Alright, my blog reading peeps, I need your help or advice.
We are planning a trip to Disney World. Who's been there? It's a little overwhelming planning it all! We are trying to weigh all our options: what resort? park hopper pass? dining plan?
Let me just say this - we are simple people. Our kids love to stay in a hotel. We could stay in the Hampton Inn and they'd be happy. I would be, too. I love to stay in hotels. I'd rather stay in a hotel with a free breakfast, then stay in the Marriot where you have to buy your breakfast and get the same kind of food. Plus, I love hotel waffles. So, all that to say, where have you stayed at Disney? We are planning on staying in a Disney resort just for easy access to the parks.
Now, the park hopper pass - is it really worth it? Our kids are 7 and 5. We are wondering if they'd even be able to keep up if we were to hop to different parks every day we are there.
Okay, dining plan - WHO KNEW FOOD COULD BE SO STINKIN' EXPENSIVE?!?! We are not big eaters and we've also heard that if you get the Dining Plan, you get a desert with every quick service and table service meal. Now, who really eats dessert after every lunch and dinner? I know we don't. So what's your advice on that? We do want to do a couple character meals and realize that those can be pretty pricey. But we don't want to have all this extra credit for meals when we leave.
What were your favorite character meals? Also trying to decide on that!
So, I need your advice. Ready? Go. Comment.
4 comments:
We did get the park hopper pass. There were a couple of parks (EPCOT was one) where my 4 year old just didn't have enough to keep her interested all day---so it was nice to spend the morning there, and then go to the Magic Kingdom the rest of the day. Also, we had several days that we spent the day at one park, and the evening at another. So, worth it for us. On the dining plan, we did do it, and honestly not sure if it was worth it b/c I have never NOT gotten it. On the dessert thing, we chose something like a cookie and then stored it away in our backpack for a snack instead of having to buy an expensive snack in the gift shops. So, there are creative ways to make your dining plan work for you. We also used a "snack" credit that you get on the dining plan and bought OJ for the next morning to eat with breakfast. (I shipped bfast food ahead of time so that we would not have to buy that.)
So fun!
We went about two weeks ago and had such a great time. Our trip was easy, hassle and stress free and we had to spend minimal money once we were there.
Here is what we did:
~Park Hopper: Yes. But there was only one day of the five that we actually utilized it. I don't know that I would do this again. Also, you can add this once you are there if you decide that you think it's necessary.
~Meal Plan: Yes. All of our friends who had gone before recommended this. You might think it's pricy, but purchasing a meal outside of this, you will spend more. Food is pricey there. We did the *Disney Recommended* plan. It was perfect. Plus, we didn't have to stress about carrying around a ton of money for a meal or stretching our money.
~Character meals: Yes. With the dining plan you can call ahead of time and schedule a character meal everyday. They are so fun and my kids looked forward to each one. We did Chef Mickey, Akershus (princess dinner), Donald's Safari breakfast, and Crystal Palace (Winnie the Pooh). All were fun.
~We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. You might check, sometimes the resorts that are a bit more in price will offer incentives making the package cost less than it would staying at a cheaper resort.
~Check out tourguidemike.com It was recommended to me. It's helpful.
~Another thing that was great was the Disney transportation to and from the airport. You sign up for it and they send you luggage tags. You check your baggage at the airport and don't see it agin until you get to your hotel. Same for going home. It's a must.
~Last advice: a stroller. Preferably a double stroller. It will be your best friend and save you from carrying children.
Happy Planning!
Also, I felt very overwhelmed when planning our trip and even when we got there I wondered if I had done things right. I really had no idea what I was doing and just made choices. It all seems to work out in the end though and your family will think you are fabulous for pulling off a super vacation!
Let me know if you have other questions that I can help with.
I heard a travel advisor recommend Disney cruises if you want the Disney experience on a smaller mor intimate scale. I've never been on a cruise, much less a Disney one, but I figured I'd mention it just in case it sounds inviting. :-) Good luck!
We are big Disney fans, and actually joined the Disney Vacation Club, which enables us to stay in DVC resorts. (Kind of like a time share, only not.)
Anyway, I would definitely recommend the dining plan. Even if you don't eat a lot, you never have to worry about food. You can even use your swipe card and buy an ice cream in the parks for a snack! At the end of our trip we had several "snacks" left on our card, so we just went into the convenience store at our hotel and stocked up on snack items for the plane ride home! It was great! The down side of the meal plan is that food is wasted. The last time we went out kids were't quite big enough to require an appetizer at every dinner, as well as dessert! But the awesome thing about it was we ordered stuff we'd never usually order, and got to taste a wide variety of foods!
The hopper pass was awesome, because, like some have already said, you might want to catch different things in different parks on the same day! We always did a park in the morning, went back to the hotel and took naps, then went out in the afternoon to another park! Sometimes we had reservations for dinner at a totally different park, so we'd hit three parks in one day, but never felt like we had to do it all when we were there, because we could always go back.
You'll definitely want to plan character dinners. Our favorite was Cinderella at the Grand Floridian. :)
It does cost a ton for a Disney Vacation, but it's worth it if you stay at a Disney resort, and use their transportation. Plus, you only give your kids a completely magical trip to Disney once...you might as well go all out and do it the first time! (We went when our kids were 4, 7, and 11. It was the perfect age!) We haven't been back since, but have used our Disney Vacation Club points at different resorts all over the US.
:)
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