Disney World Vacation - Where Do I Start?

Are you going to DisneyLand in California? Or DisneyWorld in Florida?

I would start by googling 'DisneyLand vacation packages in CA' and see what you get. Staying at a value-resort and getting the Dining plan is the best deal. Right now you can get the dinning plan for free if you book a 5night stay. We are going to Disney World in 2 weeks with a 3y, 7y, 9y, and 11y. There will be 7 of us, and one dinner, not on the dinning plan will run $350 - $500 for just the one meal.

Universal is good. MGM is good. Animal Kingdom is good. Its cheaper to get the base tickets that let you do one park per day.

M.

Okay, first I will assume that you mean Disney World and not Disney Land (since you are talking Park Hopper and different resorts), so I will work with that.

I suggest doing it all on your own...travel agents will probably not get you any better deal than you could pick up through Disney themselves.

Second, go to Disneyworld.com and look at their deals right now. I believe that they are offering the meal plan for free if you stay on property and book now (which is a HUGE savings)...it might be worth looking in to. Also know that you are able to bring any sort of food/drink into the park at any point in time, so you should always have snacks and drinks available for your boys.

Stay at a Disney resort. Not only is it often times just as cheap as staying off property, it keeps the "magic" alive for your kids. Their resorts are some of the neatest places your boys will ever stay at, and are worth every penny. Plus you get free bus transportation to the parks, free transportation from the airport, and really great pools for the kids to play in.

Definitely get the Park Hopper pass. You will want to be able to do different parks different days, and some parks won't take you a whole day (i.e. Animal Kingdom). Having the Park Hopper means you can eat where you want, go where you want, etc. any time you want!

Make sure you book restaurants NOW! There will probably be quite a few that you won't be able to get in to (as those restaurants fill up right when people can call 180 days in advance), but there are plenty of really great restaurants, so you are bound to find some you like!

My family and I have done Universal a lot, and while we like it, it isn't Disney. They have the new Harry Potter park, so that may make it better, but my guess is that it will be packed since that area of the park only opens this month.

I told another poster the other day, I have done Disney over twenty times now, so any other questions you have, please feel free to message me with questions. We have stayed at most of the resorts, and have eaten at at least 3/4 of the restaurants. Hope this helps and have fun!!! :)

Buy the book the Unofficial Guide to Disney World today! It tells you everything you need to know. I did all of my booking through Disney on my own. My boys were 7 and 5 when we went in June of 2006. I was about 24 weeks pregnant with my youngest. We rarely had to wait in line. I really think it was due to following the guides in the book. You need to book now for July. Keep calling for the character meals because there may be cancellations. I planned out mine about 5 months ahead of time. I would recommend the Disney Dining Plan. We stayed at the All Star Sports and used the Disney transportation everywhere we went. We did have a park hopper. We went to the parks 8 days but that gave us time to rest during the day. You could do it in less again I can't stress how much the book helped. I just felt like we where one step ahead of the crowd. As far the sit down meal/characters - we loved the Hoop Dee Do and Chef's Mickey's. You can message me if you have any other questions.

Hi! How fun planning a trip to Disney! Check out this website and you can find resorts in the Orlando area for around $120 - $150/night, and most include a full kitchen, washer and dryer, etc., which is much cheaper than many places in the area and you can save money with a kitchen. Click on villas and condos once you are there. They also have Disney packages.

A cool thing about this website - sign up as a preferred customer (which is free to do) and you get a lot of extra benefits like free flight insurance and 30 min. of concierge service every time you book there. So you can call and get restaurant recommendations, directions to the closest Starbucks, directory assistance, etc. Good luck!
www.BrackTravel.com

We just got back from Disney World 3 days ago and stayed on the property, would definitely recommend it. We stayed 6 nights and on the resort, we got the dining plan, but did not like it. We did not use park hopper, they really do not recommend it for your first time. We went to Animal Kindgom day 1, Epcot day 2, Hollywood STudios day3, and Magic kindgom day 4 and 5. I used this lady Amy Pruitt from 3d travel company. They are discount travel experts and you do not pay them, they get paid by Disney. They go through extensive training and are experts, they help you find the cheapest deal that you want, and help you plan your dining reservations. She helped a lot, and saved me a lot of headache about what to do, and where to eat.

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www.3dtravelcompany.com
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We just went to Disneyland, but we stayed with my brother so it was a little different for us. We had the park hopper pass which was wonderful!! I'm sure it would be great for Disneyworld, too, though it's been over 10 years since I was there last (and didn't have kids then, either!).

Here's a few helpful things I did to save a little money:

1. Buy "souveniers" at home and take them with you. At the end of the day at the hotel, bring out the Disney stuff! It's much cheaper than buying in the park. This worked well for us since my kids are (almost) 3 and 7 months, but I've heard other mama's suggest it also for their older kids. We each got a shirt, and each of my boy's got a toy from Disneyland (and of course Mickey ears!), but everything else I bought beforehand at the Disney store. The Disney store outlet was even cheaper! Just tell your kids when they want everything they see that there is a special surprise waiting for them at the hotel! We waited until late on our last day to buy our soveniers so we didn't have to carry them around.

2. This is something I forgot to do, and thankfully it wasn't a problem. But I read another mama made laminated cards with the child's name and parent's contact info (name & phone #) and safety pinned the card inside the child's pocket. That way IF something happened in the massive crowds, your # was with your child.

3. I'm sure it's the same at Disney World, but I know at Disneyland water is free if you ask for it. My brother told me this (they have season passes to Disneyland).

4. They actually serve fairly large portions at some of the restaurants. I was able to share most of my meals with my 3 y/o. My brother and his wife share a lot of their food, too. Its saves a little money, and it doesn't waste the food!

5. They have great autograph books with a page to put a picture next to the charachter's autograph. I'm glad we splurged and got that one b/c my son loves looking at it! He can't read (he's only 3 afterall;) but he's able associate the autograph with the picture!

Enjoy!!!

We just booked our trip and actually used a travel agent here in McKinney - she not only saved us a lot of money but also booked some great deals while we're there! If you want to check her out her name is Donna and her website is: www.lonestar-travel.com. We didn't have to pay her anything, the park does that so it was a great deal all around!

Enjoy your trip!

D. Alford

First and most important question, how long are you planning on staying. Are you driving or flying? What is your budget? If you fly and stay at Disney, they will give you free transportation to and from the airport. If you fly and stay outside of Disney, you'll want to check if they provide airport transportation, and transportation to the parks.

We got a lot of great advice from visiting a travel agent. When we first thought about going, we were thinking of flying and spending 4 days at Disney. Well after checking the cost of air fare, and learning that the longer you stay at Disney the less expensive it is. We decided that it would be best to go for a full week I don't remember the prices but it only cost about $30 more for a 7 day pass vs. a 4 day pass.

For us the park hopper pass was the best way to go. Note: the park hopper pass is for consecutive days. So if you decided you want to go to Universal for the day, you still need to go to one of the Disney parks and check in that day. Also, park hopper does not include the water parks. Since your going in July, if your kids love the water, you may want to consider purchasing tickets to Blizzard Beach. Keep in mind there's always the pool.

I've seen commericials advertising if you stay at Disney you receive the meal plan is free. This can be a great savings, so you may want to consider that.

We stayed at one of the more budgeted resorts, it was the music themed one. It was nice, but definitely "no thrills". There's only one small elevator, so we had to carry most of our luggage up the stairs. The rooms were much smaller than your standard hotel rooms, and I found the decor to be very bright and loud, not what you want when it's time to relax and go to sleep, especially after being over stimulated most of the day. The pools were really nice, and there were activities going on almost all day long for the kids. My kids thought it was great to relax in the pool and watch a movie at the same time.

Have a great trip!!!

I took my 6 yo duaghter last year. Ditto on the Unoffical Guide to Walt Disney world but get the edition with Kids ( I rented from the library because I didn't want to pay the $30)

I took my daughter for 10 days, roundtrip, park hopper 10 day pass, on resort with food for $1,000.

Go to these sites:

www.mousesavers.com sign up for the newsletter too comes twice a month with even better deals then site. They will have a link to www.undercovertourist.com which as the best deals for tickets (only 3 brokers can sell tickets cheaper)

www.disboards.com is good

www.allearsnet.com

and disney.com discussion boards.

Good luck

Go to bookit.com and they will take care of everything!!! We went last July and this April for a family of 4 and a week there package deal car, flight, hotel we paid 1300 this time and stayed in a resort like a house!!! Last time we paid 1900 cause July is a more expensive time to go. Have fun :) We plan to go once a yr to every other yr we love it there!!!

I'm also a Disney fanatic, and I would start by investing in "The Unofficial Guide to Disneyword" book. It's the best info out there, here are my personal tips as well.

Staying a Disney resort is wonderful if you can afford it, the deluxe resorts are spectacular, Animal Kingdom Lodge is our favorite! If you stay at a Disney resort NOT on the monorail system, I think it pays to rent a car to minimize your transit and waiting times each day. Their bus system is very good, it just takes a little more time out of your day, which can be tougher on younger kids who get hungry and anxious to swim after some long hot hours at the parks.

Have a touring plan (order and list of attractions to see) and start your days early, I mean be at the gate at least 30 minutes before park opening. Those first 2 hours, when the weather is cooler and the crowds are lighter will be your most enjoyable, I guarantee it. Take advantage of FastPass to save time waiting in line for the top rides. In the afternoon go back for a swim break, when it is very hot and very very crowded.

Make your advanced dining reservations as soon as possible! There is no penalty for no-showing if you change your mind (except for a few special circumstances) and many restaurants simply won't take walk ins, or you'll never eat a sit down meal at a decent hour.

Personally, I do not think the Park Hopper is worth it unless you have just a few days and just must see specific things in different parks. There is so much to see in each park. It takes a lot of time energy to park hop. Disney vacations are fun, but physically taxing, especially during peak season. Teenagers would probably get the most out of Park Hopper, but I think it is way too much for younger kids, even tweens who like to swim. Sticking to one park, one day keeps us sane and slows us down to stop and enjoy everything around us.

If you go to Disneyparks.com and price out your trip, be sure to CALL the 800 number before booking, you will get a MUCH cheaper price by phone than the computer system generates. We were very excited to find we could afford more than we thought we could just plugging in all the info into their online reservation site.

Please go to this web site and seriously consider their book: http://www.touringplans.com/tp2/UG2_index.php?PageID=0 . This book, among its many other features and tips, will give you touring plans that will save you alot of time in the lines.

You can easily drop thousands of dollars to go to WDW - don't go without a plan (especially in the hottest months in the summer) or you risk MISERY.

I also love http://www.mousesavers.com .

Have been to Orlando many, many times (live about 3.5 hours away). Orlando can be VERY fun for kids your kids' ages, especially if you do a bit of advance research. Keep in mind, though, that Orlando exists to take your money - LOL! Our goal is always to have the maximum amount of fun possible on the least amount of money.

One of our favorite tricks is to eat breakfast out of our cooler. Saves a ton of time in the morning when you should be headed to the park (not sitting in a restaurant) - not to mention it saves $$$.

Also, the only things we typically do up there in the summer are the water parks. We used to love Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. Wet 'n Wild seemed like more of a teen crowd.

Good luck and have a great time! You still have time to get some planning done. With any luck your kids will be dazzled!

We went to Disney World last year for the first time with my 1 and 4 year old. We stayed for 6 night 7 days and had a blast. The good things about staying at a disney resort is no car rental, and you can get in the parks earlier and stay later. Also if you are staying at a disney hotel you can get the dining plan. So worth the money - and I think right now if you book with disney you get a free dining plan. I looked everything up on disney world.com and figured out where we wanted to stay and for how long and it will give you the prices. That way you can see the different hotels and cost. Then I called once I had everything picked out and it was great. They picked us up at the airport and took us back to the airport. I did alot of reading on the disney Moms panel. You can read or ask questions to the moms that go to disney alot.

I would join AAA motor club. It's about $50 a year and you get tons of discounts including Disney vacations. It would be worth calling them and getting a quote. They also give you a card to save on shopping at Disney and sometimes there are member only discounts.

Staying at one of their resorts is the way to go. You wouldn't even need to rent a car. Disney has a shuttle that picks you up and it's FREE.