Community Chat

[equss]

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@Beautiful life wrote:

‘We are planning on going to DIsneyworld in JAN 2019.  Looking to find a two bedroom 

hotel/condo reasonable priced. I was hoping to stay on Disney property but prices are extremely high. Family of four going. 

Tips on DIsneyworld would be great. I’m using points to pay for the plane tickets.

transportation might be using Uber to get to Disney instead of a car rental. 

Thank you

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Stay in the park if there’s any way you can do that. Saves so much time and aggravation. If you belong to costco definitely check out costco travel because they through in some nice extras like character dinner, gift cards, etc

[ScrapHappy]

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@equss wrote:

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@Beautiful life wrote:

‘We are planning on going to DIsneyworld in JAN 2019.  Looking to find a two bedroom 

hotel/condo reasonable priced. I was hoping to stay on Disney property but prices are extremely high. Family of four going. 

Tips on DIsneyworld would be great. I’m using points to pay for the plane tickets.

transportation might be using Uber to get to Disney instead of a car rental. 

Thank you

---

Stay in the park if there’s any way you can do that. Saves so much time and aggravation. If you belong to costco definitely check out costco travel because they through in some nice extras like character dinner, gift cards, etc

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I'm a big fan of Disney World.  Been there many times, got married there and we are DVC Members.  I highly recommend you stay on property.  Accomodations are in 3 categories: Deluxe, Moderate & Value.  The Value resorts are: Pop Century, All Star Music, All Star Movies, All Star Sports, Art of Animation.  Another option is the Fort Wilderness Campgrounds.  There are many perks to staying on property.  You can take advantage of the extra magic hours (when the parks open early and when the make stay open later), you get a magic band which gets linked to a MDE (My Disney Experience APP) to make your Advanced Dining Reservations, Fast Passes...everything is linked to it.  It's also your door key.  When staying on property, you can make your Fast Pass selections at 60 days out, which does help a lot for the hard to get rides like Flight of Passage in Animal Kingdom.  Non- Disney guests have 30 days.  Dining reservations can be made at 160 days out.  Which again, places like Cinderellas Round Table dining is difficult to get.  Also you can take the Disney's Magical Express from the airport to your hotel and take you back to airport on departure day (it's not called Mears anymore).  Disney has it's own transportation (buses) which take you everywhere.  They also have a "Minnie Van" which is used like a taxi.  Parking at Magic Kingdom and other like AK and Epcot are, right now, $20 and you now have to pay for parking at Disney Resorts if you have a car/rental car.  January 2019 is not typically the busy season so you may be able to get some "deals." .  Sometimes free dining is offered.  I don't know how often that is offered.  I believe one was just offered, may be another in the future?  There's also the Dining Plan which you pre-pay for meals but that is something we've never done and you'd have to do the math to see if it works best for you.  Many people buy Disney gifts at Target when they offer the 10% discount (usually around Christmas)..that and if you have their red card is a nice discount and people use it towards their trips.  There is a website, Disboards.com, which is full of information that will be very helpful.  If you need any other help or have more questions, don't hesitate to ask...I love Disney.  Hope you have a magical trip!

[lovesrecess]

We usually stay at Saratoga Springs which is a Disney resort...we like the 2 bedroom ones; they have 2 full baths, kitchen, and LR. If you want to stay in a chain hotel, look at ones on International Blvd Or those that say "main gate" in their name. Almost all of them have Disney shuttles to and from the park....and some have airport transportation as well. Check the Disney site and follow the links...they offer some really good deals...we are going again in November with other family members and it is free dining for the whole week...saves a bundle and it determined when we would go since they only do it twice a year. There are perks like Extra Magic Hours if you stay at a resort also.

[Beautiful life]

I’m overwhelmed. Thank you everyone for your help. 

‘I’m going to purchase the season pass that is for both parks; DISNEYWORLD AND DISNEYLAND. We are planning on going back the following year before the passes expire. We live close to DISNEYLAND.

IM QUOTED AROUND 3500 for 6 nights/2 rooms

close to Disney. I’m hoping to find it cheaper..... I’m going to keep looking.

meals included.... that’s nice how did you get that deal?

[dooBdoo]

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@CANDLEQUEEN wrote:

@Beautiful life. You may also want to post this on the Travel Forum. I think you will receive a lot of suggestions there as well.......

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            @CANDLEQUEEN, Great idea about the "Travel" forum except that it usually works better to ask the moderators to move the thread rather than creating another one.

            The new platform has newer guidelines stating that "crossposting" isn't permitted ("crossposting" is starting the same topic in multiple threads).   

            Unfortunately, if duplicate threads show up, more often than not all but one will be deleted by the moderators and then the valuable information on the other threads is lost.

            Great info on this thread!   I hope you have a wonderful trip, @Beautiful life!

[ScrapHappy]

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@Beautiful life wrote:

I’m overwhelmed. Thank you everyone for your help. 

‘I’m going to purchase the season pass that is for both parks; DISNEYWORLD AND DISNEYLAND. We are planning on going back the following year before the passes expire. We live close to DISNEYLAND.

IM QUOTED AROUND 3500 for 6 nights/2 rooms

close to Disney. I’m hoping to find it cheaper..... I’m going to keep looking.

meals included.... that’s nice how did you get that deal?

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Free dining is a promotion put out by Disney, usually in the fall and winter months.  Free dining for 2018 is November 24-27 and December 7-23.  2019 dates, if there will be any, have not been announced.

[homedecor1]

We planned a family trip there (10 of us) we stayed on property.  I called the DisneyWorld trip planner and the rep helped me decide what was best for our needs. (407-939-5277)

We ended up staying at Pop Century.  Room was fine (no thrills) and the kids stayed at Animation.  I liked the transportation was available park to park,we ate different places in the parks, breakfast was a big one to keep us fueled.  We did the parks -- came home by 1 and hung out at pool, then went back around 5.  We went in May (hot hot hot never again)

Of course, jan. is a great time to go -- kids back in school, cooler temps & lines not too long!  We are going November 18-24 and staying at Carribean Beach (I think).

Also, when we were there parking was $20/day.  Outside hotels ranged from $158-259/night depending where you stayed & what you wanted in the room.  I found more cost effective to stay on site unless you need a car for other attractions. I will tell you we took a UBER from our hotel to Disney -- total disaster took over 2 hours🤔😳 because something going on at ESPN complex!

[VaBelle35]

My sister and brother (and their kids) stayed off property at a rental condo about 30 minutes away, which does not include the time from parking the car and getting into the park, which can be another 30 minutes or more (we went in the summer so it took forever for them to find parking and walk in).  I'm sure they didn't save money.  I know they ate breakfast at the house but we ate every other meal and snack in the park, so I don't think you are saving on food by staying somewhere with a kitchen.

I stayed at the Disney Yatch Club.  Took the boat to Epcot every morning before the park opened to get in line.  I will say that I saw the most characters at park opening than any other time of the day.  I think because they came in and out of the building by the boat entrance.

We did Cinderella's Royall Table.  One of the better meals of the entire trip and worth every penny.  It's a great experience for adults and kids.

[VaBelle35]

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@gmkb wrote:

There is a transportation service from the airport to hotels.  It is called MEARS.   You might want to look into that rather than a car rental.  Car rentals in Orlando are relatively inexpensive, but you will pay $20 every time you park your car at the parks.

There are resorts that offer shuttle to the parks.  STAR ISLAND  is one I know of and they have 2 bedroom units.  Staying on Disney property is always easier because they all offer transportation.

We live in the area and I can tell you January is a chilly month here.  Be sure you have a light javket with you or you will find yourself buying a sweatshirt at Disney prices.

Enjoy.

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I went in December one year and it was in the low 50s.  I still have my $60 Mickey sweatshirt from 1990ish.  It is one of those long ones that you wear over leggins that comes down to your knees.

I wear it when I shovel snow.  It makes me happy and Mickey still looks good for his age.  I got my money's worth out of him

[drizzellla]

There is a travel agent that handles hotels rooms. They rent "points" from Disney Vacation Club members. They are called DVC-Rental dot com. It is cheaper than using Disney direct.

And by staying in Disney you can use the Magic Express to take you from the airport to your resort. It costs you nothing for the Magic Express. And staying in a Disney Vacation Club room, you will have a full kitchen and washer and dryer.

May be worth looking into.