OT: Calling all Disney experts!!

[amyjoy]

Any of the Disney resorts would be fine. We are just thrilled to be going.
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[MOM to JILLIAN]

Are you planning to go in 2006? Here are the basic dates for Value Season this year. AAA gives you a 20% disount off the the rack rate on rooms at the Value and Moderate resorts.

Value Resorts
All-Star Movies
All-Star Music
All-Star Sports
Pop Century

Of these...we prefer All Star Movies.

Value Season: January 1 - February 15, August 27 - October 4, November 26 - December 19
Regular Season: April 23 - August 26, October 5 - November 25
Peak Season: February 16 - April 22
Holiday Season: December 20 - December 31

Moderate Resorts

Caribbean Beach
Coronado Springs
Port Orleans

My best friend loves Port Orleans Riverside.

Value Season: January 1 - February 15, August 27 - October 4, November 26 - December 19
Regular Season: April 23 - August 26, October 5 -November 25
Peak Season: February 16 - April 22
Holiday Season: December 20 - December 31

[cami713]

Staying at a Disney hotel is not important, unless you want to spend the money on it. When I was little, on my first trip to DL, we stayed at the DL hotel (this was back when it was actually still nice). I don't remember it at all, and really don't think it's important to have a fun vacation, especially if you're hoping your children will remember it all. In my experience (over the past 20 years, lol), most children aren't going to be paying much attention to the hotel, they want to get home from WDW as late as possible, and get back out there as soon as possible. For the most part, they'll probably sleep and shower, and maybe watch TV while the rest of your party is getting ready. I, personally, don't see the point in spending an extra couple hundred just to be in a Disney hotel (and I'm a HUGE Disney fan), when that money could be spent making the rest of the trip more fun. You could easily stay an extra day or two, by staying at a non-Disney (but still nice) hotel, and using the money on another round of park tickets.

I would definitely recommend going through a travel agency. They often have better deals than you can find other places. My mom and I went to DL last year, and got a really nicely priced package deal.

Summer and Christmas are the most crowded times of the year at both parks, I believe. We normally go around Rodeo Break here, which is mid-February. Most other states don't have the same break periods (and, to my knowledge, none have Rodeo), so it's far less crowded. With kids, especially, you're going to want to go when there's less people: shorter lines, less chance of getting lost, etc. Christmas is fun, though, they change up a lot of the rides with a nice Christmasy theme- it's a small world, and Haunted Mansion, especially.

For WDW, if you want to do everything, you'll probably need about a week. We went to FL in 2000, and were only in WDW for 3 days, we did Epcot (which I highly recommend!) and Magic Kingdom (which I didn't find that great, as it's mostly a condensed DL, and I wish we had done something else). MGM might be worthy of going to, and Animal Kingdom looks fun. If you're going in Nov/Dec, you probably don't need to bother with the water parks. I'd recommend looking on the WDW website, and picking which parks to go to based on how old your daughters are, and what rides and shows everyone will enjoy.

It always sounds corny, but you really, really want to take a lot of pics. I'm always sad that over the years of DL trips, we have hardly any of me posing with the Disney characters. I made up for that on the trip last year, which really embarassed my mom, lol. But, it's always a nice memory of the park, and of how much fun you had. Also, the autograph books are really worth it. I still have mine from when I was little, and it really is the small things, the ones that seem silly and unimportant at the time, that make you remember Disney. Which is what I love so much about Disney, they take the time to put in the LITTLE details, the ones you don't even notice until your fourth or fifth trip, I really think they go as far as possible to make every trip different and worthwhile.

Being only 20, I've never planned my own Disney trip, so I'm not sure how much help I can give, other than, perhaps what might be most enjoyable to your daughters, but feel more than free to PM me if you'd like, I'm a huge, huge Disney fan, and I'm sure there's something I can help with [img]smile.gif[/img] .

[MOM to JILLIAN]

If you can go sometime between November 26 - December 19 you would save quite a bit and it is a GREAT time to go as far as the crowds are concerned.

[vew-tori]

My sister and I just returned from Disneyworld. We drove (17 hours) with my DD and her 3 children. Cost wise we had to drive but if you can afford it I'd fly. DH, DD and I have been 3 times previously. We have always stayed off property because we were able to use Marriott points. This trip however we booked thru AAA, stayed on property, and got the meal plan. It was such a great experience and I will have a hard time staying off property again! The meal plan more than paid for itself especially if you plan on doing Character Meals. We figured between the admission tickets and hotel it was like getting the meals for free. I did use many of the tips from the websites listed above (Thanks!) like bringing our own water, Mr. Potato Head, and buting things at the Disney Store before we left. Our girls were really into pin trading and we purchased a big lot on ebay before we went. Three of the five days we were there we didn't spend a penny. Each of the girls got a Disney Gift card from an uncle before they left so they spent that at Downtown Disney. All in all we did it very economically. We've already been to AAA to getr info on Disneyland for next year. They even have an excursion that includes a side trip to The Grove - Can you say AGPLA? Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful trip. Planning is fun too!

[StephanieS]

If you need a good Disney travel agent and want the AAA discount, I can help ya! I'm an AAA agent and I go to WDW every 4-6 months, so I know my stuff [img]smile.gif[/img] I've booked lots of trips for people on Disboards.

I'm going again in October and staying at the Beach Club and following that with a Disney cruise.

October is a nice time to go- low crowds, nice weather (not too cold to swim), Food and Wine Festival, Mickey's Halloween party!

Stephanie

[MickeyFan]

I'm a local Floridian so I can't give any advice about traveling to WDW. Tons of advice about staying on property and the parks, but not travel. I would suggest checking out the DISBoards. They are great for insider information. November and December are nice, but can be crowded because the snowbirds are down. It depends on when you go. I would never go during the week of Christmas to January 3rd. Way too crowded and you'd have a miserable time. The week of Thanksgiving is also really crowded. October used to be the best time, but since the have the weekend parties then, it can be crowded as well. Our weather in December through February is usually nice, but we can get a few days when the temperatures go down into the '30's and '40's.

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ August 05, 2006 11:38 PM: Message edited by: MickeyFan ]</font>

[trvnbrn]

HI,

No help at all from me. We've never been. Just wanted to wish you a wonderful trip. [img]graemlins/plane.gif[/img] We had planned to go when DD was 8 and DS was 5, but we decided to make an addition to the family and the "baby" would have been 18 months at trip time. We decided to hold off until he is finished with daily naps & diapers. [img]tongue.gif[/img] He's 2.5 & no where near training or stopping naps.lol. Hannah won't even discuss WDW. She only wants to go to AGP. [img]rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img]

The advice you have received here is really good as are the websites posted. E-mail MOM to JILLIAN, she knows her stuff. She's the WDW trip planning Queen. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

Bren [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img]

[cowgirlsue]

Everyone has given very good advice. I would also recommend the book The Unofficial Guide to Disney World. IMO it is invaluable for a first time trip.

We've made 5 trips to WDW as a family in 7 years. Granted, two of those were connected with speaking engagements for DH, and one was connected with a relative visit in Tampa. I feel I have to justify this, LOL. We really do go other places on vacation! But we just got back from our 5th trip, and are planning to go again in 3 years, a December trip for when my son turns 5. We've done trips in June, July, September, and March. September was the least crowded of those, and coolest.

Definitely fly if you can...don't waste time driving!

Taking a baby is really easy. There are fabulous baby stations in each park, which are clean, quiet, and well-stocked on baby supplies in case you need to buy extras. They also have secluded, private nursing rooms which are a godsend. We took our son when he was 7 months and those Baby Stations were fabulous! We even made a few stops there this time, and he's 21/2. I figure, as long as he needs changing [img]graemlins/sure.gif[/img] we're still allowed in there.

We've stayed on and off property and enjoyed both. The Disney rates are very competitive in the value seasons with off-property hotels. Frankly, having done both, we really like the perks of staying on-property. We've stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Contemporary, and All-Star Movies. We got two rooms at the latter for the price, and that was nice to do.

You can get free pack-n-plays at any Disney resort, and little fridges, too.

Random thoughts...The autograph books are great fun. We put stickers of each character beside their autograph. Pin trading is fun, too, but we had to limit it because my DD would stop to try to trade with everyone she saw! Taking food along to eat breakfast in your room, and lunch on the go, is a great time/money saver. Some meal reservations MUST be made quite far in advance, like the Princess breakfast. Do at least one character meal while you are there; it's such fun.
We've rented a car most times, but this last time used Disney transportation only and it was fine. Depending on which hotel you stay at (the value resorts are farthest from the parks and so buses take longer & are more crowded...hard with a stroller), it's very convenient. Tickets come in many packages and you should do your research about what makes sense for your family. Kids under 3 get in free to the parks. Tickets are more expensive at the gates. You can rent strollers there, but really, taking your own for an infant is FAR better, especially if you will still be using the carseat attachment. Frankly, we took our own stroller this time for my son, because he still naps on the go. The Disney strollers don't recline and are hard plastic things...not for babies.

I'm happy to answer more questions about traveling with kids there...feel free to PM! Hope you can go!

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ August 05, 2006 03:21 PM: Message edited by: EleanorofAquitane ]</font>

[dalmatian101]

We drove once from Ohio, never again. I would advice staying onsite....no driving and parking AND you never have to leave the magic. We always go in September, not as hot and usually lower crowds. We went in July and it was miserable. December was a little chilly for me. We like to do Blizzard Beach and/or Typhoon Lagoon while we're there. If you only have two kids, you could get by with a value resort. They are clean and neatly themed with a better variety of food in the food courts in my opinion. I agree with the above poster...check out the Disney Boards and you will learn everything you need to know.