Planning our Vacation to Disneyworld - any advice?

[Jack7]

I'm in the planning stages of our family trip to Disneyworld. I've got two problems though.

1. The park has expanded a good deal since I was last there (though my wife has been recently), and 2. although I've been seven times myself not once was the trip really well planned in my opinion.

I'm taking my kids this time, and I figure we'll have 7 days total time for the trip. Meaning five to five and a half days at the park.

I've already gotten and we've all watched the park DVD. But there is a lot to choose from and do. A lot more than when I was there last.

I remember someone here, I kinda think it was Bullgrit, starting a Disneyworld thread. And several people responded.

How did you guys plan your Disneyworld vacation? How did you go about it?

I wanna get the most bang for my buck and my time. Any suggestions appreciated.

I'd like to go at one of the holiday seasons and I'd like to visit some of the lesser known or more unusual attractions and out of the way areas.

Also any of the lodgings take dogs? I'd like to take one of my Great Danes. If that's possible.

 

[GreyLord]

Don't know what to say really. We went and did everything in about 3 days. We went to one of the Disney resorts which gives you extra hours after everyone else leaves the park, so you can remain and keep doing more. The park is less full, and the lines shorter.

If you show up when the park first opens, the lines are also a lot shorter. If you have a young daughter, the Princess lunch/breakfast is a good thing to do.

We didn't really plan it out either however, simply got there early and left late during the days.

 

[Pbartender]

Okay, three years ago my family and I went to Disney World for about a week for our 10th wedding anniversary. Here's what I'd recommend...

If you can afford it, stay at one of the resort hotels on-sight. The "moderate" resorts (we stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside, and it was great) are nice, without being too crazy expensive. There are several benefits to it, including free rides to and from the airport and transport through out the park (the extra expense of the resort is made up by not having to rent a car).

Also, if you can afford it, grab the meal plan... If you do, you'll get to eat in a lot of really nice restaurants that you probably wouldn't normally have spent the money on. You get one "sit down" meal, one "food court" meal, and one "snack" for each person each day... I think the plan adds up to roughly $35 or so per day for an adult. Make reservations for sit down restaurants, and if you have kids ask about "character meals", where Disney characters stop by to visit. The meals that you get tend to be big enough for two people, so if you're careful about it, you can really make the food court meals stretch. Pick snacks carefully -- some are almost meals. In the Magic Kingdom, you can get huge funnel cakes, and they count as "snacks".

Plan which park you want to go to each day, and have a good idea of which rides and shows and restaurants you don't want miss, but trying to pre-plan every minute of the day will drive you nuts. Relax and just go see what you want to see.

Fast Pass is crazy awesome... use it early in the day, as soon as you enter the park in the morning, on the popular rides that you don't want to miss.

Find a kennel for the dog and leave him at home... It'll end up being far more trouble than it's worth to bring him along. (We've got two moderately large dogs, and looked into it too.) Even if you can find a place where he's welcome, he'll have to stay in the hotel all day long and won't get to go on any of the rides. No fun for him, and worry for you.

Get the latest Frommer's Guide on Disney World and read it cover to cover... That's where we got all our best advice.

 

[ahayford]

I actually live in the area. Some suggestions.

If you come in the summer time, wear shorts/white t-shirts, hats, and plan for rain in the afternoon. It gets extremely gross here in the summer time heat wise and there are several months here during the summer where it rains at about 3-4 pm almost like clockwork. Also, look for attractions that are indoors and try and space out an outdoor attraction with something indoors so you get the AC to cool off. A lot of the attractions now have indoor lines, but depending on how busy it is, you will be outside a lot.
I would almost plan on heading back to the hotel (if its close) for a nap at like 2, and then going back to the park for the evening. The sun will make you very tired.

Some other general advice, do not go in with too much of an agenda and get frustrated if you don't get to see everything. Agendas and schedules will just stress you out and make the parks not fun. I'd get everyone to pick out a few things they absolutely want to do, and make sure you do those things...then depending on how much time you guys have do what people decide is fun. The biggest negative about these parks is how tired and cranky they can make you. The best thing to do imho, is go in with a casual, relaxed state of mind and not stress it if you miss something. You will have much more fun.

If the resorts are not something you are interested in doing, there are quite a few hotels in the downtown disney area that are not owned by disney but are very close and have shuttles. If those are too expensive there are tons of places a little farther off. You might also look into some of the condo rentals. There are some very nice places with nice amenities that are just a little further away, but provide you with a lot of the things you'd expect at home. It can be very relaxing and is priced competitively.

Food is expensive at these places....accept it and don't grump about it. If it bothers you a lot, there are millions of places to eat on international drive. I'd suggest eating your breakfast at the hotel (most have free breakfast), eat lunch at the park, and then dinner off site. The food quality has improved a lot over the years, so maybe you're paying $10 for lunch, but at least its not ballpark food anymore.

One last piece of advice....do not be afraid to split up the party. I do not know your kids ages...but there are a lot of things at these parks that not everyone is going to be interested in. Sometimes the best thing to do is let the grown ups walk around and enjoy something on their own while the kids go off and fool around in a kiddie park or something. Or maybe mom can take a few kids somewhere, and dad takes the rest to something else.

The key is, don't let yourself get angry and don't get caught in the, I paid for it we have to see everything trap. If people are tired. TAKE A BREAK! Stay hydrated.

 

[Bullgrit]

Oh Hell Yeah! My wife and I are going to WDW for our "second honeymoon," (16 years married), without our kids, (two boys, ages 6 & 10), for almost a week -- in 30 more days!

My wife and I went for our first honeymoon back in '95, and then we started going as an annual family thing since 2008. My wife is the usual planner for these trips, but I know generally what she does.

First off, all the advice above is good, solid. Read it again.

We go during the slow times of the year. Like mid-September. The difference is not only better price deals, but the wait times for the various rides and things are dramatic. During busy times, an average wait in line can be 90 minutes. During our chosen times, the average wait is about 10 minutes. (I would not even bother going if I had to wait more than maybe 20 minutes to get on a ride.) For me, the time of year, (crowd level, see below), makes or breaks the whole vacation.

We have stayed in the WDW resorts, on property, each time. It's worth it for the great Disney service and easy bus access to the parks.

As for planning, beyond picking the best time of year, this is generally what we do:

There is a web site that estimates the expected crowd level of each park each day. I don't know the URL. We choose which park we'll visit based on the lowest crowd level. Then we choose a restaurant at that park and make a reservation for brunch, or lunch, or dinner. And that's about the extent of our daily plans. We know which park we'll hit each day, were and when we'll have our main/biggest meal, but the rest is whatever we feel like.

We have at least one day during the middle of the vacation with no plan. We let the kids play in the resort, we hang out at the pool, we might go to Downtown Disney, or whatever. In a week-long vacation at WDW, you need a day for rest and relaxation. Really, plan to have no plan at least one day.

As mentioned above, don't push yourself and everyone to have a good time. Go easy and let it flow naturally.

Bullgrit

 

[Pbartender]

Oh Hell Yeah! My wife and I are going to WDW for our "second honeymoon," (16 years married), without our kids, (two boys, ages 6 & 10), for almost a week -- in 30 more days!

My wife and I went for our first honeymoon back in '95, and then we started going as an annual family thing since 2008. My wife is the usual planner for these trips, but I know generally what she does.

First off, all the advice above is good, solid. Read it again.

We go during the slow times of the year. Like mid-September. The difference is not only better price deals, but the wait times for the various rides and things are dramatic. During busy times, an average wait in line can be 90 minutes. During our chosen times, the average wait is about 10 minutes. (I would not even bother going if I had to wait more than maybe 20 minutes to get on a ride.) For me, the time of year, (crowd level, see below), makes or breaks the whole vacation.

We have stayed in the WDW resorts, on property, each time. It's worth it for the great Disney service and easy bus access to the parks.

As for planning, beyond picking the best time of year, this is generally what we do:

There is a web site that estimates the expected crowd level of each park each day. I don't know the URL. We choose which park we'll visit based on the lowest crowd level. Then we choose a restaurant at that park and make a reservation for brunch, or lunch, or dinner. And that's about the extent of our daily plans. We know which park we'll hit each day, were and when we'll have our main/biggest meal, but the rest is whatever we feel like.

We have at least one day during the middle of the vacation with no plan. We let the kids play in the resort, we hang out at the pool, we might go to Downtown Disney, or whatever. In a week-long vacation at WDW, you need a day for rest and relaxation. Really, plan to have no plan at least one day.

As mentioned above, don't push yourself and everyone to have a good time. Go easy and let it flow naturally.

Bullgrit

I'll second all of this... It's all stuff that we did during our trip as well.

 

[Bullgrit]

I just had lunch with Cowgrit, and she highly suggests:

PassPorter.com - Walt Disney World, Cruise, Disneyland travel guidebooks, tips, planning, articles, photos, and information -- great forums; I've read and posted there a few times.

www.allears.org -- detailed info and pics of the various parks and resorts

www.touringplans.org
Disney World Crowd Calendar -- crowd calendar; we'll be there Sept 11-16: overall park crowd level = 1-4; individual parks vary, and we pick to go to the ones with 1-2 level.

Bullgrit

 

[Janx]

definitely split up the party. Its easier to accomodate with 2 people than 4.

Obviously, use the buddy system, it's a big place and I'm not keen on anybody going off alone.

If you have smart phones, turn on Google Latitude or some other phone tracking thing. Just so you can find each other.

Do 1 park per day. You will waste too much time trying to switch parks.

FastPass = smart. it's like reserving a seat on the ride, so you don't have to literally stand in line.

The meal deal = handy. we had plenty to eat when we did it. Our big meal from the plan, we used in Epcot's cultural village. Some brittish pub, had awesome bangers and mash with desert, etc. I was stuffed.

Find out if your employer sponsors any rides, and if they have any perks. My old employer sponsors Mission to Mars. I was able to bring my work badge to a side door, and go upstairs. Free drinks, lounge, photo printing, and silly video mail, while overlooking the line. Then I got to jump to the front of the line for the very next ride. And we could keep doing it.

When I went, I only had time for 2 days. We went with the whole extended family to the main Disney area, then the second day, me and my wife ditched the inlaws (who were going back to the same park for the kids) and we went to Epcot.

Mission to mars and Test track were excellent. The cultural area was cool, saw some bands play, ate some food.

 

[Pbartender]

Our big meal from the plan, we used in Epcot's cultural village. Some brittish pub, had awesome bangers and mash with desert, etc. I was stuffed.

Hrm... I'm trying to remember which "sit-down" restaurants we went to...

We went to the Marrakesh in Epcot -- fantastic Mediterranean food and a belly dancing show. We also went to the Lady and the Tramp themed Italian restaurant in the Magic Kingdom. We went to the retro "drive-in" restaurant in Hollywood Studios, and were a little disappointed that it was just a looped reel of movies clips, rather than an actual movie showing. We had breakfast at the Grand Floridian so we visit with Alice, the Mad Hatter and Winnie the Pooh. We had a breakfast at the Tusker House in the Animal Kingdom with Goofy, Mickey, Minnie and Donald. And we used two meals for a reservation for dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table in the big castle on our actual anniversary night.

All in all fantastic food in all the restaurants, and generally more than a single person easily eat.

Oh, also note that the number of meals you get is based on the number of nights you stay, not the number of days. Because of that little misunderstanding, we briefly miscalculated our meals early on, and almost ran out later in the week. Be careful of that, if you get the meal plan.

 

[Jack7]

I've only had a chance to briefly read over many of the replies but this looks like some extremely good advice. The kind of help I was looking for.

I'll read it in detail tomorrow. But for now I'm played out.

Thanks for all your help guys.

Goodnight.