Planning our dream trip to Disney World. Help please!

xAshx

Earning My Ears
Joined
May 30, 2017
Hey everyone! So I am working on planning a Disney world trip for beginning of May 2020. This will be our first trip and we want to make it memorable! we are a family of 4, our kids will be 9 and 7 at the time. our budget is $12,000 not including our flight over. I would really love some opinions please on how to make it as magical as possible! I have been doing a lot of research and I am interested in Club level and the idea of buying the extra fastpasses along with the breakfast in the club room. but at the same time if we pick a cheaper resort we could probably do a couple days of the VIP tour instead. How would you do it? I am open to all suggestions! thanks so much!
 
Well, the VIP tours require a certain number of hours minimum; do you think your kids would tire out?

For me, I'd prefer the club level plus extra fast passes; but I'm also curious if the VIP tour will offer access to Galaxy's Edge once that opens? That might change my mind.
 
How many days are you planning in WDW? That makes a difference IMO. Without knowing any of your plans I woudl lean towards CL and a few days of extra FP. My family would not enjoy days of packed park days, so a longer vacation with a more relaxed plan and more amenities works for us.
 


I would lean towards Club level too. And with kids, be sure you plan in pool time. That was a mistake I made my first trip
 
I am open to how many days to go. If we do club level at AKL we could do 9 days/8 nights costing $6501 plus cost of extra fastpasses, park tickets, dining, spending money would put us at our full budget. does this seem like enough time at each park to do everything? Another option we be no club level and more days.

1 day arrival
2 days Magic Kingdom
2 days Hollywood studios
1 day Epcot
1 day Animal Kingdom
1 day Typhoon Lagoon
 
We did our "Trip of a lifetime" Thanksgiving week and stayed Club Level at The Grand Floridian. Spent less than your 12K budget. We booked a Standard Room, Club Level Access and it was only $200 more for the entire WEEK than our original Theme Park View room. Club Level was the BEST- breakfast before heading out for the day, snacks in the afternoons when we returned for pool time, and we even made dinner out of the heavy apps they serve at night two of our evenings. Saved us hundreds of $ on meals and really just so easy. The best time for me were the 5PM hour where they had apps and drinks and I would load my plate up with apps and a glass of wine and sit down by the Marina and watch the boats. Heaven after a long day!
 


One more option to really save and go all out on extras is to book the new tower at Coronado Springs which is a moderate and get a suite with Club Level access there. The rooms look really nice online and less $$ than the Deluxe.
 
I am open to how many days to go. If we do club level at AKL we could do 9 days/8 nights costing $6501 plus cost of extra fastpasses, park tickets, dining, spending money would put us at our full budget. does this seem like enough time at each park to do everything? Another option we be no club level and more days.

1 day arrival
2 days Magic Kingdom
2 days Hollywood studios
1 day Epcot
1 day Animal Kingdom
1 day Typhoon Lagoon

You won't be able to do 'everything' in a trip that short. Will you be able to hit all the highlights at least once? Yes, but you won't do everything.

I think you also need to be aware of how big the parks are and how exhausted you'll be at the end of each day. I went last fall with my two oldest kids (10 and almost 9), and went in full-blast commando park touring style. And by day 3, they were begging to go back to the hotel and just spend some time by the pool.

You'll have a much more enjoyable trip if you go for a few more days, and set a more relaxed pace. AKL is a beautiful resort, but if you are trying to pack "everything" into those park days, you're not going to be at AKL enough to enjoy it. Keep in mind that most sit-down dining experiences are going to take 1-2 hours out of your day. If you want to do fine dining or cool character meals, you're going to have to give up park time to do it.

Realize that if you have a longer trip, you will probably be able to get the "hard to get" FPs, even without CL. The difference in price between standard rooms and CL will give you enough money to enjoy some nice breakfasts, even on a longer trip.

Your OP mentions flights over, so I'm assuming this is an international trip for you. If you're changing time zones it might be a few days before you acclimate to EST, and the first day or so you might not be able to go full-tilt with your park touring.
 
Personally, I would skip club level. I would consider renting DVC for such a long stay. Then I would take the money I saved and spend it on Early Morning Magic, Disney After Hours, and dessert parties. The Flower & Garden Festival is in May and I would make sure that I allowed time to sample the food in the booths around the World Showcase and in Future World plus take in one or two of the concerts. I would not do Typhoon Lagoon. I would opt to enjoy a pool day at my resort instead and then do an after-hours party in the evening.
 
holy moly...that budget, whatever you want..you got it! All i can say is have the time of your life!

Hate to say but when you add in a club level stay at one of the deluxe resorts, a dining plan (OP didnt indicate if they were interested in one or not), and park tickets, $12K for a family of 4 doesn't really go that far. For example, we're doing a split stay (5 days at YC Club Water View; 5 days at Poly Club Theme Park View) with deluxe dining at both resorts and 8 day park hoppers, and just for 3 of us we're over $14K, not including airfare. o_O

OP: I would recommend looking at all the resorts, see which one interests you and your family the most and weigh it against if you'll be at the parks all day, is it worth it to pay extra for club level or even a deluxe resort vs. a moderate resort and add on a dining plan. :)
 
I'm all about the parks and not the accommodations so to speak so I would vote for a cheaper hotel (really how much time will you be there anyway) and get hopper passes. For us, HS was not a full day park so it was nice to be able to hop around. Plus if you find your kids really liked a ride at another park, you can hop and do it or hop and eat somewhere else. I liked being able to go where we wanted, whenever we wanted. Our kids were 9 and 7 when we went last and we knocked out 6 park days and only had a few hours by the pool one day. They really enjoyed it and honestly, the kids don't know what all exists so they don't even know if they are missing a tour or a meal or anything.
 
holy moly...that budget, whatever you want..you got it! All i can say is have the time of your life!

Agree with PP... $12K is not as healthy of a budget as one might perceive. Its a family of 4 deluxe club level including park tickets, and it sounds like the OP might be flying from the UK I'm guessing? They said "the flight over" and usually that means "over the pond" ;)

OP, you'll get more use out of a club level room than you would a VIP tour, IMO. It would just be more enjoyable to me. You could do something like Keys to the Kingdom Tour which would be cheaper and interesting, if time permits.
 
Hate to say but when you add in a club level stay at one of the deluxe resorts, a dining plan (OP didnt indicate if they were interested in one or not), and park tickets, $12K for a family of 4 doesn't really go that far. For example, we're doing a split stay (5 days at YC Club Water View; 5 days at Poly Club Theme Park View) with deluxe dining at both resorts and 8 day park hoppers, and just for 3 of us we're over $14K, not including airfare. o_O

OP: I would recommend looking at all the resorts, see which one interests you and your family the most and weigh it against if you'll be at the parks all day, is it worth it to pay extra for club level or even a deluxe resort vs. a moderate resort and add on a dining plan. :)
I guess used to the values and 6 day base tickets...all in all including airfare and food...4k will do it easy.
 
The best trips we have done have been when we got 2 connecting rooms or a 2 bedroom DVC on points. We love having extra space. Everyone sleeps better and if someone wants to stay up or sleep in it can be done without everyone in the room being bothered. Two bathrooms are also very nice.

My favorite trip was 2 connecting room at AKL with the standard dining plan. We stayed a week with 5, all Disney Adults (3 teens) over spring break and it was less than your budget.

We have done club level once (Poly) with the kids and all of stuffed in one room was not pretty! This is not a trade off worth it to me in order to have the club level experience again. BUT every family is different and you guys may love it.

Best of luck to you. I'm sure whatever you decide will offer a great experience for your family.
 
Do a longer trip with fewer amenities. Your proposed plan is jamming too much into a short time. It will be exhausting and may turn out to be a nightmare vacation instead of a dream trip. It sounds like you're coming from overseas - if you can do two full weeks within your budget, I'd see how to make that work and not worry about CL or VIP experiences.
 
Personally, I would skip club level. I would consider renting DVC for such a long stay. Then I would take the money I saved and spend it on Early Morning Magic, Disney After Hours, and dessert parties. The Flower & Garden Festival is in May and I would make sure that I allowed time to sample the food in the booths around the World Showcase and in Future World plus take in one or two of the concerts. I would not do Typhoon Lagoon. I would opt to enjoy a pool day at my resort instead and then do an after-hours party in the evening.

I will research more into renting DVC points. It seems like a good deal but what I have seen kind of feels a bit sketchy and makes me feel unsure about it haha.
 
We are not from overseas just on the opposite corner of the US. We are leaving from Spokane Wa. so it will be a 7 and a half hour flight and we will lose 3 hours. We have crossed out the VIP tour based on everyones advice. Just trying to decide at this point if Club Level will be worth it for us or maybe staying an extra couple days instead would be better.
 

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