We Need Your Disney Vacation Planning Tips
// 1.14.07 // Filed under: Thriving
The PHAT family has decided that this will be the year we visit Disney World.
I’m not one of those people who LOVES Disney World. My parents took my sister & me there in 1983 and I took a day trip there with a college friend when we were in Florida on spring break in 1990. And I have not felt the desire to go back until now – when I think my children will really enjoy it. Hence, I don’t know a lot about Disney.
We’re planning a pretty extensive trip that involves driving from New Jersey to Florida, hitting some historical hotspots, and integrating some education along the way. I need help. Planning a trip like this is overwhelming, and I’d love to hear your experiences (good and bad) and recommendations. Some questions to start:
- Are all the Disney parks worth visiting? MGM? Animal Kingdom? Typhoon Lagoon? Blizzard Beach?
- How many days do you recommend per park?
- What’s the least crowded time of year?
- What are some of the best attractions along the I-95 corridor?
Lodging and restaurant recommendations?
Please leave your suggestions in the comments. Thank you!
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17 Responses to “We Need Your Disney Vacation Planning Tips”
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If memory serves. . .
Mousesavers.com has good money-saving tips
WDWIG.com is an extensive, time-sucking encyclopedia of all things Disney World.
You gotta go to MGM to, at the very least, ride Star Tours. It’s super-outdated, but you just gotta do it. In May and June they have Star Wars weekends (http://swweekends.tripod.com/) but it may be too crowded for your enjoyment. And if you like thrill rides, there’s nothing like Rock ‘N Roller Coaster there (inside coaster set to the music of Aerosmith) and the Tower of Terror (Twilight Zone-themed freefall ride).
You MUST visit Animal Kingdom. I love that park. I would also suggest getting a 3 day park hopper pass. You can hop in and out of any 3 parks as much as you want. It is worth it.
Epcot is amazingly educational too, plus they serve beer.
You MUST get to the Star Wars Weekends event in May. The crowds are terrible but a fan such as yourself cannot miss that kind of event. Trust me, plan to go!
Email me if you want some more tips! We go all the time and only live a few hours away.
Shannon,
at http://www.gottadeal.com in their forum sections is some info about Disneyworld vacations. It’s under the dealfinder section. It has codes to use to get more discounts and stuff.
Oops was wrong about that, it’s under the offline deals section.
Shannon, the least busy time is right after Labor day in September when formal school begins, but before any religious holidays. I’ve been there at that time. The parks are empty and there are no lines. I would recommend a 4 day park hopper pass.
)
You’re going?! Really? That is so cool… and I’m more than a little bit jealous. We’ll have to talk at some point; I’ll gladly share our experience. If I could recommend any time of year to go, I’d say next week. The end of January is an awesome time. No crowds and the weather is great for park hopping. But that’s probably a wee bit too soon, eh? Second choice would probably be September if you can stand the heat. Have fun planning!!
Animal kingdome is amazing.
Epcot is amazing AND educational.
Wasn’t fussed on magic kingdom, but I was kidless back then
My review of our week at Disney is at http://www.odonnellweb.com/?cat=35
We’re headed there in two weeks. I’ll give our review when we get back.
I can tell you, from past experience, the least crowded time is whenever school is in session. September is great — parents are less likely to pull kids that are in school out for a vacation at that point. Look at the resort pricing structure. Anything in “value” season tends to be less crowded.
For stops along I-95 that are educational here are a few suggestions..
Fort Clinch State Park. check their events page, they have a lot of living history events going on. http://www.floridastateparks.org/fortclinch/
Also, St. Augustine, FL. Anything and everywhere in St. Augustine..
Jacksonville, Fl. has lots of historical sites and plenty of museums.
Marine World is a fun stop too. I know they have been making lots of improvements though, so a good idea to call ahead to see what’s going on before making that stop.
So, that’s my immediate area….lol. I haven’t been to DW in 9 years, so I have no clue on that.
Have fun!
We were in WDW Sept 16-23, 2006. It was a great time to go, very short lines and still nice and warm. We love the water parks (Blizzard Beach was the best!), Sea World and WDW. I would say my best advice is to read some of the tour books (Unofficial Guide,etc) to pick up some tips, but then set your own pace. Different people like different things, so book authors are rarely going to love what you do!
We have a timeshare in South Africa that we trade for USA resorts, and did that in this case. It was nice to be able to eat meals at “home” and not A. Pay the $$, B. Spend the time and C. Get the kid(s) all out of whack on continuous non-standard food. We also found the WDW hotel rooms to be RIDICUOLOUSLY SMALL, especially for the money you are spending to stay there.
I have lots more, I am a disney freak
but I’ll leave it there, you have my email if you want more.
You will have a great time. These are our tips – I’ve bene once with our kids and once with a kids performance group.
STAY ON SITE – it’s totally worth it – and buy the meal package – you will eat like KINGS. At first, I was ticked that my husband bought it – but it was such a great deal – they give you so much food – and it’s all terrific. The water parks were not worth it for us – but the park hopper was. My kids are 4 & 7 and they would do stuff in the morning and take a nap, and then go somehwere else in the evening. ALSO – get up really early – be there when the park opens, and go back and take a nap in the afternoon when it’s really hot, then go somewhere else at night. You avoid the lines that way, and it’s a pretty peaceful schedule (even for late risers like us).
peace, jana
Park Hopper passes are a must… see as much as you can! Sea World is also awesome, and incredibly educational from the homeschooling aspect (as is Epcot). Universal is great, too. I would say another “must-see” for homeschoolers off of I-95 is Kennedy Space Center. Jacksonville and St. Augustine are also full of cool stuff–unfortunately, by the time you get that far you’re going to want to get to Orlando! You’d need a month to spend in Florida to see 1/10th of the exciting stuff we have going on here!! Have fun planning and good luck!
This tip saved us quite a bit of money- if you book in low season-just on cusp of high season yo will pay the low season rate for your entire stay; i.e., low season ends Feb 14 and high season starts Feb 15. If you book your trip Feb 14 for 10 days you pay low season rate for your entire stay ( Feb-14-24th ) If you booked for Feb 13-24 you would pay substantially more. Same is true for reverse… If you book in high season- even for one day- and overlap into low season- you will pay high season rate for entire stay- so check dates!
[...] Phat Mommy needs tips on planning a trip to Disney. Tags:disney, holidays, tips [...]
We go every year, the first of October is a good time but the parks close early. The last time we went I looked into the meal tickets. We usually go during Spring Break or May.Our schools are out by May 19th so that’s a good time to go. Sometime the South American tours are there but its not too bad. The next time we go I think we’ll purchase the meal plan the least expensive plan will do us. If you don’t have children you might want to go on line and check it out it may not be for you.We always get park hopper tickets. Usually, we get to Disney (stay on site it’s easier and some perks)late in the afternoon the first day so we laze around the pool and plan the week’s itinerary (of sorts). The last day we’re there we stay late so we usually purchase a 6 day park hopper. I always call the Disney reservation numbers because if you talk with them about a package hotel/ticket/meal deal and it doesn’t meet your budget ask them to look for specials or discounts you may be eligible. Then,if the price isn’t what I want I write it down and call the next day to see if I can get a better price. We don’t like Epcot to very much but there are place we go there:Mexico, Norway (loved the food) both places have rides.Of course the night fireworks and light show is a must.MGM be sure to see Fantasmic,Little Mermaid, there was a simulator where you took a trip into the body, you’ll have to look online there’s a couple new things.We also enjoy (eventhe kids)movie tour at the Chinese Theatre,Star Wars.Animal Kingdom do the Kali River Rapids,my teen loves Mt.Everest roller coaster, Kilimanjaro Safari Ride, It’s a Bug’s Life, The Tree of Life,Lion King!!!Now,the Magic we visit multiple time while we’re there hence the park hopper but I have an 8 year old. I have to admit I love Magic Kingdom:The Safari Cruise,PhilHarmagic,Peter Pan,Snow White,Pooh,It’s a Small World,Pirates of the Carribbean,Buzz Lightyear,the Castle,lunch at the Crystal Palace. This is at the end of Main Street.It’s a buffet but very good.The characters visit tableside.We go for the AC,and the food.Also Liberty Tree Tavern is a good place to be when the parade and firework happen. I’m sure that I’ve forgotten somethng.Ihope you enjoy your trip – we love Disney. Oh,the environment is truly family oriented,clean and from what I’ve seen and experiences wholesome. Happy Travels
Don’t go at Christmas!!! TOOOOOOOOOO crowded!!!!!