How to Make the Most of Our Florida Disnesy Fun

My husband and I took our kids to Dizzy World last June and we rented a house in Kissimmee. In my opinion, it was so much better than staying on the property because we had an entire house to ourselves with a private enclosed pool, we weren't forced to eat out all the time (or at Disney restaurants) and it was great to have someplace quiet to go when we just felt like relaxing between visits to the parks. If you'd like the house rental web site, I can give you that (as soon as I find it!). We've rented through the same company a few times and were very pleased with customer service, prices and the homes. As far as WDW is concerned, you can get deals on tickets if you buy multi-day packs. The Disney web site has a ticket calculator so you can pick and choose, mix and match what you'd like. My suggestion, since your kids are young, would be to stay in The Magic Kingdom and maybe Animal Kingdom. That's where all the smaller kid rides are. MGM Studios and Epcot may be lost on the little ones. In fact, I think the Disney web site even has descriptions of the rides and their suggested ages. (Don't quote me on that!) You might want to check. But anyway, we had a great time only visiting those two parks and our kids got 22 character autographs! They were so excited. There's so much to do, but we just took our time and it worked out well. I hope this helps. If you have any more questions, just ask! Have fun!

Hi J. ~ i suggest getting disneys official walt disney guIde 2008 by birnbaum. This book is by Disney Insiders. You can buy it right at the Disney store. It is THE book to get. There are a lot out there but since Disney Insiders write it, you will find the most valuable info. There are even Disney coupons in the back. Amazon, or any book store will also have it. I have been to disney more than 10 times and still find this helpful and fun to read. They come out with a new one every year with updated info about prices, parks, etc. It will tell u about the best and cheapest resorts, must sees, rides that will scare kids,best times to visit, cheapest time to visit, etc. I would also highly suggest staying on the property so you do not have to drive back and forth and pay for parking. There are super value hotels on the property. This way you can take a disney boat or bus for free to any park. Another suggestion would be the diner pass. 10.00 per kid per day and 38.00 a day for adults. This gets all of you one snack, one fast food meal and one sit down meal with appetizers and desserts.all meals include non alcholic drinks as well. Keep in mind that this is only available to you if you stay on the property. A must see is the hoop dee review. Awesome for you and the kids, musical, sit down family style. We took our then 18month old two years ago and she loved it....your kids are plenty old enough and would love it. You need to call as soon as possible to get reservations. It books 6 months ahead of time. Last thing to think about is the time of year you are going. This is the hottest, and most crowded time a year along with spring break. Be prepared for long lines for the rides and your meals. The book i was talking about will take you step by step. If you want to email me or talk to me via phone further, let me know. Hope this helps!!!

We went in early May. It was a great time to go, not yet unbearably hot and not terribly crowded. We went with our three boys, 6, 3 and 19 months at the time. We stayed at the Disney Old Key West resort and really liked it. It is one of their older properties so the rooms were still designed on the large side. Grandma joined us, so we rented a 2 bedroom unit and had around 1200 square feet for the six of us, with a fully equipped kitchen allowing for meals in, and a washer/dryer, so I didn't have to pack as much. This particular property gives you a lot of space, a nice pool, (not as fancy as the newer resorts, but totally fine for kids in this age group) and since it's a bit older it's less expensive. From our experience, it is very well maintained and we'd stay again. If you stay there, get a unit on the first or second floor unless you don't mind stairs, since there are no elevators-and in one of the buildings closest to the main pool, and you'll be set!

It is more costly to stay on property, but we wanted to do this for our first trip for the whole "Disney Experience". We are glad we did. There are added perks to staying on property as you are connected to all parks via the bus system, which is really great. If you go during a less busy time the buses are not very crowded and really make getting to and from the parks/Downtown Disney much easier. If you drive, staying on property allows you free parking at all parks as well. There are also several parks to which you can travel by water taxi or monorail, which is also included. Another thing we liked about staying at a resort vs. private home rental (which we did look in to and it is much less expensive) is the swimming pool. Most private homes have one, but the resort pools just have that extra "wow" factor that the kids love, and believe it or not, even in Disney World, our kids did just want to spend time hanging out in the pool! One way to save money if you want to stay on property is to consider renting your unit directly from a Disney DVC (timeshare) member. We did this, and the cost was 1/2 of what we would have paid if we booked directly through Disney. There is a book out there, which I think is actually an online book that you pay for and download/print, called The Ultimate Disney World Vacation Guide, by Beth Haworth. Lots of money saving ideas and links to great coupons. This is how I learned about renting from DVC members, and exactly how to do it. Worth every penny, just for that.

I agree that with kids 6 and 3, the Magic Kingdom is the park to concentrate on. Great attractions, good layout, lots of characters. If they are fans of Winnie the Pooh, book the character breakfast at the Crystal Palace-awesome! Do book a character meal someplace, for some really great one-on-one character interaction at your table. The kids loved it! I was excited about Animal Kingdom, but was disappointed. The layout makes navigating difficult, especially if crowded. Our kids became bored rather quickly. The dinosaur area of that park was fun for them, though. MGM was boring for our kids, as would be most of Epcot-except there are a few attractions at Epcot they enjoyed (Nemo theme). We did park passes that allowed "park hopping", which adds a bit to your price, but is a great option with kids this age. If you want to spend just a few hours at one park, but then the rest of your day at another, park hopper allows for this. Buying passes for multiple days does actually cut down on your cost, so that is the way to go.

In hindsight, with kids our ages, we'd have spent more time at Magic Kingdom, skipped MGM entirely, except for the laser show at night (park hopper allows you to just go to a park to catch a show) and would have allowed for more relax time for the kids at the pool, which they loved-and needed, to decompress from all the excitement of the parks. Downtown Disney is also a fun place to spend some time shopping, eating and relaxing. Do your souvenir shopping here-all the same stuff you'll find at the parks (maybe more) and you don't have to carry it all around with you all day!

Have fun making your plans, and good luck. Whatever you do I'm sure you and your family will love your trip!

Looks like you got lots of good information all ready, so I'll just add one more suggestion. By chance when I took my 2 1/2 year old there in October we visited Sea World the first day. Money was tight so I was SO very excited to learn when we got there they have a policy: return in the next week and get in at no charge! A second day FREE! This was such a cost savings for me as I was paying for me, my son, and my mother. We visited Sea World the first day and last day of our trip. There is plenty to do there to make it worth 2 days.

Just a tip, you need to get your ticket stamped for the re-entry offer, we did it when we left (at park closing) the line was super long. I'd do it right away upon entrance if I go back. Also grab the schedule of shows right away and plan out which ones to do each day. Sea World was such a great park and such a great value. We loved Disney & Universal as well. Have fun. I had tears in my eyes when my little one met Mickey. He was so star struck! Can't put a price on that one:)

hi
we went last jan, and it was so awesome! we have a daughter who was 2 weeks short of being 3 when we went. we stayed on property. to me the only way to go. dont need ot worry aobut anything.
if you stay on property do not go with out buying the DINING PLAN! it will save you sooooooo much $$$. also, if you go in sept or aug, they ususlly have sales where the food is free(dining option) i have also found that calling the number off website to get info is the best thing, and then book online, it saved us a couple hundred dollars more yet. (the disney website, not another one) it was so much fun it was so exciting! we are trying to plan our next trip already, but i am waiting for a sale, and my husband wants to do the cruise. also, if you apply for the disney credit card, they give you a gift card towards the shops, and then you get points to use there also for futre purchases. :) hope this helps, email me if you want more info, i love to help people plan! so exciting. i also have websites you may be interested in, has menues, etc, tons of info!! i am so excited for you.
ps if you sign up for the credit card i can give you my info, then we both get extra points.
have a blast! chrissy

Hi J.:

It depends on what you are looking to do as when you go down there. We have been in April/May not too crowded, March was because of Spring Break and when you get into May you need to watch out for all the school end of the year field trips. We are going again this year the end of October, so we will do the not so very scary Haloween party and Trick or treat at the parks. If you wait for November it is a great time to go especially to see the Christams decorations up. And in the mid Nov before Thanksgiving not crowded/ We own a Mariott time share down there to save money you could always look into doing a tour of a property and then you get awesome savings and the resorts are great with a ton of activities for the kids. You could always stay on Disney property as well, good deals for off peak times If you do they have the dining plans which saves alot on food at off peak times as well as the extra magic hours which is one park a day is open late and another ones opens early for all on property guests. To see the characters the meals are great. We really like Liberty Tree Tavern in Magic Kingdom have eaten there twice and will be doing it again in Oct. Really good food and the charaters are minnie, pluto, goofy chip and dale and sometimes Mickey. Also breakfast at the castle is good to see the princess but not dinner completly different thing it is a fairy godmother show. Also the princess breakfast at Norway is realy good, you see some characters you would not normally see like we saw Mulan and Jasmine others I heard saw Ariel in a dress not the mermaid. If you are going to do any character dining you need to book it 180 days before you go. Also a another tip if there is a character that your child really wants to see when you go to the Magic Kingdom go to I think it is City hall and ask where that chacacter will be they shoudl be able to tell you where and when so you can see that special character. Hope that helps. If you need anything else let me know. I am planning the trip for October when my parents, my family and my sister's family are all going total of 10 of us and my girls want to for sure do the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, amust for any little princess I have heard nothing but great reeviews now open in the Castle at Magic Kingdom and in Downtown Disney but as the same is for dining 180 days out last time in April last year I called 90 days out because I did not know of the change and they were all booked at the Boutique for all the days we were there.