The Dreaded Disney Trip (And All of It's Planning)

October is a great time for Disney, particularly if it's on a week day! We've always stayed in the moderate resorts (All Stars, Music, Sports, etc - great prices). They have great food courts, a nice property, and since we were at the parks most of the time, we didn't have any issues with the resort.

We didn't do a park hopper because we knew that we'd stay in each park for the day. When we arrived, we went straight to Magic Kingdom and then returned there the next day (there was plenty to do there for our toddler). I've heard you neeed a full day for SeaWorld, too.

I purchased one of the Unofficial Guide to Disney World, and spent $6 to access their website - touringplans.com which was an UNBELIEVABLE resource. They helped me figure out which parks to go to on which days (they know which parks will be busy and how busy), helped me map out my day (all rides, meals, shows, etc.) and described all the restaurants (reviews, types of food, prices, etc). Super helpful. We also purchased the Food package with Disney which was extremely cost effective.

I've found that while Disney is expensive there are lots of ways to save, if you look around. Feel free to message me privately for more details/ideas.

Mousesavers is great. We went to Disney 2 years ago and stayed at the Wilderness Lodge in the Villas (friends let us use their points). But, we're a family of five and it was nicer to stay in a 2 bedroom condo instead of the regular hotel. Since you need only one hotel room, it doesn't matter if you're in a moderate or deluxe resort. But, each hotel has it's own theme and I think you just need to pick one with the amenities you like best.

We arrived in the afternoon and chose The Magic Kingdom, which had late hours that day for resort guests. We got there around 3:30pm and stayed until midnight. It was a blast. We did one theme park a day, so no park hopper was needed. Unless you plan on doing two parks in a day, it's a waste of money.

Make sure you talk to different cast members (Disney employees) to get a feel for what's the best time of day to do certain things and to find out what's happening in the parks and hotels. We got some really good tips for the Animal Kingdom from a waiter that worked at a restaurant at the Wilderness Campground. We also talked to cast members that worked rides and in shops to find out the best deals, insider info, and what not.

Have fun!

Staying on the Disney property is best...easier. The cheaper one of those the better because you won't be there very much. We arrived the day before we got our passes so everyone was well rested and settled in. We also got regular tickets and not the park hoppers. My kids were small so we focused on one park at a time. I think the hoppers make things a little crazier and who needs that when you have little ones? Have a wonderful time!!!

1. The Deluxe resorts are AMAZING, but if you are going to stay at one, I suggest staying at any of them BUT Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom is far from everything (other than that park), and means you will spend more time taking transportation than you would need to. My suggestions would be the Polynesian, the Contemporary, or the Beach Club. All have options available for you to walk to a park and/or take a monorail most of the time. If you want to stay at a Moderate resort, Port Orleans and the Coronado Springs are both lovely places to stay.

2. If you are doing Sea World, I would probably go that first day. There is SO much to do at Disney though that if you don't mind spending the money, you will definitely be able to do a lot (especially if you plan to stay at the parks later in the evening).

3. I always suggest getting a park hopper ticket if you can afford it. They allow you to see more of the parks (some parks are open later than others), and allow you to spend the morning one place and the evening at another. This is FABULOUS when you want to eat dinner at Epcot! Animal Kingdom is also one of those parks that you can be completely finished with by about 2 PM if you get there when it opens (or even better, take advantage of the early morning extra magic hours). That means the rest of the day you are stuck at the hotel/Downtown Disney area unless you have a park hopper that could get you in to Epcot, Magic Kingdom or Hollywood later in the day. (P.S. Don't exclude Hollywood Studios...there are some great shows there and it is SO easy to see characters at that park with little to no line!)

4. Disneyworld.com is honestly my favorite place for information. Occasionally, you can find good stuff elsewhere, but most of it is common sense.

Any other questions, please feel free to PM me. We go to Disney at least once a year and have things down pat. I am constantly helping other mamas on here, so don't feel like it's a problem! Have fun! :)

I second the suggestion to get Unofficial Guide to Disney World - they come out with a new edition every year and it's proven invaluable time and time again when we've gone. I would also agree that unless you plan to go to more than one park in a day, the park hopper option is not worth it. However, Fast Pass is (for getting on rides with minimal waiting in line) and it's free. If you are going on October, you might be able to do Mickey's Unscary Halloween Party - they have the Magic Kingdom open late, all the characters are out, but it does cost extra. You can check out Mousesavers online and also get good input from Disboards.com. You can easily spend one day at each park as well as Seaworld to try to get it all in so only 2 to 3 days may not be enough for everything.

Why would anyone "dread" a trip to Disney? If you really don't want to go, you don't have to. Otherwise I would try to plan ahead as much as possible, and try to avoid some the pitfalls that people sometimes find themselves in which can make or break the trip. Again, Unofficial Guide is great for this!

I am a big fan of the Deluxe resorts-the Poly being my favorite. I like being on the monorail and I am one to like the extras-good restaurants/pools/amenities. So it really depends on what kind of person you are and what you like. That being said I would stay at a moderate that was closer to everything than stay at Animal Kingdom. AK is just so far from everything...you will def spend time just waiting for your transportation. I have not stayed at a moderate but hear good things about Port Orleans.
If I were only going to be there a couple days I wouldn't go to Sea World...not when my child has not seen WDW yet. You can definitely do AK in a half day...its not that big. Also DHS is a good half day. You should plan on MK for a whole day and depending on how old your child is Epcot could be a half day...our first time there when the kids were 5 & 2 thats all we spent there. It is really not the best for very little kids.
Personally I like the park hopper-esp since you are not going to be there long.
Online I always liked WDWinfo.com.
Get the unofficial guide to disney with kids for planning-this book is an amazing resource. You will learn so much that will make your trip more enjoyable for all.

Hi! You didn't say the age of your daughter, so I will base this off the age my daughter was when we took her. She was 4. It was perfect! (My other daughter will be 5 when we take her next year!) Anyway, We stayed at The Coronado Springs resort (mid priced.) We were very happy and plan to stay there again. We spent so little time in the room, I don't think we would spend the money for a higher priced resort. (Maybe the Poly, but only b/c of the monorail!) We got park hopper passes and were glad we did. It allowed us the freedom to do whatever we wanted. We went to as many character breakfast/lunches as we could, and we could do that w/the park hopper! Also we could sped half a day at one park, then go to another if it was crowded or we needed a break in between. The day we went to Animal Kingdom, it was so hot, we left. Would have been a wasted day w/o the park hopper.
Two other things you didn't mention, but we liked...The meal pass. We loved it! It allowed us to eat at any restaurant in Disney and it was covered. It allowed us to have breakfast each morning before we went out, and it allowed for a snack in the parks. So if we wanted ice cream, or whatever, it was covered! That was great since those things are expensive! We ate at tun of cool places, and all the character meal were covered! (Cinderella's Castle was the only one that was more. Two meals on the pass or pay in cash.) It was fantastic! The other thing was Mickey's not so scary Halloween party. We had such a blast! The park was much less crowded b/c you have to buy tickets. They had a special parade and show w/fireworks and trick or treating w/all the characters. It was a late night, but my daughter was up later than usual most nights there anyway. It was well worth it to us! You do not have to dress up for it, but you can if you want. It just added an extra event to make it special, and the park was amazing, the way they transformed it that night! Hope that helps, and you have a fantastic time! :)

I have gone to Disney MANY times. As much as I LOVE to stay at the pricey hotels (Polynesian is my FAVE) how often do you really plan on being in that pricey room? We stay at the value resorts. Still Disney, so they are still nice! And much cheaper.
Normally, we will not go to a park the day we arrive. We usually get there mid -afternoon. This year, however, I think we have extra tickets, so we may try to go to the Magic Kingdom. All depends on the tickets or package you have. And Sea World isn't even a part of Disney...not sure how far it is. I haven't been there in years!
We just get straight tickets. No park hoppers. We like to try and fit as much as we can in one day. We go for the week though. With you staying for a couple of days, if you want to see all the parks, you may want to do the hopper pass.
I don't check too many online sources. I go straight to Disney, or Birnbaum has a great book with great tips!!!
Hope this all helps...I will be there in 53 days!!!!!!!!

Ive been to Disney many times but have always stay off property. This past January we actually stayed on property at the Kidani Village because my brother has DVC points there. We love to visit in the off season as well, my husband calls it Septober - End of September start of October.

While it was nice to stay near the Animal Kingdom we were quite far from the parks. We liked the idea of being able to use the bus, but we didnt use them. We drove to the parks and got free parking since we stayed on property. Im also a travel agent and unless you plan on staying at the resort for most of the day, its better to stay at a value resort. The Kidani village was nice because we had a kitchen and cooked breakfast everyday which saved a ton of money. There was 5 of us. Im actually heading down there again this weekend and we are staying at Jambo house, next door to Kidani Village. Sister also has DVC points there but she tells me its over $400 a night normally. To me thats not worth it for just a place to sleep.

When we drive down we dont head to the park the first day, its just too much. We are flying down in August for a convention and the booked a flight that lands at 10:30 am so we are heading to the park that day. We usually go to the smaller parks like Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios, you can go thru them quickly. Staying on property you can also take advantage of the extra magic hours. If you plan it correctly you can arrive and head to the smaller parks with extra magic hours to make the most of it.

We've always gotten straight tickets - no hoppers. We actually got hoppers this past January because my brother is in the military and got tickets for all of us for a great price, it was included. We still never used them - there is so much to do, I cant see spending time in more then one park at a time. Ive also gotten tickets at mapleleaftickets.com - they are priced well.

A great resource for info is Allears.net - I subscribe to them and they have a lot of great information.

Take advantage of the fastpass - it works great. We usually had a plan of attack before heading to the parks. You can also find which days are best to hit certain parks which helps.

Good luck in planning your trip.

We've been at least 8 times.

I ONLY deal direectly with Disney and my airline (American)

The only place we stay is the Polynesian on the monorail line. We love that hotel. You get what you pay for.... We've had rooms that were garden view, lagoon view and conceirge. Concerirge was our favorite, of course more pricey but food and drink are available 24/7 and a part of the cost of the room. It is super easy to take the boat taxi or monorail to MK from Polynesian.

As a conceirge guest, we had the option of some private tours which were awesome. We did a private safari at AK.

We bought the tickets that were good for any park, any time, and did not expire until midnight the day of your departure.

We did character breakfast at O'Hana (Polynesian), Chef Mickey (Contemporary) and the regular luau.

You don't need a car if you fly in. There are free shuttle to/from Disney resorts but you have no idea how long you will wait to get to your destination. It depends on how many other people are on the shuttle and where you stop is located. We prefer the private taxi route. Last time we went it was about $100 each way with tip, straight shot to/from airport.

When we go on vacation, we don't do penny pinching. We spend wisely and shop smart. It is our vacation... and DO NOT go into debt to go. If you can't afford to go and pay for it in full, wait until you can.

October weeday-great time to go. We went on a Thursday and were able to do soooo much. We went back the next day (Friday) and it was very crowded.

Animal Kingdom is not a full day park in my opinion. Just not very big, not a ton to do. And what there is to do you can get done quickly if you go on a lighter day.

I wouldn't spend the extra $ on the deluxe resorts. You aren't going to be in the room that much anyway if you are only staying a couple of days. Use that $ toward food or travel.

I'd skip the park hopper option too. It takes quite a bit of time to get in and out of a park or from park to park. That's a lot of wasted time if you are only going to be there a couple of days. Unless you wanted to try to squeeze in Epcot and Animal Kingdom in one day.

You can easily spend an entire day at MK and not see everything so plan on using a full day there.

I'd do Animal Kingdom or Sea World when you arrive. Sea World is really pricey though so you may not feel like you get your $ worth if you are only able to go for a few hours.

Allears.net is an awesome site. I second Ohana at the Polynesian for character breakfast. The character dining in parks seems so rushed, but going to one of the resorts is a more relaxed atmosphere. And the food was AWE-SOME!

We stayed at All-Stars movies at our last visit. We plan to stay at the Polynesian next time. (Hubby adores Hawaii so he digs the theme.) I am of two minds. 1. When I'm at Disney, all I intend to do in the hotel room is shower and sleep. So, why spend the extra money? 2. Well, the nicer hotels' buses are just a little closer to the gates. Places like the Polynesian, the Floridian and the Contemporary also have monorail access. (I have always dreamed of staying in a hotel that has monorail access to the parks.)

We didn't get to our hotel until late, so we didn't go into any park that night. I think my parents decided to go to Downtown Disney, but that doesn't use up one of your "park days". If I were going to Sea World, I'd want a full day there too. Lots of shows, hard to pack into a small time window.

Don't overplan (like I did.) Have a magical time!

I absolutely LOVE Disney - I love that I can go there and don’t have to drive once I get there (unless I go beyond Disney - but than there is the Mears bus system). We've been to there many times with and without my son. I have stayed off Disney property and found that is definitely is not worth it. Soooo much better when you stay on Disney property and use there service from and to the airport - we did it the last 2 x's (Feb 2010 and April 2009) we were at Disney with my son and it was great. Also - its much easier to use the Disney transportation to and from your hotel which runs all day until about 2AM depending on the schedule with the parks. It’s much better than going to an "off property' and using their bus system which only runs usually certain times in the morning and than again at night when the parks close. We have stayed at the "Value Resorts" and found that the moderate level was a better bargain. I have stayed at Pop Century (without my son) and All Star Movie (with my son) and found out the room was a little small...we stay at Caribbean Beach on our last trip and found the rooms a little bigger. When you make your reservation they charge extra to stay closer to the main lobby and we did find this helpful at All Star Movie resort but not at Caribbean Beach - the cafeteria was not in the same building as the lobby...be careful.
2 - The day we arrive at Disney we never waste a day/ticket and go to a park if we get there late- usually we are tired and need to unpack some so we just head to Downtown Disney which is just as fun as the parks and you don’t need a ticket.
3 - We always bought park hoppers and also got the no expiration date. I don’t know what kind of offers they have now but they are usually save you money. Also - when you are there and if you plan on going back and if you purchased the no expiration date - add extra days before you leave - it’s cheaper than buying a new ticket on your next visit. Check with the hotel or the parks - there is a time frame as to when you can purchase the extra days - I don’t think you can do it on your last day of your ticket.
4 - I went to mouse savers and they helped a little - didn’t really navigate their website much.

A few other tips -

I found - Garden Grocer (http://www.gardengrocer.com/?gclid=COaQo_HIgaoCFR5qgwodGE...) - they deliver groceries right to your hotel. You can shop and pay for it online - even refrigerated stuff. The hotel will keep it cool for you. If you have kids in diapers or pull ups - use formula or milk - this worked out perfect so that we wouldn’t have to take up all that extra room in our luggage to carry all that stuff and we didn’t need to worry about getting transportation to a supermarket to get the stuff we needed. Also - if you want to shop for some groceries at home - you can always ship them - just make sure to give it about a week’s time so that they are there when you arrive. Contact the hotel they will tell you how to address the package. My son needed medical supplies and found this helpful to ship and have waiting for us when we arrived.
When we went our son was still in a crib and I didn’t want him to have to stay in a travel crib for 7 days - there are plenty of places that rent out cribs - tub seats - blanket sets and so on. I found the prices reasonable. I don’t recall the name of the place but if you Google it I’m sure you will find plenty. However, the hotel will allow you to rent one of their cribs which is a travel crib and a little cheaper than the outside company.
Keep in mind also - that if you have kids who still drink bottles/milk/formula the hotel will supply the refrigerator free of charge. You need to let them know that you need the fridge for the babies’ milk.
October should be a great time to go - hopefully not too crowded. Use the fast pass system for the rides and travel around Disney with the supplied busses. Be careful that the hotel you stay at is one of the Disney hotels and not just a hotel that is on 'Disney property' which doesn’t offer the transportation. Got to the Disney website and you will see all of their hotels. We got to the parks shortly after they opened and stayed until they closed. My son took his naps in the stroller and most nights he fell asleep before the fireworks - he was 2 1/2 at the time! That’s all I can think of at the moment - good luck and if you want to contact me directly - ____@____.com - hmmmm can you tell I love Disney..lol!

We always stay at the "Value" hotels. Pop Century my favorite. Personally,
I cannot see paying a fortune in a "Deluxe or Moderate" just to sleep. We
always went to the parks the day we arrive. We usually get to Disney
around 1PM, especially if you are only going to be there a few days. We
always like the Park Hoppers because then we can visit one park, eat dinner
at another. However, it is more money. How old is your little one. I am not
sure I would "hop" with little kids.
Best online source is Allears.net. Love it. Everything you always wanted to
know about Disney.

When we did Disney we booked by travel agent, did one of the Disney hotels and the shuttle. We didn't skimp. I think we stayed at the Port Orleans or something New Orleans themed. We really only slept at the hotel, we didn't stay there long at all.

We had PArk Hopper and went to Epcot the first day from 3-whenever it closed. We did not do the countries, my kids were just too little to enjoy that part. We did stay for the fireworks. THen we spent two days at Magic Kingdom and a day and a half at Animal Kingdom. Because we were considered specail guests, anyone who stayed at the resort hotels, we got to stay at Magic Kingdom until after 1AM one night.

We got the food plan which was enough food. We ate breakfast in the hotel, snack in the park and sometimes dinner.
We did the character dinner with Pooh and Piglet et al.
We would go to the line and get tickets for a later time to get in line and get right in without waiting.
We sent all our packages to the hotel while we were in the park and picked them up after we got back.
We saved for a year to pay for all the expenses then even had enough leftover.
If you have girls that might want to be Princesses, book the princess makeover now, or when you get your hotel. That was our only downfall, the girls didn't get to be princesses, with all the hair and glitter.

Have a great time!!!