Going to WDW and have ???

[Iott Family]

First off I just have to say this site and all you wonderful Dis'ers have been a godsend to me! thank you for all of the wonderful posts, advice and replies!

My first question is, we are driving to WDW and plan on driving to most of the paks even though we are staying on site because we have three kids, one of which is going to be 10months at vaction time and we feel it will be easier for us with stroller and such to load up in our own vehicle instead of taking chances with DW transport. When we go to Epcot can we park at TTC to get to Epcot? Does the ferry from TTc only go to MK and FW or oes it go to Epcot, too?

My second question, can we put a small 2ft artificial xmas tree in our room, xmas decorations, etc. ?? We are doing our first on site stay and our first disney xmas.......exciting and we want some of the festivity in our room......

My third and last question for this post..... .......this will be our first and only on resort stay because off cost and our numbers have quickly exploded from a family of 4 to 6 by the timewe go back in 2006. We would like to stay in a vacation home, condo....something close to disney and reasonably priced. Needs a kitchen, pool would be great.....2/3 rooms. Suggestions on properties, past experiences? Recommendations are welcome. I know I will need to start planning for our 2006 trip when we get back from this one!!!

TIA!!!!!

 

[oogieboogie]

When you stay on-site, the resort will give you a parking pass that you put on your dashboard. This entitles you to free parking at all the parks.

If you're going to Epcot, then just park at Epcot. If you're parking at TTC (which is closer to MK), then you would have to take the monorail to Epcot. Then when you're done at Epcot, you'd have to take the monorail back to get your car. That's easily a 30 minute ride especially with kids and stroller.

Besides, if you plan on park-hopping, it's just easier to park at the parks you're hopping to.

To your 2nd question, you can certainly bring a christmas tree. You'll find a lot of people do this plus more. You can bring some christmas lights and put them around the window, put some window clings too would be great!!!

Can't help you on the 3rd question since we've always stayed on-site or off-site in a regular hotel.

Have fun planning and have a great time at Mickey's House!!!!

 

[DisneyBill]

With regard to your last question, look at www.vrbo.com for all sorts of condos, houses in Orlando for rent.

Have fun, but I'd suggest you at least try the Disney buses, depending on which resort you're staying at and which park you are heading to, they are much less time and less hassle than parking, taking a tram and so on.

 

[DisneyMom5]

I'd also encourage you to try the buses. We loved them, and we had 5 kids age 9,7,4,2, and 10 mo, and a dbl stroller. And had to use 2 buses to get just about anywhere, as we were at Ft. Wilderness. (Loved Ft. Wilderness, found the DW transportation to be excellent.)
And we still thought the buses were easier than driving our van all over, loading and unloading everything, folding the stroller to get on the parking lot tram, etc.
Not to mention gas prices!
What resort are you staying at?

P.S. Our 10 mo loved DW!

 

[Iott Family]

Thank you all sooo much! To answer the question asked about where we are staying....CBR! So the bus would still be easiest, even with loading stroller and all three kids? I had heard that it can take up to an hour or more to transit from hotel to parks and such.........we are wanting to make use of EE our first 3/4 days....then we are sleeping in and taking leisurely time our last 3 days. It is vacation after all!!!!

Thanks for the window cling idea......never occured to me!

I am checking the condo website out.....heard mention of skyauction on another thread.....any thoughts on using this?

Again..thank you all so much!

 

[ErinInCT]

Originally posted by Iott Family
First off I just have to say this site and all you wonderful Dis'ers have been a godsend to me! thank you for all of the wonderful posts, advice and replies!

I AGREE!


My first question is, we are driving to WDW and plan on driving to most of the paks even though we are staying on site because we have three kids, one of which is going to be 10months at vaction time and we feel it will be easier for us with stroller and such to load up in our own vehicle instead of taking chances with DW transport. When we go to Epcot can we park at TTC to get to Epcot? Does the ferry from TTc only go to MK and FW or oes it go to Epcot, too?

Why not just park at EPCOT? We rented a car mainly b/c we did not want to deal with getting the double stroller on & off the buses, not to mention having to hold it, the contents & 11 mo old baby on a bus. Loved having a car! So nice to get into air conditioned car immediately after leaving park!


My second question, can we put a small 2ft artificial xmas tree in our room, xmas decorations, etc. ?? We are doing our first on site stay and our first disney xmas.......exciting and we want some of the festivity in our room......

Of course you can! Sounds like a wonderful idea which will make your trip even more special. When you are at Disney, consider it your home!!


My third and last question for this post..... .......this will be our first and only on resort stay because off cost and our numbers have quickly exploded from a family of 4 to 6 by the timewe go back in 2006. We would like to stay in a vacation home, condo....something close to disney and reasonably priced. Needs a kitchen, pool would be great.....2/3 rooms. Suggestions on properties, past experiences? Recommendations are welcome. I know I will need to start planning for our 2006 trip when we get back from this one!!!

Have you considered buying in to DVC (whole thread about it on DISboards)? Your family is perfect for DVC, especially if you are thinking of going to WDW every year, every other year or every 3 years for your family vacations. You'll get a kitchen & w/d. You get to stay on site with all the fun perks! Not the most reasonably priced right now, but once it is paid off you'll have FREE accommodations!!

 

[dirkus]

Regarding DVC...

Let me say up front that I know absolutely nothing about DVC so I might just be making a fool of myself here (wouldn't be the first time nor, I'm sure, the last ) but I doubt if the accomodations would ever be free. As far as I understand, DVC is a timeshare type of arrangement and once you got the purchase paid off, you would certainly still have yearly maintenance fees to pay.

 

[dcmbshafe]

You can learn a lot more about DVC by visiting those boards, but from our perspective the cost is not worth the benefits. We have stayed at the Sheraton Vistana, which is very close to WDW, in a 2 BR 2 BA condo with a full kitchen for between $800-900 per week (7 nights). We rented DVC points for our last trip to stay at the Boardwalk Villas in a similar room and it cost $1,600 for 5 nights (Sunday through Thursday). Of course, if you buy into DVC you won't be paying this much per year, but you'll pay an up-front cost of better than $20k for this type of room for a week and it will cost an additional $750-1,000 per year at least in maintenance fees.

Everyone has their own opinion about staying on-site. Some people swear by it and that's great for them. For us, it wasn't worth the extra money. We really like having a 2BR place with a kitchen - we eat almost every breakfast in the room, which saves money at the margin.

If you're interested in renting someone's timeshare week, check out the timeshare user's group (tug2.net). There is a classified ads section with lots to choose from. This way you don't have to absorb the up-front costs associated with purchasing a week (or points, like with DVC).

 

[swilshire]

Originally posted by ErinInCT
Not the most reasonably priced right now, but once it is paid off you'll have FREE accommodations!!

Those free accomodations carry a hefty annual maintenance fee! DVC is the way to go if you MUST be on-site and in the middle of the magic. We have owned off-site timeshares since 1996. While I would own DVC if I had unlimited money, the savings are huge by owning elsewhere. There are many VERY nice resorts in the Orlando area. The only downside is you are off-property.

Sheila

 

[Massey33]

If you are interested in staying off site we "own" property in 2 different vacation timeshares (and they are NEVER free no matter how long you own them!) and are always looking for ways to rent out weeks. All of the properties have 2 bedrooms, full kitchen and pool and everywhere we've stayed in the Orlando area has been very nice. We can usually rent a week of time for less than $100 a night. Let me know if you're interested or would like more details.

 

[Iott Family]

Yes, I would like more information so I can start deciding what route to take. DVC is a bit prcey for us. I want plenty of $$$ for shopping and food...I dont want toblow my entire $$ budget on room!

 

[Massey33]

I understand the cost issues. We actually bought timeshares b/c of that reason. They are a great savings over rooms but the maintainence fees and dues are quite expensive each year.

What dates are you looking at and I will call and see what's available. My personal email is massey33@msn.com if you'd like to talk off the boards about this.

 

[BevS97]

I think that driving to the parks is easier than the bus for all the parks except MK - I would recommend the bus for MK as it is much easier than driving and taking the monorail or ferry.

If you do drive to the other parks, then unless you are WAY at hte back of the parking lot, I would just load up your stroller and walk to the park. Sometimes my DH walks with the baby, and myself and my eldest DD take the tram- he nearly always gets there first.

We took the bus a lot on our last trip, more than we have ever done before, and for the most part it is very easy - but not if you want to visit other things like a hotel or a water park during your day - if you are planning on moving around a lot then your own car is easiest, but for a straightforward trip to one park then the bus is hard to beat (especially for MK)

 

[dmaz]

Definitely consider taking the bus to MK. The bus will take you to the front gate. Taking your car may take over an hour to get to the park.
We took our car 2 years ago.
The time it took to drive to the park, unload the car, walk to ttc, wait on line to show our tickets, wait to take the monorail or boat, take the monorail or boat and finally wait on line to have our bags checked, was an hour.
It was definitely worth the 15 minutes of being uncomfortable on the bus the next time. We only have 2 - a 4yr old dd and (at the time) an 8 mo old ds.
Hope this helps!