Hi all!
Just reserved our flight using Allegiant air out of Lexington, KY for Sep 26 thru Oct 3rd. Staying off property at a time share. I haven't been to Disney in about 10 years, and my wife and kids (9,7,3) have never been.
I have some researching to do....
And I turn 40 while we're there!
FYI,
For any Kentuckians reading, flights are currently 19.99 each way per person for those dates. Even after adding all of Allegiant's crazy fee's, cost for the 5 of us to fly round trip was far less than half of anyone else, including Southwest out of Louisville.
Any advice for our trip appreciated!
Welcome to the Dis!
Your dates fall within the Fall Free Dining dates. My in-laws had a timeshare to use when we went last year, but after pricing out the free dining packages, it was a lot cheaper for them book an on-site package through Disney. The deadline to book the free dining discount is 8/14/10. You might want to check into it.
My top Disney tips are:
1. Make sure you have Advance Dining Reservations. You will be at WDW during free dining and the restaurants will be packed and most places will not be taking walk-up reservations.
2. Get to the parks at opening. You really can get a lot done in the morning because so many other people sleep in.
3. Eat lunch around 11:00 or 11:30 a.m. before the fast food places get busy. Then when while everyone else is eating lunch, you will have lower crowds.
4. I buy a ton of the two for a dollar ponchos at the dollar store and keep them in the backpack. That way you can throw them a way after use and not worry about keeping up with a wet bulky poncho the rest of the day. Bring throw away ponchos to wear on Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom, if not you WILL get soaked.
5. Other things I put in the backpack each morning are Tylenol/Motrin, small first aid kit, camera with extra batteries, small hand towel, hand sanitizer, wipes and a bottle of water.
6. Most single service items under $4.00 are considered a snack credit on the dining plan.
7. At Magic Kingdom always head to Fantasyland first, if you are not doing Fantasyland on a particular day then head to Splash Mountain first, then Big Thunder Mountain; at Epcot always ride Soarin' first and get a Fastpass for later after you get off of the ride; at Disney Hollywood Studios always ride Toy Story Mania first, then head over to Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror; and at Animal Kingdom ride Expedition Everest First then head to the Safari.
8. Favorite fast food restaurants at MK are Pecos Bills and Cosmic Rays; favorite fast food at Animal Kingdom is Flame Tree Grill and Pizzafari. If you are there while it very hot, go to Pizzafari.
9. If there are two lines going into an attraction, always take the line that goes to the left.
10. My best tip would have to be USE THE FASTPASS SYSTEM - it's free! Our rule of thumb is if the wait is 25 minutes or less, we wait in line. If the wait is 30 minutes or more, use a Fastpass. It is not highly publicized, but your Fastpass does not expire until the end of the day. You can never use it before the return time stamp on the pass, but you can always use it after. We try to collect Fastpasses during the early part of the day and then use them later in the afternoon when the parks become more crowded.
Click on this link and it will give you an excellent overview of Fastpass from fellow Disers Doconeil:
http://www.oinc.net/disney/fastpass.php
If you still don't understand, ask specific questions.
11. I like the Photopass. You can pre-buy it before your trip for $99.00. When you enter the parks you will see the staff photographers, they will take your pictures and give you a Photopass and you can use that for the rest of your trip. Each time you see a photographer have them take your picture and they will scan your picture. Then when you get home you can pull up the pictures, with the code they email you after purchase, and pick the photos you want on a CD. They will then mail you the CD and the copyrights to the CD and you can take them to
Walmart or Walgreens or wherever and get them developed. They also have a lot of cool software that you can use to edit your photos before you have them put on the CD.
12. Buy The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World or subscribe to their companion website,
www.touringplans.com, and use their Best Days/Crowd calendar to plan your park days.
My favorite Disney planning sites are:
www.disboards.com
www.allearsnet.com
www.wdwinfo.com
www.intercot.com
The cheapest we ever get our tickets is about $225! We can't find anything for our Christmas trip under $500! and we need 32 tickets! 
