Disney Florida

[Felldownabackdonhole]

DPs parents have offered to pay for us to go to Disney in Florida next year (they are coming too). This would otherwise be well out of our price range. We will need to pay for flights and spending money (it will be in a Disney hotel so we get some food vouchers).

I have heard that if you are going to Disney World you need to plan it like a military operation. How much do we need to save? What are the best things to do ( 2 DC age 4)? It seems so massive I don’t know where to start.

[AddsVsGeorgs]

Alot of money

[anguauberwaldironfoundersson]

Florida tix for best ticket prices. You need between £750 and £1000 per person for tickets. We went in September/October so paid for the Halloween event nights at universal and Disney too.

With regards to the best days to go to parks, o literally made a spread sheet and googled the quiets days in the parks and marked them red/amber/green. We managed to always go on quiet days.

There are loads of Facebook sites and web pages with info on. You need to google like a maniac.

[Felldownabackdonhole]

@AddsVsGeorgs

Alot of money

Well I know that.

I was hoping to hear from someone who had been.

[Notgoingonholiday]

We're waiting for flights to come out for next year, we are holding our breath as we expect them to be v expensive (we have been to Florida several times, though don't really do Disney). Hopefully we'll be wrong but seeing as your flights are not being paid for just be prepared.

[Cheermonger]

Join the Dibb - just Google it! We are Disney mad, or we were!! I’ve got a spreadsheet I’m happy to share ha ha. Ticket prices are insane but it’s literally your whole entertainment so when you work out a pp hourly rate it almost feels good value!

[Felldownabackdonhole]

That is good advice about Googling the days that will be busy.

I fear that the flights will be a lot as basically they are having 3 years worth of people coming in one year.

[CornishGem1975]

It's a pain but yes, to get the best out of it, you DO need to plan it like a military operation. Bookable fast passes, Disney Dining...all need to be done months in advance or else you'll miss out. This means you need an itinerary and an idea of where you want to go on which day.

Research the restaurants you want to go to, the rides that are a priority etc

It sounds anal but actually, it works really well and makes for a better holiday as there are so many good restaurants and things to do at Disney. I've done it once where I completely winged it and twice where it was planned.

Re flights, I always budget £1k per person in peak time - no idea what COVID will have done to that. You can save some money if you go indirect but the hassle and time it adds to an already long journey just wasn't worth it for me.

[underneaththeash]

Which Disney hotel are you staying in?
Which dining package do you have?
When are you going?

It’s best to have a plan as then you spend significantly less time queueing.

[Notgoingonholiday]

Also, if you can get out and about when you're there, do it! There is soooo much more to Florida than the parks (but appreciate the holiday is based at Disney for you).

[scaffoldingtheworld]

Get a note book and plan. Plan more, book everything then plan again.

If you put the effort in before it will be a good holiday but if you just turn up without planning, it will be hell.

Staying onsite is good, particularly if you can get free dining. Saves driving, car hire and parking costs.

Get the Disney calendar and plan park days around what park has extra magic hours, particularly when you’ve got jet lag in the first few days. No point hanging around waiting in magic kingdom opening if animal kingdom is open with extra magic hours. You need to book fast passes and dining well in advance. Get the Disney app when you’ve booked.

[Returnoftheowl]

Are you paying for your food?

I'd recommend the Disboards as a decent Disney holiday forum to have a look at.

[scaffoldingtheworld]

Oh and yes, the DIBB website is good as are a few of the Facebook paces such as Disney and Orlando for Brits.

[Sully84]

If you are on Facebook there are groups set up for this sort of thing, we went a few years ago and I found some groups really helpful for putting together an itinerary. We had an amazing time. If it runs the same as pre covid if you get fast passes (given so many free per day) you need to plan to book these as soon as they open booking…so you want to plan what parks you will be at and which rides are the most popular and better to use the fast passes on. There are people you can follow on you tube who can fill you in on a lot of planning too….Maybe googling who to follow would help?
Also we pre booked a princess experience for our daughter where she had her hair/basic make up done by a ‘fairy godmother’ and an outfit. Was expensive but worth it. Popular restaurants especially ones with characters to meet definitely need to be pre booked.
If you are staying at a Disney hotel travel is really easy between parks. And the water parks are good for chilled out days.
We had an amazing time. If we go again I will definitely plan even better to make sure we get more out of the experience. Good luck.

[Felldownabackdonhole]

This is all amazingly helpful. We are going to stay in the Caribbean Resort. We would like to do a show and Character dining.

I am only just realising how massive it is. There is a Toy Story Land in Hollywood Studios and the kids are obsessed with Toy Story (Star Wars is also there).

What is the food line in the resort?

[Felldownabackdonhole]

I am amazed there are so many Disney forums but I might as well join them all.

[Nowmum43]

We were at Caribbean beach two years ago and it was amazing, you'll have the sky liner now too.
Watch lots of vlogs on YouTube.
Ones I'd recommend are:
Adam Hattan
Jade Billington (her 2019 one she stays at CBR)
Disney in detail

We did Crystal Palace which we loved and 1900 park (I think!) at grand Floridian but didn't rate that one.

Do lots of research and with 2 littler ones make sure you have lots of breaks. I'd do a park in the morning and then back to the hotel for swim and rest and then a different park in the evening.

But most of all enjoy. We are hoping to go back next year as we loved it so much

[raspberryjamlove]

Was just going to say the dibb! I recommend reading the trip reports a sit gives you a great insight to what others do and how they plan their holidays. Being a bit organised really does make it a much better holiday, lots of great tips on these forums. You will have an amazing time enjoy the planning it's half the fun :)

[Umbongoumbongo999]

What are your ILs paying for? Just the hotel, or the hotel and park tickets with dining plan. At Caribbean Beach the dining plan will be quick serve meals (breakfast or burger and fries type things) that you can use in the hotel, other resort hotels or any of the parks. You will get snack credits that can be used on ice creams, candy etc. The dining plan also includes resort mugs which enable you to get hot drinks or soft drinks unlimited in your resort hotel only.

The flights will be £££ if you are going in school holidays. We have spent between £550 and £900 pp.

Spending money is as much or as little as you need. With small kids it is often easier to give them cereal, fruit etc in the hotel room for breakfast and use your dining credits for other meals.


If you are paying out of pocket, the character meals and dining experiences can really add up. If this is definitely something you want to do a few times it may be worth upgrading your quick service dining plan to the regular disney dining plan that includes sit down meals inc character dining. Since your dcs are pretty young I think it would probably be a better way to see the characters in a planned way without having to queue. I highly recommend the Winnie the Pooh Crystal Palace breakfast 😀

Are you renting a car or taking Disney transport? If you take a car you will need to budget for parking which is around $15per day which can soon add up.

Also, dont forget tips are expected on any table service places, at 15-20%

[YellowClouds]

My advice would be don't plan it like a military operation. Definitely do some research and have an idea of the things you want to do/see/eat but don't get too bogged down in the planning.

The first time we went we did that, had big plans, each day mapped out, fast passes planned and we were exhausted and crabby and it became a bit like hard work - not to say we didn't have a good time as we did.

Next time we had no real plans, had days outside the parks, just came home and slumped with pizza or a McDonald's if we were tired and it was a much more chilled out enjoyable experience.

My top tip would be don't try to do it all.

[Yellredder]

Never planned much when we’ve been to Florida, and always had an amazing time! I’d say not to just limit yourself to being at Disney Parks - there’s so much more to see!

[silkience]

I have been op - 12 times!

Firstly - no dining plan being advertised for next year. What are your in laws actually covering? The cost of park tickets and onsite food for a family of four is huge, £3k easily. There is an offer at the moment where you get a "dining credit" when you book Disney accommodation, but this will go nowhere close to covering your meals if you eat on site.

I highly recommend you start by exploring The Dibb website, there you will find all the info you need, plus friendly helpful advice.

I love WDW (clearly! 😂) it really is an incredible experience, but I agree planning is key, now more than ever.

Feel free to pm me

[Felldownabackdonhole]

We are going through the offer so it is dining credit we get rather than a meal plan. I don’t really understand the difference but I realise there is one.

They would absolutely love the Winnie the Pooh breakfast as he is one of their favourites.

I don’t want to plan too much for each day as they will get tired. When we go on days out at the moment we still take the pushchair, they might be a bit big for that in a years time.

[scaffoldingtheworld]

@Felldownabackdonhole

We are going through the offer so it is dining credit we get rather than a meal plan. I don’t really understand the difference but I realise there is one.

They would absolutely love the Winnie the Pooh breakfast as he is one of their favourites.

I don’t want to plan too much for each day as they will get tired. When we go on days out at the moment we still take the pushchair, they might be a bit big for that in a years time.

I’d still take a push chair or consider buying or hiring one when you are there. They will get tired and hot. What time of year are you going?

Re the planning, I personally think the next few years, while Disney catch up one the thousands of holidays that have been cancelled so far get re-booked that the parks have potential to be at capacity. If you want to do any rides without queueing for hours, you need to plan and research booking those. Ditto restaurants, parades and shows. We aren’t going until 2025 because of this. We were going next year.

[tryingtocatchthewind]

At the minute there are still a lot of Covid restrictions (no proper character meets, no fast passes) so definitely keep your eye on thedibb and Facebook groups to see when these things start up again. It’s possible next year will be different from previous years.
Staying at the Caribbean Beach will give you around $800 dollars dining credits for two weeks. The average quick/ counter service meal (like a McDonalds) is around $14 and a sit down meal can be around $50 so you will need to top up those credits.

We’re going in May and the flights are around £600 each so it’s not as crazy as I thought.

You’ll have a fabulous time!

[MarcelineMissouri]

100% use a pushchair - you can hire them quite cheaply from outside the park. 2019 was the first year we didn’t use one for my eldest and he was nearly 8! It is truly for everyone’s benefit and very handy for putting all your shopping on too