Disney $#*!

[DosToros]

My 2 cents:
VRBO a condo at Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort. It is on Disney property but not a disney resort. Condo's are big with a full kitchen, tons of pools with water slides, restaurants etc... Very reasonable prices.

I fly to orlando because it is cheap and rental mini vans are plentiful and easy.

I always get park hopper to be able to eject from crowded parks if nececcary and to finish every day at Epcot for dinner and drinks. I second country hopping with beers. France is a great place to have a reservation for a nice sit down dinner and drinks. Fireworks every night at epcot.

Bonnet Creek offers some kind of busses to the parks but I would Highly recommend driving to the parks and paying the 10 or 15 bucks extra for the VIP parking. VIP is necessary if you want to park hop. You walk out of the park and your car is right there. They also give you free bottle water and maybe some other perks.

As others have said make early food reservations. If you stay at Bonnet Creek you will have a full kitchen and fridge as well. But if you don't have reservations check the day of while you are at the park. Cancelations open up all the time the day of.

I personally think the on site resort hotels are overrated but to each his own.

The disney app is awesome, thats how you can see how busy the other parks are while you are at your park.

In conclusion, Bonnet Creek, park hopper, vip parking, finish the day at epcot.

[DosToros]

Oh ya and if you want to bass fish Lake Toho or similar with a guide book way ahead of time because they book up early. I know you can get guides to fish the disney lakes as well but I have never done that. I had a good guide on Toho, just an old timer nothing flashy but caught a lot of fish and he was pleasant to be around. PM me if anyone wants name and number.

[Codie]

Disney isn't cheap (at least compared many other destinations). However, there are ways to save money. I'm sure a quick internet search would turn up a lot of tips. Few things I can think of off the top of my head.

- Drive, don't fly
- Look into the budget friendly Disney resort properties; some of these can be close to half the daily cost of the Premium resort properties.
- Consider staying outside the park at a non-Disney property. I've heard that many nearby hotels offer shuttle services to and from all parks
- Do you have a camper/RV; the Disney Fort Wilderness RV resort is like half as much as even the budget resorts
- Avoid the meal plan if possible. Disney does allow you to pack food to bring into the parks. Plan meals strategically to avoid expensive park meals if possible.
- Consider daily park tickets as compared to park hoppers;

Our trip was expensive because we stayed at a premium resort, had full meal plan and park hopper tickets everyday. We could have knocked a couple grand off by slashing a few daily hopper passes and either eliminating or severely limiting the meal plan. It would have been even less if we stayed somewhere else. It's definitely one of those places where the sky is the limit.

Good advice - thanks!

[sideways]

Bump


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[gingib]

Disney isn't cheap (at least compared many other destinations). However, there are ways to save money. I'm sure a quick internet search would turn up a lot of tips. Few things I can think of off the top of my head.

- Drive, don't fly
- Look into the budget friendly Disney resort properties; some of these can be close to half the daily cost of the Premium resort properties.
- Consider staying outside the park at a non-Disney property. I've heard that many nearby hotels offer shuttle services to and from all parks
- Do you have a camper/RV; the Disney Fort Wilderness RV resort is like half as much as even the budget resorts
- Avoid the meal plan if possible. Disney does allow you to pack food to bring into the parks. Plan meals strategically to avoid expensive park meals if possible.
- Consider daily park tickets as compared to park hoppers;

Our trip was expensive because we stayed at a premium resort, had full meal plan and park hopper tickets everyday. We could have knocked a couple grand off by slashing a few daily hopper passes and either eliminating or severely limiting the meal plan. It would have been even less if we stayed somewhere else. It's definitely one of those places where the sky is the limit.

Great advice!

I remember going as a kid, but man I would have never thought it costs this much outrageous money

[skeeter]

Disney does it right. Everything. Go, have fun and don’t try to find things to complain about. There will be other deer seasons. Stay at a resort. Use the shuttles. Get the meal plans. Book character meals early. Eat dinner at the castle during the fireworks! Animal kingdom sux. Only one good ride. Hollywood studios and magic kingdom have the best rides. Epcot is a close second. DO NOT RIDE “ITS A SMALL WORLD”. You will never get that song out of your head... ever!

[CURTIS250]

I've been twice. Once about 8 yrs ago and once last year. I really dreaded it and thought I would hate it. Liked it! Some of the best money I've ever spent. Everything there is pretty top notch. Staff is all happy and seem glad you are there. Piece of trash hits the ground and it is picked up asap. It is expensive but I felt like they make it worth it with the quality experience they provide.

Go tour the 11 different countries at Epcot World Showcase and drink a beer at every one. See if you can do it in less than 2 hours. It will make for good stories

This is spot on! Ive been 3 times and absolutely loved every second! (The second time was for my honeymoon [joint choice by wife and me]). My kids beg the wife and i constantly to go back.
On a side note i go several times a year to Orlando for work and My coworkers and i go to Down town Disney almost every trip. We all range from 30-60 in age.
In a society where customer service has gone by the way side, this place is just the opposite! The whole time you are there you will feel like royalty.

Ride "Soarin" at Epcot
Down town Disney (Disney Springs now) is a blast after dark. Lots of great musicians playing live music.
The "park hopper pass" is worth every penny also.

<Skeeter> is absolutely correct. Stay at a resort and ride the shuttles.
If for no other reason the people watching and scenery around Disney is worth it.

[Atfulldraw]

My daughter and I spent the week after Christmas at Universal and plan to do Epcot and Disney next year.


No expense was spared and we still didn't spend much over 5k.
First class airfare, stayed on the resort property, had the three park tickets with express every day, and basically lived like kings.

Never had to get on a shuttle bus and never waited in line longer than fifteen minutes.

It was crowded but was fully worth the time and expense.

[TexasHunter83]

You'll have a blast. We're going again in May.; we've been once before. I'm sure there are cheaper ways to go if you really want to put in the work and penny-pinch everything to death, but we just book our trip through the Disney website an stay at their value resorts. This year we're staying 5 nights and will spend 4 days in the parks. We also purchased a "park hopper" pass and a dining plan and the total for all 4 of us ran about $4,000--That's not counting travel to and from (we drive). Let me explain the "park hopper." You'll end up purchasing tickets that you can use at the various parks (Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot.) Once you burn a ticket in one of the parks, you have to stay in that specific park and cannot travel around to other parks in the same day. The "park hopper" allows you to move around to the different parks within the same day. We get this because sometimes things get packed in one park and you may want to shuttle over to a different one. Or you may have planned to spend Day 3 in Hollywood Studios, but was only able to get a dinner reservation for Cinderella's Castle (Magic Kingdom) for that same day; it basically lets you move around easier. Here are some basic things I'd suggest if you haven't done them already. Keep in mind, we tend to choose "ease" over penny pinching; however, we also try not to break the bank either.

1. Book it now and you can pay on it between now and then; unless you plan on just dropping the whole cash some at once. After you book, keep checking their website for special offers. If something comes up between now and the time you go, you can call and have the special offer applied to your reservation and you might get it at a cheaper price (hotel, tickets, or whatever). Sometimes they run specials on cheaper room costs, or they'll offer a vacation package with a free or cheap meal plan.

2. Use the Disney website to create a daily itinerary for what you're doing each day. You can add dining reservation times, certain times you want to meet certain characters, Fastpass times, etc... You can pretty much set most of your day up so you know what time to be in certain places for certain events. These parks are freaking huge and spread out, so it's nice to know what you're doing and where to be at the right time. (Characters are only in certain places at certain times. (hint: At the Magic Kingdom, most people blast right through the entrance and head toward the back of the park. Right after you walk into the entrance, there are some little spaces to the left and right where a couple of different characters are--I think sleeping beauty and snow white if I remember correctly. My Uncle told us about this before we went and he was right, everyone blasted right on in and had no idea they were over there, so there was no line to let the kids meet them.)

3. You can start reserving table-dining restaurants 180 days before your first day. I'd suggest doing this as soon as possible (on day 180) because they book up fast. It's nice to be able to sit down at a table to eat sometimes after you've been blasting around the parks. (This is another reason why it's good to book your trip more than 180 days in adavance) NOTE: You can spend a small fortune in tips eating at these restaurants. They also have places that offer quick-service meals where you just walk up and order out of a line (like in a mall or something). This keeps you from having to tip waiters and waitresses.

4. You can start booking "Fastpasses" 60 days before your visit. (These allow you to basically skip through the longer lines in the park.) They allow you 3 Fastpasses per day and are included automatically with your tickets. They can be used for Rides and/or meeting characters.

5. If I were you, I'd get a meal plan. The food there is freaking outrageous in price. We get the deluxe meal plan and that gives you 3 full meals and 2 snacks per night that you stay at your resort. You can purchase the meal plan when you purchase your resort stay and tickets on the DW website. It's just a lump sum that's added to your reservation. total. When you're in the parks and go eat somewhere, they just scan your wrist-band and it come off of the meal plan you've already paid for. Another good thing is that it keeps you from having to carry around a bunch of cash or whatever. Also, depending on what resort you stay, they have big dining areas where you can eat. We usually try to catch breakfast at the resort diner if we don't have a breakfast reservation somewhere.

6. I'm not sure what the weather is there, but through the summer it pretty much rains every day. They sell ponchos there, but we take our own. Doesn't have to be expensive, and lightweight helps.

7. Take a backpack with everything you think you'll need for the day; phone charging device, sun screen, bug spray, etc... Like I said, these parks are huge and spread over a big area. You won't be able to just pop on over to the room to get something you think you need; it'll take you an hour or more to do that.

If I think of anything else, I'll post it. Most of all HAVE FUN

ADDITION: Download the Disney Map App and you can use your phone GPS to navigate around the park.

[bakin7005]

First thing I would do is retrieve your heuvos from her purse..... Most crowded place I've ever been. Like others mentioned though, I hated it because I went with the bad attitude.

[jimmyneutrontx]

Ha. I’m here now. Been 7 years in a row.
Send me a PM and I will give you a ton of info I’ve learned over the years

This sound like a great topic for a thread on the GS so we can exchange does and don't at Disney

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[jimmyneutrontx]

We go every years the week before Christmas and stay the Disney's Wilderness Resort in our motorhome. Its hands down the nicest t.v. park I have ever been too. Tons of activities for the kids; swimming pools, playgrounds, horseback riding and more that I don't know about I'm sure.

Like the rest of the resorts the buses to all the different parks have stops at fort wilderness. In addition. You can take a boat from fort wilderness to magic kingdom.

Since stay in our motor home we grocery shop at home for the entire trip, start crock pot meals in the morning and then eat dinner at the motorhome. We pack sandwiches and water with us for the daytime.

We usually never have to go to the grocery store but my wife has to get her addiction fix and go to Wal-Mart at least once.

We just booked a week at Fort Wilderness, with 4 days of tickets and park hopper for $3800. That's for 4 adults and 2 kids.

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[offshore2005]

We go a few times a year. I was not sold at first and now I love it.
If you have not booked it yet, contact my sister in law. It’s what she does for a living. Free of charge to you and she will find every discount she can in your favor. She got married there last year!!

[91cavgt]

Make reservations NOW for any resturant (like the beauty and beast one).

Stay at a resort.
Have groceries delivered to the room (its a service)..drinks, snacks, waters, etc.
dont buy **** in the stores at the end of rides.
PLAN your day, and your fast passes for each day.
Do not carry a ton of crap.. small back pack for waters, phone chargers etc.
Plan your lunches.

I just got back from spending Christmas week at Disney and this is spot on!


Turn it into a game and every time you take a pic with a Disney character, see if they will do an air bow.

[91cavgt]

Oh, and pay the $160 or so for all of the pictures they take. You pay this when you reserve the meals. We did this and ended up with about 100 pictures. If you pay for the pictures individually at the park, it’s like $15 per picture!


If you book a meal with any of the Disney characters, expect to pay $50 a person for the meal.