I've stayed both at an off site hotel, and a Disney location. If you are planning on going to other sites around the area, and will need a car, then it might be cheaper to stay off of Disney property. If you won't need a car, then definitely stay at Disney. I've stayed at the low end resorts, and some upper end resorts. You probably won't be at the hotel too much, and the pools and everything are still fantastic for kids at the budget Disney resorts. If you stay there you won't have to worry about baggage claim. Disney will claim your baggage for you and deliver it to your room. The meal plan can be good as well. The main investment I would make if I were you would be The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2014. http://www.amazon.com/Unofficial-Guide-Walt-Disney-World/dp/1628090006 Get it early. It has information about hotels(both on site and off of Disney), food, dining plans, airfare, etc. It will give you several scheduling options of how to avoid lines at rides. Follow the plan. It tells you what time and order to ride the rides and see the attractions at Disney World. Do what it says, and you will avoid the lines at all times. It tells you what rides to use the fast pass for, what restaurants will need reservations, what parades or shows to see, how early to arrive, and where to get the best views. It saves you a huge amount of potential hassle.
As mentioned earlier, get your dinner reservations in if you are eating at the park/resort restaurants....you might be too late for some of them as they are always packed. Download the "My Disney Experience" app for your smart phone, you can make reservations and get your fastpasses for rides through it. It also organizes any reservations for dinner you've made in an itenerary format.....helps for planning. It also has useful park info in the app (maps, rides/shows in each park, etc). Have fun!
Below are a couple of website pages that tell will tell you the crowd level and which parks to visit on the days that you are going to be there. Also some cheat sheets on what to do when you get there. http://www.easywdw.com/category/calendar/06-june-2014-crowd-calendar/ http://www.easywdw.com/category/cheat-sheets/
You were there when we were there...just got back yesterday. Stayed at Old Key West for 4 nights and Yacht Club for 3 nights. This trip requires more planning than ever now what with FastPass+ and the My Disney Experience account. My recommendation to anyone going is to make reservations out way ahead of time...buy your tickets way ahead of time...and calendar the dates you can start making dining reservations and FastPass+ reservations.
I loved the Swan/Dolphin when my wife and I went 5 years ago, but if you like rides, Universal > Disney IMO.
Hi Matt, haven't heard much about you lately, hope all is well. Sorry to go OT, Is there much difference between the 2 Universal studios?
Just got back, stayed at wilderness lodge, wasn't bad for the price. Universal rides def better than disney.
Islands of adventure has a few more roller coaster type rides I think. Both were worth visiting and we visited both in one day using the express pass (def worth the price)
MrDave543, how did the current rain in Orlando impact your trip? We're going on Sunday and it looks like rain is forecasted for all next week too.
It cooled things off surprisingly while we were there...windy and cooler. To the point where one evening my wife said she could use a light jacket which neither of us would have ever packed. Buy a poncho and an umbrella and go. The parks will clear out some when it rains. Find a place to park inside when it rains really hard...wet shoes/socks on a vacation aren't fun. But for the most part it rains nearly every afternoon in Orlando in the summer.
As MadMax said it does rain in the afternoons, and a poncho/umbrella come in handy. We only had one huge downpour on Sunday, and a few rides were shut down. The overcast weather made the parks pretty bearable and we got lucky for the 4 days we were there to only have one downpour.
We got lucky and were able to use time at my Grandpa's timeshare for free. I wish we would have spent the money to stay at DW though. It's just easier to get around and use their shuttles rather than driving to the park and paying (or parking at downtown Disney and using the shuttles to get places without paying to park).
