I have never been to Walt Disney World and neither has my husband. To be honest, the two of us were never interested in a Walt Disney World vacation. But life has changed. We are raising two stinkerbelles who adore princesses and Mickey and Minnie.
So, we're Saving for Disney! And we're really, really excited about it!
It is one of our 2012 Financial Goals and I am starting to research it. From what we hear, a Disney vacation is not a vacation that you can just book and hope for the best when you get there. You have to plan it out, right down to the last detail. And since neither my husband or I have been there we have no idea what to plan, how much to save, where to stay, or when to take the trip.
We're utterly clueless. Our goal is to get there by Fall 2012 or Spring 2013. We're not telling the kids about it until we actually get on the plane, so I won't have to worry about hearing, "how many more days."
I just received our free Disney vacation planning DVD that I ordered off the Disney World website and I can't wait to watch it.
I'll be writing periodically about our planning and keeping you informed of all that I learn.
But now I need your help. Have you been to Walt Disney World? Where did you stay? Did you fly or drive? How long was your trip? What time of year did you go? What would you do differently? We would love to hear your advice in the comments.
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We stayed at Disney's Carribean Beach Resort when we went for Christmas 2009. We liked being in the resort area and being able to take the Disney shuttles to the park and get in early/stay late at the different parks. The beds in our hotel room were extremely uncomfortable, though. I planned it so that we visited the park that stayed open later or opened earlier (you can check their calendar to find that out). We were there for an entire week, which was too long to us.
ReplyDeleteWe went to all four of the parks, and our favorite was Epcot, with Animal Kingdom being second. We didn't care for Hollywood Studios much, and neither did our two boys.
I do recommend getting the meal package, because that was nice that our meals were taken care of. We got the package where we could get breakfast at our hotel (was usually light like cereal, but sometimes pancakes etc) a fastfood type lunch out at the park, then a sit down dinner (which I had to plan and make reservations in advance so was a bit tedious but so worth it). Take a few minutes to read over the meal package too, because we realized halfway through that our breakfasts could count as a snack if it was cereal, but if it was heavier it would count like our lunch. We did end up having to get a few candy bars on the last night to make sure we used up all of our snack options, since we were being careful of that in the beginning. Sorry this has been so long, lol. Have a great time, but remember the more planning you do in advance, the better time you will have while you're there.
Lots of good Disney info here
ReplyDeletehttp://www.couponingtodisney.com/plan-your-trip/
We went in 2008 so things have likely changed, but we stayed at one of their value resort hotels (the Pop Culture resort I think). It was pretty reasonable, and they shuttle you back and forth to the airport and of course to all the parks, so as long as you don't want to go to any of the other Orlando attractions, this saves you on rental cars. The shuttles were quick and not crowded, but we went in April so it wasn't really busy season.
ReplyDeleteWe also purchased a meal plan, and my wife spent a lot of time planning each restaurant we wanted to have dinner at, and made reservations at each once we got there (we used a guide book that we bought a few months before hand, can't remember what it was but look up the best sellers on Amazon).
If you think you'll go to multiple parks in the same day, get the park hopper option.
We went to Disney for the first time as a family in October 2011, and it was wonderful. Worth every penny - but prepare yourself for information overload. I would say that you don't have to have every single second planned. That would be stressful. Leave some free time to just explore and let your kids lead. Our boys were 3 and 4 when we went and they loved Magic Kingdom. We spent two days there, and rode several rides multiple times. Pulling a Fast Pass where available is a must. We spent one day at Animal Kingdom and that was fun, too. We stayed in the cabins at Fort Wilderness and they are still talking about that. The full kitchen allowed us to eat breakfast "at home" and fix sandwiches to bring in the park with us. We ate dinner at various Disney restaurants. Have fun saving and planning for your trip, but most of all, just enjoy!
ReplyDeleteWe stayed at the Animal Kingdom resort. Completely worth it! We didn't do the Animal Kingdom park, but we got the same experience b staying at the resort.
ReplyDeleteWOW, lots of great advice and direction to get us started on our planning. Thanks everyone for all of the comments.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been but have been told to utilise the fast pass system I think it is and to stay on resort if possible, so you get the most out of it.
ReplyDeleteI also read somewhere that booking a sit down meal in the restaurants is a must and should be done well ahead of time. This gives your kids time with their favourite characters, time to sit and you are still part of it all.
Have a great time!
I have heard that fast pass is a must and we will look into it.
DeleteI have also heard that you have to book meals with characters up to 6 months in advance. YIKES! We're not ready to book a trip yet, but that will be the first thing I do have our trip is set.
We live in South Florida and frequent WDW through out the year. There are several options when staying in Disney....staying on property gives you the advantage of being able to forgo the rental car and use their shuttles and buses to get around everywhere. The big disadvantage is the hotel rooms can be very expensive and you do end up spending a great deal of money on food. Sit down meals, especially ones where you meet the characters or eat buffet style, will easily run a $100 a meal for us (family of 5). I have never tried the meal package at Disney (we did it at Universal and really liked it) so I would definitely recommend looking into that. If you stay at hotels in Lake Buena Vista (even ones that are on property) you can still use the hotels' shuttle to get around to the parks, but it's not the official "Disney" shuttle. You are walking distance, however, to other restaurants like Perkins, McDonalds, etc, if you want to save a little on some of the meals.
ReplyDeleteAs to the park hopper passes....this is just OUR opinion--each person has their own likes and dislikes--if you have kids younger than 10 yrs old, Disney takes a LOT out of them. And it's quite a bit of work to move from one park to another (leaving Magic Kingdom can take an hour and then another 30-45 minutes to travel to the next park), so when we buy tickets (other than our seasonal passes which allow us to park hop), we never do the park hopper pass. It's a lot of money and we can never expect our kids to last through that busy of a day.
Have a great time!! We love going to Disney and know you will have a BLAST!!
Thanks for the advice. Our kids are fairly young. They will be about 4.5 and 7 when we end up going, so we will definitely take into consideration what they can handle when planning our trip.
DeleteWe stayed at the All-Star Sports Resort in late Sept 2010. We spent 9 nights and went to the parks for 8 days. We drove from Athens, GA and it took us about 8 hrs. We booked during a time when we received a free meal plan. We upgraded our meal plan and got 1 counter service and 1 table service plus 1 (or 2?) snacks a day. I brought easy breakfast foods and we ate those in the rooms some days.
ReplyDeleteWOW, a 9 day trip, that is awesome. We live in PA and I think the trip is 16 hours by car, so if we are definitely planning (and saving) to fly.
DeleteThanks for the advice and comments.
I would suggest looking at renting a condo or house. We did that one year and it was great. We alternated days at the pool versus days at the parks and saved tons of money on food as we ate 2 meals a day at the condo.
ReplyDeleteKay Lynn - my husband just sent me a link to a couple who rents their condo to vacationers. They have a pool and the kitchen would be key. We are planning on flying, so we will have to weigh renting a car and staying at a condo vs. staying at the park with the shuttles.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice and comments.
I live in PA too and have been to Disney World a few times. I have flown, driven, and gone by auto train (amtrak) and each has its pros and cons. There are pros and cons to staying on and off disney property as well. I've found Kissimmee to be pretty nice to stay and fairly convenient as well with some of the "cheap" hotels offering a shuttle service. I was just there in March with my 16 year old and planning to go back in October. Best advice I would offer is to not go near a major holiday lol. October/early November is a great time to go and spring is really nice but not during spring break or easter vacation (too crowded imo). I went with extended family two years ago (in July), and to save us from the "I wants" from the kids, we hit the dollar stores, thrift stores, sales, and clearances and bought disney themed stuff. Each day the kids opened something. Saved some money and the kids loved it. Last trip we went off property and ate at CiCi's and Golden Corral which was much cheaper than eating in the parks - especially when we found buy one, get one free coupons for CiCi's! Drink lots of water, take the kids back to the hotel at mid day for a rest (yes, it takes time away from the park but it saves on melt downs), and enjoy your time.
ReplyDeleteMarianne - I love the idea about the disney thrift store 'souvenirs'. Thanks for the tips and comments!
DeleteWe went to Walt Disneyworld in Dec 2010 and are planning our next trip for Jan 2014. I used all these great sites!
ReplyDeletehttp://disboards.com/ This forum can answer ANY question
http://allears.net/index.html For all information on Parks/Resorts
http://www.mousesavers.com/ Saving money at Disney
Here's a great timeshare you can stay at that's inside Disney property but not Disney affiliated. Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2739937 Info on Resort
If you want to stay on Disney property but want more room than a hotel room you can rent points to stay at a Disney timeshare for a lot less than booking through Disney. This is what we're doing on our next trip. Found company through disboards mentioned above.
http://www.dvcrequest.com/