Canadian First Timer Here...H.E.L.P.!!!

[twin_momma]

Hi All,

I am planning my first family trip to Disney World at the end of January (got $8/each tickets through Spirit - couldn't pass up the deal!) and we're bringing our 4 year old twins.

I have never been to Disney World before and am hoping some of you lovely people can give me a hand with a few things.

Firstly, we are travelling on a budget which is why I thought this might be the best place to post my questions. If it isn't the right spot I'm sorry!!!

Secondly, is there anywhere I can purchase discount Disney World tickets? I think we're only planning on one day, maybe two at the park since my girls are so little.

Lastly, I'm looking at renting a vacation home instead of a hotel for 4 nights. Is there anyone who might think this is a bad idea???

Thank you all in advance for any help you can give me!!!

twin_momma

 

[parkers*momma]

Hi All,

I am planning my first family trip to Disney World at the end of January (got $8/each tickets through Spirit - couldn't pass up the deal!) and we're bringing our 4 year old twins.

I have never been to Disney World before and am hoping some of you lovely people can give me a hand with a few things.

Firstly, we are travelling on a budget which is why I thought this might be the best place to post my questions. If it isn't the right spot I'm sorry!!!

Secondly, is there anywhere I can purchase discount Disney World tickets? I think we're only planning on one day, maybe two at the park since my girls are so little.

Lastly, I'm looking at renting a vacation home instead of a hotel for 4 nights. Is there anyone who might think this is a bad idea???

Thank you all in advance for any help you can give me!!!

twin_momma

You have come to the right place...Welcome to Disboards!

How long are you planning on staying?

I'm not real sure about tickets because I either A) buy a package through disney via mousesavers deals (get place to find out what is going on and places to save $$) or B) I use Ticketsatwork but it's not a huge savings.

Just wanted to let you know....4 is a perfect age for WDW. Your lil ones are going to love it!

 

[twin_momma]

It's almost 2:30am where i live and i can't seem to go to bed! I keep reading all the posts, everyone is great here! Thanks so much for your reply.

Our flight lands in West Palm Beach at 4pm so we thought we'd stay overnight there and then drive in the morning to Orlando. We're looking to stay 4 nights in the Orlando area since we're only in FL for 6 days total. Any advice on where to stay would be greatly appreciated!

As for the tickets, I've read a few things about attending presentations to receive discounted tickets however since my DH and I are travelling with our kiddies it's next to impossible to attend something that is 90 mins. long! I don't mind suffering through the presentation if it's a good deal but have no idea how to manage it with the kids.

I am so excited to take my girls, they're so in love with all the Disney Princesses!!!

Thanks again for your help!

TM

 

[parkers*momma]

Ohio here...it's 2:30 am. Be warned...DIS IS ADDICTIVE!

Geez so many things running through my head.

Ok...for a rental car...Mousesavers has TONS of Codes to get really good savings when renting any car. I rented a car last year for a week for $114 using one of mousesavers codes.

Four days in the Orlando area. I've never rented a vacation home so I can't help you there. I'm trying to remember the name of the place we stayed a couple years back. It was really nice about 10 minutes from WDW and it was like 69.00 a night. I'll have to look through all my stuff and see if I can find it. Maybe someone else might know. I'm sure you will get lots of replies.

I'm not one for the presentations. I hate tying up my vaca...lol. The past couple of years, we have opted to stay onsite. Last year, we stayed 10 nights but only bought 5 days into the parks. The remaining days we either did the pool, drove to the beach, or visited Orlando.

Tips for saving while at WDW

***Bring your own water. Since you will have a car, definitely stop and buy water before coming to WDW. It's outrageous and so are the snacks. Bringing your own is way cheaper.

***renting a stroller will require taking out a loan....lol. A double stroller is $31.00 a day. Either bring one from home or is you would like, there are several swaps on the boards which you can use even though you are staying off site.


I just checked the resorts board and they are reporting that they are able to book the POP century-room only for $49.00 a night using the "ozi" code. Are you set against stay at one of the Disney resorts? If not, check out the resorts thread. They list codes over there all the time plus if you sign up on the Disney site....sometimes you will get a pin code. Sometimes those are really good deals.

 

[disneynovic]

Fellow Canadian here....
We rented a vacation home from VRBO.com We got a great deal, but for a week, and there was 6 of us, so I won't bother recommending the house we stayed in. I recommend staying on site, even if you only spend 2 days at the park, there's lots of other things to do around the resort, and since you have a car, it's easy to go off and shop or do whatever you like. You won't find a deal on tickets, you generally need to buy 3 days for any sort of discount. We bought ours at CAA, which was great to have the tickets before arriving at the park.

Food eats up alot of any travel budget, but generally the portions are very large. Your little ones may be able to share a child's entree, or simply eat off mom and dad's plate. We did this alot, even at sit down restaurants.

Have a great vacation!
Deb

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

to the DIS!​

parkers*momma is right about the OZI code for value resorts. You could get an onsite room for as little as $49/night plus tax. It's a little more than the price of an offsite hotel room, but you'll save the $12/day parking fee that Disney charges offsite guests. It's not too late to check on availability. Check the info. on Disney's website here:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/special/offerDetail?id=FY09Q2JANFEBROOfferPage

The only drawback that I see to renting a vacation home is that they may not want to rent to someone for only a few nights. Many vacation home rentals go for a week at a time. But you might be able to get a condo for a night-to-night reservation. A lot of DISers have had good luck with SkyAuction. They've been able to get great resort condos and hotel rooms for as little as $10/night. Just be very wary and check ALL the details before bidding. Some of those "cheap" resorts tack on HUGE "resort fees" and "processing fees".

I don't know of any place to get discounted 1-day passes. Most ticketbrokers who discount the multi-day passes actually charge more for a single-day pass than Disney does. I understand not wanting to spend precious vacation time sitting in a high-pressure timeshare presentation. Unfortunately, that means spending $80/adult and $67/child for that single day's admission to a single park. If there's any chance of returning to WDW in the future, you could purchase multi-day passes with the no-expiry feature and save the remaining days for the next trip. Multi-day passes with 4 or more days on them have a much lower per-day cost than single-day tickets. Of course, that would mean spending additional money now, which you may not want to do.

To save on dining costs, make a stop at a Publix or Albertson's grocery store and buy breakfast foods. Value Resorts DO NOT have refigerators, so if you want to keep anything cold, you will need to either request one from Disney ($10/night + tax), get in on a fridge swap (see the sticky at the top of this forum) or else use a cooler and replenish with ice from the ice machine regularly. An added advantage to doing breakfast in the room is that you aren't wasting time in the food court when you could be waiting at the rope drop at the park.

For the car rental, check http://www.rentalcodes.com/ . They publish codes for all of the major rental agencies as well as links to printable coupons for them. When renting, check to see if your own insurance agency covers you for rental cars. You don't want to have to pay the rental agency's insurance rates if you don't have to. Bring proof of insurance with you so that you don't get pressured into buying it. And don't forget to refill the gas tank before returning the car. Rental agencies charge an arm & a leg to do it for you. Oh, and don't forget car seats or boosters for the twins if you use them at home. It's not required for 4yo's to be in a car seat in FL, but you might find it easier if the kiddos are used to being in one. Renting two could be costly, so bring your own and check them through as luggage.

Good luck with your last-minute planning! You'll have a great time and the weather has got to be warmer in Orlando than it is in Canada!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Here is a lot of information about tickets. I would suggest you at least review the bolded items below; they will give you an idea about them. As others have mentioned try www.mousesavers.com about getting discounted tickets from reliable sources.

You do not want to do a time share.

As mentioned above, there are good discount codes available for on-property value resorts. And almost all house rentals are for a minimum of a week.

Coming up from Palm Beach I would suggest taking the Turnpike to Exit 249, Osceola Parkway which goes directly into WDW. Yes, there are tolls but the amount you save in both time and gas (and less traffic) rather than taking I-95 and US-192 is worth it.

You might want to look at the Everything About WDW Tickets locked sticky in this Forum. Especially the items bolded in the list below.

Post and Contents
1. This Table of Contents
2. Magic Your Way (MYW) Ticket Basics Including Definitions
3. Annual Passes and Water Park Tickets
4. Tickets Available Only to Florida Residents
5. Tickets Not Available to the General Public
6. Upgrading MYW Tickets (Not to Annual Passes)
7. Upgrading Tickets to Annual Passes
8. Dealing With Tickets Issued Prior to 1 January 2005 (Pre-MYW)
9. Children and Adults
10. Special Events
11. Comprehensive MYW Ticket Example
12. Hotel Card (Key To The World (KTTW))
13. Lost Tickets
14. Finger Scans
15. Frequently Asked Ticket Questions.
15A. Hopping Rules
15B. WPF&M With No Expire
15C. No Expire Upgrades
15D. Upgrading a Fully Used Ticket
15E. Upgrading Special Tickets
15F. Checking on Old Tickets
15G. Renewing Annual Passes (Including Renewal Vouchers)
16. Price List as of August 3, 2008
17. Comparison Chart of 2007 and 2008 Pricing.

To get there directly, follow the link in my signature.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I'm going to suggest that you consider a slightly different plan.

First, I think your twins would enjoy having four days in WDW - you will be able to do things at their pace that way and still get the most out of the parks.

I'd also really encourage you to stay onsite if you can manage it on your budget - the value resorts are a pretty good price. The reasons:

1. You will save a lot of time by not having to drive into WDW every day. It is a big place, and you use up so much valuable "fun time" by driving back and forth when you are off-site. Also, it is a confusing place to drive.

2. You will save money by not having to rent a car or pay for parking ($12 per day). If you were counting on a shuttle from your hotel/vacation home, remember that their schedule may not suit you, that the shuttle may stop at all the parks, not just the one you want to go to (using up more valuable park time), etc.

3. Your kids will enjoy the theming of the on-site hotel and that makes the trip more fun.

4. You can get into the park early, or stay late after closing, on certain days (EMH) and this is a great chance to do more rides when it's less crowded.

Some more thoughts:
If your daughters like princesses, I'd really suggest booking a princess meal. You can line up to meet them but the lines can be very long. We've enjoyed the one in Norway (in Epcot) and the princesses have been wonderful with the kids. We've also had very good times at Cinderella's castle and at 1900 Park Fare.

If you do end up going for four days, I'd suggest 2 MK days, and then planning the other days depending on your children's interests. Do they like animals? Then AK is a definite must-do. Do they enjoy rides? Then maybe Epcot would be a good choice for day 4, because it has a lot of rides that young kids can do. Do they like to sit down and watch shows? Then the Studios might work for them - they can see the Little Mermaid, Disney Playhouse, etc., and the Block Party parade is great! Really, all the parks have lots that 4 year olds will enjoy.

I know this is a little different than what you had in mind, but please give it some consideration!

Teresa