Planning Disney World - where to start?

[TigerMoon]

I'm thinking of Disney World next year to celebrate DH's 50th - along with DD who'll be 7 then. But I have no clue where to start - is there a good place to go to get all the info? The questions I have are:

1. When to go? (Easter or October)? His birthday is in April so Easter would be good - and it's school hols. But will October be quieter?

1. How much to budget?

1. Where to stay? We'd need two rooms (not all in one hotel room)

1. Which company to book with?

Any other tips. Is there a good way to plan/book a Disney holiday?

Thanks!

Easter is very busy apparently. I have a friend who goes in October and says it’s the best weather wise.

Are you wanting to stay on site. I would get online and see if free dining is still available as otherwise I think it’s too expensive to stay onsite.

If you are going off site you need to stay in a hotel that does Disney transport (they either do Disney or universal).

We are going in May and it’s £5k for 3 of us (DD is counted as an adult) for 2 weeks including free dining. Flights are separate though. From experience we will spend little else when we are there, mostly tips.

I wouldn’t get 2 rooms - it will be extortionate. Most rooms have 2 double beds. You can get 2 bed villas but they are a fortune.

There is a website called The Dibb -
Lots of good info on there and if you post people can give you good specific information as it’s full of regular Disney visitors.

Easter is very busy. October will definitely be quieter but then October half term is only a week, so you would probably have to take your DD out of school for an extra week if you are planning a two week holiday.
2 hotel rooms will be very pricey, particularly if you are planning to stay onsite at a Disney hotel. Have a look at Villas instead, it will be a lot cheaper. It will mean you probably have to get a car and drive though, but the roads are very easy to navigate and drive on.
We booked with a company called Kenwood Travel, they were excellent. We basically told them everything we wanted to do and they sorted it all for us (all done on email and on the phone).
I would definitely recommend getting the book WDW with kids, the unofficial guide. You can get it on Amazon. It has all you need to know about Disney and attractions and the local area.

Join Its Orlando Time on FB and also the sister site Verified Villas so you can get an idea of cost to see if you want to stay in a villa rather than onsite. We always hire a car and stay in a villa, as otherwise we get peopled out far too easily! It is quieter in October and you get Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party and the parks are all decorated for Halloween.

I agree with getting help from the DIBB.

Also look at Facebook pages for Orlando.

On or off site. 2 rooms is doable onsite so look at places like Saratoga Springs or Old Key West. Always book it with free dining if at all possible as this will make a huge saving. Do you really need 2 rooms? Be honest with yourself...why? Everyone is shattered at the end of the day and you could sit on your balcony if DD will be sleeping.

Car or no car? Remember $25 a day to park your car. If you are onsite Disney provide transport so you’d be able to use Uber for anything beyond the Disney parks.

Depending if on or off site will determine when you get access to fast passes. You need to research this bit a lot. You really need to spent time looking at parks and seeing what you want to do.

Tim Tracker is a huge source of information on you tube. You can lose yourself for hours there, just looking at videos.

Don’t do Easter. It’s too busy. October is good.

Easter is busy but manageable with planning and early starts
October will be quieter but hurricane season. Also unless your DD gets a two week half term you’ll have to take her out of school

If you want space then hire a villa or an apartment (“condo” in the US)

Do you want to drive? What else do you want to do while you’re there - universal (Harry Potter), seaworld, discovery cove, Kennedy space centre, busch gardens?

........just check the exchange rate, and then factor in Brexit, before you commit...! I was in USA last year and found it prohibitively expensive......

Agree with the DIBB, look at deals (free dining deal has black out periods over Easter but can save you lots of money) - we went in April this year (was busy!) just before the blackout period for free dining, booked onsite accomodation (for those fast passes!) and tickets through Attraction Tickets Direct and they were great and super knowledgeable, got $200 gift card thrown and magical express transfers and booked indirect flights there and back to save money.

Kids enjoyed Disney but also loved Volcano Bay, Seaworld, Busch Gardens and Universal (stayed one night in the Hard Rock hotel to get 2 days of express passes - were super helpful)

Orlando/Disney guidebooks (available on Amazon) were super helpful in planning our itinerary

We always go in August which is incredibly hot and busy but, I think, less busy than Easter. If we could go in October, we definitely would!

The Dibb is a great website with loads of info on all things Orlando.

We usually stay in a villa , you get loads more space than a hotel room, your own pool but obviously there's driving.

Have you considered a split stay? Some time onsite to capitalise on being close to the parks, then a stay at a villa?

As another poster mentioned, definitely book a stay at a Universal deluxe hotel to get the free Front of Line passes.

Good luck! You will have a ball! -and probably develop an unhealthy addiction to booking holidays in Florida for the foreseeable future-

Thanks for all the advice - I will check out those resources and sounds like October might be the best option!

Hi. I'm in DisneyWorld at the moment. It's my 1st time and it's amazing!!
We're staying in Art of Animation resort and have disney dining plan and fast passes.
It's been a very steep learning curve, and it took loads of planning to get here but it's worth it.
The dining plane is worth it. We get 2 snacks, 1table service meal and 1 quick service meal per day. And we've not gone hungry!! You're allowed 1 alcoholic drink with a meal, otherwise between $8 -$10 a wine or beer. That's the only downside.

We're here for 2 weeks and it's bloody knackering. But well worth it. Out at 8/9 am and back at 8/9 pm. Gets your steps up!!

Feel free to ask about anything else.

Hope you enjoy.

You can break a QS meal into 3 snacks (all spent at same vendor) - we got tonnes of goodies to bring home for gifts.

I would stay on property to get the full experience. You also will get free transfers from the airport and bus service to all the parks and Downtown Disney. Kenwood Travel looks like they have some good deals with the free Disney dining plan next year.

My favourite hotel is the Animal Kingdom Lodge - it is amazing! Restaurants book up quickly. I'd check out the DisBoards to get an idea of what you will like and what to make reservations for. The dining review threads can be addictive:

www.disboards.com/forums/disney-restaurants.14/

1. When to go? (Easter or October)? His birthday is in April so Easter would be good - and it's school hols. But will October be quieter?

October is quieter and generally has the best weather.
Easter week is usually incredibly busy - it's the busiest time outside Christmas.

1. How much to budget?

Depends where you stay. Villa is cheaper, but a hotel can be convenient.
Park tickets usually cost the same for 14 nights as 7.
If looking at a Disney hotel see if there are any deals including the dining plan. We've done that once - absolutely tons of food - we needed up bringing back lots of 'snacks' but can include character meals throughout without it pushing the budget.

1. Where to stay? We'd need two rooms (not all in one hotel room)

Disney rooms with 2 rooms will be expensive. You may find some family rooms, or more 'suite' style where there is a bedroom and a sofa bed in the living area. We stayed in a one bed version if these with dd and her friend at the Old Key West Disney hotel.

Or you can stay off site in a small villa or apartment. You'd definitely need a car then, though I'd recommend one anyway. It can be somewhat tiresome having to wait around for Disney buses to take you to the hotel at the end of a long day!

1. Which company to book with?

Just check prices. We've been around 10 times now and have booked differently most times.
We've been with Virgin and Thomas Cook as holidays. We've booked flights separately - Virgin and BA mainly.
We've also gone direct with Disney itself - both as a whole trip and just for tickets and/or hotel.

Will you be going to both Disney and Universal?

@MLC69 Sounds like you're having an amazing time. Just looked at Art of Animation - wow! Did you book direct or through a travel company? Do you think 2 weeks is the right amount of time - or too long? Enjoy the rest of your time there!

2 weeks for a first visit is ideal.
We do one week nowadays but that's because we've been so often and are happy doing very full days for the week.

It just gets better and better. Although did have a bikini malfunction at blizzard beach today. Oops. Lol
But yes,it is wow here. And 2 weeks means we don't have to rush everything. There was a 4 hour queue for Avatar yesterday. We had fast passes though so only 35 minutes.
We booked through Virgin. Flights and accomdation pacjagem. Been saving up points on one of their credit cards. Softens the blow lol

We have been to Disney world 3 times in the last five years. We have been at Easter, August and October. October was by far the best for crowds/weather mix plus we got to join in all the Halloween extra fun.

We have stayed at wilderness Lodge, art of Animation and Beach Club. Beach Club is fantastic and we wood now only stay there - you can walk into Epcot (great for choice of meals around the world showcase), Hollywood studios and the Boardwalk. The hotel also has the best pool of all the on-site hotels.

We have booked each time though Disney and had the dining plan. We book our flights separately - we prefer BA but have flown with Virgin too.

I would suggest the website WDW prep school for guidance on where to start.

Our last trip we went to universal for two days and that was more than enough for us the Harry Potter parts are amazing and volcano bay.

My best tip is to get up early the first week of your stay taking advantage of jet lag and get into the parks for opening you will get so much more done the first couple of hours than the rest of the day. Then your second week stay up later in the evening to catch all the firework and evening shows.

We looked at the busiest rides and made sure we were there when the park opened to rush to those rides.
A 4 hour queue for avatar was a 25 minute wait by going there first,
Research your fast passes and book ASAP.
We missed out thinking we could book when we got there- too late.
We also stayed on site at Port Orleans. Able to take boats to Disney Springs for dinner.
Big double beds and 2 per room meant DD2 and I shared a room.
We had a great time.