Hi everyone. I'm new here and starting to plan our first family trip to Disney World. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it and we're not going until January. We want to stay at one of the Disney resorts, but our options are limited, considering we have 4 kids (including a toddler). It seems like our options are one of the Value resorts, which the reviews say are noisy and not that convenient for transportation to the parks, and Port Orleans Riverside, which sounds nice, but the floorplan looks like we would be pretty cramped. We would also like to do a meal plan, assuming we stay at a Disney resort. I've looked at some off-site locations, but it seems like it would be almost as expensive when you include the cost of meals (we would like to do some character meals, which would add up quickly), parking, etc. We're planning on driving, so we will have access to a car.
Since we're not going until January, is it likely they will offer discounts at some point?
Our oldest DD(9) has special needs, so I'd appreciate any tips you might have. I just got the PassPorter's Open Mouse and it has a lot of great information, but the most recent edition is from 2007, so I'm afraid some of the information is outdated. We had great luck with the Unofficial Guide the first time I went, so I'm planning on getting a copy, but if I can make myself wait, I want to wait until the 2013 edition comes out. I've already signed up on touringplans.com.
I'm really excited about this trip. I'm just afraid that I'll be disappointed if they're not excited enough, KWIM? This is gong to be their "big" Christmas gift, so I'm also excited to be getting a big part of my Christmas "shopping" done so early.
I've really been enjoying reading through the forums and I've been taking notes in a Word document.
I've been reading a lot on the internet and I have a lot of (probably) weird, random questions, but I won't get into all of them on my first post
I look forward to getting to know everyone
Since we're not going until January, is it likely they will offer discounts at some point?
Our oldest DD(9) has special needs, so I'd appreciate any tips you might have. I just got the PassPorter's Open Mouse and it has a lot of great information, but the most recent edition is from 2007, so I'm afraid some of the information is outdated. We had great luck with the Unofficial Guide the first time I went, so I'm planning on getting a copy, but if I can make myself wait, I want to wait until the 2013 edition comes out. I've already signed up on touringplans.com.
I'm really excited about this trip. I'm just afraid that I'll be disappointed if they're not excited enough, KWIM? This is gong to be their "big" Christmas gift, so I'm also excited to be getting a big part of my Christmas "shopping" done so early.

I've really been enjoying reading through the forums and I've been taking notes in a Word document.
I've been reading a lot on the internet and I have a lot of (probably) weird, random questions, but I won't get into all of them on my first post
I look forward to getting to know everyone