We're planning a family vacation to Disney/Orlando (seperate from MACNA).   I'm wondering if anyone here has a lot of experience going to the Disney parks in Orlando?   If so, any sage advice on how to make the most of the trip and any pitfalls to avoid?

TIA!

-JB

stay off of orange blossom trail. or your kids may get an education you dont want them to have.

I don't know about being an old pro, but I think we've taken the kids there 3 times. There are books that you can get that are full of tips and helped us a lot. Here's a few that I can remember...

I know you have little girls and they would probably really like the Cinderella's Royal Table which is a meal in Cinderella's castle with characters. It's expensive and sells out quickly, but I've heard that all the kids that have gone really enjoyed it. We've missed out on it every time we've gone so this time, Christina has already made reservations. If you're interested in this, make your reservations now or you will not get in. Pay the money for the park hopper pass. There are different things at the various parks that you will only want to do at certain times of the day. For example, there are fireworks at Epcot in the evenings that are nice to watch, but I would say that was the least interesting of all of the parks. Animal Kingdom is great. The Bugs Life 4D movie is fun. Go in the morning..the animals are more active. MGM had some neat shows that are fun to watch. If you like roller coasters, don't miss Expedition Everest. It was by far my personal favorite. The Aerosmith roller coaster was pretty fun too. There are lots of characters around and your kids may want to get their autographs (at least I know my kids enjoyed collecting them). They sell autograph books in the gift shops and you can get them to sign every other page. Then later you can go back and mount photos of them with the character on the opposite pages for a neat keepsake. Personally, Sea World was the best part of Orlando for me. The shows, feeding the dolphins, the rides. It's the most memorable part of our last trip there and by far, my favorite. If you like roller coasters, the Kraken is incredible. There's another one...Journey to Atlantis, a water ride, which is pretty fun too. Anyway, there's a few things, I hope that helps.   One more thing...if you stay long enough, take a trip down to the Everglades, visit some of the gator farms and take an air boat ride.  That was a fun experience too.

--AJ

Hi JB, I am in Marion also. We have been there twice as a family. It is awesome. Stay at one of the resorts and get the package. Buses will pick u up and take you to any park all day long. No driving. Meals are all on site. Buy the kids a lanyard for pin trading. Everyone will get a guest card that u can load with what ever money u want on the card, no need for cash. I suggest Sports or even better location Pop century, it has its own bus line so u do not have to wait for the other resorts

I can give you information after we go this coming week! I can't wait! We are staying about 10 minutes from Disney in a 5 bedroom house. I wanna say it was 100 to 125 a night, also has a personal pool. I will ensure to post pics and any information you want when I get back!

Thx for the info everyone. Does anyone have any experience with the Disney meal packages?

Posted By JB on 03/10/2010 11:54 PM
Thx for the info everyone. Does anyone have any experience with the Disney meal packages?

We've never purchased them...but I don't know why.  I think I have a book on Disney trip planning that I can let you borrow.  I'll try to remember to bring it over tonight.

--AJ

Cool that would be great. We got our plane tickets today, so that part is taken care of. Now I just need to figure out which options in the vacation packages are the best deals for the money. The meal plans are the most difficult part of the equation to figure out.

-JB

What kind of fares did you find? Has Allegiant posted fares?

--AJ

For 4 us it was $1050 total which is not bad, but not quite as nice as the $750 the Allegiant website originally quoted as the "All Taxes and Fees" included price.

They ended up tacking on several "seating" and "convenience" fees as well as a $40 minimum fee per checked bag, so all of the extras added up to another $300.

But, you gotta love a direct flight from CR...that's worth quite a bit....so about $260 a ticket. Still pretty good, all things considered.

--AJ

A word of warning for anyone considering using Allegiant Air for an Orlando trip... Allegiant flies into "Sanford" airport rather than Orlando International. This is adding about $180 to our trip because it's a 45 minute drive to Disney from Sanford...

Can you get a shuttle service to your hotel? We didn't even pay that much to go from Orlando International to Port Canaveral for the last cruise we took. Try Mearstransportation.com.

--AJ

It's much cheaper for a shared shuttle from the airport. Unfortunately, few if any seem to offer shared shuttles from Sanford. $160 is the cheapest I've found so far and we arrive so late that the car rental places are all closed!

Wow...that sucks. I've always flown out of Moline so never had any experience with that. Sorry!!