|
Disney - my all time FAVORITE vacation! I plan ours way in advance too, you are not nuts!
Ok, your itinery sounds pretty good. I don't think it is too packed, you might want to be flexibe about your "resort day" and put it in the middle more. Or, do a few half park days instead - although half a day still uses a whole day on your pass. Just play it by ear and the HUGE benefit of staying on site is that you can head back to the hotel for a few hours to nap and than back to the parks later.
On site - in my opinion, the deluxe hotels are worth it. Generally, the rooms are a little larger and the atmosphere is just nicer. Wilderness Lodge is AWESOME. The Deluxes also have more sit-down resturaunts, the modeerates and values generally ust ahve food court type places. And, some of the deluxes have child care services on site too. But, the moderates are pretty nice too. Just more spread out usually. So do your homework on where to request a room if you pick a moderate. Many times, with the discounts I mention below, you can get a deluxe room at the rack rate of a moderate.
The value hotels (all stars and pop century) are an incredible value, but are very small and very crowded and we found them to have way more stimulation than we needed. We wanted the hotel to be a place to relax - especially on our down time, which is what it sounds like you want too. The values have cool stuff, but too much of it.
My other tips - do NOT, I repeat, do NOT take the shuttle from the airport to disney. For about the same price you can hire a towncar (many great companies, I don't think I can put names here can I?) and you go, just your family, straight to YOUR hotel. No stopping at all the other hotels. Or, you can have them make a FREE stop at the grocery store. We did that and picked up granola bars, fruit, soda, beer and wine to have in the room. Worked out great.
Disney of late has been having various discount codes for their rooms. Find them and use them. NEVER pay rack rates. Again, there are a few web sites that are great for finding codes and one AWESOME online travel agent. PM me if you'd like the web sites.
Any other questions, ask away, like I said Disney is my thing.
|