Vacation planning

curlilocks1207 · March 2010

We are planning a trip to Disney next year (spring break time). Woo hoo! The kids are super excited. We are excited, but a little nervous too. Anyone been there done that and want to share your tips?

karatechrissy · March 2010

Disney Land or Disney World?

DREWLILY · March 2010

I love Disney! How many days are you going and which parks are you going to? Last summer we got park hopper passes and we hit up several parks. We live in Florida so we just went for a few days. You can get some really great hotel rates at Royale Parc Suites. It's right near the park entrance and the rates are good, they always have online specials running, and they have a nightly manager's reception...trust me, after a day at the parks, you will want this!!! The hotel is also pretty nice with a separate bedroom and living room and a free hot breakfast daily. You'll save a lot of money staying here. Also, pack your own lunches to cut back on expenses, Disney food is sooo expensive.

J+R · March 2010

I agree with Drew... pack snacks, drinks, etc. It will make it a lot cheaper!!! Also - instead of buying souviners INSIDE the park, buy it at the little stores outside. It is SO much cheaper!

Have fun I LOVE Disney!

curlilocks1207 · March 2010

DREWLILY:
I love Disney! How many days are you going and which parks are you going to? Last summer we got park hopper passes and we hit up several parks. We live in Florida so we just went for a few days. You can get some really great hotel rates at Royale Parc Suites. It's right near the park entrance and the rates are good, they always have online specials running, and they have a nightly manager's reception...trust me, after a day at the parks, you will want this!!! The hotel is also pretty nice with a separate bedroom and living room and a free hot breakfast daily. You'll save a lot of money staying here. Also, pack your own lunches to cut back on expenses, Disney food is sooo expensive.

We are planning to do a full week (6 days, 7 nights). Not sure on the parks...what do you recommend? Thanks for the hotel tip, with 4 kiddos we are definitely looking for ways to save some money. Any tips for traveling with a LO? He will be about 17 months when we go...

curlilocks1207 · March 2010

Disney World. Sorry, shoulda specified that to begin with!

DREWLILY · March 2010

We did Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom. Then SeaWorld on our last day. All of those are great, and the first three will be part of the park hopper passes. Are you driving or flying? Most hotels have free shuttles to the theme parks which is great except you are on their schedule and have to wait for them to come pick you up.

curlilocks1207 · March 2010

We're flying. DD and SS have been begging to fly (neither of them have ever done it before) and I'm just not sure all of the kids (or I) would survive that car ride together. Did you do one park each day or go back and forth between them?

DREWLILY · March 2010

We did one park each day. We had planned to come back to our hotel at lunch time to eat and swim in the pool then head back to the parks, but once we got back to the hotel, it was just too relaxing by the pool for us to leave. Plus SD was having a ball swimming, she didn't care if we went back to the parks or not. We have been to Disney a 100 times since we live near there, so we didn't mind skipping some things. If you're flying, then I'm guessing you are from far away and will probably want to spend an entire day at each park just so you don't miss anything.

luckyangel · March 2010

We did Disney last summer! It was awesome! I would plan at least 2 days at Magic Kingdom, one at Epcot (the kids were bored there for the most part) and at least one at MGM (the shows are great but take up alot of time!)

PM me if you want to know what shows we hit that the kids liked best etc. Also, fast passes are great but sucky at the same time. You really have to plan around the rides or you dont get on very many anymore because of the fast passes.

We stayed at the Yacht Club on property-they have the best poolS in the entire park, but its pricey. Totally worth it though!

Karma1969 · March 2010

It's especially fun once it's dark outside for the kids, so you might want to consider a mid afternoon break back at the hotel for naps or just some down time.

Shel77 · March 2010

How exciting...4 kids? very brave.

We took SD when she was 6y, stayed at a Disney Resort, nothing fancy, All-Star maybe? She loved the Magic and Animal Kingdoms and did both of these on separate days. Ditto time for naps b/c the poor kid missed most of the night parade and fireworks at the Magic Kingdom and slept through most of dinner with Chef Mickey.

A warning in case you have a young SD-The Bibbity-Bobbity Boutique that DH's mom insisted on in MK followed by lunch with princesses was over-rated and packed with parents, photographers, and frightened little girls getting hairsprayed and painted. DH almost died when they asked his permission for acrylic nails. um, no.

Like Drew's SD, the child was the happiest when swimming in the hotel pool so spent a lot of time doing that.

She didn't love Epcot so DH and I went back at night by ourselves (realized that our meal package actually paid for really nice dinners too) and also did Pleasure Island at night by ourselves. We were very grateful that DH's mom was there so we could get out or go on some rides that she was still too little for, e.g. Space Mountain, Tower of Terror in Universal, etc. Don't know if you have that option but splitting older and younger might be helpful.

curlilocks1207 · March 2010

Shel, you mean certifiably insane, right?! We've been tossing around the idea of leaving youngest SS (will be 3) home with BM and LO with my mom and just taking DD and SS this time. I'm sure the older kids wouldn't mind going again in a few years and I don't think the two little ones would mind missing it this time. My mom has also mentioned meeting us down there and spending part of several days with us to help us break the kids up a little and do age appropriate things with boy age groups. So those are some options we are weighing right now.

We did say DH and I are going to have to go back by ourselves (in about 18 years) to enjoy the grown up things! I'm afraid even if my mom does go with us to help with the kids, I will be too exhausted to do anything at night without them.

evanheuveln · March 2010

Definitely pack sandwiches, snacks and drinks. We did Disney mid Feb. and fell in love with Animal Kingdom. We'll be going back in May. It has a lot to do.

paris.inthe.spring · March 2010

Another option is to rent some place privately owned. My aunt has a place 5 minutes from the gates, a house, with an inground pool, 4 bedrooms, etc. that is absolutely awesome, and much cheaper than any hotel around, even when you add in the rental car. If she was not selling it I would give you her information. From what I understand, there are sooooo many rental homes/condos down there, and the economy is really killing them because people are not traveling, and thus their rental income is way down. So, from the research I have done you can get awesome deals. Plus, you would then have a full kitchen to do some meals at home (breakfast/dinner) and I find that type of environment more relaxing then a hotel room.

How old are your kids? Are any of them into Harry Potter? The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will be open this spring (EEEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!!!!!!!), so that might be fun if they are interested (or obsessed-Who me???) with HP.

10-4LilBuddy · March 2010

We went with my 6 YO SD and ILs. Had a great time. Was very hot b/c it was July. Bring water bottles - there are lots of water fountains with cold water to fill up. We drank at least 2 bottles each a day.

We brought SD to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique and she LOVED it!!!! She's a real girlie girl and loves make up, princesses, and glitter. We didn't tell her about it ahead of time. We did tell her that we scheduled to eat lunch with the princesses at the castle. When we walked to the castle, I mentioned that I wanted to go in the boutique. She was so thrilled that she couldn't even speak more than a few words at a time for hours. It was expensive and crowded, but something that she'll never forget and still talks about it.

You need to make restaurant reservations in advance. I think it's about 90 days ahead of time. They book up quickly. Look online and figure out which ones you are interested in. I wouldn't recommend making more than one reservation a day - it's too hard to rush back and forth.

There are so many Disney trip websites out there with great advice and discounts. wdwinfo.com is a great one, so is mousesavers. We stayed at the Caribbean Beach hotel which was very convenient b/c it was on the shuttle.

Soooooo much fun!

Banana44 · March 2010

I'm a little late on this one, but we go to Disney every other year. I almost always book through AAA, and stay at a Disney hotel. Some of them are really, really reasonable and it makes getting places easy (also makes it easy to take a break in the middle of the day, stop at hotel, swim in pool, and go back to park). Also, the meal plan is awesome in my view. You can get snacks at the park - like ice cream bar, water, soda and you get meals also (does not include the big reservation meals like Epcot and Castle). We normally get the package deal that includes room, tickets (hoppers) and food, and if you book through AAA and the prices drop through Disney - AAA refunds you the difference, so you are guarenteed lowest price!

If you want to eat at Castle or Epcot - reserve 6 months in advance!

And, just a tip to make sure everyone gets what they want - we let each person (grown-ups included) say what one thing they want to do on vacation - and we make sure to do it. So if one wants water park (the hopper passes include Blizzard Beach and Shipwreck Island) and one wants to go to the arcade (downtown disney) then we make sure to schedule in time -- this way everyone is happy.

Good luck - we love Disney - and I was going even before kids!

fellesferie · March 2010

I'm from Orlando, and you've gotten REALLY great advice!

Definitely don't eat at the parks. We used to go all the time as kids, and my mom would pack lunches/drinks and we'd stash them in a locker or leave them in a cooler in the car. The only exception is that it's a lot of fun for grownups to eat at Epcot--the food at the Norwegian place is amazing, and we used to stop at the French place for desserts sometimes.

Don't forget little things like sunscreen and bug spray. It's really easy to get a burn in Florida pretty much any time of year.

If you rent a car, don't leave ANYTHING in it at night, and don't leave any valuables in at all. We went to Orlando in August and my car got broken into at a hotel near the airport.. apparently it's a BIG problem there.

If you're doing stuff outside of Disney, Sea World and Wet & Wild can be a lot of fun for kids. Universal Studios is also maybe worth it, but until your kids are older and into roller coasters, you can probably skip Islands of Adventure.

Hope you have a fun trip!!

lampkins · March 2010

We took SS a few years ago. We took him to the Pirate Show one night and he loved it! It was dinner show and DH even got into it. He still talks about it. We did the park hopper. We stayed at a timeshare place and just had to listen to a presentation for an hour and got to stay for $99 for 5 days 6 nights and it was inside the park's shuttle system. We park hopped. We would figure out which park opened early for the day and would go when they opened. We managed to avoid some of the crowds. I kind of hate the fast pass. Example: We go to the MGM when it opened and there was a 10 min wait for the Tower of Terror. People where getting in line for a fast pass to come back and ride 5 hours later. Totally insane. The most popular ride when we were there was the Toy Story Ride. We stood in line for almost 2+ hrs, but SS loved it and wanted to ride it again. So we had to come back a different day so he could ride it. We took a huge backpack with snacks and a big water bottle and mini games for the long waits in line. Make sure you go on the ride Soaring at Epcot. The ride was great and SS really got into the games they played while waiting in line. Have fun. Im jealous :-)

sabrina69barnes · March 2010

We are planning on going in summer 2011. I've been to Disney a lot of times. My best advice for you is to stay at a Disney hotel. If you stay at a value resort it is very affordable and comes with some perks like faster bus service to the parks an to and from the airport. You can get the dining plan which can save you a lot of money on food and you will also get to take advantage of the extra magic hours which are hours that the parks are open only to quests staying at a disney resort.

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