staying off site but Bri is not having any of that. She has never been so this trip is just as much for her as it is for the kids. If she and the girls are happy, I'm happy, regardless of where we stay. So I pretty much am letting her book everything; my role is to quietly verify that everything is in order and that we get the best pricing we can wherever/whatever we do.

An example... The Grand Floridian Resort "package", 7 nights and basic passes for everyone for 5 days was $6350. However, if I purchased the hotel room for 7 nights separate from the 5 day ticket, we saved $1800. I compared the difference between the "package" versus purchasing the room and tickets separate and everything was the same.

So, just because it's a "package" doesn't necessarily mean it's a deal.


Another benefit of going in September is that we can save some $$$, like $2000 just on the room and ticket prices versus going in May. Obviously we will have to contend with the rainy season, but that's ok by me; it will still be fun.
 
Did Disney for a week 2 years ago...stayed at the Grand Floridian for 3 days...didn't think it was worth the price tag...stayed in the French quarter for the rest of the week. Beyond that, when you enter a park, go to the left...and I enjoyed Downtown Disney every night.
 
rockcity said:
Another benefit of going in September is that we can save some $$$, like $2000 just on the room and ticket prices versus going in May. Obviously we will have to contend with the rainy season, but that's ok by me; it will still be fun.
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Watch out for hurricanes...?

Only reason I mention it is that we had to cut our trip short on account of Hugo.
 
Hugo?

Lord, that was ages ago!


Hurricanes are a given that time of year. I'm trying to keep that in mind when making reservations and considering cancellation policies as well.
 
We've been several times. Always stay on site and always get the meal plan. Check around for prices direct thru Disney and also check with AAA. We've done it both ways. Usually there are some specials where you can get the meal plan for "free", that is how we always do it.

We've stayed at the Carribbean a couple times and this past year (Nov) we stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. We liked Port Orleans better. They are both "moderate" resorts. If you go with a "value" resort, just know that it will be way more crowded, and will take you longer to get to and from the parks on the bus system, as they are so many more people. When we stayed at Port Orleans Riverside in November, with 5-day park-hopper passes and the free meal plan, it was around $2400 total (2 adults and 1 nine-year-old).

Make your meal reservations as soon as you can. Disney allows you to do meal reservations 6 months in advance...you'll need to do it that soon or you will likely not get in all the restaurants you want.

Buy souvenirs at the Disney store in Concord Mills mall and take them with you. We do that and tell our daughter that there will be a special gift for her each day we are there in exchange for her not begging for every souvenir or trinket she sees. It works wonderfully, and saves us money.

Get the app for your smartphone so you can adjust reservations and fast passes on the fly.
 
rockcity said:
Park passes are what they are, not really changing much there. The hotel is the $$$. I'm trying to figure out what justifies $450+ night other than its "Disney" and I haven't really figured it out yet. We could save a few $ by staying off site but Bri is not having any of that.
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Few pointers.
You couldnt be more wrong on the first(bolded) part. Thats is where you can save mega cash. Check out mouse savers. There are tips there. Also Disney employees get so many passes per year based on years of service and they are transferrable. You an get week park hoppers for $100/ea though Ive never been that lucky.

The other thing is if you stay off Disney you get to walk a mile to from the pring lot you pay the honor of $40/day
 
We've been lucky enough to go a couple times a year the past few years. I strongly recommend talking to a travel agent that specializes in Disney, they can usually find good deals. We never do the meal plan, too much food for us, easier to manage cost by planning special meals & then just eating when we are Hungry. Buy Disney gift cards at Target with a Target card (automatic 5% discount). If you want to stay at a higher end property (Grand Floridian, Bay Lake Towers) look at renting Disney Vacation Club points (David's Vacation Rentals specializes in this & is very reputable). Mousesavers newsletter is very helpful as is their website. If you are flexible on your time & know some one who has a time share they are not using they can trade into Disney for you, this does take some luck though. For the Moderate resorts I have stayed in Coronado springs and can recommend it. Staying on property is expensive, but given the choice I won't do it any other way. If you stay on property you get an advantage in booking reservations & fast passes.
 
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