Where do I begin??

[britfish]

Disney is so overwhelming for a first timer! First, I really don't know anything about Disney and I don't know where to begin. My DH and DD (3) visit my in laws every Mach in Tampa and I think next year we want to go to Disney. We would probably then drive to Tampa so we would end up renting a car.
How many days would you spend at Disney w/ a 4 year old?
Would you stay on site?
Do any of the on site hotels have kitchens in them?
Is it best to book this trip early or do specials come up as it gets closer?
Where is the best place to book? AAA, etc.?
Where do you buy tickets to the park?
Any suggestions on what to do at Disney?
I would appreciate any suggestions, we are looking forward to visiting but its hard when you really don't know much about going there!
(we don't have huge budget for the trip, so I would like to find some affordable options). I have a million questions and I am so happy to find this board, you guys seem so helpful!
TIA!!!!
Britta

 

[moxiecola]

When my oldest was 4 we stayed for a week and found it wasn't long enough and stayed 10 days our next trip. This trip we're staying even longer. It really depends on your schedule, your budget and how much time you want to spend in the park. I have found these two sites to be a wealth of information www.mousesavers.com and www.allears.net.
Also, pick up a copy of "The unofficial Guide to Disney" another must-have for trip planning.

 

[Happy_Mom]

Welcome!

 

[Grendalynn]

Disney is so overwhelming for a first timer! First, I really don't know anything about Disney and I don't know where to begin. My DH and DD (3) visit my in laws every Mach in Tampa and I think next year we want to go to Disney. We would probably then drive to Tampa so we would end up renting a car.
How many days would you spend at Disney w/ a 4 year old?
Would you stay on site?
Do any of the on site hotels have kitchens in them?
Is it best to book this trip early or do specials come up as it gets closer?
Where is the best place to book? AAA, etc.?
Where do you buy tickets to the park?
Any suggestions on what to do at Disney?
I would appreciate any suggestions, we are looking forward to visiting but its hard when you really don't know much about going there!
(we don't have huge budget for the trip, so I would like to find some affordable options). I have a million questions and I am so happy to find this board, you guys seem so helpful!
TIA!!!!
Britta

to The Dis!! I cannot say enough great things about this place!! If there is anything you need to know, you can find it here by searching already started posts or starting your own! There is (probably) no questons that can go unanswered!!! All the people on this board ae great and super helpful. we have all been in your position before and can sympathize! :hugs: Here are my answers and opinions to your questions, and believe me I have spent MANY MANY hours reseaching and planning all things Disney. I hope its helpful!

Disney is so overwhelming for a first timer!
** It can be overwhelming if you let it be. I think you need to go into the trip open minded and ready for anything and also know that you might not experinec EVERYTHING. There is always next time and/or when you kiddos are older...

We would probably then drive to Tampa so we would end up renting a car.
**Where are you traveling to-from? We drove 24 hrs just a few weeks ago with our 3 boys and I think the key was to keep them occupied and comfy.

How many days would you spend at Disney w/ a 4 year old?
**I would do AT LEAST 5 days, but we will never again do less than 6 or 7. There is so much to see and do that it can be overwhelming if you try to do it all without a day off or a day to just do whatever.

Would you stay on site?
** We will never again stay off site. It is pricey to stay at WDW but there are so many choices to fit your budget and there are so many bonuses to staying on site -Extra magic hours, transportation, Disney Dining, .... I dont think youdbe disappointed

Do any of the on site hotels have kitchens in them?
** The villas have full kitchens, as do Family suites (??) but i have never stayed in them so I am not very helpful on this.

Is it best to book this trip early or do specials come up as it gets closer?
**Book EARLY! You will have far better choices and options and f you are financing/making payments, it will give you more time to do so. You can make changes as you go if you need to, upto a few days before arrival I believe. Should you get a post card or hear of a special, call 1-407-wdisney or 1-407-wdw-info and speak to a cast member(operator). They can adjust your resservation. We did this very thing just a few weeks before we left and they ended up refunding us about $200 for an offer/deal that came out after our trip was all paid for! Not too shabby!

Where is the best place to book? AAA, etc.?
**You can get some deals thru AAA but I have never done it through them. I think you can get deals either way or its hit or miss. I like the fact of booking thru Disney them you can see all your info online, make changes, see your itinerary and payments all online.

Where do you buy tickets to the park?
** You can get tickets to the park in a package thru Disney Travel or buy them seperatly from Disneyor other sellers. check out www.disneyworld.com and run a mock reservation to see what your options are. I say play around with it for a bit until you really know what you want. I am not sure that you can make March 09 resservations yet. I believe they start taking them in August... You can get just room ressevations, packages of rooms and tickets, or rooms, tickets and dining... and things along those lines.

Any suggestions on what to do at Disney?
** I say everything and anything that you all can handle!! It is a super magial place and there is so much to do! You can also check out all the park attractions online at www.disneyorld.com and make an itinerary of what you and yoru family might liek to do! We have been many times and consider myself somewhat of a Disney Pro, and we still leave there feeling like we missed soemhing or would do soemthig differently the next time.

I would appreciate any suggestions, we are looking forward to visiting but its hard when you really don't know much about going there!
**I suggest poking around on the Disney website, maybe order the video and read these boards. Ask questions even if you thnk they are "stupid" or "silly". I am sure someone has an answer... Also Birnbaum hs some great books on Disney Travel. They are very helpful and informaive! DINING RESERVATIONS are also verry important! Once you book your trip and are 180 days away from your arrival date - you can mak your dinner reservations. Do your homework and make a list of the places you ant to eat, or might like to eat. Thy tend to fill up fast, especially a few months before your arrival! The way we thought about it is - we made the ADR's (abbreviation for Advanced Dining Resservation) with the undestanding that we could always call oce we were oour vacation and cancel them or try to change. But when we were there, they reservation spots had filled up fast nd only 8:30PM+ was left at most places!! We were glad we made our ADR's. I have a "schedule" or plan that we made up for our family for our trip a few weeks ago if you would liek to see it!? PM me your email address and I can send it to you ((or anyone else out there reading this)) if you would like. It wasnt anythng set in stone, more or less a game plan so we stayed on track and got the most of our Disney Vacation!!

(we don't have huge budget for the trip, so I would like to find some affordable options). ** Thats the great thing about Disney - you can find a vacationto fit about any budget!! A great thing that we did once we booked our trips was Disney Gift Cards. Whenever family asked what we/the kids wanted for Christmas, birthdays... we said Disney Dollarsor Disney gift cards. You can get them online or at Disney Stores. They were great and gave the kids the own "spending money"; us to for that metter. In hind-sight, i wish we had just transferred all the balances to our room account, rather than keeping track of what card had $X dollars and so on and so forth. Just an idea!

I have a million questions and I am so happy to find this board, you guys seem so helpful!** I hope this is helpful info and not too overwhelming!!?? Feel free to ask any questions,I will do my best to help!! God luck and make it magical!!

 

[all4fun]

Yes,

How many days would you spend at Disney w/ a 4 year old?
I agree that 5 days would be a minimum, especially if you want to hit every park. Remember when it comes to park passes, the longer you stay, the less expensive the ticket gets "per day". This only applies to the park passes though, not to accommodations. For instance, a 6 day adult pass is only about $2-3 more than a 5 day pass according to the prices listed on mousesavers.

Would you stay on site? Do any of the on site hotels have kitchens in them?
We are DVC (vacation club) members so we always stay on site. We have done both though. Since you're planning on renting a car, you might find accomodations just outside the gates (within a mile or so) that are more affordable. If you stay off site, you will not be able to take advantage of extra magic hours or the disney dining plan. We love being in a "villa" with a full kitchen, washer & dryer, and all the basic comforts of home. If you're not a DVC member you can rent points for a bargain or you can pay Disney to stay in a villa (but that is VERY expensive). All Stars resorts (I think it's the Music resort) does have family villas that are more affordable. The Fort Wilderness campground just outside of MK also has cabins you can rent. Allearsnet.com here has more comprehensive info about the resorts as well as pics.

Is it best to book this trip early or do specials come up as it gets closer?
Not sure about deals in March. I would keep an eye on Mousesavers.com According to THIS page when deals come available is somewhat unpredictable. I recommend checking that link for more in depth information about finding deals.

Where is the best place to book? AAA, etc.?
We also used Dreamsunlimited.com (sponsor for this site) for one trip (we weren't staying on DVC points that trip) and I would recommend them. They were very helpful, made all our ADR reservations for us, sent us a spreadsheet with everything we had reserved on it. We even made several changes to our plans leading up to the date of our arrival and our agent happily made those changes for us. It was a very pleasant experience and we felt we got a good deal through them too.

Again, I recommend the mousesavers site. Sign up for the free newsletter. There are deals advertised in the monthly email that are not posted on the website. The newsletter comes out on the 15th of every month.

Where do you buy tickets to the park?
You can buy tickets in advance if you give yourself enough time. My parents came with us on one of our more recent trips and bought tickets through undercovertourist.com which I recommend. They got a very good deal. You can check out other options for buying passes HERE.

Any suggestions on what to do at Disney?
I would highly recommend getting a planning book like the Unofficial guide to Walt Disney World, or the Passporter book. We've used both and mainly use the Passporter now but the UOG is a great book too. UOG is more irreverent to Disney (the author has a somewhat sarcastic sense of humor and doesn't surgar coat things just because he's writing about Disney). The official site for the UOG is touring plans (one word) dot com.
I can't stress this enough, Buying a touring book before our very first trip was the best $15 we ever spent!! Of course, this site is also VERY helpful as well. The one thing the books have are touring plans which we found extremely helpful. You can come here and ask questions about what you read and even get help with tweaking your plans depending on the time of year you're going.

hth!

 

[trivial]

For someone starting out with no knowledge of Walt Disney World, I also would recommend picking up a book -- I recommend PassPorter's Walt Disney World. The DIS Boards are an amazing source of information, but it's handy to have a book to give you the basics.

 

[britfish]

You guys have already been so helpful! This is so funny, but I found you guys before I found the Disney site, so thanks for the link!
Just a few more questions
Do most people buy a dining plan?
Is it worth the extra money to stay at a moderate hotel over the budget hotel?
thank you again for all your help, that is interesting to know how little the extra days will cost for the tickets, looks like you guys have helped me decide on a week long vacation!

 

[Grendalynn]

Just a few more questions
Do most people buy a dining plan?
Is it worth the extra money to stay at a moderate hotel over the budget hotel?
thank you again for all your help, that is interesting to know how little the extra days will cost for the tickets, looks like you guys have helped me decide on a week long vacation!

I think you wil hear many who like the Dining and many who dont. And many on the fence... We were on the fence and decided to try the DDP (Disney Dining Plan). We LOVED IT!! Our kids were young enough that they qualified at kids (10 you are at an adult price) so we opted to try it now before it cost us a lot of $$. We loved loved loved it! And will do it again next time. It is mr time consuming sitting down for every meal, but you eat like a king and dont have to pay huge attention to your budget and meal costs because you have "pretty much" already paid for it ((minus tips and alcohol)).
I vote for Moderate!! Closer than the values but not so pricey as the Delux. And once you go deluxe,its hard to go back to Moderates...Right in the middle

 

[TexasMinnie82]

I recommend getting the Passporter book as well. Our first trip is coming up and the book REALLY helped me out.

Also, anytime you have a question, just post here on the boards, you will get more than enough answers!!!!!!!

 

[Aliceacc]

Hi and welcome!

This may help you get started: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1715551

 

[all4fun]

You guys have already been so helpful! This is so funny, but I found you guys before I found the Disney site, so thanks for the link!
Just a few more questions
Do most people buy a dining plan?
Is it worth the extra money to stay at a moderate hotel over the budget hotel?
thank you again for all your help, that is interesting to know how little the extra days will cost for the tickets, looks like you guys have helped me decide on a week long vacation!

Dining plan: check out the DDP FAQ on the restaurant forum. It will answer a lot of questions you may have about that. We find that DDP saves us a lot of money. We are DVC'rs who have a kitchen but like to eat out for the most part. If you can swing a place with a kitchen and want to save $$ on meals then you could probably eat cheaper if you prepare most of your own meals so it depends on how you vacation. You can go to www.allearsnet.com, look at the menus, and get an idea for how much food costs at WDW.

We stayed at All Stars Movies once and did not really like it too much. But again, we are used to staying at the Boardwalk, a DVC resort, which is semi-deluxe and really close to two parks, so going from that to a value that is located further from the parks was a big leap for us. Having said that, some people really love the Values! It depends on what you're expecting from your accommodations. For us, we have decided that if we ever pay cash on a trip again, we'll probably spring for a moderate over a value because we do prefer slightly "plusher" (for lack of a better word) accommodations. You can see pics of the resorts, inside and out, on allearsnet.com. That may help you decide where you prefer to stay. Also take into consideration that you will have a rental car so you won't be stuck using the bus transportation if it turns out to be a bigger hassle. That was my biggest complaint when we stayed at ASMo - the busses were always crowded and it was a fairly long ride (IMO) from the parks to the resort. That was a trip we decided not to rent a car because of the cost factor but it would have been really nice to have one.

hth!