I need help 1st time travel to Disney

[HELPDESKGUY]

Hello Everyone and thank you for reading my cry for help.

Mother in law is flying in from Europe in the month of JUNE. I figured it would be nice to go to Disney World.

Who is going:

2 Grandmothers
Mom
Dad
Brother (18)
2.5 year old daughter
1 year old daughter

Length of stay: 7 days

Method of transportation:

Flying


Questions:

1. Will my babies enjoy it or are they too young?
2. Where should we stay? (I want a decent size place for a decent price on the resort of course)
3. I like thrill rides and shows. Will i enjoy it?
4. What books should I read?
5. How much spending money?

can't think of any other questions now...


Thank you everyone.

[Bellefan66]

Hi and welcome! You are at the right place. I want to give you a VERY helpful site that really,I got 90% of my Disney planning info from.

http://www.allearsnet.com
You can get all the info you asked for.Yes, I think your little ones will enjoy it.Yes, you will LOVE the rides and the shows! I would purchase the Passporter,loads of info,and especially good if your staying onsite. Good luck,and happy planning!

[all4fun]

Hi Helpdeskguy! I'll try to answer a few of your questions:

1. Will my babies enjoy it or are they too young? Yes, your babies will enjoy it! I have taken my ds at 13 mos, 17 mos, and 20 mos. He enjoyed it every time. At 13 mos he wasn't yet walking and pretty much took everything in. He did get a little overstimulated in a few different attractions but we learned quickly what he could tolerate and what we should avoid (i.e. loud shows, 3-D movie attractions, mainly). The following trips he enjoyed even more - fell in love with the characters and now we can't keep him away from them, lol. He also loves the rides.

2. Where should we stay? (I want a decent size place for a decent price on the resort of course) We are DVC members and usually stay at the Boardwalk Villas. You can rent points from members on the DVC Rent/Trade board if you want to stay in deluxe-style accomodations and have a kitchen available to you (very nice w/young children in tow) this is a reasonable way to go. Otherwise I would probably recommend one of the moderate resorts if you're on a budget, although I would defer to others here on the boards to recommend one since we have never stayed at a moderate. You could also check out the resorts board for info about that.

3. I like thrill rides and shows. Will i enjoy it? Disney isn't big on thrill rides - there are actually very few, so if you like the tamer suff then you should have a really great time.

4. What books should I read? I recommend The Passporter and The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. You can also get TONS of info off of the Dis, but I'm sure you're discovering that already!

5. How much spending money? Ooh that's a tough one...There is a budget board here as well, and a Disney tips board. I recommend you check those out for some ideas on how to save money at WDW. I have to admit that this is not one of my strong points! This is actually my dh's area. I know he likes to get coupon codes off of Mousesavers.com and our last trip he got an awesome rate on a full-size rental car from National using coupon codes obtained from the web.

I also recommend you bring your own stroller as the rentals are not very comfy for the younger babes that may need to take a nap from time to time. You can check out pictures at AllEarsNet.com
This is also a good all-around planning site for WDW.

HTH!
Cheryl

[fam4jc]

welcome we are all cool, helpful people here!

5 adults and two children.. that's kinda tough at Disney. Most of their resorts are geared to 4 or 5 people but here's what I suggest:

2bdrm DVC villa - there is a rent trade board on this site - go to the DVC points calculator first and plug in your dates and chosed resort for total points you'll need. usually 1 pts costs $10.

Cabin at Fort Wilderness. It is really a single wide moble home spruced up a little. Has a full kitchen, living room with double murphy bed, bathroom and bedroom with queen bed and twin bunk beds.

If you don't need a kitchen, you could get two connecting rooms at one of the value resorts (pop century is the newest) or moderate resorts (Port Orleans Riverside or Port Orleans French Quarter both get consistent high reviews).

To read: everyone's suggestions are great, plus you should order the WDW planning DVD

Spending money - depends. You will spend a bundle on food if you aren't careful. Be sure to try some of the really neat and interesting dining options you can't get anyplace but WDW.

You and your babies will love it! My daughter was 18 months on her first trip and she was thrilled every minute.

Have a wonderful trip.

[twojo21]

i too, would recommend a 2 bedroom villa (beach club, boardwalk, old key west, saratoga springs, wilderness lodge) or cabin at ft wilderness most 2 bedrooms also have sleeper couch, which would work comfortably for your group of 7. cribs can also be requested free of charge at wdw resorts. you can rent points like the others suggested or you can book a villa or cabin through waltdisneyworld.com & order all your tickets and any other options like dining or recreation.

i would recommend the site above wdwinfo.com and birnbaums 2005 wdw book (you could rent from library) always been helpful with my plans.

fyi - you can have in room babysitting for young toddlers, through disney or kids nite out (for a fee), if you want an adults only night.

hope you have a wonderful trip at wdw!

[dzneelvr]

I too recommend Birnbaum's Unofficial Guide to WDW. It is so jam packed full of wonderful advice, and will serve as a great souvenier also.
Get on several of the Boards here for specifics: the Budget Board is a great place to ask for specifics on spending patterns and cost. Some posters will have it very detailed down to the last penny for you. Don't blow a lid, but we spend @$5000 per trip (10 days) and stay at the All Star movies with a season pass and all it's discounts and we never really watch what we spend.

The term "thrill ride" is relative: you will enjoy the Tower of Terror in MGM, Space Mountain in MK but there is SO much more as far as the classics: Jungle Cruise in MK, Pirates of the Caribbean in MK, Tiki Birds in MK, Indiana Jones in MGM, Star Tours in MGM....don't limit yourself by the definition of "thrill".
Get a priority seating (WDW's version of a reservation) for dinner at Cinderella's Castle, Lunch at the Sci Fi Drive Inn at MGM, Ohana's for dinner at the Polynesian, and the Hoop De Doo at Fort Wilderness. These are truly classics and you must enjoy them at least once. Have a wonderful trip...and remember, you can't see and do it all on one trip, you'll have to come back!!

[Beca]

Well, the FW cabins only sleep 6, and only have ONE bathroom!! I would definitely recommend a 2bdrm DVC unit.

Those can be kind of hard to come by at 6 months out..so, I would really get "booking" on that if you decide to. The great thing about the DVC units (besides a full kitchen) is that they have washers and dryers.

BCV would be the BEST place to stay, as Stormalong Bay is the coolest hotel pool EVER made. It is more like a small water park...your kids would LOVE it.
But, they fill up VERY quickly. BWV is very nice as well, and has a really great slide. But, the bargain of the group is OKW...the rooms are HUGE, and they just put in a new "castle slide". All of this for fewer points than any other DVC resort.

Good luck...I hope you have a great trip....ps...your son is BEAUTIFUL!!!!



Beca

[HELPDESKGUY]

All this information!

What are points? How do you use them? How do you buy them? I've done a search and can't find anything that makes sense to me.

BCV looks awsome but so $$$$$$$$ is there anyway to avoid the $6700 price tag Disney is asking w/ 7 days tickets of course and still stay there?

I'm so overwhelmed!

[beattyfamily]

Originally Posted by HELPDESKGUY

All this information!

What are points? How do you use them? How do you buy them? I've done a search and can't find anything that makes sense to me.

BCV looks awsome but so $$$$$$$$ is there anyway to avoid the $6700 price tag and still stay there?

I'm so overwhelmed!

A Disney Vacation Club member buys points to use toward stays at the Disney Vacation club resorts. It's a timeshare Disney style. We can then stay at the DVC (Disney vacation club) resorts for a faction of the rack rates. If you were to rent points from a DVC member, you'd probably get a two bedroom for much less than the rack rates. It all depends on when you go and for how long to determine how many points it would take. Then once you know how many points it would take a DVC member to book it, then you multiply that number by $10 as that is the going rental rate DVC members charge to rent their points.

For example, I'm renting 90 points for a five night stay in October to a fellow DISER. She is getting 2 studios at the BWV. The total for those 2 studios for 5 nights (she avoided Fri and Sat because they cost a lot more points) for her is $900.00 which is a bargain compared to the rack (cash) rates.

If you are interested in doing this, head over to the DVC board or the DVC rent/trade points board right here on the DIS.

If this is all too complicated for you to do, then I suggest 2 adjoining rooms at nice moderate resort!

Enjoy your planning!

[Beca]

A 2bdrm villa for a week during June 1-10 would cost 314 points (or $3140), while a 2 bdrm for a week during June 11-30 would cost 350 pts (or $3500).





Beca

[HELPDESKGUY]

Well I've only read positive about disney...and i want to make this a family tradition since I was not fortunate enough to have one while growing up...

Wish me luck everyone.

I've done my homework and i now fully understand how DVC works and cost and brokers etc...