Going to DisneyWorld-need help

[mommymonster]

Hi,

You all helped me before when I went to DisneyLand last November. Now I want to go to Disney World. I have been before but it was with my sister and she did all the planning...plus it was 10 yrs ago. We were thinking of going for the first week in July. We have triple A membership...should we go through them for discounts or someone else? My dh wants to stay on site but I would rather go the cheaper route. He gets points for his hotel stays and we could possibly stay free at a Baymont Inn or a Laquinta. So far the best airline tickets I found are 274 per person. It will be me, dh and dd.

What should we do while we are there? My dh also mentioned doing a cruise while we are there.

Any info would be awesome.

Lisa

 

[crazelion]

Yes AAA has disconts on WDW hotels. If it was me and I had that many points to stay for whole week at one the hotels list above I would do it. If i did stay offsite I would rent a car so I can have my own tranpostion.

Everyone should stay onsite one for the experince to see how WDW do things.

I have only stay in the value resorts hotels and they is fine for me.

 

[mommymonster]

Well if we don't use the points, we can turn the points in for American Express gift checks...we just got 150 dollars in gift checks b/c we didn't want to use the points. So we could always turn them in for that as well and use it toward our trip. Does anyone know which resort on site is best?

Lisa

 

[Nik's Mom]

Our favorite hotel is Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's a deluxe, but you can find decent rates at times. I also love WL. For moderates, try Port Orleans. Also, make sure you check out mousesavers.com for deals.

 

[mjc05]

Does anyone know which resort on site is best?

Lisa

Resorts are a matter of preference, you will find fans of every level of Disney resort. Your best bet will be to go to Deb's site and start looking at the pictures and Fact Sheets for each resort. You will be able to find a resort that will best fit your family that way. The Resorts board is a great resource for information about the various resorts as well.

Here's the link to Deb's site: http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/faq_hot.htm

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

My suggestion to you is to get a guide book. Ask here any questions you might have. The people on the DIS are so helpful. Remember planning is half the fun. Good Luck!

 

[HaleyB]

I would get a subscribtion to www.tourguidemike.com

It is a pay to view WDW site with excellent information on park touring. The first week in July is busy and HOT, you need Tour Guide Mike to keep you out of long lines and the heat. It is the best money you can spend, around $25 I think.

If the Deluxe resorts are within your vacation budget then I would stay at one of them. We love the Animal Kingdon Lodge but lots of people prefer to be on the Monorail. If you want a less expensive place to stay the Moderate and Value resorts also have a lot to offer. IMHO you must stay onsite. When ever I price out a trip it saves maybe $300-$500 to stay offsite, which amounts to around 10% of our budget- not worth it to us. Some bigger families need the room, and some on very tight budgets need the savings, otherwise I would stay onsite.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

I like offsite as much as onsite but the problem in this instance with offsite is that you may need a car. It seems to me that between the car and the potential $150 you might as well stay onsite in a unit that appeals to you unless you also want to check out offsite. Checking out offsite isn't all that useful if you haven't been to WDW before.

There are all kinds of accomodations at WDW. People mentioned Animal Kingdom Lodge...very nice but its also remote to everything except Animal Kingdom. Wilderness Lodge is similar to AKL and is close to the Magic Kingdom...but oddly get in and out of it seems more difficult than it has to be unless you are going to the Magic Kingdom. Grand Floridian, Contemporary and Polynesian are all on the monorail so you automatically have accessibility to most places including all the hotels on property via the MK busstop. The moderates have room service and extra things to do like mouseboat or surrey rentals. The values don't have room service but have intriguing sculptures and pools. And finally DVC studios have a sofa and kitchenette, the bigger units have full kitchens and a jacuzzi...the biggest have dining rooms.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

There are plenty of arguments in favor of both onsite and offsite resorts. With only 3 people - one of whom is an adorable, small child - you can have your pick of onsite resorts ranging from the afforable POP to the expensive GF. Where you stay is a matter of personal preference. You'll get more room for the money offsite but you'll save yourself the cost of a rental car or other form of ground transportation if you choose to stay onsite. My own preference (as if it really matters) is to stay onsite.

Keep in mind that value season for the deluxe resorts begins on July 5, while the moderates and values will still be charging their regular season rates. The rack rate for a moderate will be $155/night (std. view) while AKL will run $205 for std. view. The AAA discount for both types of resorts will be 15% off the rack rate. I haven't stayed at a value resort, so I can neither recommend nor advise against staying at one. The values would run $99/night before the AAA 15% discount.

I'm not familiar with the cost of flying from WA, but I would guess that $274pp RT is not a bad price. We're heading from PHL to LAX in July and the costs for flights will run in the range of $250 - $410 pp RT, depending on the flight times and dates. If your dates are pretty much set, I would do a quick search on SideStep.com for cheaper fares (just in case) and then book the $274 (or cheaper) rate before it disappears.

What type of cruise are you thinking of doing? Are you looking to do a Caribbean cruise or were you thinking more along the lines of an Illuminations cruise one evening at WDW? If you're thinking Caribbean cruises, then there are several lines that depart from Port Canaveral, about 1 hour from Orlando. Cruislines departing from Miami might be a little harder to get to but not impossible. The Disney cruise is very nice but also very expensive when compared to other cruiselines with similar ports of call. And the longer that you wait to book your cruise, the more expensive it becomes. I booked in March, 2005 for our Aug. 2006 cruise. The price has increased almost $2K for the same dates and stateroom since I booked. Also, July is an expensive month to cruise on DCL.

With so much to do in the Orlando area, you might just want to consider staying there for your entire vacation and splitting your stay between a Disney resort for the WDW portion and an offsite location for when you're visiting the other attractions. We did that a couple of years ago and loved the trip...3 nights at the Peabody while the kids competed in a karate tournament and we took in the I-Drive attractions, 5 nights at BC and the same number of days at WDW and then 3 nights at Portofino Bay and USF/IOA.