Anyone Go on a Disney Vacation Recently?

I am planning the same trip this year the only this that i see that benefits staying at a disney resort is that one park each day either opens 1 hr early or closes 3 hrs late for those guests...
how did you decide on things????

My sister is a big disney person. She uses mousesavers.com. She is actually going this thanksgiving for a week. The Christmas decorations are great. Also she got the packages with the meals included. Her family goes almost every other year. Hope that helps!!

L.

i would suggest stayng in one of the resorts, but definetly look into the shuttle service it makes it a lot easier. As far as packages, all I can say is get park hopper passes. Those were the best things my family got. I took my entire 10 person family to Disney in '03, and we had a blast just taking turns picking where to go. i hope you have a good time, and make sure you guys check out Animal Kingdom, and the Lion King Show (it was the best ever, we saw it twice!).

I went on vacation to Florida about 2 years ago and we purchased our tickets to the parks thru Ebay! We got good deals for hopper tickets for all the Disney Parks. If you never shopped on Ebay it is not hard and you can find good deals for prices you maybe looking for just make sure you read what the ticktes are offering you. Hope you find what makes you and your family happy on your trip to Disney! Good Luck!

We stayed at Howard Johnson's in Kissimmee when we went right before 9/11/01. Catered wonderfully to kids and was great rates. I'm not sure since 9/11, but prior you could take in any food/drink in a cooler. That was a lifesaver (and pocketbook saver). Being able to bring snacks, drinks, lunch, renting a double stroller kept room for child and cooler. There are websites for parents getting ready for Disney trips that were very useful too! Have fun!

amber,
i know you posted this message in september, but i just saw it. My husband and i honeymooned in Disney two years ago. We had the most fun of my entire life. We went through a travel agent, most of the time you can get some deals if you go through them, and it takes the stress out of trying to do every detail yourself. Absolutely stay on the disney resort!!! You never need a car. there are buses that take you anywhere you want to go on the disney property. the only transportation we had to pay for was the ride from the airport to the hotel. buses run every ten minutes from every sight and park on the property. You can also hop on the monorails from certain hotels. If you stay on the resort anything you purchase while you are in the parks, they will have it delivered to your hotel room, so you dont have to carry all your souvenoirs with you. its great. We actually stayed at the Hilton on the resort,right by downtown disney(great shopping there!). It was a great hotel, but if i was going with kids, i would choose one other such as the pop century, or something like that. they have different hotels with all different rates, depending on your budget! When are you planning to go? Just a tip... we went in August.. it was brutal. i would wait to go either eearly spring or fall. the heat was horrible. good luck! if you have any more questions please dont hesitate to ask! Have fun planning!

~T.

Best thing to do is stay on Disney property if you have kids. Try the value resorts like the All-Star or Pop Century. The website has a lot of good ideas for what to do once you get to the parks. Just remember if you plan on traveling in June or July, it's going to HOT HOT HOT and SUPER crowded.
I've lived in Florida all my life until we moved to NC last October.I worked at Disney for 13 years before we moved here. I consider myself a bit of a Walt Disney World expert. LOL If you have any more questions, let me know.

Have fun,
K.

I have just moved here from Florida and we used to go to Disney 4 - 6 times a year. I would highly reccommend staying on disney property. It is just so much more convenient. You can take a bus to all of the parks - no paying for parking, every day a different park stays open later or opens earlier just for resort guests. If you are looking for a reasonable place to stay on property, the "POP Century resort" is very reasonable. Nothing special , just a room but there are two pools & fountains at the kiddy pool. A big food court at the hotel, game room. I have stayed at many of the resorts so any questions let me know.
K. Robulock
Lexington, NC
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We just took our 18 mo old son to DW this past July. It was Very Hot, and Very Crowded. The best time of year to go is between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The weather is wonderful, the crowds are thin, and the Christmas decorations are spectacular! Don't go Christmas day though, it's the suposedly the busiest day of the year there. We have never stayed on property always in a rented house or condo. This year we rented from a great company call Florida Sun Vacation Homes. They rent these great little houses that ALL have their own private pools. It was great after a long day in the park to come back to a soak in the pool or hot tub, and to just enjoy with your family. Check out the website -flordiasunvacationhomes.com
Also there are tons of message boards with lots of great Disney info, check out - intercot.com Most of the people on intercot are former or current cast members and they know all good info, as wel as the site having links to any disney info you could ever need!
I hope some of this helps, good luck with the planning!

We are a family of 7 and recently stayed in July 2006. We stayed in the cabins at Fort Wilderness, so worth it to stay in a resort. They have before and after hours for resort guests only now. My mom came and stayed with the little ones and we took our two oldest to the Magic Kingdom until 1:30am, the longest line was 10 minutes long. They extend hours for different parks different days and before and after hours. We bought tickets at the resort, the package they offered wasn't worth it for us because we had a complete kitchen in our cabin and went to the local supermarket, Publix Supermarkets are super clean and have good selection (we are from Fl). Having access to the transportation is nice but parking is free for guests, sometimes we drove because the lines were so long to the parks! Hope you have fun!!!

Hi Amber. I'm a HUGE Disney World fanatic. I spend almost all day on intercot.com. We have only stayed on site once (in 1992) and have stayed in hotels/motels, condos, and a vacation home all in Kissimmee the other times (only because we find it less expensive...but it's definitely more of a hassle). Our most recent trips were the 2nd week of June, then I took my daughter by myself the week after Labor Day (awesome time to go...nobody was there!). June was extremely crowded and we will never go back during that time. Our favorite times (up until I went this past time during Labor Day), are during October and November (before Thanksgiving). That is during the Food and Wine Festival.

I've heard that the meal plan is a great deal. We're planning our next trip for the last week of January and actually staying on site this time (Port Orleans French Quarter). We've opted not to get the meal plan because we don't think that we'll be able to have that many sit down dinners and they offer a lot of food. But it's really up to your own preference if you should get it or not. I'm going this next time with a grandmother who eats like a bird, so it wouldn't be economically feasible for us in that case.

A non-profit travel agency we've used that I absolutely LOVE is called Magical Journeys (I think it will come up if you google it). They keep updated on all the discounts that you could qualify for, and without you having to look for them they go ahead and apply it to your reservations.

As for staying onsite or offsite, in June we stayed in this 4 bedroom house with a pool and hot tub just 2 minutes from the parks for only $600/5 nights and 6 days. It was my favorite place we've ever stayed. We go grocery shopping when we get there and take snacks into the parks then come home for lunch and rest, then head back out.

I'm so excited to stay at Port Orleans this next time to experience what everyone else has already...that sense of "never leaving the magic."

If you have any questions I'd LOVE to answer them...my favorite thing to talk about is Disney World...lol. I hope you and your family have the trip of a lifetime!

Hi Amber, my name is C.. I have 4 children ranging from 6 to 12 years old. My family went to Disney World in May this year. It was our first time as a family. We looked at both - plan it ourselves or go with a vacation package. After looking at both carefully and playing around with pricing, we decided to go with the vacation package. We used AAA to help us as we got a better deal. And we also included the dining experience with the package. It was the best thing we ever did. We didn't have to worry about the majority of our meals and how much we could spend on it - in fact it was cheaper for us to get the dining part of the vacation package rather than pay for it separately. Also we stayed in a resort that was on property. It made it so much easier to go places via the disney transportation - bus, than to drive our car to each park. After saying all this, my family had a blast and we would do this again if we decide to go again. Hope this helps.

We found the best for us was to buy our hotel and flight through expedia, then we booked the rental car with a no name site and bought out tickets to both disney and universal through those websites. We did purchase through expedia an Entertainment book. Basically it was like the book only you could just print the coupons for things you would use. We printed out meal coupons and some dinner theatre coupons with either buy one get one, or get $ off. They helped us save money too. I have been looking again as we are considering going next year as well, and have found that Disney is now offering some attractive packages with meals included and lodging for our family of 3 around the 2500-4000 range this would include airfare and your hopper passes for 9 days so shorter time would be cheaper. I have also checked into universal and their resorts are cheaper and kids stay free so you might want to look into that and just purchase your disney tickets online before you go. Also if you belong to AAA you will want to check them out, they can sometimes work some really good deals that you would have a hard to finding on your own, my mom and I used them when I graduated from college and we had a very nice trip and she saved about 30%. I hope this information helps.

We stayed in Disney at Fort Wilderness and had a blast! We bought Park Hopper passes and that was awesome! We could come and go in and out of the parks when we wanted and were able to get into the parks an hour earlier thatn the general public. The resort offered campground locations or cabin rentals. It was great-we could watch squirrels and bunnies playing and it was great to be able to take the tram in and out of the parks without fighting traffic. Disney is great. Hope you have a great trip!!!

Amber - I haven't read all of the other responses yet. We LOVE going to Disney. It's the one place we've found that has something for everyone and we can spend a vacation being a family instead of always splitting up to keep everyone happy.

I am a Disney Specialist Travel Agent.

The Magic Your Way packages offer a tremendous ammount of flexibility with the convienance of an all inclusive vacation. With a Magic Your Way packages you choose your resort, the length and type of your tickets and your meal plan (or lack of) to come up with vacation options that are perfect for your family.

The dates you're looking at traveling will severly impact your cost and the crowd level. The week between CHristmas and New Years is THE busiest week of the year with shoulder to shoulder crowds and the MK closing to new guests by 10am a common occurance and from Dec 20 - Jan 1st resorts are in 'holiday season' which translates to cha ching. If you absolutely must travel during that period, check in before holiday season starts to lock in value season rates. There will be no discounts for this time frame. The next busiest and expensive is peak season roughly mid Feb to late April. Crowds during this time are spring breakers and crowds are worse during the weeks on either side of Easter. Discounts during peak season are rare to never. Regular season with moderate to heavy crowds runs from May to Aug. Typical summer. Weather is hot hot hot which makes people cranky cranky cranky. The humidty is worse at the end of summer mid July- Sept. May & Sept are also 'love bug' season. Love Bugs are these annoying black little bugs that fly around with their ends connected. They don't bite or sting, they're just annoying. This past Sept 06 was the worst they have been in a long time. Discounts during regular season are hit or miss and sometimes are graet, sometimes not, but even a bad disocunt is better than rack rate. The rest of the year (Jan 2- pres day, labor day-Dec 20) is value season. Resort prices are at their lowest and discounts are common to try and fill resort rooms. Weather is also typically better. There area few peaks in crowd level during value season - Labor Day weekend, Veterans Day for Jersey Week, Thanksgiving and Pop Warner, but generally crowds are almost non exsistant.

If you stay on Disney property and plan on only doing Disney there is no reason to rent a car. If you fly into Orlando Disney has a free transport, Disney's Magical Express that will take you and your bags to and from your resort.

Other benifits afforded to Disney resort guests is Extra Magic hour. Each day one or more parks (depending on season) is open either an hour early or 3 hours late for Disney resorts guests. Disney resort guests can also have purchases sent back to their resort. You will recieve a 'Key to the World' card that will be your room key, your park admission and your dining plan (if purchased). You can also put charging privaliges on this card if you want too. Disney Resort guests recieve unlimited use of Disney transportation, use of high end ammenities at your resort, and are surrounded by the magic 24/7. Having stayed on and off site - we won't stay offsite again - we're a family of 5.

If you choose to stay offsite, look to Down Town Disney first, then Lake Buena Vista and Kissimee as a last resort. Hotels and resorts on 192 & International in Kissimee are hit or miss and the entire area has an over the top touristy feel and look to it that makes you feel more like locking your doors than you're on vacation. There are some really nice properties there, but they are few and far between so ask many many opinions before you even book, and general rule of thumb is to stay away from Days Inn in Orlando.

If you are near DC and want to have your vehicle at Disney with you, you can take the AutoTrain out of Lorton. Definately an experiance to be had at least once.

You can make dining reservations for all table service restaurants 180 days in advance. If you are staying on Disney property you can make those reservations for your entire vacation 180 days prior to your first day. If you stay offsite you have to call back each day. Popular meals like breakfast in Cinderella's castle book solid by 708 am on the 180 day mark so it's very important to think about where you're going to eat 6 mo in advance (crazy I know).

Allearsnet.com is the most comprehensive internet based guide on the web. Other good ones are intercot and mouseplanet. Mousesavers is good for saving money, but any good Travel Agent worth their commision will keep on the look out for ways to save you money. If you go with a travel agent make sure they are a Disney Specialist and have graduated from the Disney College of Knowledge. That's the only way to be sure that the agent has any real knowledge about the Disney Destination products. Don't be afraid to ask - it's your vacation!

For a printed guide book Passporter can't be beat. The information is presented in a clear easy to read manner, and it's chock full of worksheets and planning pages, plus the pockets in the back are great! Birnbaums official guide is nice, but since it's official you're only getting the glossy picture brochure everything is awesome version (love the pictures though!) The Unnoficial Guide has a get the most for your money even at the sake of your sanity and vacation approach and comes off as negative. (at least in my opinion). Kim Wright Wiley's Guide to WDW with Kids is a great resource is it's your first trip with kids. She breaks down each park and each ride listing potential scare factors even for the most tame of rides(ex peter pan is dark, spaceship earth goes backwards) so you can make a really informed decision for your kids. All guide books will have the same basic information in them. The differences come with how that information is presented, how you react to the presentation, reader comments and any 'extras' like planning worksheets, park maps & touring plans. I suggest checking out a few of the most recent versions you can find in your library and finding what is the best fit for you and your personality before sinking $20+ into it. For kids the official By Kids For Kids Guide is fun. Loads of kids opinions and games as well as basic information.

Email me if you have any other questions. ºOº
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company website - www.myfavoritemouse.com

Amber,

Hi, we went to DisneyWorld in May, and had a blast. We stayed off site in Kissimee which worked lovely for us, (with a three year old tazmanian devil to try to control, the extra room was wonderful!) We rented a house for a week through the area with a pool and hot tub. There are definite perks to staying on-site, and some for staying off site as well..I liked that we could eat some meals at "home" too. We had a private pool, etc. But I think you also get the perks of extra time in the park if you stay at a Disney Resort.

We bought our tickets and reserved our house online, if you would like I can email you all the info..just let me know, ok?

P.

I LOVE DISNEY. We went last year and are going next year also. I would go every year but my hubby says that every other is all we can do now :( I would go in the off season if you can. We like to go in Sept. (after labor day) Prices are better and it's not as busy. We like to stay in the Disney All Stars. You can pick movies, sports, music and I think there is one more. When we went the rates were about the same as other hotels and if you stay on Disney a different park each day opens early for you and you can take the shuttle busses so you don't have to pay for parking.
We also like to get the packages that include the room and the park tickets. That way it is all taken care of. This time I bought them on line but the time before I went through a travel agency in town and the prices were the same as on line and they did all the work I just told them what I wanted. I could go on and on but this is getting long so I will stop for now but I would love to share ideas as we plan our trips.
Hope it helps
M.

We just recently came back from Disney - Labor day week. We go almost every other year. If possible, go the Sunday of Labor day and the next week. The parks are still on Summer hours and there is NO ONE IN THE PARKS. We never waited longer than 20 min for anything and usually it was less than 5 min or right on the ride. We always stay on property at the All Star Sports. Staying on property is the way to go. There are shuttles every 10 - 20 min to take you where ever you want on property. The All Star Resorts are among the cheap of the resorts except for camping. If you stay in the All Star Resorts make sure you get the Sports one. It is the 1st pickup for the All Star Resort and the 1st dropped off. If you go to the Music or Movie one, you will end up standing alot or having to wait for the next bus. If you like a really nice hotel, this isn't the one for you. The All Star Resorts are more like a Howard Johnson. But for us all we want is a place to sleep. We only used the pool twice and we were there a week. Just too much to do and too tired after the parks.

Most of the neighboring Hotels do have shuttels to Disney and other parks but they are usually just morning drop-off and Evening Pick-up.

Also, is you stay on property, there are extended hours for one park each night, Except Animal Kingdom and the Water Parks. Those hours I think are set in stone.

If you are military check out The Shades of Green on Disney Property, it's REALLY nice and the rates are based on your rank.

Disney is offering a package, right now, that if you book the hotel and tickets with them together, they offer a dinner plan. It can be used in the resorts and parks and Downtown Disney.

You can still bring food into the park. I recommend it, expecially water and juice. The prices are Awful in the park. Most of it is Hamburgers and Fries, but there are some place in each park that have healthy alternative. It's just that they aren't always close by.

We used to get Park-Hoppers and if you don't have small children it may be what you want. But I noticed that now with small children it takes all day to do one park and therefor not worth the extra money for Park-Hoppers.

If you stay off property, there are houses you can rent for a good price. It good especially if there are a number of people going. But keep in mind you will need transportaion and then have to pay parking each day - Parking ISN'T CHEAP.

I also HIGHLY recomend the cruise, if you go off peak times, it is VERY reasonable. Keep in mind all food and drinks except alchololic and Smoothies are included and there is food available 24/7. Good food. And almost all entertainment was free too. We went for 3 days and didn't do everything we wanted. We are already planning a return cruise this, time longer.

We just came back from a disney vacation at the end of July beginning of August and we stayed at The Disney Wide World of Sports and it was wonderful! The resort has everything except the theme parks. Family friendly to the upmost. The buses come to transport you to the theme parks. We have also stayed in Kissimmee at the old Nikki Bird. It was great also. Next time we are going to stay at a resort where the kids can have breakfast with the Disney Characters.

Amber, we've gone twice a year for the past 3 years. Don't worry, this Dec is our last trip for a few years, but it just shows you how much we LOVE IT. We always stay onsite as its SO conveinent and fun. I package everything seperately but just because we like to spend a day out of the parks and if you get the 'length of stay' tickets you kind of waste a day. If you get the non-expire tickets you can use them ANYTIME in the future (just don't lose them). The dining plan is amazing IF you eat a lot. We don't and we mostly share meals but I have friends who just LOVE IT!
Good luck with your planning and have a magical vacation.. Disney is SO amazing!

Hi---you are going to have such a great time! It is absolutely worth the extra money to stay in a Disney Resort. We took our daughter (2-1/2 now) in October last year and had a blast. Thanks to some family we were able to stay in a Disney Resort and that made everything so much easier. We also had the whole kitchen so we didn't have to eat out as much and that helped to save money and to get our daughter some "rest" .Like mentioned in other responses you can pick up the different park shuttles every 10 or 15 minutes and the bonus of the extended park hours when it is not as crowded. We were able to go in teh morning and return easily and quickly in the afternoon for lunch and nap time.
It is also best to get a park hopper pass so you can go from park to the other any day and any time. You can also buy your park hopper or park tickets at The Disney Store so you don't have the entertainment tax to pay at the actual park or so was the case last year.
I know your family will have a blast----ENJOY!
C.

PS---don't know how old your children are but the character breakfasts are a great way to have the one on one with the characters your children love! The Princess one was so fun and our daughter got to have her pics taken with 5 of the princesses and they constantly stopped by your table to say hello and pose or sign the autograph books!

We just got back from Disney yesterday. We did a weekend there and had a blast. We stayed at the Doubletree Suites right at the entrance of Disney for 100/night. When we checked out they offered the same room for 1/3 of the price as long as we returned within a year.

I think that if you were to stay long term, say a week or more, a package would be best. I noticed that hotels right outside of Disney were a lot more reasonable but the catch is the drive to Disney. As far as packages are concerned, check online, usually they have some incredible deals out there.

Hope this helps!

Stay at Disney. It is worth the money to be able to return directly to your hotel at nap time. Yes, the hotels are over priced but the convenience is priceless.