Disney Vacation - Nashville,TN

I wouldn't recommend the park hopper unless you have teenage kids that you would feel comfortable letting them go on their own to a park. It takes quite awhile to get in and out of the parks and there is so much to do in one park at a time just always seemed like a waste of money to me.

Unless you really want to stay on disney property I have always done very well on Priceline to get a room near Disney and I've never paid more than $50 for a 3 star hotel. Some hotels even have shuttles to and from the parks so you wouldn't have to pay for parking.

www.allears.net

def stay at a disney hotel , and take the bus to the parks, get the park hopper, and use fast pass.
Leave in the morning for the park then at lunch time go back to the hotel, take a couple of hrs to wind down take a nap, dip in the pool, whatever you need to do . then go back in the evening. Use the magic hours, park is much less crowded.

Staying on property lets you use the free transportation and saves you the parking fee of like 15$ a day and then gas.

I'm not sure if you're talking about Orlando or Anaheim, but we always do the RideMax scheduling and get great discounts with MouseSavers. We love Disney and make an effort to go to one or the other of the parks every other year or so.

Have fun!

www.thosecrazybeans.blogspot.com

Hi L.:
You will get tons of answers to this question and every one of them will be very different. There seem to be lots of Disney Experts! Many people love the convenience of staying on Disney property and others find better value in staying off property in one of the many condos or hotels or home rentals in the area. Restaurants also vary - someone mentioned Boma already...but I have spoken to many who really don't like that sort of "adventurous" eating and others who love it.
First I would recommend figuring out your budget and then I would consider the factors that are most important for your family. Do you need your own space to unwind at the end of the day? Will you be driving or flying to Orlando? Will you be visiting the other area attractions or just Disney? I would also carefully consider the meal plan option that Disney offers. We have used it and loved it, but if we weren't going to be at Disney every day it wouldn't have made sense for us to use. Plus it really depends on the ages of your kids and how much they will eat.
I am a former Cast Member 10 years and current travel agent so I could go on and on...but I have to get the kids ready for school :) so...send me a message if you want more detail. Do check out sites like www.allearsnet.com for some great reviews. Doing research ahead of time is really important for a Disney vacation. And remember to plan meals waaaaayyy in advance. You will be surprised how fast restaurants fill up!

After seeing your additional info I would add...
Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary is really good. Sometimes difficult to get, but good character breakfast and dinner option.
1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian with Cinderella, step sisters mother and Prince Charming also good food and fun character interaction.
Cape May Cafe at Disney's Beach Club - We prefer breakfast :)
Ohana with Lilo and Friends at Polynesian Resort
Some good non character options in the resorts:
Kona Cafe - Polynesian - Great breakfast especially the Tonga Toast
Beaches & Cream - Beach Club - very good hamburgers and ice cream of course!

You have a lot of great answers, but I would contribute a few things after doing 10 days with four kids!

I'd say to bring princess dress up costumes with you... they are close to $70 in the park and your daughter will see a lot of them walking around and may wish she had hers. I brought dollar store glow necklaces- they were neat for the kids at night and not nearly as expensive as the ones sold at the park. Also, when the kids were dancing around to the music, we could differentiate them right away from the other kids! We also brought some snacks (granola bars, trail mix, fruit leather, beef jerky, frozen Capri Suns, and bottles of water.) I understand you might need to supplement even with the food plan. They let us take in outside food unlike many other parks. Renting a strolller is VERY expensive, so I'd recommend bringing one, preferably with some sort of tall flag or something on it since there will be 5 million JUST like yours (whatever style you have!) USE the Fast Pass options as often as possible. If you want to meet the characters outside of mealtime, there are less lines just as the park opens.

We were camping for two weeks and had 10 day passes... could only stand the parks for 9 days! LOL! I think a 7-day pass is plenty! If you camp and don't do the food plan, having a Slow Cooker was AWESOME!!! Left the parks for an already cooked dinner and a nice break and went back later for fireworks!

Good luck!

also look into the meal(dining) plan. we found it to be a great help for planning meals in the parks. and you can do a charactar meal once a day for the kids to have fun while eating! you can schedule your charactar meals up to 180 days before your vacation!

We planned our trip through our travel agent but going through the site is the same. We got the Disney Dining Package and that is THE BEST deal ever! Totally worth it and gives you peace of mind when it's time to eat because you can plan your meals before you go and your reservations are already made! We didn't wait, we got great service and ate like kings! It was absolutely one of the best parts of our trip!

I posted this and then read your update! The Ohana Lilo and Stitch breakfast at the Polynesian is AWESOME! We loved the food and it was very entertaining as well! We also liked the Sci-Fi Diner at the Studios because they had car shaped booths and a huge movie screen with sci-fi flicks. Our best meal was at the Coral Reef in Epcot. The food was the best! We did wait a little here but only because we requested tankside seating, which was well worth the little wait for it! The kids really enjoyed seeing the sea life up close and there were so many different things to look at! We also like the Liberty Tree Tavern in the Magic Kingdom and went for their character dinner. The food is served family style and it's good eats like mac n cheese, mashed potatoes, turkey, ham, green beans, etc.

Have fun! I can't wait to go again! We went with friends last time and now we have a daughter (we were pregnant when we went) so we can't wait to share the experience with her!

Our family loves to go and stay at Fort Wilderness. If you guys do not mind camping or have friends that have any style of travel trailers, etc. It is a great campground with all of the amendities of Disney. Transportation, cool themed pools- that sort of thing. They are still considered Disney Property, but for half the price.
They also have cabins on the campground as well. I do not know the prices of these.
Hope this helps!

R.

WALT DISNEY WORLD WITH KIDS 2009 by Kim Wright Wiley

link on amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Fodors-Walt-Disney-World®-Kids/dp/...

Awesome book for disney vacation... for planning ahead, AND while you are there. Even has ratings and comments for specific rides. It has been our BIBLE for two visits and never missed. It was recommended to me by a Disney "regular" who said she would never go without it. Have fun.

We went on our first Disney vacation last November with our 3 sons (ages 5, 3 & 15mos) and had a blast. I swore I would never take our children when they were that small but the military deals available at the time were too good to pass up. That may not be an option for you, but nonetheless, there are great deals to be had by all and I would suggest planning far in advance. Some others mentioned www.allears.net, www.mousesavers.com and the Unofficial Guide to WDW. I swear by these resources and think that the time I invested in reading the guide and scouring the websites paid off big time. I have an e-mail that I've sent to 2 friends who are planning their WDW vacation and I'd be happy to send you a copy if you e-mail me at ____@____.com a wonderful trip!!

If you are staying on Disney property, they are probably the best deal. When you book hotel stays with them, they offer free meal plans (which will save you hundreds!) or they offer a buy 4 nights get 3 free (or something similar to that). If you aren't staying on property, I would just look around.

P.S. I strongly suggest staying on property if you can...not only is it more convenient, but it also makes it much more "magical"! Have fun!

I am a frequent Disney traveler (4+ per year) with an inside connection who also works @ Disney (World). I recommend going through the Disney website http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/ to do all your bookings. Stay at a Disney Resort & DEFINITELY take advantage of the meal plan. If driving, park your car & utilize the Disney transportation throughout your entire stay. You will save so much money & time if you do the above. Plan your meals WAY in advance so that there is availability @ the restaurants of your choice. Park hopper is a joke, you can't finish one park in one day, much less try to make it to another park. If you plan your trip far enough in advance, take advantage of all that Disney has to offer, as well as the Disney vacation planners, your trip will run smoothly & wonderful! Epcot is my favorite with FANTASTIC restaurants (Norway (meet the princess'), Mexico (yummy) & Japan for Sushi). Plan to go during the International Food & Wine Festival in October/November and Epcot will be unforgettable. Plan to finish dinner an hour prior to fireworks in order to get that perfect seat! Do the breakfast @ Animal Kingdom (Park) "Tusker House". It is incredible food and the character's are fun. I've stayed @ every Disney property & Animal Kingdom (Resort) is my favorite. However if you stay on a property on the monorail (Deluxe Resorts), your time & transportation issues will be significantly reduced. My favorite restaurant of all the restaurants is in the Animal Kingdom Resort (NOT park) called "Boma", which is the best food I've ever eaten. Please feel free to ask any questions! I hope this helps, good luck and have fun!

When is your vacation? If you have 6+ months lead time you can get some good deals on Disney resorts, otherwise they are the most expensive option. If your trip is sooner than 6 months or if you want more than one room, you would save a lot in off-disney resorts, motels, or vacation rentals, but check the disboards - there are some real dumps out there!

What age are your kids? If you have strollerage kids, then paying to be on the monorail or at least on the Disney transport system is worth it. The meal plan w/ sit down meals requires making plans & reservations weeks/months in advance as there is very little walkup seating. It is very convinent, but can be very expensive if you waste credits on bottled water etc. Learn how to work the system if you opt for it. I agree on not getting park hoppers - one park a day is max for families w/kids. Adults and unsupervised teens might find it useful.

You can learn a lot at http://www.disboards.com/ and that book prev. recommended is worth it! Understanding how the ride system works and having some sort of plan will greatly increase your enjoyment, unless you just like to stand in line for hours!

Go to your local library and check out the book Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. Lots of great info and tips.

I DO recomend the park hopper tickets. We did 3 day park hopper. We spent the first whole day at Magic Kingdom but then used the hoppers for the last 2 days. I think a whole day at Hollywood Studios would be pretty boring...... As with Animal Kingdom.

We got our tickets from a guy who sells them on ebay. Saved over $800 on 7 (3 day) park hoppers from the Disney website passes! And the tickets worked perfectly.

PS> We just went in Jan. and our kids were 2 1/2 and 5 in March.

My family and I are also going to Disney World this summer, it is very exspencive. I have found that if you are military, there is a resort the called Shades of Green just for military families that is pretty reasonibly priced. But if your not military then I have a family member that rent resort rooms for a very modest fee compaired to what you find on your own. If you are interested email me ____@____.com and I can give you more information.