We went to Disney in November 2011 and stayed at the Wilderness Lodge - it was great and I got a fantastic deal. We are planning on going in Jan 2013 before the kiddos are too cool to go. Does anyone know when 2013 special offers will be announced by Disney? We are planning on staying at one of their resorts again since it is easy for the kids to nap in the afternoon but i am curious to know if anyone with young kids ever rented a condo/house instead and what they liked/disliked. Thanks!
allstarvacationhomes.com is awesome. every house has a pool and is about 15 minutes from the gate.
this year we are staying ON Disney. If you buy one season pass, you can book a room at 40% off sometimes.
We always rent a condo - well, we use our timeshares just outside of Disney. Aside from paying for parking, it's AMAZING!
We normally stay at the Imperial Palms or Royal Palms Marriott, or Wyndham Bonnet Creek.
Both great resorts.
Try dvcrequest.com. This is where you can rent points from people who have Disney timeshares. We always rent points and can stay at the Animal Kingdom Villas for the same price as the value resorts. You will still need to get your park tickets yourself but if you want a meal plan you can also get that thru DVC. You can start buying your park tickets now from undercovertourist.com, they are slightly cheaper than Disney and often offer a free day (buy 3 get 4) and they offer free shipping so ou can order one adult ticket this month, another one in a couple of months when you have the money etc etc until you have them all. If you think you may go again in a couple of years I highly recommend buying the "10 non-expiring water parks and more park hopper tickets" They give you 10 days of theme parks and 10 days of water parks and they never expire. We bought them 2 years ago and it works out that our daily park cost is less than $30 per person.
Whatever you end up doing you know you will have fun.
D (4 weeks till Disney)
Create a log on ID on their web-site so that you can get emails about what's going on in the parks and special offers. January is a slow time here (after new years day of course) so you should be able to pick what you want and get a good deal too. Disney has quite a few resorts with kitchens so check the prices on those too.
Before we moved here we would rent house/condo/townhome outside of the park. In the long run it is a little cheaper and most have pools so you can just hang around the house when you need a break from the parks. It also gives you more freedom to see different sights outside of the Disney parks.
We have stayed on the Disney property Old Key West twice and LOVE IT!! It was built as part of their vacation club, but they do allow reservations from "the general public". It is 2 bedroom apartment and they have a store there for you to get breakfast items, etc. I don't think we will ever stay anywhere else when we go. The atmosphere is a little calmer because there are not as many little kiddos. Some of the other resorts can be really overwelming, but this place is calm and peaceful.
M
I would think that towards forth qtr , you'll hear about more deals in 2013 .
We always stay on property, it completes the Disney experience.
We stayed at All star movies
and pop century resorts
all star movies was awesome
pop century was lacking.
Just watch for the specials that come on TV. I always see them and
actually got an incredible deal one year. Dining plan free!!! We always stayed on Disney property. However, we no longer do since we have a
Hilton timeshare. Now it is just me and my hubby so it is fine. I would think
if you have young children, staying off property is not very convenient. Best
part about staying on property is that you can go back during the day without
a problem. I would never have stayed off property when our kids were
little. Now we have all the time we want, hence we use the timeshare.
You should be able to get good deals for January 13. It is a quiet time at
Disney so they put out good packages.
