Disney World resorts

[LwnmwnMan2]

The wife and I are trying to plan a trip for the upcoming summer.

We haven't decided if we want to head west towards Yellowstone, or south towards Disney World.

I've got connections with a cousin that lives in Jackson Hole WY, so we can get that covered.

However, I was wondering if anyone here has any opinions on what resort to stay at if we head down to Disney World.

Also, we're going to be down there about a week, so if anyone has any suggestions, they would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[DTro]

Do you have a budget?

I recommend staying in one of the WDW resorts. You get a few perks that are well worth it.

1. Early arrival time into the parks.

2. Full use of the Disney Transportation

I've stayed at 3 or 4 of the resorts. My favorite of those was the Polynesian Resort. I may be biased as I got married there, but it is really nice.

The Wilderness resort is very nice, but I think I'd probably stay at the Animal Kingdom resort the next time I'm there.

[bozosdad]

hey

I would recommend WDW also. Actually my family (wife and 3 kids) are going in early May. My wife has done EXTENSIVE research and has found wonderful reviews of the Polynesian Resort. Everyone that stays there gives it great reviews. It has a great location, monorail service, and a Hawaiian theme. This is a deluxe resort which is more $$ but we have more than 4 persons in our groups so we had to go with the deluxe resort. We stayed at Port Orlean (moderate resort) 6 yrs ago when we only had 1 kid. That was a beautiful resort. We decided to go with the Polynesian because 1. we had to choose a deluxe resort with more than 4 people and 2. my wife wanted to try another resort

Again the Polynesian is centrally located, can see the castle and fireworks at night, has monorail service and numerous wonderful reviews. If you do book WDW vacation do it with as much advance as possible to reserve any specialty meals with characters etc.

hope this helps

bozo

[not_nuf_time]

Most definitly stay on Disney site, well worth the extra money. And you don't have to deal with driving all over Orlando if you don't want to. We stayed at Orleans and loved it.

[Daze Off]

We did the opposite - rented a 3-BR condo about 5 minutes from the parks for $100/night and loved it. Enjoyed the peace and quiet of being away from the parks and made it much easier to see the other Orlando sites (Universal, Sea World, etc.) plus do things like go to the beach and to Cape Canaveral.

Would not do anything differently next time except spend more time at Sea World which we enjoyed immensely. If you pay to swim with the dolphins you get 5 days free to Sea World (at least at one time you did).

[Ebiz]

I second the renting a condo/townhome idea. In fact we're started doing this whenever we're going on vacation. Last year rented a beach house in San Diego with 8 people, this summer my wife and I are going to Boston and renting a studio apt for 1/3 of what the cheapest hotel room would be.

There are a ton of condo/townhouse developments within a mile or two of Disney. In addition to the cost savings over a hotel, you also have a kitchen to make breakfast/meals, multiple bedrooms to accomodate kids/different sleep schedules, etc.

[Ebiz]

Oh yeah, I almost forgot - my inlaws have a 3BR townhome rental in Windsor Hills just outside of Disney. I know I can't post a link but if anyone wants info on it just email me ericheagle at yahoo dot com

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Ebiz,

They don't call you that for nothing, eh? I knew there had to be a shameless plug in there somewhere, LOL

Just kidding. Anywho, I would second or third or fourth that suggestion. We stayed in a hotel/motel called the Kings Inn that had a 2br suite with a kitchen and it was dirt cheap, around $75 a night but that was a million years ago. Still, the concept makes sense. That extra hour you get in the park at the on site resorts is not worth the huge bucks you shell out IMO. We also liked the idea of being able to cook a meal or two on our own as the $12 hot dogs got real old real fast and we scouted other things to do that the kids had fun with. We found this place in Kissamee called Old Town with a few carnival rides and a boardwalk with some neat shops that can easily kill a half day or so. By the way, my uncle owns the Salt Water Taffy shoppe in Old Town....Just Kidding! Enjoy your trip, Lawnmower, it is a great time!

Windy

[HOF#13]

We just went to WDW last November. First time there with the wife and 2 kids (ages 10 and 7). We stayed at one of the WDW Resorts (Pop-Century Resort). It is one of the cheaper resorts. That being said, it was everything we needed. When we got there we took a cab to the closest grocery store and bought simple breakfast foods...cereal, pop-tarts, etc, and sandwich materials. The room was small. Just big enough for 2 double beds (they were pillow-top though) and the bathroom. That being said...everyday we were out the door by 8am and didn't get back until 11pm or later every night. We were only in our room long enough to sleep. We would eat a quick breakfast in the room and pack enough sandwiches for lunch. We still bought the occasional snack, and then ate supper somewhere at one of the parks. The resort did food have it's own food services if you wanted to eat there too. For how much we used our room, it didn't make much sense to me to pay $150-200 per night over $85 per night.

If your looking to use your room for more than sleeping...spend the extra on one of the more expensive resorts. Otherwise, save your $$$$ and just stay in one of their cheaper resorts. Our sole purpose was to go there and spend everyday at one of the 4 WDW theme parks. We had no plans to go anywhere else, so being picked up at the airport by one of the WDW buses and then using their shuttles to go everywhere else worked out perfect for us.

[CrappiesNCats]

just make sure you expect to spend a lot on food. i went 10 years ago and the 4 of use went through over 100 bucks a day on food without getting any snacks throughout the day

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Yup,

That is why the small kitchen is a good idea. Saved a ton on our room rate and food bill. Getting the Park Hopper passes is a good thing too so that you can come and go as you like. A break in the afternoon is good to get a little cheap food in your room and maybe let the kids swim for a while and you can relax and then hit the parks again and stay till the fireworks. At least that is how we rolled!

Windy

[LwnmwnMan2]

Right now it's looking like we're going for 6 days, 5 nights right at the beginning of August.

We know it's going to be hot down there, but it's really the only time I can "safely" plan that I can get away from work, somewhat. That's life when you're the solo op running your own show.

Anyways, we've got a 6 year old and 3 year old. We've decided to save a little money from the tickets by declining the park hopper pass. Main reason is because we figure with the 5 days we're there, we can go to each park 1 day, then the last go back to the favorite one, or just hang out, whatever. We can still leave the park we're in that day, and return later to the same park, the same day, just won't be able to bounce from park to park.

We're flying down, because after you figure 1600 miles one way, 3200 round trip, if you can average 20 mph, even 25, you're still looking at a $500 gas bill, even without motel stay 2 nights or food bill for 3.5-4 days of travelling. Right now our flight is $720 round trip for the 4 of us, if we include it in the package off of disney's HSOforum.

We've kinda leaned towards the Polynesian, rather than rent a house/condo, since the Polynesian is right on the monorail line, you don't have to then rent a car or take buses. We've read alot of stories online about people waiting 30-40-50+ minutes waiting for buses, only to have them jampacked full.

I guess the only other question I still have, for those that have stayed at a WDW resort, did you use their food plan?? And if so, which one??

Thanks.

[HOF#13]

Honestly, the only issue we had at all with the WDW busses / shuttles is when we arrived at the airport. We waited for about an hour and a half to get on our bus to the resort. We had no issues or long waits for any of the shuttles to and from the parks.

We chose not to do the food plan. I figured that for what it cost a person per day, that we could do it cheaper on our own, which I believe we did. I don't think I honestly saved enough though that I would not consider the food plan the next time we go.

[LwnmwnMan2]

 Originally Posted By: HOF#13

Honestly, the only issue we had at all with the WDW busses / shuttles is when we arrived at the airport. We waited for about an hour and a half to get on our bus to the resort. We had no issues or long waits for any of the shuttles to and from the parks.

We chose not to do the food plan. I figured that for what it cost a person per day, that we could do it cheaper on our own, which I believe we did. I don't think I honestly saved enough though that I would not consider the food plan the next time we go.

HOF - it's listed on different websites that for an adult, they charge $38 / day, and for a kid under 17, it's $10 / day, for 1 "Perkins" type meal, 1 "fast food" and 1 snack. Is that about what you paid?? If you can remember??

[DTro]

I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Birbaums guide to Disney. If mine wasn’t so out of date, you could have it. It saved us a ton of time, and they have itineraries geared for different groups (singles families,couples etc) to maximize your stay.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

I will second that Dtro. I used that book back in the early 90's when we went and it saved us tons of time, especially his advice on how to visit each park. Where to go and when so that you have the least wait time. Good Stuff!

Windy

[HOF#13]

Yep. I think that is about right, as I had figured it would cost about $100 on the meal plan, and I thought we could do it cheaper on our own. We did...but probably only by maybe $15-20 per day. So, considering we made sandwiches in the morning and carried them around until lunch, still bought a few snacks here and there, and then settled for the "fast food" type supper, it might not be worth the savings....after all you are on vacation, right? Knowing what I know now, I would probably go with the meal plan.

That being said...a couple of tips for ya: 1) Take some type of small backpack to take to the parks. Something that will hold your personal items, a bottle of water or two, your camera / camcorder, and snacks.

2) Trust me on this one...before you leave home stock up on the small individual sized snacks...goldfish crackers, peanut butter crackers, granola bars...that kind of thing. With all the walking the kids do and the long days, they are an absolute life saver when your kids are hungry and want a snack every 20 minutes. Security checks all bags when you enter the park, but it only takes 10 seconds...no big deal at all.

3) With a 3 year old, you'll probably want to rent a stroller at the parks. My 7 year old never seemed to tire, but I saw lots of crabby little kids being held by their parents...and a lot of little kids quietly dozing off in the stroller while the parents pushed them around. I think the cost was $15 for a single kid stroller, or $20 for a double stroller.

4) Have your wife get a couple of those "planning your disney vacation" books off the internet. My wife did, and they have some good information to help you plan things out.

We were there only 3 months ago, so if you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to ask. You and your family are going to have a great time!