Planning our first trip.... come help guide me

[Jenny-momof3]

We are in the early stage of planning our very first trip to Disney World. We are planning to go the first week of February '08. Probably 7 days/6 nights.

We have 3 children.... 13,9 and 2 1/2.

We will probably have to fly as we live in Ohio.

I've looked around a little and since the tickets and DDP are going to cost a fortune I don't want to break the bank with the hotel room too. Especiallt since we will only be in it to sleep.

So where shoudl we stay, what's the weather like in Feb, character breakfast recommendation for 3 kids so far apart in age?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Can't wait to start planning my first trip.

 

[stitchlover]

Our first visit we stayed at one of the All-Star resort locations. It was fine...nothing fancy. This time we are staying in a moderate but we had a lot more time to plan and pay for everything. Last year we booked the first of January for mid-March. This year we booked in May '06 for March '07 and took the time to pay off the hotel, tickets and DDP.

 

[jenseib]

I live in Ohio too!

We are flying as well, and it isn't cheap!! Keep your eyes out for airfare discounts. What airport would you fly out of?

Do you want to sty on site, or off. You can find the All Stars and pop Century onsite for the cheapest prices. Yo ucan stay offsite, but then you for sure need a car. And it takes about 40 mintues each way from Hotel to park. Even close ones due to traffic. The onsite ones provide transportation to and from the parks and everywhere on property. If you fly into Orlando airport, you can get picked up by the Disney shuttles. If you fly into Sanford, Disney doesn't pick you there.
You may find some cheaper hotels off site. Also Disney food is expensive. So if you stay onsite you need to decide if you want the dining plan or not. If you are off you can eat at other resturants for much cheaper. But then again you have to fight traffic sometimes.
If you belong to AAA you can get some discounts as well.

 

[Unregistered]

We will definitely stay onsite. And I'm still up in the air about the DDP. My girls are not big eaters at all and neither am I. But I know in the long run it might be easier to just go head and pay for it.

I didn't know AAA offered discounts for the resorts. What's the typical discount for the Value resorts?

Also... trying to find out tickets prices. Need 6-7 day tickets... with hopper. Not sure if my oldest dd is adult rate. And I know my ds will be free as he won't be 3 yet correct?

 

[Unregistered]

The only problem with the DDP is it basically forces you to eat at a sit down meal once per day(avg) taking up at least an hour and a half out of your day and the counter service portions are huge with deserts coming with every meal. You get your moneys worth in food from the DDP, but keep in mind, you would not order that much food if you did not have the meal plan. I have had the dining plan twice, once free and once I paid for. The next time, I think we will skip it. We have 1 daughter. If they are running a special, get it, otherwise that money could be spent better elsewhere. We stayed at Pop a couple of weeks ago. It was okay. We have stayed at Deluxe and Moderate. If you can swing it, I would at least go moderate. We will stay at Beach Club next time. It is a lot more money but we loved the whole Boardwalk area. I would go All Star for value. Pop seemed very busy and other people that always stay at All Stars we ran into said they were better.

 

[jenseib]

I got my whole package through AAA. I think they give 10% off. But not sure if all are teh same. I called one locally and the none in a different state and got a better deal with the other state one.