Disney World Planning

[doulos]

Oh, and since you have little ones, see if you can have breakfast or something with a character. For both of my kids we did things with Tinkerbell and Spiderman and then we actually mailed them stuff from both of them for a few years after that as if they were still being kept in touch with by them. It was a lot of fun.

[PenguinHunter]

Oh, and since you have little ones, see if you can have breakfast or something with a character. For both of my kids we did things with Tinkerbell and Spiderman and then we actually mailed them stuff from both of them for a few years after that as if they were still being kept in touch with by them. It was a lot of fun.

Oh that's a great idea to keep the magic alive after the trip. Thanks doulos!



Is it a good option to stay at a Disney Resort - or can you save big money by staying at a hotel.

Is a meal plan a good idea or is it a bad idea?

[LawMan]

My family (w/wife & kids) never had the money to justify going to Disney.
But I've always listened to the stories of people that've gone.

There are three types of parents that've been to Disney:
i) Those who went, honestly loved it, and tell you about it
ii) Those who went, hated it, and tell you it was amazing ('cause they spent so much $$$)
iii) Those who went, hated it, and will tell you they hated it and did it for the kids
[I only know the second option exists through a few people that've "come clean" after several years have passed.]

Take lots of photos.
I - apparently - went with my parents when I was 7/8 and don't remember whether I had fun or not.
But I'm smiling in the photos, so those carry the weight. LOL.

Once you go to Disney - you can, at least, always tell your kids "We went when you were XX years old."
My kids, 1-2 times per year, rag on my and my wife for not having taken them.

Good luck.

My advice:
Know that you will either love it or hate it... but get a few photos with everybody smiling... and you've done your job.

BTW - I think 4&7 are great ages. In 2-3 more years, your kids will likely be screenheads (like mine) and their interest in doing real things for extended periods of time might be gone!

Pengwin is not wrong. Wife and I took our 2 kids, 7 and 5 last March and were truly in group 1, the day was amazing.
The planning was however somewhat stressful, because Disney has just soooo much to do.

1. Start with a budget - money budget and time budget (in days). Possibly money budget dictates time budget (each day is expensive)
2. From there make a: Must do, Won't Do, Maybe Do. List. Again Disney is massive. Walt Disney World has 4 parks. Magic Kingdom (the "Disneyland" park), Epcot (science and culture), Animal Kingdom (Animals) Hollywood Studios (movie and behind the scenes). Now all the parks have rides and characters as well but they certainly have different focus'
3. Given your kids' ages you are likely going to want to do Magic Kingdom, second would probably be Epcot or Animal Kingdom.
4. Fast passes (called "Genie +" or "Lightning Lane") are totally worth it. When we went it was $25 a person a day, it lets you "check in" for a ride every 2 hours and basically turn a 90 minute wait into 5 minutes. The best purchase we made by far, especially because we went for only 1 day.
5. Your 7 year old is likely borderline tall enough for most rides but your 4 year old won't be tall enough for any "real" rollercoasters. These usually have long lines so probably skip them.
6. Both the daily parade and the nightly fireworks show are unreal. Plan to see at least one (goes down Main Street USA) if not both.
7. Food. There are 2 schools of thought. 1- fast food is fast and honestly not extremely overpriced. 2- do a "dining experience" with characters etc. Check out both options, we went fast and cheap.
8. Have the app on your phone, it has a map and if you have Genie+ your registrations. it will give updates on ride time waits as well, the parks have free WiFi.

Have Fun. Take Pictures.

[doulos]

Oh that's a great idea to keep the magic alive after the trip. Thanks doulos!



Is it a good option to stay at a Disney Resort - or can you save big money by staying at a hotel.

Is a meal plan a good idea or is it a bad idea?

It's really expensive to stay on the resort.

We rented a condo and it was a lot cheaper since we were a larger group.

[lucafen4]

It's really expensive to stay on the resort.

We rented a condo and it was a lot cheaper since we were a larger group.

We didn't even bother looking at prices.
We stayed at a small hotel just outside the gates - Disneyland (Anh)
It had a pool, which the kids appreciated after each hot slogging day.

our daughter was 11 and we took her cousin, also 11.
They rode every ride and went back for seconds on the most intense.

For us, I'm glad we waited. It made it a lot more fun for us as parents being able to hit all the rides vs. have a bunch excluded due to height or intensity (not that most DL/DW rides are intense as far as amusement parks go)

[doulos]

We didn't even bother looking at prices.
We stayed at a small hotel just outside the gates - Disneyland (Anh)
It had a pool, which the kids appreciated after each hot slogging day.

our daughter was 11 and we took her cousin, also 11.
They rode every ride and went back for seconds on the most intense.

For us, I'm glad we waited. It made it a lot more fun for us as parents being able to hit all the rides vs. have a bunch excluded due to height or intensity (not that most DL/DW rides are intense as far as amusement parks go)

Having the option to not bother looking at prices would certainly be nice!

[Dr.Brad]

Save the money and use it towards a live PQMC draft in Vegas!

We’d make a live PQMC draft fun anywhere. Vegas would be perfect tho.

[PenguinHunter]

We’d make a live PQMC draft fun anywhere. Vegas would be perfect tho.

Think I can get away sending the wife and kids to Disney and meet y'all in Vegas for this?!

[LawMan]

Oh that's a great idea to keep the magic alive after the trip. Thanks doulos!



Is it a good option to stay at a Disney Resort - or can you save big money by staying at a hotel.

Is a meal plan a good idea or is it a bad idea?

Do some price shopping to see what the difference between Disney and Not is.
Disney Resorts will likely be more expensive, but the lower end ones can be "affordable". The parks come with certain perks. I think you get into the park an hour earlier, plus the entire resort is Disney themed, has Disney restaurants and character meet and greets so in a way you extend your Disney experience. Also, generally they are closer and have free transport to parks. Parking is $25/day at Magic Kingdom.
Orlando also has a million non-Disney hotels for obvious reasons, almost all of which will have pool.

Meal Plan - no idea. Again price it out, is it "all you can eat" type thing or a fixed date and time type thing? If it sets all your meals I personally would be too stressed out to commit to something like that.

[lucafen4]

Having the option to not bother looking at prices would certainly be nice!

We didn't look because we didn't want to spend.
$100US per night 5min from the gates was good enough for us.

[stevegamer]

Oh that's a great idea to keep the magic alive after the trip. Thanks doulos!



Is it a good option to stay at a Disney Resort - or can you save big money by staying at a hotel.

Is a meal plan a good idea or is it a bad idea?

You can save money with NOT staying onsite. I can say that you're less likely to have your child demand staying onsite than I was since I was married to her.

My hotel plan for traveling is always the following:

1. Figure out where I'm going and for what purpose. If a convention, make sure I know the convention rate. If something like Disney, you need to figure out what the cheapest accommodation packages are.

2. Figure out what hotels in chains I have rewards membership in are near enough, and what prices are.

3. Choose where to stay, and if it's a convention hotel where I"m not int he rewards program, join it. I've stayed "off site" at coventions to save money. I've sometimes had to walk as little as 1000 feet to get to the convention hotel. Often it's 1-2 blocks, but $75+ night saved for a 2 block walk daily is nice.

Meal plans come down to how your family eats and where you stay. If there an included breakfast or a kitchenette that changes things massively.

[doulos]

We didn't look because we didn't want to spend.
$100US per night 5min from the gates was good enough for us.

Oh wow, ok yeah great rate in that case. Good find.

[Feenom]

Oh my poor feet. Ah well the kids wore a permanent smile for the whole week. I remember going to mouse savers.com it saved us on the park hoppers and parking. Good site to check out. Good luck and enjoy.