Posted on 04/04/2012 6:52:33 AM PDT by RangerM
Thinking about surprising the family with a Disney trip later in the year (around October), but haven't been there before.
Anyone have any suggestions? Did you (would you) stay on the Disney property itself? If so, where and would you recommend/avoid it?
I've been on the website, and they have packages available, but while I'm not looking to spend myself into oblivion, I'm not looking to go at bottom dollar either.
Us too! Many times we couldn't afford Disney so we went to Knotts. I loved the wild west gunfight show.
We always bought some Knott's jam as it wasn't available in stores at the time.
sadly it was posted here that the homosexual marriage in the military types are going to be having a conference at shades of green. (posted here on FR) So that would not be a family friendly time to go there. IOW it is not a child safe time to be there.
No I got it but knowing the area it just made me chuckle.... no ding intended
Time is money at WDW. Look at the web sites others have mentioned. If you are military, look for deals on tickets and Shades of Green and even deals at Disney Resorts. Stay on property if you can afford it. We always take a trip around to visit the resorts because they’re fun by themselves. You can save money by not eating at the parks or resorts. Again, do eat there if you can afford it. The character breakfasts are fun for little ones. Be careful of becoming a DW Ranger. We were sitting in The Tiki Birds (it’s called something else now) when I noticed everyone was looking at us and laughing. My wife and two teenaged girls were conked out. They needed a vacation after our DW vacation. It’s good to plan, but when you get there, sit back and let the magic happen. Check to see what is shut down during the time you’ll be there. Stuff requires maintenance and I’ve seen people really angry because they came to ride a certain ride and it was shut down for maintenance. I fought with Disney over the homosexual stuff and there’s not much they can do about it. There is a gay week and just avoid it. Avoid the cheerleader week, too.
Throw the baby out with the bath water..?? That homo stuff is everywhere. Hold your nose vote with your feet, move where it ain’t. Much luck amigo. Shades of Green is a great deal for service folks, even flakey ones.
What Broker said. If you have qualifying military service, your first stop should be the link that Broker gave.
Find out when Gay Day is, and plan accordingly.
(And if they now have a Muslim Day, or other day for another group that is above criticism, plan for that too.)
ML/NJ
The rooms are very clean, and if you have kids, the maid service often does little extra things like making bunny rabbits out of towels. Silly, but hey, you are at Disney. The resort themes just carry the Disney experience one step farther too. My favorite is the Wilderness Lodge, but I also very much enjoyed Port Orleans French Quarter. The Swan and Dolphin hotels are both nice, but more like standard upscale hotels. The pools are great, and once again, are Disney themed - i.e. a slide is not just a slide - its a dragon.
Food is a major cost factor you shouldn't overlook. The meal plans worked well for my large-ish family, were very, very convenient, and the food was quite good, too. If you have little ones, a character meal is a lot of fun too. Little girls will always remember having breakfast at a real castle with real Disney princesses.
One last thing to keep in mind is that the parks are enormous and involve a lot of walking. Sometimes it is nice to take a break during the heat of the day, and go for a swim at your hotel. Its as easy as taking a 10 minute bus ride to get back to your room. This would be a hassle to do if you stay offsite.
Do I sound upbeat about Disney? That's because I'm taking my wife and kids there in two weeks. ;)
Throw the baby out with the bath water..?? That homo stuff is everywhere. Hold your nose vote with your feet, move where it ain’t. Much luck amigo. Shades of Green is a great deal for service folks, even flakey ones.
Throw the baby out with the bath water..?? That homo stuff is everywhere. Hold your nose vote with your feet, move where it ain’t. Much luck amigo. Shades of Green is a great deal for service folks, even flakey ones.
agreed just stay away that weekend
2) Plan nights - switch a night where it's you and your ten year old, another one where it's your wife and your ten year old at the park - the five year old probably won't be doing so great by that point, and you're going to want to have them off park in the evening. I tend to use off-park restaurants (make reservations!) and always have a AAA card or whatnot for any discount they happen to offer.
3) Park hopping is for those who know exactly what they want to do. If you can plan out your stay to the minute, that's great, but I'd stick to one park per day tickets.
4) Disney is pretty accommodating - if you think that ‘hey, I want to go another day’, they will alter tickets and passes so long as you've bought directly from them (or a gift card.) If you bought it on eBay or from a ticket stand, you're out of luck on this. That extra day might be as little as $20, or a conversion to a park hopper of only $10 per ticket.
5) Magic Mornings are worth a mint.
I haven’t been in years but when my daughter and her family went three two years ago(kids were 7, 8 and 10).., they had to leave early because my son in law was on the verge of losing his mind.
If you go, my advice is to keep it short...no more than three days. Think loud speaker voices herding you onto the next Pluto tram.
and bring your own veggies! cuz my daughter said there is no healthy food in the magic kingdom.
I think the best advice is on mousesavers.com.
If you’re doing a pure disney trip with disney every day then get a package that includes park hopper tickets (”magic your way package” or the “Magic Your Way Package Plus Dining”)
This link has fantastic and concise advice. It tells you the windows for various special deals. There is also a “room-only” equivalent link of this link:
http://www.mousesavers.com/packages.html#summer
Orlando is shockingly hot/humid in summer but you can work around it fine with mid-day nap or hotel pool. If you have the flexibility it is nicer to go after September to avoid worst of the heat.
If you want to eat at a nice restaurant on-property it’s very much worth the hassle of making a reservation well in advance.
You’ll have more fun on homosexual day.
“that” Disney weekend must be avoided, HELL on earth.
Disneyland is run by Homosexuals, Communist and socialist, and they hire illegal aliens to clean their hotels/restaurants etc. In fact, you’ll find the areas surrounding their amusement parks have been trashed by illegals, who work for them and or the surrounding restaurants/hotels.
Avoid it at all cost.
i find it amusing that cast members at disnyLAND dislike cast members at disneyWORLD. In case no one have ever seen disneyland, it is much much smaller and less sophisticated.
To be honest, ya couldn’t take me to an amusement park if ya gave me free passes, flew me in for free, and provided a complementary limo.
Venues with jam packed crowds, loud obnoxious tourists, extreme waiting lines, and sky high prices are not real appealing to me.
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