Please Help a Disney World Novice

[Voltes]

Hi there:

My family and I are planning to drive to Disney World on the week of June 6th. The only time my husband and I have been there was 12 years ago. I had to go to Orlando on business and we stayed 2 extra days to take our nephews to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. This will be our children's (almost 9 year old boy and 3 year old girl) first trip to Disney World. We would like to stay at one of the resorts with 2 queen-sized beds (Coronado?). How can I get the best deal on lodging, tickets, and meals? We're also interested in dining with the Disney characters. Since we're driving, our dates are a little bit flexible. We will probably go to the parks for 2 or 3 days. Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[marcielm]

Welcome to the Disboards!

For a FYI, in addition to the Coronado Springs, the deluxe level resorts have queen size beds, so you are really able to open up some of your options. Of course, Coronado Springs is going to be cheaper, because it is a moderate level resort.

Right now there are not any discounts that go into early June, but that doesn't mean there won't be a deal later. If you choose to use a Disney Specialist Travel Agent (TA) they will keep an eye out for the specials that become available for your travel dates, and see about lowering your costs. Also, you don't pay a TA (Disney pays their commission rates) so it might be to your advantage to really help you plan your stay, make park touring plans, and dining reservations for you to have the character meals.

I really recommend you try to do at least 4 days of the parks. In case you aren't familiar, there are now 4 parks at Disney World (Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom). You really need at least 1 day per park to allow yourself enough time to visit. When we go, we do 6 days of parks, so that we can go to Magic Kingdom for 2 days, and pick up another park for a second day as well.

As for the character meals, they are a great way for your kids to be able to see the characters at Disney. Another reason to take a few more days at the parks, is because each of the meals can take up to 2 hours of your day between travel time to the resturant & dining time.

Of course, you can learn a lot of information here at the Disboards, so be sure and ask away!!

 

[Grumpy92]

mousesavers.com is an excellent resource. She keeps it updated so check periodiaclly.

 

[danceintherain]

My recommendations for resorts would be one of the ones on the monorail. You'll probably spend most of your time in the Magic Kingdom and Epcot with kids that age both of which are accessible on the monorail. Also, that would give you easy access to some of the character meals. They are a little bit more expensive though.
Since you'll have a car, you can drive to the parks, but I would recommend at least taking Disney transportation to the Magic Kingdom, because it drops you off right outside the park, instead of across the lake (requiring a ferry or monorail across).
Cost wise Coronado Springs would be the least expensive with 2 Queen Sized Beds.
Mousesavers.com is a great resource for finding discounts.
Getting one of the Dining Plans may be a decent way to save some money on meals if you would like to have a sit down meal every day. It takes some significant planning to get the best value though.
If you decide against a Dining Plan, then one way to save a little on meals is by going for Table Service at breakfast. The Breakfast menus are usually a little bit cheaper than lunch and dinner. One of my favorite things to do is get a late breakfast seating. You still pay breakfast prices, but around lunch time.

I would also recommend trying to do a day in each of the 4 parks. They all are so different with so much to offer. Even if you just stick to Epcot and the Magic Kingdom, 2-3 days will barely scratch the surface in my opinion.