Posted on 04/04/2012 6:52:33 AM PDT by RangerM
Thinking about surprising the family with a Disney trip later in the year (around October), but haven't been there before.
Anyone have any suggestions? Did you (would you) stay on the Disney property itself? If so, where and would you recommend/avoid it?
I've been on the website, and they have packages available, but while I'm not looking to spend myself into oblivion, I'm not looking to go at bottom dollar either.
For the moment, I live directly between DW and KSC. For me, it’s about an hour either direction, with average traffic.
Keep in mind you need to calculate your “Total Cost of Experience” ... this is why the Disney owned resorts have been so competitively priced IN TOTAL COST since the recession began.
The free food, free transportation, etc type of offers can really add up to substantial savings on your time, money and hassles.
I’d suggest signing up for as many traveldiscount offers websites/forums as possible using a brand new email address, because you need the deals and the amount of spam mail is overwhelming, you can abandon a new email address after the trip.
flyertalk.com has a US/Florida/Orlando subforum which is always a good place to look.
One more thing, do NOT stay at the Nickelodeon Suites Resort. It is the most overrun gross place in Florida. Think 10000 kids eating ice cream and then running around touching every surface in the place in 110 degree weather.
IF you have interest in the “rent a private residence” per diem or per week, check out vrbo.com first off. check out www.homeaway.com/ secondly.
The vrbo.com thing is great is
1. you are driving to Orlando and/or
2. you have two or more family groups sharing a trip together, it’s possible to rent for example 5bdrm/4bth mcMansions that sleep 14+ for really really cheap, within 5 miles of Disney World’s gates, in Kissimmee, or South Orlando.
I used to live in South Orlando and my real estate agent managed a slew of these properties.
1. find out if the candlight processional is at the time you are there.
2. Check into one of the meal plans. It is worth it and a good way to control expenses without feeling like you are controlling expenses.
3. Don’t go during homosexual weekend in june. (security over there hates it due to the out of control public freakiness and having to protect the family fun nature of the park.)
Hopefully you won’t be there during a gay wedding and have to explain to the children why the two guys are kissing. I suggest Dollywood! You can spend two days there doing the educational/entertainment thing then hit the rides. Do it on a Monday/Tuesday when the crowds aren’t so bad.
We did the parks for 3 days and the Disney Boat for 4 days.
Stayed at Disney All-Star Music section. Our room was next to the largest drum set in the world and next to Disney Sports. The three pools in the area are wonderful. Buy the limitless $8 cup for soadas all day.
As someone said before that early 10 AM is wonderful. We were back at the pool during the hot time around 1 PM.
We had a rental car and drove to the Ocean on third night and stayed where the boat is. We told the kid that we had to go home the next day and we just wanted to see the Disney Boat. So, in the morning we went and got on the boat (only to visit) before going home.
You should have seen the look on his face when the boat pulled away from the dock and we told him we were going to go on it for 4 days.
One night at Kissimmi we ate and watched a Renaissance Jousting match. They split the arena into 8 sections and you root for your knight. Had chicken and soup with no utensils.
Best vacation of all time.
If you can afford it, staying on-site is the better option. You really get into the whole Disney “immersion” without breaking that reality by dipping back into the real world. You could literally be completely within the WDW system from the time your plane lands in Orlando to the time you departing flight leaves.
If the type who likes all-inclusive vacations, you can also get room + ticket + dining packages.
Other on-site perks include “extra magic hours” which allows early entry or staying late at the various parks (typically one open early and/or one open late each day) and any in-park purchases can be sent back to your resort so you don’t have to lug it around all day.
But, on the whole, on-site is more expensive, and the rooms are of smaller size than what you’d get out in the general Orlando area. Also, if you plan on doing Universal and/or Sea World as well, that total immersion isn’t going to be a big deal for you. Having done both, I definitely prefer on-site, however.
Keep your eye open for discounts — there’s almost always some discount or other for off-peak times (such as October) on room rates or even adding the dining package for free to a rack-rate room.
Within an hour and a half drive
I guess all these things are...."within an hour and a half's drive" was clear only in my mind.
Us too! Many times we couldn't afford Disney so we went to Knotts. I loved the wild west gunfight show.
We always bought some Knott's jam as it wasn't available in stores at the time.
sadly it was posted here that the homosexual marriage in the military types are going to be having a conference at shades of green. (posted here on FR) So that would not be a family friendly time to go there. IOW it is not a child safe time to be there.
No I got it but knowing the area it just made me chuckle.... no ding intended
Time is money at WDW. Look at the web sites others have mentioned. If you are military, look for deals on tickets and Shades of Green and even deals at Disney Resorts. Stay on property if you can afford it. We always take a trip around to visit the resorts because they’re fun by themselves. You can save money by not eating at the parks or resorts. Again, do eat there if you can afford it. The character breakfasts are fun for little ones. Be careful of becoming a DW Ranger. We were sitting in The Tiki Birds (it’s called something else now) when I noticed everyone was looking at us and laughing. My wife and two teenaged girls were conked out. They needed a vacation after our DW vacation. It’s good to plan, but when you get there, sit back and let the magic happen. Check to see what is shut down during the time you’ll be there. Stuff requires maintenance and I’ve seen people really angry because they came to ride a certain ride and it was shut down for maintenance. I fought with Disney over the homosexual stuff and there’s not much they can do about it. There is a gay week and just avoid it. Avoid the cheerleader week, too.
Throw the baby out with the bath water..?? That homo stuff is everywhere. Hold your nose vote with your feet, move where it ain’t. Much luck amigo. Shades of Green is a great deal for service folks, even flakey ones.
What Broker said. If you have qualifying military service, your first stop should be the link that Broker gave.
Find out when Gay Day is, and plan accordingly.
(And if they now have a Muslim Day, or other day for another group that is above criticism, plan for that too.)
ML/NJ
The rooms are very clean, and if you have kids, the maid service often does little extra things like making bunny rabbits out of towels. Silly, but hey, you are at Disney. The resort themes just carry the Disney experience one step farther too. My favorite is the Wilderness Lodge, but I also very much enjoyed Port Orleans French Quarter. The Swan and Dolphin hotels are both nice, but more like standard upscale hotels. The pools are great, and once again, are Disney themed - i.e. a slide is not just a slide - its a dragon.
Food is a major cost factor you shouldn't overlook. The meal plans worked well for my large-ish family, were very, very convenient, and the food was quite good, too. If you have little ones, a character meal is a lot of fun too. Little girls will always remember having breakfast at a real castle with real Disney princesses.
One last thing to keep in mind is that the parks are enormous and involve a lot of walking. Sometimes it is nice to take a break during the heat of the day, and go for a swim at your hotel. Its as easy as taking a 10 minute bus ride to get back to your room. This would be a hassle to do if you stay offsite.
Do I sound upbeat about Disney? That's because I'm taking my wife and kids there in two weeks. ;)
Throw the baby out with the bath water..?? That homo stuff is everywhere. Hold your nose vote with your feet, move where it ain’t. Much luck amigo. Shades of Green is a great deal for service folks, even flakey ones.
Throw the baby out with the bath water..?? That homo stuff is everywhere. Hold your nose vote with your feet, move where it ain’t. Much luck amigo. Shades of Green is a great deal for service folks, even flakey ones.
agreed just stay away that weekend
2) Plan nights - switch a night where it's you and your ten year old, another one where it's your wife and your ten year old at the park - the five year old probably won't be doing so great by that point, and you're going to want to have them off park in the evening. I tend to use off-park restaurants (make reservations!) and always have a AAA card or whatnot for any discount they happen to offer.
3) Park hopping is for those who know exactly what they want to do. If you can plan out your stay to the minute, that's great, but I'd stick to one park per day tickets.
4) Disney is pretty accommodating - if you think that ‘hey, I want to go another day’, they will alter tickets and passes so long as you've bought directly from them (or a gift card.) If you bought it on eBay or from a ticket stand, you're out of luck on this. That extra day might be as little as $20, or a conversion to a park hopper of only $10 per ticket.
5) Magic Mornings are worth a mint.
I haven’t been in years but when my daughter and her family went three two years ago(kids were 7, 8 and 10).., they had to leave early because my son in law was on the verge of losing his mind.
If you go, my advice is to keep it short...no more than three days. Think loud speaker voices herding you onto the next Pluto tram.
and bring your own veggies! cuz my daughter said there is no healthy food in the magic kingdom.
I think the best advice is on mousesavers.com.
If you’re doing a pure disney trip with disney every day then get a package that includes park hopper tickets (”magic your way package” or the “Magic Your Way Package Plus Dining”)
This link has fantastic and concise advice. It tells you the windows for various special deals. There is also a “room-only” equivalent link of this link:
http://www.mousesavers.com/packages.html#summer
Orlando is shockingly hot/humid in summer but you can work around it fine with mid-day nap or hotel pool. If you have the flexibility it is nicer to go after September to avoid worst of the heat.
If you want to eat at a nice restaurant on-property it’s very much worth the hassle of making a reservation well in advance.
You’ll have more fun on homosexual day.
“that” Disney weekend must be avoided, HELL on earth.
Disneyland is run by Homosexuals, Communist and socialist, and they hire illegal aliens to clean their hotels/restaurants etc. In fact, you’ll find the areas surrounding their amusement parks have been trashed by illegals, who work for them and or the surrounding restaurants/hotels.
Avoid it at all cost.
i find it amusing that cast members at disnyLAND dislike cast members at disneyWORLD. In case no one have ever seen disneyland, it is much much smaller and less sophisticated.
To be honest, ya couldn’t take me to an amusement park if ya gave me free passes, flew me in for free, and provided a complementary limo.
Venues with jam packed crowds, loud obnoxious tourists, extreme waiting lines, and sky high prices are not real appealing to me.
First, October is a good time to go.
Second, where to stay depends a lot on your kids’ ages, how many of them you have, and your budget. If you can afford it, I recommend the Polynesian or the Contemporary - direct monorail access to the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT is tremendously convenient. The Grand Floridian has the same transportation advantages, but it is not as much geared to kids.
I know I am going against the grain here, but my experience is transportation at on-site hotels that are served only by bus is not worth the extra cost of those hotels, especially if you can stay within 15 minutes’ drive of the parks. The TTC is not *that* bad, and it is fast and easy to get to the gate at Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios.
Unlike the other posters, we did NOT enjoy the on-site budget resort we stayed at (All-Star Movies). The rooms are tiny and the walls are thin. True, you are not there much, but when you are, you are probably tired and want to sleep. The noise level was so bad late into the night that we got very little rest. The lines in the cafeteria were long and the food was not very good (even for cafeteria food). The budget properties have huge numbers of rooms, so at peak times the lines for the buses to and from the parks are long. Once we had to wait almost an hour just to get ON a bus after EPCOT closed, and then our hotel was the last stop, so the trip took close to 90 minutes. That was not fun, since we were already exhausted and carrying sleeping kids. The long walk from the bus stop was one final “joy.” You’re going in October so maybe the closing time bus service won’t be as bad. But after that trip we decided we would never stay in a Disney budget property again.
I’ve stayed in a moderate property (French Quarter) and really liked the hotel, but I wasn’t impressed with the speed of the bus service.
The last time we went, we rented a house off-site. You can get a 3-4 bedroom house with its own yard and screened-in pool for $1000-$1200 a week, including taxes. (Since I have a big family that would need two hotel rooms, I cut my lodging costs in half by staying in a rental house compared to a Disney moderate hotel.) Most of these houses are quite nice, very clean and well-maintained. They are fully-equipped and furnished, just BYO paper goods, laundry and dishwashing detergents, and food. My kids liked the rental house better than any other place we’ve stayed.
We have also stayed in condos - not timeshare presentation deals, just rented condos. This has many of the same advantages and disadvantages as a house, but usually more noise, less privacy, and cheaper. It’s another good option for large families on a budget, since 3 bedrooms that sleep 6-8 are fairly common.
The main disadvantages to renting a house or condo are (1) no maid service during your stay, (2) you usually have to rent by the week, and (3) you’re on your own for transportation. Definitely pay attention to location/drive times, and expect the rental agencies to low-ball drive time estimates. (Off-site hotels tend to underestimate drive times, too.)
I don’t have any off-site hotel recommendations (haven’t stayed in any), but many of them have shuttle buses that go to the parks’ gates. Most of the buses are on a multi-hotel route, so the transit times are probably longer than on-site hotel buses.
I’ve never done it, but for people who like to camp, I’ve heard good things about the Fort Wilderness Campground...they have sing-alongs and s’mores around the campfire and other fun activities for kids.
As for touring the parks, basically the idea is this: if you don’t like lines, “zig” when the crowd “zags.” There are lots of books and websites that tell you exactly how to do this in varying degrees of detail. I don’t want to advertise for any particular site, so you can PM me if you want to know which website I used. It was really helpful in avoiding lines and getting more rides in per day. But you have to be willing to take the time to make a plan and be willing to stick to it.
If you don’t want to stick to a plan, one general tip is to get to the park early, waiting at the gate for opening time. Find out in advance which rides and attractions are “must-do” activities for your family at that park. Then as soon as you enter the park, walk past all the photographers and attractions near the entrance and go straight to your highest-priority attractions. You will get to ride with a minimal wait. If you really liked something, grab a Fast Pass to come back later and skip the (long) line to ride it one more time. Now you can relax and tour at your own pace, since everyone has already done their “must-do” activities.
Another way I am going to go against the grain of the other posters is that I *actively avoid* whichever park has the extra early opening hour. Why? More people go to the park with early opening, and they tend to stay - meaning longer lines all day. So I think you lose that hour later on. Also watch for special events...unless you really want to attend the event, go to a different park and the extra event crowds.
For meals in the park, eat at off-peak times when possible. If you want to eat at a sit-down place, make reservations. This is really important, since you often have long lines or can’t even get into the best places without reservations.
If you have fish/shark lovers, try to get reservations for the Coral Reef restaurant when you’re at Epcot. It’s very expensive (especially at dinner), but eating underwater with fish and sharks swimming around you is an experience.
If you want to do character meals for your kids, I have tried three: Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary was pretty good, the Crystal Palace was a dud (crowded, buffet food which was not as good as I expected from Disney, not much interaction with the characters), and the breakfast at ‘Ohana at the Polynesian was really enjoyable...both the food and the characters. You will need reservations for any character dining, and some reservations are very hard to get, especially Cinderella’s Royal Table.
If your kids aren’t like fireworks and light shows, definitely try to catch both the EPCOT closing show and the Fantasmic closing show at Hollywood Studios. Animal Kingdom is nice if the kids like animals or dinosaurs, and it’s small enough to do everything in one day.
Oh, and I agree that park-hopping is rarely worth it due to the long travel times. IMO, it’s only worthwhile to go between EPCOT and the Magic Kingdom on the monorail. And it doesn’t make sense to pay extra to for a park-hopper ticket if you aren’t going to park-hop much.
Hope you have a great vacation!
We drove from Jacksonville, NC and it took us about 11 hours. Of course, it takes us forever to get to 95. We have stayed on and off park, and we GREATLY preferred on. If you are military, they have some great discounts and you can get your Hopper tickets at ITT. We went when hubby got home from Afghanistan, and when they found out, they gave us a day-long fast pass and were just wonderful. My husband has the fast pass thing down to a science. My kids are older, so we spent most of our time at Epcot and Hollywood studios. If you want to do the Toy Story arcade ride, do it on a day when you get in early if. You are on property, and do it FIRST. the fast passes for that ride vanish early. The line is crazy for it. Enjoy!!
We actually got a better price using the military discount at Carribean Beach than we could have gotten at Shades Of Green. Plus, Shades doesn’t offer the meal plan, and we saved a lot using that. In addition, honestly, I go on vacation to get away from being surrounded by all things military. Shades prices by rank, so younger families may benefit, but if you are an Officer or senior Enlisted, you may do better using the military discount at another on-property resort.
They do have many foreign people working there but 99.9% are students on visa's.
Been there 4 times. If you’ve been to D-Land, the Magic Kingdom in Orlando is similar with more space.
EPCOT was meant to be like a world’s fair. Different countries and whatever the exhibit or ride it always empties into the inevitable gift shop.
I recommend the trip and hope you have some funds for the occasion.
If you go to Central Florida, tour the space center. It’s real and you want to see it before Obama turns it into a ghost town.
Hotels can be expensive, especially on the Disney grounds. If you have a family member or friend with time share, it may be easier to pay them and get a good suite with a kitchen.
Book your flights early, especially if you’re going during school breaks or summer.
>> “They do have many foreign people working there but 99.9% are students on visa’s.” <<
.
That is unlawful.
A student visa does not permit working for wages except on the campus they are enrolled to.
.
Someone noticed
Tx
Nobody goes there any more, it’s too crowded!
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