[TyAva]

We are planning our 1st trip to Disney and we need advice! DS is 3 and DD is 15 months. I'm thinking either the Beach Club or Yacht Club seem like good choices - anyone have experience with these? The white sand beach sounds like it will be a big hit with the kids. Also what is the food situation like? I'm sure expensive!

What are your favorite things at Disney - lodging, food, shopping - everything! I am overwhelmed with choices!!!! And of course if you have cute pics of Disney Vacations feel free to post so I know what to look forward to!

[ddhuab]

It has been a long time since we have been to Disney (can't wait to take dd), and we didn't stay at those resorts, but I remember saying to dh that when we come back with kids, we are definitely staying at one of the top tier resorts (meaning they are actually in a park, not just on property -- we had stayed at Carribean that time). The reason was because I watched so many whiny little kids while we were waiting for our bus, on the bus, etc. When they are a bit older, I think they can understand the wait, but that young age bracket, I think, gets bored fast.

Beach club was top of my list to stay, but I think we will actually be going to stay at the resort in Animal Kingdom when dd is 3 or 4.

I hope you get some feedback from someone who has been to Beach Club. The food in all resorts, all over the park, is pretty pricey (for what it is). I would bring some snacks along in my luggage to keep in the room.

I am sure you will have a great time. I am so jealous!

Oh, in case you haven't done this yet, I would suggest looking through some guidebooks in the bookstore, and then purchasing the one you like best. Before DH and I went last time, I bought _Disney World for Lovers_, which was geared toward couple - stuff, but it was a GREAT resource, so I will be buying something similar that is family-oriented before we go again.

D.

[cerca]

We take the kids to Disney all the time...you will have so much fun!!

We usually stay at Saratoga Springs (we are DVC members and that is our home resort) it is very quiet but the bus situation isn't great. We have stayed at Old Key West (it is nice but again not great for the bus situation). I liked the Boardwalk...the walk to Epcot was nice and Beach club is right next door so it should be the same. You have to take a boat to MGM but the kids loved it.

Food can be pricey but there are dining plans. If you don't want a dining plan and you can arrange it staying in the villas are nice because they have a full kitchen and you can eat breakfast and some dinners easily there. Disney's groceries are pricey but for $10 Publix will deliver groceries to you.

The Unofficial guide to Walt Disney World is my favorite guidebook. It has a bunch of great tips.

Have a great time! We are going back in January and I can't get the kids to stop singing "It's a Small World After All" just about everyday...might drive me nuts!!

Jess

[TyAva]

The Publix tip is great! I was just wondering how on earth I would be able to get diapers and milk!!! Thanks!

[Mandy4President]

We stayed last at the Wilderness resort's cabins. We LOVED it here and didn't think that the bus thing was that big of a deal (three kids, 6,4,3 at the time). We will definitely stay there again when we go next year. They have a full kitchen and it is very private and quiet.

We are also planning on getting the dining plan next time. We figured that it would save us a lot on the dinners. You have to use two dinners for some, but like for the Polynesian Luau it would cost us $250 for the WORST seats for that dinner, which is about a quarter of what the entire weeks dinner plan would be. Anyways, pricing it out for our family...it would save us some significant money. Of course, we have four kids, so I don't know if that would work for everyone.

[becky716]

We also stay at the Fort Wilderness Cabins. You can rent golfcarts for your entire stay. This will help with the bus situation a bit. You can just drive your golf cart to the front of the resort or to the back to catch the buses. We have a blast every time!

[shelbydog]

Rent a villa or house! We actually own one that we rent out (and we bought it because we were going to Disney every year and staying in a hotel room with small children wasn't as fun anymore When they napped or slept, we were stuck in the hotel room or balcony, having to keep quiet or lights out at night. I'm not trying to sell you a week in ours, but there are lots of advantages and loads of homes to rent, very close to all of the parks. You can google online to find tons of rental companies and private homes.

You will have a WHOLE house to spread out in, including your own private pool. Many of the homes include toys, crib, high chair, baby stuff and of course you have a full kitchen so you can microwave food, cook - go to Publix for groceries and save a ton on hotel food. (When we went to the Poly. years ago, a little cup of yogurt was $1.89!!) You rent a car and come and go to the parks as you please. You are also still allowed to use Disney transportation (monorail and even the buses if you choose.) At night when the kids are in bed you have a whole house to relax in, make margaritas, go swimming, watch movies.

We had stayed at the Polynesian when our son was little and loved being on the monorail. I absolutely agree about the buses. Depending on the hotels, the wait for buses can be long, they get crowded and it can be a real pain esp. with kids your children's ages. I stayed at All Star Resorts once (Movies) with some friends and never again! The waits for buses were terrible, and they were always the last stop and the longest walk to the bus stop...

So if you stay on property, I would definitely choose one like the Polynesian or Contemporary, right on the monorail. The only time you'd need a bus is to go to Animal Kingdom or MGM. The other parks are on the monorail and it's soooo easy - you wheel your stroller right on.

No matter which way you go, you'll have a wonderful time at Disney! It is fabulous and your kids will love it too!

[mommytobug]

DVC member here too. You can rent points from a DVC member and it is a lot cheaper. I love staying at the Poly which is a monorail resort. You can hop on the monorail to go to Magic Kingdom. I would suggest studyingthe disboards, subscribing to the mousesavers newsletter and also if you want groceries you can order through garden grocer. WE LOVED IT!!

[GuatMommy2Be]

We LOVE Disney. I mean, L-O-V-E! We were planning to go this year, but since Madeline won't be home, we have to cancel our December trip.

Anyway, I have stayed at the Caribbean Resort, Coronado Resort, and fort wilderness cabins. This yr our trip was planned for the Grand Floridian. I can honestly say my best memories were fort wilderness cabins. (They have a lodge now too). I was very young when I went there with my family, but the scent of "hot rain" in the summers remind of FW & Disney.

As far as dining... we enjoyed chef mickey's, california grill, 50's prime time, cinderella's royal table.. and hmm, I'll have to think of a few others! We love their fast food though. LOL.

[RuthC]

Hi

I stayed there last May with my kids and it's a very nice space. Definitely an older and more mixed crowd. I've also stayed at Port Orleans/Dixie Landings, Wilderness Lodge, Carribean Beachand several others. For the money, I think Dixie Landings and Port Orleans are the way to go. They have nice pools, lots of wandering around space, the boats to Downtown Disney and nice rooms. (I am very picky about rooms by the way.) Just my thoughts!

[KKR213]

My sister, nephew (9 yo) and son (23 months) and I just came back on Wednesday. We stayed at the Polynesian. We stayed there mainly to have easy access to the parks with John in a stroller. The monorail to Magic Kingdom left right from the 2nd floor of the main building and the Epcot monorail was a 5 minute walk away. It was so easy and quick. We took the bus to MGM and that too was pretty easy. Just make sure you have a light stroller. The pool was really nice too and was a zero entry so John and I could sit in the low end and splash around. They also had a sprinkler area for the little ones. The rooms were also really big and gave a lot of room for John and my nephew to play. What we didn't like was the food court was kinda small and only had 3 kid selections (chicken tenders, turkey and cheese sandwich and grilled cheese). There was no playground like some of the other Disney resorts.

My sister's favorite is the Animal Kingdom Lodge and the only reason we didn't stay there is because we wanted the convenience of the monorail.

Other tips would be to do character meals to meet the characters. The breakfast at Crystal Palace (Winnie the Pooh and gang) and Polynesian (Lilo, Stitch, Tropical Mickey and Pluto) were very good and the characters come to your table. So now standing in line with the little ones. And if you stay at the resort take advantage of the extra magic hours they offer for resort guests which are less crowded.

Have a good trip!!

[arepa]

We are annual passholders and live 30 minutes away, so we go to the parks alot. We do stay at the hotels sometimes. This is what I would look into when planning a vacation to Disney.

1. Extra magic hours that Disney hotel guests recieve.

2. In October they have Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween, In, Nov/ December they have Mickey's Very Merry Christmas, the new pairate/princess party is a couple times a year you have to ask it is new
They are all alot of fun.

3. Since you do not have school aged children, make you visit on non peak times. January is great, and the weather is wnderful. However, right after Thanksgiving to a week or so before Christmas is nice as well and the Park is decorated.

4.At Downtown Disney they have great shops and at Goofy's candy company the kids can create a desert. Make sure to allow plenty of time if you wish to eat at Rainforest Cafe.

5. There is a Barbershop in Magic Kingdom and if a child gets his/her first haircut there they recieve a mickey hat and certificate.
I hope your family enjoys Disney.We do, in fact we are headed to Magic Kingdom tomorrow.

[cerca]

This is Jess's DH here... I highly reccommend looking into renting DVC points - a good starter website with the most info you will ever want is Deb's Unofficial Walt Disney World Vacation Information Guide - WDW Planning Guide - Walt Disney World is the best. The DIS Discussion Forums - DISboards.com - Powered by vBulletin has a bunch of discussions on all sorts of topics - you can find all the way down at the bottom the DVC buy/rent/sell discussion. DVC 'units' (either Studio, 1, 2, or 3 bedroom) go for a certain amount of points per night - the going rate for rented points are between $8 and $11 - you tend to get a better bargain if you buy more points, ie. go for a longer trip. It usually ends up costing about the same as a moderate level disney resort room that only sleeps 4 for a 2 bedroom dvc unit that sleeps 8 in mid to low season, point values go way up during holidays and the more popular times of year.


Its very easy to check one extra suitcase with dry type snacks and breakfast cerals and such, and dry drink mixes too, powdered milk is palatable over ceral (but not much else) - and tang work for a week's trip! Bring water bottles for everyone (heck, you can bring along empty 'sport' type spring water bottles) and each night fill 1/3 with water and freeze - fill with water or juice in the AM and you have nice cold drinks all day long.

Regarding the Disney Dining Plan - they have made major changes to the plan in the last few weeks - it is NOT a very good deal anymore, AND they don't inlcude the tip anymore either! We've found you save alot of $$ by eating breakfast in the room, bringing in snacks (and still splurge with one mouse ear treat per day ), and then eating a'la carte for lunch and dinner. If your familiy are big eaters, only then does the dining plan make sense anymore.

Its well worth picking up the book my wife reccommended - has more than you ever want to know about a trip to see the mouse! =)

Disney World is an amazing place, tons of fun - but its huge, tiring, scary, and can be very expensive. A little bit of reading up goes a long way either by book or website!

-Todd

[Summer95]

Alison

We are heading to Disney in a couple of weeks…our first visit!!! We are all sooo excited!!! DS is 3 so we decided to stay at The Wilderness Lodge because they offer a lot of activities we think he will enjoy. Hay (wagon) rides, bike rentals and a nightly camp fire sing-along with Chip and Dale. These activities are located at The Wilderness Camp Ground which is a wonderful place to stay. As others have said, you can rent a private cabin with a full kitchen. Furthermore, The Wilderness is close to the Magic Kingdom, which is probably the park we will be spending most of our time at.

We initially looked at staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, however, many people have complained because of the excess noise due to a three-year re-modeling project. A problem if you have a little one that needs an afternoon nap.

As for food…we went with the dinning plan. It is saving us about two hundred dollars. If you are going next year there are changes to the dinning plan…so check that out to see if it is still worth the money.
Because our DS is very shy and not likely to approach a character in the park most of our meals are Character meals. This way they can come up to him and Mommy and Daddy do not have to stand in long lines for an autograph. There are so many Character meals offered. We have reservations for the Liberty Tree Tavern (dinner with Goofy and Friends), The Crystal Palace (Breakfast with Winnie-the-Pooh and Friends), Donald’s Breakfastosaurus (Breakfast with Donald and Friends), Chef Mickey (breakfast) and Hollywood and Vine (Breakfast with June, Leo, JoJo and Goliath). Most of these offer lunch or dinner meals also. We also have a reservation at the Coral Ref Restaurant (Epcot), which just looks awesome. You eat right next to an eight story aquarium.
There is a member on the forum ~ Disneycrazed~ that is so knowledgeable when it comes to Disney. She has spent a lot of time there and knows all the ins and outs of Disney. She is truly wonderful and will answer any question you may have!!

If you would like I can PM you some web sites that helped me.

Best of luck in planning and have a wonderful trip. Keep us posted!

[shoegirl06]

Coronado Springs and OKW are our favorites!

Try to get reservations for the Princess Breakfast in the Castle - it's wonderful (but pricey)!

If you're thinking of a dining plan, if you get a Disney credit card and use it to pay for your vacation, they will give you plan/s for FREE! My father is going on Sunday and he, my stepmom & nephew have reservations all over the place (he's fond of Epcot). It's only certain times during the year, but cardmembers get first crack at it when it's available, you just have to keep looking. It includes 3 meals a day and a snack (maybe 2) each.

We're thinking of going late next summer. My sister & her hubby belong to DVC and OKW is their home resort, but we might try Saratoga!