1st family WDW trip EVER! June 2018

[VandVsmama]

Ok, so far, we have....
Sunday - MK day
Monday - Epcot day
Tues - MK day
Wed - Kennedy Space Center, movie, & pool day

Now what about Thursday, 6/14?
Our last day at MAGIC KINGDOM!

I'm not quite sure what time DH will be done at the work convention on Thursday. He said that the closing "ceremony" is done by 3pm, but not everybody goes to it. I'm kind of hoping that he's done before then so he can have more time at MK with us. It will definitely be a "wing it" sort of day. In terms of FP+ reservations, I have no idea yet. If we don't see fireworks on Sunday evening, then we'd target this day to see fireworks.

• DH goes to convention in the a.m. He'll probably need to take a Lyft or Uber to it since...
• kids & I will do rope drop again.
• Leave before lunch. Maybe take a monorail over to the Polynesian Resort for lunch? Or have lunch at the Contemporary? Or go super cheap and get McDonald's drive-through and take it back to the hotel room.
• Take monorail back to the TTC, then drive 20 min back to the hotel.
• Rest, relax, nap, swim. Lather, rinse, repeat!
• Pick up DH from convention. Give him time to unwind, then we go back to MK for the evening.
• Dinner @ MK.

I'm pretty sure that DH will be mentally very tired from 3.5 solid days of work convention by the time Thursday afternoon comes around!

 

[VandVsmama]

That leaves us with....FRIDAY 6/15! THE LAST PARK DAY!

We are going to wrap up our WDW week with Animal Kingdom.The prior day, I don't think we should plan on staying at MK until closing. However, if we leave before closing, I'd want to be OUT of the park before fireworks begin. Otherwise, I'll have to just plan on us not getting back to our hotel until ~ 11 pm.

Not getting to bed until 11 pm isn't going to work out very well for Friday since it's AK day on Friday! Here's my general thoughts about Friday...

• It's a hotel transfer day. We have to check out of the convention hotel, pack up our stuff, and then check into the WDW on site hotel.
• Assuming we don't get a FP+ for the Pandora FOP ride, then this is going to be an early early rope drop day. In line at the AK main gate by 7:30 am sort of early. That will probably mean leaving our hotel 7:00 am.
• ...working backwards from there, this means that *I* need to be up at 6:00 am in order to get everybody up, dressed, & fed in time for 7:00 am departure. Doesn't it seem sometimes like we're planning for a full scale military expedition or something?
• Ok, who am I kidding? We're going to do rope drop regardless of whether or not we get a FOP FP+ because I'll want to get on the ROL Pandora ride without having to wait for hours. And YDD desperately wants to go on the safari attraction (we all do!).
• I think that when we check out, we should as the convention hotel to store our stuff and then we go back to the convention hotel to pick up the stuff later.
• BUT....official check out time at the convention hotel is 12:00 pm. Hm...(I'm going to think 'out loud' here for a moment)...we could still make check out at the convention hotel by 12:00 pm if we rope drop AK. Leave AK by 11-11:30 am, allowing up to 30 min to drive back to the convention hotel. So we don't feel rushed in our exit, I think we'd need to be headed to the AK main gate by 11 and in the car 11:30 in case it takes 30 min to get back instead of 15-20 min. Sorry, this is a total moment. I feel like the dog from Up!
• So we can check out of the hotel by 12 pm, NOT have to store our luggage anywhere and NOT have to deal with having to go BACK to the convention hotel yet again. What I'm NOT going to do is store all of our luggage in the rental car while we are at AK lodge all morning. Nope. That's a pretty dumb idea.

Ok, so then bear with me while I sort out all the rest of Friday here on virtual paper.

Let's say....

• ~ 12:30-12:45-ish - we drive from convention hotel to AKL. Hopefully, we will have already checked in online at AKL beforehand and our room key will get linked to our Magic Bands. I assume that they send you Magic Bands for free when you're staying on site?
• Lunch - instead of driving straight to AKL, we could stop nearby the convention hotel and have lunch at Havana's Café at 8544 Palm Pkwy (<5 min from the convention hotel). Kids' menu has chicken nuggets, which will satisfy picky YDD but it also has more adventurous food which will make DH happy. Plus, in Arizona, we don't have a whole lot of Cuban restaurants. Tons of wonderful Mexican restaurants, but almost nothing in the Cuban cuisine department. They are NOT the same! There's literally a ton of restaurants in the same shopping center as this place.

And LOOK! There's a Publix supermarket ~ 5 min from the convention hotel, too!! Ok, no need for me to find a Super Walmart on the prior Saturday night. I'll stock up on essentials at Publix instead.


I didn't realize that the Vineland Premium Outlets are so close by. We're going to skip going there. We have outlet malls out here in our neck of the woods and they have pretty much all the same stores as back home.


Ok, so once we're done with lunch at Havana's Café, there's a 20 min drive to the AKL...


(more thinking out loud)....
Let's see here...so if we're out of the convention hotel by 12:30 pm and have lunch near there, factor in ~ 1 hr for lunch. So we're looking at 1:30 to be done with lunch. Then 30 min to drive to AKL and hand over the car.

So now we're at 2:00 pm. About. That's about the hottest part of the day. Head straight back to Animal Kingdom after we get our bags stashed with bell services? Or hang out at AKL for a bit and then ride the bus back to AK? My kids will want to go back to AK right away. I'm certain of it. DH won't want to go anywhere, but he will come along anyway. I'm assuming for the moment that our room won't be ready until 4-5pm-ish.

Dinner on Friday - we'll do QS in AK. Hope we can see Rivers of Light. OR get in line last minute for 1 of the Pandora rides right before the park closes (and skip Rivers of Light).

Since YDD really wants to see animals at AK, I think that once we're checked in and stuff at AKL, we need to go back to AK instead of wait until 6pm-ish.

 

[VandVsmama]

On the other hand, if our room IS ready when we get to AKL, then I'll take the kids to the pool for an hour so DH can rest and lay down for a bit.

 

[VandVsmama]

Ok, I JUST changed my mind on lunch for Friday. Instead of the Havana Café place, I want to try Sofrito Latin Café instead. It's a QS restaurant, cheaper prices, and an awesome selection of different foods. Plus there are things on their menu that each of us will like. And it will cost less than eating on property at WDW.

 

[VandVsmama]

SURVIVING AIR TRAVEL WITH KIDS:
The last time DH & ventured into this territory (i.e., flying with children) was when YDD was 18 months old and ODD was 3.5. It was a horrible horrible day. Super long flight to Hawaii. It was really awful. But we survived it. YDD didn't nap the entire time. She cried for about 90 min straight on that flight. Nothing I did actually did any good.

Thankfully, now, our children are older. They'll be 10 and almost 12 when we fly to Orlando. So I know that it will be a MUCH different experience! No diapers to haul. No multiple changes of clothes. No having to change diapers in an airplane bathroom. Talk about turning yourself into a pretzel! My heart goes out to all of those parents out there who have done air travel with very young children. Just know that if you're that mom or dad having to deal with the crying toddler, I've been there and I'm thinking of you!

I'm relieved that we won't have to bring an entire bag of toys, crayons, coloring books, etc. We are going to check some luggage and bring some luggage on board the plane with us. DH will do his suitcase as carry-on plus his work backpack as his 1 personal item. The kids and I will all check our primary piece of luggage. And then each of us will have 1 piece of carry-on luggage.

So what am I bringing in MY carry on bag?
My park bag is going to be a very lightweight messenger-type bag that I bought off of the Rick Steves website ages ago. That will get folded up and tucked into my carry on bag. Also in the carry on bag is:

• cell phone, battery, charging cord
• 2-3 USB electrical plugs for the hotel room
• charging cable for the spare batteries
• meds
• sunglasses
• contact lenses
• my toothbrush
• my bathing suit
• 1 change of clothes
• flip flops
• comb
• 4 Frogg Toggs
• the kids' white noise machine that they can't sleep without - Yes, it's nuts. But don't ask questions. It's better that way. HAHA!
• my Tilly hat - can't survive a day in the sun without that thing!
• Body Glide
• hand sanitizer
• a travel umbrella
• disinfecting wipes
• my wallet
• a print out of our travel info (hotel location, airline boarding passes, etc.)

So what goes in the kids' carry on bag?
I can't decide whether to have them just share a backpack or have 1 for each of them. They'd just use their school backpacks.

• ODD's iPad, charging cord, battery
• YDD's iPad, charging cord, battery
• their toothbrushes
• 1 hairbrush
• their bathing suits
• 1 pr flip flops per kid
• 1 change of clothes per kid
• ODD's mouse ears - I just may decide to put them on when we're boarding the plane
• ODD's teddy bear
• YDD's teddy bear
• maybe a couple of pens/pencils and some paper to write on in case they want to play tic-tac-toe or Hangman or something like that
• a deck of cards

If I were a really good mom, I'd throw in a book, too. But this is going to be summer vacation and let's be honest with each other, shall we? They're not going to be reading on vacation. But....I might throw in the Lord of the Rings book that I've been reading to them at bedtime.

 

[VandVsmama]

CARRY ON LUGGAGE:
I am a sucker for good travel bags. Yes, we don't travel that often by plane. We are not jet setters and most of our family trips so far have been road trips. But I am a sucker for a well made bag that comes with a lifetime warranty and that is lightweight and durable.

Years ago now (maybe it was 5 yr ago?), I bought an Air Boss from Red Oxx. They make all of their bags in Montana. If it ever gets damaged, you just call them, ship it to them, and they will fix it and send it back to you at no cost to you. This thing is built like a work horse, but only weighs ~3 lb completely empty. DH has used this bag many times for work trips. I've used it as my luggage on road trips. When I bought it, they sold for ~ $225. Looks like now they go for $275. It's a lot of $$ but I cannot tell you guys enough how incredibly well made this bag is. Here's a picture of one from their website:



I'm very tempted to use this as my carry-on bag, but DH is probably going to snag it for himself instead, so MY carry on bag will be this awesome Briggs & Riley bag that I got on clearance years ago when they were discontinuing this particular type of bag. It, too, weighs ~ 3 lb (or slightly less) when it's empty. You can use it as a regular over-the-shoulder bag. OR it converts into a backpack and the straps are REALLY comfortable! It expands, too. I visited my sister in Europe for a week once using only this as my luggage.

< SAVING SPACE FOR PIC OF THE SUPER DUPER AWESOME BAG >

YDD's regular suitcase:
My sister got us all Star Wars suitcases last year for Christmas! YAY! This is YDD's... (pic taken from the Disney Store's website)


ODD & I both have R2D2 suitcases....(again, pic from the Disney Store website)


And DH's rolling suitcase is the Darth Vader version...

 

[VandVsmama]

Can I tell you guys just how much the DIS rocks?

Without these boards, I would be totally and completely lost in planning our first family trip to WDW. Seriously. Everyone here is so helpful. I've told friends of mine to come to this site. A friend at work used info on here for her family's WDW trip last summer. She said that the info was great and it was THE reason why they had such a great time...they were prepared with information, learned ahead of time all about FP+ reservations, etc., etc.

So for example, let's talk CAR RENTALS, shall we?

Normally, I'd just go to the Budget rental car website and book directly through them. I have one of their Fast Break/Rapid Rez accounts with them (which is free because we're USAA members). But first, I looked online at carrentalsavers.com, which somebody mentioned on the Transportation board.

Things didn't look too great there. Cheapest rate I could find including tax for our travel dates was something like $350-380 for that week (pick up on a Sat, drop off the next Sat). Meh, no thanks.

Then I read all of these people talking about Costco Travel for car rentals. Sweet! We are Costco members. I should have thought about that! Ok, so I went on the Costco Travel website and holy cow, they had a standard sized vehicle available for $249.14, including tax!



I had looked into possibly renting a car for our Disneyland trip that's happening in 2 weeks and the cheapest I could find for THAT (and it's only 4 days, not 8) was about $350! However, it IS baseball Spring Training season here in Phoenix and this area gets a LOT of out of town visitors during the month of March, so that's probably what is driving up the prices for that.

So now, we have:

1. our flights booked
2. all of the hotel booked except for the 1-night on site stay
3. rental car booked

Next major hurdle is to buy our park tickets & book the 1-night on site stay prior to 4/15 so we can book FP+ 60 days ahead of time!

 

[VandVsmama]

GETTING TO/FROM OUR HOME AIRPORT IN PHOENIX:
We moved earlier this year to Phoenix from another part of the state and one HUGE benefit to this for this trip will be that it's going to be MUCH easier to get to this major airport now!

So first obvious option is to park in the long term lot AT the airport.
Option #1: economy parking (covered) - $14/day. $112.00 total
Option #2: economy parking (uncovered). $12/day. $96.00 total

Or there's The Parking Spot, which has uncovered spaces for $8/day. That's $64 total for 8 days.

DH's employer is going to pay for the airport transfer to/from our home airport, but I'm curious what it would cost us out of pocket if we were paying it ourselves.

OR....there's Lyft:
$12-$20 TO the airport based on the size of the vehicle you select.
$16-$25 FROM the airport based on the size of the vehicle you select. It appears that the Phoenix airport tacks on a surcharge to all pick ups.

This is all good news, though, because DH's work conference is going to save us $50-$112 in airport transfers!

 

[VandVsmama]

I finally found time to take pics of my favorite carry-on bag in the whole world. See below!

This is what the bag looks like empty when you have the shoulder strap attached. This strap is one of the most comfortable ones EVER!



This is the same bag in backpack mode. You definitely would not want to use this as a Disney parks bag, but it's excellent as a weekend trip bag or as an airline carry on.






Today, we picked up these 2 luggage tags for the kids for $1.00 each at Walmart.

 

[VandVsmama]

I just realized that I need to do some shopping before our trip! This is one of my favorite parts of trip prep! Ok, that and packing my suitcase the day before we leave. I think that we'll need:

• 2 more pairs of moisture wicking socks for me. I really like the Wright Socks brand.
• 4 pairs of moisture wicking socks for each of the kids.

Side note: Why only 4 pairs? Why not 7 pairs? I'm going to do laundry halfway through the trip.

• Some ponchos. Not sure if I should go cheapy and just buy a bunch from the Dollar Store or if I should buy ones that are more sturdy and just plan on reusing them. What I don't want to have to do is pay an arm and a leg at WDW to buy lousy ones.
• a couple of pairs of cargo capri pants for me. I really don't care much for shorts, even when it's 110 out here in Arizona. As for DH, he will probably live in his Under Armour shorts all week.
• Some new shorts for the kids because they've grown a lot compared to last summer!
• A pair of ear buds for my phone. DH & the kids have ear buds or head phones. I learned this week that Southwest Airlines has free on demand movies and TV on their flights, but you have to use your own electronic device and you have to use head phones AND you have to install an app on the device ahead of time. I've got the movie/tv watching app installed on all of our devices. The last thing is for me to get some ear buds, which they sell pretty much everywhere.
• new sandals/flip flops for my kids
• a 2nd container of Body Glide
• some bug spray
• sunscreen

 

[VandVsmama]

Oh my goodness, how could I have forgotten about seeing the Voices of Liberty at Epcot! That's the only thing I want to do at Epcot. If I can't do anything else there, I'm fine with that!

 

[Jaina]

Following along. I'd like to do WDW with my husband in a few years, and I feel so overwhelmed, being a DLR vet (also from AZ). I've only been to WDW once, and it was 1997 when I was 15...

 

[VandVsmama]

Following along. I'd like to do WDW with my husband in a few years, and I feel so overwhelmed, being a DLR vet (also from AZ). I've only been to WDW once, and it was 1997 when I was 15...

I know how you feel! I would be totally lost if it were not for this site. I've already told the kids that we're not going to have time to do everything. The kids want to go to a water park with a lazy river, they want to go to Sea World, and they want to go to Universal Studios Orlando to see the Harry Potter stuff there.

There isn't time or money in a week to do all of that for us! I predict that we'll be going back to Florida again at some point.

I'm now kind of glad that we're not going to a theme park on our last day in Orlando. We're going to stay 1 night at AKL on that Friday. DH will be worn out from a busy week of work conference stuff + theme parks. The kids will be worn out from theme parks in the sweaty humid heat. And I'll be pooped, too.

I was telling DH about our plans for each day and was telling him about how great the Pandora FOP ride seems to be, based on what everybody has said about it. DH was really funny and he got kind of pouty and said, "Well, will *I* get a chance to go on it?" Say hello to the 45 yr old man who just reverted back to a 7 yr old. It was funny and cute all at the same time. This is how the rest of our conversation went:

me: Of course! You can go to AK on Sunday or Friday. It's your pick. But we're going to leave the hotel at 7 am.
DH: What time does the park open?
me: 9:00
DH: Then how come we have to leave at 7?
me: So we can ride FOP without having to stand in line for 4 hr.
DH: And that requires us to leave at 7?
me: Yes. We have to leave at 7 so we can be at the AK main gate by 7:30.
DH: Oh
me: And based on the Youtube video I saw from Touring Plans, it looks like they start letting people into the park at 8 am.
DH: But the place doesn't open until 9....?
me: Yes (thinking, chop chop get with the program, DH!)
DH: We can't go later?
me: YOU can go later if you want to, but then you won't get to get on FOP. The kids & I are getting up that early & leaving at that time because we all want to ride it one time on the trip.
DH: Ok, I guess I can do that.
me: It's either you get up early and come with us, or you totally miss out on your chance to go on it.
DH: Ok, I'm in!

You could totally see how he was mentally flipping back and forth between "Which do I want more? Sleep? Or go on FOP?"

 

[VandVsmama]

You guys, I really need to stop looking at stuff on Disney World's website! LOL! I keep mentally going back and forth between different Deluxe resorts for our last night's stay. Some of the ones that I've been looking at (and my personal pro's & con's) are:

1. Contemporary Resort - this is my bucket list one. But compared to the nightly rate at the other Deluxes, this is more expensive. And the kids aren't thrilled about the pool. Doesn't look like there are hardly any umbrellas around the pool, which we'd be using before we leave ~ 4pm to go to the airport to fly home. And we're not interested in eating at Chef Mickey's. I might have to postpone this one for our 2nd WDW trip!
2. Animal Kingdom Lodge - So far, this is now the front-runner. The pool looks like & would adequately serve our needs. And maybe I could spring for a cabana on our check out day, so DH would have a place to relax while the kids swim for most of the afternoon. I really like the big variety of cultural stuff to do that this place offers. And we could stay in a savannah room for less $$ than a room at the Contemporary.
3. Beach Club - I looked at this one because YDD requested going to a water park with a lazy river. And the Beach Club DEFINTELY has a wonderful pool. But I don't really care about whether or not it's close to Epcot. And aside from the fabulous pool play area, the rest of it just seems blah to me.
4. Yacht Club - Too stuffy in terms of atmosphere.
5. Grand Floridian - very lovely hotel. I think we'd be happy here, but a bit too expensive. Ironically, it feels too much like San Diego and we go to San Diego fairly often. I'm looking for something that's different than what we can experience normally.
6. Wilderness Lodge - This is a strong possibility. DH & I keep talking about taking the kids to Yellowstone one day but life always gets in the way.
7. Polynesian - too expensive. And I really can't stand the decorations in the rooms. It just screams ugly 1970s cheesy Hawaiian décor. Bleh.

So yeah...I keep coming back to Animal Kingdom Lodge!

** Edited to add **
Well, after checking the Disney World website, it doesn't look like you can reserve cabanas at AKL!

 

[Jaina]

I know how you feel! I would be totally lost if it were not for this site. I've already told the kids that we're not going to have time to do everything. The kids want to go to a water park with a lazy river, they want to go to Sea World, and they want to go to Universal Studios Orlando to see the Harry Potter stuff there.

There isn't time or money in a week to do all of that for us! I predict that we'll be going back to Florida again at some point.

I'm now kind of glad that we're not going to a theme park on our last day in Orlando. We're going to stay 1 night at AKL on that Friday. DH will be worn out from a busy week of work conference stuff + theme parks. The kids will be worn out from theme parks in the sweaty humid heat. And I'll be pooped, too.

I was telling DH about our plans for each day and was telling him about how great the Pandora FOP ride seems to be, based on what everybody has said about it. DH was really funny and he got kind of pouty and said, "Well, will *I* get a chance to go on it?" Say hello to the 45 yr old man who just reverted back to a 7 yr old. It was funny and cute all at the same time. This is how the rest of our conversation went:

me: Of course! You can go to AK on Sunday or Friday. It's your pick. But we're going to leave the hotel at 7 am.
DH: What time does the park open?
me: 9:00
DH: Then how come we have to leave at 7?
me: So we can ride FOP without having to stand in line for 4 hr.
DH: And that requires us to leave at 7?
me: Yes. We have to leave at 7 so we can be at the AK main gate by 7:30.
DH: Oh
me: And based on the Youtube video I saw from Touring Plans, it looks like they start letting people into the park at 8 am.
DH: But the place doesn't open until 9....?
me: Yes (thinking, chop chop get with the program, DH!)
DH: We can't go later?
me: YOU can go later if you want to, but then you won't get to get on FOP. The kids & I are getting up that early & leaving at that time because we all want to ride it one time on the trip.
DH: Ok, I guess I can do that.
me: It's either you get up early and come with us, or you totally miss out on your chance to go on it.
DH: Ok, I'm in!

You could totally see how he was mentally flipping back and forth between "Which do I want more? Sleep? Or go on FOP?"

I know we're going to have issues with my DH and early mornings and the time change. Which is why I'm hoping I can get FP+ for the few things that are really difficult, hopefully, because I don't see him wanting to get up at the crack of east coast dawn... um, ever. I can maybe get one day of that. He likes to "relax" more on vacations (even Disney) than I do. I'm going to have to work with him, somehow... I am such a rope drop person!

 

[VandVsmama]

I know we're going to have issues with my DH and early mornings and the time change. Which is why I'm hoping I can get FP+ for the few things that are really difficult, hopefully, because I don't see him wanting to get up at the crack of east coast dawn... um, ever. I can maybe get one day of that. He likes to "relax" more on vacations (even Disney) than I do. I'm going to have to work with him, somehow... I am such a rope drop person!

My DH often WANTS to sleep in. And he always has the option of sleeping in if he wants to. But he also wants the rest of us to hang around for 3-4 hr waiting for him to wake up and get dressed. On DL trips, my kids wake up around 6:30 am even when they are tired. It like they have internal Disney alarm clocks or something.

And when the kids are awake and they know that rope drop is soon and short lines await them, the last thing that a kid wants to do is sit around until 10 am waiting for Mom and Dad!

Been there, done that! We went on a couple of Disneyland trips when I was a kid. Getting going in the am was just torture. My parents always insisted on having a long sit down breakfast where they savored their coffee and talked for an hour. OMG when we were SO close to DL?!

So I promised myself that I wouldn’t put my own kids through that same torture if they really wanted to get going and go go go.

So far, DH has never opted to sleep in because he knows that we will actually leave him at the hotel and he can catch up with us later. His desire to stand in short lines overrules his desire to sleep in. So he takes a nap in the afternoon instead.

 

[PirateFish989]

We will be there the same time as you! Our trip is June 11-20 for our honeymoon. We are staying at POFQ - as much as we wanted to stay Deluxe, we just couldn't justify the extra cost considering how much we are spending for our wedding! But, I'm dying to stay at the Wilderness Lodge!

We live in the hot, dry part of California (near Fresno) and are Disneyland vets (had AP's for several years).

 

[VandVsmama]

We will be there the same time as you! Our trip is June 11-20 for our honeymoon. We are staying at POFQ - as much as we wanted to stay Deluxe, we just couldn't justify the extra cost considering how much we are spending for our wedding! But, I'm dying to stay at the Wilderness Lodge!

We live in the hot, dry part of California (near Fresno) and are Disneyland vets (had AP's for several years).

I have often eyed POFQ over the years. I think it would be fun to do one of those horse drawn carriage rides that they have there. Congrats on our upcoming wedding! That's very exciting!

 

[VandVsmama]

Let's talk parking, shall we?

I just read the info on the Disney World website stating that guests staying at on site resorts who have a car will now be charged for parking. There's a huge uproar and a lot of people are really upset about it. However, like it or not, paying for hotel parking is, by and large, the name of the game these days. I don't like it. You don't like it. None of us like it. I also can't stand it that so many hotels also charge a "resort fee." SO annoying. What I LIKE about Disney hotels is that they do NOT also charge a daily resort fee on top of the nightly rate that you pay.

It SHOULD all be included. But, well, now it's not.

You know what also sucks? You used to be able to stay at the Howard Johnson's Anaheim on Harbor Blvd and park in their hotel lot for free throughout your stay, including parking for free in their lot up until DL park closing time. Now? You can still park there for free, but it's only until 3 pm on check out day. Oh yeah...and their rates have gone up a LOT over the last 3 years. High enough that I'll think twice about staying there again. For example, I could stay a few doors down at a Best Western for cheaper and that's INCLUDING the $14-$15/day to park there BUT it also includes a free hot breakfast every day....thus saving our family ~ $40/day from not having to pay for breakfast.

For this June WDW trip, we're already staying off site anyway for all of the days we're there except for the last night. If we end up doing another WDW vacation at some point down the road, I am seriously going to consider staying off site. ESPECIALLY if the off site hotel includes a free breakfast AND free parking. OR we'd consider staying off site for the first half of the trip and staying on site for the last half.

I think where staying on site and paying for parking really adds up is if you're doing a 2-week or more stay. Yeah, if you're staying at a Deluxe that whole time for 2 weeks, you're looking at an extra $300 for that cost.

 

[PirateFish989]

You know what also sucks? You used to be able to stay at the Howard Johnson's Anaheim on Harbor Blvd and park in their hotel lot for free throughout your stay, including parking for free in their lot up until DL park closing time. Now? You can still park there for free, but it's only until 3 pm on check out day. Oh yeah...and their rates have gone up a LOT over the last 3 years. High enough that I'll think twice about staying there again. For example, I could stay a few doors down at a Best Western for cheaper and that's INCLUDING the $14-$15/day to park there BUT it also includes a free hot breakfast every day....thus saving our family ~ $40/day from not having to pay for breakfast.

You might want to check out the Candy Cane Inn. It's our favorite. You pay a little bit more for the rooms, BUT parking is free (for as long as you want on check in/out days and they have an awesome free breakfast (so many choices!). This was a recent as September, btw.

We've never stayed at Howard Johnson's or Best Western, but have stayed at several others on Harbor and Candy Cane in really great.