Disney World Vacation

[UNI1ISU2]

Bunch of cowards in this thread. The real advice is don’t go. But if you are going to subject yourself lots of good advice here.

I never went as a kid and have never been period. I would like to go to experience it and I have not heard one person say their kids did not have fun and did not make lasting memories. Ask anyone that has gone and they will tell you day by day details because it sticks in their heads. There are some really fun haters on this site and makes me feel bad for them to be that depressed.

 

[serverguy]

If you have a flexible schedule stay on property when they offer the "free" dining plan. It will be one of the value resorts but like people have said you don't spend much time in your room. It does help save some money.

 

[Urbandale2013]

I'd also recommend going in a holiday season. Halloween time in Disney is cool. And Mickey's Christmas Party is fun also. Extra charges, but more park time, and less crowds.

Is it less busy during the holidays? I always kind of assumed those were relatively busy because of the special stuff and people being off school.

 

[ISUTex]

Looking at doing a Disney vacation for the family. 3 young kids and my wife and I. For those that have done it what are some good suggestions so it does not cost an arm and a leg? Flight and either rental car or some of the hotel will be covered from rewards points on cc.

Stay on Disney resort?
Stay off resort and rent a car?
How many days are a good amount of days to actually go to the parks? 2? 3? 4?
Get meal plan if stay on resort?
Ways to get discounted tickets?
Necessitys for hotel- pool? free Breakfast? etc.

Any other suggestions or ideas?

There is no way around it. You will pay an arm and a leg at Disney. Might as well enjoy it. How old are your kids? Hopefully they are old enough to remember it. And, hopefully they don't need strollers. If they need strollers, your life will suck at Disney.

Stay at a resort.
No Car
1 day per park.
Get a meal plan
Buy water/snacks/groceries and have it delivered to your resort. You can take food into parks.
Get Fast Passes for the rides you really want to do.
Watch the fireworks show at Magic Kingdom.

Don't hit on the princesses. Repunzel is smoking hot by the way.

 

[UNI1ISU2]

There is no way around it. You will pay an arm and a leg at Disney. Might as well enjoy it. How old are your kids? Hopefully they are old enough to remember it. And, hopefully they don't need strollers. If they need strollers, your life will suck at Disney.

Stay at a resort.
No Car
1 day per park.
Get a meal plan
Buy water/snacks/groceries and have it delivered to your resort. You can take food into parks.
Get Fast Passes for the rides you really want to do.
Watch the fireworks show at Magic Kingdom.

Don't hit on the princesses. Repunzel is smoking hot by the way.

Is this you?

 

[waldclonz]

I have been once with my sisters and their families a few years ago and now we are looking to go again in the next year or two with my wife and 3 boys. I have been looking back into everything disney world again. This is the advice I would give:

It seems unless you are going to make a point to always eat the expensive options for your dining plan, the dining plan is not likely to save you any money. You can get free dining which could make sense, but only if you were already planning on doing the park hopper tickets, because it requires that now and you can't combine free dining with a room discount.

When we went before we stayed on site and that was very nice to not have to mess with a car or paying for a ride.

Time of the year when you go, weekdays are less busy and now even less expensive for rooms. September through November, January after school break and February seem to consistently be less busy months.

Undercover tourist for tickets can be cheaper depending on how many days you are going for and when.

Mousesavers.com if you would want to consider staying off property.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

One thing someone recommended to me that I didn't think my daughter would enjoy was swapping pins. We bought a cheap lanyard and some starter pins online for my daughter to wear. Kids can trade pins with employees or other kids to get ones they like. Most of the park employees have them and they are really good about interacting with your kid.

I thought it sounded weird at the time, but my daughter loved doing it. It gave her something else to do as we walked from one ride to another and it was completely her thing, which was a big plus.

There are some people that take it super-seriously, but most kids treat it as a fun deal.

 

[Urbandale2013]

One thing someone recommended to me that I didn't think my daughter would enjoy was swapping pins. We bought a cheap lanyard and some starter pins online for my daughter to wear. Kids can trade pins with employees or other kids to get ones they like. Most of the park employees have them and they are really good about interacting with your kid.

I thought it sounded weird at the time, but my daughter loved doing it. It gave her something else to do as we walked from one ride to another and it was completely her thing, which was a big plus.

There are some people that take it super-seriously, but most kids treat it as a fun deal.

I have started collecting the pins on regular vacations too.

 

[jsb]

Is it less busy during the holidays? I always kind of assumed those were relatively busy because of the special stuff and people being off school.

The actual holidays are busy.

But go around the holidays. We went during the first/second week of December in 2002. The recession was in full force, so that had an impact, but the whole time we could literally walk off a ride and get back on. Sometimes they didn't even make you get off the ride.

So take the kids out of school and go then. The Mickey's Christmas Party is also going on then, it's a special event where you pay to get into the park at night and they limit the number of people that can enter.

 

[psycln11]

We booked through AAA and stayed at a Universal affiliated hotel as part of our package. Added on Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and Sea World. We had a car and went to the beach south of Cape Canaveral and also went to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium to see Winter from the Dolphin Tale movies.

Sister-in-law booked last spring through Costco Travel and stayed on-resort at Universal.

 

[NorthCyd]

One thing someone recommended to me that I didn't think my daughter would enjoy was swapping pins. We bought a cheap lanyard and some starter pins online for my daughter to wear. Kids can trade pins with employees or other kids to get ones they like. Most of the park employees have them and they are really good about interacting with your kid.

I thought it sounded weird at the time, but my daughter loved doing it. It gave her something else to do as we walked from one ride to another and it was completely her thing, which was a big plus.

There are some people that take it super-seriously, but most kids treat it as a fun deal.

My 8 year old really got in to the pin swapping with the employees. They pretty much have to agree to whatever swap the kid wants. There are actually some pretty cool pins.

 

[SDCyclonesFamily]

Is it less busy during the holidays? I always kind of assumed those were relatively busy because of the special stuff and people being off school.

Actual holidays are super busy - would not recommend if you are going for the first time. We went December 8th-15th last year and that was the sweet spot for crowds. Missed the Time Warner cheerleading competition that is usually the first week of December and left before the Christmas crowds started arriving. Minor downside that wasn't that bad was it was really cold that week. But we left South Dokata with -20s so the nighttime low in the 40s in FL didn't feel too bad. If you google crowd calendars they can give you an idea of what to expect for busy times. I like Kenny the Pirate's website and Touring Plans for reference.

 

[jmb]

I never went as a kid and have never been period. I would like to go to experience it and I have not heard one person say their kids did not have fun and did not make lasting memories. Ask anyone that has gone and they will tell you day by day details because it sticks in their heads. There are some really fun haters on this site and makes me feel bad for them to be that depressed.

Memories. I agree. Enjoy.. I never went as a kid. Only been as an adult. Now I will get real w you: we have year round passes to universal. My 13& 15 love that **** hard. I dig it as well.

 

[Tailg8er]

Before you buy or book anything... spend $18 and but "The unofficial guide to Disney World. I read it before went and it is amazingly accurate and saved us a bunch of time and money. Tons of ways to hack the system and unbiased reviews of all the amenities.

Here's a few examples: It gives attendance numbers for each park for each week of the year. We went the first week of school and NEVER waited more than 15 minutes for anything all week. (Yes our kids missed first week of school but quickly caught up)

More:
Tip: If you arrive close to when the park opens go all the way to the back and work your way to the front. Much less crowded.
Tip: Disney polls hotels and bases off occupancy rates most parks open 15-30 minutes before posted times. Get there early = no lines.
Tip: It includes usable maps. Disney's maps are designed to lead you into blind alleys so you spend more time wondering around and have to come back to see everything. The maps in the book were great.

I could go on for hours.

No way in 2019 everything in that book isn't available in one way or another online.

Maybe not all in one place, but if you look hard enough you can find it online. Hell, seems like half of it is in this thread.

 

[sadam]

For those that have gone recently what did it cost for around a week? Definitely going to go in a couple years when kiddos are bigger. They’re only 2 and 4 so it’s just Adventureland for them for now but I loved the few times I went as a kid.

 

[3TrueFans]

For those that have gone recently what did it cost for around a week? Definitely going to go in a couple years when kiddos are bigger. They’re only 2 and 4 so it’s just Adventureland for them for now but I loved the few times I went as a kid.

We went this summer and 5 nights with 4 day park hopper tickets for 4 people, no meal plan, in a value resort family suite was right at $3k I think not including air fare.

 

[SEIOWA CLONE]

For those that have gone recently what did it cost for around a week? Definitely going to go in a couple years when kiddos are bigger. They’re only 2 and 4 so it’s just Adventureland for them for now but I loved the few times I went as a kid.

I have been told to budget $200 a day per person, that included the meal plan, without airfare.

 

[exCYtable]

1. Invest in the best pair of walking shoes they make and break them in ahead of time. Dead serious here. I wore some $60 Nike shoes one year and my feet were throbbing by day 3.

2. Go in the fall, anytime in October. Cooler temps, much cheaper airfare (fly Allegiant, direct flight) smaller crowds, kind of (it's ALWAYS crowded), great Halloween/fall decorations throughout the park.

3. Staying for the fireworks is an absolute must. My favorite part of the entire experience. They do an amazing light show/story coordinated with fireworks.

4. Plan a side trip to Clearwater Beach as an off day from theme parks. Take a boatride to watch the dolphins on the ocean.

5. If you love thrill rides, Harry Potter, or Marvel, you will actually enjoy Universal Studios better. Beware though, it's EXPENSIVE

6. It seems like there is a rainshower there at least once per day. Be prepared for that. It's usually just a short-lived pop-up shower, but we've been there around 10 times and have gotten rained on about 5 of them.

 

[exCYtable]

One note about going around Christmas. It is a neat experience, but last time we went was the week between Christmas and New Year's. Iowa was playing in the Outback Bowl over in Tampa (imagine that), and the place was swarming with Hawkeye shirts. It actually detracted from the experience a little bit.