First trip to walt disney world

[missarieL26]

Hey.

I'm looking for some advice.

Me and my boyfriend are planning a one week or less trip to walt disney world and I don't know where to stay or how to plan my trip.

For sure, we want to spend each day at each theme park

I guess the most important question is which hotel should we stay at?

Considering we are on a budget, I don't want anything too expensive but worth the stay. MAybe something with a great view from the hotel would be nice. I'm looking for something romantic and affordable, and very fun.

Any word of advice?

and any good deals available?

i'm from california by the way.

 

[Jill72]

The shortest trip that I like to make is 2 days for travel and 4 full days in Disney. Also - make sure you go with the parkhopper passes so you can go from one park to another as you need to.

If it's in your budget - I always recommend staying on the monorail (Contemporary, Grand Floridian or Polynesian). Each one is nice and has great views (if you request those rooms). For romance - maybe GF or Poly would be better. Although we usually stay at CR and love it.

Go over to the resort board and ask more specific questions about resorts and you'll get lots of advice there.

I'd recommend you get The Unofficial Guide ASAP - it will give you a great planning starting point -and then it's easy to use the DIS for specific questions as needed.

And don't forget to get your ADR's (dinner reservations) ASAP - this is no joke!!

Jill

 

[Jill72]

Ok - re-reading your post....I forgot you stressed affordable in terms of hotels. So maybe on the monorail is not what you are looking for. Anyway - there are moderate level hotels and also value leve as well. I have never stayed anywhere but Poly and Contemp....so I can't offer advice there. But over on the resort threads - you'll get good advice.

 

[ziggybaby]

POFQ would be great for a short break

Great location, good transportation and a small/friendly resort

Hope this helps

​

 

[eliza61]

Check with AAA for some deals. Also read mousesavers.com weekly. They list all kinds of deals. As far as resorts are concern, the values are the best deal budget wise but they don't give you a view and I wouldn't think of them as romantic at all. But if you feel that you will be in the parks 90% of the time they may fit the bill.
Moderates are very pretty and romantic but they are more expensive. Check out the slide show on www.wdwig.com for extensive pictures of all the resorts.

 

[pennylynn]

A couple of years ago I stayed at Pop Century and my room was on the back side of one of the buildings. Looking towards the unopened part of the resort. Not a great view but actually kind of eerie. You could see that there were building there but there were no lights. But at least it was a calm view. And Pop Century is a fun resort. I thought the food court was to noisy but I just took my food outside and ate at a table there. I think that to get a great view your talking about the deluxe resorts. Animal Kingdom is great, Wilderness Lodge has woods views and of course the view of the Magic Kingdom at night from Comtemp is wonderful. But how much time are you really going to be spending at your room looking at the view? You'll probably be up early and back late and the view won't be that important. If you can manage a couple of hours one day you should tour some of the resorts just to see what they're like. That's always part of our vacation.

 

[momocay]

I have actually stayed at CBR, which is a moderate, very reasonable, and I was pleasantly surprised. What time of year are you planning to go? That can make a big difference in your pricing.

 

[pammypooh]

My DH and I have stayed twice and CBR - once was our honeymoon. We thought it was a great place for the two of us. We rented bikes, sat on their sandy beach with a drink, ate in their food court maybe once a day, we loved the many pools. DH jumped in one late at night and had the pool to himself. We didn't mind the buses to get to parks. The only reason we don't stay there now is we have a motorhome, so FW is our "Home away from Home".
Best of luck in your trip planning!

Pam

 

[Booknut]

I would second the POFQ, its a beautiful resort, you can get a room with a view of the Sassagoula River and the resort has a boat that takes you to Downtown Disney.

We loved it, can't wait to go back!

Another option if you want to stay at a luxury resort for less money is to rent points from someone on this board and stay at a Disney Vacation Club resort in a studio. You could probably get a studio for under $1100 for a week and stay at a great resort like the Beach Club Resort (great pool!) or Villas at Wilderness Lodge.

I would recommend if this is your first time that you purchase this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Unofficial-Gu...6527229?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182258708&sr=8-1

It helped me a lot, as well as reading this website for hours and hours!

Hope you guys have a great trip!

 

[duckfan78]

I would say go to a AAA store. Usuually they have a booklet with the prices of the packages if you book through them. I think POFQ or riverside are both good for what you are looking for. they are moderately priced, nice views along the river and alot of fun.

 

[skier_pete]

First off, since you are going as a couple without kids, you should travel when you can avoid the worst of the crowds. I would recommend October/early November or early May as the ideal times. These are not the rock-bottom cheapest times to go, but are considered "regular" season so that the hotel prices aren't too bad. They are near-ideal weather times, too. (My wife and I went once in May and twice in October, and all were great times, not bad crowds.)

When you say you are "On a budget" that is hard to interpret. Disney is never really "cheap" per se, unless you stay off-site and really watch where you spend your money. I would also recommend staying on-site for the full immersive experience. Plus, you do not need to rent a car or pay for parking if you stay on-site, but it will probably cost you a little more in food.

If you can afford it, go for a moderate, probably either Port Orleans Riverside or French Quarter. The "value" resorts are around $100 or less a night, but won't come anywhere close to romantic. This is a moderate resort, which would be in the $150 to $200 a night range for off-peak. Both are on the quieter side. Riverside is more spread out but has more amenities (quiet pools, carriage rides and bike rentals) while French Quarter is smaller but not as much there. (For a couple with no kids, I would say Riverside is probably better.) Animal Kingdom Lodge is really neat too, where you can wake up and look out on the Savanah...but now you are getting in the $200+ per night range. I personally don't think spending a ton of money on a hotel at Disney World is all that useful, since you spend most of your time away from the room anyways.Also, go to the resort board and figure out how the discount code system works. You can get deals straight from Disney that are better than AAA. (Though your travel agent can access those same codes for you.)

I also recommend the "unoffical Guide" book. Pick that up and read through it, then when you have specific questions, this is the place to come for answers. Be as specific about your interests as you can...For example, some people would consider "on a budget" to be $2000 for the week, while others might think $4000 is "on a budget". Last October, we did 5 nights, 3 Adults, 1 child, for about $2300, not including airfare, but that did include the dining plan (DDP), and we stayed at a moderate. This year we are doing 2 Adults, 1 child, 7 nights during free dining for $1800 in the same hotel. You can probably stay at a moderate for 7 nights with DDP for around $2300 in October or May. You can use the Disney web-site to price things out, but as I said, check out discounts here.

SkierPete

 

[MickeyNicki]

Call the Swan and Dolphin and see what discounts they are giving out the time you will be there....those hotels are within walking distance to MGM and Epcot, great location!

 

[The Mick]

Some tips to consider:

- You won't find "romantic" and "affordable" on Disney property. The value resorts: Pop Century and All Star Music/Sports/Movies are their cheaper hotels and are anything but romantic. They are quality hotels, for sure, and provide a good stay, but they aren't romantic. You'll have to spring for something slightly more expensive like Port Orleans or Coronado if you want a little more romantic edge involved in the hotel. Most moderates are better than the values in that way.

- Get park hopper option if you can afford it. If not, spend 1 full day at each park the first 4 days you're there. If you're there additional days beyond 4, then re-visit the parks you missed some things at. For example, hit EPCOT on day 2, then on day 5 go back to EPCOT since it's doubtful you'll have seen everything there in a single day.

- Beforehand pick the rides attractions at each park you want to do MOST. Then plan your day around those. Everything else you do, consider it gravy.

- USE FASTPASSES as often as possible. This will cut down wait time in line, and afford you the opportunity to spend that time doing other things/seeing other things.

- Boardwalk and Downtown Disney provide great nighttime entertainment for adults. Both are better in the evening than in the daytime.

- Make advanced dinner or lunch reservations at any table service restaurants you want to go to well ahead of time. That will actually help you plan out which parks to visit on which days, depending on your reservations.

 

[Booknut]

Oh, almost forgot! You could contact Dreams Unlimited, they are a wonderful agent for Disney and Universal holidays and if you tell them your budget they will be able to help you out and give suggestions for hotels, dining etc. My agent was Rhonda and she was fabulous, can't recommend her enough! And their prices are exactly the same as Disney's so you can't go wrong!

Their website is www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com

Also, if you guys go to WDW at the end of August/September you can get free dining so you don't have to worry about budgeting for meals! If you stay at a value resort for 5 nights with base tickets and the free dining plan you'd be looking at around $455 per person which is not too bad. But you'll have to book that before June 24th for that offer!

 

[persephone742]

I dont know if this would be in your budget or really have the romantic view you are looking for but the Fort Wilderness cabins may be something to look into. Private, have a kitchen so you could always make food and maybe save some money there, watch fireworks from the beach, check out the night movie on a blanket.

You will have a great time together no matter where you stay