J.P.
I disagree that taking little ones is a waste of money!! We just took our 2 girls in March (ages 2 and 5). They BOTH loved it so much that I'm glad I didn't listen to the people who told me not to take a 2 year old there! Their reactions to seeing the characters was amazing! They really believe in all of the magic. I have nephews who went at age 8, and yes they enjoy it too, but it's so much more "magical" for the little ones who believe they are meeting the real Mickey Mouse and princesses! My 2 year old even keeps saying "Remember the Dumbo ride?" and "I saw Ariel in Disney!"
We stayed in a condo right off the Disney property that we got through my parents timeshare, so it was inexpensive, but we had 2 bedrooms and a kitchen which was very nice. We ate breakfast in our condo most mornings and packed our own lunches (they let you bring in a backpack with your own food, which saves alot of money and is healthier).
We bought our tickets through undercovertourist.com, which is recommended on the website mousesavers.com (you can subscribe to their newsletter which is full of money saving tips). Another good website is allears.net. I got most of my good advice from "The Unofficial Guidebook to Disney World". It was extremely helpful in planning our first trip!! We brought our own strollers to avoid the expense of renting (and it was nice to have them in the airport and parking lots too). We used priceline.com to save money on a car rental, and flew on southwest, where "bags fly free". I bought Disney t-shirts ahead of time from the Disney store (on sale about $4-$5 instead of $20-$30 in the parks) and brought my daughters' princess dresses from home because the little girls like to dress up there.
Watch the Disney website for promotions and check out those other 2 websites I mentioned for all kinds of deals. I had almost as much fun planning as I did going! It was such an incredible trip that we are hoping to go back in 2 years.