Disney World? Suggestions/secrets/recommendations/strategies? HELP!!!

[TripletDaddy]

Looks like we are headed to Orlando in about two weeks. There are way too many resorts/hotels to choose. There is an option to go and sleep in a tent. Wtf? What kind of crazy person goes to Disneyworld to sleep on the ground in a tent??

I really like the hotel that has a monorail running through the middle of it. I think the Puffy Check will think that is fun, too. Problem is the everyone else wants to stay there and so it is tough to get rooms.

We are going to surprise them and just tell them to wake up and get dressed for the airport. That way, if we don't get on the flight, we can simply blow it all off and tell them that we wanted to take them to breakfast at Manchu Wok and buy them something at the Roots store.

[Pheidippides]

Looks like we are headed to Orlando in about two weeks. There are way too many resorts/hotels to choose. There is an option to go and sleep in a tent. Wtf? What kind of crazy person goes to Disneyworld to sleep on the ground in a tent??

I really like the hotel that has a monorail running through the middle of it. I think the Puffy Check will think that is fun, too. Problem is the everyone else wants to stay there and so it is tough to get rooms.

We are going to surprise them and just tell them to wake up and get dressed for the airport. That way, if we don't get on the flight, we can simply blow it all off and tell them that we wanted to take them to breakfast at Manchu Wok and buy them something at the Roots store.

That hotel is actually not my favorite. It's okay, but you're better off with the Polynesian or Grand Floridian if you want to spend the coin.

[TripletDaddy]

That hotel is actually not my favorite. It's okay, but you're better off with the Polynesian or Grand Floridian if you want to spend the coin.

We are looking at those, as well. They are all about the same price based on the types of rooms available. The pool at grand floridian looks cool. The Polynesia pool appears to have some sort of volcano.

The main appeal of the contemporary hotel is being able to load onto the monorail while in the hotel. The rooms are also bigger.

Have you stayed at the Floridian or Polynesian? Which did you prefer?

[Jeff Lebowski]

My mom and dad are taking the entire clan to Disney World. This was our Christmas present.

We are headed there on Wednesday and we will leave Tuesday afternoon.

It's been years since we've been there and this will be the first time with kids.

Do any of you have any suggestions/secrets/recommendations/strategies that you would care to share?

We've got a park hopper that lets us come and go from any of the parks, including the two water parks as often as we like. Basically, I guess we have free run of the 6 parks.

We are staying at the Carribean Beach resort on the property.


Thanks in advance!

Whoa, wait a minute. You went to Orlando without kids? On purpose?

[Pheidippides]

We are looking at those, as well. They are all about the same price based on the types of rooms available. The pool at grand floridian looks cool. The Polynesia pool appears to have some sort of volcano.

The main appeal of the contemporary hotel is being able to load onto the monorail while in the hotel. The rooms are also bigger.

Have you stayed at the Floridian or Polynesian? Which did you prefer?

I've stayed at the Polynesian, and spent a good bit of time at the Floridian (although not slept there). The Floridian is definitely the flagship, but I really liked the Polynesian for proximity to the monorails (plural). As you probably know, there are two monorail loops - one that does the Polynesian-Floridian-Magic Kingdom-Contemporary-Transit Center loop, and one that does the Transit Center-Epcot loop. The Magic Kingdom loop stops at the Polynesian, but the Transit Center itself is about a 100 yard walk or so from it as well - in other words, both are right there. Also, it has Ohana, which is an awesome place to eat, if very unhealthy (I recommend both the breakfast and dinner).

Now those aren't decisive reasons to stay there, but it's a major plus for us. Full disclosure: I'm not staying there in January; I'm staying in Port Orleans to save a little bit of money, but it's just me and my oldest this next time.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Epcot is awesome. Animal Disney sounds great, too. Is the Harry Potter stuff at Disney? For some reason I thought that was at Universal Studios.

Your kids are probably smarter and more culturally I tune than mine, I still think that they will find Epcot boring and wish you were at a different park. Our last two D World trips Epcot feels like the low rent theme park next door to the nice one that is just about to close down.

Animal Kingdom is awesome, both water parks are great, D World is almost a carbon copy of D land.

Harry Potter land at Universal is awesome, the rest of the rides (outside of Dr. Suess land) at Universal are not for little kids. Captain who was 7 was not big enough to ride at least half of the ones he wanted to ride.

We always stay at Saratoga Springs, we like it but I don't know how it compares to other places. Have fun.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Lately, we've been using vacation rentals (houses or flats) rather than hotels in certain areas, both U.S. and abroad. When we visit Orlando in January with the ParrotHead family and a couple of other family members, we'll stay here for around $200/night, including the cleaning and other fees. It's a few minutes from all the parks, and it makes breakfast, lunch, and tending the little ones a lot easier. Orlando was grossly overbuilt during the boom period, so there are lots of large, new houses available for rent, many of them by Brits who still love the idea of a vacation home in Florida. Check vrbo.com or other vacation rentals for a huge selection.

[TripletDaddy]

Your kids are probably smarter and more culturally I tune than mine, I still think that they will find Epcot boring and wish you were at a different park. Our last two D World trips Epcot feels like the low rent theme park next door to the nice one that is just about to close down.

Animal Kingdom is awesome, both water parks are great, D World is almost a carbon copy of D land.

Harry Potter land at Universal is awesome, the rest of the rides (outside of Dr. Suess land) at Universal are not for little kids. Captain who was 7 was not big enough to ride at least half of the ones he wanted to ride.

We always stay at Saratoga Springs, we like it but I don't know how it compares to other places. Have fun.

My kids are definitely not culturally astute. My son once thought a Muslim woman in full hijab was a Jedi knight.

In reviewing the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow's website, it seems like there is enough fun stuff to do to stay busy for a chunk of the day. Soaring over California, Test Track, Nemo ride, boring and slow Spaceship Earth ride, Captain EO, mexican boat ride, Phineas and Ferb, and that troll water ride.

Was that not enough to stay entertained for part of one day, at least for 7 year olds? I feel like they are going to want to check it out when they see that huge geodesic ball beckoning them to come visit.

The animal place looks fun.

The Diz portion of DizWorld has always left me cold. I can never get past the lack of a Matterhorn Mountain. Makes no sense to me. They didnt have room to build one?

We will probably spend a day at a water park, as well.

[creekster]

Lately, we've been using vacation rentals (houses or flats) rather than hotels in certain areas, both U.S. and abroad. When we visit Orlando in January with the ParrotHead family and a couple of other family members, we'll stay here for around $200/night, including the cleaning and other fees. It's a few minutes from all the parks, and it makes breakfast, lunch, and tending the little ones a lot easier. Orlando was grossly overbuilt during the boom period, so there are lots of large, new houses available for rent, many of them by Brits who still love the idea of a vacation home in Florida. Check vrbo.com or other vacation rentals for a huge selection.

Exactly. This is also our approach.

[creekster]

My kids are definitely not culturally astute. My son once thought a Muslim woman in full hijab was a Jedi knight.

In reviewing the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow's website, it seems like there is enough fun stuff to do to stay busy for a chunk of the day. Soaring over California, Test Track, Nemo ride, boring and slow Spaceship Earth ride, Captain EO, mexican boat ride, Phineas and Ferb, and that troll water ride.

Was that not enough to stay entertained for part of one day, at least for 7 year olds? I feel like they are going to want to check it out when they see that huge geodesic ball beckoning them to come visit.

The animal place looks fun.

The Diz portion of DizWorld has always left me cold. I can never get past the lack of a Matterhorn Mountain. Makes no sense to me. They didnt have room to build one?

We will probably spend a day at a water park, as well.

EPCOT is ok. I think half a day is about right with little kids. Of course it has been a long time since I was there, but when I was my kids were little and they enjoyed it.

[Coach McGuirk]

The animal place looks fun.

The Diz portion of DizWorld has always left me cold. I can never get past the lack of a Matterhorn Mountain. Makes no sense to me. They didnt have room to build one?

Me too. No Matterhorn, Weak Haunted house and even the facade of pirates is weak. Diz feels way more magical than World.

Don't know if you need to stay on property, but we have always stayed at the Westin Imagine, which is centrally located between World, Universal, and SeaWorld. The cost for points is really low considering location. It has a wonderful Italian restaurant and a good pool. The rooms are nice and have kitchenettes which are always useful with kids. Plus it gets you out of the hustle but you may want that.

[TripletDaddy]

Me too. No Matterhorn, Weak Haunted house and even the facade of pirates is weak. Diz feels way more magical than World.

Don't know if you need to stay on property, but we have always stayed at the Westin Imagine, which is centrally located between World, Universal, and SeaWorld. The cost for points is really low considering location. It has a wonderful Italian restaurant and a good pool. The rooms are nice and have kitchenettes which are always useful with kids. Plus it gets you out of the hustle but you may want that.

We are getting a crazy discount on resort pricing so we are going to stay onsite. Westins are usually very nice properties. I stay at them often. I don't know how often we will return to Florida so this may be the only time I take the kids there. Might as well give them the full experience this one time.

I was contemplating heading offsite to load up on some snacks and stuff for our room. My niece has access to a vehicle so she can pick me up and drive me. I am a fan of some sort of fridge or kitchen functionality in the room now that we have kids on vacation with us.

I'm feeling low pressure on this trip. Right now, these are our current actual costs:

Airfare: free
Transportation to and from both airports: free
Rental car: none
Parking at the theme parks: none
Hotel: 50% off
Souvenirs: 30%-75% off
Daily parkhopper admission for family of 5: $85 total
Food: 50% off meal plans

This is a ridiculous deal we are getting. I figure at that cost, we will probably enjoy everything and not sweat it, too much.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

My kids are definitely not culturally astute. My son once thought a Muslim woman in full hijab was a Jedi knight.

In reviewing the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow's website, it seems like there is enough fun stuff to do to stay busy for a chunk of the day. Soaring over California, Test Track, Nemo ride, boring and slow Spaceship Earth ride, Captain EO, mexican boat ride, Phineas and Ferb, and that troll water ride.

Was that not enough to stay entertained for part of one day, at least for 7 year olds? I feel like they are going to want to check it out when they see that huge geodesic ball beckoning them to come visit.

Both of our last trips to D World, my crew wanted to bolt Epcot almost upon entry. The line for Test Track always seems to be of Space Mountain length and that is all that has seemed to hold their interest. Maybe they didn't give it a fair shake, but it seemed we got there saw the insane line to Test Track and the whining started.

[Jeff Lebowski]

We thought Epcot was a huge disappointment. Least favorite part of the trip.

[TripletDaddy]

IM GOING TO EPCOT. EVERYONE STFU AND STOP BRINGING ME AND MY FAMILY DOWN!!