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Peter Elliott
02-05-2011, 1:31 PM
OK, any help with planner a trip to Disney World this spring. Time to take the little one (7yr girl) for spring break.

Looking to stay at the Caribbean Resort. Plan on having 4 park days.
Fly into Orlando and assume will take the free shuttle to the resort.

Best place to get a package deal?
Do's and Don'ts

Dare I ask is there anything cool woodworking wise?:rolleyes:

Thanks
Peter

John M Wilson
02-05-2011, 3:26 PM
There is a ton of info out there on this, and my family found that doing a little work up front made our vacation there even more enjoyable.

First, I strongly suggest you pick up a copy of "The Unofficial Guide to Disney World" by Bob Sehlinger. There is also a version for travelling with kids. Both are filled with info you will need before going there (such as suggestions & tips on where to stay, how to get around, etc.) and info on what to do when you get there (how to avoid the crowds, best places to eat, etc.)

A few things stand out in my mind from our trip there a few years ago. We found staying on site to be well worth it, in order to take advantage of the following suggestion: Do not go to one of the parks and stay there all day. It is exhausting for everyone, particularly the 7 year old. Much more enjoyable is to get up fairly early, eat breakfast in your room, hit one of the parks when they open in the morning, and then return to your room for lunch. After lunch, nap & enjoy the pool & decompress until about 3:00. This way you avoid the parks when they are busiest -- you aren't missing much except for frustration. After 3:00 return to a different park refreshed & watch the exhausted families leave. Eat dinner there & enjoy yourself until park closing.

Eating in your room & not at the park for 2 meals a day will make up the difference in price for the on-site room. (Food is a major expense that folks often overlook.) Also, many kids enjoy playing in the pool at the hotel as much as they do riding the flying Dumbo.

One more tip & then I'll let someone else take a crack at it: When we went a few years ago, the shuttle from the airport to the park was not free. The cost was around $30 per person, if I recall, which meant $120 for our family of 4. We had a limo service pick us up, and the kids really got a kick out of riding in a stretch limo. Cost: $100, plus the driver let us stop at a supermarket and buy the groceries we needed to eat our 2 meals a day in our room. Vastly superior to riding in a crowded bus, and cheaper to boot.

Hope you enjoy your trip! :D

Phil Thien
02-05-2011, 3:32 PM
If you haven't already booked the CBC, check the WDW Swan/Dolphin. You can take the boat service to Epcot, then the monorail to the other parks. The price was competitive with the CBC the couple times we went, and it is a little nicer than taking the bus.

Peter Elliott
02-05-2011, 4:58 PM
Thanks John, good tips.. The reason why I posted here was asking people like you what you did/preplanned. I have been reading for days on end.
It's overwhelming to say the least, the info on the web.

I think we were going to do the dinning plan that had 1 sit down meal, a quick meal and snack? I assumed dinner for the sit down, quick for breakfast and lunch on our own.. I've read to buy some stuff too before heading into the park. I really like the limo idea? I need to recheck the free shuttle, baggage cost.

Phil - what is "CBC" - thx by the way...

-Peter

Shawn Christ
02-05-2011, 6:01 PM
Peter, we are in the same situation as you. My wife and two boys (ages 7 and 6) are taking our first drip to Disney over Spring Break, March 21-25. We decided a small room was fine and booked a value resort (Pop Century, although we've heard the All-Stars are nice too). We got the sit-down meal, quick meal, and snack dining plan. Will eat either breakfast or lunch in our room. Advice we've heard so far is to generally plan your itinerary in advance (which you're doing) and if there are certain sit-down restaurants you want to go to, to make your reservations in advance. I appreciate John's tips.

I highly doubt I'll get away with ANYTHING woodworking-related on our trip. :) Like you, we've been completely overwhelmed with the restaurant choices and trip planning. In fact, we've been avoiding it for the past month or so. It's probably time that we get back to it!

Does your little girl know about the trip? I'm curious how you did/will tell her. We haven't told our boys and have decided to wait until the trip, maybe even as we are driving to the airport. Have a good time!

Peter Elliott
02-05-2011, 6:14 PM
Shawn, we haven't told her yet about going to Disney.. Not sure we will until that day maybe.. We are trying to head down 4/18 and do 4 park days. Trying not to push it either. I am in the middle of waiting to hear back from Small World Vacations.com (http://www.smallworldvacations.com/) . They are Disney planers and so far the reviews about there service is excellent. They find the deals, etc. and help plan your trip.

There is way too much info on this place and it's hard to sort through it all. Why I asking our woodworking buddies for tips/advice/etc.

Johm M. suggestions make sense and fit into our kind of schedule.

Have a good time too!

Doug W Swanson
02-05-2011, 6:43 PM
We went to Disney a few years ago. Here are a few things that we learned:

-on popular rides use the FASTPASS whenever possible. Basically you get a ticket to come back at a certain time and then you bypass the long line and use the FASTPASS line. Sometimes you still have to wait but it's considerably shorter. Also, you are allowed only one pass at a time so it the line is short for that ride, you should just go on the ride.
-there are also ride that have lines for singles. if you don't mind splitting up or if you like rollercoasters but your family does not, then you basically just fill up the single seats. Some rides may have a 45 minute wait but the single line is only 10 minutes. My 8yr old daughter and I went on one ride knowing we would be split up but she didn't care. She was in the car in front of me so I was able to keep an eye on her.
-take advantage of the early and late hours at each park. If you stay at Disney, one of their parks opens early (and one stays open late) each day for Disney guests only. This is especially good for Animal Kingdom. We were on one of the first safari rides that morning and saw all of the animals (they like to hide in the afternoon when it gets warmer).
-if you don't get the meal plan, take a cab to the grocery store and buy some snacks, water, etc. we would get up, eat breakfast in our room, go to a park for a few hours, return the the room and rest. then we would go to a different park in the afternoon/evening. The
Here are some of my favorite rides:
Aerosmith Roller Coaster
Expedition Everest
Car/Motorcycle Stunt show at Disney Studios
Toy Story ride

We stayed at Caribbean Beach resort. It was nice to be in a smaller building but sometimes we had to wait a bit for a bus to take us to the resort we wanted to go to....

I'll try to post more when I have more time.

Hope this helps....

John M Wilson
02-05-2011, 6:57 PM
My wife and two boys (ages 7 and 6) are taking our first drip to Disney over Spring Break

For that age kids, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of keeping everyone refreshed & relaxed.

From a kid's standpoint, open-ended free play things (like swimming in the resort's pool) are more enjoyable than structured things (like standing in line for 45 minutes for a 2 minute ride). Adults can do the cost/benefit analysis and know that a super-duper 2 minute ride at some point in the future is worth it, but kids have difficulty processing this kind of info, get bored in line, start acting up, get yelled at, and the end result is no one has that magical experience that you are shelling out the big bucks for.

I witnessed one Dad melt down in front of his whiny kids: "Do you realize how much money we are spending here!!! If you don't behave, I'm going to take you back to the Tiki Bird show, and make you sit through the WHOLE THING!"

I think his kids will always remember this trip, but necessarily the way he intended them to. :D

Bottom line: plan ahead, hit the really popular rides when lines are short, and when the lines get long, go do something fun with the kids, even if it's free!

Hope you have a great time!

Charlie Barnes
02-05-2011, 7:24 PM
Hey Peter,

My family and I have been down there several times. We really like the Wilderness Lodge. The family likes it for the proximity to the Magic Kingdom and I like it for the architecture and furnishings. It's themed after the national park lodges out west, so it's got a lot of mission/A&C type furniture. If you haven't already locked in on the Caribbean Resort, you might want to check it out. Even if you don't stay there, you can make reservations and have dinner there one night and check the place out.

Charlie

Matt Meiser
02-05-2011, 7:44 PM
We went about 5 years ago and stayed at the Caribbean. We did a meal plan and I highly recommend it. It worked out relatively reasonable for more food than we could eat. But you need to make meal reservations months in advance for the popular restaurants which no one told us. We did fine but had to do some searching to get reservations once we got there. We did a character dinner buffet one night which my daughter really liked (she was 4 at the time) and Mickey's Hoe Down at the campground one night which counted as two of our dinners. That was fine because we'd planned for the two of us to go out one night while she went to whatever fancy name they call day care.

Funny story about the day care. It was at the Floridian and we were early for our reservation so we were sitting around in the lobby area. All these people started coming down in tuxes and formal dresses and milling around right where we were sitting, started sitting in seats around us, etc. Some of the guys looked vaguely familiar but I just couldn't figure out why. On the way out we saw the sign for the Nascar Truck Series award banquet. Ah ha!...

Eric Franklin
02-05-2011, 7:55 PM
I went in '03 with my wife for 7 days before kids so I don't have much advice going to Disney with kids. I will make one suggestion, for one dinner, go to the http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/hoop-de-doo-musical-revue/ (Hoop-De-Doo) at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. It was hilarious and well worth the money and I plan on taking my kids there when they are older. It is a couple of bus rides out there.

Phil Thien
02-05-2011, 8:54 PM
Phil - what is "CBC" - thx by the way...

-Peter

Sorry, Caribbean Beech Club, what I've always called the Caribbean Resort.

BTW, there are other things to do in Orlando. We like Sea World a lot.

Jay Runde
02-05-2011, 10:11 PM
you may also want to check out disboards, micechat or mouseplanet as well if you want to ask any DW experts.

Dan Hintz
02-06-2011, 10:28 AM
I'll suggest one thing... make sure your 7-yo is perfectly fine with people in large costumes. Up until the last year or so, our 8-yo was deathly afraid of anything that didn't look human. Even her favorite characters (HUGE superhero fan) scared the bejesus out of her and we had to give wide berth to them. Makes for a lot of extra walking.

For some adult fun (at least I considered it fun), try to find the hidden Mickeys on the rides (or in the architecture). I had a season pass at one point, so I spent nearly every weekend there looking for fun stuff.

Peter Elliott
02-06-2011, 12:47 PM
Good info guys..

I've been on those bboards.. some good info too.

So if you stay at CBR, where would you jump to another resort, say like Animal Kingdom for dinner? I assume you can reserve your prepaid meal plan their too?

Thanks for all tips, keep them coming!!
-Peter

Matt Meiser
02-06-2011, 2:09 PM
Yes. If you get a meal plan, I believe there are different classes of restaurants so I don't think you can go to all. But we ate at the Contemporary one night and at an Italian place inside MGM one night. We made reservations for each but since we were making them when we got there our choices were more limited.

Our meal plan included one sit down meal (we used for dinners), one "counter service" for in the parks or at the convenience store area at the Caribbean and one snack which I think was a drink and a snack which could be used all over the place. Other than one meal we ate in Orlando, I don't think we spent a dime on food outside our meal plan. We maybe could have ate cheaper, but with the meal plan our budget was set months in advance.

Kevin Stockwell
02-06-2011, 3:16 PM
Eat at Boma at the Animal Kingdom one night. California Grill at the top of the Contemporary is perfect place to watch fireworks, but counts as two table meals. Artist Point at Wilderness is same, but really good. Polynesian is really the best place to stay as you can walk to the transportation center and get wherever you want to go easily. Splurge on concierge level as long as you are dropping so much anyway--you can eat breakfast there, snacks, appetizers, wine, beer, pop, water, juice, throughout the day.

Bill Edwards(2)
02-07-2011, 7:46 AM
Find one of those places that want to sell you a time share.

They'll pay for part of your stay, it'll cost you several hours listening to the

sales pitch. Tell them NO and enjoy.

And if you really want to give your kids an experience... take Amtrak.

Roger Bullock
02-07-2011, 8:22 AM
We went a few years ago and here is what worked good for us.

Each park opens early for onsite guest. Plan on being there when it opens, pick the major attraction/ride and make a bee line to it right off the bat to beat the crowds. Make a second choice deeper into the park from the entrance and head to it second. This way you can get two of the major attractions in with the shortest wait time.

I agree with the others in that you should plan on going back to the room around noon to eat and hit the pools. More relaxing and kids love it. Plan to go back to the parks later in the day or early evening when most people are leaving, shorter lines and fireworks.

If you are flexible on time, going to the water park when it is cloudy or just after a rain will greatly reduce the crowds there.

+1 on meal plan and at least one theme meal for the kids. +1 on kids clubs when adults want an evening alone, lots of supervised activities for kids, ours had a blast.

Belinda Barfield
02-07-2011, 8:43 AM
Disney veteran chiming in here. I've done Disney with kids, and without . . . with an unlimited budget, and with a very small budget. For some families the trip is as much for the parents as for the kids, but for some the kids come first. If this is the case with you remember one thing - go with the flow. You can plan the vacation down to the minute but sometimes just doing what is at hand at the moment is best. Try to learn your way around before hand and, as others have said, arrive early - break - stay late. When you arrive, head in the opposite direction of the crowds. The resorts like the All Stars are really kid friendly and have cafeteria style eating for breakfast and lunch that is pretty reasonably priced. You know your child is going to have to go home with a "memory" of the trip so be prepared to spend a ridiculous amount on something you could buy elsewhere a lot cheaper. Trying to carry water and snacks is really a pain in the rear, or the back to be exact. Don't miss out on Epcot.

Years ago I went on a family trip to Disney with my husband (at the time), his sister, her husband, and their two children. The children were 7 (Alex) and 4 (Adrienne) at the time. I ran into my ex sister-in-law a few years back and we were reminiscing about a few things. She asked if I remembered our trip to Disney and I told her that of course I did. She told me that of all the things that Adrienne remembered from that trip, her best memory was that "Aunt B" taught her to swim at Disney. Every day when we took our mid day break we hit the pool. It was a much needed break and I highly recommend it.

Have fun and hug Mickey for me!

Dan Hintz
02-07-2011, 9:25 AM
Be careful if you take up Bill's suggestion for the time share sales pitches. I took the backstage Disney tour one day and they said too many people get caught up in the free ticket racket and end up getting handed fake tickets. Disney works hard to shut those people down, but in the end they keep popping back up time and time again. To be fair, Disney usually replaces the bum tickets with real ones if you help them track down who you received them from, but it's a pain in the butt.

Just be aware!

Augusto Orosco
02-07-2011, 3:34 PM
Just returned from Disney. Stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which my daughter loved. We got the same dining plan you mentioned, and for us it was worth it. A sit down dinner for two adults and one child will easily cost you over $100 + tip, not counting the alcohol; the meal plan gives you a decent break on that. Also, I think the 'quick meals' and 'snack' part of the plan are undersold by Disney. I was expecting some measly snack and tiny portion for the quick meals, but it's certainly not the case. A snack can be a bottle of water, but also a large ice cream bar. The quick meals are only 'quick' because it's usually on self serve restaurants; the portions are rather large. We also splurged and got the concierge service: We were able to eat breakfast at the Concierge Club every day, included in the cost. Overall, it was more food than we actually needed. Many of the sit down dinners are buffets, which is great for kids who are picky eaters. Disclaimer: The meal plan does not include alcoholic beverages or tips.

Matt is very right about reservations. Try to plan ahead and reserve your seat down dinners as soon as possible, particularly if you are traveling during spring break vacation. Reserving is pretty easy online. If for any reason your plans change, just skip it (and if you can, warn the restaurants, people waiting for a table will appreciate it!). I made my reservations for restaurants inside the parks and at the resorts with only one week to spare and my choices were limited (particularly at the parks); they fill up quickly.

Also, we rented a car, but regretted doing it afterwards. The buses are pretty efficient and can take you everywhere for free. They can get full sometimes, but they spare you the long walks from the parking lot to your rented car (and for Magic Kindgom, that's a big advantage. Buses drop you right at the door, if you drive, it's quite a hike to get to the park from the lot). Also, I can confirm to you that the shuttle to and from the airport is free (as of last week, at least). Much easier than having to go to the car rental booth and worry about picking up your luggage.

Hope you have a blast!

Peter Elliott
02-07-2011, 9:48 PM
This is great stuff... thanks for all the input (and if anyone else wants to chime in).

We are pretty easy going, so a strict schedule is out for sure. But will do the general planning and for sure the main dinner meals. I figure we are truly here for our daughter and some R&R for us at times. In my job, nothing surprises me so anything Florida won't change that, which is a good thing.

So how about the MUST DO's? i.e. go to Animal Kingdom for dinner and rent night goggles?? (something like that)
Maybe top spots to see? I haven't been back to Disney in 10yrs. and I am sure a lot has been added.

Thanks all !!
-Peter

Peter Elliott
02-07-2011, 9:50 PM
Splurge on concierge level

What is this option Kevin? I haven't read about this yet??

Thanks
Peter

John M Wilson
02-07-2011, 10:15 PM
A fun thing for your daughter (it was a hit with mine) is to pick up an autograph book for the Disney characters to sign. There is info on the web to let you know who will appear, where & when. Just be in the general area & get an autograph from Chip & Dale, Goofy, the princesses, etc. My girls got a kick out of "collecting them all" and it sort of helped us break the tie when we weren't sure which park to go to...

Dan Hintz
02-08-2011, 7:01 AM
Assuming they still do it... do the pin collecting thing. You can purchase these little pins in the gift stores (they have starter kits with a handful of pins) to get you going, but you walk around the park trading pins with Disney employees. They are all displayed on their shirts, and all employees must partake in the trade if they have pins. You simply walk up, point to the pin you want to trade for, and swap with one of yours. Employees get employee-specific pins, and these are the most sought after. The kids love it, it's simple, and they get to walk away with something "cool". My nephews did it for a couple of years and really hogged the employee-specific ones... who knows, maybe they'll be worth something some day ;)

Pat Germain
02-09-2011, 5:59 PM
Another BIG Disney-Head here! If you, or anyone else here on SMC, would like to send me a PM with your email address, I'd be happy to send you a copy of a Walt Disney World Guide I put together for friends and family. It's just a MS Word document which shares some advice and experiences. (I will not sell or distribute your email address. :))

And here are a few of my recommendations:

- I completely agree staying "on-site" is best. Rather than the Caribbean Beach, you might consider the Port Orleans French Quarter. Like Caribbean Beach, it's a "Moderate" resort (same price). But Port Orleans French Quarter is the smallest resort at Walt Disney World. But by no means is it small. It's just that the other resorts are huge complexes which can involve a lot of walking from your room to the bus and back. Port Orleans French Quarter also has very good service, a nice theme, a great pool for kids and a good food court. The bus service is also top notch with smaller crowds than at the other, larger resorts. (The busses are shared with the sister resort, Port Orleans Riverside, but they stop at French Quarter first.)

- I also like the Dining Plan. And Matt is spot-on about making reservations. Since Disney started the Dining Plan, pretty much every table service restaurant is booked solid every night

- The "Early Entry" option used to be a great deal. But Disney now has so many resorts on-property, the parks are very crowded on Early Entry days. I've done both and it's much better to just skip the extra hour and visit a park on a non Early-Entry day. It's much less crowded. Just be sure to get to the park before it opens. You'll be able to tour the park with minimal crowds for the first few hours.

- Be sure to catch the "Finding Nemo" show at Animal Kingdom. It's very good and small children really love this show. Arrive early. It's a popular show and you'll have to navigate through ten thousand strollers to get in line. Also, ride the Nemo ride at Epcot. It's also a big hit with little kids

- Disney's "Magical Express" now offers free transportation to and from the airport for anyone staying at a Disney Resort. But you might consider booking a Town Car instead. The Magical Express bus serves multiple resorts. If your resort is last, it can be a long ride. Also, you have to board the bus many hours ahead of time for the return trip. This means a very long wait at the airport and a few hours shaved off your vacation.

With a town car, a driver will pick you up at the airport and help you with your luggage. If you request it ahead of time, he will stop at a Publix grocery store and give you a half-hour to pick up snacks and drinks. When you're ready to head back to the airport, your driver will pick you up at whatever time you request. I like "Tiffany Town Car". The cost is about $100 round trip, plus tip each way. I think it's well worth it!

William Long
02-09-2011, 8:13 PM
Take a look at www.mousesavers.com (http://www.mousesavers.com) They have a nice newsletter.

Peter Elliott
02-10-2011, 10:28 AM
All good stuff! Pat, I sent you a PM..

So we tossed out Caribbean Beach Resort - they had only Pirate Theme Rooms and that would not go over too well. So it's either go up to Wilderness Lodge ($$ Yikes) or head over to Port Orleans?

Mousesavers is where I started.. and thanks it's a good site.

So what resorts did you like or would not go back too?

Thanks all!
Peter

Pat Germain
02-10-2011, 1:00 PM
I have stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter and Animal Kingdom Lodge. I would recommend either. I think French Quarter is the best value at Walt Disney World.

Based on my experience, I would not recommend the concierge floor at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Disney charges a significant premium for the AKL concierge floor. But it's up high; way too far from the animals. I think it's best to be on the second or third floor. (There are no rooms on the first floor. It's all utility areas.)

I would not recommend Saratoga Springs. It's a nice resort, but it's simply massive. It's like a gigantic condo compound.

The resorts in the Epcot area have a GREAT location. You can walk to Epcot and Disney Studios. There are also boats available to both parks. And there's a lot to see and do right around these hotels which are Yacht Club, Beach Club and Boardwalk. Technically, these are "Disney Vacation Club" resorts, which is the Disney timeshare. But anyone can book a room at these resorts. Be aware they are pretty pricey.