News

6:43 am on October 10, 2009 | 12 Permalink | Reply

• 

  Brenda Lyday 8:06 pm on October 11, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  

  One thing to note…I’m actually a Travel Agent and I do not charge anything for someone to book with me but do help you find any and all of the information that you’d want while planning a trip. Where the Disney Site is useful….it really only scratches the surface of information about Disney (trust me…..I’ve planned trips that way and now I know so much more then I could ever begin to get from that site.) As others have mentioned, Christmas time is extremely busy…..but if you know what you are doing (or better yet….can go a couple of weeks before Christmas where you get all of the Christmas magic without the Christmas Crowds and pricing), then you can still have an amazing trip. Learning how to avoid long lines at any time of year is key and having a specialist on your side can really help. The reality is that most travel agents who really specialize in Disney vacations do NOT charge extra, the help answer all of your questions, help you make dining reservations, watch out for specials and apply those to your already made reservations insuring that you are getting the best deal out there, etc. So…..really…..the number one best thing that you can do to plan a Disney Vacation is go through a Travel Agent who does nothing but Disney. Ask them up front if they charge any fees….if they do…then find someone else. You don’t have to pay more for an Agent……but you get a ton more!!!!!

• 

  btlrboyz 6:43 am on October 10, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  

  the cheepest is sept/oct and january—stay at a value resort~~~~~~~~~~~

• 

  ivette2929 6:43 am on October 10, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  

  LOW SEASON, NO SUMMER OR TIMES WHERE THE LINES ARE FOR ABOUT 2 HOURS

• 

  racegal 6:43 am on October 10, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  

  Christmas is a horrible time to go crowd wise not to mention expensive. But it is a beautiful time to go. If you can wait a few weeks and go in January or even early December, you might have a better time.

  To plan a trip, do your reseach. I suggest buying a book about Disney, talking to people who have been, and searching popular sites such as allears.net, wdwinfo.com and intercot.com. You can even order a Disney video online.

  Find out who’s going and make a list of everyone’s favorites as to make better with your time. Just remember you can’t do it all.

  Have a great time and say Hi to Mickey!

• 

  Natterjack9 6:43 am on October 10, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  

  I would say the best way to plan a Disney vacation is to pick the time that you want to go, then do all of the planning yourself. I just could never see paying someone else to plan my trip to Disney, plus they make things very easy so you can do it yourself. I have always planned my own trips, here are a few tips that I have learned.

  First of all is the time of year. Off peak season is the least expensive time to visit Disney. The lines are generally shorter, yet the weather is still fairly good. The problems are that the park hours are much shorter, and Disney tends to do their maintenance and upgrades for their parks and resorts during these times, so that can be a bit of a problem. Spring is my favorite time to go, usually over the Easter break. It is crowded, but not unbearable, and the weather is perfect. Christmas is not bad, but you have to keep in mind that it is the most crowded time of the year.

  When you are choosing a place to stay, stay on Disney property. Disney has a resort that can fit any budget, they offer the signature Disney service, as well as the best perks you could imagine. Disney takes great care of their resort guests. For example, they offer Extra Magic Hours, where one park is open late and one early every day for resort guests only. They offer free shuttle service to and from Orlando Int’l airport. They also have unlimited use of their transportation system. The off site hotels do offer shuttle service, but then you are on their time schedule, not yours, and in some cases it is an extra charge. Like I said, Disney takes care of their guests.

  Disney offers 4 different levels of resort, they are the value, moderate, deluxe and vacation club/home away from home. Each has it’s good and bad points, but they are all very good places to stay. The value resorts are just that, value. The rooms are on the smaller side with 2 double beds. They are expertly decorated, and geared towards families. They have HUGE pools, a food court, but no sit down restaurant. Very nice places to stay for not a ton of money. My favorite in this level is the All-Star Movies resort with Pop Century a very close second.

  The moderates are a step up in price from the values. The rooms are a little bigger, there are more pools instead of one large themed pool, there is a sit down table service restaurant as well as the food court. Each is again decorated very well. These are a bit more quiet than the values, as there are not as many small children. My favorite in this category is the Caribbean Beach.

  The deluxe are the cream of the crop. The deluxe resorts offer the most amenities of all the resorts, but at a premium price. They offer multiple eating choices, and in most cases also are home to a character meal. They are all situated around the Seven Seas lagoon that is situated in front of the Magic Kingdom (with the exception of the Animal Kingdom lodge, obviously near the AK.) They have large rooms and have the feel that you have been transported to a different place when you walk into the lobby. My favorite resort here (and overall fav) is the Polynessian.

  The vacation club/home away from home resorts are also available on a first come first served basis. These are a little tougher to get into but worth every penny. These offer kitchens/kitchenettes and have everything from a studio to a full townhouse that sleeps twelve. My favorite in this category is the Saratoga Springs resort (a very close second overall!)

  When purchasing your park passes, add the Park Hopper option. The base ticket allows entrance to one park per day. However the park hopper allows you to basically come and go as you please. For example, if you spend the day at the Animal Kingdom, then decide after a rest you want to go and ride the Aerosmith Rock ‘N’ Roller coaster and see Fantasmic at night (which are both must sees!) you can only do that if you have the park hopper option on your tickets. It just gives you the flexibility to do what you want, which is what we all want when we are on vacation.

  I hope this helps. If you want more info there are a few sources that I would recommend. First, go to the Disney website. The Disney website has a resort comparison tool to help you decide which resort is right for you. They also have descriptions of each and every ride, attraction, restaurant and shop on the property. Next, check out the disboards. The disboards is a message board website dedicated to going to WDW. You can ask questions, get trip reports, resort reviews, dining reviews, tips for avoiding crowds, opinions on your own plans and much more. The people on the disboards go often and know what they are talking about. Allears.net is also a great resource. Finally, go to the bookstore and pick up the Birnbaum’s guide to WDW. There are a ton of guide books out there, but that is the one that has worked best for us.

  Have a great trip!!

• 

  hawk.eye9 6:43 am on October 10, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  

  Disney is expensive and crowded around Christmas time. I think the best way to plan a Disney trip is to plan when you want to go then plan the trip yourself. Eliminate the middle man and save some money. Christmas is a good time to go, but the crowds are crazy!

• 

  Molly SH 6:43 am on October 10, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  

  To be honest, the Disney website itself is great with prices if you do a magic your way package. Choose your hotel, tickets (get the park hopper) and the dining plan. Definitely ask for the magical express transportation to and from the airport.

  Get your airline tickets separately. I got mine on Air Tran and they were incredibly cheap. You can go with orbitz, travelocity, cheaptickets, etc. but remember that they charge a small fee in there. For example, my Air Tran flight on the Air Tran website was $99/person. On the other websites, that same flight was $105. They are charging you more because you are paying for the convenience for them to search many airlines. Use them to search, but when you find a flight go to that airlines website, and see how much that flight is from the website, often times it is cheaper

  Since you are staying on property you don’t need to rent a car because Disney provides transportation to all the hotels, parks and the airport. If you need to go to Universal Studios, Sea World, or somewhere off property use Mears Transportation services. You call them 24 hours before you need the service and they will provide roundtrip service. 407-423-5566

  Because it is Disney, you will spend around 2 grand, but if you get the dining plan (which I believe is free for trips through Sept 22) you will save tons of money because you will not have to pay for lunch and dinner.

  To utilize your plan properly and get the most out of eat. Use the counter service meal for lunch, the table for dinner (try and go with the more expensive restaurants) and if you can use the snacks to buy cereal and milk in the morning or a snack during the day.

  In your luggage, pack a 24 pack of water and bring the bottles to the park. Water in Disney costs around $4, so if you bring a bottle per person you can fill it up at water fountains. Plus you can use the empty suitcase at the end of the trip to bring home souvenirs.

  Get the Disney Credit card for your trip and your trip only. You get 0% apr for the next 6 months, so you can pay off your trip in 6 months with no fees! Also you get Disney Reward points. You can then trade these in for Disney reward Dollars, which is basically a gift card that you can use in Disney. This means that your trip just gave you money for souvenirs and other stuff to use in the park.

  One more tip. Start saving your change. Use this as the souvenir fund or another fund that you will need money for. You will be surprised how fast your change adds up. We have been saving since March and we have $80 and we almost never use cash!

  Disney has 5 different seasons for 2007. based on the hotel you are looking at the seasons change slightly, but not much. they are Value Season (when there are the least crowds, regular season, summer season, peak season, and holiday season. based on these seasons you can tell when the crowds are heaviest. Value season is when the hotels are the cheapest and Holiday is the most expensive. everything is is in order from lowest to highest.

  Value season: Jan 1-Feb14, Aug 5-Oct 3, Nov 25-Dec 19
  Regular season: April 15-May 23, Oct 4-Nov 24
  Summer Season: May 24-Aug 4
  Peak Season: Feb 15-April 14
  Holiday Season: Dec 20-Dec 31

  If you want to avoid crowds, try going during the value season

  Hope this helps!

• 

  Steve 6:43 am on October 10, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  

  http://www.intercot.com is another great disney planning website.

  Two weeks after Thanksgiving is a great time to go. Not crowded and good rates. September is starting to get crowded and the rates are good but it is hurricane season and hot. January and February, not around MLK or Presidents day is very good as well.

• 

  tatsmom4ever 6:43 am on October 10, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  

  http://www.allears.net/ best website ever. also we would pack lunch everyday and would go to the picnic tables at tom sawyer island in magic kingdom. the smuckers PJ sandwiches work great and we froze capris wish by lunch were slushi and pack a ziplock back of snack indivially this work out great gave everyone like 5 snacks each took water bottle and then ate dinner in park. saved us alot. have fun

• 

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 6:43 am on October 10, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  

  Cheapest times to go are off-season like september or january. Christmas is beautiful at Disney but the most expensive time of year.

  No matter what you do, make sure that you have dining reseravations and/or priority seating made in advance. You can book up to 120 days in advance at most restaurants at Disney and they do sell out fast even during the slow season.

• 

  Dream Vacation G 6:43 am on October 10, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  

  Hi,
  The cheapest time to go is after Jan 5th to the end of February or now in Septembe or in May. If you do not mind about staying in a hotel in the parks I’d suggest renting a vacation home, you save about 50-60 % and you can cook from there and save money that way. If you are interested I have plenty of places available in the area, feel free to email me to get more information:
  dreamvacationgetaways@yahoo.com

• 

  ead824 6:43 am on October 10, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  

  The cheapest time is now through October/November. Check out the rates at disney.com this is their off season after Labor Day. Christmas is VERY BUSY and CROWDED!
  The best way to plan the vacation is to go online to disney and check out what they have and what there is to see and do. (Various Parks, park Attractions, Ticket prices, Resorts, etc) If you find that you may prefer visiting one park over the other at least you know ahead of time.
  Book the Disney resort and tickets online or over the phone directly with Disney. (they will provide transportation if you need it to and from the airport if that is how you are getting there.)
  Before you do that pick your dates and Check out the airlines or other transportation that you may want to use book directly with them.
  Rental car, if needed, book about two to three weeks prior to your going rates are lower and during this time of year they need people to patronize their services. More than likely they will upgrade you for free. (Also check their websites for coupons or discounts)
  On another note: if you have any type of rewards program on your credit card (not airline miles) you can book through your credit card company depending on how many points you have. You can get FREE Car Rentals & or airlines tickets. As long as the carriers are participating in the CC program.

  Good Luck & Have Fun hope this helps you out.

  PS: Universal Studios Florida: if you plan on going there also, they have an on-line ticket for 7 consecutive days for jusy 89.00 per ticket. Thats 12.71 per day with access to both parks, parking not included. Well worth it even if you don’t use all the days.

Reply Click here to cancel reply.

Name (required)

Email (required)

Web Site

 

• No Related Post