I'm new and overwhelmed...

[rachelfran]

i made a big mistake yesterday and promise not to do it again...

i haven't been to disney in years.. the last time was probably 6 yrs ago with my then 5 yr old... now i'm going with my son who will be 3 when we go, the 12 yr old, dh and extended family including four more adults plus 2 more kids age 10 & 8 yrs....


i don't know where to start - we are only going to stay 4 or 5 days at the end of august... i'm considering a home since there are so many of us and it'll save $ but worry about being too far since we'll lose some valuable time...

looking for some wonderful advice here..

thanks!

 

[westjones]

I know nothing about staying in a house, we have always stayed onsite or at the Kids Suite Holiday Inn near by (it sleeps 6).

The new Pop Century Resort is a value resort and we loved it there. The buses were great too. Never drove ourselves to any of the parks.

You may want to go over and check out the resorts board. They have some great ideas there.

Have a great trip!
DJ

 

[jeankeri]

Hello rachelfran and welcome!! I was glad to see your name again- and hope I can give some advice/ encouragement! The budget board has been a great place to find discounts & deals that I never would have found otherwise. You will get lots of help, I'm sure!
Are you wanting to stay togeather with the whole crew when you travel (i.e same house)? How many total will be in your group? Do you all have a similar budget, or are you trying to stay togeather to meet a certain price limit? I am hoping my godmother & her daughter will go with us on our next trip to WDW, but I know she has some budget limitations we do not. That can be harder to plan around but not impossible.
I have read a few posts from disneysteve- he has enjoyed staying offsite for better value/ bigger accomodations and has had great luck. Hopefully we will hear from him.
Have you checked out Mousesavers.com? This is a great site! Any discounts that you might qualify for are on there, with many tips that anyone can use as well. Check it out!
Please post back with your total travel # and need to stay together or just close by. I've found the more detail you can give, the more help you will receive.
Again- great to see you on the boards again!!!

 

[DMRick]

Welcome..whew, now that you got your feet wet....
Perhaps several rooms at a value? Unless you wanted to be able to have a kitchen. We have always gotten good codes at the values (made our ressie's then switched to codes when they came out) for the last week of August into September. They've been running $55 plus tax with codes a night.
Doris

 

[mad4themouse]

Hi rachelfran, welcome to the DISboards. I'm glad we didn't scare you off! Please don't feel overwhelmed by all the information there is out there about WDW. If you break your trip down into its parts, you'll find that it isn't all that complicated to plan your WDW vacation.

You've already jumped one hurdle by deciding when and how long you will be going. The end of August is Value Season in Disney, so you should be able to snag some good hotel rates.

The next big hurdle is the onsite/offsite debate. As others have said, you'll get more space and nicer accomodations for your dollar offsite but you will have to commute back and forth. Only you can decide whether the cost difference is worth it.

After you nail down your dates, look into your transportation needs. Will you be flying or driving? For some of us, it's a no-brainer. DH is not willing to drive the 17 hours it takes to get there from here, so we always fly. There are others who don't mind a road trip.

Once rooms and transportation are decided, you can concentrate on park admission, food, souvenirs, dinner shows, priority seating, itineraries and anything else that might be causing you to hyperventillate right now.

Keep coming back and asking your questions about your planning! As you can see, we all love to help.

 

[BethR]

I am so glad that you came back rachelfran! I think that you are made of stronger stuff than I am.

Again - WELCOME to the DIS!

 

[CheapMom]

Originally posted by BethR
I think that you are made of stronger stuff than I am.

She's from Brooklyn, Whadya expect! Of course she's strong.

Really Rachelfan- Glad you're here, it is the best place for information. If you stay off site in a condo or house you are going to need a car or van. If you do stay offsite try to get as close as possible because you don't want to waste a precious moment on transport. A really economical place is Holiday Inn Nikki Bird, thay have suites for a great price free breakfast decent swimming pool. They are cheaper than Holiday Inn FamilySuites which is a nicer hotel. Nikki Bird is clean and comfortable though. Personally, I love staying on site, the transportation to and from the parks can't be beat and you are guaranteed clean rooms and excellent service and there is just an atmosphere at the Disney Resorts that just feels great to me. Keep your eyes peeled for discount codes www.mousesavers.com.

 

[tmfranlk]

I know of several people that love to rent a house when they stay offsite. Just make sure you take into consideration the price of the car rental when you figure prices for comparision.

Your best value choices would probably be:
1) 3 Disney value resort rooms
2) 2 Holiday Inn Family suites
3) 1 rental house

For the value resort and HIFS rooms, you could rely on Disney transport and skip the rental. For the house, you would definitely need a rental.

I know that in planning our 15 person, 4 family trip next year, we are leaning towards the multiple value resort rooms. This way, people and families can choose how early/late they want to sleep, head to the parks, or go to bed without having to worry about when the cars are leaving. On the other hand, a rental house was a good amount cheaper.

Good luck and keep the questions coming.

 

[HaleyB]

Glad you are back. I posted a no-no when I was new here but was glad for the feedback.
I think the down side to renting a house is - someone will have to keep it up (which in my family would be me).
and the Hassels of driving to the parks. Loss of time.
Have you looked into renting DVC points?
There is a ton of DVC info on these boards. the two bed room units sleep 8 and renting points for them should be around $10 a pont

http://www.wdwinfo.com/DVC/faq.shtml

 

[jeankeri]

If staying off-site factor in parking cost in your comparison. ($7/day?). Also- if you park hop- do you have to pay for each lot or does paying for parking once cover you for the whole day? Anyone? We stayed on-site so, even though we rented a car, did not have to worry about paying to park. Sorry I don't have more specific info .

 

[BethR]

You pay $7 for parking each day. You don't pay again when you go to other parks. (You get a card that says you have paid that day.)

We have had some VERY nice WDW vacations off site. I tend to be with disneysteve on this one. And I agree with him too, for $70 some I would just stay on-site, as long as your accomodations are comparable.