Disney World (Orlando) Family Vacation?

[Guest Bronker]

I'm thinking of taking the wife and kids to WDW-Orlando in late March. Having never been, the information on the website is overwhelming! We are going to drive. I would rather stay in the park.

Guys who have taken their families recently...throw me some hints.

-Where to stay...

-What to see...

-"If you don't do ANYTHING else while you are there, you have to _______________"

-Get a dining plan?

-Length of stay?

-Park-Hopper option?

-My father-in-law is retired military, and I understand there is a military discount for tickets. Anyone utilize that option? How'd you verify / book it?

Discuss.

[Guest glock20]

i took the family there last july.stay at the contemporary if you can.the monrail runs right through it and will take you to epcot or magic kingdom with having to wait on a bus or drive your own car.have to do the safari at animal kingdom and mount everest there.also at mgm studios do the rock n roller coaster and tower of terror.epcot see the worlds and do test track.magic kingdom,just about everything lol.if you have boys at pirates of the carribiean they let them dress like pirates and all kinds of stuff.we got the dining plan and it was worth it.didnt hardly spend anything on food and we still had stuff left on the card.you really need 10 days to fit everything in.5 days is not enough at all.7 days may work.park hopper is worth it.say you go to animal kingdom in the morning but you wanna go to epcot that night.with the park hopper you can.if you buy regualr tickets you have to stay at that park all day.no bouncing around.also do fantasmic at mgm studios.spectacular.anymore questions feel free to ask

[Guest mosinon]

I can't afford the Contemporary but we go every year. We've stayed at the Caribbean and Coronado. About the same as far as I can tell.

The pak hopper seems like a good deal, we bought it three out of fours years, but we only used it once. I would skip it. By the time you're done with one one park you are too tired to hit another. Depending on the age of your kids I'd also skip the water park option. If you go moderate or better the pools are themed and, for my kid anyway, plenty of fun.I'd schedule one day just to hang at the hotel pool.

As for must sees, well that is difficult. For me the best part of Disney isn't what I do but what I see my kid do. He's having fun so I am having fun. For my kid it was eating with the princesses (character meal). This comes with a downside because if we go back he wants to marry ariel because she kissed his autograph book.

The best advice I can offer is to be flexible, get to the parks as early as the family will allow and just go with it. You'll have a great time of the kids have a great time. And the kids will have a great time.

[Jasongar8]

My family went three times when I was a kid. I was around 8 when we went the first time and I was all about riding the rides so I enjoyed the Disney Hollywood park and the Universal parks more so than the Disney parks. The Disney Hollywood park and Universal parks have more roller coster type rides and I think they are intended for a teenage and older crowd. The shows were also great at Universal. We also went to Epcot, Disney World, and Animal Kingdom. I enjoyed Animal Kingdom the most out of those three. With DW second and Epcot third. It just didn't seem like there was much to do at Epcot besides Spaceship earth.

We also did Seaworld once and really enjoyed it. And if you enjoy water parks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach are the best I have ever been to. They are both run by Disney and are top notch. Keep in mind that I was 8, 10, and 12 when we were there so YMMV.

We stayed at the Disney Wilderness Lodge one time which I thought was awesome. It is modeled after the lodge at Yellowstone I think. Another time we stayed in a cabin at the Disney Fort Wilderness Resort and they were pretty nice. And the other time we stayed in a condo that wasn't owned by Disney. In 2009 we stayed at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort while we were down for the SHOT Show and it was really nice and close to the Universal Citywalk. There was all kinds of stuff to do and places to eat within walking distance and the hotel is very nice.

Deciding on what you want to do and where you want to go really depends on how old your kids are and what the family is interested. Younger kids will enjoy the Disney parks more so than the Universal parks. And if your family is into animals and nature then I would hit Animal Kingdom and Seaworld. Older kids and boys will enjoy Universal and the Disney Hollywood park more becasue of the rides.

[Guest gw2and4]

There is so much reading to do about Disney... I'll try to hit the main points you asked about even though this is undoubtedly going to be a long post. I've been to the Orlando parks many times and we were annual passholders for a couple years until things got tight last year. We'll be getting them again this year to start the madness all over again. Seeing the kids at Disney is great and makes it all worth it for me. A good all-around spot for reading and info is MouseSavers.com - Disney Discount Source - Disney World Discounts, Disneyland Discounts, Disney Cruise Discounts. Good info and guidance on how to get the most out of a Disney trip.

-Where to stay... This will depend on budget, but you should stay on Disney property if you can. Staying in a Disney hotel or the Lake Buena Vista Hilton allows you access to Extra Magic Hours which lets you have one hour extra in the morning and three extra hours at night. This feature alone is worth staying inside Disney World. The value resorts start around $60/night and go with pretty much no upper limit. You mention retired military in the family. Check out Shades of Green for eligibility. Shades of Green® Resort on WALT DISNEY WORLD Resort official website is the only Armed Forces Recreation Center (AFRC) located in the continental U.S. Shades of Green® on WALT DISNEY WORLD® Resort is a military resort serving the U.S. Army, Navy, Air. If you choose to stay outside of Disney, you can waste a lot of time each day driving to/from the parks, parking/shuttles, etc.

-What to see... As much as you can... The fireworks shows are not to be missed. Wishes at the Magic Kingdom is the favorite by far, then it seems Illuminations at Epcot is next. Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios is cool, but after seeing it once I didn't feel the need to see it again. Wishes, however, never gets old. Seen it dozens of times and it's still like seeing it for the first time. Depending on the age of your kids, you may want to make reservations for some character dining. There are no words to describe the looks on your kid's face(s) when they see the characters come alive. Keep in mind you're paying for the experience, not the food. So just decide to pay the premium because the memories and pictures are worth every dime. The Crystal Palace has a great buffet, and seems to be our favorite breakfast joint to start a Magic Kingdom day.

-"If you don't do ANYTHING else while you are there, you have to _______________" Ride-wise, depends on kids/no kids. For most folks, here are the must-do's:

--Magic Kingdom has the mountain range (Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain), and then there's other stuff like Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion and a bunch of kid stuff. Depending on the day, I can take the rest or leave it.

--Epcot has Mission:Space, Test Track, Spaceship Earth, and the best in the park: Soarin'. Do NOT miss Soarin'.

--Hollywood Studios has Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster. Toy Story Midway Mania is super hip, but go straight there when you get in the park in the morning to pull FastPasses for later in the day. They're usually all gone by 10 or 11 AM and then the wait is over an hour. Star Tours is also way hip if you're into SciFi, and the Lights, Motors, Action stunt car show is great.

--Animal Kingdom has the Kilimanjaro Safari ride, Expedition:Everest, Dinosaur and the River Rapids ride. You WILL get wet, so make it the last ride before leaving the park to go back to the hotel for nap time.

-Get a dining plan? You can certainly get away spending less on food if you have a room with a kitchen and try to save money eating breakfast in the room and packing some lunch to eat in the park. They say you can't bring food in, but if you stay away from tables at the restaurants and use park benches and whatnot--no one will bother you about it. If you plan to eat in the parks anyway, the plan makes it simple. We haven't done that yet, but will on our next trip.

-Length of stay? I'd start with 5 days in the parks and go from there. To make it worth the drive down and back, we usually stay a week if possible.

-Park-Hopper option? If you want to make the most of the trip, get it if you can afford it. I've done all four parks in one day. Obviously didn't hit all the rides, but we did hit all the roller coasters and a bunch of other stuff. If you hop, Animal Kingdom should start one of your days. We usually go there in the morning and we're sick of it by lunchtime. It seems to get hotter than the other parks, so it's not fun to be walking the park end to end in 90+ degrees and Central Florida humidity.

-My father-in-law is retired military, and I understand there is a military discount for tickets. Anyone utilize that option? How'd you verify / book it? I haven't gotten Military discounts on tickets, but you may find helpful info here: Shades of Green® Resort on WALT DISNEY WORLD Resort official website is the only Armed Forces Recreation Center (AFRC) located in the continental U.S. Shades of Green® on WALT DISNEY WORLD® Resort is a military resort serving the U.S. Army, Navy, Air.

With any of the ticket/hotel/dining questions, a call to Disney can be very helpful. They'll want to build a profile in their systems for you which freaked me out a little at first...but it's come in handy when calling back and they've never asked again. You may spend a half hour on the phone with them, but Disney knows how to do it right and has top-notch customer service. It's rare to run into someone at Disney who doesn't make you feel the magic.

Good luck with the trip.

Now that I wrote all that, I need to go take a nap.

[Transplanted Hoosier]

I have reservations for the Shades of Green in May. We stayed at the Polenesian two years ago and we really loved it. depending on how many days your family is going to stay at Disney, I highly recommend the park hopper tickets. As for the dining plan, that's entirely up to you. We did it two years ago and I felt like I had wasted my money because we didn't really eat that much. The snacks/sandwiches were sufficiant for us. You said your father in-law was retired Military, he can get tickets at any MWR on base. I can't remember how long it took for them to come in but you can't beat the cost of the tickets. Hope it helps.

[Guest cruznmore]

i know trying to plan a vacation like that can be difficult. I highly recommend finding a qualified Travel Agent to help. Travel Agents are paid by the resorts, so there is no cost to you unless you use one that charges a fee.

An Agent can help you determine which property will work best, work with your budget to get you everything possible within that budget. With an Agent you also have an advocate that is looking out for you if issues arise.

I'm an Agent, but encourage you to find someone you are comfortable working with. I also highly recommend Travel Insurance. We had some friends going to Disney not long ago and their daughter got very ill causing them to cancel the trip. The insurance reimbursed them for all of the costs except for the cost of insurance.

I do have a blog post about Disney Dreams and Memories if someone wants to check it out.

[gregintenn]

-Get a dining plan?

YES!

I'd suggest you buy a copy of Birnbaum's book about Disney. You also need to start planning now, and calling to make reservations at some of the nicer restuarants. You don't want to eat a a nice one every meal, but some of the various restuarants there are sure worth visiting. Getting to eat different foods from different parts of the world seemed to be a highlight of my childrens' trip there last year.

[daddyo]

The All Star Resorts are a good low-cost option if you want to stay on the WDW property. The rooms are small but adequate, and you're probably not going to spend much time in them anyway.

Shuttle buses run regularly, so you don't have to worry about getting where you want to go.

Have fun. As a former WDW monorail host from the seventies, and after going with the family three times, I can say I've had enough.

Edited January 26, 2011 by DaddyO

[gnmwilliams]

Don't forget to find all the hidden Mickeys!

Hidden Mickeys of Disney World

[Guest ADAM]

Do stay on walt disney world property.We go every other year and either stay at the wilderness lodge(the kids love the wilderness lodge) or the french quarter, the all-star resort and rock-n-roll resort are on the low end but very nice its just that the rooms are very very small. I would recommend the dining plan it will save

you alot of money and its hard to eat everything that they offer, we always have a couple of meals left when we leave and also the park hopper and fast pass plan. As far as the length of your stay I would

atleast stay 5 days. Also call disney itself and try and book your rooms and plans we have always found it cheaper than using a travel agent.

the farther out you book it the cheaper it is. I enjoy every one of the parks but I really like Epcot, they have a Japanese resturant there

that is awesome.

The best two parks IMO are animal kingdom(for the shade it has trees everywhere) they will be greatly appreciated if you go during the summer, and epcot.

hope this helps.

[Guest Bronker]

Wow, guys! This is a HUGE help! Thanks for all of you who've posted. It really helps. Keep it coming.

[gregintenn]

We stayed at Coronado Springs. It was beautiful. The hotel was so big that you rode a bus from your room to the lobby. If I went again, I'd consider staying at the Animal Lodge.

I strongly suggest you purchase a meal plan. Some of the places we ate were $70-$80 a plate!!! I found the Deluxe plan to be too much. I thought the basic plan would be too little. I heard there was an intermediate plan now, if so I'd look into that one. With the deluxe plan, I walked continusouly for a week, and still gained about 10 pounds!

Edited January 26, 2011 by gregintenn

[peejman]

If you do stay "on property", I'd recommend you look into the discount flights. They can be quite cheap if you're flexible on your dates. Disney will drive you to/from the airport and with the shuttles and such, you really won't need a car while there. Assuming you live reasonably close to an airport, door-to-door is ~6 hrs. Better than at least double that on the road.... gas, food, traffic, IMO.

[gregintenn]

If you do stay "on property", I'd recommend you look into the discount flights. They can be quite cheap if you're flexible on your dates. Disney will drive you to/from the airport and with the shuttles and such, you really won't need a car while there. Assuming you live reasonably close to an airport, door-to-door is ~6 hrs. Better than at least double that on the road.... gas, food, traffic, IMO.

That's the ONLY way to go! A car there is as usless as a battleship.

[VERO1]

Look online for a copy of the book, The Unofficial Guide to Disney World. I can't remember the author, but it gave lots of info on what to do, what to skip, what order to see, where to eat, where not to eat, in order to make the most of your time and money.

[R1100R]

I am going with my Family in March. We're staying at one of the Rosen properties due to a contact i have there.

There are discount tickets at the MWR office on post.(Morale, Welfare and Recreation Office) I understand they are a good deal.

[Guest Jcochran88]

All i want to now is "When We leaving?"

[Guest Bronker]

I am going with my Family in March. We're staying at one of the Rosen properties due to a contact i have there.

There are discount tickets at the MWR office on post.(Morale, Welfare and Recreation Office) I understand they are a good deal.

I've since discovered that discount, per my wife's aunt who is a ANG Flight Nurse (yes, she's super cool, and a true Patriot).

What week of March? We're going 3/28 - 4/1 I'm pretty sure.

[56FordGuy]

I went with someone few years ago. We stayed on the Disney property, either the Wilderness or Animal Kingdom lodge (I don't recall exactly), and it was pretty cool. Like the others have said, try and take advantage of the flights. Disney picks you up at the airport, and takes you right to the lodge if you stay at Disney. They have shuttles that take you everywhere on the property, a car wouldn't serve much purpose.

-Get a dining plan?

YES!

I usually agree with Greg, but he and I differ on this one. Granted; for folks with kids it might make sense. For two adults, I would avoid the meal plans. As great a trip as it was, if there was one downfall it was the food. All the 'Disney' food was less than stellar, and expensive.

I liked the park hopper plan. We were there for a week, and hit a park a day. I think we might've hit one of them twice, Epcot I think. I'll throw this in too, if your camera takes regular batteries (not rechargeables), take them with you. Don't buy them at Disney. I think a 2 pack of AAs was about 10 bucks.

[Guest mosinon]

I'm not sure if I can get behind this flying versus driving thing. I think you're better off to drive. If you fly from Knoxville you're only going to spend a few hours getting there but if you take any of the available flights (last I checked) you'll get there late the day you arrive and have to leave early the day you leave. You drive and you can stay in a cheap place outside Orlando and get there early in the morning the day you arrive.

A car is really useful at Disney if you want to visit more than one park a day or have a dining plan. If you want to visit Animal Kingdom and Hollywood studios the same day (which you can) a car is going to shave an hour, at least, off getting between the two parks. Plus if you have a dining plan the car can be a big deal. If you're eating in Wilderness lodge and you're touring Animal Kingdom you'll be able to leave the park later and get to meal faster.

I'm not sure it is worth the hassle to drive all the way down there but I am not convinced it isn't.

I think there is one one thing that all the advice is missing. Everyone is concentrating on the best way to do it but no one is thinking about what you're really after. What you are really after is fun. What you really want is maximal fun. Maximal fun won't be had sticking to plan or seeing the not misses. The thing about disney is that you are going to have fun no matter what. The next time you go you can about all the ways you could've had more fun. This time just go and and have fun.

[Punisher84]

I'd tell you the way I did it, but it would be of 0 help lol. My wife's friend's sister works as a pastry chef at Disney World. We stayed with them and hit Magic Kingdom and Epcot for free. Only thing I paid for was food and then a 2 day Sea World and Busch Gardens pass. And plane tickets down.

Pretty cool trip, but we did it WAY too fast. Take your time and give yourself time to enjoy it. We rushed and honestly I barely even enjoyed Magic Kingdom because everyone was miserable and fighting.

Bush Gardens though, that was fun! I drank my way through that park and had a blast.

[Ghooge2008]

We go every other year, Pop Century is a nice resort on premises thats alot cheaper than most others and has buses running all day and night. I cant stress enough DISNEY DINING PLAN and if your lucky you can book it for free with your rooms. also there are disney credit card promo's we have a discover, and build disney points on it with normal purchases, just for signing up you typicallt get a 25 disney gift card. my Mom has gotten somehow she pays her car note, and almost all the regular bills on hers throughout the off year between bi-yearly trips we make, and actually funds her room and alot of gifts with it because these are bills she would normally pay anyways, and just writes the check monthly to discover for 0 interest and the bonus of disney rewards points. buy the pins before you leave at a disney outlet(you dont know what pins are yet...but trust me you will soon). and DONT follow a Garmin, disney is privately owned....the roads arent correct even though you think your going the right way. and take some cash for toll roads.

[Defender]

We are going to Disney in March. Not altogether sure what all we are doing yet, but we are getting our tickets at Ft Campbell. Will do at leqast the Park Hopper plan. Our hotel provides a full breakfast and has a microwave in the room, so we may eat breakfast and most evening meals in the room and eat at the parks just for lunch for a family of four. What do y'all who have been recommend we do as far as meals go?

Edited January 31, 2011 by barewoolf

[Lumber_Jack]

we have been several times with my wife and outlaws. We have stayed at Port Orleans, Polynesian, and contemporay. I really liked the Polynesian, but of course that is considered a Delux Resort. I would definiltey recomend the Port Orleans, it was nice and you can take a ferry boat to downtown disney if you so desire. I ecco all that was said in post #5. all he said is congruent with my experience