Janeen

Thanks so much everyone. Tracys2cents the index card idea is great. I am a very scheduled person so it makes sense for me to do it that way. I also know I'll need to bring some type of bag to carry into the parks and have been wondering how to lighten the load. I know my husband will say "do we really need that?" But as a mom you always want to have stuff like chapstick, tissues, bandaides, sunscreen. And I'll want my list of what to hit that day. An index card will be much lighter than a notebook.

I am frustrated with the travel agencies. The ones that specialize in Disney don't handle off propery information, but you guys gave me some good leads. I'm finding that the agencies just want you to tell them what you want and spit out a quote for you. Not much advice. I thought that was the point of using a travel agent!

Thanks for your help. I'd appreciate any advice you might think helpful.
Have a great day. Janeen

liasun71

Janeen-
I have also stayed at the double tree hotel and suites on international drive.
It is actually on Disney property and they also have one and 2 bedroom units..
Dont use a travel agent...you can do all of this stuff by yourself!! and they know it!! that is why they dont want to go out of their way to give you info...
Just an fyi...you can also book any Marriott Vacation Club resort from the website. There are over I think 8 of them in the Disney area. www.marriottvacationclub.com
The bonnett creek resort which is another timeshare is owned by wyndham now and that place is very close almost across the street to downtown disney and is also located on disney property..so if you walk to downtown disney you get get on the disney transportation and get to the parks and hotels etc...again these places have full kitchens etc...if you want I would not mind looking on a timeshare website that I belong to to see prices for you for that week just to see what I can find and then i can pass the info onto you.
The doubletree units do not have kitchens...
It's taxing right?
Another bit of advice is to try to book your places to eat in advance. (keeping in line with Tracy2cents) The restaurants book up quickly at the resorts and if you want character breakfasts or lunches or dinners they go even faster.
We went to Mickey's backyard bbq in Nov and loved it...more than the Hoop De Doo musical revue because the kids could get up and dance with the characters and not have to sit in their seat...and I am partial to country music and that is what that was all about.

Janeen

Thank you so much for the kind offer to check prices on the website for me liasun71. I don't think I will need it though. You're right about me being able to do the booking and planning myself though. What a racket that the disney specialized agencies are not full service.

I would rather have someone with my interests to be able to follow up with. We'll see how the quote comes in.

I think it would be easier for us to stay on property though. Even the hotels off site seem to be pretty expensive. As my kids have never stayed in a hotel before they will think anything is great. I'd like to take advantage of the free ticket upgrade to include the park hopper and water parks, which requires buying a package.

I'll definitely book dinner reservations in advance if we get the dining plan. Many people have advised that. Anyone have experience with the dining plan? It seems to be a good deal. However, I'm surprised how few sit down restaurants there are in the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. It seems to me that we will have a hard time using up our sit down meals. We like to eat good food, but would prefer to have it be pretty convenient instead of having to get to one of the other resorts just to eat and use our sit-down credit. I haven't done much research on the parks yet but I'm thinking the kids might be bored at epcot and mgm so we might not even go to those. I'll figure out the touring plan once I've got reservations somewhere.

liasun71

In Magic Kingdom I think there are 3 or 4 sitdown restaurants. In Animal Kingdom I believe there are 3 as well.
I agree that if you can upgrade to the park hopper etc. by staying on site that may be worth it. Your kids are older than my son. He was too tired after one park to be able to move from one to another...so the park hopper for us was not really worth it.
But, my husband and I used ours and went back later while my parents watched him. Most of the sitdown restaurants are in each individual resort. You know, by going onto the disney site it will show how many restaurants and what type there are at what resort or resort area as well as at each park. MGM had I think the most sitdown restaurants after Epcot.
Janeen, even if you dont get the dining plan, make your dinner, lunch or bkfst reservations...if you plan on eating at the park. Otherwise you will be stopping at the fast food stands all the time and that gets old.

angethereader

I recommend you buy The Unofficial Guide to Disney.
It was worth the price.

The two most useful parts of the book are:

The tips from other travelers

The maps in the back.

I cut out each of the maps we were going to use and had them laminated at Kinko's. Each day I would carry the laminated map (with the order of the first 3 rides) in my pocket.

My 12 and 14 year old were constantly asking mom what was next!

kamahinaohoku

I haven't read the whole posting, but Janeen wrote in her second paragraph
"...tentative reservations for us at the All-Star Sports Hotel. We will have to have 2 adjoining rooms." I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, but adjoining rooms are NOT necessarily connecting rooms. Connecting rooms are next door to each other with a common door that can open between. Adjoining rooms can be next door (possibly WITHOUT a connecting door), across the hall, or even down the hall! Everyone makes this mistake. Tell the agent to ask for CONNECTING ROOMS...but knowing Disney, it will just be on request and not confirmed, anyway.

GoTravel

Janeen, I highly recommend you stay on property.

I can't stress this enough just for the convenience factor with that many people.

bgsnmky

Let us know if you want recommendations for dining places.

We have been to Disney LOTS of times and I will ask my family to rate each restaurant and we will even do Food and Atmosphere on a scale of 1 to 5 stars..it is kind of fun.

For example the last time we went and seems to always win for Food and Atmosphere is 50 Prime Time Diner at MGM.

Also, as others have said it is very important to see have a schedule and the dining even plays into that. Make sure you are on the same side of the park as the restaurant, think about shows you want to see and make sure your dining reservations aren't at that time etc.

cristinab

Stay onsite! Your life will be so much easier! Two connecting rooms has always been the cheapest way for our family to go. We had two connecting rooms in early Dec. at the Swan (3 pools and a great slide) and it was $300/night for both rooms. Check allears.net for promotional rates, there's was cheaper than AAA for us. Also, get on Disney's mailing list (via website). The prior trip we got a postcard with a special code that gave us an amazing rate at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, $200 total for 2 rooms!! Also a great pool with slide. They also have rooms with a bunk bed and a double bed too. I always book the standard view and by traveling in off season (as you are) they have upgraded us to pool or EPCOT view! Several have mentioned buying a DVC member's points to get a unit. That could be a great suggestion too. Also, tracys2cents is right about the advanced dinning reservations and having a schedule written out daily for meal confirmation #s and take the Unofficial Guide touring plans with you into the park. I can't tell you how much more you can get done, even with 6 people, if you follow that plan (of course, you will want to abridge it for your families' taste). My kids also loved asking what was next up as we stood in line or ate lunch. Like bgsnmky our family loves giving dinnig recomendations so let us know.

ajcolorado

I know that www.buildabettermousetrip.com is full service because that's who we're using and we are staying off property this time. I mentioned Windsor Hills - which just fell through. They gave us several options and we've decided to stay at Seralago - which gets just so-so reviews but we're getting a great rate and we'll really only be there to sleep. We stay in the parks all day and the hotel provides a free shuttle that runs in the morning and then again in the evening. Then we're ending the trip with a night in one of the Universal Studio hotels just to end the vacation on a high note.

itsv

I have used the forum for renting a person's points on disboards.com as mentioned by someone else and I highly recommend it. We got a studio condo at Boardwalk with a great view that slept 4. We had a kitchenette which was great and the cost was the same as if we stayed at a budget level resort. Boardwalk is great because you can walk to MGM and Epcot plus it has a great slide and fun area. Read all the tips for renting points at disboards.com. It has worked out very well and you could rent two studios.

I do agree that staying on site is better for kids. As others have mentioned do make a reservation everyday for eating at a place. Try to do it 90 days out since places fill up fast. Also find out if there is a charge to cancel the reservation. Its better to not need the reservation, then have none.

Also get out the trip reports on mouseplanet.com and wdwig.com (I may be wrong on the last website but mouseplanet will have the link). Both websites are great for planning and have all kinds of tips, restaurant reviews etc. I highly recommend reading the trip reports since there is good advice there.

Although it might be a splurge, do try and reserve at least one character meal for your kids. We really liked Chef Mickey. It was my daughter's bday and they just went overboard and she loved it. We also did a tour of the magic kingdom (you will have to check walt disney world's webiste but the tour involved a scavenger hunt with peterpan and wendy). We got to ride rides with the characers and it was just a special experience. Also on the disboards, see if anyone has any space for an illuminations cruise or a cruise of the bay for fireworks. That was an incredible experience where disney picks you up in a boat and takes your right under the castle for fireworks etc. Sharing makes it affordable and people are always looking to share.

Your kids might get a kick out of eating lunch at the sci-fi cafe in MGM. My daughter loved it because you sit in cars like a 50's drive-in theatre with old sci-fi movies shown and things glow in the dark.

Have fun, and try to plan and learn as much as possible. Its makes for a much more pleasant trip to WDW and use fast passes.

itsv

cristinab

Two quick comments from itsv's post. Chef Mickey is a GREAT character meal for kids. Here's a tip on that...if you reserve for the end of breakfast (11:00ish) then it is cheaper and you don't give up the great, less crowded morning touring eating a meal. You can get 2 good hours in at MK and then take the monorail straight over for your reservation. Also, we rented a pontoon boat for IllumiNations in EPCOT last month. They open up those dates 180 days out! There are only 6 boats/night so they are gone quickly. It was an awesome experience. You do not need a park hopper because you never enter the park on the boat (we had spent that day at AK.) One note, near the end of the show they light up each of the pavilions in the world showcase and your view is partially blocked in the boat. You are parked bellow the France-England bridge and therefore can't see the Canada and England pavillions. Like itsv we had a great view (ours was from the Swan). It is such a beautiful view from the EPCOT hotels of the park and the boardwalk.

bgsnmky

I totally agree on the character meals. I always suggest that to people. When it is even just me and another adult we go because we love it so much.

Our favorite is in Animal Kingdom. We try for 9 or 10...we go in early..go ride the safari first thing because the animals area usually up and about, and then head over to Dino land. Try for the DINO ride and then eat breakfast.

But what I would do is look at what character breakfast there are and determine what characters you want to see. That is a big difference. If you are big Pooh and Gang fans then you would pick something different than animal kindgom Donald's Breakfasouras and Chef Mickey.

The Sci Fi is a big hit with the kids.

drivergirl

I AGREE WITH THE DISNEY ALL STAR MUSIC FAMILY SUITE IF YOU WANT THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE.THERE IS ALSO A QUALITY INN OFF IRLO BRANSON(192) THAT HAS SUITES,BREAKFAST BUFFET,AND EVENING DRINK RECEPTION AND THERE RATES ARE REASONABLE.THEY ALSO HAVE DISNEY SHUTTLE SERVICE.DO NOT STAY AT THE DAYS INN AT OLD TOWN.ITS NASTY!!! WHICH IS NEXT DOOR. WE STAYED THERE IN 2002 AND IT WAS NICE AND CLEAN BUT NOT IN MAY OF 2006 IT WAS THE MOST AWEFUL PLACE AND THEY REFUSED TO REFUND MY MONEY.

berry

All-capitals is like shouting, and makes reading difficult, especially when there are no paragraphs.

drivergirl

Sorry you feel that way.I certainly wasn't shouting.I just for got to take my caps off and I didn't realize it was a gramer test.You shouldn't critisize and not leave a reply to the question at hand.