Need tips on planning a Disney trip (hotel, reservation, airport)

[Granny Sue]

If you feel the need for rain ponchos...get them at a local store...they are at least $6.00 in the park.
Same for bottled water.
If they still have it...buy the drinks in the refillable bottles. They will refill it for $1.50 as opposed to $6-$7.
When you get in the park....go to the left 1st. You'll see the crowd go to the right.

I will 2nd the staying on Disney property...in doing so you more than likely won't need your car once you're there, which saves on gas.

I like to get hotel rooms with refrigerators and microwaves. Take cereal and milk for your breakfasts...peanut butter and jelly with bread for a lunch or snacks.

[momof2dfw]

We finally went this past November for the first time. It was one of those things even after hearing all the "long wait lines" and crowds and such we finally decied to bite the bullet and do it. We did NOT stay on Disney property and were just fine . We were literally 7 minutes away from the Disney parks and it was a BREEZE getting there even though it wasn't "Disney property". We actually stayed in a 2 bed/3 bath condo and it was GREAT with a full kitchen for breakfast before we left and late night snacks. We had plenty of room for the entire family to "spread out" and do whatever they needed to do to "chill" and relax after a long day in the parks. You do NOT have to stay at a Disney property to get the max out of it .

First thing. GO BUY the book "The Unofficial Guide to DisneyWorld". Get the latest edition. This is when buying a used one DOES NOT WORK! They constantly update it. Go by this book pretty much to the "t" and you will have zilch problems with your Disney trip. Before we left I had already torn out the "tours" in the back of the book and copied them off for all of us to have a copy and the map they had in the book. Then while there I studied the book the night before about the rides at the park we were going to the next day. Went over the different "tours" they had in the book and had our plan down. We got to ride EVERY SINGLE headliner TWICE and some of them three times. The longest line we waited in was 20 minutes. By going by this book we avoided the long lines, getting lost in the shuffle of other lost people, wandering around not knowing what rides to do, etc. On the last day my husband asked my how much the book cost and he said it was worth EVERY PENNY and that he would have paid $100 for it. LOL!!! They review every single ride and dining option so you can plan ahead and not have to worry about the "which way now" after every ride.

Dining. You MUST call in advance to reserve your Disney dining. Plan to eat breakfast before you leave that way when you get to the parks you won't need anything till lunch and that is already scheduled in the tours in the book. But for dinner you need to make reservations for the nicer restaurants options on park property. You can call 180 days out and for some you have to "practice" calling even before that especially if you want breakfast in Cinderella's castle. If your less than 180 days from your trip forget it. You can still call and see but most likely no. Now, doing this means you have to plan NOW what days you will visit what parks. If your not a Disney property guest you can't do the "Extra Magic Hours" which doesn't always work as that is when those parks will be the most crowded . So we avoided any park on their "Extra Magic Hour" day. They already have them scheduled out so you can check those out. Once you have an idea of what parks you are going to do on what days and even have 2 days that will work for them you can call and get your dinner reservations. Of course you want to find the times that is best for your family to eat and on several of ours we had to go with a much earlier time than we would normally like. Ended up being we were READY for dinner by then and we beat the larger crowds to the restaurants as well. So a 4:30 or 5:00 dinner reservation is NOT too early to make . On one we got a super late one, 9:30 at the Brown Derby. I called the day before we were visitng that park and tried to move it up by nothing was available. So that day at the park when the restaurant opened and we walked by I went in. I was told to come back at a certain time, 6:00 to see. I went back and they were able to move us up on "standby" to 7:00. We got seated at 6:45 . Same for the California Grill at the Contempra. BOOK THAT ONE!!!! FOR SURE!!!! Try to find the time to dine while the fireworks will be going off at Magic Kingdom. They have a viewing area outside for you to watch them or you can sit at a window table (if possible) and see them from your table. Again, when I booked ours we could only get a very late reservation but we went earlier and got in but we were only a party of 4. A larger party would not always be able to do that. This is one of the "fanciest" restuarants on Disney property and it is VERY GOOD! Since this one is a little nicer I got us dinner here on our day of arrival. We didn't do a park that day after flying in so this worked out perfectly. If you do a search on this forum you should be able to find the thread I started about dining at Disney.

Disney Tickets: We bought ours from a vendor there in Florida that actually buys full tickets from Disney and prints them out just like Disney. They buy what they sell. They do not do the "buy unused tickets" thing that you will see all over the place. I can't remember the name of the place but I can find it for you. They were a little less than other places and VERY HELPFUL!!!!

[sarahkate_m]

the above post sounds great. just wondering how the condo price compares to staying at my beloved embassy suites! sounds out of my league... sounds about right for the executive level crowd.

my low brow version of a good disney visit:

go on off season as already described in a previous post

if not flying in:

bring some pop/bottled water/whatever in your cooler & good froz dinners to heat in your room micro... if the room comes without a micro or fridge: you can request it... i would not stay in a room without either.

if flying in, perhaps shop at the nearby grocery store for some boston market froz dinners etc to get by on the cheap. frugal is my favorite word!

oh yeah: no matter how ritzy your room is: always check the sheets for freshness: any HINT it isn't fresh, request a different room or ask for refund & leave: this is from personal, unfortunate experience that i bring this up! some hotel workers are just not caring enough to always do the room services correctly.

for a little "posh" stay at the embassy suites: the dining is fine for those of us who don't need our napkins placed on our laps by a server. the selection is normal & on the very nice side. the ambience is my favorite!

kate

[momof2dfw]

The condo we stayed at was NOT "executive level". It was clean, adequate and very roomy. I was able to get our condo for a grand total of $300 for 7 nights . It was a special. You'd be surprised as staying at a full blown condo is a LOT less expensive than some hotels and we get a full kitchen and a washer/dryer . We really only needed 2 bathrooms but the 3rd was GREAT. I used the 3rd bathroom as I had to get up earlier than everyone else to shower/wash/dry hair/makeup, etc. The master bath was open to the master so I didn't wake hubby and his precious "beauty sleep" (he NEEDS it or else he won't make it thru the day all day at these parks - forget about the kids ). It was also nice at night when we would come in late and both kids were tired. They BOTH could shower and get ready for bed. No one waiting and falling asleep before it was their turn .

We stayed at the Westgate condos which there are MANY of in the Orlando area. We were over right down and across from Disney and it was literally only a 5-7 minute drive from the second we backed out of our parking spot till we pulled into the gate. Depended on if we got stopped at the light or not. There are thousands and thousands of condos all over Orlando that are very reasonably priced and still minutes from the Disney gates.

Comparing a Disney property to a off-site full blown condo the condo is a lot less expensive. And LARGER and a full kitchen . We have found over the years that condos are actually cheaper than many hotels and that doesn't even include the savings from eating in vs having to go out all of the time. It pays to shop around and check out all avenues.

[mongoslade223]

IMO, if you are visiting strictly to see "the Mouse" then staying @ a hotel on property, even if it's a value resort, is the way to go. If you are planning to explore different parks or attractions, then renting a condo or house off property would be my choice. My family rents a house when they come down and it is surprisingly economical; a way better value than a Disney property resort IMO. There are so many rental houses and condos in the area you can get a terrific deal if you shop around.

As far as tickets go I would be very wary of outside vendors. AAA is the only company outside of Disney that offers official discounts.

[sarahkate_m]

momof2dfw:

Glad to hear such a deal can be had ($300 for 7 nights!). I've never been to D.World... or FL for that matter... I only know of the CA version of Disney...

Thanks for sharing your hot tip *sincere*. If/when I go to FL, I'll heed your advice. The book did sound interesting. Esp. cuz your husband said it was worth $100! Great scores on many points in your posts!

Kate

[momof2dfw]

I was leary of buying our Disney tickets from an outside vendor. I had already heard about the places that buy and sell the unused portions and did NOT want that. Thru the book "The Unofficial Guide To DisneyWorld" I found this place and looked them up and they are legit
Disney Tickets, Discount Disney World Tickets Orlando Florida , Official Ticket Center

They were VERY helpful. We did not order ours in advance as we booked our trip kind of last minute. I also didn't want to wait around the hotel/condo in case we had something else we wanted to do to have them delivered (and they are VERY STRICT on delivering them to make sure the right person gets them). So after we landed in Orlando, got our rental car we went in search of this place. They provided us with THE BEST map of Orlando I found and pointed us in the right direciton for something for lunch and how to get to our condo without all of the traffic and a few other tips about things we had questions on. I would HIGHLY recommend them. They print the tickets right there that you want and then pay Disney for what they print/sale.

Originally Posted by sarahkate_m

momof2dfw:

Glad to hear such a deal can be had ($300 for 7 nights!). I've never been to D.World... or FL for that matter... I only know of the CA version of Disney...

Thanks for sharing your hot tip *sincere*. If/when I go to FL, I'll heed your advice. The book did sound interesting. Esp. cuz your husband said it was worth $100! Great scores on many points in your posts!

Kate

Yes, the book is VERY WORTH IT! It kept getting recommended to us so I had to go get it. Our neighbors that are like PRO DisneyWorld people, my surgeon that took out my gallbladder two weeks before we left and a gazillion other people kept telling us to get it. Like I said, this one you want the NEWEST and LATEST edition as it is constantly updated depending on new rides being opened, change of conditions that could alter the way they map out the tours, etc. It wasn't that much really and it MORE than paid for itself. It was only $20 and like my husband said he would have paid $100 for it. He was VERY impressed and he didn't even read the book but he sure kept close tabs of his copy of the "tour" for the day and the map. He was a firm believer in it and it was kind of funny watching him almost guarding it when he would pull out his copy of our "tour of the day" so that no one else saw it, lol. I did see a few people w/ the ENTIRE book in their hands. You don't need to do that. Study it beforehand and it will be overwhelming at first. Once you finally get there take the night before and get familiar w/ the rides and all at the park for the next day. This way you can really decide if you want to skip a ride or not. I knew after doing that there were some rides that were just WAY too babyish for our family and not an old Disney Fave so we would bypass those. But we HAD to do things like "It's a Small World" and other Disney classics. I must also say that don't be too swayed by the doomsayers about some of the "scary" rides and shows. OHMY! Those were funny and our kids and us LOVED the shows that some thought were just "horribly scary". One was at Animal Kingdom and I think it was the Bugs Life one. One lady wrote in saying her 12 year old ran out of it crying and screaming. That kid has issues, lol. It was not that bad and it was funny and our kids all had a blast. I did not hear a single kid or person cry or scream that they were that afraid. Sure, we screamed at the right times but then everyone laughed. So don't go by those at all. Go to those shows .

Anyway, yes, get the book. There is even one for Disney Land. It has been a long time since we went to DL, 9 years almost exactly in 2 weeks.

Oh, there are also "Unofficial" books for "outside" the parks in Orlando and the other parks in Orlando. The one for DW covers them though but not in as detailed as the DW one. If you were going to do all of the Universal stuff then I'd get the book for them as well.

[juniperbleu]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

First thing. GO BUY the book "The Unofficial Guide to DisneyWorld".

Ditto. I've been to Disney countless times (no, really, I've lost count) and we always got the book. It really does help and has a lot of good information.

I'd advise staying on or near the Disney property, just for the ease of using the transportation system. In addition to the actual Disney hotels there are a few hotels near Downtown Disney just inside the property (a Best Western, and several others). They may or may not be cheaper, and you can walk to the Marketplace/Downtown Disney to catch the buses. Going around the parks is a long, hot day, so chances are you'll want to go back to relax a bit and freshen up before the evening. If you stay off the DW property, a lot of hotels will have buses to WDW but they often have few pickup-dropoff times, so you're essentially stuck there all day. You can also drive and park for (I think) $12/day at the parks. The parking pass is good all day at any of the parks, so don't throw it out.

Also, if you stay in a hotel try to get a room with a fridge (you can usually request it if it's not already in there). We always would make our own breakfasts, bring snacks, and sometimes make sandwiches for lunch. That way we saved most of the money for dinners and maybe a few lunches to just check it out. The food's gotten a lot better in recent years, which got us eating more in the parks. If you want a nice meal, our absolute favorites are the California Grill at the top of the Contemporary Resort (go at night for a gorgeous view) and the restaurant at the Wilderness Lodge. Both are pricey, but are fantastic. If you're at all interested, definitely make reservations for those two.

[juniperbleu]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

I must also say that don't be too swayed by the doomsayers about some of the "scary" rides and shows. OHMY! Those were funny and our kids and us LOVED the shows that some thought were just "horribly scary".

Funny story, when I was little (I think about 3 years old or something) my parents took me on the Haunted Mansion ride, which petrified me. Apparently after the ride I turned around and said (very sternly), "don't you ever, EVER, take me on that ride again". Now it's one of my favorites.

[mongoslade223]

Disney's value resorts (Pop Century, All Star Music, etc.) are very competitive with any of the hotels outside of Disney property, and depending on the season, even cheaper. I stayed @ All Star Sports and had a great time. Very clean rooms and bus service to all the parks.