Disney World Trip Deals?

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I've heard of people getting themselves on trips to Disney World by buying way in advance (I'm looking for next Fall) and purchasing everything together (hotel, flight, food, park passes, etc). Can anyone point me in the best direction for such things, sites I should be watching or something? Never booked a vacation before so I haven't a clue

*edit*

Looking for a trip for 2, but could end up being 4.
 
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When my family went a few years ago we bought the family meal plan. It was essentially 3 full meals and 1-2 snacks for each individual but had a lot of restrictions on what could be used for a meal and what couldn't if you were dining at one of their park restaurants.

I personally would recommend against it as we didn't use it all and almost felt confined to it.

I'd recommend staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort btw(Both times we were at Disney we stayed there). Has a bus that takes you to any of the parks,which is cool. Also has a food court with a nice meal selection and an arcade.Lots of pools too.
 
As pointed earlier, the WDW website would be your best bet. AARP offers deals to Disney world too, if you qualify as a member :)
 
mousesavers.com is the best site, you want to wait for free dining which will probably eventually be offered for your dates if you are going at a not busy time next fall, are you staying at Disney World or someplace close? I think free dining was already offered for next fall but it should be offered again, you pay for the room at Disney World and the tickets then you get your food for free while you stay there.

When are you going? Your first post is from over a year ago. You should probably call a travel agent who knows a lot about Disney, you don't pay anything extra for using a travel agent. A Disney podcast I listen to recommends mousefantravel and they look for discounts for you even after you've paid, so if a deal shows up later you'd still get it. You can spend a few hours figuring out your trip or you could spend tons of time and still think you need to figure out more.
 
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[quote name='futureman']mousesavers.com is the best site, you want to wait for free dining which will probably eventually be offered for your dates if you are going at a not busy time next fall, are you staying at Disney World or someplace close? I think free dining was already offered for next fall but it should be offered again, you pay for the room at Disney World and the tickets then you get your food for free while you stay there.

When are you going? Your first post is from over a year ago. You should probably call a travel agent who knows a lot about Disney, you don't pay anything extra for using a travel agent. A Disney podcast I listen to recommends mousefantravel and they look for discounts for you even after you've paid, so if a deal shows up later you'd still get it. You can spend a few hours figuring out your trip or you could spend tons of time and still think you need to figure out more.[/QUOTE]

I'm thinking Spring, but we're flexible, just want to go in 2012.

A travel agent huh? I guess that's something I'll look into for sure.
 
I don't know if this applies to Disney World but I'm sure there are services like this in the area.

I recently went to Disney Land and went to craigslist for tickets, they had an office which rents out park hoppers for $75 per day (105 regular price), they scan your drivers license and credit card in case you don't return them. Other than that, all I had to do was drop off the tickets to the drop box.

I was VERY suspicious about it at first but it worked out great, the only thing that was annoying is, they CLAIM TO BE 1 BLOCK away from Disneyland but they were actually 5 minute drive away.... it is not walking distance FOR SURE. You might wanna check it out at the orlando craigslist

Taxi costed about $14 to the Anaheim hotel (5 mins from disneyland) from the office. Well at least I still saved a little, even though they tricked you into thinking you can walk there -_-
 
Going to be viewing this thread since my son has been asking to go visit walt disney world. I know the kinect disney land game won't be cutting it.
 
[quote name='ryosnk']Going to be viewing this thread since my son has been asking to go visit walt disney world. I know the kinect disney land game won't be cutting it.[/QUOTE]Yeah the kinect Disney land game isn't going to cut it for my kids either. We're looking into going around April time.
 
[quote name='Moltres423']When my family went a few years ago we bought the family meal plan. It was essentially 3 full meals and 1-2 snacks for each individual but had a lot of restrictions on what could be used for a meal and what couldn't if you were dining at one of their park restaurants.

I personally would recommend against it as we didn't use it all and almost felt confined to it.

I'd recommend staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort btw(Both times we were at Disney we stayed there). Has a bus that takes you to any of the parks,which is cool. Also has a food court with a nice meal selection and an arcade.Lots of pools too.[/QUOTE]

Gonna have to disagree.

The full meal plans are actually pretty good and aren't that restrictive. Meal plans included 1 table service meal, 1 quick-service meal, and 1 snack per person. The table service meal includes drink, entree, and dessert.(and if the kid is like 4-9 IIRC, an appetizer) Only thing restrictive about it was that Disney "Signature" restaurants cost 2 table service meals per person, though there aren't many of them and drink doesn't include specialty drinks like "mango smoothie" unless you don't want a refill...and that it doesn't include alcoholic drinks. Quick service is basically fast food, but still good. Snack is a rip though. Snack is either a) ice cream b) 16oz drink c) some snack thing.



One thing I recommend is to reserve seats for a table service meal, and I mean reserve them when you reserve your stay not while there. And get to the restaurant at least 10 minutes before your reservation time. They only hold reservations for 15 minutes. Either way plan ahead. A good thing to pick up in the lobby of the disney resort you stay at is park maps and the dining plan "guide" that list what restaurants do quick service, table service and snacks. Each breakfast from what I saw was basically the same, except for 1 "signature" meal exclusive to that restaurant.

Some recommendations for where to reserve seats for table service:

Ohana: In the Polynesian resort. Bring you a shit load of meats. Basically an upscale bbq place. It's amazing.

Crystal Palace: In the Magic Kingdom. Buffet place where characters come around and take pictures with guest. Buffet selection was really good.

Sanaa: In the Animal Kingdom Lodge resort. Food was good. Steak was delicious.

I'd say don't worry about what resort to get. You'll barely spend time there besides to get ready to go out for the day and sleeping. EVERY Disney resort has a bus that takes you to each park. Speaking of parks, unless you have a "park hopper" pass, which cost more, you can only go to 1 park per day. They're big though. Park plans don't include their water parks.

Magic Kingdom: For kids mostly, but some interesting shows and rollercosters. Recommend the phil-harmagic show.

Animal Kingdom: Mini-zoo. Lots of walking. Bugs life show is cool, along with the safari.

Hollywood studios: Mostly shows. 2 or 3 roller coasters. Car stunt show, and the fantasmic one are awesome.

Epcot: The worst of them. Most rides are in the front and have insane lines for them. Some rides sprinkled around the other themed locations. It seemed just like a big store to me.

Downtown Disney: Doesn't count as a park. Basically a mall. Lots of stores and lots of places to eat.

As far as rollercoasters go, or shows, try to get a fast pass. All admission cards include them you just have to go to the show/ roller coaster and put your card in and it tells you when to come back for little to no wait. Like if you get to the roller coaster at around 10 am, it might tell you to come back between 1pm to 3pm or something. Depends how popular the ride is since fast passes do "sell out". Most shows have 10 - 40 minute waits while roller coasters went as high as 2 hours.

Note: We went during a time when it was supposed to be "moderately" crowded and it was still really crowded. I'd hate to see it during the "big" times like spring break, christmas, and summer. One of the Disney guide books we bought actually recommended pulling your kids out of school if you plan on going since it's not as crowded during school time, but still enough people (international visitors) that it seems lively.


Err....I know of no deals for it though...

Edit: And I recommend the character dining places if you plan on going with a kid.
 
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The free dining offer for any trips in 2012 have to be booked by today.

Not only did they raise the price of the dining plan, but you get less now. The quick service plan went up to $34.99 a day per person yet they took away 1 snack, so you get 1 snack on that plan instead of 2. Earlier this year I stayed at a value hotel during free dining and paid the $11 extra per night per person to upgrade to the regular dining plan (if you are going to a signature restaurant don't go to Jiko, it wasn't that good and the portions were a joke, the cake that is normally $10 was the size of a regular candy bar) but for 2012 it is $16 extra per night since now the regular dining plan includes a refillable mug.
 
A bit off topic maybe - but I figured this is the best place I could ask.

Is there plenty an adult could do at Disneyland/world if they didn't ride the rides?

I'm talking tours, seeing production stuff, set pieces and costumes, behind the scenes stuff, stage shows. Things like that. Enough to occupy two days, maybe?

Would it even be worth going if you took the rides out of the equation?
 
The tours can take a lot of time depending on which tours you take. Last year I took the Keys to the Kingdom Tour in the Magic Kingdom, it was almost 6 hours so it took almost half of a day in the park just for that. If you were going to see shows, you could probably spend a lot of 1 day just at Hollywood Studios. There is Fantasmic, Beauty and The Beast, Lights Motors Action, Indiana Jones Stunt Show plus viewing some movie props but that would involve going through ride lines like the Backlot Tour and The Great Movie Ride. The Backlot Tour also shows you how the film a boat scene in a movie with some special effects while you are still in line (then you go through a prop warehouse and board the ride vehicles).

Personally I wouldn't go if it wasn't for the rides but I am someone that if given the choice, would spend all my time getting in as many rides as I can.
 
[quote name='YoshiFan1']The tours can take a lot of time depending on which tours you take. Last year I took the Keys to the Kingdom Tour in the Magic Kingdom, it was almost 6 hours so it took almost half of a day in the park just for that. If you were going to see shows, you could probably spend a lot of 1 day just at Hollywood Studios. There is Fantasmic, Beauty and The Beast, Lights Motors Action, Indiana Jones Stunt Show plus viewing some movie props but that would involve going through ride lines like the Backlot Tour and The Great Movie Ride. The Backlot Tour also shows you how the film a boat scene in a movie with some special effects while you are still in line (then you go through a prop warehouse and board the ride vehicles).

Personally I wouldn't go if it wasn't for the rides but I am someone that if given the choice, would spend all my time getting in as many rides as I can.[/QUOTE]

Actually, that's just the sort of thing I wanted to hear. Thanks Yoshi.
 
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