First time trip planning

[CityBlue]

Hi everyone!

I am new on this board, but have used the Disneyland Paris board many, many times! I am trying to plan a trip to Florida but have no idea where to start - Paris is so much smaller with less hotel choice.

I am thinking of going maybe next year or the year after and there will be me, hubbie and daughter (8 or 9). We want our hotel to be comfortable with a pool but no overly expensive. Would we need a car to get to all the Parks and would we have to pay for parking?

Any advice would be very much appreciated - thank you all.

 

[Disney Crazy Debbie]

If you stay on property at any of the resorts you will have access to all of the Disney Parks via buses. If you are flying into Orlando International Airport they also provide buses to take you to your resort. If you book a package, that's hotel and park passes, the Magical Express will take you from the airport to your resort. You can book on line at www.disneyparks.com and a package will be sent to you in the mail and they will provide luggage tags, these indicate at what resort you will be staying so you don't even have to claim your luggage at the airport. The luggage will be delivered to your room upon; however, you pack things like a swimming suit and extra change of clothes in a backpack so you will have them for the day. Once you check-in (that can also be done on line) you will pick up your room key that is called your Key To The World because it contains your park tickets as well. It looks like a credit card.

Enjoy planning and your trip. For any additional information you might want to check out www.allears.net and www.wdwinfo.com.

 

[boundfordisney]

If you stay on disney property you dont need to worry about renting a car, disney magical express will pick you up at the airport and take you back for your return flight home free of charge! Also they take care of the transportation to the parks from your resort by buses monorail or boats depending which resort you are at, no need for a car at all! The caribbean beach is a beautiful resort with a great pool area I highly recomend it, its a moderate resort, I have been there 4 times and am back there the end of this month for another stay!I have also stayed at the poly and yacht club both of those are deluxe resorts, the yacht club and caribbean beach are my favorites! Ask away any other questions and I would be happy to help in any way I can have fun with the planning as its all part of the magic!

 

[CityBlue]

Thanks guys. I know it's not possible to be exact, but can you give me a very rough idea of how much it's likely to cost - flights from England, hotel, passes to all Parks for a 2 week stay - gonna have to start saving those pennies!!

Thanks.

 

[Aliceacc]

I just ran some numbers for you: (OOPS, sorry; I did a one week stay!!) And I have no idea on airfare numbers. From NYC I'm hoping I can find $200 per person for next summer. I chose 3 resorts: one of each price/amenity category.


Travel Dates: Check In August 4, 2012
Check Out August 11, 2012

Travel Party2 Adults, 1 Child (Age 9)

Dining and Entertainment ChoiceMagic Your Way Package Plus Dining

Park Ticket Choice8 Day Magic Your Way Ticket
Park Hopper Option

Resort Choice: Disney's Pop Century Resort: $2720 (a Value resort)

Disney's Port Orleans Resort - Riverside Total: $3,253.79 (a Moderate resort)

Disney's Wilderness Lodge Resort Total: $4,121.17 (A Deluxe resort.)

All Disney resorts include roundtrip transportation to and from the airport, so a car isn't necessary. All have a pool and the standard amenities.

NOw, those numbers are high. For one thing, they don't include any sort of a discount; I imagine your travel agent can get you one. (In particular, ask about the possibility of getting Free Dining.)

Also, I included park hopper passes (they allow you, for example, to spend the day at the Magic Kingdom, then do dinner at Epcot.) A nice perk, but a total extra. It added about $50 per person to your total.

I also included the meal plan. That's one full service meal, one counter service, and one snack per person per day. We love that the meal plan means we don't have to budget for meals, but you can do a whole lot cheaper if you skip those full service meals.

Take a look at www.allears.net for the particulars and slide shows on the resorts.

One thing you may want to consider is that when your daughter turns 10, she becomes an "adult" in Disney's eyes. (As a mom I can tell you-- it's only Disney that thinks so!!!) As a result, you'll be paying more for both park tickets and meals. So it might be well worth it to plan your trip while she's nine.

Hope that helps!

 

[LtRazor]

Hi everyone!

I am new on this board, but have used the Disneyland Paris board many, many times! I am trying to plan a trip to Florida but have no idea where to start - Paris is so much smaller with less hotel choice.

I am thinking of going maybe next year or the year after and there will be me, hubbie and daughter (8 or 9). We want our hotel to be comfortable with a pool but no overly expensive. Would we need a car to get to all the Parks and would we have to pay for parking?

Any advice would be very much appreciated - thank you all.

Hello

I'd suggest buying a book called Disney Passporter. I'd also suggest getting a sub to Tour Guide Mike for your trip. All this along with lots of ready on this board. My wife and I had our first trip last year and we used these and it worked great. We followed Passporter and TGM's suggestions on when and where and how and we were able to do all the rides we wanted (multiple times) and never waited more than 10 mins in line for anything. If there are any places you want to eat at, BOOK 180 DAYS OUT.. I didn't do this and I had a hard time getitng decent times for dinner or lunch.

I'd also highly suggest taking a break mid day. We would always do rope drop, stay at the park for a few hours, and then come back that afternoon and use fast passes we had gathered that morning.

And last, for your first stay, stay on property and put aside money for spending as you want your first trip to be as low stress as possible. I LOVED not having to drive anywhere the whole trip. We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and LOVED IT!

 

[Disney Crazy Debbie]

CityBlue,

The last comment will probably give you figures on the expense, Passporter is published around October/November of each year for the following year. You can order and pre-order on line at www.passporter.com

That being said, you can work with some figures on www.disneyparks.com. This is the official Disney site but you don't have to register and you can price the different resort venues rooms only, packages (room/tickets) and you can add dining. That's how I figured my costs before I made reservations. I did each level, value, moderate, deluxe and villas. It is accurate.

As far as booking flights, www.allears.net gives you advise on booking flights. I do know that middle of week flights are cheaper than week-ends, at least here in the states.

 

[MomiTo2SwtGuys]

Yay! Hope you a have wonderful trip to DisneyWorld. It is so much fun. If you stay on-site you will definately feel the perks. It is such a fun way to spend time with family.

Just FYI and personal opinion, I used TourGuideMike.com for the past few years but it doesn't appear to be updated anymore and they are very slow about getting up the park calendars. I would recommend another touring planner. I loved using his website when things were being kept up.