Disney World Trip

We just did a Disney trip last month and we REALLY enjoyed staying at a Disney resort. We saved in transportation because we didn't have to pay to rent a car AND pay for parking. Instead the Disney busses took us everywhere! We never ended up waiting more than 10 minutes for a bus.

We stayed at the All Star Music resort which is considered a value resort but was plenty for us! They had two pools and lots of fun things at the resort. It didn't seem cheap to us at all.

I researched online and booked by calling. I wanted to talk to a live person to get all my questions answered. Whatever deal you get online you just have to tell the person calling.

We booked our plane fare separately and saved a lot. We also went with the meal plan, which let me tell you, saved us A LOT! The only bad part was there wasn't a lot of choice as far as kids meals go. Some places only had one or two options. My daughter was feeling picky and we had no choice but to get her the kids' meal.

This site helped me a lot with planning and finding values:

http://www.mousesavers.com/

For me I don't see how staying off site would have been good. We got picked up at the airport by the bus and they even picked up our luggage and brought it to the room! (word of warning, it takes several hours for the luggage to arrive so if you want to head to the parks after arriving make sure you have everything you need with you on the plane.)

They also let us check in for the plane on the return trip at the hotel. We checked our luggage there and received our boarding passes. Then they drove us to the airport!

It was a worry-free trip and didn't cost more than staying offsite. That's just my opinion!

Have fun!

I literally just saw on Disney's site that a 5 night/6 day trip with the meal plan & 6 day hoppers for a family of 4 is $2586. I believe it said it was a studio room at Saratoga Springs. It seemed pretty reasonable by Disney standards.

Book on-line. Look for deals. If you can swing a moderate resort location (i.e. Caribbean Hotel, Port Orleans, Coronado Springs, etc..) that would be my suggestion.

You can also go to a local Disney store (Orland Park???) and they can give you some preliminary information about Disney, prices for tickets, etc... Pick their brain.

Disney does run specials during different times of the year. I've never gone through a Travel Agent to set up a Disney trip and, over the last 10 years, we've gone over a dozen times.

I'm keeping this short and bare minimum. Personal message me if you need more info.

Honestly, if you have the time to research it and work on it, you can find some good bargains on your own. The last time I did it what I did was go to the disney site, and pick out my hotel, dates, packages, etc and print out the quote. Then I went to the travel sites such as Expedia, Travelocity, etc and then compared them. Also checked O'Hare flights and Midway flights, etc. It was alot of work but well worth it as I wound up saving over $500 for the 4 of us by doing it piecemeal. I paid for the plane tickets from one site, booked the hotel and disney tickets at another and a car rental seperately.
Also, if you can stay outside the resorts (try Kississimee instead of Orlando which is about 10-15 minutes outside of Disney) you can save money too!
Last time we flew into Tampa and went to Busch Gardens to start and then drove to Orlando (about an hour or so) spend a few days in Orlando and then drove back to Tampa to fly out. The flights were cheaper and so was the car rental with unlimited miles so it didn't matter that we were driving to Orlando.
There are ways to save alot of money, you just have to work and dig for the bargains. Also, not flying in/out on a Saturday saved us money too.
Hope this helps a little.
R.
http://www.mythirtyone.com/yourbaglady

Hi K.,
Do it all yourself! If you go to the disney website there is the Mickey Moms Club that is very helpful. They are "regular" Moms trained to answer all your questions. I also suggest calling the 800 number becuase the staff are really helpful and know all the specials. On a side note, if you plan ahead you can save a lot of money by not using the Park Hopper, do just one park a day. Schedule your dinners, actractions, etc so you are organized and not just walking around, you will see and do more and not feel so rushed!
Have a great trip!