Suggestions on our disneyworld vacation? (West, Turkey: rental car, real estate market, rental) - Dallas - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

jerzstyle00 · 10-15-2009, 11:42 AM

Planning to take a trip to disneyworld for the first time. Did some research on prices but would like suggestions from those have taken this trip before.Here's what I approximately came up with for 2 adults and a soon to be 3 yr old son.
-airlines tickets $400(kid is free since he aint 3 yet)
-WDWpackages is a site im looking into. $1000(includes 4-night stay at the fountains resort,2-park hopper passes),free shuttle to disney world.
-car rental(debating if needed) $150.
-food $200 for 4 days.
Total spent would be around 1800-2000 bucks.
Anyone know how to get the same annemities but cheaper?
Trying to find a hotel that offers free breakfast to save some cash.

Costco has a deal for $1300 which includes (5 nights at teh sheriton,2 5-day hopper passes,free pick-up/drop off to airport,shuttle buses to theme parks.Sounds like a nice package, looking into that.

Also people recommended small world vacations to me they say the have nice packages as well.

Any car rental recommendations? Will i really need one or not?Hotel recommendations?

Give me all the hints I may need to make this trip enjoyable and cheap!.Thanks.

BlosmTX · 10-15-2009, 12:21 PM

Double check with your airline. I'm pretty sure the rule for most of them is under 2 is free. At age 3 (or even almost 3), he would need a ticket.
Also, check with Disney on if your 3 year old needs a ticket. I know mine did when we went last year (we went over her 4th birthday week).

Your food budget seems really low. $200 for 4 days is about $5.50 per person, per meal. VERY difficult if you eat on Disney property, and doesn't allow any room for snacks.

You can deffinately cut out the rental car if you're staying at one of the Disney hotels. The Disney Buses go everywhere. If there's something specific off Disney property you want to do for a day, it would probably be cheaper to call a cab.

If money is really an issue, you might want to put this off for another year or two. He probably won't have many lasting memories of this trip, and might be too short to ride some rides. At 4 and 5 he is not too old for it to still be magical and fully enjoy all the little kid stuff, and he'll be tall enough for more of the rides (a lot of them have I think 40" minimum height requirements- my daughter just barely reached that at almost 4).

cincylifer · 10-15-2009, 01:05 PM

Agree with prev poster, a three yr old needs a ticket.

One thing you may not know, is that Disney is really lax on bringing food to the park. We did a big family trip two years ago, and we rented a condo about 10 mins from the park. It was really nice, 3 bd room, washer/dryer etc, a luxury community with pool etc. We were able to take food to the park. People actually bring coolers to the park and they dont stop you. At least when we went they didnt. It was much cheaper renting a condo, as opposed to staying on site. With the real estate market in the tank in Florida, I am sure you can get a fabulous deal on a rental. Send me a pm, and I will give you the website we used.

Since your child is so small, I probably wouldnt do all of the parks, but definitely do Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, those are the best in my opinion.

momof2dfw · 10-15-2009, 03:35 PM

We went last Thanksgiving. Go NOW and buy the latest edition of "The Unofficial Guide To Walt Disney World". Do not head to Half Price Books for this one as it is CONSTANTLY updated and you need the absolute latest version as rides change and such. GO BY THIS BOOK TO THE "T"!!!!! Pick out the "tour" for each park you want to do after reading about the rides and then visiting Disney can be a BREEZE!!!

We stayed off property in a condo that was 2 miles from the gate. EASY to get to and so much nicer than staying in a normal hotel room especially after a long day at the park and everyone needed their seperate rest/relaxation. I could also get up much earlier to shower and get ready without waking everyone else. We had a kitchen for breakfast, water bottles (that we would take with us to the park in the backpack), granola bars and such for snacks as well and a late night snack in our condo. Saved a ton of money with that. You can get condos that are CLOSER to the maingate than some official "Disney" properties and cheaper. We stayed at one of the Westgate condos right off of Turkey Lake Rd. HUGE complex and plenty of amenities that we never even used but having the condo w/ 2 bedrooms and bathrooms was AWESOME! I want to say it was Westgate Towers we stayed at. Don't just think that you MUST stay at a Disney property to enjoy it as you do not.

We did rent a car as we do like to drive around and like the freedom of it. The parking at the parks is $12 per day. We did NOT do the Park Hopper. I seriously doubt you are going to want to do TWO PARKS in 1 day with a 3 year old. I didn't want to do 2 parks in 1 day w/ a 43 year old. If you and the child have enough energy to do 2 parks you might as well stay at the one and do the attractions there instead of wasting time going from park to park and save the money. After doing it and thinking that we too would NEED the Park Hopper I am SOOOOOO glad we did not get it as it would have been a serious waste of money. There is a place there in Orlando to get tickets for less that is an official Disney ticket outlet. I can get the name for you for that place as well. They were GREAT to deal w/ and very helpful and gave us one of the best maps of the area of anyone. Having the car also allowed us to head to the grocery store on our own time as well. Besides, with our own car we could leave the condo and go STRAIGHT to the parks and be there in less than 10 minutes and the same thing when we were ready to call it a day. No stopping at every single bus stop along the way to get to the parks and no waiting on them when we were ready to leave that evening and get back to our condo. I've had friends tell me they have literally been on the shuttle buses for an hour depending on which Disney property they stayed at. NO THANK YOU!!! Not for us at all. I saw how tired and cranky some of those little ones were at the end of the day and to have them have to sit on a bus for a length of time when they are ready for bed OR jump in your own car and be in your room in 10 minutes........I'll take my own vehicle (or rental).

Yes, you WILL need an airline ticket for the 3 year old. Only those that under the age of 2 can fly free IF they sit in the lap of the adult traveling with them. The planes are usually full so that means he MUST sit in one of your laps the ENTIRE flight. If that is n't possible then you need to buy him a ticket.

As someone else said your budget for food is pretty low. Unless you go to the grocery store and take in all of your own food and drinks and don't plan on eating anything that is sold IN the parks. It isn't cheap. In the book I mentioned it lists every single dining establishment at the parks, what they serve, hours and their price range. If you plan on dining at any of these places you need to make a reservation and do it SOON!

There is the "Extra Magic Hours" that one gets if they are staying at a Disney property. Each park has a day that they open earlier and stay open later for those guests. What has been found out is that those parks that have the "Extra Magic Hours" on that particular day are actually MORE crowded than they are on days they don't. This is all in that book. We avoided the parks on their "Extra Magic Hours" days and went to the ones that did not have it that day instead. Got to the gates when it was instructed to in the book and were usually the first or second ones in line as soon as the park opened. We were able to ride ALL of the main attractions at least twice and some of them we had Fastpasses for a 3rd time by going by the book. We were typically done by about 3 each day and then just chilled and used our Fastpasses and whatever else we wanted to. By doing the tours in the book we avoided having to stand in any line for longer than 20 minutes.

Waiting for the park to open for 45 minutes is a LOT better than having to wait 45 minutes to an hour for 3 or more rides. With a 3 year old the less time you have to stand still and wait the better. They DO have lines for single riders and for those that need to "switch" out if they have little ones as you will probably need to do. This again is all explained in that book.

sonshinelife · 10-17-2009, 11:44 PM

I personally recommend staying at the park with a small child unless you plan on going other places in and around Orlando. I've been several times and have stayed close by the resort and summer before last took my 6 year old for the first time. We stayed at the All Star Resort. It was well worth it as we could come and go and didn't have to worry about anything during our stay. It isn't cheap but every penny you spend is well worth the adventure. I purchased directly through Walt Disney World for this trip. They treated us like royalty. I did not purchase the prepay meal plan because my son is a picky eater, however my cousin has purchased the prepay plan in the past, and she said that saved her family a considerable amount of money.

(901) · 10-17-2009, 11:51 PM

Get the fast pass

UTDGraduate · 10-18-2009, 01:53 PM

Be aware that Orlando airport will be over crowded during holiday season. It took me 4 hours waiting in a long line for security check(at security checkpoints). There was overwhelm with people. There are 2 main terminals in Orlando Airport, Terminal A and Terminal B. Most car rental services are located on Terminal B (underground floor).
Also, dont buy ticket at the Disney World ticket booths. it's better to buy Disney tickets early thru phone or online. You can search online for getting a better deal about ticket. Call Disney World customer service to check for any ticket price promotion, especially on holiday seasons. It depends on your personal preference, I like riding the bus provided by Hotel that i stay in since the parking lot is overcrowed. If you drive a car then you might walk for a mile long from where your car park($12/day parking). If you rent a condo, then rent along the Universal Blvd. There are many restaurants, shopping stores, entertainment actvities(also many night life activities)) along this road.

TiffinyKC · 10-18-2009, 02:42 PM

The best advice that I can give you is to go to this webite:

www.disboards.com

I've planned multiple trips to WDW and this site is the best. There's loads of information here for free.

Mr.Bungle · 10-20-2009, 09:37 PM

I second the disboards. My wife and I got soooooooooooooo much info on their when we planned our honeymoon for last december. What a great time, you're going to love it!

mijewell · 10-23-2009, 08:02 AM

Any good leads on getting cheap 1 day passes for a family of 7? We won't be staying at the Disney hotels or anything.