Please advise me how to plan a trip

[donnyandcathy]

We are a family of 6 (4 children ages 17,15,9, and 6)
We are really wanting to go to Disney for a week either in Nov. the first of December, or sometime in Feb-March.
My friends have said I can get a package that will include our meals. How do I search for avail. dates, the meal plan, and a room that will fit all of us?
Any advice would be great!!!
Also, do you think we could do a Disney trip for under $5000.00? We are trying to pay everything with cash.
Thank you
Cathy

 

[Uncle Remus]

We are a family of 6 (4 children ages 17,15,9, and 6)
We are really wanting to go to Disney for a week either in Nov. the first of December, or sometime in Feb-March.
My friends have said I can get a package that will include our meals. How do I search for avail. dates, the meal plan, and a room that will fit all of us?
Any advice would be great!!!
Also, do you think we could do a Disney trip for under $5000.00? We are trying to pay everything with cash.
Thank you
Cathy

Oh my gracious, you've asked a BIG question there, but you've come to the right place.

Look around the main board, we've got forums for resorts, parks, transportation and even a budget board with codes for discounts and all kinds of things.

Click on this link and check it out: http://www.disboards.com/index.php



And welcome to the DIS!!

And have some pixie dust too.

 

[island cricket]

under 5k? possibly.. where are you from? that would make a big difference as airfare plays a big role. what are the ages of the kids, that too will change with park passes as well as dining plan. We have 6 from Hawaii, the airfare alone was 5k, because we have to get 2 rooms (as they only allow 5) that was another expense, we looked into wilderness lodge to get a cabin that will sleep all of us but having our own room away from the kids was more important than the few dollars, also, we had 6 on the adult plan, 1 could have went on the kid dining plan but he eats as good as the rest of us and we didn't want him to feel excluded always in the choice off the menus.

Most definitely you've come to the right place, we learned so much from the dis family that it wouldn't have been the same without them (I LOVE DISers!) We did it for under 15k, we paid cash as we don't like to run a balance on our cards but we earned some great mileage to help us on the next trip. If I didn't have the money, I'd do it again and charge it all, the memories were worth every interest penny I would have had to pay. Blessing to your planning and welcome to the happiest place on the internet!

 

[princess&her4princes]

Buy "Passporter" book, you'll love the wealth of info and planning guide. We're a young family of 5 and we do our entire trips, staying at value resorts, airfare, tickets, meal plan all for about $3000. Not sure if that gives you an idea or not? You've come to the right place though to figure things out...DIS is wonderful and the people know SO much!!! Happy Planning!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[wilde_oscar]

get a couple good guide book, take notes, find a good travel agent compare options... get a quote from dreams unlimited travel see if it is better.

 

[sparkyboy]

Welcome and happy planning for your trip to the World. In addition to searching for codes and arrangements through the various forums as suggested by PPs, try to determine how flexible you are in your dates of travel? Is it possible to do a Thursday fly in and leave the following Wednesday or do you need to travel Sat through Fri. I always try several scenarios with airfare to see what potential cost might be and have several dates and prices listed before calling to check availability at resorts. Keep asking questions as you get into your planning as fellow DISers are a wealth of knowledge.

 

[donnyandcathy]

Thank you all for your tips, and advice!!!

We will be driving, so we would not need air fare.
We talked today, and found out we will not be able to go in Nov. or Dec. So it looks like either Jan. Feb. or March Which of those months are the least crowded, but not too cold?? I do not like cold (I have myofascial syndrome). If we pick a date, how do I go about booking it?
I want to get the meal plan with the park passes, with the room. Do I go through a travel agency, order tickets through these boards, or call Disney directly? It's SO much info. and I want to get the most for our dollar. We have been saving for 2 years for this trip, and I want it to be worth every penny

Thanks again!!
Cathy

 

[mom2ru]

You can do it through Disney's website, AAA travel agent, independent travel agent, calling the 1-800 disney number, and I believe someone else mentioned getting a on-line quote from someone.

We just got back from our firsts trip. I got quotes from the website, an online travel agent and from AAA. I went with AAA because they has a couple of perks that weren't offered through the others. All 3 were in the same ballpark of each other but I felt the AAA and the agent being local were benefits for me.

You need to decide if you want to stay on or off property but since you want the meal plan, you need to stay on. Then you need to decide if you want value, moderate or deluxe hotel. Then the type of meal plan. A good agent can help you with these kind of decisions. Read the boards. They have tons of good info.

 

[goofyboyzmom]

Thank you all for your tips, and advice!!!

We will be driving, so we would not need air fare.
We talked today, and found out we will not be able to go in Nov. or Dec. So it looks like either Jan. Feb. or March Which of those months are the least crowded, but not too cold?? I do not like cold (I have myofascial syndrome). If we pick a date, how do I go about booking it?
I want to get the meal plan with the park passes, with the room. Do I go through a travel agency, order tickets through these boards, or call Disney directly? It's SO much info. and I want to get the most for our dollar. We have been saving for 2 years for this trip, and I want it to be worth every penny

Thanks again!!
Cathy

Hi Cathy! I have never been in Jan-Feb-or March (LOL) but I know in Jan and Feb they do a lot of rehabs so some things may be closed, so I would try March (not to mention I have heard numerous times how COLD it is in Jan and Feb!). For your first trip, either do a lot of reading on these boards or make your reservation with Disney agent. They can plan your whole trip for you/with you and maybe give you some additional tips. Plus, when you do a "package" there are some additional freebees thrown in there. Go on line (Disney.com) and go to "parks", pick WDW, then do "plan your trip" and hit "package". After you put in your dates, ages and info, you get to pick where you would like to stay (make sure if you don't want a "preferred room" or a "view" room, you change and update your selection. Same thing with the tickets. If you don't want parkhopper and/or waterparks and more, change that selection also. When you get finished on the side it should tell you the "little extras" included in the package. They have been credits at Planet Hollywood, a free picture, etc. Good Luck. Ask any questions on this board and you will get all the answers you may want (or not!).

 

[PrincessTiffany]

We are a family of 6 (4 children ages 17,15,9, and 6)
We are really wanting to go to Disney for a week either in Nov. the first of December, or sometime in Feb-March.
My friends have said I can get a package that will include our meals. How do I search for avail. dates, the meal plan, and a room that will fit all of us?
Any advice would be great!!!
Also, do you think we could do a Disney trip for under $5000.00? We are trying to pay everything with cash.
Thank you
Cathy

Okay, we are a family of 6 and you can definitely do Disney for under $5,000.00.

The most economical choice for us staying on-site is to get two connecting rooms at a value resort (All-Star Movies or Pop Century is our favorite), that way we have plenty of room to move around and two bathrooms. I think a good number of days for your first trip is 7 nights. That way you can tour the parks for 6 days - 2 days for Magic Kingdom, 2 days Epcot, 1 day Animal Kingdom and 1 day Disney Hollywood Studios. I would also highly recommend the basic dining plan which is 1 Table Service Meal, 1 Counter Service Meal and 1 Snack per person per night. It's about $38.00 per Adult and about $10.00 per child. The dining plan usually saves us between $300 and $500.

As for which times to travel, most of January, after about the Jan. 5, is pretty good crowd wise. The first week of February and the last week of February are also good. Mid- February is peak crowds and more expensive resort rates because of Presidents week. The first week of March is also a good time for crowds and resort rates. After that the rates and crowd numbers will start to go up quickly because of Spring Break crowds.

If you are actually talking about traveling in the next few months, you really need to go head and pick your dates and make your reservations. With the new "Buy 4 nights, get 3 free" promo going on the rooms will probably fill up quickly, especially for stay January - March because they are giving a $200.00 gift card on top of the discount for booking during those dates.

If it were me I would call disney reservations at 407-W-DISNEY and book two connecting rooms at either All-Star Movies or Pop century Feb. 28 - March 7 with 6 day hoppers tickets and the basic dining package. It should be about $4,000.00 plus the $200.00 gift card. Also, you really, really, really need to make your ADRs (advance dining reservations) ASAP so you can still get some decent meal times (you only need to make reservations for table service/sit-down restaurants).

Hope this info helps. If you need help in figuring out ADRs or which parks to visit on which days, let me know and I will PM you.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

We are a family of 6 (4 children ages 17,15,9, and 6)
We are really wanting to go to Disney for a week either in Nov. the first of December, or sometime in Feb-March.
My friends have said I can get a package that will include our meals. How do I search for avail. dates, the meal plan, and a room that will fit all of us?
Any advice would be great!!!
Also, do you think we could do a Disney trip for under $5000.00? We are trying to pay everything with cash.
Thank you
Cathy

Also wanted to pass along this website, www.allearsnet.com, they are a great planning source:

http://allears.net/pl/planning.htm

 

[ammeador2]

I too would call Disney direct or go to the disney website. On the boards check out the menus for the various resturants and get an idea of where you guys want to eat. Resturants fill up fast so you may have a hard time getting some ADRs but keep an open mind. You have hit the jackpot of information. Disboards is GREAT! So much information...Just watch out it becomes and addiction!

Hope you have a great trip!