Disney World Questions?? - Overland Park,KS

Hi A.. We've gone to WDW 5 times and only stayed on property once at the Animal Kingdom Lodge....which was beautiful. My 3 year old loved looking at the animals off our balcony and whenever we walked down the halls. If you're looking for a value resort, I hear that Pop Century is the best. 2) We did the dining pass this past September and it was terrific, but they offer free dining from the end of August till early October...so we didn't have to pay for it. The nice thing is that you can do as many character dinings you want, but it is expensive if you pay for it yourself. 3) Yes, rides have height limits....check out disboards.com I visited this board religiously when we were planning out trip. You can find the height restrictions and boards that will answer all your questions. You can always post questions. They also have boards about the dining plan and the different resorts. 4) Fast pass is a must, I also recommend the photo pass (split between both families)...it costs $100, but worth it stitchkingdom.com talks about photo pass in depth. Don't forget to register your sons bday on Disney's website because he'll get in free in '09.....I think they do something else special if you already have a multi-day ticket. May will be quite busy, so beware. :) Make sure do an autograph book, my daughter loved getting the autographs and taking pictures with the characters. Call in advance and make your dining reservations....you'd be surprise that some restaurants won't have walk-ups because they are already booked by people who called 180 days in advance. :) Good luck! Your son will love this vacation!

Hey A.-

We took our 3 year old in April for her birthday. We did the dining pass and LOVED it. There was so much food that it included and it was nice not to worry about having more cash on us. There were several places that participated. Also - with those passes you can dine with the characters! Most of the placese just require 1 dinner pass per person - and the food is good. This gives them the opportunity to get great pics with their favorite characters. we stayed at the low end hotel on property as we were not in our hotel room much. The other thing I would reccoment is visiting one of the guest centers (in any of the parks) he can get a pin that says it is his birthday and the characters will give him special attention - and if dining with them give him a card.

Disney is truly a magical place! I hope you enjoy your trip!!

L.

Ditto on the dining pass. We were able to eat at many of the more expensive sit down restaurants including character dining. There is NO WAY I could have afforded that otherwise at $20 an entree in some places. Snack and lunch food are surprisingly affordable but it still helps not to have to carry too much cash.

Also, VERY IMPORTANT, if you want to book character dining like the pirate table or others, call ahead and reserve. I mean like call now. They book up months and months in advance. Its incredibly worth planning ahead on.

I've heard Animal Kingdom is awesome if you can afford it. I went for the Pop Century since it was less pricey and I figured we'd be spending most of the time at the parks.

Get the park hopper option. This allows so much more freedom as you can go to one park in the morning and then go back to your room, nap, freshen up and go to a completely different park.

One MUST...stay on property. The shuttles are a godsend. You don't have to find a parking space and they run about every 30 minutes so you can go back to your room or hop over to another park at any time.

Have a blast!

Definitely do the dining pass. And the FastPass. We stayed at Saratoga Springs which was lovely but out of the way. I've heard the Wilderness resorts are good. Don't know how many days you have, but for a 4 y.o., you'll probably want to have more than one day in the Magic Kingdom to do everything. I'll repeat what's already been said: make any special dining reservations now! If you and your husband have the chance to leave your son with the grandparents, think about a romantic dinner at the California Grill (top of the Contemporary resort, right next to Magic Kingdom). Have fun!

A.,
I read other responses, so won't go into all the same info. I don't know if you have already booked your trip, but they are offering some great deals this year. If you travel from Jan - June, you buy 4 days park passes and 4 days hotel and get 3 days free park passes and 3 days free hotel. I priced it out compared to our 7 day trip last April and it is a big difference. Also, if you go Jan-Mar, you get a $200 Disney Visa to use anywhere on the property for food, souveniers, whatever. You also get into the park free on your birthday. You can check all of this out on the disney web site.
You will have a great time!

(Not sure what anyone else has written since I haven't checked yet, so sorry if you have this info already). :)

You will have so much fun! We took the family to Disney World in November. You definitely want to stay on property. We stayed at an All-Star Resort (All-Star Music, although there are others -- All-Star Sports, All-Star Movies, etc.). This is classified as a "value resort". The rooms were clean and nice and it is definitely an affordable option -- we were able to get two rooms for only a little bit more than the cost of one room at the Port Orleans resort (a "moderate resort") . We weren't that interested in the extra amenities because we spent most of our time at the parks, but if you need/want a great swimming pool, etc., you may want to check out one of the moderate resorts. You also may want to look at what parks you are interested in spending the most time at, and see what hotels are closest. We didn't need a rental car, we just used the Disney bus system to get everywhere, but some hotels, like the Polynesian, have a Monorail stop right there.

Definitely get the dining plan, you will save SO much money! But don't get the full dining plan (with breakfast included). You would spend all of your time sitting down at meals and never have a chance to go on rides. The option that gives you lunch and dinner along with snacks is a great option (not sure what it's called). Also, you can plan to use one of your meal "entitlements" for a character breakfast. My 4 year old loved it! There's a great one at the Contemporary resort that had Mickey, Donald, Goofy, etc. -- all the traditional characters. You will need to make reservations for your sit-down dinners, and there are some really fun themed options at each of the parks, so be sure to do your research.

Yes, the rides do have age and height restrictions. You might want to buy a guide (we got Steve Birnbaum's guide and liked it). That will give you more info. I didn't find the Disney website helpful for that info, but I'm sure if you called them they could give you specifics. If you're going through a travel agent they should be able to give you more info. We used Claudia Taylor at the Overland Park AAA office and got a great deal.

Last bit of advice -- definitely take advantage of the Disney "fastpass" system to avoid standing in line. We got to go on so many rides using this system, and it's free.

Have a blast on your trip!

Feel free to email me if you have any other questions! ____@____.com

A.,

I agree with one of the other posters, Disney World is Magical and my kids (18 and 14) still love it! At one time we went 3 Christmas's out of 4!

I think our 14 year old was 5 when we first took her. We always stay on property and stay at Old Key West which is more like a little condo. It does cost a little more but has a little more room which we like as a family. No you're not in the room much, but it's nice when you there not to be sitting on top of each other on a bed to watch TV. Plus it has a full kitchen area which saves on food if you can eat breakfast and snacks in your room.
So having said that I don't think we've ever done the dining pass although it sounds like others say it's a great deal. Even though we have not done the dining pass, the year we took MY mom with us we still did a character breakfast through some program. Grandma is a HUGE Mickey fan and I think enjoyed it more than the kids!
The Fast-Pass is a must especially with children. And again, as others have already said, there are height limits.
I agree to get the autograph book, but sometimes it is difficult and takes a while in a line to get a character autograph which may bore a 4 year old.

It is a wonderful place even for adults. If at all possible, work out a deal with your parents to watch your son so you and your husband can go and do the fun things for people taller than 36 inches!

Have FUN!

Lori K