Disney Florida, where to start with planning?

[IamChipmunk]

We are looking to start planning a trip to Disney next year. Dc's will be just 9 and just 7 when we go.
Any advice on what to start with planning would be useful!
How do you decide which parks/resorts etc.
We are considering a villa or similar rather than staying in a resort....

Any advice/tips greatfully received!

[EVHead]

The Disney resorts are great. High standard of accommodation, good food, frequent free bus into the parks, early entry to parks … loved them!

I liked the simplicity of it - no needing to drive on the wrong side of the road; easy eating options; Mickey wristband for room entry and park entry; quick and easy to get to parks; safe environment.

Port Orleans Riverside was my favourite resort: handy for Disney Springs.

If going for a resort, think about which parks you and your family are most interested in and choose one nearest them.

[Toomuch2019]

I would second the advice of @EVHead

We go to Disney every couple of years and the key message is it's a trip that really favours the organised. Lots of frequent Disney goers know this and you're at a disadvantage if you don't do research before you go. We use the book called the unofficial guide to Walt Disney world which is updated regularly and a great source of planning info. And the DIBB site is great too

Staying on resort is more pricey but the convenience is fab. And you don't have to pay to park which adds up when you're at a villa (we've done both)

Because of the heat and long days we tend to go in early 8 til lunch, come back and chill in pool etc then back 4pm ish til fireworks. Makes it more relaxing and allows us to pace ourselves-which is also easier to do when staying on resort.

Be organised if you want to eat in the park restaurants. If you want to do things like have a meal at specific character restaurants at premium times you need to book in your calendar the day and time in advance you can do this to get the best chance of getting what you want. It's something like 60 days before. Again when you stay on resort you get an extra week or so on top of that. Treat it like trying to get Glastonbury tickets!

Good luck and enjoy it really is a magical place (and I say that as someone who used to be a Disney cynic before getting dragged there by my husband!)

[Lavender288]

Following as we're also planning a trip!

[BridgetJonesDaiquiri]

We booked yesterday! Not a clue what we're doing as we're Disneyland Paris regulars - not been to WDW since I was a kid. Staying in the Beach Club resort which seems well located and handy for heading to Epcot and Hollywood Studios with our little ones. Following for tips!

[ShaunaTheSheep]

I echo previous posters. We've been twice (was supposed to be one and done but we enjoyed it so much). This was pre-Covid though and I've heard lots has changed now, so do your research.

As a family of five it worked out cheaper to stay at a Disney resort, with free dining, free transport etc, but I think a lot of the perks have gone or are diluted.

Port Orleans Riverside is a fabulous resort, with a very good food court and lots of small pools next to the accommodation, as well as a larger fun pool.

We didn't bother with a hire car, just used Uber or Lyft. Don't underestimate distances, the Disney property is huge, let alone Orlando and surrounding areas.

[ShaunaTheSheep]

I echo previous posters. We've been twice (was supposed to be one and done but we enjoyed it so much). This was pre-Covid though and I've heard lots has changed now, so do your research.

As a family of five it worked out cheaper to stay at a Disney resort, with free dining, free transport etc, but I think a lot of the perks have gone or are diluted.

Port Orleans Riverside is a fabulous resort, with a very good food court and lots of small pools next to the accommodation, as well as a larger fun pool.

We didn't bother with a hire car, just used Uber or Lyft. Don't underestimate distances, the Disney property is huge, let alone Orlando and surrounding areas.

[nettytree]

Don’t forget you must make park reservations now. Don’t leave it til the last minute, as they get booked up.

[MsAdoraBelleDearheartVonLipwig]

There’s a fab Facebook page called It’s Orlando Time which is dedicated to Florida’s holidays. It’s full of posts and tips from others that have just been or go regularly. Honestly, it’s an absolutely gold mine for advice, it’s brilliant.

If you’re planning on going to Disneyworld, please do book your park days as soon as you can though. There’s four different parks. It used to be that you bought your park tickets, they’d last for eg 14 days and could rock up whenever you fancied. Since covid it’s all changed and you have to actually make a reservation to visit the park itself. The days do book up weeks in advance though so get on it as soon as possible. Otherwise you could end up spending £££’s on tickets and find the parks full to capacity every day.

You can park hop though, as long as you visit the booked park you can hop over to another one after 2pm. I don’t know why the capacity rules change at 2pm, perhaps lots of visitors usually leave by then.

If you’re planning on visiting Universal you don’t need to book.

Have an awesome time! It really is brilliant fun.

[TimeToChangeItUpNow]

I would definitely recommend a day at universal too.

[MargeSimpson79]

Have a look at The DIBB website. It will have all the answers to all your questions!

we always used to be villa people but the traffic is bonkers now and you can end up spending hours in the car everyday just going to and from the parks. When we went earlier this year we did a split stay first week on-site then the last week in a villa which was nice. We are going again in august and doing 2 weeks on-site at universal.

[Ginfilledcats]

I’d advise reading up on the Dibb (Disney planning forum) or following a few people who vlog on YouTube.

most people from the uk tend to go for a fortnight and get the 14 day Disney pass that allows entry into all parks as often as you like, and also buy the same for universal. It’s expensive but actually the best deal. You’ll be able to do all the Disney and universal parks plus some down time if you do your research and get organised for a fortnights holiday.

as others have said staying onsite has its perks: proximity to the parks, extra hours in the parks, some Disney dining plans included. But we’ve also stated off site both in villas and hotels and enjoyed it just as much. Watch a few yup tube videos and see what you fancy. There are tonnes of planning videos too.

[purpleboy]

We've just booked for next Easter.
It worked out cheeper staying onsite because they have just released a dining credits offer plus a $200 gift card.

THEDIBB is the best for planning, so much tips and advice. Everything you could possibly want to know! Also download the Disney app and get your head around genie+ and individual lightening lanes if you want to bypass some of the queues, it can be very complicated when you first read about it.

Book your parks asap. Water parks don't need a reservation and you can park hop after 2pm to different parks.

[roseborder]

I can thoroughly recommend Bon Voyage which is a specialist USA travel agent, they are incredibly knowledgeable and the staff have personally experienced whatever they recommend. It worked out for us just slightly more expensive than doing it ourselves by which I mean about £300. You can also contact them with any issue while you're there which was a godsend when we had a car problem.

Direct flights to Orlando are very pricy in school holidays so they did us a deal via NYC meaning we had a few days there on the way back. Our dc were a similar age to yours and they loved it.

I echo others' comments about DIBB and various brilliant guide books especially the unofficial guide.

It is very tiring doing the parks so factor in some chill out days too.

We debated the Disney hotel/ villa dilemma for weeks before deciding on a villa and didn't regret it, it was about twice the size of our house and the space and having our own pool was just fantastic oh and a pool table and table tennis table in the garage too. But the Disney hotels are amazing too.

In 13 days we did Disney only (all the different parks) plus a day at the Kennedy Space Centre, and decided to give universal and the other parks a miss as it would just be too much.

Whatever you decide you will have the most amazing time. Disney really is magical 😍

[blueyellowblack]

Villa all the way for us. We've been 4 times pre and post kids and always had a villa with a private pool. It's amazing. The Disney bubble is too much for us. It's great, but we like to dip in and out as it suits us and head to cheaper (and better....) off site restaurants, outlet malls, massive Walmart's which are amazing. Go to clearwater or coca beach etc. I don't think there are as many perks to being onsite as there used to be and the food is ridiculously expensive for what it is.

I would recommend sitting down and working out where you want to go theme park wise along with other things you might want to do or see. 14 days of theme parks is too much for most people.

[ZenNudist]

Just got back from 4 days in a universal hotel and 2 weeks in a villa in kissimee. If you stay onsite as others say you can get in early early and then back to your hotel in the afternoon. We ended up doing full days at each park and only went to one park (epcot) twice because we didn't "finish" it. I personally would not go back to magic kingdom or epcot now but I liked typhoon lagoon, animal kingdom and hollywood studios.

Universal is better. Your 7yo dc is a bit young to get the most out of Universal as there are some thrill rides that you have to be tall for but you 9yo will be ok to do everything. The harry potter stuff is amazing, not to be missed, and my 8yo loved it. Definitely stay on site at the loewes or I think it's portofino that included early park entry and fast passes with the room. That way you can get in and have a chance of getting on hagrids motorbike before the queue hits 2 hours (at 8.30am!!).

Disney is ridiculously expensive and the exchange rate is not in our favour. Even supermarkets were very expensive. Its nice that the rides aren't overwhelming.

You Need genie plus to get lightning Lane access to some rides. You have to be on it at 7am booking onto lightning lanes. I paid for a couple of rides because I'm not willing to queue for hours. Flight of passage in animal kingdom is great. The seven dwarves mine train at magic kingdom not worth the extra cost.

I didn't do loads of research before my holiday but the day/night before I did loads of reading of online blogs to get my strategy for the next day. The idea is to queue less and not tire yourself out criss crossing the parks.

Typhoon lagoon is great for rest days but you do have to get in early to reserve a spot on sunbeds. We did a full park day then a rest day in the villa. By the end my dc wanted to go back to universal but I couldn't face it and fortunately our 2 week pass expired.

We got our tickets on attraction tickets direct. The tickets cost the most!

You need restaurant reservations which have to be sorted months in advance. We did get late availability e.g. booked a character dining experience in animal kingdom and one of my family got into her favourite restaurant in epcot by late availability. You have to be organised and go early on the day to get a booking or the day before as people cancel.

I didn't get to go to space 220 at epcot which would have been fab but very expensive.

If you aren't on a budget it will be great. Otherwise it must be hard to do cheaper. Even £10k doesn't go far now!

[Littlegoth]

like others have said MAKE PARK RESERVATIONS. I’m in a few Disney planning groups and the number of people who get to the gates with tickets but no reservation, and then are not let in. Gutted for them