Car at Disney World or Public Transportation,etc.

Use their transportation. It really is excellent.

We did the meal plan and it worked well. The food is expensive, so the meal plan is a savings.

If you're going to take a car to the parks - factor in the parking cost of $16/day. My personal recommendation would be to just use Disney transportation - especially for Magic Kingdom. If you take your car there, first you have to park, then you walk to the tram, then take the tram, then walk to the ferry or monorail, and then take it to the magic kingdom. The busses drop you off a little ways from the front gate without all those middle steps. Any holiday time at Disney is crazy. When kids have off from school, attendance sky rockets.

Meal plan - in general is not worth the cost. There is no real savings unless you really know how to maximize it - such as ordering the most expensive option at every meal and getting the most expensive snacks - (not to mention that most people don't tend to eat a dessert per person at every meal). You can still eat on Disney property without the meal plan and just pay for the cost of the food you want. Now, as far as convenience - it is more convenient. Also, most people don't feel like they are spending vacation money on food since it's done on a credit basis and is already paid for.

As far as sit down restaurants (not quick/counter service), you do have to make a reservation there. Reservations can be made 180 days in advance of your stay. If you are not trying to get a premium dining reservation (character meals, like chef mickey, Cinderella's castle, etc or high demand places like Be Our Guest, Le Cellier, etc) at very specific times, you do not need to worry about it that far in advance.

Jedi Training - get to Hollywood Studios 30 minutes before it opens. Once it opens and you get through the gates, go directly to Jedi Training sign up. Do not detour. Do not take pictures. After you are signed up, you can back track and go get all the pictures and take it all in. :-)

I am sure a lot has changed since we went to Disney. Our daughter is 19 now but we went every 2 yrs from her age 2-16.

We always stayed at the Polynesian which is one of our most favorite places to stay. You can take the boat taxi to/from MK which is faster and you are on the monorail line as well.

As far as a meal plan.. nope, we never participated in that. I never even looked into it because we like to eat where we want to and when we want to, we don't eat desserts, snacks etc and we don't like to have limited choices on our vacation.

We enjoyed the Character breakfast at OHana (Polynesian), reluglar luau (Polynesian), Winnie the Poo breakfast (MK), Chef Mickey (Contemporary), and several nice places at Epcot.

We flew in from Dallas and took a taxi to/from the hotel for the airport. At the time, the cost was about $80 1 way and MUCH faster then the complementary bus which makes several stops and you never know when you'll get to your destination.

At Disney, we used the monorail and bus and never needed a car.

That said, it was super convenient being on the monorail line and access to the bus with little to no wait.

I don't know about your timing. We usually went during the Spring Break season and never had any issues.

Have fun!

Hi. I've been to Disney twice. Once, we were solely dependent on the transportation. We stayed at the Polynesian (loved it!). Using the monorail was awesome. We took a bus to Downtown Disney. That was a hassel.

Since you are planning on staying at the Pop Movie resort, I would recommend getting a car. Yes the buses are good, but I don't know how often the buses run to that resort.

Since you will be staying at a Disney property, you will get access to all Disney perks, special park hours, etc. this includes not having to pay the daily $15 parking fee for WDW.

Meal plan - yes, get it. You can just show up without a meal plan, but you will end up paying more.It will save you money in the long run, especially if you use the table service for a character breakfast or just dinner. Look for deals. There are several times during the year when the meal plans go on sale, or are included for free if you book during a certain time. For the snacks, each item is a snack. Whether it's a $0.50 banana or a $4 ice cream. So we would use the snack voucher for the ice cream and pay for the banana.

As for going to Universal, if you stay at a Universal partner hotel, you can get a fast pass for the rides, that gets you right up front. If you don't stay, I don't think you can get the fast pass (at least that what the relatives said).

My friend just went last Thanksgiving. She said that the Wed. before, the park gets transformed overnight to Christmas decorations.

We've stayed at Pop Century many times. It is a lot of fun. They have two huge pools and lots of other fun stuff. The disney buses run very promptly and are fine. They have a huge food court there where you can buy whatever kind of food you want. If you want a frig in your room you have to request it and it's an extra expense. Internet access is a daily fee as well. (Or it was the last time we were there). Parking at Disney is challenging and if I were staying on property, I'd use their transportation.

I've done the meal plan but most the time we don't. We cashed in all our snacks the last day and brought back Mickey pretzels and hard candy to our friends. If you don't use a meal plan, know that it is very easy to share one meal between 2 people and hold down expenses that way. Portions there are huge. My daughter (14) and I share an adult meal frequently.

If you can bring your own water bottles that's another way to cut down expenses. All of the eating places will give you a free cup of water with ice if you ask them. The last trip we made I purchased those water bottles with the built in filters and they worked great. It was also nice not to carry extra water in back packs (it's heavy to carry).

We had season passes for several years. Thanksgiving is crowded but if you can go the week before it's not. The best time as far as crowds go, in my opinion, is the first three weeks of November, first 2 weeks of December, any time in February and mid May through mid June.

Not sure how you're planning to travel to Universal but taking a cab there is expensive. You might be able to get a deal on Priceline or some other travel site that would give you a reasonable rate and be less than a cab. Disney doesn't provide transportation there.

We just spent 3 days at Universal and my family unanimously said they'd rather do Disney. It was our first time there and we didn't enjoy it as much as we thought we would. The customer service there was horrible. We had 4 different interactions where employees were rude. We couldn't get over the difference. I did not opt for the passes that they sell so you don't wait in line. We never waited over 30 mins for any ride except the minion and transformer ride. I was glad I didn't pay the extra. Also if you buy your tickets on line (highly recommend because the lines are ridiculous to purchase your tickets) DO NOT tear off the bottom half where the rules are posted. I made that mistake (hotel said it was fine) and they would not allow us in without having our ticket reprinted. I thought it would be ok because it was only the rules that were printed. It was a HUGE deal and I had to stand in line for over 1.5 hours to get the ticket reprinted. UGH!

Between October or Thanksgiving, I'd choose October. They have the not so scary Mickey Halloween party in October and the grounds are beautiful with fall decorations. One plus to going for Thanksgiving is the park will be decorated for Christmas. It's beautiful then.

Have fun!
L.

We live about 3.5 hours south of Disney so we always have a car which is handy.

Disney theme park parking is free for Disney resort guests: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/parking/

Since you want to go to Universal a couple of days, it might be nice to have a car so you're not relying on shuttles. Universal is not super close to Disney.

I would look at what it would cost to rent a car for the duration of your stay. If it's under $200 I think it's well worth it. When you have a car you are not at the mercy of Disney's ridiculously high food prices. We go right outside of Downtown Disney to Pizzeria Uno (there is a McDonald's at that corner too). From there you can drive down 535 to a Winn Dixie and Walgreens. Our goal is to eat one meal per day out of our cooler in our room (usually breakfast, but sometimes lunch meats/chips). You can also leave for the airport on your schedule.

All that being said, if you stay on the Disney property the bus system is decent. Monorail is even better but that means staying at the Contemporary, Polynesian or the Grand Floridian (all big $$$).

In all our years going to Orlando we have never done a meal plan. I don't trust them but I've heard plenty of people love them. I just like having more control over our costs.

I have never been right before Thanksgiving - I would check the crowd calendar projections in the Unofficial Guide that you purchased.

PS: If I did rent a car I'd bring my own GPS.

Have fun at Disneyworld!

I would do one day at Universal. October much better time to go. Actually, if you watch for advertisements or on line, in October they very often offer the meal plan for free. We have gotten it free twice. Pop Century is my favorite of the Value resorts. Go onto the website often until you find a good deal.

No car needed if you stay on property.

Going to Disney world in October would be a great idea. It is very crowded during Thanksgiving week because many children have the whole week off from school. Pop Century is one of the value resorts along with the All Star Sports, All Star Movies and All Star Music locations. Many people do well with Disney transportation. If you are staying on Disney property, you can take the Disney Magical Express from the Airport for free but you must schedule in advance! They will mail you special luggage tags to place on your bags and then Disney will big up your bags at the airport and you will get them in your room later that day. It is very convenient if you plan in advance. If you get in early in the day, you should bring a carry on bag with you packed with everything you need for a day in the park --comfortable shoes & clothing, sunscreen, tickets, camera, phone etc. and go and have fun! They will put your luggage in your room. You can take a bus from your resort to the theme parks and take a bus back to your resort or other locations in the Disney complex. Jedi training is held at Hollywood Studios so plan to go there when it opens so you can make sure you get signed up for that at the attraction location (I believe) How old is your son? Do you have a special reason to want to go to Universal? Many of the rides there have height restrictions and are geared to older kids and teens and adults, so check into that. Also, you would need a car to get to Universal or pay for a car service. There are 4 Disney theme parks so there would actually be plenty to do at the parks. Check into deals for October - sometimes they include the meal plan. When you stay at a Disney resort, you can make dining reservations 180 days in advance. If you want to enjoy character dining or one of the special restaurants, you should book it as early as possible. For other meals, you can visit a quick serve restaurant or see what is available. Good luck - hope you have a wonderful trip! We go there often and really enjoy it.

We never get a car. We use Disney transportation--but, we stay on the property.

October is slower than a holiday.

You do not need a meal plan. The restaurants in Disney are expensive. But, a 3 day meal plan might not be worth it. If you go to the counter service food places---you will spend much less. Check into the prices !! The food there is VERY expensive.

The Meal plan is EXCELLENT if you are staying for a while. Price it out though. I prepaid for the meal plan, so I didn't have that bill there. We saved a TON of money at the sit-down restaurants. It takes a while to get used to how to use the plan. Make reservations for the sit-down restaurants way ahead of time !!

On occasion the meal plan is free in Sept/Oct according to my cousin.

Holidays are pretty crazy there. The slowest time is right after New yrs...and right when all the kids go back to school.

I would not rec taking a car into the Magic Kingdom. It's nuts.

If you have never been to the Magic Kingdom.......The first time we were there--It took 2 days to get through.

I have been to dworld 3 times and have NEVER rented a car. I also have never left property though. I would go in October over thanksgiving. Super busy anytime "most" people are out of school. I love the meal plan and have used it 2 of 3 trips. Other wise you just pay out of pocket for what you are buying for food. All rooms have a mini fridge so we do bring cereal along and buy a half gallon of milk at the hotel to have breakfast in our room as we are getting ready. Unless you are doing a character breakfast I think its best to go that route.

We like Disney transportation. Long wait times have never been a problem for us but we typically go in May and /or October.

If we want to get somewhere faster though we just take a taxi especially if we are going from one hotel to another which we frequently do for dinner. (We like going to different hotels to eat). That typically cost under $10 I believe, including tip.