Disney World!

Peen

I have a six and a four year old who are intensely interested in going to Disney World. We live in the DC metro area, so that basically means flying down unless we want to burn a bunch of the vacation driving, and we're looking at the average cost of everything and thinking that it's a very expensive proposition. We'd love to go, but we wouldn't love to pay $4500 to do it.

I know there are a lot of "how to do Disney on the cheap" books and we've read them but I would like to know if you, dear PA forumers, have any personal tips or tricks that you've used to make going to Disney World a less prohibitively expensive deal.

bowen

Easiest way is to bunk up with family if you've got any within like 1.5 hours of the orlando area.

Might be cheaper to get a hotel room and just pay for the days you want to go, but you are probably looking at, at least, 2.5-3k to do a whole weeks worth of stuff with 4ish people + flights.

Jasconius

fly on off-days/hours is probably the only material thing you can do

there are all kinds of hotel bargains to be had but just recognize they all come with significant tradeoffs, read what you're getting carefully

i've always endorsed staying at the disney resorts because they allow you to take a bus directly into the park. The value of this in time and convenience can hardly be measured.

The lines to magic kingdom in the summer time in the morning are devastating. Being able to bus right past that will save you probably at least an hour every day you're there. So factor this into your decision.

Enc

As a Floridian, I will 100% back the "stay at a Disney Resort" play. It will be a goddamn experience. I wrote a bunch on this a while back, I've quoted it here:

The theme park experience is great, but leaving the area can be very tricky and dangerous if you want to explore the city. Most of the nice parts of town have a massive area of poverty and crime between them and the theme parks, so unless you have a specific destination picked out stick to the interstate system to travel around the area, crowded through it may be. The last thing you want is to be lost on Orange Blossom Trail or in Parramore.

The parks themselves are great, but I would suggest focusing upon Universal's Islands of Adventure, Disney's MGM Stuidos and Pleasure Island, and Bush Gardens (In Tampa, about 2 hours away by car) as the parks to visit over the rest. Islands of Adventure is filled with a lot of great rides and experiences, from Jurassic Park to Harry Potter to Superheroes from Marvel and DC comics. Disney's MGM Studios has rides and shows based upon Star Wars and Indiana Jones, among other things. Bush Gardens is half zoo half theme park with a ton of amazing rides.*

*Disney has gotten a lot better in the last two years, and is especially better for very young children.

The other parks are also great, though I would suggest avoiding Sea World unless you really, really like to see aquatic animals. Bush Gardens pulls the zoo part off better and all of the other parks have better water parks (Disney's Blizzard Beach and Wet and Wild are better water attractions by far).

As far as things beyond the theme park, Kennedy Space Center is a neat day trip, it's about an hour from the theme parks and is a neat way to see a lot of great information about space flight in the real world. Definitely bring a swim suit and hit Cocoa Beach while you are in the area, it's a lovely beach most times of the year, if a bit cluttered by themed stores (such as Ron-Jons Surf, an internationally acclaimed surfboard company that has become something of a huge mall these days).

Along International Drive, near the theme parks, are quite a few attractions like Wonder Works that offer interactive game experiences. While somewhat targeted to those who do not play games often, it can be a fun day trip. Several large anime, games, and comic conventions are held regularly in the Orlando Area (Megacon, for instance). If you plan on checking out that sort of scene it could be a fun thing to do, especially if you plan on staying around International Drive anyhow).

In the City of Orlando, downtown there is a thriving night life, if that's your thing. There is also a very large Science Center that holds rotating exhibits on a monthly basis which can be a fun thing to visit. A little ways north is the little town of Winter Park which offers a lovely main street with lots of high end retail, clothing, and very great food. All of these are pretty pricey, but if you want a very nice dinner it can be a good place to visit.

If you have time to range out a bit, St. Augustine is about 3 hours north of Orlando along a very straight forward highway system, and offers a fun day trip where you can see the fortress and a recreation of the first European city in the Americas. Several museums and tours are available in the area, along with many nice beaches if you want to hit the coast while you are here. If you are a naturalist, you could also venture south to the Everglades though I would suggest visiting Miami instead if that is a goal.

THINGS TO AVOID : Gatorland, Funspot, Old Town, and most every non-International Drive or Major theme park. There are many many scams out there. Also: be sure to stay at a reputable hotel. The cheap ones and the ones out in the sticks are notorious rip offs with bad conditions. I would very much suggest paying out a bit more money to stay on International Drive, Gaylord Palms, or at the Theme Parks themselves. The hotels will be more expensive, but they will be experiences in and of themselves, especially at the Disney Hotels (which are very very nice).

FLORIDA WEATHER IS SOMETHING TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU TRAVEL. Florida is called the sunshine state, but Central Florida (the Orlando Area) is the lightning capital of the world. Most every day between May and December there are sudden, high intensity thunderstorms that roll through the region between noon and sunset. Most times these are less than an hour long, but planning for them is critical. Florida is also very hot, but more importantly very very humid. Be prepared to sweat buckets, especially if you are coming from Europe. The weather can also be difficult to adjust to if you are unused to the moisture. Just take it easy and drink lots of fluids. The winter is mild, but also typically dyer with occasional fronts that make everything dreary and damp with persistent mild rain. Weather can range significantly here, but these are the things to expect. Hurricanes are very rare in Orlando, with only 3 in 100 years hitting us and two of those being in the early 2000s. While something to watch out for, the city is built to withstand them and I wouldn't worry too much about them.

If you plan on traveling in Orlando beyond the theme parks, you need to rent a car. Cab service here is very limited and you cannot expect to flag one down from your location. Most cabs require you call ahead and request one come to you, a process which can take a while and can be very expensive. Orlando is VERY SPREAD OUT. The city region is one of the largest cities in the world by area, though not by population. The Greater Orlando Area is almost 90 miles north to south, and 40 east to west. The bus system is reliable but very slow and very crowded. Renting a car is the way to go if you plan to venture out here.

There is no subway or underground here. The rail system is limited to one rail that does not offer daily trips (though a new rails system to do that is currently under construction and will be finished in 2014, though again in a single route between Daytona and Orlando).

Do not fill up gas within 10 miles of the airport. Gas prices are often double or triple those of the rest of the town. At the time of this post average gas prices here are about $3.20 per gallon, around the airport they are about $6.75. Fill up in town before you return your rental car and save some money.

That's about all I can think of at the moment. If you have any Orlando specific questions feel free to send me a PM.

Edit: Something else to note about commuting. I-4, the main interstate you really have to take to get to Disney from pretty much everywhere BUT Disney, right now is going through major construction in that area. It frequently takes 2-3 hours to travel the 20 miles or so surrounding the parks if you are driving in (often longer). Staying at the parks means you only go through this twice (in and out) rather than twice daily.

Shadowfire

Jasconius wrote: »

fly on off-days/hours is probably the only material thing you can do

there are all kinds of hotel bargains to be had but just recognize they all come with significant tradeoffs, read what you're getting carefully

i've always endorsed staying at the disney resorts because they allow you to take a bus directly into the park. The value of this in time and convenience can hardly be measured.

The lines to magic kingdom in the summer time in the morning are devastating. Being able to bus right past that will save you probably at least an hour every day you're there. So factor this into your decision.

Also, staying on site means you get to take advantage of Extra Magic Hours, which for Magic Kingdom in particular can mean super short lines for some of the favorite kids rides.

Ketar

Shadowfire wrote: »

Jasconius wrote: »

fly on off-days/hours is probably the only material thing you can do

there are all kinds of hotel bargains to be had but just recognize they all come with significant tradeoffs, read what you're getting carefully

i've always endorsed staying at the disney resorts because they allow you to take a bus directly into the park. The value of this in time and convenience can hardly be measured.

The lines to magic kingdom in the summer time in the morning are devastating. Being able to bus right past that will save you probably at least an hour every day you're there. So factor this into your decision.

Also, staying on site means you get to take advantage of Extra Magic Hours, which for Magic Kingdom in particular can mean super short lines for some of the favorite kids rides.

We went last year when my kids were 5 and 2. The evening Extra Magic Hours are great for short lines, but making it work for my son meant shifting him for the week to staying up late and sleeping in late. We also had my dad and brother with us, so we always sent one adult back to the room with my daughter each night since she wasn't going to last regardless of when she slept until each morning.

When it comes to the value hotels among actual Disney properties, the Pop Century and All-Star hotels get horrific bus lines at the end of the day. Long wait times just to get onto a bus, and then every single bus is at max capacity including all standing spaces. This gets tough real fast with kids, and especially strollers if you take any. Art of Animation's bus lines are not nearly as bad.

Enc

I strongly suggest the Grand Floridian if you stay on property. Its a goddamn palace (and has monorail access, so no busing).

Marty81

I went a few years ago and stayed on-site with another family in the cabins. The accommodations were safe and functional and a lot cheaper than the hotels.

Peen

Thanks everybody, this will all come in handy. Apparently my wife got the ball rolling with her parents and they're talking about renting a house in Orlando big enough to fit them and us and maybe my brother-and-sister-in-law next March so we'd just be on the hook for getting there and park admission and a car, which seems more doable. My kids will be 7 and 5 at that point so not so little any more but it'll still take some planning.

wonderpug

I'd recommend getting in as many weekdays as possible. Every time I've gone, I'd say we've gotten to go on more rides in half of a weekday than we go on for the entire weekend.

Peen

We're looking at the week in March that my daughter is on Spring Break, so definitely weekdays.

Sorce

Peen wrote: »

We're looking at the week in March that my daughter is on Spring Break, so definitely weekdays.

Spring Break (and other holidays) kind of invalidate the weekday 'slump'.

Redcoat-13

My wife + our 3 year old at the time + her family (i.e. parents + brother and his fiance + grandmother) rented a house not far outside Disney towards the end of March.

The queues were pretty much horrific during that time; unless we had a fast pass for something, we simply didn't bother because the queues for normally 60mins+ (you know it is busy if you ever have to queue for the People Mover or It's a Small World).

You can book fast passes in advance, but guests staying at hotels are allowed to book the fast passes in advance to those staying outside the Disney hotels, so some rides you simply won't be able to get a fast pass for (the Snow White and the 7 dwarfs ride never had the option).

And it didn't matter what time in the morning we'd set off, it always took over an hour to get into a park when going in by car. You'd be hit by the queue for the car park (which costs a fair bit if going each day), then getting from where you park to the park entrance, and then the severe security queues as they check every bag (this might have gotten better in the last year).

We ultimately had a lovely time, but given the option, I'd always try to stay in a Disney hotel (you typically get some nice bundles, such as dining options as well as extra hours, being able to book fast passes sooner, the bracelet key thing which hopefully someone else can describe better).

My Wife and I went on our honeymoon (during December; I'll note the queues were much shorter) and we found the bus service to be excellent during our time there.

bowen

Avoid common vacation or break periods. That's when everyone goes to those places.

Jasconius

if you go during spring break you will be slam dunked by the lines, but obviously its that way for a reason, that might be the only times you can go

so if you dont have a choice, prepare for an insanely long and exhausting day. pack for the park like you would pack for an 18 hour hike in the arizona desert, and assume equally little seating

Peen

Thanks again. I think everyone (who is not me) is caught up in the idea of going and I'm trying to regain a measure of control of the conversation before we throw down a bunch of money prematurely, wish me luck!

Artereis

I'd suggest the Wilderness Lodge. It's a short boat ride from the Magic Kingdom, and from there you can just hop on the Monorail. It has a pretty great pool with a fake geyser, too, so the kids might get a kick out of that.

wonderpug

Peen wrote: »

Thanks again. I think everyone (who is not me) is caught up in the idea of going and I'm trying to regain a measure of control of the conversation before we throw down a bunch of money prematurely, wish me luck!

I totally understand how tough it can be to wrangle schedules, but if at all possible I'd recommend trying to make the trip happen at off-peak times. I think I'd rather take my family to two off-peak weekdays at Disney than 7 days during peak.

Jasconius

if you do go on off-peak days, also make sure to research Florida school holidays because if if there's a random school day off in central florida on a Monday or Friday you can bet it all that the park will be full

RiDE

My husband and I did our first visit to Disney World last year, and bringing our own food/snacks helped immensely. We also had water bottles with filters (it might be our Seattle snobbishness but the Florida water really is horrible, it smells like a swamp). We also often split the food we did buy, because the truth is most of those entrees were enormous.


I'd reeeeally recommend looking into Touring Plans, a site that tries to predict crowd levels and helps you build a schedule. We went the first week of December (chosen because it's traditionally more quiet and the Christmas decorations are up, which I'm totally into) and literally the longest line we waited in was 20 minutes for lunch one day. Usually we just walked right onto whatever we wanted. We rode the Rock N' Roller coaster like 5 times in a row one morning, just hopping off and getting back on.

If you aren't a complete control freak, you could also look into a travel agent who can sometimes score deals the normal public can't. I was with Small World Vacations for a bit until I realized just how much control I wanted over the planning (all of it). I think they'd be really well-suited to someone who doesn't want to spend hours researching things.

It's an enormous undertaking (I may or may not have set an alarm at 3am 180 days out for ADRs), but totally worth it if you can find a way to swing it.

Peen

Thanks again all, we're moving our date back a few weeks to avoid the spring break issue. This was all really helpful!

wonderpug

Peen wrote: »

Thanks again all, we're moving our date back a few weeks to avoid the spring break issue. This was all really helpful!

You're gonna have a blast. I think my kids were 6 and 4 when we went to Disneyland last year and it was every bit the magical experience you hear about.

Bloodycow

Yea, my family (wife, my two kids, two nieces, 1 nephew, mother, two sisters, and a brother in law) are all going down to Disney World mid July. I think the plan right now is to rent a home for the week and then just a 15 pax van to shuttle us back and forth to the parks.

I would love to stay at one of the hotels on the property, but that would double our cost.

So I guess we should head to the parks super early in the morning to try to beat the rush into the parks?

ArbitraryDescriptor

Bloodycow wrote: »

Yea, my family (wife, my two kids, two nieces, 1 nephew, mother, two sisters, and a brother in law) are all going down to Disney World mid July. I think the plan right now is to rent a home for the week and then just a 15 pax van to shuttle us back and forth to the parks.

I would love to stay at one of the hotels on the property, but that would double our cost.

So I guess we should head to the parks super early in the morning to try to beat the rush into the parks?

Art of Animation was the cheapest on-property resort we could find last time; by a fair margin.
Probably still more than the cost efficiency of a house, but just thought I'd throw that out there

MichaelLC

ArbitraryDescriptor wrote: »

Bloodycow wrote: »

Yea, my family (wife, my two kids, two nieces, 1 nephew, mother, two sisters, and a brother in law) are all going down to Disney World mid July. I think the plan right now is to rent a home for the week and then just a 15 pax van to shuttle us back and forth to the parks.

I would love to stay at one of the hotels on the property, but that would double our cost.

So I guess we should head to the parks super early in the morning to try to beat the rush into the parks?

Art of Animation was the cheapest on-property resort we could find last time; by a fair margin.
Probably still more than the cost efficiency of a house, but just thought I'd throw that out there

That's where we stayed and would certainly go back there. All five of us fit in the room but have to close up the flip down bed and/or couch bed is you want to move around.

We did the groceries to our room thing which worked great.

Ketar

MichaelLC wrote: »

ArbitraryDescriptor wrote: »

Bloodycow wrote: »

Yea, my family (wife, my two kids, two nieces, 1 nephew, mother, two sisters, and a brother in law) are all going down to Disney World mid July. I think the plan right now is to rent a home for the week and then just a 15 pax van to shuttle us back and forth to the parks.

I would love to stay at one of the hotels on the property, but that would double our cost.

So I guess we should head to the parks super early in the morning to try to beat the rush into the parks?

Art of Animation was the cheapest on-property resort we could find last time; by a fair margin.
Probably still more than the cost efficiency of a house, but just thought I'd throw that out there

That's where we stayed and would certainly go back there. All five of us fit in the room but have to close up the flip down bed and/or couch bed is you want to move around.

We did the groceries to our room thing which worked great.

Yeah, we did 6 in one of the Cars themed rooms at Art of Animation. A bit cramped at night with the beds out/down, but totally fine otherwise. Having two bathrooms was nice for getting everybody ready in a reasonable time. We ordered some supplies from Amazon and had them delivered to the room, and that worked out great.

Lovely

Enc wrote: »

As a Floridian, I will 100% back the "stay at a Disney Resort" play. It will be a goddamn experience. I wrote a bunch on this a while back, I've quoted it here:




THINGS TO AVOID : Gatorland, Funspot, Old Town, and most every non-International Drive or Major theme park. There are many many scams out there. Also: be sure to stay at a reputable hotel. The cheap ones and the ones out in the sticks are notorious rip offs with bad conditions. I would very much suggest paying out a bit more money to stay on International Drive, Gaylord Palms, or at the Theme Parks themselves. The hotels will be more expensive, but they will be experiences in and of themselves, especially at the Disney Hotels (which are very very nice).

........What's wrong with Old Town? I mean... I haven't been there in long while, but in my experience, it's just a harmless outdoor mall really....
My parents used to like to go a lot back when I was a kid for some reason. haha





Anyhoo. Kids seem to like Legoland, which is about an hour away from Orlando... Well. More like 45 min from the Disney Area, so if you don't mind the trip, you might want to give it a shot. You'll probably be too busy with the Disney experience though (which I don't blame you!)

Enc

Lovely wrote: »

Enc wrote: »

As a Floridian, I will 100% back the "stay at a Disney Resort" play. It will be a goddamn experience. I wrote a bunch on this a while back, I've quoted it here:


THINGS TO AVOID : Gatorland, Funspot, Old Town, and most every non-International Drive or Major theme park. There are many many scams out there. Also: be sure to stay at a reputable hotel. The cheap ones and the ones out in the sticks are notorious rip offs with bad conditions. I would very much suggest paying out a bit more money to stay on International Drive, Gaylord Palms, or at the Theme Parks themselves. The hotels will be more expensive, but they will be experiences in and of themselves, especially at the Disney Hotels (which are very very nice).

........What's wrong with Old Town? I mean... I haven't been there in long while, but in my experience, it's just a harmless outdoor mall really....
My parents used to like to go a lot back when I was a kid for some reason. haha


Anyhoo. Kids seem to like Legoland, which is about an hour away from Orlando... Well. More like 45 min from the Disney Area, so if you don't mind the trip, you might want to give it a shot. You'll probably be too busy with the Disney experience though (which I don't blame you!)

Old town itself is generally harmless enough, but it and the area around it has one of the highest frequencies for hit-and-ruin and alcohol related crimes in the state. That's fine if you are solo and looking to get blitzed out of your mind, but for most travelers unfamiliar with the area it can be a recipe for a bad time.

I've never been to Legoland, but everyone I know with young kids had a blast. I'm not sure how much is left of Cypress Gardens (the botanical park that Legoland was build in/around) but if it is still around it is quite lovely if you are into flora.

Lovely

Enc wrote: »

Lovely wrote: »

Enc wrote: »

As a Floridian, I will 100% back the "stay at a Disney Resort" play. It will be a goddamn experience. I wrote a bunch on this a while back, I've quoted it here:


THINGS TO AVOID : Gatorland, Funspot, Old Town, and most every non-International Drive or Major theme park. There are many many scams out there. Also: be sure to stay at a reputable hotel. The cheap ones and the ones out in the sticks are notorious rip offs with bad conditions. I would very much suggest paying out a bit more money to stay on International Drive, Gaylord Palms, or at the Theme Parks themselves. The hotels will be more expensive, but they will be experiences in and of themselves, especially at the Disney Hotels (which are very very nice).

........What's wrong with Old Town? I mean... I haven't been there in long while, but in my experience, it's just a harmless outdoor mall really....
My parents used to like to go a lot back when I was a kid for some reason. haha


Anyhoo. Kids seem to like Legoland, which is about an hour away from Orlando... Well. More like 45 min from the Disney Area, so if you don't mind the trip, you might want to give it a shot. You'll probably be too busy with the Disney experience though (which I don't blame you!)

Old town itself is generally harmless enough, but it and the area around it has one of the highest frequencies for hit-and-ruin and alcohol related crimes in the state. That's fine if you are solo and looking to get blitzed out of your mind, but for most travelers unfamiliar with the area it can be a recipe for a bad time.

I've never been to Legoland, but everyone I know with young kids had a blast. I'm not sure how much is left of Cypress Gardens (the botanical park that Legoland was build in/around) but if it is still around it is quite lovely if you are into flora.

Re- Old Town - aaaaaaaaaaah, okay I see. Yeah, that makes sense.


Re- Legoland /Cypress Gardens - Last time I went was like... 3 years ago? Yep, botanical garden section is still there and well maintained! It being maintained was actually a condition that the city made to any theme park that bought the place. It's a relaxing walk in there, and the Banyan tree in there is super cool. ...........okay, that's my favorite part, but still!

Skull2185

I think Disney has an equivalent to Universal's "fast pass". It would be a slightly heftier admission charge, but you basically get to cut in line on all the rides and stuff. If Disney has something like that, I highly recommend it! The additional cost is a bit off-putting at first, but when you and your family are breezing through the fast pass line while everyone else is waiting in a 3 hour line, it quickly feels super worth it.

I went to Universal last year, and tried out that fast pass stuff. It was so amazing! I'm talking waiting maybe ten minutes to ride Transformers instead of 1+ hours.

ArbitraryDescriptor

Skull2185 wrote: »

I think Disney has an equivalent to Universal's "fast pass". It would be a slightly heftier admission charge, but you basically get to cut in line on all the rides and stuff. If Disney has something like that, I highly recommend it! The additional cost is a bit off-putting at first, but when you and your family are breezing through the fast pass line while everyone else is waiting in a 3 hour line, it quickly feels super worth it.

I went to Universal last year, and tried out that fast pass stuff. It was so amazing! I'm talking waiting maybe ten minutes to ride Transformers instead of 1+ hours.

Disney's FastPass is included in a standard pass, but limited. Instead of just popping in the fast pass lane anytime you like, you reserve a time, and the slots are limited. You get 3 a day that you can pre-plan, then 1 at a time after you use those up.

Hot rides like Frozen at Epcot (which has some top-fucking-notch internal projection animatronics, btw) are basically pre-reservation or forget it. (2 hour wait). They actually open that one before the rest of the park to handle the surge.

So the "infinite" passes are functionally limited to the less popular rides since all the fast pass slots will be taken by the time you've hit your three.

You manage this stuff with the Disney Experience app, which I highly recommend as it serves as a restaurant guide and a map of all the characters too.

Skull2185

Ah, that's cool. Not as great as Universal, but at least it's included with admission.

Cauld

ArbitraryDescriptor wrote: »

Skull2185 wrote: »

I think Disney has an equivalent to Universal's "fast pass". It would be a slightly heftier admission charge, but you basically get to cut in line on all the rides and stuff. If Disney has something like that, I highly recommend it! The additional cost is a bit off-putting at first, but when you and your family are breezing through the fast pass line while everyone else is waiting in a 3 hour line, it quickly feels super worth it.

I went to Universal last year, and tried out that fast pass stuff. It was so amazing! I'm talking waiting maybe ten minutes to ride Transformers instead of 1+ hours.

Disney's FastPass is included in a standard pass, but limited. Instead of just popping in the fast pass lane anytime you like, you reserve a time, and the slots are limited. You get 3 a day that you can pre-plan, then 1 at a time after you use those up.

Hot rides like Frozen at Epcot (which has some top-fucking-notch internal projection animatronics, btw) are basically pre-reservation or forget it. (2 hour wait). They actually open that one before the rest of the park to handle the surge.

So the "infinite" passes are functionally limited to the less popular rides since all the fast pass slots will be taken by the time you've hit your three.

You manage this stuff with the Disney Experience app, which I highly recommend as it serves as a restaurant guide and a map of all the characters too.

I found that late night the fastpass wait times were very short. Like at 9pm you could get a fastpass for 9:10 at a ton of different rides

AngelHedgie

ArbitraryDescriptor wrote: »

Bloodycow wrote: »

Yea, my family (wife, my two kids, two nieces, 1 nephew, mother, two sisters, and a brother in law) are all going down to Disney World mid July. I think the plan right now is to rent a home for the week and then just a 15 pax van to shuttle us back and forth to the parks.

I would love to stay at one of the hotels on the property, but that would double our cost.

So I guess we should head to the parks super early in the morning to try to beat the rush into the parks?

Art of Animation was the cheapest on-property resort we could find last time; by a fair margin.
Probably still more than the cost efficiency of a house, but just thought I'd throw that out there

Art of Animation is an excellent choice, as it was purpose built to serve as a budget choice for large family groups - they have suites meant to sleep 4-6 people.

AngelHedgie

Ketar wrote: »

MichaelLC wrote: »

ArbitraryDescriptor wrote: »

Bloodycow wrote: »

Yea, my family (wife, my two kids, two nieces, 1 nephew, mother, two sisters, and a brother in law) are all going down to Disney World mid July. I think the plan right now is to rent a home for the week and then just a 15 pax van to shuttle us back and forth to the parks.

I would love to stay at one of the hotels on the property, but that would double our cost.

So I guess we should head to the parks super early in the morning to try to beat the rush into the parks?

Art of Animation was the cheapest on-property resort we could find last time; by a fair margin.
Probably still more than the cost efficiency of a house, but just thought I'd throw that out there

That's where we stayed and would certainly go back there. All five of us fit in the room but have to close up the flip down bed and/or couch bed is you want to move around.

We did the groceries to our room thing which worked great.

Yeah, we did 6 in one of the Cars themed rooms at Art of Animation. A bit cramped at night with the beds out/down, but totally fine otherwise. Having two bathrooms was nice for getting everybody ready in a reasonable time. We ordered some supplies from Amazon and had them delivered to the room, and that worked out great.

We also did Amazon Pantry after seeing it recommended, and I am just going to say that this is an excellent choice for getting food to your room. You will need the physical address for the hotel, as well as when their window for accepting packages opens (usually a day or two prior to check in, but call to confirm.)

AngelHedgie

Cauld wrote: »

ArbitraryDescriptor wrote: »

Skull2185 wrote: »

I think Disney has an equivalent to Universal's "fast pass". It would be a slightly heftier admission charge, but you basically get to cut in line on all the rides and stuff. If Disney has something like that, I highly recommend it! The additional cost is a bit off-putting at first, but when you and your family are breezing through the fast pass line while everyone else is waiting in a 3 hour line, it quickly feels super worth it.

I went to Universal last year, and tried out that fast pass stuff. It was so amazing! I'm talking waiting maybe ten minutes to ride Transformers instead of 1+ hours.

Disney's FastPass is included in a standard pass, but limited. Instead of just popping in the fast pass lane anytime you like, you reserve a time, and the slots are limited. You get 3 a day that you can pre-plan, then 1 at a time after you use those up.

Hot rides like Frozen at Epcot (which has some top-fucking-notch internal projection animatronics, btw) are basically pre-reservation or forget it. (2 hour wait). They actually open that one before the rest of the park to handle the surge.

So the "infinite" passes are functionally limited to the less popular rides since all the fast pass slots will be taken by the time you've hit your three.

You manage this stuff with the Disney Experience app, which I highly recommend as it serves as a restaurant guide and a map of all the characters too.

I found that late night the fastpass wait times were very short. Like at 9pm you could get a fastpass for 9:10 at a ton of different rides

It depends - the Frozen ride had 90 minute wait times at 8 PM when we were there.

Also, rides are divided into A rides (these are the new, hot rides) and B rides (everything else.) You can only FastPass one A ride in your initial allotment of three.

AngelHedgie

Other recommendations:

If you're not on the Disney Dining Plan, plan on making lunch, not dinner, your "big meal". Prices are cheaper. Do be careful then, though - many a visitor has eaten well at lunch, only to have the Florida heat cause their meal to make an encore performance.

Plan "breaks" both in park and out of park. In-park breaks can involve the presentation attractions, like Philharmagic or Peoplemover at Magic Kingdom, or The American Experience or Spaceship Earth at Epcot - these attractions have gentle or no motion, and provide a cool opportunity to relax. Out of park, the hotels have pools, and Disney Springs is a fun outing as well.

You WILL be walking everywhere, and putting MILES on your body. Start having daily walks to build up stamina, especially for the kiddos (or you will find out why Epcot stands for Every Parent Carries Out Toddlers.)

Since you're talking about having a few adults on the trip, if you drink, you could always consider trying to 'drink around the world" at Epcot. (People take doing this seriously!) There are other events that you can do in the parks if you get there early (the most famous is the Magic Kingdom's First Family, who opens the park.)

Desert Leviathan

It's been a while since I've been, but the one secret technique that I recall that doesn't seem to have been covered is that a lot of the more intense lines in the Magic Kingdom are a lot more bearable if you go when one of the parades is going on. Then again, the parades are pretty sweet too, worth seeing at least once. Definitely worth remembering if you wind up giving more than one day to the MK. Either way, a good trick is to pick a place to watch the parade that's near an attraction you want to go to immediately after, and then leave a few minutes before the parade finishes.

Another good trick is to convince a member of your party to injure themselves and get a wheelchair. That's how I wound up getting to sneak around through the VIP tunnels when I was 16, and wound up in the same boat on Splash Mountain with Eddie Murphy and his family.

MichaelLC

AngelHedgie wrote: »

Ketar wrote: »

MichaelLC wrote: »

ArbitraryDescriptor wrote: »

Bloodycow wrote: »

Yea, my family (wife, my two kids, two nieces, 1 nephew, mother, two sisters, and a brother in law) are all going down to Disney World mid July. I think the plan right now is to rent a home for the week and then just a 15 pax van to shuttle us back and forth to the parks.

I would love to stay at one of the hotels on the property, but that would double our cost.

So I guess we should head to the parks super early in the morning to try to beat the rush into the parks?

Art of Animation was the cheapest on-property resort we could find last time; by a fair margin.
Probably still more than the cost efficiency of a house, but just thought I'd throw that out there

That's where we stayed and would certainly go back there. All five of us fit in the room but have to close up the flip down bed and/or couch bed is you want to move around.

We did the groceries to our room thing which worked great.

Yeah, we did 6 in one of the Cars themed rooms at Art of Animation. A bit cramped at night with the beds out/down, but totally fine otherwise. Having two bathrooms was nice for getting everybody ready in a reasonable time. We ordered some supplies from Amazon and had them delivered to the room, and that worked out great.

We also did Amazon Pantry after seeing it recommended, and I am just going to say that this is an excellent choice for getting food to your room. You will need the physical address for the hotel, as well as when their window for accepting packages opens (usually a day or two prior to check in, but call to confirm.)

Just for those not in the know, other than the meal plans, there's only two ways to get food into the park or hotels. One is very expensive, the other is... well, you wouldn't want to eat it.

I think we did it through a local grocery store, but Amazon works too.

Vesty

The Hanged Man wrote: »

It's been a while since I've been, but the one secret technique that I recall that doesn't seem to have been covered is that a lot of the more intense lines in the Magic Kingdom are a lot more bearable if you go when one of the parades is going on. Then again, the parades are pretty sweet too, worth seeing at least once. Definitely worth remembering if you wind up giving more than one day to the MK. Either way, a good trick is to pick a place to watch the parade that's near an attraction you want to go to immediately after, and then leave a few minutes before the parade finishes.

RE: Lines during parades- at Magic Kingdom if you can get over by Rivers of America and Splash Mountain right before the big afternoon fantasy parade starts, that parade basically cuts off that corner of the park for the duration of it. You can watch the parade and then immediately turn around and get on Splash Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain with a 15 min or less wait, where as the rest of the day they'll be over an hour. Same logic applies to the end of the night firework show. Most of the people in the park head towards the front of the park for the "proper" view in front of the castle. This leaves the back of the park near empty. Right as the show ends is a good time to get onto the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train with a short line. A lot of people leave after the show too so if the park is open later, line times really dip. Also the fire works from that side of the park are kind of neat cause you're basically in the middle of it.

Definitely get the My Disney Experience app for your phone. Besides managing your fast passes and any dining reservations, it shows live wait times for rides. In my experience it's pretty accurate and helps decide if it's worth trekking to the other side of the park or not for a certain ride, or maybe wait until later.

-edit- If you can get a fast pass for the Frozen ride in Epcot. The animatronic are really good but it's pretty short and idk if it's really worth the wait. It also has reliability issues. The nice thing is if it goes down when you have a fast pass for it, you'll get a replacement fast pass that is good for any ride at any time in the park. If you don't have a fast pass you're stuck waiting in line for X more minutes. Ideally you'd go back to Frozen some time later, but if you decide screw it let's go to Soarin' you can just go get right on.

ArbitraryDescriptor

If you want to hit Frozen just be there when the gates open and run to Norway.

Oh, FastPass pro-abuse tip:

If you have a child who can't go on the ride (or whatever, they don't exactly grill you), ask for a rider swap pass. This is a free fast pass for two people (or three? More than one.) with no time requirement, good for like a week.

The actual intent is that you would get off the ride, take over baby duty, and let the people who stayed with the kids go hit the FP lane. But, y'know, maybe Mom doesn't want to go and you just go twice. Or you do swap and your older kid gets to go twice.

Rider swap. Ask for it. Doesn’t save you money, but gets you more for it.

Another note on Resort vs non-resort:

Staying on-property gets you free parking at the parks, and access to the extended hours at Magic Kindom. If that alters the calculus at all.