Disney in April with 10 year old girl
 

I am taking my husband and 10 year old daughter to Disney in April for 3 1/2 days.
It seems overwhelming and expensive. Any suggestions for hotel? Should we stay in the Disney parks or outside and try to save money? My daughter loves Harry Potter so that is a must see stop.
Thoughts?

hope,

You do know that Harry Potter is not in Disney?

Hope, there are so many "it depends" with your questions. I would definitely recommend staying on site (there are 3 levels of hotel from value to premium) so all budgets can be accomodated. Do you have any specifics on what you want to see since in 3 1/2 days you cannot see everything. Some more info would be helpful.

Check out:

www.disboards.com
allears.net

These sites will give you all the information you need (and more).

If you have specific questions I would be glad to answer. Good luck!

Stay over toward international drive to save

and be close to Universal Harry Potter

nice places bidding priceline.com $30/nt/room

betterbidding.com for best deals

Seconding what gmoney says about disboards and allears. Those folks really know their Orlando theme parks!

With 3 1/2 days, you'll really need to determine your "must sees" since you won't have time to see it all.

When deciding whether to stay on or off-site, be sure to factor in parking. Parking at the Disney theme park lots is $14.00, but is free for Disney hotel guests.

If your focus is Harry Potter maybe you should be going to Universal rather then Disney. Or stay at a much less expensive place in between and use a rental car to drive to whichever parks you want. Agree that with so little time you need to make some choices on what you MUST see - and buy tickets appropriately,

First, DD will love Disney and you probably will too. Even if just to see the smile on her face.

I suggest on property. The Disney music (?) themed resort is inexpensive. My DD and I stayed there YEARS ago when she was 7. We had a great time. plan but don't over-plan. I suggest on-property for the ease of going back to the room to rest awhile.

Really, it will be fun for all!

stay in the park at the lower tier hotels but also check out the hotels that are by downtown Disney. They have free shuttles so you save on parking and they are safe. I-Drive can be iffy. If you do not know the area do not just pick a cheap hotel for safety reasons.

Not sure what you've decided but you certainly will want to plan, plan, plan. With only 3.5 days AND wanting to visit both WDW and Harry Potter, you have a lot to work out. I'm a "Disney person", so I'd stay on Disney property and hire a car to drop you at Universal one morning at park opening and pick you up at a set time. HP is notoriously busy. As in, hour-long waits to get into Olivander's wand shop :O But you've got to do what you've got to do ;) Get that done and then enjoy Disney World for the remainder of your vacation. I'd say Magic Kingdom if you've never been and Epcot, although I love all 4 parks. Forget the water parks for now.
April will be busy but stunning weather.
Stay in the nicest resort you can afford - ON SITE. $$$ saves time and hassle.
Animal Kingdom Lodge is my personal favorite but it's a 18-20 min. bus ride to the Magic Kingdom, so not as close as some of the other resorts. But worth it ;) http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/res...kingdom-lodge/
A friend stayed last Spring at the Hilton at Bonnet Creek and loved it. It is not a Disney hotel but is on Disney property. Here's a review and lots of pics http://www.oyster.com/orlando/hotels...-bonnet-creek/

Check out http://www.mousesavers.com/

Hp is at universal - you get early entry to adventure island where hp is if you stay at a universal property - we had 6 nights end stayed 3 at Hilton by downtown disney and 3 at Loews porifono - you get extra park hours at that Hilton and we used them to go to animal kingdom one morning and it was worth it - we also used it at universal to go to Harry potter and it was 100 percent worth it - we got there at 6:45 am - and the girls were able to go on the journey ride 2x before 8 am - it was a 2 hour wait at 8 am...