Frannie

Hiya everyone and happy new year!!

We need your help, we flying down to meet up with my bruv's who are
running the miami marathon.. mum and dad are flying in so a family
reunion is on the cards. Then we have rented a villa with them in orlando
and heading off there with the demons for 10 days. The demons have
no idea, Its a surprise for their birthdays both in feb. We leave 26th jan..
The problem is we have no idea how to work out Disney ticket wise etc ..
had tons of peeps here saying this and that.. but hubby said to ask if
anyone of you had any advice for us.. We do have a budget but want to
make it special for the boys and a trip of a life time.. any advice would be great thanks !!

Dogbyte

Try the following. just used them in November and very good.terrific price.
www.attractionticketsdirect.com & www.themeparkticketsdirect.com Have a great time.

cindyabs

The Parkhopper ticket allows you to go into more than one park a day and the longer it is for the better deal it is, ie 4 days over 3 days etc. The Basic ticket only allows you to go into one park a day. Cheaper than the Parkhopper but too restrictive in my professional opinion. No need to add on the Water Park option this time of year, or the do not expire one either.

Scouse Express

You also need to check on the opening/closing times of the parks. Some of them close early-ish.......especially with it being January/February. Multi-day "Park-Hopper" tickets may also give you a "Fast-Pass" allowing you to bypass lines.

Good luck!

Jim.

Rete

Found this on CNN ... Disneyworld 101.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/trave...101/index.html

britchicknyc

This is supposed to a great website: http://www.mousesavers.com/

Dogbyte

And dont forget the car parking at each park is now about 11 dollars average per car.

username 34

go to:

www.park-tickets.com

they do 3 days family hopper ticket and you get free upgrade to 5 days so get an extra 2 days free.

hopper is the way to go, we did Disney this October and this is what we learnt with having young kids (if that applies to you I dont know) but here goes:

go for park openings and get Fastpasses on the rides you want to do for sure, ride other rides whislt you're wating for them. By 11 am the fastpass waits can be up to 3 hours or more.

do the morning, have lunch and then leave about 2pm. Do the afternoon back at the villa and then back to the parks - can be a different if you buy the hopper option - before 7pm and then you can do character greets, parades, rides etc again in the evening when day people have gone. Rides are VERY quiet whilst parades are going on obviously.

If your kids are young do the character thing - it may well mean more to them than the rides. MGM (which will be called something else from 2008) was great, Power Rangers, Cars, Stunt Show, Toys characters etc etc. If you get there at opening head straight to the streets of America and wait for these guys - any later in the day and you may miss them or the lines will be HUGE!

Again if your kids are young book the Chef Mickeys buffet in the Contmeporary Hotel - joined to Magic Kingdom by the monorail. you need to book quite a way in advance but its a great buffet and lots of character action. Also another restaurant to do is the Whistling Canyon Cafe in the Wilderness Lodge - GREAT fun from 5.30pm.

Use the fastpass where you can

we found the best parks for us (boys are 5 and 3) were the Magic Kingdom, especially tomorrowland, and MGM. Animal Kingdom I would say is better suited for slightly older and Epcot has a few things for littlies but not too much. We loved Epcot in the evening for going for snacks in all the world food areas and the fireworks.

definately do the afternoon parade one day at Magic Kingdom, get there at about 2pm for the 3pm show, best place to sit ... as you enter the Magic Kindom through the railway terminal there is a Kodak Photo shop on the right, sit outside that on the pavement on the bend - that way you see the parade coming all the way round the roundabout - its the best view by far! Get an ice-cream and everyone can chill sitting there until it begins.

theres loads more - if you want let me know

username 34

fastpasses are for everyone - they dont come with your tickets - they are machines stationed at the rides which have them and you put your tickets in (1 ticket per person per ride) and it spits out your fastpass ticket with a return time. and 9 times out of 10 you can be up to 1/2 hour late for the return time on the ticket and they dont care at all.

one other thing - wear crocs for the kids! best shoewear ever invented for Disney. keeps their feet cool, non-smelly and no blisters.

Hiro11

I went with my sister this year, who's essential acheived a kung-fu master-like understanding of how to operate at Disney World. A few words of advice:

Do your research before going. Literally, the more you know, the better time you'll have.

Get good walking shoes. Also get lots of good sunscreen and lots of water. Good strollers are basically required for kids under four (due to the amount of walking, IMO). Think of it as an all day walk in the hot sun and plan accordingly.

Figure out exactly what you want to do each day the night before.

The day of, get fastpasses for all of the crowded rides right when the parks open and then hit all of the uncrowded rides while you wait for your time.

Alternatively, they never check the time on the fastpass, use this bit of information to your advantage.

You'll burn out after three days and need some down time, trust me. Buy tickets accordingly and plan some time to just hang around the pool.

The Polynesian is the place to stay, IMO. The Animal Kingdom Lodge is also pretty good. The Grand Floridian is overrated and weirdly snobby (for a fake Disney place...) Outside resorts can be fantastic (Hyatt Grand Cypress, for example), but then you miss out on a few extras that staying at a Disney property.

Dogbyte

A little tip for the parks that have 'wet' rides.
Take a simple change of clothes and a towel in a holdall two or three per bag.You can store the bags in the lockers provided but take plenty of quarters(coins) as they are slot operated but secure.On the coaster rides put laced trainers on, as anything else (will) come off. finally when you go to a park go straight and get5 a map and go to the furtherst point first as everyone else will want to start at the beginning !Its great and quiet nearer the start, as the day wears on.

Redlippie

How old are the kids?

Ash UK/US

A couple of money saving tips.

If you have kids under 5 take your own stroller... Disney charge around $10 per day for a single and $18 for double. It is worth taking your own even if you buy a cheapy $10 umbrella stroller and dump it at the end of your trip.

Buy lots of the single serve Crystal light packets and take them with you. A coke will cost you over $2 and will not hydrate you as well. We saved a fortune doing this.

username 34

we preferred renting the Disney strollers - mainly because they are sooooo light and have those weird coaster type wheels so are so much more manouverable than any other stroller you'll ever buy.

Ash UK/US

each to their own
Our last trip we bought a double (side by side) jeep stroller. It was display model and cost us $50. We were able to leave the park with it and leave our girls sleeping while we waited for buses etc. Nice for using around the resort/airports too.

If we rented a disney stroller it would have cost us $180, so we saved quite a bit in the process.