Disney World Florida

[Sparklyglitter]

Hi All,

We are trying to plan a trip to Disney World, for us this is likely to be the once in a lifetime, so I am wanting it to be special.
To be honest though I just don't know where to start...
I've looked on loads of websites, but what I really want is advice about the various options e.g:
To stay on site or not - pros and cons
To stay on site for a week and move somewhere cheaper for the second week and to see the town and other attractions...
What the restaurant are like at various restaurants...is a bun fight?
Anyone know about not eating dairy, gluten and meat at Disney and whether this works??
Thanks any help gratefully received.

*Sorry what the restaurants are like at the on-site hotels are they a bun fight?

You need the Dibb website where experienced Disney goers will answer all your questions on the forums.
The restaurants are not like a bun fight, food is much better than Disneyland Paris. They are very food allergies conscious.
We did 9 days Disneyworld and didn't manage everything, is huge.
When you say see the town, which town do you mean?

Use this website to help you plan

allears.net

We are seasoned Disney go-ers. We always stay on site and never hire a car. You get transfers to your hotel included and then all transport is included around the Disney area. Taxis from Disney Springs/Marketplace/Downtown Disney area to Universal/World of Adventures/Gatorland/Outlet Mall are reasonably priced and will cost you less than the insurances on the car hire, fuel and hassle trying to negotiate around Orlando by yourselves. These are all much smaller attractions than any of the Disney parks and much easier to get around in 1 day.
You can book fast passes and restaurants further in advance if you are on property which is a real plus if you're travelling in peak season. There are a range of price options within Disney accommodation. The cheaper Disney resorts have slightly longer bus rides to the parks and more rooms to pool ratio types but also have bigger food courts with more options. The standard of service is excellent throughout as is the comfort of Disney accommodation. The pricier resorts usually have a walkway to at least one park sometimes 2 which means you can get there/home quicker on the busy days at peak time.

Hello
I also vote for staying on site - you can get extra hours in the park and you save lots of travel time and grief (if you drive in you have to pay for parking) . Free transport from Orlando international airport to site
You get to use the magic band system which is great. Travel around site is very easy. Can fast pass busy rides
If it's once in a lifetime you get much better use of the parks

Get the dining plan if you can and booking does make life easier - although I will book a few less popular things whilst we are there - some restaurants are impossible to get in without pre booking (be our guest)

Now Disney are fab for allergies (we are GF) and I know there is a dairy/gluten free blog I have read - they take it very seriously and you will speak to a lot of chefs!

Meat free is a bit more variable- I know my veggie friend struggles in certain parks (she's allergic to beans also) - but you can research and lots of menus online

Disney holidays benefit from a lot planning before - but when you are there it's very relaxing

We stay on site with dining plan and spend very little once there (taxes on table service meals) esp if you are clever with your allowances
You can save a lot on flights if you are willing to change airports

Ask anything else you think of!

How many of you are there going? That makes a big difference in suggestions as to where to stay,

And at what time of year?

And are you willing to do indirect flights - this will often save you money, but its not for me at all. I know some are happy to do so though.

We've recently come back from our 8th visit to WDW and we have stayed in a mix of villas as well as a couple of Disney hotels and Hard Rock hotel.

We had the dining plan for the first time this year which worked out well (it was free with our package) and regardless of where we stay we always get a car - its pretty cheap overall to hire over there and gives you more flexibility. We did try the bus once day but didn't like the waiting around.

Friends are there at the moment and their son is dairy and egg free, but as far as I know they are managing well over there. The US in general often manages the range of different 'free from' type diets pretty well. I don't eat meat but manage fine over there.

A Disney holiday to WDW does benefit from a far bit of advance planning - it makes your time there a lot less stressful.

Wow! Thanks guys! I will check out those sites.
There are four of us going two adults and two children, so we are pretty standard travellers.
Do you just do Disney when you go or do you try and do some of the other parks? We are thinking of going for 14 nights, we were thinking about going in the Easter holidays, but are flexible?
Is there a better time in the year to go?
Thanks.

Nowaways we only go for a week out of season and we don't the four Disney parks and the two Universal ones.

When we go for a fortnight we do the water parks too and revisit some of the bigger parks. We also tend to do a day at the space centre and/or a day at the closest coast.Years ago we went to sea world but won't now. Never done Busch Gardens as further away but going to there separately this summer as part of a bigger holidays.

Easter is fantastic weather wise but Easter weekend is one of the busiest times of the year at WDW, after Christmas. Friends have just been - home today infact. First week was fine but this week has been a lot busier, but as they've missed the Easter weekend they've missed the worst of the crowds.

The Facebook group It's Orlando Time was my source for everything when we went to Florida last year. We stayed off site and were happy we had, we didn't go to parks every single day and the kids got too tired to stay in a park all day anyway (they were 10 and 6). We also went and stayed one night at Universal to get their express passes and early entry. There is no 'town' to see, but having a car gives you good options for dinner and going to other attractions.

Restaurants were fine, no bun fights when we went! Didn't eat onsite at Disney as the food was expensive and not brilliant. Meals offsite ranged from $40 to $130 for 4 with one or two drinks. I obviously wasn't looking for all your requirements, but you can get everything and anything everywhere so I wouldn't worry about it!

It was Easter when we went (first two weeks in April but Easter was in March), weather was amazing and not humid. Temperature between 26 and 32, 32 was pushing it for us tbh. Water parks the best thing ever and we still talk about them! Parks were busy but do-able, distinctly quieter the further away from Easter we got.

DD doesn't eat meat and found it frustrating that many meals that we would consider veggie contained bacon, so it wasn't as easy as we thought it would be. We did find a couple of places to eat that catered brilliantly for veggies - Pei Wei and Sweet Tomatoes, and went back more than once to eat there.

DD is 16 so we stayed at one of the hotels near Universal. The free shuttle bus was a godsend, but we also had a car to get to the Disney parks, Boggy Creek and Cape Canaveral, plus other local trips. I would not have done this holiday without a car.

We went last year and stayed on site. We benefited from the car. On site was much more convenient. We went for a meal on international drive and thought it was a dump to be honest! I would have hated the hassle of driving/buses which would have prolonged each day by couple of hours really

Dining plan saves a fortune!!!

F

Hi, we are also planning to go. We wanted to go this summer but couldn't plan it all - so now looking to book for aug/sep 2018.
Did you book yet, Sparklyglitter ?

We have just booked. I am on The Dibb, amazing forum and nothing you can't find out. I have also spoken to a travel agent who has been (from Charter Travel) and got tips on places to stay as we aren't staying onsite and we don't want to hire a car. We are going to use Uber and our resort has shuttles. We are going for 3 weeks and want rest days.

We are staying at the Blue Tree Resort in Lake Buena Vista. Loads of restaurants nearby and 4 pools at the resort for chill out days. Only 2 miles from Disney and is about $9 to get there by Uber. I got prices from sunshine.co.uk They were unbelievably cheap. Our flights are with Norwegian, again, really cheap. £1467 direct for 2 adults and 2 children. This is in February though. If you fly midweek (we are flying Tuesday) it's a lot cheaper. Our accommodation is a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment, £1517 for 3 weeks through the website I mentioned. It was a lot more expensive through other websites.

I've just set up a pinterest board too for Florida. Loads of tips on there as well. The Dibb is your best bet though.

We stayed at OKW which was lovely, as you get self catering facilities rather than just a hotel room. We went in August, when you can normally get 'free' dining included with accommodation. I'm veggie and did a lot of research ion the best restaurants to visit, then booked in advance stating my dietary restrictions. That normally meant that the staff would run through the menu/buffet and let me know what was safe to eat! We had one meal cooked especially for us, which was amazing.

I reviewed the best places to eat on my blog but it was 6 years ago, so things may have changed.

Hey, people. I visited Disney World last year with my family and it was an outstanding experience. But with few notices. You should plan ahead all your trip to avoid crowds and crushing and be able to enjoy your stay. To live comfortably, to eat testily and to attend all essential places. I wrote a little guide about it, some may find useful stuff here We used My Disney App, helped a lot.