Disney World Info

We do the dining plan because otherwise we would be under fed...by the time you leave for Disney it will be paid for you and you can eat a better meal... If you go to buy food at Disney the price alone will make you think of starving... if you get the dining plan, you are okay cause you have already spent the money. We also stayed on the park at the value inn and it was worth it since you don't have to pay to park and etc... you ride a bus that takes you everywhere (its awesome)...

And if you go to the walmart outside of the park, they have the SAME exact soveniers as the park for like 50 percent cheaper... seriously

I answer this question like this everytime it's asked.
www.allears.net

Stay on property , get to the hotel, you can park your car and take the bus or tram into all the disney parks. It saves a TON on gas and parking fees.
Wait until august - october to buy your tickets, reservations. The winter deals won't come out till summer is over.
Take bottled water , and stuff for breakfast, snacks, you can take food into the park.
Don't bother with the dining plan it's not worth it. We ate one meal in the park then the rest in our room and saved a TON.
Go early , get fast passes, ride some rides, go back to the hotel for the afternoon , relax take a break, nap , whatever , then go back in the evening and take advantage of the disney resort Magic hours ,they are awesome!

We stayed at Pop Century with our girls (8 & 5 yrs old) and it was great. For no more time than we spend in the room I see no need in paying lots extra for a more upscale resort. I also recommend the dining plan, especially if you will do character meals. Bippity Boppity Boutique is cute too if she is into the princesses! I can give you lots of info and even help you book your trip. However the 2011 prices are not out yet but should be around mid-Aug. You can message me with any questions you have at ____@____.com.

One thing that is very much worth the price is a visit to the Bippity Boppity Boutique in Cinderella's Castle at Magic Kingdom. It is a princess makeover for your daughter. They have different prices and things you can do. I think we spent about $90, but it really was worth it-just to see my daughter's reaction to herself all made up. We did it when my daughter was 4 and our friend just did it for her 7 year old. We brought a Snow White outfit with us (they have them there at the boutique, but they are mucho expensive) and then my daughter got her hair & makeup done. They get a sash and a little goody bag. Afterwards at the park everyone was telling my daugther how beautiful she looked and I seriuosly think she felt like a princess that day. She is not a girly girl at all and she LOVED it! Of all the things we did, the experience of that is still with her. I also recommend the dining plan if you can swing it, but just the quick service plan. You can do Disney on a budget and the memory will last a lifetime. Have fun!!!
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I find it interesting that everyone says don't do dining plan. I am a family of five and we are always on a tight budget. We go to Disney every couple of years. The dining plan is good for us. Don't do the sit down meals that is such a waste. Do the Quick Service plan. You can use your card out at the parks for drinks if you need to. You get the refillable mug, you can only use it at your resort, but it is nice to whenever go get a drink. If you do the Quick Service Dining and use your meal at your resort make sure to get a bottle drink and a desert because it is all included as the meal. You can use your mug for the meal and take the bottle with you to the park or store it in the fridge in your room for later or the next day even.
We have stay at the All Music but we definately prefered the Riverside. It was nice at the Riverside and the girls love everytime we went outside there were lizards, ducks, rabbits, and cranes. The had little to no fear of people so the kids really loved it. It is alot cheaper than the Polynesian. Also, the buses were not as crowded than they were when we stayed at the All Music. It is also cheaper than staying at the budget resort in a suite. The do have a horse drawn carriage that you can pay for that will take you around. Also, they have the bike rental that you can rent a bike and ride it around.
We always go on a tight budget and have a great time and come home with plenty of souvenirs for everyone. Hope this helps and if you would like more info feel free to let me know.

As a former Cast Member at the MK, I have a few good tips for you. Make sure you make time for the 3'clock parade, get a good seat on main street or step off point in frontier land by the Biar Patch, the characters will be very fresh and not tired. Make sure you see Story Time with Belle, this is free, but have to be early to get a good seat. If you can get on the Disney dining plan, this will let her have breakfast at Chef Mickey's and also they do a Princess Lunch at the Crystal Place all of these will be covered on the dining plan. It also includes some snacks and a economy resort would be pop century. Most resorts have transportation available to and from the disney parks, this would save you money on parking. The main thing is in saving money is planning!! It would be a good idea to bring bag lunch/cooler to put in the lockers at the train station on main street. Plan for rest/snack times for a child that young. Get your map a day or so before and see what time shows start and plan your rides around that. Disney's Philarmagic is a great 3D show and it is air conditioned so might plan on seeing that around 1pm. Plan water rides, "Briar Patch" around the afternoon time, bring extra pair of clothes just in case you get too wet so you won't be walking around in that all day. Most little girls are into princesses, there are many meet and greets around the park, usually the cast members will know, if you can ask them to call the "chip and dale" line, this is a direct link to "Mickey" that will be able to tell you when certain characters are scheduled to make an appearance. They can also make reservations for you, for dinners and other events around the park. If you were going to spend money on one show/dinner I would do the the Hoopie Do Musical review at the Fort Wilderness Camp ground. This is a very family friendly, finger country style cooking with a great live interactive dinner show. If you have any other questions I'd be happy to answer with another post.

Yes I agree with previous answer, I have been several times and have stayed on and off the park. Staying on the park is SO much better! You get extra hours in the park that only people staying at the part get to go to!

If you're going in January, you'll not have any crowds to deal with, so you can relax and not worry about Fast Passes, getting to the park before opening, and such. It may be too cold to swim in January, but it sure is nice not to deal with big crowds. Staying on the property is worth it, in my opinion. Plus in January there are really good off-season discounts. I also say don't do the dining plan. But I'd still make some advance dining reservations if you want to do any table service dining at the parks.

Beth's advice is perfect. In addition, bookstores sell a variety of books on Disney. I would highly recommend one of them. They all seem to be written differently so I'd suggest taking some time in the bookstore to look through a bunch of them and figure out which is easiest for you read. In these books you'll get a ton of info on Disney, like park layouts, where rides are and approx wait times, insider secrets, and so much more. Disney is HUGE, and can be majorly overwhelming especially with a child. If you have a game plan going into the parks it will make your trip much less stressful, and so much more fun. You'll get to do more of what you want to do and less searching around trying to decide what to ride, and where to even find rides.Trust me the cost of the book will be well worth it. Also if you're planning on January, I'd recommend the first week. I took my daughter Jan 1-8, and it was awesome. The longest line was 15 minutes, and all of the Christmas decorations were still up so it had that holiday feel to it. good luck and have fun!

I have always dealt with WDW directly. We've been about 8 times and I planned it all myself through WDW and our airlines.

We have never stayed anywhere except the Polynesian which is on the monorail line and one of the nicer but pricier resorts. It was always worth it to us.....quick access to MK and the monorail is right at your hotel.

We never did meal plans. Most of the time we stayed in the Conceirge at Polynesian and they have food, fruit, drinks available all day. We ate out a couple of times and made sure we had 1 very nice dinner while there.

We always have a private cab vs the disney bus from the airport. The cab is a straight shot to/from the hotel (about $80 each way) whereas the bus (although free) make take some time to get to your hotel because of the number of pelple on the bus and how many stops it makes.

Enjoy your trip. There are lots of books that guide you. I've managed our travel for 25 yrs so I took charge of this as well.

We went to DW this past January. However, our visit was over New Year's which I don't recommend. It was necessary for me with my school schedule, but it was REALLY crowded. We did visit allears.com a lot for helpful tips as well as mousesavers (I think that is the name). I actually haven't stayed on the premises; we are a family of six and honestly Disney resorts are more designed for smaller families. We stayed at a condo about 10 minutes from the park. It was MUCH cheaper even when we had to pay for parking. (At least cheaper for us since most resorts we would have had to get two rooms) We liked being able to run to the store and get our breakfast stuff, eating only one major meal at DW. We opted out of the park hopper; with my young kids, one park was all they could handle for the day. As for souvenirs which can really add up there, we gave our children a set amount (which actually was a gift from grandparents). They could buy anything they wanted within that amount. Hope that helps!