I know it’s not an AIBU ! But Disney world - Florida.

[Troublewaters2021]

Hey !
Between covid, daughters health and big change to her life we are looking at taking the kids to Disney land Florida or a Disney cruise.
Kids will be DC 9 , 15 and 18 months at the time and taking niece who will also be a teenager, plus the 2 teenagers best friends.

Anyone have any recommendations of the best accommodation of hints on what to book to get the best out of it ?

Want it to be special especially for DD 9.

Thanks

Op have you been on the dibb? So much info about trip planning for florida on there

I absolutely love Florida, been a few times -you'll all have an amazing time.

We haven't done the stays in park hotels but Disney is great! I'd suggest magic Kingdom first if your girls are into princesses as they'll love the meet and greets and as you walk in through the gates you see the castle from a distance and the excitement just peaks in the little ones.

My advice - take lots of money!

Just wanted to say as a few people have suggested you ditch it as an option...

DON’T MISS THE DISNEY CRUISE!!!

I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve done WDW/Florida - it’s around 30 I think. But the best thing we ever did was the Disney Cruise. Three nights on the Disney Dream would be the perfect way to end a 14 night trip.

And yes, you need a villa! If you are hiring a car, you don’t need to stay onsite and it would save you a lot of money but you would be outside the “Disney Bubble”. Look at the Dibb website for the best information about doing Florida and specifically WDW, Disney Cruises as a Brit. There’s lots of information that will help you plan and make decisions.

Booking wise ocean world travel are very knowledgeable

WellBucketChain the old ‘once in a lifetime’ so was out first trip - DH and joke that we could support a pretty major class-A drug habit on what we spend to get to Disney every year!

@getsomehelp

Taking a 18 m/o baby along to this, means a stroller. or back pack. Sounds like misery to me, unless one adult stays at home or is prepared to go home each day. Unless you can get on site child care/baby sitter. Never been.

It’s not a nightmare for children this age -thousands of toddlers and babies go. WDW is very stroller friendly and very toddler friendly in general. Each park also has Babycare Centres which are air conditioned, quiet and a good place for some time out with a toddler to have a rest, nap, watch cartoons, have a snack etc. There’s lots of toddler friendly rides and activities, shows, interaction, quiet spaces etc on WDW property. The teenagers are old enough to be able to explore the parks on their own, that leaves four adults for the remaining children. When a toddler needs time out, I’m sure one adult could be spared!

I would recommend a villa. Means you all have your own space and pool etc. Can hire a car/van to get you to and from the parks? It probably would work out cheaper than onsite.

I was previously a huge advocate for staying onsite but it's getting less and less worth it with each passing year. We've done 7 onsite trips in various hotels but we may actually look at off-site next year - Extra Magic Hours have been cut back and there's no sign of a dining plan making a return. Lots of friends love Air BNBs.

You could try booking a Disney Vacation Club resale (like a timeshare in basic terms) through a site like DVC Rental Store which will allow you to book for larger groups of 8-12, but mostly very inflexibly.

The Dibb, DIS and EasyWDW are good sites for gathering information. Also the It's Orlando Time Facebook group is great for beginners. Try looking at the trip reports sections of the Dibb for how larger groups have managed.

The first time I went I was around 12 I think. I used to wander around by myself and this was before we all had phones - we just had a meeting spot and change for a payphone just in case! I'm sure with the wonders of modern technology that most over secondary age children would be perfectly fine exploring by themselves in the Disney and Universal parks.

Where is OP?

What’s your budget and is it 10 people in total - 4 adults, 4 teenagers, 1 9:yr old and a toddler?

@SunIsComing

Where is OP?

Maybe she went to bed 🙂

@Unihorn

I was previously a huge advocate for staying onsite but it's getting less and less worth it with each passing year. We've done 7 onsite trips in various hotels but we may actually look at off-site next year - Extra Magic Hours have been cut back and there's no sign of a dining plan making a return. Lots of friends love Air BNBs.

You could try booking a Disney Vacation Club resale (like a timeshare in basic terms) through a site like DVC Rental Store which will allow you to book for larger groups of 8-12, but mostly very inflexibly.

The Dibb, DIS and EasyWDW are good sites for gathering information. Also the It's Orlando Time Facebook group is great for beginners. Try looking at the trip reports sections of the Dibb for how larger groups have managed.

I agree, on site prices are astronomical now for very little benefit - I’ve been every year (apart from last year) for the past ten years. There have been so many cutbacks during that time, fewer extra magic hours, and now no free dining.

The standard Disney and universal rooms realistically won’t suit you OP - it’s usually two double beds and a pull out. The teens might have to share a bed even if you got 3 rooms and a lot of Disney hotels would cost £300/night per room... so £900 for 3 rooms, per night!

Love the place but I’d look at a villa. Actually tbh I’d scrap the extra holidayers - I’ve done it in a big group (12) and honestly, it just wasn’t fun.

Not to put you off, it’s an amazing place, but on site doesn’t suit bigger families and groups!

Apart from the cruise - well hello floating coronavirus shit- are you coming back op????

With 10 people in your party can you do 2 rooms of 5? Though depends with the teenagers will they be happy sharing a bed? You might need 3 rooms.
I'd say stay on site of you can. Disney yacht and beach club is amazing and our favourite especially as you can walk straight into epcot and you can get a boat to Hollywood studios.
Saratoga springs is also good for larger parties and can walk to disney springs.
I would say I don't think you need to be worried about teen being bored on his own the parks are amazing for catering for everyone and it's easy to suit all ages. My family has big age gaps - dc1 8 years older than dc2 who is 10 years older than dc3 (18 years between dc1 and 3) and it's the one holiday destination we loved because it easily suited everyone..
And for a toddler there is still so much to do. They will love seeing all the sights. Bring a buggy easy to push round parks lots of places to park them for rides etc too. We used to let dc3 eat earlier some evenings then go for a walk at about 7 before our own dinner reservations and let him fall asleep in the buggy and then he slept in it beside the table for dinners.
If you can find a free dining plan offer I think it's definitely worth it but you have to be staying on site - especially with the teenagers. Also magic bands are fantastic. Means you can have you park tickets, dining plan and payment card etc all linked to magic band and then when in the parks you literally just pay for things with the band without needing to carry cash or cards - again great for teens though you can disable spending on theirs too if you don't want them to be able to do that.
I can't wait to get back! Covid messed up our plans for last year!

If you can find a free dining plan offer I think it's definitely worth it
There's no indication that even a paid for dining plan will return at the moment unfortunately. I agree that if you had free dining for a party of 12 it would be worth it though.

Disney hotels are amazing but with such a large group a villa may be better we have done both and loved it

Don't forget to download the Disney world app. You need to pre book what park you want to go in each day. We have already reserved ours for August 2022.

Sorry I am just catching up

Thank you so much for the recommendations I will have a look through them all.

Budget - It’s a once in a life time sort of thing for them so 40-50k is probably Max ?

The reason niece is coming is because she spends most of her time at ours so it just seems journal.

The reason the 9 year old is not bringing a friend is because most of her friends are school friends and well I doubt they would let me take their children to Disney world at 9.

The friend situation - they are close friends like families friends and have known us all since the kids were 2. I have made sure there is enough adults and 1 in particular who will want to do the fast and adrenaline stuff with the teens.

My 9 year old and baby will be with me and DP.
My 9 year has chosen the holiday - she will hopefully budget relying be doing anything she wants and she is excited with friend or no friend.

@idontlikealdi sorry if I wasn’t on the bread this morning early enough for you 😅

I am not planning to this now during covid.

If money's no object I'd do 7-10 days on site in a villa, and 7-10 days in an off-site villa. There are Grand Villas onsite in several resorts dvcreservations.com/dvc-occupancy.php
It would be a great experience for a first time visit. You'll definitely be back every year for the rest of your life though

@UtopiaMist haha you are very right I went to bed and have 3 kids to deal with in the mornings, just sitting down with a coffee
Now and reading through 😂

Dining plan will definitely come back as all the new menus have snack credit logos on and Disney make a fortune from the plan - it’s just a question of when. We are booked for next April so fingers crossed! Dining plan is one of the main reasons we stay on site!

Can your 9yo not bring a friend to make it special for her? I feel it will be less exciting for her if her older cousin & siblings are pre-occupied with their friends and the adults having to work around a toddler and there’s nobody for her to share things with.

@BillyIsMyBunny

Can your 9yo not bring a friend to make it special for her? I feel it will be less exciting for her if her older cousin & siblings are pre-occupied with their friends and the adults having to work around a toddler and there’s nobody for her to share things with.

I wouldn’t let a 9 year old go on a long haul holiday with a friend’s parents without me.