Need assistance to plan my trip!

[bassemGadallah]

I am planning to visit Disney with my wife and 2 sons, they are 5 years and 1 years old.

I am thinking about staying at a value Disney resort like All star or a resort like double tree.

I need to know, If I stayed in All star Disney resort, can I easily go to my room, have a rest for 2 hours and return back to any theme park using there provided transportation? What if I stayed at double tree ?

My visit will be in August, this is why I am worried about the hot weather specially for my younger son.

For Double tree, I liked the rooms and the resort looks great but I am afraid of transportation and any other matter that could be caused by the distance.

Should I rent a car if i stayed in double tree?

Can any one help to let me know what are the main benefits to stay on a Disney resort, does all Disney resort customers get free fastPass+

I would appreciate your help.

Thanks

 

[jodiey]

The advantage of staying on site is you do not need to rent a car or pay for parking, saving you some money. The disadvantage to taking Disney transportation is that sometimes you will wait a while for the next bus and especially in the morning and night those buses get packed, meaning there is a possibility you will not have a seat. It really depends on what you think will work best for you. I haven't stayed off site for quite some time and rarely have too much of an issue waiting for the bus and if I feel that we won't get a seat on the bus we just wait for the next bus to come.
As for fast pass plus, if you are staying on site you can pick your 3 fastpasses 60 days in advance. If you are staying offsite you can still get fastpasses on the day you enter the park. There are kiosks throughout the park for this.

 

[Jill in Chicago]

My husband prefers to rent a car. When you are done at the park you walk out to your car, crank up the air and off you go. Time wise, no idea if you save or not, but for my husband he's "in control of his time," versus waiting.

Instead of going back to our rental (we like to rent a house offsite) we stay until about 5:00 and call it quits for the day. Then we relax by the pool, eat some appetizers, and make dinner. A couple nights a week we go back for evening activities. For us, though, the parades and fireworks are not a must do.

One of my biggest bits of advice is to plan for 1-2 dinners at your hotel. You can order in pizza, pick up food at your resort and carry it back to your room.... the exhaustion of going out to dinner every night especially if you made reservations and have to be there at a certain time can really wipe you out.

And when many suggest to take a pool/resort day off, it is so true! Walk around and really take in the resort, swim, relax. And if you want to do the evening fireworks this is a great day to do it.

The only Disney transportation we ever used was the boat from the Wilderness Lodge to the Magic Kingdom.

 

[lvillotta1]

We are at Disney now. This is our 4th visit over the last 6 years. My kids are now 6&10,bit when we started coming my youngest was 4. We have always stayed at a Value resort. We are currently at Pop Century and it by far is our favorite resort. Pop has its own buses which means you do not stop at 2-3 other resorts for drop offs or pick ups. You will want to be close to the food court and transportation so I would book a preferred room in the 50's section. It does really save time with getting back and forth to the parks and getting kids down for a nap or to bed. We always get the dining plan quick service so we do not have to worry about our meals. We are leisurely travelers. Make sure you make it a point to spend 1-2 down days so the kids can just rest and swim etc. For your family you will likely be up early so as others have said you can be back to your room by dinner and eat and get to bed. We always fly so a car is not big deal to us. If you decide to not rent a car no big deal at all. But be aware that you are coming during peak season with wicked heat and humidity and massive crowds. If I were you I would pick coming in Jan or febb. Much cooler weather and less crowds.

 

[dsnymomof4]

Another vote for Pop Century - its a great resort for kids. If you're planning on taking breaks during the day and going back later, I think staying onsite is best. It's easy to take the bus back to the resort and rest/swim during the hottest part of the day, and then hop back on a bus and head back to the parks at night when it is just a tad bit cooler (like 90 instead of 99)! Seriously though, with young children, you really NEED that afternoon break - especially in the August heat. Plus, being onsite you do get the advantages of earlier FP+ selections, extra magic hours and not paying for transportation. But the best advantage - to me at least - is when you stay onsite you are immersed in the Disney experience. We've stayed at many of the resorts (as well as offsite) and Pop Century is one of our absolute favorites!

 

[tzeitel]

Another perk if you stay on property is that you get free transportation to/from the airport.

We always stay on property. One time we rented a car for a couple of days to visit family but other than that we are fine with Disney buses. If you do not want to deal with transportation to the parks you can rent a car and get free parking in the parks (not sure what it is now but last I remember it was $15 a day).

Another vote for Pop. We have also stayed at POR and AoA and while both are very nice we love Pop - our trip in May will be 8 nights in a preferred room at Pop You do not need a preferred room to be near the food court etc but it does help. First time we stayed there we had a regular room in the 60's section close to everything.

Extra magic hours is another perk for staying on property, parks have different days on which they open early or stay open later.

 

[kaytieeldr]

If the DoubleTree is one of the Hotel Plaza Boulevard properties, those seven hotels have their own bus system that runs on a schedule - either every half hour or every hour, and usually a separate bus for each park.

 

[Monykalyn]

Couple things--
-At the age of your kids once you leave it is highly unlikely you will be back that day (with the kids anyway; Our first family trip we had a 6 year old and a 16 month old-we did earlier days (kids were up anyway) and only did fireworks once at one park. The baby easily napped in her stroller and we took advantage of the the (enforced) slower pace to see shows we hadn't seen before.
-We stayed offsite-I cannot imaging being cramped in one room with two exhausted kids at that age (although we are timeshare owners & getting a timeshare, 2 bedroom at a themed resort costs us very little)-heavenly to have room to spread out.
-As long as you have your tickets linked in MDE at least 30 days prior to visit (and it is far cheaper to get tickets through Mousesaver discount at Undercover tourist than through disney) you can make your fast pass selections offsite at 30 days.
-Everyone makes a huge deal about parking fees ($17/day last year) but I would bet 5x everyday's parking fee that we were back at our resort faster than anyone on property staying at values waiting for a bus. And it was much better to have a tired child in our car than a crammed bus (car rentals can be found relatively cheap if you hunt for discount codes etc)
-Meals are much cheaper (and in many cases-better) than on property

Just thought I'd give a different perspective! With all that said our next trip we are staying onsite for part of the time. Now that the kids are all older I think we want to take advantage of different touring styles-ie I want to keep going but the kids want to swim, and kids being older we can actually use the evening EMH if we want. I have always stayed offsite but I can see the advantages of onsite with older kids.

Also-if you can- with kids that young if you can take advantage of a slower season do it.

 

[Marionnette]

The advantage of staying on site is you do not need to rent a car or pay for parking, saving you some money. The disadvantage to taking Disney transportation is that sometimes you will wait a while for the next bus and especially in the morning and night those buses get packed, meaning there is a possibility you will not have a seat. It really depends on what you think will work best for you. I haven't stayed off site for quite some time and rarely have too much of an issue waiting for the bus and if I feel that we won't get a seat on the bus we just wait for the next bus to come.
As for fast pass plus, if you are staying on site you can pick your 3 fastpasses 60 days in advance. If you are staying offsite you can still get fastpasses on the day you enter the park. There are kiosks throughout the park for this.

The bolded part is incorrect. Offsite customers (also referred to by Disney as "day guests") can choose their FP+ 30 days in advance as long as they have a MDE account and they have valid tickets attached to each person they are traveling with. Onsite guests can choose their FP+ at the 60-day mark.

 

[ready123go]

posted in error

 

[erinmarie2224]

As others have said you have to pay for parking so if the Double Tree is cheaper you should factor in the $17/day parking on that and see how it compares to the Disney Value in cost. If they are about even and your budget can accommodate, why not stay onsite and rent a car?

For us, we prefer to stay onsite and rent a car cheaply. I stalk these boards and sites to get the cheapest deal possible on the car. We drive to all the parks except MK. We only have 1 child(3) but having the convenience of being able to walk from the parks right into the car but also enjoy all the benefits of being onsite is an expense we budget for.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

If you are staying at the Double Tree you WILL need a rental car. There is no free shuttle from the airport to the hotel. So if you are going to spend money on a taxi to get to/from the hotel you might as well invest a bit more and get a car.

Now if staying at the double tree you will have to pay to park at a Disney park and its $17.00 a day for parking.

Going back and forth from the Double Tree to a park with be a bit more time consuming because you will be driving offsite and you will need to take a tram to and from the parking lot at the park. Where as a Disney bus will drop you off at or very close to the front gates no need for a tram.

I rented a mid size SUV last week from Budget and paid $92.00 It was brand new and got great gas mileage. I only used $18 worth of gas for the 6 days I had it. Went to Celebration a couple times. Over to the Show Case if Citrus. And had an hour to kill before going to the airport so we drove around for a bit.

Another thing with staying at the Pop if you get tired of the food there you can take the short walk across the bridge to the Art of Animation resort and try their food court. They have make your own pasta bar. Great grilled burgers with a host of topping to add. Customizable salads. We got a pizza and a salad and split it and it was filling for two people. The burger is huge and can be split. A whole one requires two hands and a pile of napkins.

 

[bababear_50]

Hi
I have traveled to Disney world in August, and it was extremely
hot and humid. Five minutes after stepping out of our hotel room we were soaked in sweat.
I was pushing a friend in a wheelchair around and I swear I lost 20 pounds that week. I felt the heat more in AK (Animal Kingdom).

With a 1 and a 4 year old I would stay on Disney property and use (EMH) Extra Magic Hour Morning-(temperatures are lower).

Plan out a few rides and then use your FP+(3 Fast Pass Plus). Once you link your Disney tickets to your MDE account (Magical Disney Experience) you can book your three Fast Pass Plus (FP+) 60 days in advance.
In Magic kingdom(MK) Mickey's Philarmagic and Carousel Of Progress (COP) are great places to cool off in the heat.

Make a reservation for late morning brunch at Crystal Palace.
The Plaza Restaurant and Columbia Harbour House are also nice places to have lunch at a reasonable price (that are air-conditioned).

Check out where the baby care centres are, great spot for mom to take a
cool break with the baby.

Water, water, water--keep hydrated.
Pack cool damp washcloths in baggies.
Don't forget sunscreen lotion ,hats, sunglasses.
Buy Misty fans before you go-they are expensive to buy at Disney.

Take a break just after lunch and head back to resort.
Shower,Rest,Swim,Nap.
Head back in the evening when the sun goes down to experience the evening fireworks display and maybe a few more rides or attractions..


I have stayed off site and found the their buses very difficult to navigate (times, waits).
Keep in mind most hotels in Orlando charge a resort fee, parking fee and you will also have to pay for transportation to and from the airport. You would also have to pay Disney parking fee of 17.00 a day.

Have a great time planning.
Hugs Mel

 

[jodiey]

As others have said you have to pay for parking so if the Double Tree is cheaper you should factor in the $17/day parking on that and see how it compares to the Disney Value in cost. If they are about even and your budget can accommodate, why not stay onsite and rent a car? For us, we prefer to stay onsite and rent a car cheaply. I stalk these boards and sites to get the cheapest deal possible on the car. We drive to all the parks except MK. We only have 1 child(3) but having the convenience of being able to walk from the parks right into the car but also enjoy all the benefits of being onsite is an expense we budget for.

Is there a particular board to stalk for cheaper car rentals? I'm thinking about it myself.

 

[bababear_50]

Is there a particular board to stalk for cheaper car rentals? I'm thinking about it myself.

The DIS Transportation Board is a great resource

Link here

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16

 

[dpswift]

I would stay at POP as well. I always get a standard room. If you request 50s or 70s you are still close to everything. I would suggest not getting prefered pool view. Those rooms get noisy and to see the pool you have to leave your curtains open and everyone can see in your room.

When we traveled with a 1 year old we took breaks and went back to the parks at night and had no issues. I was also pregnant at the time.

Young kids love the big statues at the values. While your little one naps take the older one to AoA and check it out.

The buses are crazy busy at open and close other than that you should be able to get a seat.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Over the years and 20+ trips trying every which way from onsite, offsite, owning an offsite 3br/3ba timeshare to renting DVC points. Our kids are now 18 & 14.5 but we did stay at All Star Sports when our boys were 4 & 1.5.
This was 2 months after 9/11 so my info may be incorrect by now. First, the resort is so huge and spawling, something like 2500 rooms, with only 1 bus stop near the main lobby. Back then there was no Magical Express so we had to rent a car anyway. Stroller rentals were much cheaper so we didn't bother to lug ours through the airports but our room was sooo far from the bus stop we would drive our car to the bus stop.
The worst part of it aas that our 18 month old was really a great sleeper but not with all of us in one room and dh trying to unwind with a little TV. Ds would stand up in the pack n play with both hand up crying up, up! It felt like the only way to get him to bed would be to have all of us sit in the dark at 7pm to get him to sleep! It was so stressful!
After that we switched to offsite for several years just for the sake of having separate bedrooms and extra space. We didn't mind driving in FL and by then we had GPS so it was even easier.
If you're seriously thinking about a trip to Disney with all of you staying in ANY 1 hotel room, I would suggest a trial run at an inexpensive hotel near home just to see how the baby does.
Jmho

 

[Jack&Ryan'smom]

With kids that young I would stay at a value but rent a car. We have done that since our kids were your kids age. With the heat you will be soooo thankful to have the car! You can come and go as you please with no waiting! That will be key in the heat & with little ones. When my kids were that little they would fall asleep in the car during our midday break. It was great cause it was cool and they could get a full nap in which they will need! We would drive around while they sleep. You can rent a car at a pretty responsible rate. Costco has great deals. Our last 2 trips we only paid $130 for the whole week. So worth every penny! Not waiting for a Disney bus with little kids is priceless !