Any helpful information on visiting Disney World? We are going to drive there. Hotels, attractions, restaurants, etc. Is it a good idea to drive down to Daytona Beach from Orlando and go back on the same day?
Plan way ahead. Talk to MadMax he has some good stuff When are you going? If you want to email me through the board I will share what I learned from our trip. It is nothing secretive, I just don't have time to type it out here right now. It would probably be a very long post but I'd be happy to share.
For Disney, it pretty much is what it is. If you are going to Disney, you are going to Disney. All I can say is Fast Pass is your friend for the popular rides. Right now my little one is in the Magic Kingdom phase, and we have friends that actually live in Celebration which is a large Woodlands-type neighborhood literally 2 miles from the parks... so we go to Disney alot even though I'd rather vacation at about 100 different places in Florida alone. -Eating at the park isn't an issue. The food isn't insanely expensive, and not terrible. I'd rather eat there than have to leave and come back. -Kissimme has kind of turned dumpy. Other than a couple good mini golf courses there isn't much you'll spend time doing there in town. -Downtown Disney is crazy crowded, and has alot of the same restaurants/shops you'd see anywhere, but they do have a ton of Disney gift shops if you don't want to buy stuff in the park. I hate Disney apparel so you won't find me going to this area much. -There is a really neat Disney boardwalk area with some shops and restaurants. Good place to have dinner, and walk around a bit. -As for Daytona Beach.... I'd go to Cocoa Beach or a bit further south to Sebastian if it was up to me. Cocoa Beach is much closer, and a straight shot from the freeway that goes south of Orlando that you travel back and forth from if you are going to the parks. Its a toll way called 528. Its a super easy trip to Cocoa. Daytona and back in one day... that's alot of driving for a beach trip. Go to Cocoa. Whatever other questions you have just let me know. I pretty much lived in Tampa & Sarasota with my last job, and have been to Disney way too many times to count.
Thank you for the information, what about hotel, is it best to stay in the Disney World or one of the cheaper hotel outside? What type of passes are the best? My kid is six years old.
Last time I went I got a package that include airfare/Disney Resort/park admissions. Also look into fast passes, food plans, and the Disney Magic Bands. The bands are used as all-in-one devices. You can use it to enter your resort room, purchase food/merchandise, and etc. Some things in the parks will react to your band so your kids will enjoy that aspect of it. I liked the package I got because I didn't have to worry about renting a vehicle and the resorts had constant shuttles to and from all the parks.
Forgot to add that the food prices aren't all that ridiculous inside the resorts/parks. It gets expensive when you're a f@t@ss like myself and want to eat multiple things a day. :grin:
I don't recall the name of the Disney resort we stayed at, but it was worth the extra to stay on the Disney grounds. You pretty much never need to drive when in the area because they have all types of constant transportation available. Buses all day to and from the park / Disney Downtown etc.... We rented a car, but didn't drive it much....maybe to the outlets once or twice.
If you stay at the Disney premium resort Contemporary, you can walk between the main WDW park and the hotel, which you may find helpful with a small child. My six year old liked the main park and the Animal park the best. We were able to do multiple days at each. For Epcot and the Hollywood park, we only did a half day at each. I would also suggest getting a multi-day park hopper pass, which will allow you entrance to multiple parks per day.
We went in May and stayed at the Caribbean Beach hotel. My son had a blast. You get extra hours at certain parks for staying at the Disney Resorts and shuttle to and from parks and airport. Staying on a Disney resort allows you to purchase merchandise and have it delivered to your room the next day. Nice perks. Aint cheap though. We used Sandy from SmallWorldVacations. sandy@smallworldvacations.com Phone: 281-218-0272 Toll Free: 866-623-9246 Sandy was awesome, will explain what you need and dont need, and will take care of everything. Get the Memory Maker where they take pix of you and family on rides and throughout the park and and you download online. FAST PASS, FAST PASS, FAST PASS. Never felt so VIP and kind of miss it. Short wait with Fast Pass on character dinings and rides. I never waited more than 10 minutes per ride. Christmas and New Years are going to be really busy. Bring GOOD WALKING SHOES and buy a case of bottle water. Water is $4 at resort and parks. Your kids are going to love it. You will be really tired hahah.
We went two summers ago. Drove there from Houston. Didn't do it all in one day. Stayed in Tallahassee. So the next day it only took us a few hrs to get to Orlando. Stayed at the Dolphin hotel (the Swan & Dolphin on the same grounds as well as on the Disney property). Great hotel!! They have about five restaurants in the Dolphin as well as a couple in the Swan. Very easy to get to the different destinations as buses run continuously, and the wait isn't long at all. I would not stay off grounds as the traffic can get pretty backed up. We only had to drive one time, and that was to Universal I believe. My kids had a blast (9 & 7 yrs old).
Buy your tickets in advance through this website. Saves you some money. I've used them in the past and it was legit. https://www.undercovertourist.com/orlando/?pid=w3bl1nksp3c14l
Ind a recommended Disney planner to help you. They don't cost anything and can help with every aspect of the trip.
I too recommend Sandy with Small World Vacations - she's did a great job for us last year. http://www.smallworldvacations.com Do: read up and study this website: http://www.mousesavers.com Fly in and stay on property - you won't need a rental car & they'll pick you up/drop you off at the airport & even pick up your bags for you Get a meal plan - or you'll easily spend over $140 a day just on meals for 4. Stay for 5 days, if you have a young kid rent a stroller (yes even for a 7yr old..otherwise he'll never make it walking the parks for several days) Get the magic bands & plan your trip early using: http://touringplans.com Schedule your fast-passes on https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/pl...ney-experience as soon as you can based on the schedule you planned using the touring plans.com website Have lots of Fun.
