your best Disney decision

[Puffy2]

Best decisions:
1 staying onsite - contemporary club,Polynesian club, swan , animal kingdom lodge, rented points for Boardwalk.
2. Character meals - crystal palace, cry
3 $12 photo for souvenir
4 leaving whiney now ex husband at home
5 arriving at rope drop.
6 planning out touring and most meals in advance.
7 renting a mouseboat
8 going in Sept or early nov

Worst decisions:
1 wilderness lodge, yacht club club and riverside royal room (just did not like these stays.
2 chef mickeys, garden grill...Or is it grove...liberty tree tavern
3 December trip
4 splitting hotel stay on a 4 day trip
5 not knowing where things were in a park
6 not being prepared well enough for rain.

 

[kangaroodle]

buying DVC! Wish we did it a long time ago.

Our best idea too! And we DID buy it along time ago! We bought it in 1995---only $59/point plus free park passes till 2000! Our kids are now 18 and 16.....MANY fun vacations!

 

[AllieBoo]

Staying at the Yacht Club! I wasn't sure if the extra cost would be worth it, so I did a split stay at CBR to offset the cost. We were so dissatisfied with CBR that we could not wait to get out of there; the Yacht Club was so much nicer, and we are officially hooked on staying deluxe now!

 

[snowwhite84]

Going for my 30th birthday! It turned into an engagement trip

 

[Planogirl]

Staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's a great resort and we will be back there and at Port Orleans Riverside someday.

Otherwise, I'm so glad that we mostly stay offsite now. I love having the space and amenities and trying new places is fabulous. We stayed at Caribe Royale earlier this year and this is a nice place with a great location and we saved quite a bit of money too.

We also started driving regularly. The last time onsite we rented a car for part of the trip and rode buses the rest of the time. We really missed that car!

 

[DatFan]

Our first December trip(1st week)! The Christmas decor was perfect and the weather gave us warm days and cool nights! It was the kind of trip where everything seemed to magically fall together... Great memories for our family.

 

[kathy884]

(1) Using the Unofficial Guide and later when online was available www.touringplans.com to plan park days with a large group. There is no way in blank I would have ever traveled to Orlando high season without this and the great advise that actually makes the parks fun when crowds are pretty heavy. There is also no way I would have been able to tolerate going with so many people and having major discussions about what to do next. We pick what the core group is going to do ahead of time with these to which is heaven with a big group.

(2) Offsite condo owner rentals -- very affordable with a large group and great for extended family visiting. If it weren't for this, Orlando for us wouldn't be that great a value and we wouldn't have come down so many different times

(3) Coming one night early if you have a seminar at the Contemporary -- We got a freebie upgrade at the convention rate to a Tower room with a fantastic balcony view. // Heavenly place to stay, but not for retail with my own money (just doesn't fit in my vacation budget, especially if I'm looking for a week vacation not just a couple of days).

These things helped get me down to Orlando a ton over the last several decades.

 

[Jennasis]

D. V. C.

 

[Disnsyncey]

Yes, it is hilarious how some things are best for some and worst for others! We drive to Disney, because we live in Florida, but we stay onsite and use the buses for everything! It wouldn't be Disney without staying onsite, and I would hate having to deal with a car while there!

Even though I love POFQ, trying out the All Stars and Pop was a great idea, because we don't use the hotel for anything besides sleeping, showering, and sometimes a meal, so paying for all the extras and not using them was a bad use of our money......going in September and 2 of our nights at All Star Sports are $74! WOO!

 

[han22735]

I wish I knew about buying DVC through resale years ago...

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

1) using Touringplans.com and The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World

2) buying 10 day no expire hoppers with WPF&M to use over 4 trips (very economical when combined with a stay in our timeshare, driving from Va to Florida and using Disney giftcards purchased at Kroger during 4x fuel points for food)

OR

3) free dining with ticket package when we stay onsite

4) Truly our best decision - mid day breaks for naps (Our 1st trip with pre teens we tried to go from open to close. It didn't work. Everyone got too tired and cranky, and we were all done by 7:30 PM. We missed ALL the night time shows and fireworks except MK. My normally sleepy teens will not miss rope drop at WDW. So now we rope drop, stay until after lunch, take an afternoon nap and then go back for dinner and all the evening shows, fireworks and rides. We get the best of both worlds!)

 

[Mome Rath]

1) Staying onsite
2) As budget allows, try all different onsite hotels (still workin' it)
3) As budget allows, go different times of the year
4) Kona cafe breakfast

 

[Eoywin]

Waiting until my DD was nearly 5 to take our first trip - for us it was the perfect age!

Also staying on site!

 

[Magpie]

BEST decision: Leaving the kids at home, and going on adult only trips with my husband.

Good decisions: Staying onsite, and convincing my husband to give the busses a try instead of renting a car.

And, because it was time, ditching the Touring Plans subscription, no longer buying the Unofficial Guides, and going all free and easy with EasyWDW. But, TP and UG were great decisions at the time. My touring style had just evolved past them.

 

[tnd]

Renting a car even when staying onsite. We started staying at AoA because we liked the space, but were not in love with the busses (especially waiting in the August heat). We rented a car two years ago and it was great, so now we always do it. We take long mid-day breaks and the car is great for getting back and forth, other than to MK, where I think it is a push compared to the bus. We also like to go to Target and get snacks, drinks and supplies, so it is convenient.

 

[dkrauss]

In April 2014 we went to the NJ Dis meet and met Kathy Werling. During the podcast she spoke about ADR's and TS meals and how they can be over done. She pointed out that if you want to spend all your time in a restaurant you'll be missing out on so much at WDW. We took that advice to heart.........backed off our 3 ADR a day plan..........inserted a couple of QS meals and low and behold .........our Sept 2014 trip was spent doing more tourning and much less sitting and racing to a restaurant Saved money too!

Doug

 

[texasroni75]

Staying onsite
Memory Maker
Exploring all the great CS locations (yes, there is more than chicken nuggets and pizza out there!)
Park hoppers (we use them every day)

 

[chris springer]

Taking my father to WDW for his first time as a family ( my brother, sister and father) with all of our families. We paid for everything and rented a scooter for him, at first he was very cautious and thought he could walk the parks (he's 78 years young). But one day at Animal Kingdom he said that the scooter was a great idea. Fun was had by all!

 

[JanieMc]

Forgoing the under-construction Poly last year for the Contemporary. It was our first trip with our then 5-year-old twins and walking to MK absolutely couldn't be beat. 2) This probably won't make anyone's list, and I agree with those who are onto the ADR's because to me, fun dining helps make a trip, but purchasing the Memory Maker photo package was a great decision. Those things are often such a rip-off, but we were so pleased with how our pics turned out. Lots of candid, beautiful moments their photogs got--including our son's impromptu bow to Belle. #magic!!!
I was so impressed and happy to have my hands free while Disney snapped the great pics. (Guys, sorry this pool pic got posted twice. I don't know how to fix it... :/ )

 

[revdon64]

Telling my DW that I would go to WDW when she asked me where I would go if I could go anywhere in the world and have fun. She was hoping for Ireland or Israel! She wasn't particularly a Disfan like I was. She is now!